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The uniform application (UA) of agrochemicals results in the over-application of harmful chemicals, increases crop input costs, and deteriorates the environment when compared with variable rate application (VA). A smart variable rate sprayer (SVRS) was designed, developed, and tested using deep learning (DL) for VA application of agrochemicals. Real-time testing of the SVRS took place for detecting and spraying and/or skipping lambsquarters weed and early blight infected and healthy potato plants. About 24,000 images were collected from potato fields in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick under varying sunny, cloudy, and partly cloudy conditions and processed/trained using YOLOv3 and tiny-YOLOv3 models. Due to faster performance, the tiny-YOLOv3 was chosen to deploy in SVRS. A laboratory experiment was designed under factorial arrangements, where the two spraying techniques (UA and VA) and the three weather conditions (cloudy, partly cloudy, and sunny) were the two independent variables with spray volume consumption as a response variable. The experimental treatments had six repetitions in a 2 × 3 factorial design. Results of the two-way ANOVA showed a significant effect of spraying application techniques on volume consumption of spraying liquid (p-value < 0.05). There was no significant effect of weather conditions and interactions between the two independent variables on volume consumption during weeds and simulated diseased plant detection experiments (p-value > 0.05). The SVRS was able to save 42 and 43% spraying liquid during weeds and simulated diseased plant detection experiments, respectively. Water sensitive papers’ analysis showed the applicability of SVRS for VA with >40% savings of spraying liquid by SVRS when compared with UA. Field applications of this technique would reduce the crop input costs and the environmental risks in conditions (weed and disease) like experimental testing.
Nazar Hussain; Aitazaz Farooque; Arnold Schumann; Andrew McKenzie-Gopsill; Travis Esau; Farhat Abbas; Bishnu Acharya; Qamar Zaman. Design and Development of a Smart Variable Rate Sprayer Using Deep Learning. Remote Sensing 2020, 12, 4091 .
AMA StyleNazar Hussain, Aitazaz Farooque, Arnold Schumann, Andrew McKenzie-Gopsill, Travis Esau, Farhat Abbas, Bishnu Acharya, Qamar Zaman. Design and Development of a Smart Variable Rate Sprayer Using Deep Learning. Remote Sensing. 2020; 12 (24):4091.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNazar Hussain; Aitazaz Farooque; Arnold Schumann; Andrew McKenzie-Gopsill; Travis Esau; Farhat Abbas; Bishnu Acharya; Qamar Zaman. 2020. "Design and Development of a Smart Variable Rate Sprayer Using Deep Learning." Remote Sensing 12, no. 24: 4091.
The delineation of management zones (MZs) has been suggested as a solution to mitigate adverse impacts of soil variability on potato tuber yield. This study quantified the spatial patterns of variability in soil and crop properties to delineate MZs for site-specific soil fertility characterization of potato fields through proximal sensing of fields. Grid sampling strategy was adopted to collect soil and crop data from two potato fields in Prince Edward Island (PEI). DUALEM-2 sensor, Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR-300), GreenSeeker were used to collect soil ground conductivity parameter horizontal coplanar geometry (HCP), soil moisture content (θ), and normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI), respectively. Soil organic matter (SOM), soil pH, phosphorous (P), potash (K), iron (Fe), lime index (LI), and cation exchange capacity (CEC) were determined from soil samples collected from each grid. Stepwise regression shortlisted the major properties of soil and crop that explained 71 to 86% of within-field variability. The cluster analysis grouped the soil and crop data into three zones, termed as excellent, medium, and poor at a 40% similarity level. The coefficient of variation and the interpolated maps characterized least to moderate variability of soil fertility parameters, except for HCP and K that were highly variable. The results of multiple means comparison indicated that the tuber yield and HCP were significantly different in all MZs. The significant relationship between HCP and yield suggested that the ground conductivity data could be used to develop MZs for site-specific fertilization in potato fields similar to those used in this study.
Humna Khan; Aitazaz A. Farooque; Bishnu Acharya; Farhat Abbas; Travis J. Esau; Qamar U. Zaman. Delineation of Management Zones for Site-Specific Information about Soil Fertility Characteristics through Proximal Sensing of Potato Fields. Agronomy 2020, 10, 1854 .
AMA StyleHumna Khan, Aitazaz A. Farooque, Bishnu Acharya, Farhat Abbas, Travis J. Esau, Qamar U. Zaman. Delineation of Management Zones for Site-Specific Information about Soil Fertility Characteristics through Proximal Sensing of Potato Fields. Agronomy. 2020; 10 (12):1854.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHumna Khan; Aitazaz A. Farooque; Bishnu Acharya; Farhat Abbas; Travis J. Esau; Qamar U. Zaman. 2020. "Delineation of Management Zones for Site-Specific Information about Soil Fertility Characteristics through Proximal Sensing of Potato Fields." Agronomy 10, no. 12: 1854.
In order for sustainable nanomaterials such as cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) to be utilized in industrial applications, a large-scale production capacity for CNCs must exist. Currently the only CNCs available commercially in kilogram scale are obtained from wood pulp (W-CNCs). Scaling the production capacity of W-CNCs isolation has led to their use in broader applications and captured the interest of researchers, industries and governments alike. Another source of CNCs with potential for commercial scale production are tunicates, a species of marine animal. Tunicate derived CNCs (T-CNCs) are a high aspect ratio CNC, which can complement commercially available W-CNCs in the growing global CNC market. Herein we report the isolation and characterization of T-CNCs from the tunicate Styela clava, an invasive species currently causing significant harm to local aquaculture communities. The reported procedure utilizes scalable CNC processing techniques and is based on our experiences from laboratory scale T-CNC isolation and pilot scale W-CNC isolation. To our best knowledge, this study represents the largest scale where T-CNCs have been isolated from any tunicate species, under any reaction conditions. Demonstrating a significant step towards commercial scale isolation of T-CNCs, and offering a potential solution to the numerous challenges which invasive tunicates pose to global aquaculture communities.
Matthew J. Dunlop; Craig Clemons; Richard Reiner; Ronald Sabo; Umesh P. Agarwal; Rabin Bissessur; Helia Sojoudiasli; Pierre J. Carreau; Bishnu Acharya. Towards the scalable isolation of cellulose nanocrystals from tunicates. Scientific Reports 2020, 10, 1 -13.
AMA StyleMatthew J. Dunlop, Craig Clemons, Richard Reiner, Ronald Sabo, Umesh P. Agarwal, Rabin Bissessur, Helia Sojoudiasli, Pierre J. Carreau, Bishnu Acharya. Towards the scalable isolation of cellulose nanocrystals from tunicates. Scientific Reports. 2020; 10 (1):1-13.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMatthew J. Dunlop; Craig Clemons; Richard Reiner; Ronald Sabo; Umesh P. Agarwal; Rabin Bissessur; Helia Sojoudiasli; Pierre J. Carreau; Bishnu Acharya. 2020. "Towards the scalable isolation of cellulose nanocrystals from tunicates." Scientific Reports 10, no. 1: 1-13.
Excessive growth of macroalgae like sea lettuce causes problems in the aquatic environment by creating an anoxic event. Algae have been gaining attention in production of biofuel and other chemical products through biochemical process, which requires drying. In this research, hydrothermal carbonization process is used for studying the potential utilization of sea lettuce to produce products for application in fuel and agriculture. The reaction was carried out at four temperatures of 150 °C, 180 °C, 200 °C, 220 °C for the residence time of 0.5,1 and 2 h. Hydrochar obtained had heating value in the range of 13.4–20.2 MJ kg−1 and higher carbon content as compared to raw sea lettuce. The analysis of the process water showed recovery of nutrients. The co-digestion of process water with food waste at 37 °C increased the production of gas till 10 days. The research showed that sea lettuce is a promising feedstock for hydrothermal carbonization to produce value-added products.
Ankita Shrestha; Bishnu Acharya; Aitazaz A. Farooque. Study of hydrochar and process water from hydrothermal carbonization of sea lettuce. Renewable Energy 2020, 163, 589 -598.
AMA StyleAnkita Shrestha, Bishnu Acharya, Aitazaz A. Farooque. Study of hydrochar and process water from hydrothermal carbonization of sea lettuce. Renewable Energy. 2020; 163 ():589-598.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAnkita Shrestha; Bishnu Acharya; Aitazaz A. Farooque. 2020. "Study of hydrochar and process water from hydrothermal carbonization of sea lettuce." Renewable Energy 163, no. : 589-598.
Biochar is the solid byproduct of pyrolysis, and its cascading use can offset the cost of the production and its use in application such as soil remediation. A wide variety of research on biochar has highlighted its ability to absorb nutrients, metal and complex compounds, filter suspended solids, enhance microorganisms’ growth, retain water and nutrients as well as increasing the carbon content of the soil. Besides, sustainable biochar systems are an attractive approach for carbon sequestration and total waste management cycle. The chapter looks into such cascading use of biochar in wastewater treatment for recovering nutrients and improving the efficiency of activated sludge treatment and anaerobic digestion for producing biosolid with enhanced soil amendment properties.
Abhishek Pokharel; Bishnu Acharya; Aitazaz Farooque. Biochar-Assisted Wastewater Treatment and Waste Valorization. Applications of Biochar for Environmental Safety 2020, 1 .
AMA StyleAbhishek Pokharel, Bishnu Acharya, Aitazaz Farooque. Biochar-Assisted Wastewater Treatment and Waste Valorization. Applications of Biochar for Environmental Safety. 2020; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAbhishek Pokharel; Bishnu Acharya; Aitazaz Farooque. 2020. "Biochar-Assisted Wastewater Treatment and Waste Valorization." Applications of Biochar for Environmental Safety , no. : 1.
The magnetic field (MF) induced alignment of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) within a starch matrix is investigated and its effect on the physicochemical and mechanical properties of the nanocomposites are discussed in the paper. Two different kinds of CNC i.e. plant-CNC and tunicate-CNC and its hybrid combination are studied to understand the effect of aspect ratio of CNC on the properties of nanocomposite. Nanocomposites with tunicate sourced CNC showed higher tensile strength and modulus, and lower water vapor permeability as compared to plant sourced CNC. These properties are higher for nanocomposites prepared under MF. The modulus of starch nanocomposites increased from 0.26 GPa and 0.32 GPa to 0.38 GPa and 0.44 GPa, respectively for plant-CNC and tunicate-CNC when exposed to MF. The improved orientation and alignment of CNC in presence of MF is further supported by Raman and scanning electron micrographs studies.
Amin Babaei-Ghazvini; Benjamin Cudmore; Matthew J. Dunlop; Bishnu Acharya; Rabin Bissessur; Marya Ahmed; William M. Whelan. Effect of magnetic field alignment of cellulose nanocrystals in starch nanocomposites: Physicochemical and mechanical properties. Carbohydrate Polymers 2020, 247, 116688 .
AMA StyleAmin Babaei-Ghazvini, Benjamin Cudmore, Matthew J. Dunlop, Bishnu Acharya, Rabin Bissessur, Marya Ahmed, William M. Whelan. Effect of magnetic field alignment of cellulose nanocrystals in starch nanocomposites: Physicochemical and mechanical properties. Carbohydrate Polymers. 2020; 247 ():116688.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAmin Babaei-Ghazvini; Benjamin Cudmore; Matthew J. Dunlop; Bishnu Acharya; Rabin Bissessur; Marya Ahmed; William M. Whelan. 2020. "Effect of magnetic field alignment of cellulose nanocrystals in starch nanocomposites: Physicochemical and mechanical properties." Carbohydrate Polymers 247, no. : 116688.
Agricultural management practices are responsible for almost two-thirds of the variations in potato tuber yield. In order to answer the research question about the remaining variability of the tuber yield, we hypothesized that climate extremes partly explain the missing component of variations of the tuber yield. Therefore, this research attempts to bridge this knowledge gap in order to generate a knowledge base for future strategies. A climate extreme dataset of the Prince Edward Island (PEI) was computed by averaging the data of five meteorological stations. In detail, changing patterns of 20 climate extreme indices were computed with ClimPACT2 software for 30 years (1989-2018) data of PEI. Statistical significance of the trends and their slope values were determined with the Mann-Kendall test and Sen’s slope estimates, respectively. Average of daily mean temperature (TMm), mean daily minimum temperature (TNm) and the occurrence of continuous dry days (CDD), significantly increased by 0.77 °C, 1.17 °C and 3.33 days., respectively, during the potato growing seasons (May-October) of the past three decades. For this period daily temperature range (DTR), frost days (FD), cold days (TX10p), cold nights (TN10p) and warmest days (TXx) showed decreasing trends of −1.01 °C, −3.75 days, −5.67 days, −11.40 nights, and −2.00 days, respectively. The principal component analysis showed that DTR, TXx, CDD, and TNm were the main factors affecting seasonal variations of tuber yield. The multiple regression model attributed ~39% of tuber yield variance to DTR, TXx, CDD, and TNm. However, these indices explained individually 21%, 19%, 16%, and 4% variation to the tuber yield, respectively. The remaining variation in the tuber yield explained by other yield affecting factors. The information generated from this study can be used for future planning about agricultural management strategies in the Island, for example, the provision of water resources for supplemental irrigation of crops during dry months.
Junaid Maqsood; Aitazaz A. Farooque; Xander Wang; Farhat Abbas; Bishnu Acharya; Hassan Afzaal. Contribution of Climate Extremes to Variation in Potato Tuber Yield in Prince Edward Island. Sustainability 2020, 12, 1 .
AMA StyleJunaid Maqsood, Aitazaz A. Farooque, Xander Wang, Farhat Abbas, Bishnu Acharya, Hassan Afzaal. Contribution of Climate Extremes to Variation in Potato Tuber Yield in Prince Edward Island. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (12):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJunaid Maqsood; Aitazaz A. Farooque; Xander Wang; Farhat Abbas; Bishnu Acharya; Hassan Afzaal. 2020. "Contribution of Climate Extremes to Variation in Potato Tuber Yield in Prince Edward Island." Sustainability 12, no. 12: 1.
Bioplastics are gaining interest as an alternative to fossil-based plastics. In addition, biodegradable bioplastics may yield biogas after their use, giving an additional benefit. However, the biodegradability time in international norms (35 days) far exceeds processing times in anaerobic digestion facilities (21 days). As the bioplastic packaging does not indicate the actual biodegradability, it is important to understand the time required to biodegrade bioplastic if it ends up in the anaerobic digestion facility along with other organic waste. For this work, cellulose bioplastic film and polylactic acid (PLA) coffee capsules were digested anaerobically at 55 ℃ for 21 days and 35 days, which are the retention times for industrial digestors and as set by international norms, respectively. Different sizes of bioplastics were examined for this work. Bioplastic film produced more biogas than bioplastic coffee capsules. The biodegradability of bioplastic was calculated based on theoretical biogas production. With an increase in retention time, biogas production, as well as biodegradability of bioplastic, increased. The biodegradability was less than 50% at the end of 35 days for both bioplastics, suggesting that complete degradation was not achieved, and thus, the bioplastic would not be suitable for use in biogas digesters currently in use.
Ankita Shrestha; Mieke C. A. A. van Eerten-Jansen; Bishnu Acharya. Biodegradation of Bioplastic Using Anaerobic Digestion at Retention Time as per Industrial Biogas Plant and International Norms. Sustainability 2020, 12, 4231 .
AMA StyleAnkita Shrestha, Mieke C. A. A. van Eerten-Jansen, Bishnu Acharya. Biodegradation of Bioplastic Using Anaerobic Digestion at Retention Time as per Industrial Biogas Plant and International Norms. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (10):4231.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAnkita Shrestha; Mieke C. A. A. van Eerten-Jansen; Bishnu Acharya. 2020. "Biodegradation of Bioplastic Using Anaerobic Digestion at Retention Time as per Industrial Biogas Plant and International Norms." Sustainability 12, no. 10: 4231.
Climate change induced uneven patterns of rainfall emphasize the use of supplemental irrigation in rainfed agriculture. The Penman–Monteith method was used to calculate supplemental irrigation for water budgeting of a potato crop in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Cumulative gaps between rainfall and crop evapotranspiration (ETc) during August and September of the study years were due to high crop coefficient factor, justifying the need for supplemental irrigation. Pressurized irrigation systems, including sprinklers, fertigation, and drip irrigation were installed, to evaluate the impact of scheduled supplemental irrigation in offsetting deficits in irrigation water requirements in comparison with conventional practice of rainfed cultivation (control). A two-way ANOVA examined the effect of irrigation methods and year on potato tuber yield, water productivity, tuber quality, and payout. Sprinkler and fertigation systems performed better than drip and control treatments. In terms of payout returns and potato tuber quality (percentage of marketable potatoes), the sprinkler treatment performed significantly better than the other treatments. However, for water productivity, fertigation treatment performed significantly better than control and sprinkler treatments during both years. The use of supplemental irrigation is recommended for profitable cultivation of potatoes in soil, agricultural, and environmental conditions resembling to those of Prince Edward Island.
Hassan Afzaal; Aitazaz A. Farooque; Farhat Abbas; Bishnu Acharya; Travis Esau. Precision Irrigation Strategies for Sustainable Water Budgeting of Potato Crop in Prince Edward Island. Sustainability 2020, 12, 2419 .
AMA StyleHassan Afzaal, Aitazaz A. Farooque, Farhat Abbas, Bishnu Acharya, Travis Esau. Precision Irrigation Strategies for Sustainable Water Budgeting of Potato Crop in Prince Edward Island. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (6):2419.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHassan Afzaal; Aitazaz A. Farooque; Farhat Abbas; Bishnu Acharya; Travis Esau. 2020. "Precision Irrigation Strategies for Sustainable Water Budgeting of Potato Crop in Prince Edward Island." Sustainability 12, no. 6: 2419.
Accurate estimation of reference evapotranspiration (ETo) provides useful information for water resource management and sustainable agriculture. This study estimates ETo with recurrent neural networks (RNNs), namely long short-term memory (LSTM) and bidirectional LSTM. Four representative meteorological sites (North Cape, Summerside, Harrington, and Saint Peters) were selected across Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada to form a PEI dataset from mean values of the four sites’ climatic variables for capturing climatic variability from all parts of the province. Based on subset regression analysis, the highest contributing climatic variables, namely maximum air temperature and relative humidity, were selected as input variables for RNNs’ training (2011–2015) and testing (2016–2017) runs. The results suggested that the LSTM and bidirectional LSTM are suitable methods to accurately (R2 > 0.90) estimate ETo for all sites except Harrington. Testing period (2016–2017) root mean square errors were recorded in range of 0.38–0.58 mm/day for all sites. No major differences were observed in accuracy of LSTM and bidirectional LSTM. Another objective of this study was to highlight the potential gap between ETO and rainfall for assessing agriculture sustainability in Prince Edward Island. Analyses of the data highlighted that the cumulative ETo surpassed the cumulative rainfall potentially affecting yield of major crops in the island. Therefore, agriculture sustainability requires viable options such as supplemental irrigation to replenish the crop water requirements as and when needed.
Hassan Afzaal; Aitazaz A. Farooque; Farhat Abbas; Bishnu Acharya; Travis Esau. Computation of Evapotranspiration with Artificial Intelligence for Precision Water Resource Management. Applied Sciences 2020, 10, 1621 .
AMA StyleHassan Afzaal, Aitazaz A. Farooque, Farhat Abbas, Bishnu Acharya, Travis Esau. Computation of Evapotranspiration with Artificial Intelligence for Precision Water Resource Management. Applied Sciences. 2020; 10 (5):1621.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHassan Afzaal; Aitazaz A. Farooque; Farhat Abbas; Bishnu Acharya; Travis Esau. 2020. "Computation of Evapotranspiration with Artificial Intelligence for Precision Water Resource Management." Applied Sciences 10, no. 5: 1621.
NiO and CaO catalysts with different weight percentages were used as catalysts in pyrolysis to investigate the feasibility of producing biofuels from Bambusa balcooa. Non-catalytic bio-oil was dominated by aromatic (23.74%), acids (18.07%), and alcohols (20.02%) while optimized catalysts NiO and CaO increased the rate of ketonization in pyrolysis of Bambusa balcooa and decreased the mass yield of acids to 6.31% and 9.06% respectively. The quality of bio-oil obtained from catalytic tests was compared to the non-catalytic tests in terms of its product distribution, gasoline range hydrocarbon, viscosity, pH, flash point and fire point. It was observed that 0.5 wt.% NiO and 5 wt.% CaO contained a high yield of gasoline range hydrocarbon reaching 66.75% and 73.47%, respectively. In addition to the chemical composition, lower viscosity of the pyrolytic oil shows 0.5% NiO as a better catalyst in pyrolysis systems to produce enhanced quality bio-oil.
Raj Kumar Dahal; Omid Norouzi; Jesse Cameron; Arun Pandian; Ankita Shrestha; Bishnu Acharya; Srividya Pk; Animesh Dutta. A study on potential recovery of energy and value-added chemicals from in-situ pyrolysis of Bambusa balcooa over basic metal oxides. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 2020, 147, 104801 .
AMA StyleRaj Kumar Dahal, Omid Norouzi, Jesse Cameron, Arun Pandian, Ankita Shrestha, Bishnu Acharya, Srividya Pk, Animesh Dutta. A study on potential recovery of energy and value-added chemicals from in-situ pyrolysis of Bambusa balcooa over basic metal oxides. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis. 2020; 147 ():104801.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRaj Kumar Dahal; Omid Norouzi; Jesse Cameron; Arun Pandian; Ankita Shrestha; Bishnu Acharya; Srividya Pk; Animesh Dutta. 2020. "A study on potential recovery of energy and value-added chemicals from in-situ pyrolysis of Bambusa balcooa over basic metal oxides." Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 147, no. : 104801.
Two of the methods for converting biomass to fuel are hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) and anaerobic digestion (AD). This study is aimed at designing and analyzing two scenarios for bioenergy production from undervalued biomass (sawdust). In one of the scenarios (direct combustion or DC), raw biomass is burned in a combustor to provide the heat that is required by the Rankine cycle to generate electricity. In the other scenario (HTC-AD), the raw biomass first undergoes HTC treatment. While the solid product (hydrochar) is used to produce power by a Rankine cycle, the liquid by-product undergoes an AD process. This results in fuel gas production and it can be used in a Brayton cycle to generate more power. Energy and mass balance analysis of both scenarios were developed for each unit process by using Engineering Equation Solver (EES). The required data were obtained experimentally or from the literature. The performances of the proposed systems were evaluated, and a sensitivity analysis was presented to help in finding the best operational conditions.
Mohammad Heidari; Shakirudeen Salaudeen; Omid Norouzi; Bishnu Acharya; Animesh Dutta. Numerical Comparison of a Combined Hydrothermal Carbonization and Anaerobic Digestion System with Direct Combustion of Biomass for Power Production. Processes 2020, 8, 43 .
AMA StyleMohammad Heidari, Shakirudeen Salaudeen, Omid Norouzi, Bishnu Acharya, Animesh Dutta. Numerical Comparison of a Combined Hydrothermal Carbonization and Anaerobic Digestion System with Direct Combustion of Biomass for Power Production. Processes. 2020; 8 (1):43.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMohammad Heidari; Shakirudeen Salaudeen; Omid Norouzi; Bishnu Acharya; Animesh Dutta. 2020. "Numerical Comparison of a Combined Hydrothermal Carbonization and Anaerobic Digestion System with Direct Combustion of Biomass for Power Production." Processes 8, no. 1: 43.
Precise estimation of physical hydrology components including groundwater levels (GWLs) is a challenging task, especially in relatively non-contiguous watersheds. This study estimates GWLs with deep learning and artificial neural networks (ANNs), namely a multilayer perceptron (MLP), long short term memory (LSTM), and a convolutional neural network (CNN) with four different input variable combinations for two watersheds (Baltic River and Long Creek) in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Variables including stream level, stream flow, precipitation, relative humidity, mean temperature, evapotranspiration, heat degree days, dew point temperature, and evapotranspiration for the 2011–2017 period were used as input variables. Using a hit and trial approach and various hyperparameters, all ANNs were trained from scratched (2011–2015) and validated (2016–2017). The stream level was the major contributor to GWL fluctuation for the Baltic River and Long Creek watersheds (R2 = 50.8 and 49.1%, respectively). The MLP performed better in validation for Baltic River and Long Creek watersheds (RMSE = 0.471 and 1.15, respectively). Increased number of variables from 1 to 4 improved the RMSE for the Baltic River watershed by 11% and for the Long Creek watershed by 1.6%. The deep learning techniques introduced in this study to estimate GWL fluctuations are convenient and accurate as compared to collection of periodic dips based on the groundwater monitoring wells for groundwater inventory control and management.
Hassan Afzaal; Aitazaz A. Farooque; Farhat Abbas; Bishnu Acharya; Travis Esau. Groundwater Estimation from Major Physical Hydrology Components Using Artificial Neural Networks and Deep Learning. Water 2019, 12, 5 .
AMA StyleHassan Afzaal, Aitazaz A. Farooque, Farhat Abbas, Bishnu Acharya, Travis Esau. Groundwater Estimation from Major Physical Hydrology Components Using Artificial Neural Networks and Deep Learning. Water. 2019; 12 (1):5.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHassan Afzaal; Aitazaz A. Farooque; Farhat Abbas; Bishnu Acharya; Travis Esau. 2019. "Groundwater Estimation from Major Physical Hydrology Components Using Artificial Neural Networks and Deep Learning." Water 12, no. 1: 5.
Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) is a sustainable and renewable nanomaterial which can be defined as the nanoscale crystalline region of cellulose fibrils. The present work describes polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) based nanocomposite materials containing reinforcing low aspect ratio NCC sourced from plants and high aspect ratio NCC from a local invasive tunicate species. The effect of size and surface chemistry of the NCC reinforcement on the mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of PVA based nanocomposites is studied. Hybrid nanocomposites which contain both plant and tunicate sourced NCC within the PVA matrix are also documented. To our best knowledge, this represents the first known study describing the effect of NCC with varying size and surface chemistry combined within PVA to form hybrid PVA–NCC nanocomposites. In all cases, increasing mechanical reinforcement is observed as NCC content is increased, which varies in magnitude with NCC aspect ratio and surface chemistry. A notable improvement in thermal stability is also observed in all nanocomposites when NCC content is increased. Precursor materials and the resulting nanocomposites are well characterized by transmission electron microscopy, dynamic mechanical analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, elemental analysis and powder X-ray diffraction.
Matthew J. Dunlop; Bishnu Acharya; Rabin Bissessur. Study of plant and tunicate based nanocrystalline cellulose in hybrid polymeric nanocomposites. Cellulose 2019, 27, 249 -261.
AMA StyleMatthew J. Dunlop, Bishnu Acharya, Rabin Bissessur. Study of plant and tunicate based nanocrystalline cellulose in hybrid polymeric nanocomposites. Cellulose. 2019; 27 (1):249-261.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMatthew J. Dunlop; Bishnu Acharya; Rabin Bissessur. 2019. "Study of plant and tunicate based nanocrystalline cellulose in hybrid polymeric nanocomposites." Cellulose 27, no. 1: 249-261.
Biochar as a filler in composites alters the mechanical and fire retarding properties of the material. Five different glassfibre reinforced polymer composite specimen were prepared at varying proportions of biochar and activated charcoal. The results from the three-point bend and the flame test of the composites are discussed. The three-point bend tests revealed lower damping (300 MPa) and elevated storage moduli (4000 MPa) and thus, higher stiffness for 10% char composite as compared to 5% char and without char composite. Activated charcoal has slightly higher stiffness compared to the biochar. The flame test showed better flame retardancy property with 271 s after-flame time for 10% biochar composite as compared to 154 and 70 s after-flame time for 5% biochar and without biochar composites respectively.
Raj Kumar Dahal; Bishnu Acharya; Gobinda Saha; Rabin Bissessur; Animesh Dutta; Aitazaz Farooque. Biochar as a filler in glassfiber reinforced composites: Experimental study of thermal and mechanical properties. Composites Part B: Engineering 2019, 175, 107169 .
AMA StyleRaj Kumar Dahal, Bishnu Acharya, Gobinda Saha, Rabin Bissessur, Animesh Dutta, Aitazaz Farooque. Biochar as a filler in glassfiber reinforced composites: Experimental study of thermal and mechanical properties. Composites Part B: Engineering. 2019; 175 ():107169.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRaj Kumar Dahal; Bishnu Acharya; Gobinda Saha; Rabin Bissessur; Animesh Dutta; Aitazaz Farooque. 2019. "Biochar as a filler in glassfiber reinforced composites: Experimental study of thermal and mechanical properties." Composites Part B: Engineering 175, no. : 107169.
The exponential increase in heavy metal usage for industrial applications has led to the limited supply of clean water for human needs. Iron is one of the examples of heavy metals, which is responsible for an unpleasant taste of water and its discoloration, and is also associated with elevated health risks if it persists in drinking water for a prolonged period of time. The adsorption of a soluble form of iron (Fe2+) from water resources is generally accomplished in the presence of natural or synthetic polymers or nanoparticles, followed by their filtration from treated water. The self-assembly of these colloidal carriers into macroarchitectures can help in achieving the facile removal of metal-chelated materials from treated water and hence can reduce the cost and improve the efficiency of the water purification process. In this study, we aim to develop a facile one-pot strategy for the synthesis of polymeric composites with embedded nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) for the chelation of iron(II) from contaminated water. The synthesis of the polymeric composites with embedded nanoparticles was achieved by the facile coating of ionic monomers on the surface of NCC, followed by their polymerization, crosslinking, and self-assembly in the form of three-dimensional architectures at room temperature. The composites prepared were analyzed for their physiochemical properties, antifouling properties, and for their iron(II)-chelation efficacies in vitro. The results indicate that the embedded-NCC polymeric composites have antifouling properties and exhibit superior iron(II)-chelation properties at both acidic and basic conditions.
Anayet Kabir; Matthew J. Dunlop; Bishnu Acharya; Rabin Bissessur; Marya Ahmed. Polymeric Composites with Embedded Nanocrystalline Cellulose for the Removal of Iron(II) from Contaminated Water. Polymers 2018, 10, 1377 .
AMA StyleAnayet Kabir, Matthew J. Dunlop, Bishnu Acharya, Rabin Bissessur, Marya Ahmed. Polymeric Composites with Embedded Nanocrystalline Cellulose for the Removal of Iron(II) from Contaminated Water. Polymers. 2018; 10 (12):1377.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAnayet Kabir; Matthew J. Dunlop; Bishnu Acharya; Rabin Bissessur; Marya Ahmed. 2018. "Polymeric Composites with Embedded Nanocrystalline Cellulose for the Removal of Iron(II) from Contaminated Water." Polymers 10, no. 12: 1377.
Water recycling efficacies of B5AMA hydrogels at ambient temperature.
Anayet Kabir; Matthew J. Dunlop; Bishnu Acharya; Rabin Bissessur; Marya Ahmed. Water recycling efficacies of extremely hygroscopic, antifouling hydrogels. RSC Advances 2018, 8, 38100 -38107.
AMA StyleAnayet Kabir, Matthew J. Dunlop, Bishnu Acharya, Rabin Bissessur, Marya Ahmed. Water recycling efficacies of extremely hygroscopic, antifouling hydrogels. RSC Advances. 2018; 8 (66):38100-38107.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAnayet Kabir; Matthew J. Dunlop; Bishnu Acharya; Rabin Bissessur; Marya Ahmed. 2018. "Water recycling efficacies of extremely hygroscopic, antifouling hydrogels." RSC Advances 8, no. 66: 38100-38107.
The high moisture content of biosolid from a wastewater treatment plant limits its use for agriculture and energy applications. This limitation could be obviated by hydrothermal carbonization, which requires less energy compared to other thermochemical treatment processes, and results in stabilized solid hydrochar product. The present study examined this option by hydrothermally treating the biosolid at three temperatures (180, 200 and 220 °C) for 30 min, and at 200 °C for 15, 30 and 60 min. An increase of 50% in the heating value of the biosolid was obtained after this carbonization. A reduction in the nitrogen concentration in hydrochar was noted with an increase in phosphorus concentration, but potassium concentration remained largely unchanged. Additionally, the carbon to nitrogen ratio in the hydrochar product was higher than the biosolid that makes it suitable for agriculture applications. The chemical oxygen demand of the process water was in the range of 83,000 to 96,000 mg/L. The study thus provides insight into high-value products that can be generated by the hydrothermal carbonization of biosolids.
Dhananjay Bhatt; Ankita Shrestha; Raj Kumar Dahal; Bishnu Acharya; Prabir Basu; Richard MacEwen. Hydrothermal Carbonization of Biosolids from Waste Water Treatment Plant. Energies 2018, 11, 2286 .
AMA StyleDhananjay Bhatt, Ankita Shrestha, Raj Kumar Dahal, Bishnu Acharya, Prabir Basu, Richard MacEwen. Hydrothermal Carbonization of Biosolids from Waste Water Treatment Plant. Energies. 2018; 11 (9):2286.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDhananjay Bhatt; Ankita Shrestha; Raj Kumar Dahal; Bishnu Acharya; Prabir Basu; Richard MacEwen. 2018. "Hydrothermal Carbonization of Biosolids from Waste Water Treatment Plant." Energies 11, no. 9: 2286.
Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) is a high value product, which consists of the nanoscale crystalline region of the cellulose polymer. Tunicates are marine invertebrate animals, comprised of tunic tissue, which acts as a skeletal structure, and internal organs. Tunic tissue is the only known animal source of NCC. Tunicates require a support to grow and spawn, which they find in the form of mussel socks in Prince Edward Island (PEI). This greatly affects mussel yields, and has become a nuisance to island fishermen. The present work is studying the feasibility of producing high value NCC from tunicates. Representing the first time tunicates have been utilized as a resource on PEI. NCC is isolated using prehydrolysis-kraft cooking-bleaching method. The yield of NCC from Vase and Club tunicate is 44 ± 8% and 32 ± 7% respectively. Club sourced NCC was determined to be 89 ± 7% crystalline as compared to 73 ± 6% from Vase. The average length of NCC was higher in the case of club (1567 ± 638 nm) than vase (1374 ± 600 nm), leading to aspect ratios of (90 ± 57) for club and (80 ± 60) for vase tunicates. The characterization of the obtained NCC by; powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) are discussed in the paper.
Matthew J. Dunlop; Bishnu Acharya; Rabin Bissessur. Isolation of nanocrystalline cellulose from tunicates. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 2018, 6, 4408 -4412.
AMA StyleMatthew J. Dunlop, Bishnu Acharya, Rabin Bissessur. Isolation of nanocrystalline cellulose from tunicates. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering. 2018; 6 (4):4408-4412.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMatthew J. Dunlop; Bishnu Acharya; Rabin Bissessur. 2018. "Isolation of nanocrystalline cellulose from tunicates." Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 6, no. 4: 4408-4412.
Agro-processing is a major industry in Canada. The processing of an agricultural product generates an enormous amount of water and solid waste. Appropriate management of these waste streams has become a challenging issue. The present study proposes a concept of circular bio-economy whereby solid waste from one agro-processing industry is used as a feedstock for producing biochar, which is then used in another agro-processing industry for wastewater treatment. The biochar after wastewater treatment can be used for agricultural soil applications. This article describes a study on the pyrolysis of oilcakes from crambe and meadowfoam seeds. The pyrolysis of oilcakes obtained from crambe and meadowfoam seeds is conducted in a furnace-heated reactor at 450 °C and 550 °C and the properties of char, oil and gas are studied. The biochar is then used for wastewater treatment. This article discusses the results.
Raj Kumar Dahal; Bishnu Acharya; Aitazaz Farooque. Biochar: a sustainable solution for solid waste management in agro-processing industries. Biofuels 2018, 12, 237 -245.
AMA StyleRaj Kumar Dahal, Bishnu Acharya, Aitazaz Farooque. Biochar: a sustainable solution for solid waste management in agro-processing industries. Biofuels. 2018; 12 (2):237-245.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRaj Kumar Dahal; Bishnu Acharya; Aitazaz Farooque. 2018. "Biochar: a sustainable solution for solid waste management in agro-processing industries." Biofuels 12, no. 2: 237-245.