Texting while driving Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Texting while driving - Essay Example These efforts that include commercial like the AT& T have in the past failed and still show no sign of succeeding in future due to the following: first, the ever growing culture which sees vehicles as haven, roving office and friendly place where people do whatever they like. The second reason is the culture of connection that has left most people afraid with the issue of being left out. Lastly, the technological culture that leaves many trapped in a bias where they are tempted to permit the act first and only ask question later. Some supporters of the idea of texting while driving argue that it only becomes bad when the act takes place while the driver is on a high speed. It is on this ground that some people recommend that wireless mobile service providers ban texting incase the phone is detected to be moving faster than 20miles per hour. It has been suggested that phone makers configure the mobile devices to automatically advice persons communicating from the other side the driver is on the wheels. But is driving and texting really sinful? Does it go against God’s standards of what is right? It is not debatable that drinking and driving is unethical. The same applies to similar acts such as drugs and driving, speedy driving in a school zone or construction area where men are at work. Again it may be important to take a break and ask why these acts are considered unethical driving. The answer will obviously be based on the idea that it endangers other people’s lives (Rachels, and Stuart). Now coming back to the current scenario, it is argued that texting does not tamper with people’s intellect like drugs and alcohol. However, it is important to note that texting and driving greatly affect the sense of sight, a key element while driving. It is on this ground that everything about it becomes wrong. Taking the ideas carried in the consequentialism theory of morality and

Roles and Functions of the Music Industry

Roles and Functions of the Music Industry The music industry is one of the largest creative industries in the world, combing different elements of the business to produce and sell music to its audience. The development of the industry has evolved on a very large scale since the 19th century, when it was the printed sheet music being the leading product. Moving forward with societys technological progression, in the 20th century, the way we were listening to music was changing with it becoming ubiquitous. popular music was an early global commodity, with record companies establishing branches around the world for both marketing and the recruitment of talent at the beginning of the twentieth century, (Gronow and Saunio, 1998). When these record labels began to emerge, they were producing and selling more recorded music, CDs, cassettes and live performances and introducing more musical genres to the world. All of these aspects have brought us to todays technologically advanced society, making the music business a very powerful industry consumed by the masses. In this essay I shall discuss the role and functions of the music industry, drawing upon particular theorists opinions including Theodor Adorno. I will also touch upon the study of popular music and the many factors contributing to the current crises of the music industry itself. In an age where music has become one of the more dominant and influential forms of entertainment in our society, the factors driving its production should be explored. Firstly, I shall look at the concept of music ownership. Record companies have an enormous amount of control over what music gets produced and what doesnt as it is the main goal for them to sell and make profit. They will not sign an artist unless they truly believe that they will make them money. The major companies in the business today are, Sony BMG, Universal Music, EMI and Warner Music, which are collectively known as The Big Four who then own smaller labels as well. After managing the production and distribution of the music, it is their responsibility to handle the marketing for musical artists, organising promotions, music videos, endorsements and so on, giving the artist well-known status among the mass audience. In the early days of this music industry, being signed to a label was essential for an artist to b e successful. However, in todays digitally advanced world, it is much easier for an artist to have their music shared with an audience using information technology like the internet, which paved the way for independent labels becoming more popular as well. In the documentary Money for Nothing, they go behind the business of pop music and look at how it has changed in this society of digitally experienced consumers. We are shown insights from music journalists and artists about corporate control and the restraints given to contemporary music. With major labels only looking at the artists who they believe are the most profitable, the independent labels take on artists that they can help develop and take risks with different talent. Although, with the current economic climate and the decline in revenue from various aspects of the industry, even the independent labels are having trouble staying out of the corporate system. REFERENCE. Recording companies becoming this hyper commercialized system is a largely stated opinion among musical talents and media theorists. Major record labels are owned by the huge media conglomerates that are the core reason why creativity in music has become so limited. The conglomerates of the industry use the re cord companies to sign acts that can get them the quick sell as the only aim for them as a business is to make a profit. Cross media marketing or synergy, is something these conglomerates use to make this profit and to develop other media industries. They buy into other companies in entertainment, which they can then use to advertise and sell across different markets. The music industry on the other hand is completely dependent on the media as a promoter, user and distributer of its products. Most professional musical artists communicate with their audience primarily via some kind of electronic medium and only a fraction of the audience is able to experience the artists live performance. For instance, Warner Music Group, one of the largest media conglomerates, owns various entertainment companies including television, film and publishing along with music labels. The record labels use these companies to advertise and promote artists across markets such as radio, television and retail which are then consumed by the mass audience. A successful example in the current music charts is Ellie Goulding and her new song which is a cover of Elton Johns Your Song. It was not that popular to start with as Goulding is not an extremely well known artist compared to other artists currently in the charts. However, when the music label gave permission for the retail chain, John Lewis, to use the song in their new Christmas advertisement, the song rocketed up the charts and is now a favourite for Christmas number one. Goulding has begun to appear on radio and television promoting the song and she has become a household name in a matter of weeks, all thanks to the instant fame John Lewis have given her. This shows how popular music is so commercially driven and how the absence of real talent, experimentation and creativity in music has begun to disappear. Most of todays new acts are manufactured because this is cheaper and easier for labels to produce rather than finding new talented artists. With television shows such as The X Factor, a concept of combining reality television with the music industry, created by music mogul Simon Cowell, we are brought together as this unthinking homogenous mass with the music acting as a social cement. We are being brainwashed through these simple ideologies of music, rendering us as a passive and unthinking mass audience. Adorno argues that the whole structure of popular music is standardized, even where the attempt is made to circumvent standardization. In his work he characterizes popular and serious music of which he then uses to underline his theory of popular music being standardized. This theory highlights that pop music is just a product of mass culture, and how the formula of producing a song is just endlessly replicated with a fixed structure and yet creates the illusion of creativity, what Adorno refers to in his theory of pseudo-individualisation. The song structure is replicated so much so, that the consumers do not actually realise they have heard it before, what Adorno refers to as pre-digested. So the listening of a song is not spontaneous and no intellect is required as it has done the thinking for them and the listeners consume what is already familiar. However, I do believe that with the current crisis of the music industry, there is a certain layer of pop music that is standardized but there is still an element of creative autonomy. Although saying that, the industry will always be driven by money and not creativity as that is the prerogative of a capitalist society we live in today. Compared to popular music, serious music is not standardized as it is produced with the whole aesthetics of a song in mind and every detail derives its musical sense from the concrete totality of the piece. With serious music being genres such as folk, pre-industrial music, classical, or art music, it is focusing on the experimentation and meaning of a piece rather than the repetitive, fixed structure of a popular song. Independent music labels have a slightly different outlook on producing music compared with the major labels. They take a less economic approach and more a social approach to music and without a corporate conglomerate steering them they can decide what to produce. However without corporate finances indie labels still have trouble getting the music out there to be heard. Not wanting to be a part of the commercial music industry, the American punk band Fugazi stayed with their independent record label Dischord Records which was also co-founded by the bands guitarist Ian MacKaye, refusing offers to become part of major label. Their main focus was their music and they did not want to rip off their listeners, which a major label would make them do. Michael Azerrad mentions in Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991, In response not only to a corrupt music industry but to an entire economic and political system they felt was fraught with greed for money and powerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Fugazi staked out the indie scene as the moral high ground of the music industry; from then on, indie wasnt just do-it-yourself, it was Do the Right Thing. This is one example where the music is more important than the sell and the artist keeping control over their music. Even when managing to not sell out to the commercial music industry, Fugazi gained loyal fans through their honest and passionate attitudes towards their music and do not charge extortionate amounts of money for tickets to their performances or CDs escaping the capitali st business. However, for the major record labels, charging large amounts of money for concert tickets seem to be the only way for an artist to make money these days. With the music industry in a crisis, losing money through illegal downloading and file sharing over the internet, artists are losing money through CD sales so have to charge more money for ticket prices to make up for this loss. Going back to the use of synergy in the music business, we have come to find that the status of Radio itself has also changed. With radio stations being owned by the bigger conglomerates, they are not spontaneous anymore, when playing different types of music. It used to be that, Radio DJs would play the music that they believed was good music and having their particular music personality broadcasted to their listeners. Today, the conglomerates that own the stations have a strong say in what gets played. For instance, there would be a particular song they have to play a number of times in so many hours, so technically they have no control over whats played. Adornos belief on how culture gets polluted when it meets commerce plays a quiet role here. The media conglomerates controlling the radio stations are selling the listeners an illusion. They are hiring celebrities as DJs who know little or sometimes nothing about music other than their own personal interests to host shows, who the n become these big media personalities become with the public from media marketing and promotion. For example, Vernon Kay, BBC Radio 1 DJ, was a TV presenter before his big break in to radio in 2004. His television status made him a well known name, and so naturally he was then hired to be the DJ for a prime spot on a mainstream station. So, overall, they are selling him more than the station, to acquire a larger proportion of listeners. It was radio play of music that constituted its popularity, but with many radio stations sounding the same nowadays, only playing the popular chart music, it is much harder for unknown bands and artists to get air time on the more popular stations. Looking back at the documentary Money For Nothing again, we can see that there are the four main companies that reach consumers in the selling of music. From the production at the record companies, the music then gets played over the radio, the music videos will be shown on television and then touring will promote the music. For manufactured new artists, the record companies will pay other radio stations to play this music so its heard by the masses, and then this will also give the opportunity to promote other areas of the industry that they own. So in the end, the variety of music heard on the radio has now decreased on a large scale. Coming into todays digitally advanced world, the music industry has fallen into a crisis. In a generation where virtually everything is digitally recoverable, the sales of records are on continuing decline, not only from legal downloads from sites such as iTunes, but illegal file sharing over the internet has also become major factor. In an interview with Simon Frith for the online music magazine Perfect Sound Forever, Simon Frith says that, With digital CDs, records can now live forever and there is far more back catalogue available and less incentive to buy records that just came out. iTunes is one of these catalogues where music files from virtually any artist are readily available to purchase. It was established in 2001 by the global corporation Apple and has since been one of the main outlets of digital media. Napster, was a peer to peer file sharing service online created by a university student, Shawn Fanning. It began in 1999, allowing people to share their music libraries across this system. This service became very popular with its easier way of obtaining music files that could be expensive to purchase or just hard to come by. However with this technology its popularity grew to over 20 million users and music artists and bands became more aware of the seriousness of the copyright infringements of the company. Metallica and Dr Dre were one of the first bands to sue Napster for copyright violations of their music with a successful outcome. Rapper Dr Dre stated that I work hard making music thats how I earn a living. This is a shared opinion of all musical artists as they are losing money through file sharing technology, and this is ultimately damaging the future of the industry. In the end Napster had to stop the service, but not completely shut it down. They turned it into a subscript ion service to abide by the copyright laws; however this still did not get them out of the financial struggle they were in, paying legal settlements to the music industry. They finally went bankrupt and had to liquidate their business. Even though the illegal file-sharing was stopped through Napsters service, the core idea and technology has gone on to a larger problem with many more illegal downloading services such as Limewire, Ares or torrent software. These newer services have built upon Napsters original technology and have made a larger dent in the music industrys revenue today. Even Fanning saw the greater potential for peer to peer technology stating, peer-to-peer technology or distributed computing also has tremendous opportunity for sharing resources or computing power, lowering information and transaction costsPeer-to-peer also has the potential to change todays understanding of the relationship between source and site. He saw how this could make searching for files easie r, explaining that it is less complicated and less time consuming to just let a program find the file source to rather than connecting to a central server. Looking at the music industry as a whole, the main aspects of technology, music and commerce Conclusion: Internet has made music ubiquitous. Using our emotions and vulnerability to sell us music catharsis adorno synergy, which Ben H. Bagdikian, in his book Media Monopoly,

Essay --

When operating a business it is essential that a business analyses where it stand in a market in the present moment as they are then able to grasp at possible enhancements which could be made in order to successfully improve their products or services. It is also important that a business is able keep up with today’s always changing laws and legislations which through the use of the information they are able to adjust to such changes. SWOT analysis is a method used by organisations to help them analysis, evaluate and take into account different factors within and outside the organisations which can have an influence on their product. SWOT stands for Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It enables businesses to clearly form a logical point of view on a products marketing state. For instance using my business plan to re-launch the Zune I can see that the strength and weaknesses of the business would be factors that are internal such as cost production, quality and pricing. While the opportunities and threats would be the external relating to factors such as competitors, audience, trends and politics. The table below illustrates how SWOT would apply to my business plan: Strength (Internal) The strengths are the advantages that the company has which enable it to operate with little or no problems. In the case of Microsoft one advantage is that it has been in the market for a long time and has a wide experience in marketing. Its reputation is also another strength as it is a well known brand name therefore customers are more likely to prefer their products as they will expect a high quality product. The main strength that Microsoft has is its financial position since the company is worth billions of pounds, this will... ...control in the short-run a good example being minimum wage in the UK which the company has no control over, however the company can respond to that change by shifting its major operations in UK to a country like China where minimum wages are not as high compared to the UK wage regulations. That response would help reduce production cost. Boston matrix helped businesses in assessing when to invest largely in prolonging their products for example at a star category more funds are needed to remain in the market where both market share and market growth are at their peak. If not properly checked it could fall into the cow cash category. It is also found that the product life cycle concept assist businesses in knowing at what stage the product stands. Therefore the firm is able to know when to invest in order to extend product’s life or rather to avoid decline stage.

My Final Year Project

A REPORT ON AUTOMATED STEAM JACKETED COOKING VESSEL BY PRATAP DESHMUKH 2008A8PS251G AT GADHIA SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEMS PVT. LTD. A Practice School II station of BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE, PILANI (JANUARY – JUNE 2012) A REPORT ON AUTOMATED STEAM JACKETED COOKING VESSEL BY PRATAP DESHMUKH 2008A8PS251G B. E. (Hons) ELEC. & INSTR. Prepared in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Course No. BITS C412 (Practice School II) AT GADHIA SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM PVT. LTD. A Practice School- II station of BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE, PILANI JANUARY – JUNE 2012) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank the Managing Director and Coordinator of Gadhia Solar Energy Systems Pvt. Ltd. , Mr. Badal Shah, for giving us this wonderful opportunity. I would also like to thank my mentor Dr. Vivek Wasekar, Vice President R&D and Mr. Veera Prasad Gadde Deputy General Manager, R&D, for being a constant source of guidance and support throughout my project. I am also grateful to the Vice Chancellor, BITS Pilani, Prof. B. N. Jain, and the Practice School Division Dean, Mr G.Sundar for giving us this opportunity to gain valuable work experience. I am extremely thankful to our faculty in charge, Mr. Pavan Kumar Potdar for conducting the programme in an effective manner. PRATAP DESHMUKH 2008A8PS251G Page | 0 BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE, PILANI (RAJASTHAN) Practice School Division Station: Gadhia Solar Energy Systems Pvt Ltd Duration: 06 January 2012 – 20 June 2012 Date of Submission: 30 March 2012 Title of the Project: AUTOMATED STEAM JACKETED COOKING VESSEL NAME PRATAP DESHMUKH ID NO 2008A8PS251G DISCIPLINE B.E. (Hons) ELEC. & INSTR. Centre: Valsad, Gujrat. Name of expert: Dr. Vivek Wasekar (Associate Manager, Instrumentation Dept. ) Name of the PS Faculty: Mr. Pavan Kumar Potdar Key Words: Steam cooking, Jacketed Vessel, PLC, Ladder Logic, solar, cooking. Project Areas: A development project of a automated cooking system for steam cookin g vessel Abstract: This report covers the details of the project undertaken by me at Gadhia Solar Energy Systems Pvt. Ltd. to develop and implement the automation of Steam cooking with a steam jacketed cooking vessel.It also focuses on the technical and design aspects of the new system and provides a detail study of observations after implementation of the system (Signatures of Student) __________________ 25 March 2012 (Signature of PS faculty) __________________ 30 March 2012 Page | 1 BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE, PILANI (RAJASTHAN) Practice School Division Response Option Sheet Station: Gadhia Solar Energy Systems Pvt. Ltd. ID No. & Name(s): Pratap Deshmukh Centre: Valsad, Gujrat 2008A8PS251G Title of the Project: AUTOMATED STEAM JACKETED COOKING VESSEL Code No. 1. 2. 3. Response Options A new course can be designed out of this project.The project can help modification of the course content of some of the existing courses. The project can be used directly in some of the existing Compulsory Discipline Courses (CDC)/Discipline Courses Other Than Compulsory (DCOC)/Emerging Area (EA) etc. Courses The project can be used in preparatory courses like Analysis and Application Orientated Courses (AAOC)/ Engineering Sciences (ES)/Technical Arts (TA) and Core Courses This project cannot come under any of the above mentioned options as it relates to the professional work of the host organization. Course No. (s) & Name 4. 5. YES Signatures of Students) __________________ (Signature of PS faculty) __________________ Page | 2 Abstract: Gadhia Solar is an innovative Solar Thermal Energy Company, focused on providing energy solutions by using Parabolic Concentrated Technology, backed by technical support from HTT GmbH of Germany. Since its inception, Gadhia Solar has been a technologically, solution focused company driven by strong passion for environmental and social contribution combined with high creativity and integrity. The company is into researching and dev eloping new alternatives to harvest the unfathomable source of energy.Automated Steam Jacketed Vessel is a new kind of cooking vessel in itself. The vessels used for soalr thermal cooking are one with direct injection of steam and have limited usability. But with jacketed cooking vessel, any kind of food item can be cooked since the food does not come in contact with the steam. For cooking food, the temperature of the vessel should be maintained in the bracket of 80-120OC which will not only cook the food faster, but also won’t burn it. The vessel was designed with the help of Dr. Vivek Wasekar and for automation of the cooking process; I worked with Mr. Veera Prasad Gadde.For the automation, a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is being used which will read the temperature inside the vessel with the help of a Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD) and thereby control the cooking process. Two Solenoid Valves are being used to control the flow of steam and the condensate insid e the jacket. And also a pressure regulator is being used to regulate the pressure of the steam from the header. The parabolic dishes will generate the steam inside the header. When the outlet of the header is opened, the steam at high pressure at around 15 bar will be let into the outlet.The pressure regulator will regulate the pressure of the steam to a value of around 3 bar which will go towards first solenoid valve. When the cooking process is started, the first valve will open and let the steam into the jacketed vessel. The steam will raise the temperature and thereby cook the food. For the initial implementation, three food items have been considered i. e. rice, dal and vegetables. According to the food item being cooked, the controller will decide the temperature and time for cooking and proceed with the cooking. The second solenoid valve will remove the condensate from the jacket of the vessel.Two different loops will be simultaneously controlling both valves till the proces s is stopped or completed. Page | 3 About the company: Using the power of sun as source of energy, Gadhia Solar has implemented some of the world’s largest Solar Thermal Systems in last two decades. Be it industrial, agricultural, institutional or domestic, Gadhia Solar has been a pioneering company with major breakthrough in this area. With extensive experience in installing solar thermal energy systems throughout India and armed with ever improving production facility, Gadhia Solar is the pioneer and market leader in solar thermal energy systems.Gadhia Solar has achieved the ability to develop various applications based on Solar Concentrators like: Solar Cooking Applications o Steam Cooking o Thermic Oil based Cooking, o Direct Cooking, o Small Cookers for Family Solar Power Plants Solar Air-Conditioning Space Heating Systems Process Heat for Various Industrial Applications Large Scale Drinking Water Systems Solar Hot Water of up to 90 0C Solar Incineration Solar Crematoriu m Waste Water Evaporation Solar Desalination Solar Water / Milk Pasteurization Specialized in solar thermal technology for the last two decades, Gadhia Solar is able to provide innovative and cost effective energy solutions for various applications on turnkey basis. Gadhia Solar has a highly focused and dedicated team for research and development in Germany and complimented by a well equipped and automated manufacturing in India. Page | 4 List of Figures Figure 1: Previous Direct Steam Injection Cooking Vessel†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 14 Figure 2: Steam Jacketed Cooking Vessel. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 16 Figure 3: Steam Flow Diagram †¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 17 Figure 4: Logic Diagram for controlling cooking procedure†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 20 Figure 5: Logic Diagram for controlling cooking and Condensate Valve †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 21 Page | 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER NO. TITLE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABSTRACT SHEET RESPONSE OPTION SHEET ABSTRACT OF PROJECT ABOUT THE COMPANY LIST OF FIGURES PAGE NO. 0 1 2 3 4 5 1. . 2. 1 2. 2 2. 3 2. 4 3 3. 1 4. 5. 5. 1 5. 2 5. 3 6. Introduction Solar Thermal Cooking Scheffler Reflectors. Steam Generation Current P rocedure of Cooking Current Design of Vessel Steam Jacketed Cooking Vessel Designing the vessel. Steam Flow with Diagram Automation Instruments Required Logic Diagram Programming Completed Work and Implementation References 7 9 9 12 13 15 16 16 17 18 18 20 22 23 24 Page | 6 1. Introduction: Gadhia Solar Energy Systems Pvt Ltd. has been making Scheffler reflectors for various purposes. The basic idea that leads to the development of the Scheffler- Reflectors was to make solar cooking as comfortable as possible.At the same time the device should be build in a way that allows it to be constructed in any rural welding workshop after a certain period of training. The locally available materials must be sufficient for the construction of the reflector. The movement started when the first well functioning Scheffler-Reflector (size: 1,1m x 1,5m) was successfully built by Mr. Wolfgang Scheffler in 1986 at a mission-station in North-Kenya. Since then the technology has been continuously impro ved and passed on to many motivated people. This lead to the use of Scheffler reflectors in not just cooking but also other applications like VAM, cold storage, etc. For cooking application, these Scheffler-reflectors are used to generate steam in the header pipe.The water inside the header is heated with the reflector and due to the continuous input of heat; steam at high pressure is generated inside the header. When the outlet of the header is opened, this steam at a higher temperature and pressure is used for cooking. A valve is connected to the steam line which goes to the cooking vessel. When the valve is opened, the steam is let into the vessel and hence the food is cooked with it. Gadhia Solar Energy Systems Pvt Ltd has installed many solar cooking systems in India. They have installed the world’s largest solar parabolic concentrated technology systems at Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi. This system uses the same Scheffler- reflectors to produce steam from water an d uses that generated steam to cook the food.The solar cooking vessels used currently are being operated manually and needs at least one labor per cooking vessel to operate. The cooking is done by direct injection of steam into the vessel. When the food is cooked by direct injection of steam into the food, as the steam is at high pressure and temperature, it comes out of the vessel. Therefore all of the energy of the steam cannot be utilized for cooking. This increases the heat losses and also increases the cooking time. Also due to the type of vessel, it is not possible to cook different types of food. Risk of contamination is also involved if the water source is not clean. So for this purpose a new design of cooking vessel was proposed.This vessel used the energy of steam to heat the food without coming in contact with it. The Steam Jacketed Cooking Vessel Page | 7 was designed to solve the problems which were faced by the earlier used cooking vessel. In this vessel, the steam was being passed in the jacket around the cooking vessel. As the steam condenses inside the jacket, it transfers its heat energy to the food inside and cooks the food. For the Automation of the cooking process, a Programmable Logic Controller is used which will control the temperature inside the cooking vessel and cook the food accordingly. The temperature inside the vessel will be measured by a RTD (Resistance Temperature Detector).This reading will be processed by the PLC as an Analog Input, and according to the food item selected to be cooked, the PLC will select the cooking temperature and time and start the process on user’s command. The process can be controlled by a START button, STOP button, and food type selection button defining RICE, DAL and VEGETABLE for each button. The operator first needs to select the type of food that has to be cooked. According to the selection, respective LED will turn on which will show the food item selected. Even after selecting an item, th e choice can be changed to another food item. After selection, the START button is required to be pressed which will start the cooking.The cooking algorithm will take care of the temperature and the time required for cooking. If the food gets cooked before the timer gets over, or something goes wrong with the process, the operator can manually shut everything down by pressing STOP button. This cooking vessel will increase the types of food that can be cooked with steam. The automation of the vessel will reduce the need of manual labor and will also cook the food faster at optimum temperatures. Page | 8 2. Solar Thermal Cooking: 2. 1 The Scheffler Reflector: The Idea The basic idea that leads to the development of the Scheffler- Reflectors was to make solar cooking as comfortable as possible.At the same time the device should be build in a way that allows it to be constructed in any rural welding workshop in southern countries after a certain period of training. The locally available materials must be sufficient. The Technology To make cooking simple and comfortable the cooking-place should not have to be moved, even better: it should be inside the house and the concentrating reflector outside in the sun. The best solution was an eccentric, flexible parabolic reflector which rotates around an axis parallel to earth-axis, synchronous with the sun. Additionally the reflector is adjusted to the seasons by flexing it in a simple way. How does this work? The reflector is a small lateral section of a much larger paraboloid. The inclined cut produces the typical elliptical shape of the Scheffler-Reflector.The sunlight that falls onto this section of the paraboloid is reflected sideways to the focus located at some distance of the reflector. The axis of daily rotation is located exactly in north-south-direction, parallel to earth axis and runs through the centre of gravity of the reflector. That way the reflector always maintains its gravitational equilibrium and the m echanical tracking device (clockwork) doesn't need to be driven by much force to rotate it synchronous with the sun. The focus is located on the axis of rotation to prevent it from moving when the reflector rotates. The distance between focus and centre of the reflector depends on the selected parabola. During the day the concentrated light will only rotate around its own centre but not move Page | 9 ideways in any direction. That way the focus stays fixed, which is very useful, as it means the cooking-pot doesn't have to be moved either. In the course of the seasons the incident angle of the solar radiation varies + / – 23. 5 ° in relation with the perpendicular to earth-axis. The paraboloid has to perform the same change of inclination in order to stay directed at the sun. Otherwise it's not possible to obtain a sharp focal point. But the centre of the reflector and the position of the focus are not allowed to move. This is only possible by shaping the reflector after ano ther parabola for each seasonal inclinationangle of the sun, i. e. for each day of the year.This means the reflector has to change its shape. The reflector-frame is build for equinox. By inclining and elastically deforming the reflectorframe all other parabolas can be achieved with sufficient accuracy. Changing the inclination and deforming the reflector are mechanically combined: the two pivots, at each side of the reflector-frame, and a pivot in the centre of the reflector, do not form a line, but the second is located below. That way inclining the reflector leads to a change in its depth, the centre of the reflector is lifted up (big radius of crossbars) or pressed down (small radius of crossbars) relative to the reflector-frame.It's enough to adjust the upper and lower end of the reflector to their correct position to obtain a sufficiently exact reflector-shape. The setting is done by a telescopic bar at each end of the reflector. Adjusting the reflector-shape has to be done man ually every 2-3 days. When all concentrated light enters the opening of the cooking-place installed at the focal point the correct reflectorshape is achieved. After passing the opening the light is redirected by a small reflector (secondary reflector) to the black bottom of the cooking pot. There it is absorbed and transformed into heat. The efficiency for cooking, i. e. heating water from 25 °C to 100 °C, can reach up to 57% and depends on the cleanliness of the eflector-surface and the state of insulation of the cooking-pot. At the focalpoint itself we have measured optical efficiency of up to 75% (with 2mm ordinary glass mirrors). Depending on the season an elliptical reflector of 2,8m x 3. 8m (standard size of 8m? SchefflerReflector) collects the sunlight of a 4,3m? to 6,4m? area, measured perpendicular to the direction of the incident light (aperture). That way the cooking power varies with the season. As an average a 8m? Reflector can bring 22 liters of cold water to boili ng temperature within one hour (with 700W/m? direct solar radiation). Page | 10 There are many options for the design of the cooking-place.Mostly it is integrated into a kitchen building and provides the possibility to use firewood for cooking when the sun doesn't shine. Depending on the type of food which is cooked there is no need for a secondary reflector. This increases the efficiency and simplifies maintenance. Instead of a cooking-place a backing-oven, steam-generator or heat-storage can be installed at the focal-point. Page | 11 2. 2 Steam Generation: With the use of the Schefflor Reflectors, steam at high temperature and pressure can be generated with ease. Steam in saturated temperature can be made available at high pressure by concentrating the focus and heating the water in a closed system with the focused heat. The focus of the reflector has to be concentrated onto a receiver of the header pipe.The receiver is painted black to absorb most of the radiation incident on it. The temperature of the focus of a 16m2 Scheffler Reflector can be as high as 700oC and at the receiver it is around 230oC. At such high temperatures, the water inside the header is being heated. Because of the continuous heat supply from the reflector, the water inside the header gets converted into steam. With time, more steam is being generated and pressure inside the header increases. It is possible to get pressure of 15 barg in around 4 hours using four 12. 5 m2 Scheffler Reflectors under ideal conditions and this steam can be used to cook two batches of 25kg of rice. Page | 12 2. Current procedure of cooking: The current procedure for cooking is by direct injection of steam into the cooking vessel. The food cooked by this procedure consists of mainly rice, dal and some vegetables. All of them are cooked in direct steam. First the outlet valve of the header is opened to a little extent. The drain valve at the vessel is opened to remove the condensate. After every cooking sessio n, there is leftover condensate in the steam line. Since that condensate should not come in contact with food, it needs to be drained out first. After the condensate is removed, the condensate valve is closed and the steam is let into the cooking vessel.The cooking vessel contains a predefined amount of water with the food to be cooked. The steam is passed through the mixture, the temperature increases and the cooking starts. Also the operator needs to stir the mixture at regular intervals. In a 100 liters cooking vessel, it takes almost 15 minutes to cook around 28 kilograms of rice. Since the process involves direct injection of steam, the water used reaches the boiling quickly and the food gets cooked faster. But during cooking, after the water has reached its boiling point, a huge amount of steam goes starts to escape the vessel as the vessel has an open lid. This results into loss of a lot of heat energy which could have been used in cooking the rice quickly.When the food gets cooked, the stand of the vessel has a tilting arrangement with the help of which the operator can take out the food from the vessel. So all the valves are closed and then the vessel is tilted to take the food out. The food is not processed after that, it is collected and served directly. Page | 13 2. 4 Current Design of vessel The current design of the cooking vessel is very effective for direct steam cooking. But for the food items which cannot be cooked by steam directly, it is very difficult for the operator to cook such foods. As mentioned the current design uses a direct injection system. The steam from header is carried by the steam line to the vessel where it is regulated with the help of a ball valve.The construction of the vessel is made to facilitate cooking with the help of steam. The vessel’s bottom dish is a regular torispherical dish and it has a shell of same diameter of that of the bottom dish. There is another plate with a defined curvature above the bottom d ish with small holes in it. This plate is for passing the steam into the cooking material. When food is put into the vessel, some predefined amount of water is added with it. So during cooking process, the water gets heated initially and then the cooking starts. Due to direct injection of steam at temperature greater than 100oC, the water reaches boiling point in a short period of time. Thus the cooking process starts.The operator closes the valve when he thinks that the food is appropriately cooked. Figure 1: Previous Direct Steam Injection Cooking Vessel Page | 14 The present design has some benefits, but there is also another side to it. There are some problems with the current design which cannot be rectified without changing the design. The Advantages and Disadvantages of the present design are listed below. Advantages: 1. It facilitates faster cooking time. 2. Since less material is used in manufacture, it saves manufacturing cost. 3. The design is simple which reduces manufac turing time. 4. As it is lighter, it is easier to transport. Disadvantages: 1. There are substantial heat losses during the cooking process. 2.Since the operators cook in an open lid vessel to keep a watch on the food, lot of steam escapes the vessel resulting decreasing the efficiency of process. 3. If the condensed water in the steam line is contaminated, then there are chances of the food getting contaminated. 4. As the outer shell is not insulated, operator has to be cautious or it could lead to injuries. Page | 15 3. Steam Jacketed Cooking Vessel. 3. 1 Designing the Vessel. The design of the vessel was to be made in such a way that it is easy and economic to manufacture. The material chosen for the pilot project of Steam Jacketed Cooking Vessel was Stainless Steel of the grade 304. This material was chosen as it is not affected by steam and it also resists corrosion. The size of the vessel was chosen to be 100 liters.The dimensions of the inner vessel were taken from the existi ng direct steam injection vessel whose volume was 10 liters. Then according to the pressure calculations, the thickness of the sheet and volume of the jacket was defined. The thickness of the vessel is defined as 4mm and volume of the jacket is approximately 1 cubic m for a pressure of 3 barg inside the jacket of the vessel. The vessel is having 3 openings in the outer shell. Two of them are on the horizontal shell and one is in the bottom of the outer dish end. Out of the three openings, one is used for steam injection, one for a safety valve and the bottom one for removal of condensate.All the openings are of 1 inch diameter and will have pipes welded to it for injection of steam, safety valve and condensate removal. The vessel will have two more openings which will be used to mount the RTD and the temperature gauge to measure the temperature inside the vessel. The final drawing of the vessel is shown in FIG 1. Figure 2: Steam Jacketed Cooking Vessel. Page | 16 4. Steam Flow Diagr ams. Water is supplied to the header tank from an overhead tank. Either the overhead tank is at a greater height than that of header, or a sometimes a small pump is used to pump water into the Header. The Solar Concentrators are focused on the receivers mounted on the header pipe.The receivers are painted black to absorb maximum amount of radiation incident on it. These receivers heat the water inside the header and generate steam at higher pressure. This generated steam is vented to the Steam line and the pressure is controlled by the Pressure regulating valve. The solenoid valve SOV1 controls the steam input into the vessel. Thus the temperature inside the vessel can be controlled by controlling SOV1. As the steam is let inside, it will condense after giving its heat. For removal of this condensate, another solenoid valve has been provided SOV2. This valve will remove the condensate at regular intervals. Figure 3: Steam Flow Diagram Page | 17 5.Automation 5. 1 Instruments required . 1. Programmable Logic Controller: A programmable logic controller (PLC) or programmable controller is a digital computer used for automation of electromechanical processes, such as control of machinery on factory assembly lines, amusement rides, or light fixtures. PLCs are used in many industries and machines. Unlike general-purpose computers, the PLC is designed for multiple inputs and output arrangements, extended temperature ranges, immunity to electrical noise, and resistance to vibration and impact. Programs to control machine operation are typically stored in battery-backed-up or nonvolatile memory.A PLC is an example of a real time system since output results must be produced in response to input conditions within a limited time, otherwise unintended operation will result. 2. 2-way ON/OFF Solenoid Valve A solenoid valve is an electromechanical valve for use with liquid or gas. The valve is controlled by an electric current through a solenoid: in the case of a two-port valve the flow is switched on or off; in the case of a three-port valve, the outflow is switched between the two outlet ports. For this application, two valves will be used. One will be controlling the steam injection into the jacket. The other valve will be taking care of condensate removal from the jacket. 3. Resistance Temperature Detector.Resistance temperature detectors (RTDs) are sensors used to measure temperature by correlating the resistance of the RTD element with temperature. Most RTD elements consist of a length of fine coiled wire wrapped around a ceramic or glass core. The element is usually quite fragile, so it is often placed inside a sheathed probe to protect it. The RTD element is made from a pure material whose resistance at various temperatures has been documented. The material has a predictable change in resistance as the temperature changes; it is this predictable change that is used to determine temperature. Page | 18 For this application, we will be using a PT-100 RTD with a thermowell.The RTD will be mounted inside the thermowell for its protection from the steam inside the jacket. Thermowell also enables us to change the RTD with ease in case the RTD fails. 4. Pressure Regulator: A pressure regulator is a valve that automatically cuts off the flow of a liquid or gas at a certain pressure. Regulators are used to allow high-pressure fluid supply lines or tanks to be reduced to safe and/or usable pressures for various applications. Since the header pressure is much more than needed for the application, the pressure will be reduced using a Pressure Regulator. The pressure needed for the application is 3 barg while the header can supply pressure 0-15 barg.To have a steady supply of steam and maintain the pressure and temperature, we will be using a pressure regulator. 5. Temperature Gauge with Thermowell: Temperature Gauge is a device that measures temperature or temperature gradient using a variety of different principles. A Temperature gauge has two important elements: the temperature sensor in which some physical change occurs with temperature, plus some means of converting this physical change into a numerical value. A temperature gauge mounted inside a threaded thermowell will be used. Since the temperature reading needed is of the food inside the vessel, the temperature gauge will be mounted on the side of the vessel just like the RTD. The thermowell will protect the Temperature Gauge rom steam inside the jacket of the vessel. Page | 19 5. 2 Logic Diagram: The first diagram displays the logic for controlling cooking process. With turning the device ON, it will start the procedure. According to the outcome of the decision block, it will decide and execute. Figure 4: Logic Diagram for controlling cooking procedure Page | 20 The algorithms given below control the cooking of the food by maintain a specific temperature bracket inside the vessel.  ±3oC range is provided so that the solenoid valves won’t switch ON /OFF at particular temperature which could result in damage. The second logic is for the condensate valve SOV2 which will be ON/OFF at regular intervals.Figure 5: Logic Diagram for controlling cooking and Condensate Valve Page | 21 5. 3 Programming Most of the Programmable Logic Controllers use a different programming language. The language used by them is called Ladder Logic. Ladder logic is a programming language that represents a program by a graphical diagram based on the circuit diagrams of relay logic hardware. It is primarily used to develop software for programmable logic controllers (PLCs) used in industrial control applications. The name is based on the observation that programs in this language resemble ladders, with two vertical rails and a series of horizontal rungs between them.The previously shown logic will be made in Ladder Logic. It will then be downloaded into the flash memory of the Programmable Logic Controller. The PLC will execute the logic and accordingly it will monitor and process the parameters involved. In this project, the opening and closing of both valves and will be monitoring the temperature during the process. The program is made on proprietary software which is supplied by the vendor of the PLC. Every PLC make has specific software which is used to build the program and download the program into the PLC. It can also be used to change the process parameters in online mode. The software also provides offline simulation of the process.For data logging purposes, usually different software is used. The Ladder Logic for the project is under construction and will be finished by the time procurement of all the instruments is done. The parameters which need to be used in the logic will be found out during the processing of the procurement of instruments. During the period of procurement, the manufacturing of the vessel and designing the ladder logic will be done. Page | 22 6. Completed Work and Implementation: From the start, the proj ect has been progressed according to the timeline. Now, all the instruments and material needed for the project has been indented and is in process. Some of the instruments have been dispatched.But for procuring the entire indent, it is going to take some more time. Meanwhile, since the Logic is available, the ladder program is being made and is approaching completion. Also, the manufacturing of vessel is in process and the vessel will be ready by the end of next week. After program is completed, some more time will be given to test it in offline mode and debug the program is any bugs are found. After all the materials are processed and the final values for the process parameters are found out, the project will enter the implementation and testing phase. The entire infrastructure needed for the cooking vessel and the instruments will be constructed on the site.For different types of foods, the values initially found out of temperature and time will be used. If the parameters are not off by some amount, they will be rectified and the control will be made as efficient as possible. During the implementation, various temperature and time readings will be taken. For every type of food item, a detailed sheet should be made which will have all the parameters. According to the observed readings, new and better parameters will be decided which should reduce the cooking time and also increase the efficiency. Page | 23 References: The Scheffler – reflector http://www. solare-bruecke. org/ www. en. wikipedia. com http://www. spiraxsarco. com/resources/resources. asp www. mnre. gov. in Page | 24

Decision Support System and Harvard Cooperative Society

Chapter 2: Information Systems and Knowledge Management From his office window overlooking the main floor of the Harvard Cooperative Society, CEO Jerry Murphy can glance down and see custom- ers shopping. 19 They make their way through the narrow aisles of the crowded department store, picking up a sweatshirt here, trying on a baseball cap there, checking out the endless array of merchandise that bears the Harvard University insignia. Watching Murphy, you can well imagine the Co-op’s found- rs, who started the store in 1882, peering through the tiny win- dowpanes to keep an eye on the shop floor. Was the Harvard Square store attracting steady traffic? Were the college students buying enough books and supplies for the Co-op to make a profit? Back then, it was tough to answer those questions precisely. The owners had to watch and wait, relying only on their gut feelings to know how things were going from minute to minute. Now, more than a hundred years later, Murphy can tell you , own to the last stock-keeping unit, how he’s doing at any given moment. His window on the business is the PC that sits on his desk. All day long it delivers up-to-the-minute, easy-to-read elec- tronic reports on what’s selling and what’s not, which items are running low in inventory and which have fallen short of forecast. In a matter of seconds, the computer can report gross margins for any product or supplier, and Murphy can decide whether the margins are fat enough to justify keeping the supplier or product on board. We were in the 1800s, and we had to move ahead,† he says of the $55 million business. Questions 1. What is a decision support system? What advantages does a decision support system have for a business like the Harvard Cooperative Society? 2. How would the decision support system of a business like the Harvard Cooperative Society differ from that of a major corporation? 3. Briefly outline the components of the Harvard Cooperative Societyâ €™s decision support system. Decision Support System and Harvard Cooperative Society Chapter 2: Information Systems and Knowledge Management From his office window overlooking the main floor of the Harvard Cooperative Society, CEO Jerry Murphy can glance down and see custom- ers shopping. 19 They make their way through the narrow aisles of the crowded department store, picking up a sweatshirt here, trying on a baseball cap there, checking out the endless array of merchandise that bears the Harvard University insignia. Watching Murphy, you can well imagine the Co-op’s found- rs, who started the store in 1882, peering through the tiny win- dowpanes to keep an eye on the shop floor. Was the Harvard Square store attracting steady traffic? Were the college students buying enough books and supplies for the Co-op to make a profit? Back then, it was tough to answer those questions precisely. The owners had to watch and wait, relying only on their gut feelings to know how things were going from minute to minute. Now, more than a hundred years later, Murphy can tell you , own to the last stock-keeping unit, how he’s doing at any given moment. His window on the business is the PC that sits on his desk. All day long it delivers up-to-the-minute, easy-to-read elec- tronic reports on what’s selling and what’s not, which items are running low in inventory and which have fallen short of forecast. In a matter of seconds, the computer can report gross margins for any product or supplier, and Murphy can decide whether the margins are fat enough to justify keeping the supplier or product on board. We were in the 1800s, and we had to move ahead,† he says of the $55 million business. Questions 1. What is a decision support system? What advantages does a decision support system have for a business like the Harvard Cooperative Society? 2. How would the decision support system of a business like the Harvard Cooperative Society differ from that of a major corporation? 3. Briefly outline the components of the Harvard Cooperative Societyâ €™s decision support system.