Journal of Engineering Research and Reports

Application of AI-based Intelligent Control Methods for Enhancing Product Quality in Glass Manufacturing

Omar Musazade, Stanislav Aghamatov — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Aims: This research aims to advance industrial glass manufacturing by implementing a next-generation autonomous control architecture. The study focuses on maximising energy efficiency and product quality by integrating Digital Twin technology, Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL), and Explainable AI (XAI) to overcome the limitations of legacy control systems.

Study Design: This is an analytical and simulation-based research study focused on the cognitive optimisation of industrial float glass production processes.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in the Department of "Instrumentation Engineering" (Intellectual Measurement and Control Systems), Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University (ASOIU), between September 2025 and June 2027.

Methodology: A high-fidelity Digital Twin of a float glass furnace was developed to simulate production dynamics. A DRL-based agent was implemented for real-time furnace regulation, allowing for continuous self-optimisation of thermal zones. The system integrated a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)-based visual inspection layer for defect detection, complemented by an XAI module that provides transparent, logic-based justifications for autonomous operational adjustments. Theoretical evaluations of hydrogen-natural-gas blending were also conducted to assess sustainability impacts.

Results: The proposed DRL-driven architecture achieved improved thermal regulation, maintaining stability within ±0.5°C compared with traditional Fuzzy-PID models. The combustion strategy, optimised via reinforcement learning, produced a reported reduction in fuel consumption of more than 6% (P < 0.05). The XAI module provided real-time interpretability of system decisions, while the integration of hydrogen-enriched combustion pathways indicated a potential decrease in carbon emissions of approximately 8-10% and maintained high combustion efficiency compared with standard natural gas use.

Conclusion: The transition from localised control to an AI-driven autonomous framework, supported by Digital Twins and Explainable AI, provides a transparent approach to modernising glass manufacturing. These systems may reduce operational risks and environmental impacts, thereby supporting intelligent and sustainable industrial automation.

Modelling of Flash Flood Mitigation through Flow Diversion: A Case Study of the Teesta River Basin, Bangladesh

Eisteuck Ahmed, Mitu Khatun, B. M. Mustasim Billah, Md. Asif Hossen — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Flooding remains one of the most devastating natural hazards in Bangladesh, particularly in the northern riverine regions, where transboundary water-management issues exacerbate vulnerability. This study presents a proof-of-concept computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis conducted using SOLIDWORKS to model a novel geometric flow-diversion structure for flash-flood mitigation. It evaluates a proof-of-concept hydraulic model designed to mitigate flash-flood damage through flow diversion and velocity reduction in the Teesta River basin. The computational domain for this initial study measures 8.0 m × 2.5 m × 2.0 m. The proposed Flood Flow Mitigation Model employs strategically positioned geometric obstructions to create a diverging-flow effect, resulting in energy dissipation and flow deceleration. The SOLIDWORKS CFD analysis indicates that the system achieves a 20% velocity reduction under baseline conditions (inflow velocity: 1.000 m/s; outflow velocity: 0.800 m/s). Theoretical performance scalability is suggested to be proportional to the system dimensions, although this relationship requires further validation through physical experimentation and parametric testing. The model may address challenges including reduced sediment transport, bank-erosion control, and the provision of additional warning time for vulnerable communities; however, these potential benefits require further investigation through unsteady-flow analysis and field validation. This study contributes to research on flash-flood mitigation in developing countries by presenting a potentially cost-effective and technically feasible approach to flood-risk reduction, subject to detailed economic analysis and site-specific validation. The findings may inform flood-management policy in Bangladesh and other flood-prone regions with similar topographic and hydrological characteristics.

Industrial Sector Decarbonization Pathways for Cement, Iron and Steel, and Chemical Industries in Nigeria

Agnes Oboh, Fidelis Abam, Anthony Obi, Ugwu Hyginus Ubabuike — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Nigeria's cement, iron and steel, and chemical industries account for a substantial share of the country's industrial energy use. This study applies the Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP) to project industrial energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions to 2060 under four scenarios: a Baseline reflecting current trends; a Realistic Scenario based on existing policy commitments; a Light-Fossil (LF) pathway; and a Green-Fuel (GF) pathway assuming widespread adoption of carbon capture and storage (CCS), electric arc furnaces, and hydrogen. The three subsectors respond differently to the same assumptions. Cement shows the widest range of outcomes: energy demand falls by 61%, from 60.5 million gigajoules (GJ) in 2015 to 23.55 million GJ in 2060, under the GF pathway, but rises by 522% to 376.78 million GJ under the Realistic Scenario, which assumes continued reliance on conventional clinker production. The chemical sector is the most responsive to fuel switching, with demand falling by 79.6% under GF conditions, compared with a 259% rise in the Baseline. Iron and steel are an outlier: even under GF assumptions, energy demand rises by approximately 13% to 36.60 million GJ by 2060 because electrification and hydrogen-based direct-reduction routes change the source of energy rather than eliminate the need for it. These results indicate that a uniform decarbonisation policy is unlikely to serve Nigeria's industrial sector effectively. Cement decarbonisation depends on CCS deployment and clinker substitution, chemical-sector decarbonisation on electrification and green-hydrogen feedstocks, and iron and steel decarbonisation on a slower, technology-led transition supported by a more reliable grid. The findings provide a sector-differentiated basis for prioritising investment and policy under Nigeria's Energy Transition Plan and its 2060 net-zero target.

Microstructure–Durability Relationships in Recycled Concrete: A Critical Review of Scanning Electron Microscopy Evidence on Pore Structure, Hydration Products and Interfacial Bonding

HongKang Yue — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) offers a route to reducing the extraction of natural aggregate and the landfilling of construction and demolition waste, yet its uptake in durability-critical applications remains constrained by uncertainty over long-term performance. The behaviour of RAC is governed less by bulk mix proportions than by features resolved at the micrometre scale: residual adhered mortar, a heterogeneous pore network, an altered distribution of hydration products, and multiple interfacial transition zones (ITZ) of differing quality. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), particularly in backscattered electron mode with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, has become the principal tool for visualising these features, but the evidence it yields is frequently reported descriptively and interpreted in isolation from complementary porosimetry and transport measurements. This review critically synthesises SEM-based evidence on the pore structure, hydration assemblage and interfacial bonding of recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) and RAC, and examines how these microstructural attributes map onto durability under chloride ingress, carbonation, freezing and thawing, and sulfate exposure. The synthesis distinguishes robust and consistent findings, such as the porosity and weakness of the old adhered mortar and its associated interfaces, from claims that remain conditional, such as the quantitative extent of ITZ densification achieved by aggregate pre-treatment. Recurring methodological weaknesses are identified, including the two-dimensional and qualitative nature of much SEM reporting, the reconciliation of pore parameters obtained by different techniques, and the scarcity of long-term field data. Enhancement strategies, notably accelerated and wet carbonation, pozzolanic and nano-modified surface coatings, supplementary cementitious materials, and modified mixing, are evaluated for the strength of their microstructural rationale and the durability gains they deliver. The review concludes that microstructure–durability links in RAC are qualitatively well established but quantitatively under-specified, and it sets out prioritised research needs directed at quantitative, three-dimensional and time-resolved characterisation.

MXene Sheet Size as a Synthesis-encoded Variable: A Critical Review of Processing–Structure–Property Relationships

Francis Mekunye — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

MXenes are solution-processable two-dimensional carbides and nitrides whose macroscopic performance is often attributed to composition and surface terminations, while the lateral dimensions of individual sheets are treated as a secondary processing detail. This review critically examines the more consequential interpretation that sheet size is a synthesis-encoded structural variable, jointly determined with thickness, edge density, basal-plane defects, oxidation state, intercalants, surface terminations and assembly history. Literature published from the emergence of MXenes in 2011 to 30 May 2026 was selected through transparent searches of accessible scholarly indexes, DOI records, institutional repositories and citation networks. The evidence is strongest for Ti₃C₂Tₓ and shows a recurrent trade-off. Larger, less damaged sheets usually reduce interflake junctions, support liquid-crystalline alignment, increase film conductivity and mechanical integrity, and improve dimensional stability in electromagnetic and electrochemical devices. Smaller sheets provide more edge sites, shorter diffusion distances, greater colloidal accessibility and, in some contexts, stronger photothermal or interfacial activity. These tendencies are not universal because the synthesis routes used to change size simultaneously alter termination chemistry, defect density, oxidation, layer number, ionic residues and film packing. Consequently, many published comparisons cannot isolate a true causal size effect. Hydrofluoric-acid and in situ fluoride etching, electrochemical and hydrothermal routes, Lewis-acid molten-salt chemistry, delamination intensity and post-synthetic fractionation each generate distinctive bundles of structural attributes rather than size alone. A process–structure–assembly–property framework is therefore proposed in which size distributions, rather than single mean values, are interpreted alongside chemistry and orientation. The field now requires matched-batch experiments, harmonised metrology, distribution-aware reporting and application-specific optimisation. Controlling sheet size is not a universal route to ‘better’ MXenes; it is a means of selecting the balance among transport, reactivity, stability and manufacturability required by a particular device architecture.

Research Progress on EPC General Contracting Mode in China

Li Yang, Xin Zhao, Feng Liang, Song Hu, Zhiyuan Tian — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Engineering–procurement–construction (EPC) general contracting has become an important instrument in China’s effort to reorganise project delivery around integrated responsibility for design, procurement and construction. Its expansion has been encouraged by national rules that clarify employer requirements, contractor qualifications, integrated project management and responsibility for quality, safety, time and cost. Yet the research field remains fragmented. Domestic studies often isolate contractor capability, prefabricated construction, contractual risk, interface management or digital tools, while studies of Chinese contractors overseas emphasise political, logistics and claims risks. This critical narrative review integrates these strands and evaluates how far the accumulated evidence supports common claims about EPC performance in China. Literature published from 2003 to 1 June 2026 was identified through accessible scholarly indexes, DOI metadata, institutional repositories, official Chinese governmental sources and citation searching. The evidence indicates that EPC’s central advantage is not risk transfer by itself but the potential to coordinate interdependent decisions across the project life cycle. Realisation of that potential depends on clear employer requirements, proportionate risk allocation, mature design and supply-chain capability, effective interface governance, and incentives that reward whole-project optimisation. The strongest China-focused evidence concerns risk identification, governance mechanisms and capability structures; the evidence is weaker for causal improvements in cost, schedule, quality, innovation and life-cycle value. Much of the literature relies on cross-sectional surveys, expert scoring, structural models or single cases, which illuminate mechanisms but provide limited counterfactual evidence. Research on prefabricated buildings and railway projects shows that EPC can reduce fragmentation only when organisational and information interfaces are deliberately managed. Digitalisation, including building information modelling, integrated data environments and artificial-intelligence-assisted contract review, is promising, but its benefits remain contingent on data quality, standardisation and organisational redesign. The review concludes that future progress requires project-level longitudinal datasets, transparent comparison groups, standard performance measures and closer examination of how national rules interact with local implementation and sector-specific conditions.