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Coursework Submission Cover Sheet

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Student No 57371357 Degree Scheme MENC

Student Name Aun Ahsan Year 2015

Module EE535 Lecturer Dr. Rajani K.

Vijayaraghavan

Title Renewable energy:

technology and

economics

Hours spent on this exercise

100+

I hereby declare that the attached submission is all my own work, that it has not previously been submitted for assessment, and that I have not knowingly allowed it to be used by another student. I understand that deceiving or attempting to deceive examiners by passing off the work of another as one's own is not permitted. I also understand that using another's student’s work or knowingly allowing another student to use my work is against the University regulations and that doing so will result in loss of marks and possible disciplinary proceedings.

Signed:

Date: 26-Nov-2015

Note: Coursework examiners are entitled to reject any coursework which does not have a signed copy of this

form attached.

For use by examiners only (students should not write below this line)

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Sustainability at home and

Energy efficient appliances

Aun Ahsan

School of Electronic Engineering, Dublin City University, Glasnevin, Dublin 9, Ireland.

aun.ahsan2@mail.dcu.ie

Abstract— Efficiency is key to realizing a

sustainable world, using energy efficient

appliances to reduce the costs and reduce the

carbon footprint within the home, and using

renewable sources where possible. Solar and

wind energy are among the best solution at home

for sustainable clean energy generation, the

environmental impact non-renewable sources

have on the planet and the health impact are

dramatically increasing.

Keywords—component; Energy efficient

appliances, Sustainability at Home, environemntal

impact, oil, coal, renewable resources,

conservation.

I. INTRODUCTION

The increase in awareness of our world’s energy

demands and consequences of the energy we

produce, it is ever so important for us to adapt

renewable energy and to use more sustainable way

of producing energy. The carbon footprint is

defined as “The total amount of greenhouse gases

produced to directly and indirectly support human

activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of

carbon dioxide (CO2).”, Carbon dioxide is a

greenhouse gas (GHG) which causes global

warming.

The burning of fossil fuels to produce energy

generates pollution such as SO2, CO, NOx

Hydrocarbons (HC), and CO2, which causes

environmental pollution problems. Acid rain

destroys vegetation which is caused by SO2 and

NOx, Automobile exhaust release CO2, CO and HC

and pollute the environment. The most powerful

effect of fossil fuel burning is global warming

which is mainly caused by CO2, a GHG that traps

the solar heat in the atmosphere, a phenomenon

called the greenhouse effect, this effect is causing

increasing temperatures in the world and changing

the climate. Sustainability to avoid serious

consequences is vital for the coming generations.

From the Figure 1 below only 3.5% of the energy

consumed was from renewable source.

Figure 1 World energy consumption 2012

“Sustainability is the capacity to endure; it is how

biological systems remain diverse and productive

indefinitely. Long-lived and healthy wetlands and

forests are examples of sustainable biological

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systems. In more general terms, sustainability is the

endurance of systems and processes.” [1]

Sustainability at home first comes from efficiency

at home, saving or using renewable energy, reduce

the use of lighting, having energy efficient heating

and hot water systems, using energy efficient

appliances and having appropriate insulation are all

ways to be energy efficient at home.

II. ENERGY FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES

A. Solar Power

Solar power in the most basic terms is the

conversion of sunlight into the electricity, by using

photovoltaics (PV) or by using concentrated solar

power (CSP), both essentially the same in principle

where the CSP uses mirror and/or lenses with

tracking systems to focus the sunlight in a beam,

photovoltaics convert light into voltage or electric

current in a material when exposed to light. The

most common PV’s at present are based on silicon,

an array of PV’s are shown on a roof in Figure 2

below.

Figure 2: Solar roofing [2]

Crystalline Si has been reported to have an

efficiency of 25.6 ± 0.5 %, other materials used for

PV’s are GaAs(thin film) , InP (crystalline), the

Multifunction devices with InGaP/GaAs/InGaAs

are reported to have efficiency of up to 40% [3]

The efficiency number is going up as scientist

find new materials and ways to extract more

efficiency out of the current materials available, one

of the new 1211111material is perovskite, a calcium

titanium oxide mineral composed of calcium

titanate with the chemical formula CaTiO3,

perovskite cells have reported an efficiency

upwards of 23% [4] which is increasing rapidly

from 10% in the past 3 years. Perovskite based solar

cells are a low-cost and high efficiency, with start-

up companies already in reporting solar modules in

production and available in 2017. [5]

Due to geographical location of Ireland solar

power is not the best way of sustainability at home

due to cost and weather conditions (cloudy, rainy),

weather conditions in Ireland can significantly

lower the output of the solar panels, overshadowing

caused by clouds and rain causing interference with

solar rays – solar panel energy conversion, but

according to the Figure 3 below most of United

States, South America, Africa, Australia, and Asia

as well as lower Europe are prime candidates for the

residents of the country to avail of the solar power

available to them.

Figure 3 Potential solar energy [6]

A modern solar panel can produce anywhere

from 250watts to 290watts at peaks. A Solar array

of 16 solar panels on a roof to reduce shadowing

and overshadowing could output 4kWh in a

controlled environment. This is theoretical output

with everything at optimal requirements. The actual

output of a PV array is approximated as shown

below. The output of a solar PV array can be

approximated by:

Output (KWh) = 0.8 x kWp x S x Zpv [7]

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Where kWp is the peak kilo-watt of the PV, S is

from the table shown in figure below and Zpv is the

over shading factor, which is typically 1 IF placed

of a roof with no obstacles shading the PV array.

For example an array of 16 silicon panels with

peak power of 250 Wp mounted on a roof with a

45° pitch facing south with no shading, the installed

capacity of the array would actually be:

16 x 0.250 = 4kWp

The annual output would be:

0.8 x 4 x 1072 x 1 = 3430.4kWh

= 285.8333kWh per month

Figure 4: Annual solar radiation in Ireland

(kWh/m2) [7]

From the table shown above in Figure 4 it was be

seen that the maximum annual incident solar

radiation is achieved by facing south and at a tilt to

the horizon of 30°. The difference in the angles

does not significantly affect the output due to solar

radiation unless at a vertical angle. There would

however be significant drop in the output when

facing north.

16 panels is, for some a significant investment

for installing and buying, but getting ~285kWh

(units) per month reduced from your monthly bill

would definitely be worth in the long run. A typical

household consumes 416kWh per month of

electricity according to the SEAI energy in the

residential sector report 2013. That’s a ~68%

absolutely clean energy from solar panels per

month. On average 2.5 tonnes of CO2 emission

came from electricity indirectly per household per

year in 2011, assuming the figure is similar this

could be reduced by 1.7 tonnes annually with the

use of solar energy.

Many modern solutions are present for energy

storage in conjunction with solar power systems,

more noticeably in the past year, Tesla has

introduced the Tesla Powerwall, a home battery that

can be charged using solar panels, this lithium ion

battery solution can be charged when peak solar

power is available and then be ready to apply the

power when the user needs it at peak usage times,

usually at night. Tesla’s Powerwall is 7kWh

providing 3.3kW power, which can be used as a

solo model or multiple, as shown below in Figure 5

[8]

Figure 5: Tesla Powerwall, Two units. [8]

Tesla’s battery unit will allow the users to reduce

the peak demand charges by allowing some or all of

the electricity to be used from the battery instead of

the grid, avoiding the peak charges, saving money

and using clean energy in the meantime.

B. Wind power

Wind power is used to produce electrical power

by means of air flow using wind turbines. Wind

power is an alternative to fossil fuels, produces no

greenhouse gasses and is renewable. Massive wind

powers exist all over the planet, as of 2014

windfarms in Denmark produced Approx. 40% of

its electricity [9]. Wind power in residential areas is

also possible, through small scale wind turbines the

cost of which is steep but could save up to 500 euro

per year on the electricity bill, a 1kWh wind turbine

with energy storage solutions and good

management of the peak-usage and peak-

generation, could reduce and avoid the peak-

demand charges set by the electricity companies.

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Figure 6 shows how a wind turbine can produce

electricity in a home in conjunction with the grid,

wind turbines can also store their energy in batteries

and be used at peak demand hours to reduce the

charges in effect.

Figure 6 how a typical domestic wind turbine

operated in conjunction with the mains [10]

Irish weather makes Ireland a good location to be

utilising its wind power, Figure 7 below shows the

annual wind performance of all Europe, Ireland can

be seen to be in the higher dark blue to light blue

area, performing the best along with, Denmark,

southern Sweden and most of U.K.

Figure 7: Wind performance map [11].

III. CONSERVATION

Living a sustainable life first comes from

conserving the energy and reducing the amount of

energy used in the house. Energy efficient

appliances, reducing the energy used around the

house, management of boilers and temperatures for

the central heating system is among the major

solutions to save energy.

Recycling by proper disposal of plastics, glass,

batteries, CFL mercury bulbs and hazardous

material can reduce the amount of waste going to

landfills, landfills contain a high concentration of

non-biodegradable material that slowly release toxic

chemicals in the surrounding areas. Recycling can

potentially save money, as recycled materials are

cheaper than non-recycled materials for

manufacturers, it would translate into a cheaper

product. By recycling the organic material such as

leaves, lawn clippings, kitchen scraps and keeping

them out of a landfill, enriches the soil encouraging

beneficial organisms and reducing the necessity to

use artificial fertilizers etc.

Ireland’s plastic bag levy in 2002, required

consumers to charge 15 Euro Cents (now 22 cents)

for each plastic bag, this led to a decrease of 90% of

plastic bag circulation, and the figure of 328 bags

per inhabitant per year was reduced to 21 bags

when the levy was introduced. Plastic bags in 2012

accounted for 0.3 of the litter in comparison to 5%

of the litter before the levy [12].

Conserving water can also help to reduce waste

and to save energy, especially in Ireland where rain

is an abundant and potentially a resource for saving

money, a Rain water harvesting system (RHS) can

be installed to reduce the amount of water being

used from the mains. A RHS could collect water to

a tank and be used for toilets, washing machines

etc. Water collected can also be used as drinking

water after undergoing treatment.

Electric energy is being wasted without even us

knowing Figure 10 in the next section shows the stand-by power being used by the appliance while it’s essentially switched OFF, this together with the total time it is on standby wastes allot of energy and drives costs up. Using smart devices that can monitor its energy use or installing a smart meter that can provide a live stream of the electric energy

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being used and puts the energy usage in perception that the user can understand better..

IV. ENERGY EFFICIENT APPLIANCES

Energy efficiency in appliances are more

important now as users become more concerned and

interested in energy and where are our energy

comes from. EU directive 92/75/EC established an

energy consumption labelling scheme [13], most

major appliances, domestic use appliances, and light

bulb packaging must have an EU energy label

displayed for the customer. The energy efficiency of

an appliance is rated from A to G a set of energy

efficiency classes, where A being most efficient and

G being the least. With increasing efficiencies A+,

A++ and A+++ was introduced , example of an

energy label of a refrigerator is shown below in

Figure 8. The energy label and the information

provided change according to the class of item and

the relative efficiency of the class but retains its

rating of A to G. Similarly United States has an

Environmental protection agency called Energy Star

which labels appliances similar to the EU energy

label that provides information on the energy

efficiency of the specific item. Energy Star label

insures an item is 20+% efficient than the standard

items [14].

The European Energy star is a voluntary energy

labelling scheme for office equipment, The EU

energy star follows an agreement between the

European community and the Government of the

US to co-ordinate energy labelling of office

equipment, and it is managed by the European

Commission. With Energy star label consumers can

easily identify energy efficient products. The range

of products that energy star covers are, office

equipment which include computers, servers,

displays, imaging equipment and uninterruptible

power supplies.

Figure 8 : example of an EU energy label showing

energy category sound level, capacity and the

estimated kWh/ annum energy consumption [15]

Energy efficient light bulbs are the most

common ways to reduce electricity usage around

the house, light bulbs like CFL (Compact

fluorescent lamps) use one-third to one-fifth the

electric power, and last longer as-well giving the

same amount of visible light. Although CFL bulbs

contain toxic mercury which makes their

disposability a complication, however many

countries governments have come up with recycling

solutions for CFLs and glass in general.

Lighting consists of 16% of the total bill of an

average residential home, as shown in Figure 9,

using energy efficient bulbs and other lighting is

important to reduce the amount of electric energy

used.

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Figure 9 Energy allocation estimated by the SEAI:

Energy in the Residential Sector report 2013 [16]

From Figure 9 25% of the total energy used is for

hot water, the boiler is an essential part of

residential home and one which requires a

significant amount of energy to maintain and

operate. There are many energy efficient boilers in

the market that can reduce the fuel used and have

much lower running costs.

Condensing boilers have a seasonal efficiency

of up to 97.5% presently and can be 7-15% more

efficient than conventional boilers. Condensing

boilers have a higher efficiency because they extract

the heat contained in the combustion gases, which

on a conventional boiler would be lost to the

atmosphere. Whether it is an oil or a gas boiler,

when burned the hydrogen link with the oxygen to

form H2O (water) [17], this water vapour contains

~8% of the fuel’s energy and using this to further

contribute to the heating makes sense and makes the

modern boilers much more efficient.

Boilers should generally be replaced within 15

years of purchase, the older the boiler gets the

energy efficiency is much lower, which costs more

fuel and could cost a significant amount of money

to replace, a new boiler 15 years ago would have

had efficiency less than 80%, modern conventional

boilers have an efficiency rating of greater than

90%(excluding condensing boilers), due to wear

and tear a 15 year old boiler is likely to have

efficiency of less than 70% [17]. Fuel bills can be

reduced by a quarter by replacing an old boiler,

saving money and using less fuel in the meantime

generating a lower carbon footprint. In Ireland all

new boilers must be condensing boilers where

possible.

Refrigeration is a necessity in a modern

residential household that has to stay plugged in all

the time, consequently making up of 10% of the

electricity bill, it is important to buy a rating A+ and

above as the difference from A to A+++ is 44 %,

which indicates the amount of power consumed

annually relative to a reference consumption based

on storage volume and the type of appliance (fridge

or freezer). An A rated fridge or freezer would

consume 22% to 44% more power than a similar

fridge that is rated A+++. On average an A+ rating

refrigerator would cost 250€ more over a ten year

period than a rating A+++ according to the figures

provided by the EU energy label.

Small appliances which include Televisions,

Desktop computers, laptops, DVD players, Set-top

boxes etc., take up 19% according to the SEAI

report of energy in the residential area (2013) [16].

All of the small appliances these days have standby

power, often called vampire power, is electricity

which is being consumed by the appliance while it

is not preforming its primary function or turned

OFF.

Figure 10 Power consumption of appliances [18]

Figure 10 Power consumption of appliances

shows the real power being consumed by the

appliance in watts and the apparent power in VA

(Volts-ampere). Multiplying the average stand-by

power of each of the appliances and the daily

operating time while in standby, it is seen that over

a period of 24 hours a house hold can consume

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1,129.127 Wh per day of electricity. Approximately

33.9kWh energy is wasted over a month due to

vampire power, ~416kWh total electric energy is

used by a household every month in Ireland, and

according to the chart (assuming similar appliances

and amount of appliances) ~7-10% is being wasted

due to vampire power, this corresponds to 360

kilograms of CO2 emission are being produced per

year per household due to vampire energy.

There are simple ways to combat Vampire

energy.

- Un-plug devices when not in use or overnight

- Remove chargers from wall and remove

phone from charge at 100%

- Buy energy efficient equipment

Products like Smart power strips help with vampire power by shutting down power to appliances and devices that go into standby. Products like these are becoming more important and will be in the future as the number of devices in a household is increasing, consequently increasing the amount of stand-by time in a household. It is projected that the consumption of energy related to standby power is to reach 30% of total electrical energy consumed by 2020 in home network devices [19], a total of 1393kWh/household per annum by 2020.

V. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Burning of oil and coal account for 60.4% of our

energy supply as seen in the figure below in 2013

1.1% of our energy came from solar, geothermal

wind and heat combined. Nuclear energy although

debatably clean is an extremely dangerous source of

energy to the surrounding population and people

that are working in the nuclear plant, there have

already been numerous incidents that have led to or

would have led to many casualties, an incident as

near as 2011 at Fukushima, Japan where Reactor

had shut down due to the Sendai earthquake and

tsunami, failure of emergency cooling caused an

explosion. Spreadsheet provided at [20] shows the

nuclear accidents till date. Energy provided by

Nuclear power does has its environmental

consequences due to its nuclear waste which is

extremely harmful to the population if exposed. The

nuclear waste also could take hundreds of years to

be suitable to be released to the atmosphere.

Figure 11 World total primary energy supply 2013

*** Solar, Geothermal, Wind and Heat

**Peat, oil shale included

Burning coal and oil have severe and numerous

environmental effects, burning coal produces a

plethora of harmful gases and is the leading cause

of smog, acid rain, and toxic air pollution. A typical

coal plant generates 3.18million tonnes of CO2 per

year, in 2012 according to the Energy information

administration (eia.gov) Ireland 31.27 million

tonnes of total carbon dioxide emissions from the

consumption of energy.

Environmental impact of the Coal industry

The coal industry effects the environment in all

aspects of its production, starting from development

of the facility which dramatically alters the

landscape, all population must be resettled, and

agriculture is interrupted and disturbed. Mines are

dangerous for the people working in it, Mine

collapses have potentially major effects above

ground, which if near developed areas can seriously

endanger many lives, in Germany underground

coal-mining has damaged thousands of homes, as

mining set of an earthquake in western German

state of Saarland on 23rd of February [21], 2008

which measured a 4.0 on the Richter magnitude

scale. Coal mining companies have to set aside

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large sums of funding for any future disasters for

liability insurance.

Acidic mine drainage contains pyrite which

reacts with water and air to form sulphuric acid this,

washes in to nearby streams and rivers,

contaminating the water, degrading the quality of

water for nearby locals and the aquatic habitats, this

contamination of both groundwater and nearby

streams could be for a long time, and can continue

to deteriorate streams and rivers, as long as rain

water falls on the mines refuse (tailings) the

sulphuric acid continues to be produced whether the

mine is still operating or not. Thermal pollution

from coal plants in terms of changing the ambient

water temperature also causes long term effect to

the habitants of the river, mainly through water

being used as a coolant and then returned to the

natural environment at a much higher temperature.

[22]

Burning coal produces particulate matter including

methane (CH4), Sulphur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen

oxides (NOx), as well as carbon monoxide (CO),

which lead to smog, acid rain and toxins. These

emissions are hazardous to the locals, coal

pollutants effect all major organ systems [23].

- Respiratory effects: air pollution caused by

coal combustion effect the respiratory

system, causing asthma, lung disease and

lung cancer.

- Cardiovascular effects: pollutants lead to

arterial occlusion, infarct formation also

cardiac arrhythmias and congestive heart

failure. Exposure to chronic air pollution

over many years increases cardiovascular

mortality. [23]

- Nervous system effects: The report in [23]

shows studies done which indicate

correlation between coal-related air

pollutants and stroke, studies also show coal

pollutants having adverse effects on the

intellectual capacity through mercury. IQ

scores relating to high mercury levels in

blood, causing lifelong loss of intelligence,

Figure 12 The Mercury cycle shows how

mercury enters into the human body having

adverse effects on brain function of

potentially new born babies.

- Global warming: aside the impact coal

pollutants has on health, global warming

poses a different dangers to the population

and the environment. Global warming

produces extreme weather condition, such as

heat waves, hurricanes, drought, wildfires,

floods and tsunami’s. Rising water levels

from the icecaps melting and warmer water

in the ocean pumping more energy into the

tropical storms, making them potentially

more destructive. Heat waves have reported

deaths of over 2500 in India, Indian minister

has reportedly blamed the heat wave on

climate change, as early as May of 2015

heat waves have struck India and is

reportedly going into its first drought in six

year due to deficient monsoon rains [24].

Figure 12 The Mercury cycle [23]

A study in Tianjin, China by F. He and J. Yin [25]

has concluded that the coal mining had produced

land fissures throughout the area, deforestation due

to coal mining and toxic waste had made the area

unsuitable to be used as farmlands. Thus having an

impact the countries/ area’s agricultural production

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Environmental impact of the oil industry The oil industry poses many of the same dangers

the coal industry produces through burning the oil

and the waste that is produced. Acid raid,

contribution to the greenhouse effect through

exhausts, climate change as well as newer threats to

the environment such as.

- Oil spill pollution is the most serious

environmental damages caused by the

intensive industrial and transportation

activities. Oil spills pose a great threat to the

wildlife, plant and marine life. One of the

most prominent oil spills is the Gulf War oil

spill January 19, 1991, in the gulf, Kuwait.

Estimated to be over 380million-

520million(Approx. 2billion litres) gallons

of oil spill, oil slick four inches thick and

covered four thousand square miles on

ocean [26]. Oil gulf war oil spill has severe

effects on the coastline and the marine life,

it was reported in [27] that all marine life

was in danger between 80-100% loss in

species diversity in the upper eulittoral zone,

due to higher temperatures of water, and the

inhabitability of the water in the region. .

Despite the cleaning efforts that are held, the

oil can still be present for decades after the

spill, according to a study conducted by the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration found that 26,000 gallons of

oil from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in the

Alaskan shoreline in 1989, is still trapped in

the sand. Aside from marine life and the

shoreline being disrupted birds are also a

target for the oil spills, it is reported that

between 250,000 and 500,000 sea birds have

been killed due to the Exxon Valdez oil spill

[26]. Figure 13 shows the contaminated

water in the gulf over a huge area, the thick

oil spill plumes can be seen clearly over the

water.

Figure 13 the gulf oil spill plumes

- Toxic organic compounds Benzene makes

up of 1% of crude oil and gasoline, which is

extremely toxic, carcinogenic and causes

DNA damage, the compound is known to

cause leukaemia in humans, and lowers

white blood cells. Volatile organic

compounds (VOC’s) that emitted by various

solids and liquids, although less toxic than

benzene can still cause health concerns

which are present in larger quantities.

Vapour intrusion can occur and seep into

houses and underground storage facilities,

which are harmful to inhale. Figure 14

shows the migration of VOC’s through soil

in indoor air.

-

Figure 14 vapour intrusion, migration of soil vapours to indoor air

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VI. CONCLUSION

Technology is at a time where anything is

possible, the right amount of focus to renewable

sources and less focus on the non-renewable

sources like coal, oil and natural gasses could drive

us out of the environmental crisis the planet faces

right now. Due to the constant pollution our world

now faces very visible and very dramatic

consequences. Sustainability at home is key in

diverting focus from non-renewable sources.

World’s oil demands are increasing, and at the

current rate we are consuming four times the oil that

is being produced. The peak-oil crisis is predicted to

be in the next five years and countries actively

funding renewable sources, as the case with

Denmark 15 year plan, will no longer be dependent

on oil and coal for their primary energy source.

Renewable energy solutions at home like solar

and wind power, give renewable energy options at

home, and with newer technologies emerging like

Perovskite solar cells that achieved rapidly

increasing efficiency, solar power could very well

be the renewable source we need. Wind power and

solar power combined make the best energy

generation method, as windy days tend to be less

sunny and sunny days tend to be less windy.

Using energy efficient appliances to reduce the energy being used saves money and significantly reduces the CO2 emissions per person per household, as it stands Irelands CO2 emissions are 7.9 metric tons per capita [28], Ireland is currently meeting its Kyoto limit, and to maintain this limit with technology advancing and more ways to spend energy, energy efficiency is important for sustainability at home.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The author would like to thank Dr. Rajani K. Vijayaraghavan of the School of engineering in Dublin City University for her proposal of the review topic, and Dr. Stephen Daniels for module support. Would again also like to thank Dr. Rajani for explaining many of the topics relating this review paper.

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