Distribution trend of transient temperature profile of copper heat pipe from the start-up of outer wall temperature of evaporator section until the temperature was steady was studied. A two-dimensional model used numerical solution which based on finite difference method. The transient temperature distributions measured in all 3 heat pipe sections were compared with results from the numerical solution of the two-dimensional model that utilized the concept of temperature distribution in the pipe wall during transient operation. Results showed that the experimental trend and the theoretically predicted temperature profiles were similar. Moreover there was good agreement when compared with the numerical simulation of Mistry et al. (2010). Therefore the numerical-validated heat pipe temperature distributions were successfully simulated in a two-dimensional model.

Kansei engineering or effective engineering is an important product development methodology in which users’ or customers’ feelings and demands on the product are translated into important parameters for product design. On the other hand effective engineering is an application of users’ opinion mood and feelings in product design which seems to guarantee that the product will meet the demand of customers. This idea was first developed in early 1970s in Japan. Now it is widely used in both Asian countries such as Japan Korea Taiwan and European countries such as Sweden Spain and France. It is widely used in various fields like applied science and psychological science. This paper discusses the application of Kansei engineering in various daily-used products in both Japanese and Western lifestyles. The perspectives presented in this article are based on the authors’ engineering knowledge.

This research aims to test and compare thermal efficiency of salt producing stoves between traditional stove and chimney stove as well as transfer the technology to community. The traditional stove was constructed from clay while the chimney stove was formed by two layers of bricks coating with cement and then filled with carbonized rice husk ash in the 3cm-space between the layers in order to reduce heat loss. Both types of stoves could accommodate 2 pans. Results showed that the traditional and chimney stoves had thermal efficiencies of 13.1% and 16.4% respectively. Thermal efficiency of the chimney stove increased by 3.3% and led to reduction of average firewood consumption rate by 12–15Kg/day from the average consumption of 259Kg/day. As a result the chimney stove could reduce costs of firewood by 14.4 baht/day. The chimney stove had production costs of 1545 baht/unit and ROI period of 107 days. At present 3 of 17 traditional stoves were improved into chimney stove.

Superheated steam drying has gained more attention due to its absence of oxidative reactions and high drying rate. This research involved drying of ground fish slices using superheated steam. The influences of superheated steam temperature (120 130 and 140 ?C) and thickness of ground fish slices (1.3 and 2.2 mm) on drying kinetics and quality attributes of dried fish slices were studied. Effective moisture diffusion coefficients (Deff) of the ground fish slices dried at different conditions were also investigated. From the experimental results it was seen that an increase in drying temperature and a decrease in thickness of ground fish slices led to faster moisture reduction. In terms of qualities it was found that the lightness value (L-value) decreased. However the redness value (a-value) percentage of shrinkage hardness and toughness values increased when the thickness of ground fish slices and superheated steam temperature increased. Moreover it was also found that the Deff of the ground fish slices increased with the increase of superheated steam temperature and thickness of ground fish slice.

The objectives of this research were to study the changes in the moisture of ground fish slices during drying with superheated steam combined with hot air and to compare the physical properties (in terms of color hardness toughness and shrinkage) as well as sensory evaluation of dried fish slices. Two drying methods were performed (i.e. superheated steam drying at 140 ?C combined with hot air drying at 110 ?C (SSD+HAD) and hot air drying at 110 ?C combined with superheated steam drying at 220 ?C and hot air drying at 110 ?C (HAD+SSD+HAD)). The ground fish samples were produced at sizes of 50?50?1.3 and50?50?2.2 mm (WDH). The samples with the initial moisture content of around 205-215% dry basis were dried until the final moisture content of about 20% dry basis. Results showed that the samples with 1.3 mm thickness had shorter drying times than those with 2.2 mm thickness. The samples dried by SSD+HAD and HAD+SSD+HAD were similar in the drying time. In term of qualities it was seen that the lightness of dried samples decreased but the hardness toughness and shrinkage percentage of dried samples increased when the samples thickness increased. Dried samples obtained from SSD+HAD had higher lightness hardness and toughness but had lower percentage of shrinkage than those obtained from HAD+SSD+HAD. Moreover it was found that dried samples obtained from HAD+SSD+HAD had the highest sensory scores.