Tuesday, April 22, 2014

ABSTRACT TEXT 

Example 1

Here is an abstract from a published paper. It is 220 words long. Read it through looking for the main purpose of each sentence (for example, presenting research problem, objective, methodology, main findings, or conclusion). You can find suggested answers by clicking on the sentences.
Abstract
Major problems of the arid region are transportation of agricultural products and losses due to spoilage of the products, especially in summer.This work presents the performance of a solar drying system consisting of an air heater and a dryer chamber connected to a greenhouse. The drying system is designed to dry a variety of agricultural products.The effect of air mass flow rate on the drying process is studied.Composite pebbles, which are constructed from cement and sand, are used to store energy for night operation. The pebbles are placed at the bottom of the drying chamber and are charged during the drying process itself. A separate test is done using a simulator, a packed bed storage unit, to find the thermal characteristics of the pebbles during charging and discharging modes with time. Accordingly, the packed bed is analyzed using a heat transfer model with finite difference technique described before and during the charging and discharging processes.Graphs are presented that depict the thermal characteristics and performance of the pebble beds and the drying patterns of different agricultural products. The results show that the amount of energy stored in the pebbles depends on the air mass flow rate, the inlet air temperature, and the properties of the storage materials.The composite pebbles can be used efficiently as storing media.
Helwa, N. H. and Abdel Rehim, Z. S. (1997). Experimental Study of the Performance of Solar Dryers with Pebble Beds. Energy Sources, 19, 579-591.

Example 2

Here is a second abstract from a published paper. It is 162 words long. Again, read it through looking for the main purpose of each sentence (for example, presenting the research problem, objective, methodology, main finding, or conclusion). You can find suggested answers by clicking on the sentences.
Abstract
The long-term performance of various systems was determined and the economic aspects of solar hot water production were investigated in this work.The effect of the collector inclination angle, collector area and storage volume was examined for all systems, and various climatic conditions and their payback period was calculated.It was found that the collector inclination angle does not have a significant effect on system performance. Large collector areas have a diminishing effect on the systems overall efficiency. The increase in storage volume has a detrimental effect for small daily load volumes, but a beneficial one when there is a large daily consumption.Solar energy was found to be truly competitive when the conventional fuel being substituted is electricity, and it should not replace diesel oil on pure economic grounds. Large daily load volumes and large collector areas are in general associated with shorter payback periods. Overall, the systems are oversized and are economically suitable for large daily hot water load volumes.
Haralambopoulos, D., Paparsenost, G. F., and Kovras, H. (1997) Assessing the Economic Aspects of Solar Hot Water Production in Greece. Renewable Energy, 11, 153-167. 

This sentence gives the general problem the research is attempting to help solve (rather than the specific research problem) in order to provide a rationale for the research.

This part of the abstract gives the main objective of the research.

Here the authors give the parameter they will be focusing on in order to measure the effect of air mass flow rate on the drying process. Their research problem, therefore, is to find out the effect of air mass flow rate on the drying process.

This part of the abstract summarizes the methodology used.

Here we are told in what form the results are presented, and the main findings.

Finally, we are presented with the main conclusion of the research.
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Example 2 - Abstract Text Analysis
Click here to see Example 2
Here the authors present the objectives of their research (and by implication their research problem, i.e. the long-term performation and the economic aspects are unknown and need to be found).

Here we are told what was studied and calculated, i.e. we are given a very brief summary of the methodology.


"Solar energy was found to be truly competitive when the conventional fuel being substituted is electricity, and it should not replace diesel oil on pure economic grounds. Large daily load volumes and large collector areas are in general associated with shorter payback periods. Overall, the systems are oversized and are economically suitable for large daily hot water load volumes."

Finally, the main conclusions and recommendations from the research are given

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