| 1. |
- Shadram, Farshid, 1987-
(författare)
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Assessment and optimization of life cycle enrgy use in buildings
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Buildings account for 40% of all energy use in European countries. The European Union (EU) therefore encourages member states to adopt Energy Efficiency Measures (EEMs) and implement energy-efficient practices during building design to minimize the energy use of buildings. However, recent studies have shown that energy-efficient buildings may not always outperform conventional buildings in terms of Life Cycle Energy (LCE) use. This is mainly due to the trade-off between embodied and operational energy, and a reliance on EEMs that reduce operational energy while sometimes increasing embodied energy and LCE use. To improve buildings’ environmental performance, the impact of different EEMs on buildings’ energy use needs to be assessed from a lifecycle perspective, and methods for identifying optimal combinations of EEMs that minimize LCE use should be developed. Ideally, these methods should be integrated with building information modelling (BIM) to enable seamless data exchange and to help Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) practitioners make optimal design decisions relating to EEMs. The work presented in this thesis had two overall objectives: (1) to explore the scope for developing BIM-supported method(s) for assessing and optimizing the impact of EEMs on buildings’ LCE use during the design process, and (2) use the BIM-supported method(s) for exploring the impact of various EEMs that are implemented and modified during the building design process on the buildings’ LCE use.The work presented in this thesis is based on an exploratory research design involving iterative cycles of (1) problem identification, (2) method development, (3) method examination, and (4) theory suggestion. In step 1, problems were identified by conducting literature studies and workshops with AEC practitioners, and analyzing archival data. In step 2, prototyping was used to develop methods to overcome the identified problems. In step 3, the applicability of these methods (or prototypes) was tested in case studies on actual and hypothetical building projects. Three case studies were conducted – one dealing with a low energy dwelling located in Kiruna, Sweden; another dealing with a multifamily residential building in Uppsala, Sweden; and a third dealing with a hypothetical multifamily residential building in Stockholm, Sweden. In step 4, the results were compared to existing theories to strengthen existing knowledge and identify previously unrecognized findings.In relation to the first objective, the results obtained show that the factors and activities required to develop BIM-supported method(s) for assessing and optimizing the impact of EEMs on a building’s LCE use during the design phase are:• A database that stores external and building project data (e.g. BIM data) and links it to be used for assessment and optimization, providing access to the data whenever needed.• The development of interfaces using middleware applications to ensure interoperability and seamless automated exchange of information between BIM and other systems.• Predefined objects (i.e. building part and component recipes) that are stored in a database and linked to inventories and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for the relevant materials, enabling assessment of the buildings’ embodied energy and LCE use.• The application of multi-objective optimization techniques (e.g. Pareto-based genetic algorithms) to identify optimal solution(s) for EEMs that minimize (optimize) the building’s LCE use.In relation to the second objective of the thesis, the results obtained indicate that:• EEMs that are implemented and modified during the detailed design phase have much less influence on the building’s LCE use than those implemented in the early design phase. Highly influential EEMs related to the early design phase which were tested herein were the building’s shape, orientation, Window to Wall Ratio (WWR), and the selection of materials used in the building envelope.• Generally, thickening roof insulation has a strong beneficial effect on LCE use for buildings in Sweden.• For buildings using energy sources with high primary energy factors, the most effective way to reduce LCE use may be to implement many EEMs that reduce operational energy use. However, this approach may be less helpful for buildings using greener energy sources because in such cases the embodied energy may have a greater effect on the final LCE use.• The embodied energies of materials in the same class can vary significantly between suppliers. Such differences in embodied energy can be identified by considering the suppliers’ EPDs, the energetic contributions due to their mode of transportation from the site of production, and the distance between the site of production and the construction site.• If the developed optimization approach is used to identify optimal combinations of EEMs in the early design phase, designers can freely choose from a wide range of building shapes without greatly affecting LCE use. However, without early phase optimization, designs that use different building shapes may exhibit significantly different LCE use values.The results provide both theoretical and practical contributions that may be useful to researchers and AEC practitioners seeking to develop BIM-supported design processes and to reduce buildings’ LCE use by adopting appropriate EEMs. The results also show that embodied energy can be a major component of a building’s LCE use if the building’s design relies heavily on EEMs designed solely to reduce operational energy use. Policy makers and governmental bodies are thus advised to update regulations and building codes to reflect the importance of embodied energy so as to minimize the LCE use of new and retrofitting building projects.
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| 2. |
- Antonopoulou, Io, 1989-
(författare)
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Development of biocatalytic processes for selective antioxidant production
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Feruloyl esterases (FAEs, EC 3.1.1.73) represent a subclass of carboxylic acid esterases that under normal conditions catalyze the hydrolysis of the ester bond between hydroxycinnamic acids (ferulic acid, sinapic acid, caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid) and sugar residues in plant cell walls. Based on their specificity towards monoferulates and diferulates, substitutions on the phenolic ring and on their amino acid sequence identity, they have been classified into four types (A-D) while phylogenetic analysis has resulted in classification into thirteen subfamilies (SF1-13). Under low water content, these enzymes are able to catalyze the esterification of hydroxycinnamic acids or the transesterification of their esters (donor) with alcohols or sugars (acceptor) resulting in compounds with modified lipophilicity, having a great potential for use in the tailor-made modification of natural antioxidants for cosmetic, cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical industries. The work described in this thesis focused on the selection,characterization and application of FAEs for the synthesis of bioactive esters with antioxidant activity in non-conventional media. The basis of the current classification systems was investigated in relation with the enzymes’ synthetic and hydrolytic abilities while the developed processes were evaluated for their efficiency and sustainability.Paper I was dedicated to the screening and evaluation of the synthetic abilities of 28 fungal FAEs using acceptors of different lipophilicity at fixed conditions in detergentless microemulsions. It was revealed that FAEs classified in phylogenetic subfamilies related to acetyl xylan esterases (SF5 and 6) showed increased transesterification rates and selectivity. In general, FAEs showed preference on more hydrophilic alcohol acceptors and in descending order to glycerol > 1-butanol > prenol. Homology modeling and small molecule docking simulations were employed as tools for the identification of a potential relationship between the predicted surface and active site properties of selected FAEs and the transesterification selectivity.Papers II- IV focused on the characterization of eight promising FAEs and the optimization of reaction conditions for the synthesis of two bioactive esters (prenyl ferulate and L-arabinose ferulate) in detergentless microemulsions. The effect of the medium composition, the donor and acceptor concentration, the enzyme load, the pH, the temperature and the agitation on the transesterification yield and selectivity were investigated. It was observed that the acceptor concentration and enzyme load were crucial parameters for selectivity. Fae125 (Type A, SF5) iiexhibited highest prenyl ferulate yield (81.1%) and selectivity (4.685) converting 98.5% of VFA to products after optimization at 60 mM VFA, 1.5 M prenol, 0.04 mg FAE mL-1, 40oC, 24 h, 53.4:43.4:3.2 v/v/v n-hexane: t-butanol: 100 mM MOPS-NaOH pH 8.0. On the other hand, FaeA1 (Type A, SF5) showed highest L-arabinose ferulate yield (52.2 %) and selectivity (1.120) at 80 mM VFA, 55 mM L-arabinose, 0.02 mg FAE mL-1, 50oC, 8 h, 19.8: 74.7: 5.5 v/v/v n-hexane: t-butanol: 100 mM MOPS-NaOH pH 8.0.In paper V, the effect of reaction media on the enzyme stability and transesterification yield and selectivity was studied in different solvents for the synthesis of two bioactive esters: prenyl ferulate and L-arabinose ferulate. The best performing enzyme (Fae125) was used in the optimization of reaction conditions in the best solvent (n-hexane) via response surface methodology. Both bioconversions were best described by a two-factor interaction model while optimal conditions were determined as the ones resulting in highest yield and selectivity.Highest prenyl ferulate yield (87.5%) and selectivity (7.616) were observed at 18.56 mM prenol mM-1VFA, 0.04 mg FAE mL-1, 24.5 oC, 24.5 h, 91.8: 8.2 v/v n-hexane: 100 mM sodium acetate pH 4.7. Highest L-arabinose ferulate yield (56.2%) and selectivity (1.284) were observed at 2.96 mM L-arabinose mM-1VFA, 0.02 mg FAE mL-1, 38.9 oC, 12 h, 90.5: 5.0: 4.5 v/v/v n-hexane: dimethyl sulfoxide: 100 mM sodium acetate pH 4.7. The enzyme could be reused for six consecutive reaction cycles maintaining 66.6% of its initial synthetic activity. The developed bioconversions showed exceptional biocatalyst productivities (> 300 g product g-1FAE) and the waste production was within the range of pharmaceutical processes.Paper VI focused on the investigation of the basis of the type A classification of a well-studied FAE from Aspergillus niger(AnFaeA) by comparing its activity towards methyl and arabinose hydroxycinnamic acid esters. For this purpose, L-arabinose ferulateand caffeate were synthesized enzymatically. kcat/Kmratios revealed that AnFaeA hydrolyzed arabinose ferulate 1600 times and arabinose caffeate 6.5 times more efficiently than methyl esters. This study demonstrated that short alkyl chain hydroxycinnamate esters which are used nowadays for FAE classification can lead to activity misclassification, while L-arabinose esters could potentially substitute synthetic esters in classification describing more adequately the enzyme specificitiesin the natural environment.
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| 3. |
- Ma, Charlie
(författare)
-
Aspects of Ash Transformations in Pressurised Entrained-Flow Gasification of Woody Biomass : Pilot-scale studies
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Pressurised entrained-flow gasification (PEFG) of woody biomass has the potential to produce high purity syngas for the production of vital chemicals, e.g., biofuels. However, ash-related issues such as reactor blockages and refractory corrosion need to be addressed before this potential can be realised from a technical perspective. These undesirable consequences can be brought about by slag formation involving inorganic ash-forming elements and the chemical transformations that they undergo during fuel conversion. The objective of this study was to elucidate the ash transformations of the major ash-forming elements and the slag formation process. A pilot-scale PEFG reactor was used as the basis of the study, gasifying different woody biomass-based fuels including wood, bark, and a bark/peat mixture. Different ash fractions were collected and chemically analysed. Reactor slags had elemental distributions differing from that of the fuel ash, indicating the occurrence of fractionation of ash material during fuel conversion. Fly ash particles from a bark campaign were also heterogeneous with particles exhibiting differing compositions and physical properties; e.g., molten and crystalline formations. Si was consistently enriched in the reactor slags compared to other major ash-forming elements, while analyses of other ash fractions indicated that K was likely volatilised to a significant extent. In terms of slag behaviour, near-wall temperatures of approximately 1050-1200 °C inside the reactor were insufficient to form flowing ash slag for continuous extraction of ash material during firing the woody biomass fuels alone. However, fuel blending of a bark fuel with a silica-rich peat changed the chemical composition of the reactor slags and bulk slag flow behaviour was evident. Thermochemical equilibrium calculations supported the importance of Si in melt formation and in lowering solidus and liquidus temperatures of Ca-rich slag compositions that are typical from clean wood and bark. Viscosity estimations also showed the impact that solids have upon slag flow behaviour and corresponded qualitatively to the experimental observations. Corrosion of reactor refractory was observed. The mullite-based refractory of the reactor formed a slag with the fuel ash slag, which caused the former to flux away. Reactor blockages were also resultant because of the high viscosity of this slag near the outlet. A preliminary study into the corrosion of different refractories was also carried out, based on firing a bark/peat mixture. Alumina-rich refractories consisting of corundum, hibonite, mullite, and andalusite tended to form anorthite and exhibited varying degrees of degradation. Infiltration of slag was evident for all the samples and was a severe mode of degradation for some refractories. For fused-cast periclase and spinel-based refractories, slag infiltration was limited to voids and no extensive signs of refractory dissolution were found. This is also supported by a thermochemical equilibrium calculations mimicking slag infiltration that incorporated viscosity estimations. The findings from this thesis contribute towards the development of woody biomass PEFG by highlighting issues concerning ash fractionation, slag behaviours and ash\slash refractory interaction that should be investigated further.
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| 4. |
- Charles Murgau, Corinne
(författare)
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Microstructure model for Ti-6Al-4V used in simulation of additive manufacturing
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis is devoted to microstructure modelling of Ti-6Al-4V. The microstructure and the mechanical properties of titanium alloys are highly dependent on the temperature history experienced by the material. The developed microstructure model accounts for thermaldriving forces and is applicable for general temperature histories. It has been applied to study wire feed additive manufacturing processes that induce repetitive heating and cooling cycles.The microstructure model adopts internal state variables to represent the microstructure through microstructure constituents' fractions in finite element simulation. This makes it possible to apply the model efficiently for large computational models of general thermomechanical processes. The model is calibrated and validated versus literature data. It is applied to Gas Tungsten Arc Welding -also known as Tungsten Inert Gas welding-wire feed additive manufacturing process.Four quantities are calculated in the model: the volume fraction of phase, consisting of Widmanstätten, grain boundary, and martensite. The phase transformations during cooling are modelled based on diffusional theory described by a Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov formulation, except for diffusionless martensite formation where the Koistinen-Marburger equation is used. A parabolic growth rate equation is used for the to transformation upon heating. An added variable, structure size indicator of Widmanstätten, has also been implemented and calibrated. It is written in a simple Arrhenius format.The microstructure model is applied to in finite element simulation of wire feed additive manufacturing. Finally, coupling with a physically based constitutive model enables a comprehensive and predictive model of the properties that evolve during processing.
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| 5. |
- Ghasemi, Yahya, 1982-
(författare)
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Flowability and proportioning of cementitious mixtures
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Understanding the role of constituents of cementitious mixtures as the most globally used human-made material and their effect on the flowability of the blends is of great importance. A comprehensive understanding of the ingredients of mixtures allows for optimized proportioning of constituents and can lead to a reduction in cement and water demand of the blends.The thesis focuses on relating the flow of mixtures to the specific surface area of the particles through the concepts of excess water layer theory by assuming that the particles are enveloped by a thin film layer that separates the grains and lubricates their surfaces. However, in order to study the film thickness, it is inevitable to consider packing density and specific surface area of the particles. Both of the mentioned parameters and their influence on water requirement of mixtures were investigated as a part of the project.The theoretical part of the thesis includes background and explanation of the concepts and theories used in conducting the research including particle packing theory, specific surface area, and excess layer theories. In addition, the thesis attempts at defining and formulating terms and parameters such as representative shape, mixer efficiency, and optimal packing.The experimental part of the thesis consists of laboratory measurements of packing density in the loose state, estimation of specific surface area using microtomography and slump tests for mortar and concrete.The results of the thesis indicate that the available packing models can estimate the packing density with acceptable accuracy. In addition, it was shown that it is possible to estimate flowability of mixtures based on information about the specific surface area of the constituents. A mix design approach is introduced which predicts flow spread of slump test, a measure that is often used in laboratories and at the building sites.Moreover, the research revealed that the estimation of the specific surface area of particles can be improved by assuming a platonic solid shape for the particles instead of spheres. Furthermore, the mixer efficiency was quantified and optimization of mixtures against packing density and water requirement was explained.The finding of the project lays a foundation for a simple workability based mix design approach.
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| 6. |
- Khodadad, Davood
(författare)
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Multiplexed Digital Holography incorporating Speckle Correlation
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In manufacturing industry there is a high demand for on line quality control to minimize the risk of incorrectly produced objects. Conventional contact measurement methods are usually slow and invasive, meaning that they cannot be used for soft materials and for complex shapes without influencing the controlled parts. In contrast, interferometry and digital holography in combination with computers become faster, more reliable and highly accurateas an alternative non-contact technique for industrial shape evaluation. For example in digital holography, access to the complex wave field and the possibility to numerically reconstruct holograms in different planes introduce a new degree of flexibility to optical metrology. With digital holography high resolution and precise three dimensional (3D) images of the manufactured parts can be generated. This technique can also be used to capture data in asingle exposure, which is important when doing measurements in a disturbed environment. The aim of this thesis is devoted to the theoretical and experimental development of shape and deformation measurements. To perform online process control of free-form manufactured objects, the measured shape is compared with the CAD-model to obtain deviations. To do this, a new technique to measure surface gradients and shape based onsingle-shot multiplexed dual-wavelength digital holography and image correlation of speckle displacements is demonstrated. Based on an analytical relation between phase gradients and speckle displacements it is shown that an object is retrieved uniquely to shape, position and deformation without the unwrapping problems that usually appear in dual-wavelength holography. The method is first demonstrated using continues-wave laser light from twotemperature controlled laser diodes operating at 640 nm. Then a specially designed dual core diode pumped fiber laser that produces pulsed light with wavelengths close to 1030 nm is used. In addition, a Nd:YAG laser with the wavelength of 532 nm is used for 3D deformation measurements. One significant problem when using the dual-wavelength single-shot approach is that phase ambiguities are built in to the system that needs to be corrected. An automatic calibration scheme is therefore required. The intrinsic flexibility of digital holography gives a possibility to compensate these aberrations and to remove errors, fully numerically without mechanical movements. In this thesis I present a calibration method which allows multiplexed singleshotonline shape evaluation in a disturbed environment. It is shown that phase maps and speckle displacements can be recovered free of chromatic aberrations. This is the first time that a multiplexed single-shot dual-wavelength calibration is reported by defining a criteria tomake an automatic procedure. Further, Digital Speckle Photography (DSP) is used for the full field measurement of 3D deformations. In order to do 3D deformation measurement, usually multi-cameras and intricate set-up are required. In this thesis I demonstrate the use of only one single camera torecord four sets of speckle patterns recorded by illuminating the object from four different directions. In this manner, meanwhile 3D speckle displacement is calculated and used for the measurement of the 3D deformations, wrapping problems are also avoided. Further, the same scale of speckle images of the surface for all four images is guaranteed. Furthermore, a need for calibration of the 3D deformation measurement that occurs in the multi-camera methods,is removed. By the results of the presented work, it is experimentally verified that the multiplexed singleshot dual wavelength digital holography and numerically generated speckle images can be used together with digital speckle correlation to retrieve and evaluate the object shape. Usingmultidirectional illumination, the 3D deformation measurements can also be obtained. The proposed method is robust to large phase gradients and large movements within the intensity patterns. The advantage of the approach is that, using speckle displacements, shape and deformation measurements can be performed even though the synthetic wavelength is out of the dynamic range of the object deformation and/or height variation.
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| 7. |
- Nilsson, Erik A. A., 1986-
(författare)
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Degradation Mechanisms of Heat Resistant Steel at Elevated Temperatures : In an Iron Ore Pelletizing Industry
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis focuses on the different degradation mechanisms of the stainless steel in a travelling grate in a Grate-Kiln iron ore pellet indurator. The travelling grate is a conveyor belt that transports green-body pellets to a rotary kiln while the pellets are being dried and pre-heated to a temperature of 900-1100 °C by recycled hot air. After unloading of the pellets to the rotary-kiln for further sintering, the travelling grate is cooled in room temperature while returning to the loading zone of the wet pellets.The steel was tested during thermal cycling in a test-rig, in order to simulate the influence of thermo mechanical fatigue and oxide spallation. The influence of erosion-deposition was investigated in a modified horizontal industrial combustion kiln at 800 °C, with slag and coal from production used as erosive media and combustion fuel, respectively. The influence of minor alloying additions of Mn, Si and Ti on the microstructure was explored by eight different casted alloy compositions. Isothermal heat treatments were performed at 800 °C during 200 hours on steel immersed in deposits recovered from a travelling grate in production.The three main degradation mechanisms found in this work are thermal spallation, erosion-deposition and deposit induced accelerated corrosion (DIAC). Thermal spallation of the oxide layer is caused by the thermal expansion difference between the oxide and the metal during heating and cooling. It has been found that Ti improves the spallation resistance while Si reduces it. Spallation of deposits is another cause believed to increase the degradation. Erosion-deposition appears due to simultaneous erosion and deposition of particles on the travelling grate that causes erosion or deposition depending on the amount of alkali metals in the environment. The velocity of the particles also influences erosion and deposition in the way that higher velocities increase erosion. DIAC is proposed to form on the travelling grate due to the concentration of chloride- and sulphate containing alkali metals in the deposits. Other than these major degrading mechanisms, minor degradation mechanisms such as internal oxidation, sigma formation, carburization and sensitization towards inter-granular attack have been found inside the steel during heating. Thermo mechanical fatigue (TMF) causes intergranular cracks in the material of the travelling grate. Casting issues such as micro-segregation have also been addressed in this thesis.A few different ways to improve degradation resistance have been proposed, such as homogenization heat treatments, optimization of process parameters and inhibitor solutions.
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| 8. |
- Tabatabaei, Narges
(författare)
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Impact of Icing on Wind Turbines Aerodynamic
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Wind energy covered 11.6% of Europe electricity demand in 2017. Region with cold climates represent a strong potential for wind energy companies because of their sparse population and proper wind conditions. The global wind energy installations in cold climate regions is forecasted to reach a capacity of 186 GW by the end of 2020. But wind turbines installed in cold climate regions are prone to the risks of ice accumulation which affects their aerodynamics behavior, as well as the safety, and structural loads.The aerodynamic forces on wind turbine can be affected in two main ways: ice accretion changes the blade profile, and thus the flow path curvature, and the surface roughness. The importance of these two parameters depend on the ice type. The target ice type for this thesis is the smooth leading-edge glaze ice with horn shape. The aerodynamic consequences of the blade profile change because of the mentioned ice type are studied in detail. The findings of this thesis are classified in five main sections. The first section considers the methodology to model the performance of a wind turbine. The wake behind the turbine is also explored. Different aspects of the simulation methods with computational fluid dynamics using the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are investigated in both steady state and transient. In the second section, the time-dependent effects of icing are studied, exploring the moving vortices created by the irregularity of the ice and their frequencies and amplitudes. The main frequency modes of the flow dynamics were analyzed. In the third section, three-dimensional simulation of icing is implemented and the fluid flow arrangement through the rotor is investigated. Two well-recognized approaches are applied and compared, which are Blade Element Momentum (BEM) and CFD. An automated setup is programmed and launched to implement multiple CFD simulations to provide the aerodynamic data for structural analysis in the fourth section. The developed methodology is illustrated on a large-scale wind turbine. In section five, the effects of the uncertain level of ice-accretion is studied through an uncertainty quantification method. The aerodynamic losses are statistically discussed. Then, a scenario study is conducted according to the obtained polynomial chaos expansion, in which the probability distribution of wind power loss due to icing is inspected.The achievements of this thesis can be used in to design of a wind turbine which is supposed to work in a cold climate, as well as assess the economics of a predesigned wind turbine working in a cold region.
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| 9. |
- Yang, Chen-Wei, 1987-
(författare)
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Cyber-Physical Engineering of Distributed Automation Systems in Energy Domain
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The main focus of this thesis is in the domain of Energy Systems, specifically in the engi-neering of modern Smart Grid (SG) automation systems. The SG has been categorizedas a Cyber-Physical System (CPS), a complex system which exhibits tight integration between the cyber and the physical processes and their interactions in a networked envi-ronment. The complexity and the computation of the automation system are expectedto increase with the promise of a ”smart” electric grid which is capable of self-healing, self-reconfiguration and become more resilient against cyber-attacks. These automation software systems require control strategies which are distributed in execution and requirevery tight integrations and interactions between various modular software and hardware components. As the automation system becomes more software intensive, we hypothesizethat existing design practices of developing the substation automation software system would struggle to cope with the distributed design challenges of the Smart Grid and they could be substantially enhanced by the application of model-driven design, distributed software architectures and semantic models.Model-driven engineering (MDE) is a software design paradigm that leverages the use of abstraction models at different stages of the design process for engineering complex software systems. MDE is widely used in the software engineering domain and it has proven to be effective when designing and maintaining large-scale software applications.One of the core tenants of MDE is model transformation and it is considered the heartand soul of MDE. The standard modelling language that is used for MDE in software engineering is the Unified Modelling Language (UML), which is a visual language with awide array of tool support. Despite its popularity in the software domain, UML models still have its limitations. In particular, the lack of uniformed semantics between its 13different visual diagrams and the lack of formal notations. In this thesis, we proposethe Cyber-Physical Engineering (CPE) framework, an MDE framework which combines semantic models and MDE based automatic model transformation in order to auto-generate both the automation control system and the simulation plant model from thephysical and functional specifications of CPS systems.All the scientific papers included in this thesis contributes towards the proposed Cyber-Physical Engineering methodology which includes MDE using semantic models, formal modelling of functional requirements and co-simulation testing of CPS systems.The contribution of the thesis is fivefold. Firstly, the thesis proposes the CPE frame-work, which is based on the use of semantic web modelling language where logical rea-soning can be applied to the models. The modelling language that is used is the Web Ontology Language (OWL), which is a declarative language with a strong formal foun-dation based on description logic. Secondly, the extended Semantic Web Rule Language(eSWRL) is introduced which defines the constructors that are necessary for model trans-forming OWL ontology models. The eSWRL transformation language is proposed to bean extension to the widely used ontology reasoning language Semantic Web Rule Lan-guage (SWRL) in order to address the limitations of monotonicity which restricts SWRLfrom transforming ontological models. Thirdly, the implementation of the underlying transformation engine of eSWRL in SWI Prolog. Fourthly, the formal modelling of func-tional requirements in ontology is proposed which investigates the viability of using nat-ural language based functional requirements to add control flow to the auto-generated automation control system. Lastly, an automated script based co-simulation environ-ment is shown to demonstrate how black-box validation can be performed to test theauto-generated automation control system.Finally, the thesis presents the resultant CPE framework for the modelling and genera-tion of distributed CPS automation software that leverages the use of semantic web OWL models. It is aimed to provide a top-down design approach of developing distributed con-trol software for CPS systems along with the simulation model of the physical plant. Inthis thesis, we demonstrate the development process of the CPE framework and throughcase study applications, how a semi-complete distributed automation software system in IEC 61499 can be automatically generated from substation specifications in IEC 61850 and natural language based functional requirements which provide the structure and thecontrol flow of the distributed automation software respectively. An eSWRL toolchainhas been developed to facilitate the various model transformation process of the CPE framework.
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| 10. |
- Berglund, Linn
(författare)
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From bio-based residues to nanofibers using mechanical fibrillation for functional biomaterials
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Bio-based resource utilization in different forms has been driven by societal, industrial and academic research interests towards the development of “green”, sustainable materials from renewable sources. Within this context, exploiting biomass from different industrial residues is further advantageous from an environmental and economic point of view, leading to minimization of residues by means of waste treatment and to the development of high-addedvalue- products. Breaking down the cell wall structure to its smallest structural components is one means of turning bio-based residues into high-value products, leaving us with nanofibers. The aim of this work has been to understand how these nanofibers can be liberated from various cellulosic sources using mechanical fibrillation and how they can be assembled into functional hydrogels.The production of bio-based nanofibers as a sustainable bio-based material is in the early stages of commercialization and considerable research has been devoted to explore different methods of reaching nanoscale. However, the extraction process by chemical and/or mechanical means is still associated with a relatively high energy demand and/or cost. These are key obstacles for use of the material in a wide range of applications. Another challenge is that methods to characterize nanofiber dimensions are still being developed, with few options available as online measurements for assessing the degree of fibrillation. Allowing for assessment during the fibrillation process would enable not only optimization towards a more energy efficient fibrillation, but also matching of the nanofiber quality to its intended function, since different applications will require widely different nanofiber qualities. Energy-efficient fibrillation and scalability from industrial residues were explored using upscalable ultrafine grinding processes.Nanofibers from various industrial bio-residues and wood were prepared and characterized, including the development of a method for evaluation of the fibrillation process online via viscosity measurements as an indication of the degree of fibrillation down to nanoscale. Furthermore, the correlation of viscosity to that of the strength of the nanopapers (dried fiber networks) was evaluated for the different raw materials.Switchable ionic liquids (SIL) were tested as a green pretreatment for delignification, without bleaching of wood prior to fibrillation, with the aim to preserve the low environmental impact that the raw material source offers.In order to employ the hydrophilic nature and strong network formation ability of the fibrillated nanofibers, they were utilized in the preparation of functional biomaterials in the form of hydrogels. Firstly, brewer’s spent grain nanofibers were used to promote and reinforce hydrogel formation of lignin-containing arabinoxylan, resulting in a hydrogel completely derived from barley residues. In addition, alginate-rich seaweed nanofibers from the stipe (stem-like part of the seaweed) were used directly after fibrillation as an ink and hydrogels were formed via 3D printing.
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