| 1. |
- Öhman, Marcus, et al.
(författare)
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Slagging tendencies of wood pellet ash during combustion in residential pellet burners
- 2004
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Ingår i: Biomass and Bioenergy. - Oxford : Elsevier BV. - 0961-9534 .- 1873-2909. ; 27:6, s. 585-596
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ash related problems have more than occasionally been observed in pellet burners during the last years. These problems can lead to reduced accessibility of the combustion systems as well as bad publicity for the market. The objectives of the present work were to; (i) evaluate how different raw materials for pellets affect the accessibility of the existing burner equipment, (ii) determine which of the ash forming element(s) that could be responsible for the deposit/slagg formation and, (iii) estimate the critical slagging temperature for the different raw materials. Stored and fresh materials from sawdust, logging residues and bark were used as raw material in three different pellet burners. The results showed that the slagging properties were relatively sensitive to the variations in total ash content and ash forming elements of the fuel. It is therefore recommended that ash rich fuels like bark and logging residues should not be used in the existing residential pellet burners. Both fuel and burner type affected the amounts of ash deposit produced. The degree of sintering (i.e. the strength of the deposits) was mostly affected by the fuel composition. Subsequent controlled sintering test of the produced deposits/slags showed critical slagging temperatures of about 850-900°C for stored bark and about 1000°C for fresh bark and stored and fresh materials from sawdust and logging residues. The results further indicated that the Si-content in the fuel correlated (relatively) well to the sintering tendencies in the burners. Chemical equilibrium models were used to interpret the experimental findings, and good quantitative agreements between modelling and experimental results were generally obtained. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 2. |
- Lundin, Mikael, et al.
(författare)
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Development and validation of a method aimed at estimating building performance parameters
- 2004
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Ingår i: Energy and Buildings. - Lausanne : Elsevier. - 0378-7788 .- 1872-6178. ; 36:9, s. 905-914
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents a method for estimating the total heat loss coefficient, the total heat capacity and the gain factor based on measured data for the internal-external temperature difference, the domestic load and the supplied heat. Knowledge of these performance parameters is essential for a reliable energy demand forecast, close guidance and the accurate analysis of efficiency actions in buildings. The method was validated on measurements from a test cell. The values obtained for the performance parameters were in good agreement with a lumped capacitance analysis of the heating and cooling of the test cell. The deviation in the total heat loss coefficient, expressed in terms of the root mean square error, was between 2.5 and 9.4%. The values obtained for the total heat capacity were on average 9.8% higher than the reference value and for the gain factor the average deviation was 12.5%. The method shows promising signs of becoming a robust and accurate tool for extracting both the magnitude and the variation of the performance parameters, based on easily accessible data.
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| 3. |
- Öhman, Marcus, et al.
(författare)
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Reasons for slagging during stemwood pellet combustion and some measures for prevention
- 2004
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Ingår i: Biomass and Bioenergy. - Oxford : Pergamon Press. - 0961-9534 .- 1873-2909. ; 27:6, s. 597-605
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ash related problems have more than occasionally been observed in pellet burners during the last years. These problems lead to reduced accessibility of the appliances and also bad publicity for the pellet market. The objectives of the present work were therefore to: (i) determine the critical levels of the problematic ash components in stemwood pellets regarding slagging, (ii) document the variations of these problematic elements in the outgoing pellets from two pellet-mills during one operational season, (iii) determine how frequently these elements exceed the critical levels, (iv) determine how different sub-processes in the pelletising process (especially the dryer) effect the slagging properties of the pellet, and if possible (v) suggest some measures for prevention. A significant number of wood pellets reported to be problematic and problem-free, regarding slagging in ordinary residential pellet burners, were collected from the Swedish market. The ash compositions of these fuels were analysed and the results compiled in a database. Partial Least-Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) and F-tests were used to statistically identify both the critical ash components and the critical levels of these components that separated the two reported classes. In addition, chemical equilibrium model calculations were used to interpret the findings. The variations of these elements in the in-going raw material and in the produced pellets were determined during one season in two pellet mills equipped with exhaust gas dryers. The results showed that the problematic wood-pellets had a significantly higher amount of Si, but also Al and Fe, in the fuel ash. The critical level of Si (given as SiO2) was about 20-25 wt% of the fuel ash, i.e. pellets with levels in or over this range resulted in slagging problems in residential burners. This critical Si content was exceeded once and twice for the analysed samples in the two studied pellet mills. In one of the studied mills, this was because of contamination by sand of the raw material during storage and handling, and in the other mill the reason was found to be contamination of the raw material by elutriated particles from the dryer fuel. The major conclusion of the work is that both raw materials and drying fuels/processes should be carefully treated to avoid mineral contamination, and an additional cyclone separator could potentially also be used to improve the pellet quality.
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| 4. |
- Eklund, Anders, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
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A resonator sensor for measurement of intraocular pressure : evaluation in an in vitro pig-eye model
- 2000
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Ingår i: Physiological Measurement. - : IOP Publishing. - 0967-3334 .- 1361-6579. ; 21:3, s. 355-367
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement is performed routinely at every eye clinic. High IOP, which can be a sign of glaucoma, can lead to degeneration of the retina and can cause blindness. In this study we developed a resonator sensor for IOP measurement based on an oscillator consisting of a piezoelectric element made of lead zirconate titanate, a flat contact piece of nylon and a feedback circuit. The aim of this study was to evaluate the new sensor's ability to determine lOP in an in vitro pig-eye model. Six eyes from four pigs were removed and fixed in agar. They were then pressurized by a saline column (10-35 cm H2O) through a cannula inserted into the vitreous chamber. The IOP was measured with the resonator sensor applied to cornea. An Alcon applanation pneumatonometer and a standard Viggo-Spectramed pressure sensor connected to the saline column were used as references. The IOP as measured with the resonator sensor correlated well with the pressure elicited by the saline column for individual eyes (r = 0.96-0.99, n = 60) and for all eyes (r = 0.92, n = 360). The correlation between the resonance sensor and the pneumatonometer was r = 0.92 (n = 360). The pneumatonometer also showed a good correlation with the saline column (r = 0.98, n = 360). We conclude that our in vitro pig-eye model made it possible to induce reproducible variation in IOP, and measurement of that pressure with the newly developed resonator sensor gave very promising results for development of a clinically applicable IOP tonometer with unique properties.
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| 5. |
- Eklund, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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An applanation resonator sensor for measuring intraocular pressure using combined continuous force and area measurement
- 2003
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Ingår i: Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. - : Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). - 0146-0404 .- 1552-5783. ; 44:7, s. 3017-24
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: For diagnostic purposes and for follow-up after treatment, it is important to have simple and reliable methods for measuring intraocular pressure (IOP). The purpose of this study was to develop a new applanation method for IOP measurement that uses combined continuous force and area measurement and to develop and evaluate an applanation resonator sensor (ARS) tonometer based on that method. METHODS: The tonometer was developed and evaluated in an in vitro porcine eye model, in which enucleated eyes were pressurized with a saline column. A model assuming that the applanation principle is valid over a certain interval of contact area was proposed. Continuous contact area was measured with a resonator sensor device, and contact force was measured with a force transducer, both mounted together in one probe. Reference IOP was measured in the vitreous chamber (IOP(VC)) with a standard fluid pressure transducer. RESULTS: An optimization algorithm determined the applanation interval that was optimal for calculating IOP(ARS). The corresponding time interval was 30 +/- 3 to 77 +/- 4 ms (mean +/- SD, n = 418) after initial contact. The proposed model showed a degree of explanation of R(2 [supi]) = 0.991 (n = 410, six eyes), corresponding to a correlation of r = 0.995 (n = 410) between IOP(ARS) and IOP(VC). The within-eyes precision (i.e., 95% confidence interval for the residuals between IOP(ARS) and IOP(VC)) was +/- 1.8 mm Hg (n = 410, six eyes). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the ARS method for measuring IOP was evaluated in an in vitro porcine eye model and showed high precision. The ARS method is, to the authors' knowledge, the first to combine simultaneous, continuous sampling of both parameters included in the applanation principle: force and area. Consequently, there is a potential for reducing errors in clinical IOP tonometry.
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| 6. |
- Grip, Helena, et al.
(författare)
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Classification of Neck Movement Patterns Related to Whiplash-Associated Disorders Using Neural Networks
- 2003
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Ingår i: IEEE transactions on information technology in biomedicine. - : IEEE. - 1089-7771 .- 1558-0032. ; 7:4, s. 412-418
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents a new method for classification of neck movement patterns related to Whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) using a resilient backpropagation neural network (BPNN). WAD are a common diagnosis after neck trauma, typically caused by rear-end car accidents. Since physical injuries seldom are found with present imaging techniques, the diagnosis can be difficult to make. The active range of the neck is often visually inspected in patients with neck pain, but this is a subjective measure, and a more objective decision support system, that gives a reliable and more detailed analysis of neck movement pattern, is needed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the predictive ability of a BPNN, using neck movement variables as input. Three-dimensional (3-D) neck movement data from 59 subjects with WAD and 56 control subjects were collected with a ProReflex system. Rotation angle and angle velocity were calculated using the instantaneous helical axis method and motion variables were extracted. A principal component analysis was performed in order to reduce data and improve the BPNN performance. BPNNs with six hidden nodes had a predictivity of 0.89, a sensitivity of 0.90 and a specificity of 0.88, which are very promising results. This shows that neck movement analysis combined with a neural network could build the basis of a decision support system for classifying suspected WAD, even though further evaluation of the method is needed.
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| 7. |
- Öhberg, Fredrik, et al.
(författare)
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Chronic Whiplash Associated Disorders and Neck Movement Measurements : An Instantaneous Helical Axis Approach
- 2003
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Ingår i: IEEE transactions on information technology in biomedicine. - : IEEE. - 1089-7771 .- 1558-0032. ; 7:4, s. 274-282
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents an assessment tool for objective neck movement analysis of subjects suffering from chronic whiplash-associated disorders (WAD). Three-dimensional (3-D) motion data is collected by a commercially available motion analysis system. Head rotation, defined in this paper as the rotation angle around the instantaneous helical axis (IHA), is used for extracting a number of variables (e.g., angular velocity and range, symmetry of motion). Statistically significant differences were found between controls and subjects with chronic WAD in a number of variables.
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| 8. |
- Engström, Christian, et al.
(författare)
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Numerical methods for homogenization of Maxwell's equations
- 2004
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Ingår i: URSI 2004 International Symposium on Electromagnetic Theory. - : Pisa University Press. - 8884922526 - 9788884922526 ; , s. 987-989
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- When the wavelength is much larger than the typical scale of the microstructure in a material, it is possible to define effective or homogenized material coefficients. Two numerical methods for the determination of the homogenized coefficients are compared. Numerical examples, where extreme properties of the effective material are achieved in the two dimensional case, are presented.
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| 9. |
- Eklund, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluation of applanation resonator sensors for intra-ocular pressure measurement : results from clinical and in vitro studies.
- 2003
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Ingår i: Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing. - 0140-0118 .- 1741-0444. ; 41:2, s. 190-197
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Glaucoma is an eye disease that, in its most common form, is characterised by high intra-ocular pressure (IOP), reduced visual field and optic nerve damage. For diagnostic purposes and for follow-up after treatment, it is important to have simple and reliable methods for measuring IOP. Recently, an applanation resonator sensor (ARS) for measuring IOP was introduced and evaluated using an in vitro pig-eye model. In the present study, the first clinical evaluation of the same probe has been carried out, with experiments in vivo on human eyes. There was a low but significant correlation between IOP(ARS) and the IOP measured with a Goldmann applanation tonometer (r = 0.40, p = 0.001, n = 72). However, off-centre positioning of the sensor against the cornea caused a non-negligible source of error. The sensor probe was redesigned to have a spherical, instead of flat, contact surface against the eye and was evaluated in the in vitro model. The new probe showed reduced sensitivity to off-centre positioning, with a decrease in relative deviation from 89% to 11% (1 mm radius). For normalised data, linear regression between IOP(ARS) and direct IOP measurement in the vitreous chamber showed a correlation of r = 0.97 (p < 0.001, n = 108) and a standard deviation for the residuals of SD < or = 2.18 mm Hg (n = 108). It was concluded that a spherical contact surface should be preferred and that further development towards a clinical instrument should focus on probe design and signal analysis.
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| 10. |
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