Agricultural sprayers are used to apply chemical treatments (pesticides and fertilizer) to crops. A sprayer distributes the chemical by employing many nozzles spaced evenly along a boom structure oriented perpendicular to the direction of travel to cover large areas with each machine pass. To maximize spray efficacy, the nozzles must be held a specific distance from the target to be sprayed. With diversification of crop types grown in Western Canada, foliar application of chemical treatments at multiple points during the plants life cycles are now required. This multi-growth-stage application process requires a machine with a large range of vertical adjustment; thus permitting the nozzles to be maintained the correct distance from the target (crop) as it grows. Suspended boom sprayers provide the range of adjustment required.<p> The suspended boom structure consists of three controlled sections which are positioned via use of hydraulic actuators. To reduce the effect of terrain inputs through the carrying frame on the booms orientation, most suspended boom sprayers incorporate a passive suspension system to limit coupling between the carrying frame and boom. By doing this however, a negative effect is created. During typical operation, the operator will use the actuator to reorient one section thereby maintaining the desired distance from the boom to the target; the opposing section will deviate from its desired position due to coupling of the boom sections through the passive suspension system. The quantification of this problem was the basis for this research. <p> A computer simulation model of the boom structure, passive suspension system, hydraulic actuator, and on/off type directional valve was created. Comparisons to experimental data showed the model was applicable for predicting trends in boom performance related to manipulation of actuator velocity profiles. Standardized changes in the actuated sections orientation were used to establish the existing performance baseline and quantify the problem. Alternative commercially available directional valves (proportional and pulse width modulated) were then simulated and used in conjunction with the boom model to determine if boom performance improvements may be realized by defining the actuators acceleration rate during orientation changes. <p> The proportional valve was able to limit the acceleration and deceleration of the actuated section to reduce the coupling effect and improve the non-actuated sections performance. However, the performance of the actuated section degraded more significantly in all trials regardless of input profile. The performance degradation resulted as slower acceleration and deceleration of the actuator required an increased amount of time for the desired orientation of the actuated section to be reached. It was also concluded that performance of the dynamic orientation of the boom structure was equivalent for orientation changes driven wither by pulse width modulation of an on/off valve or a true proportional valve. The boom structures large inertia and low natural frequency acted as a suitable filter for the flow and pressure pulsations introduced by pulse width modulation.

Agricultural sprayers are used to apply chemical treatments (pesticides and fertilizer) to crops. A sprayer distributes the chemical by employing many nozzles spaced evenly along a boom structure oriented perpendicular to the direction of travel to cover large areas with each machine pass. To maximize spray efficacy, the nozzles must be held a specific distance from the target to be sprayed. With diversification of crop types grown in Western Canada, foliar application of chemical treatments at multiple points during the plants life cycles are now required. This multi-growth-stage application process requires a machine with a large range of vertical adjustment; thus permitting the nozzles to be maintained the correct distance from the target (crop) as it grows. Suspended boom sprayers provide the range of adjustment required.<p> The suspended boom structure consists of three controlled sections which are positioned via use of hydraulic actuators. To reduce the effect of terrain inputs through the carrying frame on the booms orientation, most suspended boom sprayers incorporate a passive suspension system to limit coupling between the carrying frame and boom. By doing this however, a negative effect is created. During typical operation, the operator will use the actuator to reorient one section thereby maintaining the desired distance from the boom to the target; the opposing section will deviate from its desired position due to coupling of the boom sections through the passive suspension system. The quantification of this problem was the basis for this research. <p> A computer simulation model of the boom structure, passive suspension system, hydraulic actuator, and on/off type directional valve was created. Comparisons to experimental data showed the model was applicable for predicting trends in boom performance related to manipulation of actuator velocity profiles. Standardized changes in the actuated sections orientation were used to establish the existing performance baseline and quantify the problem. Alternative commercially available directional valves (proportional and pulse width modulated) were then simulated and used in conjunction with the boom model to determine if boom performance improvements may be realized by defining the actuators acceleration rate during orientation changes. <p> The proportional valve was able to limit the acceleration and deceleration of the actuated section to reduce the coupling effect and improve the non-actuated sections performance. However, the performance of the actuated section degraded more significantly in all trials regardless of input profile. The performance degradation resulted as slower acceleration and deceleration of the actuator required an increased amount of time for the desired orientation of the actuated section to be reached. It was also concluded that performance of the dynamic orientation of the boom structure was equivalent for orientation changes driven wither by pulse width modulation of an on/off valve or a true proportional valve. The boom structures large inertia and low natural frequency acted as a suitable filter for the flow and pressure pulsations introduced by pulse width modulation.

L’intérêt pour la modélisation et la commande des engins volants s’est accru de manière significative au cours de ces dernières années. La complexité et les possibilités des engins volants s’accroissent rapidement et la gamme des missions qu’elles doivent réaliser se développe. Cependant afin que les drones puissent atteindre ce potentiel, certains défis techniques doivent être surmontés, notamment l’étude et l’intégration de la flexibilité structurelle, la prise en compte des phénomènes aérodynamiques, et l’élaboration de stratégies de commandes adaptées. Le travail présenté s’inscrit dans ce cadre et porte spécifiquement sur deux types de drones : -Les plus légers que l’air : Application à la modélisation et commande d’un dirigeable souple. -Les plus lourds que l’air : Application à la modélisation et commande d’un quadrirotor flexible : le XSF. Nous présentons dans un premier temps un modèle global d’engins volants flexibles autonomes. On admet que ces objets volants subissent de grands déplacements et de petites déformations élastiques. Le formalisme utilisé est basé sur l’approche de Newton-Euler, approche souvent utilisée dans le cas d’objets volants rigides. Dans cette étude nous généralisons le formalisme de corps rigides existant en y incluant l’effet de la flexibilité, sans pour autant détruire la méthodologie globale, et ce au moyen d’une technique hybride lagrangienne-eulerienne. La flexibilité apparaît dans le système dynamique global par le moyen d’un nombre réduit de degrés de liberté supplémentaires issus d’une synthèse modale. Cette technique permet de faciliter par la suite l’élaboration d’algorithmes de commande et de stabilisation. Le phénomène des masses ajoutées est également pris en considération. Une méthode originale de traitement analytique de ce phénomène a été établie pour un corps flexible en grands mouvements. Elle est basée sur la notion de potentiel flexible, et sur le développement de l’énergie cinétique du fluide sous l’effet d’un mouvement global du corps flexible. Cette méthode a permis de mettre en évidence le couplage rigide-flexible dans la matrice des masses ajoutées pour un traitement global d’un dirigeable flexible. On présente aussi le modèle dynamique et aérodynamique du quadrirotor flexible XSF conçu au laboratoire IBISC et destiné à un concours interuniversitaire sur les microdrones. Une technique robuste " Backstepping " est réalisée pour la stabilisation du dirigeable flexible au voisinage d’un point cible. Et une stratégie de contrôle de PID a été proposée pour la stabilisation de l’XSF. La stratégie de commande est contrainte par l’impératif d’optimisation du rapport précision/portabilité, pour que les algorithmes développés puissent être intégrés dans l’informatique embarquée de ces engins volants. Une validation numérique est présentée à la fin du rapport. / The interest of dynamic modeling and control of the autonomous flying objects increased significantly during these last years. Complexity and capability of these flying objects are expanding rapidly now, and the range of missions their designed to support is growing. In order to fulfil this requirement, it is necessary, in one hand, to introduce the effect of the structural flexibility and the aerodynamic phenomenon in the dynamic model, and in the other hand, to build a suitable strategy of command and stabilization for these flying objects. The work is registered within this framework, and relates two types of engines: - Lighter than air vehicle: Application on the modelling and control of flexible airship. - Heavier than air vehicle: Application on the modelling and control of flexible micro-drone. We present a general model of autonomous flexible flying engine undergoing great overall motion and small elastic displacements. The formalism used is based on the Newton- Euler approach, which is frequently used for rigid flying objects. In this study we generalize the existing formalisms for rigid bodies, by including the effect of flexibility without destroying the total methodology. A modal synthesis is used. A hybrid method based on the energetic principles and Lagrange equations is presented. The phenomenon of the added masses is also taken into account. In order to integrate the fluid-structure interaction of a flexible airship, we develop an original analytical formulation of the problem using both the new notion of flexible flow potential, and the development of the kinetic energy of the air constrained by the motion and the vibration of the airship. This method allows to put in an obvious place the coupling "overall motion - flexibility" in the added mass matrix. We also present the dynamic and aerodynamic model of a flexible quadrirotor called XSF, designed in the IBISC laboratory and intended for an interuniversity competition for microdrones. A robust methodology based on the " Backstepping " control is realized to stabilize the airship around a desired position, and a PID controller is proposed to stabilise the XSF. The strategy of command is compelled by imperative to optimize the ratio precision/portability, to allow an easy insertion of the developed algorithms in the embedded electronics. A numerical validation is presented in the end of this report.

The purpose of this research was to quantify feedstock supply risk over the lifetime of an agricultural residue-based (straw and chaff) biorefinery and to determine the range of delivered prices. The Peace River region of Alberta was used as a case study for analysis, with a geographic information system utilized for data analysis. Inter-year availability of crop residues was highly variable over the 20 year period under study, which created significant differences in the delivered price of feedstock between minimum, average, and maximum availability scenarios. At the four primary study sites (Fahler, Grimshaw, Peace River, and Sexsmith), the range was from double the average availability for the maximum scenario to zero biomass available for the minimum scenario. Biomass availability is a function of grain yield, the biomass to grain ratio, the cropping frequency, and residue retention rate used to ensure future crop productivity. Using minimum, average, and maximum supply scenarios, delivered price was determined using the dynamic (time-dependent) Integrated Biomass Supply Analysis and Logistics (IBSAL) simulation model. Five biorefinery capacities, ranging from 50,000 to 500,000 tonnes of feedstock per year, were analyzed. Since no biomass was available to model in true minimum years, a simulated minimum of half the average availability was used. Delivered cost, including harvest and transportation, for the 50,000 t plant ranged from $24.01 t-1 for the maximum availability scenario at the Sexsmith site to $42.63 t-1 for the simulated minimum scenario at the Fahler site. The range for the 500,000 t plant at the Sexsmith site was $41.78 for the maximum availability and $70.98 for the simulated minimum availability. As no biomass is available (and hence the true cost is unknown) in some years, storage strategies must be implemented and alternate feedstock sources identified to supply biorefineries in low-yield years. Since feedstock cost is a large component of total operating cost of a biorefinery, feedstock supply variability and delivered cost inconsistency should be primary decision criteria for any future biorefinery projects.

Even though the use of renewable energy in electricity generation has significantly increased over time, coal is projected to remain as the primary fuel in electricity generation worldwide in the next decades due to its availability, stability of supply and cost. However, coal-fired power plants are the largest stationary sources of CO2 emissions that contribute to global warming. Several technologies have been developed to mitigate CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants. Oxy-combustion is a promising pathway to capture CO2 from coal fired power plants that competes favourably with other CO2 capture technology pathways such as post-combustion and pre-combustion. Oxy-combustion has attracted attention because it provides a CO2-enriched flue gas stream which can be further purified using a relatively simple multi-stage compression and cooling processes. Currently, there is no oxy-coal-fired power plant in commercial-scale operation. Thus, the transition towards commercial scale operation is the main challenge for this technology. The CO2 capture and purification unit (CO2CPU) is an important unit in oxy-coal-fired power plants that determine the quality of the CO2 product and energy consumption of the power plants. Several studies published on the CO2CPU process have evaluated the performance of this system at steady state. Insight regarding the dynamic behaviour of the CO2CPU process is very limited and a mechanistic dynamic model of the CO2CPU is not available in open literature. Thus, research on dynamic modelling and control system development is still required to demonstrate the operability and controllability of this technology. This study aims to develop, test and validate a dynamic model of the CO2CPU for oxy-coal-fired power plants. Detailed mathematical models of each unit operation in the CO2CPU are provided in this study. The main challenge was to develop a dynamic model of a multi-stream heat exchanger that involves multiple process streams and encounters both condensing and boiling two phase flows. A dynamic model that is not computationally intensive, to slow down the entire CO2CPU plant model, and that can predict reasonable fluid temperatures in the multi-stream heat exchanger was developed in this study. The proposed multi-stream heat exchanger model was based on a shell and tube configuration that considers only axial changes in flow, i.e., a 1D model. Likewise, the two phase region in this unit was modelled using a homogenous model, which is a simplified discretized two-phase flow model that reduces the computational effort and complexity of the multi-stream heat exchanger process model. The homogenous model takes into account the changes in the fluid properties in the two phase region to calculate the heat transfer coefficients of the multi-stream heat exchanger models. To the author???s knowledge, the model presented in this study represents the first mechanistic process model that describes the transient behaviour of a CO2CPU for oxy-fired power plant. Two design configurations of the CO2CPU were considered in this study, i.e. the Air Products??? CO2CPU and the CanmetENERGY???s proprietary CO2CPU (CanCO2). Both plants are designed based on a two-stage flash separation process. The CanCO2 is an extended design of the Air Products??? CO2CPU. The presence of an external recycle stream , recycling a portion of the CO2 rich effluent gas stream from the first flash drum to the compressor train, in the CanCO2 is a major distinction between the two CO2CPU configurations and enhances the CO2 capture rate for the CanCO2 process. Nevertheless, the addition of this recycle stream makes the CanCO2 plant model convergence more challenging than the Air Products??? CO2CPU since it adds natural feedback into the system. A systematic procedure to perform the process integration of all the unit operations considered in the CO2CPU flowsheets was developed and presented in this study. Stand-alone unit operation models were developed, coded and then connected together one at a time. Dynamic models of the Air Products??? CO2CPU and the CanCO2 were developed and validated at steady state using design data. Reasonable agreement between the developed models and the design data were obtained for both CO2CPU configurations. Several dynamic tests were performed to gain insight into the transient behaviour of the CO2CPU. The results obtained from the transient analyses clearly demonstrate that both CO2CPU plants are highly nonlinear processes. The CO2 recovery and the CO2 product purity obtained from the base case of both plants are similar, approximately at 89 wt% and 95 mol% respectively. The operating conditions of the first flash drum were found to play a key role on the CO2CPU performance of both plants. In addition, both models indicate that the CO2 recovery is more sensitive to the operating conditions than that of the CO2 product purity. The CO2 purity is more sensitive to the flue gas composition and responds to all changes performed in this study faster than the CO2 recovery. Because of the recycle stream, the CanCO2 response to all changes is slower than the Air Products??? CO2CPU. Nevertheless, the use of a recycle stream improves the CO2 recovery and increases the number of manipulated variables in the CanCO2, thus this system has more alternative control structures than the Air Products??? CO2CPU. The models developed in this study can be extended to include the controllability analysis and the control structure design for the CO2CPU; and the integration of oxy-boiler, steam cycle and also air separation unit (ASU) into a complete dynamic model of the oxy-fired power plant that will be very useful for oxyfuel combustion technology scale-up.

The purpose of this research was to quantify feedstock supply risk over the lifetime of an agricultural residue-based (straw and chaff) biorefinery and to determine the range of delivered prices. The Peace River region of Alberta was used as a case study for analysis, with a geographic information system utilized for data analysis. Inter-year availability of crop residues was highly variable over the 20 year period under study, which created significant differences in the delivered price of feedstock between minimum, average, and maximum availability scenarios. At the four primary study sites (Fahler, Grimshaw, Peace River, and Sexsmith), the range was from double the average availability for the maximum scenario to zero biomass available for the minimum scenario. Biomass availability is a function of grain yield, the biomass to grain ratio, the cropping frequency, and residue retention rate used to ensure future crop productivity. Using minimum, average, and maximum supply scenarios, delivered price was determined using the dynamic (time-dependent) Integrated Biomass Supply Analysis and Logistics (IBSAL) simulation model. Five biorefinery capacities, ranging from 50,000 to 500,000 tonnes of feedstock per year, were analyzed. Since no biomass was available to model in true minimum years, a simulated minimum of half the average availability was used. Delivered cost, including harvest and transportation, for the 50,000 t plant ranged from $24.01 t-1 for the maximum availability scenario at the Sexsmith site to $42.63 t-1 for the simulated minimum scenario at the Fahler site. The range for the 500,000 t plant at the Sexsmith site was $41.78 for the maximum availability and $70.98 for the simulated minimum availability. As no biomass is available (and hence the true cost is unknown) in some years, storage strategies must be implemented and alternate feedstock sources identified to supply biorefineries in low-yield years. Since feedstock cost is a large component of total operating cost of a biorefinery, feedstock supply variability and delivered cost inconsistency should be primary decision criteria for any future biorefinery projects.

The purpose of this research was to quantify feedstock supply risk over the lifetime of an agricultural residue-based (straw and chaff) biorefinery and to determine the range of delivered prices. The Peace River region of Alberta was used as a case study for analysis, with a geographic information system utilized for data analysis. Inter-year availability of crop residues was highly variable over the 20 year period under study, which created significant differences in the delivered price of feedstock between minimum, average, and maximum availability scenarios. At the four primary study sites (Fahler, Grimshaw, Peace River, and Sexsmith), the range was from double the average availability for the maximum scenario to zero biomass available for the minimum scenario. Biomass availability is a function of grain yield, the biomass to grain ratio, the cropping frequency, and residue retention rate used to ensure future crop productivity. Using minimum, average, and maximum supply scenarios, delivered price was determined using the dynamic (time-dependent) Integrated Biomass Supply Analysis and Logistics (IBSAL) simulation model. Five biorefinery capacities, ranging from 50,000 to 500,000 tonnes of feedstock per year, were analyzed. Since no biomass was available to model in true minimum years, a simulated minimum of half the average availability was used. Delivered cost, including harvest and transportation, for the 50,000 t plant ranged from $24.01 t-1 for the maximum availability scenario at the Sexsmith site to $42.63 t-1 for the simulated minimum scenario at the Fahler site. The range for the 500,000 t plant at the Sexsmith site was $41.78 for the maximum availability and $70.98 for the simulated minimum availability. As no biomass is available (and hence the true cost is unknown) in some years, storage strategies must be implemented and alternate feedstock sources identified to supply biorefineries in low-yield years. Since feedstock cost is a large component of total operating cost of a biorefinery, feedstock supply variability and delivered cost inconsistency should be primary decision criteria for any future biorefinery projects. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of / Graduate

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The piano action is the mechanism that transforms the finger force applied to a key into the motion of a hammer that strikes a piano string. This thesis focuses on improving the fidelity of the dynamic model of a grand piano action which has been already developed by Hirschkorn et al. at the University of Waterloo. This model is the state-of-the-art dynamic model of the piano in the literature and is based on the real components of the piano action mechanism (key, whippen, jack, repetition lever, and hammer). Two main areas for improving the fidelity of the dynamic model are the hammer shank and the connection point between the key and the ground. The hammer shank is a long narrow wooden rod and, by observation with a high-speed video camera, the flexibility of this part has been confirmed. In previous work, the piano hammer had been modelled as a rigid body. In this work, a Rayleigh beam model is used to model the flexible behaviour of the hammer shank. By comparing the experimental and analytical results, it turns out that the flexibility of the hammer shank does not significantly affect the rotation of the other parts of the piano mechanism, compared with the case that the hammer shank has been modelled as a rigid part. However, the flexibility of the hammer shank changes the impact velocity of the hammer head, and also causes a greater scuffing motion for the hammer head during the contact with the string. The connection of the piano key to the ground had been simply modelled with a revolute joint, but the physical form of the connection at that point suggests that a revoluteprismatic joint with a contact force underneath better represents this connection. By comparing the experimental and analytical results, it is concluded that incorporating this new model significantly increases the fidelity of the model for the blows. In order to test the accuracy of the dynamic model, an experimental setup, including a servo motor, a load cell, a strain gauge, and three optical encoders, is built. The servo motor is used to actuate the piano key. Since the purpose of the motor is to consistently mimic the finger force of the pianist, the output torque of the motor is controlled. To overcome the problem associated with the motor torque control method used in previous work, a new torque control method is implemented on a real-time PC and a better control of the motor torque output is established. Adding a more realistic model of the piano string to the current piano action model and finding a better contact model for the contacts that happen between the surfaces that are made of felt (or leather), are two main areas that can be worked on in the future research. These two areas will help to further increase the fidelity of the present piano action model.