Water availability is a common concern in semi-arid regions, such as Southern Arizona, USA. Hydroponic greenhouse crop production greatly reduces irrigation water use, but the study of water use by evaporative cooling has been limited.This project investigated water use by two evaporative cooling systems: pad-and-fan and high-pressure-fog with fan ventilation. All studies were performed in a double-layer polyethylene film-covered greenhouse (28 x 9.8 x 6.3 m) with mature tomato plants (2.9 plants m-2). Water use efficiency (WUE, kg yield per m3 water use) was calculated daily according to ventilation rate, as well as for a 6-month croppipng period, which used temperature-controlled pad-and-fan cooling.Pad-and-fan water use was 3.2, 6.4, 8.5, and 10.3 L m-2 d-1 for ventilation rates of 0.016, 0.034, 0.047, 0.061 m3 m-2 s-1, respectively. High-pressure-fog water use with a single central, overhead line was 7.9, 7.4, and 9.3 L m-2 d-1 for ventilation rates of 0.01, 0.016, 0.034 m3 m-2 s-1, respectively. For pad-and-fan ventilation rates less than 0.034 m3 m-2 s-1, total greenhouse WUE (20 - 33 kg m-3) was similar to field drip irrigation. For the temperature-controlled high-pressure-fog system, total greenhouse WUE (14 - 17 kg m-3) was similar to field sprinkler irrigation.For the 6-month crop cycle, combining water use by closed irrigation and pad-and-fan systems produced a total WUE of 15 kg m-3. Pad-and-fan WUE increased during monsoon conditions due to lower water use rates.Evaporative cooling water use and air temperature were well-predicted by the energy balance model. Predictions of air temperature improved when outside climate the measured conditions at one greenhouse location. Wind tunnel and full-scale studies of natural ventilation demonstrated the value of knowing airflow patterns when designing and operating a high-pressure-fog systemIt is possible for greenhouse tomato production to have a higher WUE than field production, if ventilation rates are not excessive, if closed irrigation is used, and if control methodologies are improved. Water use can be minimized by knowing how the evaporative cooling system affects greenhouse climate and plant responses.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Animal Sciences and Industry / Micheal J. Brouk / Four studies were conducted that focused either on silage quality parameters or heat abatement systems to improve cow comfort. Study 1 evaluated the effects of treating whole-plant corn at harvest with a dual-purpose commercial silage inoculant containing Lactobacillus buchneri and Lactococcus lactis O224 on fermentation and aerobic stability of corn silage through 32 d of ensiling. Inoculating silage to be fed after minimal storage time (≤ 32 d post-harvest) had no effect (P > 0.05) on the chemical composition, fermentation variables, aerobic stability or rise in temperature post-harvest. Study 2 was designed to develop a berry processing score (BPS) for sorghum silage as well as evaluate the change in starch digestibility as the level of berry processing increased. A method to evaluate the level of processing in sorghum silage was successfully developed by measuring the percent of starch passing through a 1.7 mm screen. This provides the industry with a standardized method to measure the level of processing in sorghum silage. As BPS increased from 26.28 to 55.05 ± 0.04%, 7-h in situ starch digestibility increased from 50.54 to 82.07 ± 4.94% for unprocessed and heavily processed sorghum silage, respectively (R² = 0.43). By processing sorghum silage during harvest and measuring the extent of processing, sorghum silage starch digestibility can be enhanced and may serve as a viable alternative to corn silage in the diet of lactating dairy cows in areas of the country where corn silage is a high-risk forage crop due to lack of water. Study 3 evaluated the effects of 2 heat stress abatement systems on barn temperature, micro-environmental temperature, core body temperature (CBT), respiration rate, rear udder temperature, and lying time in lactating dairy cows. The systems evaluated were: direct cooling via feedline soakers and fans, or evaporative cooling via a fan and fog system. The evaporative cooling system was effective (P = 0.04) in reducing respiration rates (52.0 vs. 57.9 ± 2.2 breaths per min; P < 0.01) and rear udder temperatures (33.2 vs. 34.5 ± 0.3ºC; P < 0.01), and increased daily lying time (11.8 vs. 10.8 ± 0.3 h/d; P < 0.01) due to differences in barn THI and airflow. No treatment differences (P = 0.79) were detected for CBT, likely due to cooler ambient conditions during the study. Study 4 assessed the effects of the same evaporative and direct cooling systems as in Study 2 but were applied in the holding area prior to afternoon milking, where effects on CBT and micro-environmental temperature in lactating dairy cows were measured in addition to water usage by each system. No significant differences (P > 0.05) between direct cooling and evaporative cooling were detected for micro-environmental THI. However, the evaporative cooling system reduced the consumption of water in the holding area while maintaining CBT < 39.0ºC. Future research should be conducted under greater ambient THI to determine if an evaporative cooling system is able to maintain CBT < 39.0ºC, while also comparing CBT and water usage to a soaker system in the holding area.

Orientador: Vivaldo Silveira Junior / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-24T19:17:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Oliveira_CintiaCarlaMelgacode_M.pdf: 2012386 bytes, checksum: 17e9e513690eaa1341a66b69e6b22a64 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: A busca por equipamentos de refrigeração eficientes e acessíveis é crescente no mercado. Grandes empresas buscam instalar termoacumuladores, armazenamento de energia a baixa temperatura, em suas instalações por fatores econômicos. Com isso, este processo pode ser efetuado em horários fora de pico de energia e ser usado em horário de maior demanda energética, projetando-se então, equipamentos menores para acoplar ao sistema principal e melhorar o dimensionamento do espaço físico. Atualmente, um dos meios utilizado no sistema de resfriamento evaporativo é o uso de bomba de vácuo ou ejetores. Este trabalho tem como objetivo construir e avaliar energeticamente um sistema de resfriamento evaporativo com uso de ejetor, tendo água como fluido que circulará no seu interior, permitindo ser instalado em locais com abundância de água em circulação, perante a substituição ao sistema de resfriamento com uso de dispositivos mecânicos ou geradores. Ejetores são dispositivos usados para arrastar amostras por um jato de um fluido auxiliar, que constam essencialmente de um tubo aspirador e um bocal convergente, alimentando um compartimento convergente-divergente. Após a montagem mecânica e elétrica do sistema, estudou o comportamento do mesmo perante a mudança da vazão volumétrica e da temperatura da água de circulação, temperatura da água de reposição, presença de cavitação e avaliou o coeficiente de desempenho de acordo com as diferentes potências térmicas aplicadas no reservatório de resfriamento. O maior vácuo obtido no reservatório de resfriamento foi de 8,5 kPa nas condições operacionais nominais de 4,1 ± 0,1 m³/h e 5 ± 0,5 °C da água de circulação, atingindo 9,7 ± 0,5 °C a água de resfriamento. Não houve presença de cavitação no bocal do hidroejetor pois a pressão atingida no mesmo não foi inferior a pressão de saturação da água nas condições operacionais da água de circulação. A perturbação gerada, tipo pulso, no reservatório de resfriamento com a reposição da água de resfriamento em diferentes momentos de funcionamento do sistema, não resultou em mudanças expressivas quanto a desestabilidade do vácuo ou do aumento de temperatura no reservatório de resfriamento. O coeficiente de desempenho (COP), avaliado no sistema na maior inserção de potência térmica, 92,27 W pela água de resfriamento, foi de 0,077, sendo subestimado devido a possíveis problemas de eficiência da bomba. O sistema em estudo não foi ideal para resfriamento de fluido a baixas temperaturas nas condições operacionais estudadas, mas pode ser muito bom quando utilizado para resfriamento de fluido a patamares de temperatura maior, podendo ser complementar aos sistemas de refrigeração principal / Abstract: The search for efficient and affordable cooling equipment is increasing in the market. Big companies are always seeking to use thermal storage as a way to storage energy at low temperatures in their facilities due to economic factors. Therefore, this process can be done in off-peak energy periods and the energy stored can be used in times of high demand. This allows the design of smaller equipment, which can be coupled to the main system, improving the design of the physical space. Currently, evaporative cooling is conducted through the use of vacuum pumps or ejectors. This work aimed to construct and evaluate energy evaporative cooling system using an ejector, using water as the inner circulating fluid, which allows it to be installed in places plenty of water circulation, through the replacement of the cooling system using generators or mechanical devices by ejectors systems. Ejectors are devices used to drag samples by a jet of an auxiliary fluid, built essentially with a sniffer and a converging nozzle, which feeds a convergent-divergent compartment. After mechanical and electrical assembly of the system, the behavior of the system was evaluated by changing the volumetric flow rate and temperature of the circulation water, temperature of makeup water and cavitation water. The performance coefficient was also evaluated according to the different thermal inputs applied in the reservoir cooling. The higher vacuum obtained in the cooling tank was 8.5 kPa in a nominal volumetric flow rate of 4.1 ± 0.1 m³/h and circulating water at 5 ± 0.5 °C. In situation, the cooling water reached 9.7 ± 0.5 °C. There was no cavitation observed in hidroejector nozzle, since the pressure reached was not less than the saturation pressure of water in the operating conditions of the circulating water. The disturbance generated, like pulse, in the cooling reservoir with the replacement of the cooling water at different times, did not result in significant changes in vacuum destabilization or in the temperature rising in the cooling reservoir. The coefficient of performance (COP), evaluated at the greater inclusion of thermal power for cooling water (92.27 W) was 0.077. This value was underestimated due to problems of pump efficiency. The system studied was not ideal for cooling fluids at low temperatures the studied operating conditions, but it can be good enough when used for cooling fluids with higher temperatures, which may be complementary to the main refrigeration systems / Mestrado / Engenharia de Alimentos / Mestra em Engenharia de Alimentos

The sample used for evaporative cooling system is Fabric defender 750 with Shelltite finish. From the experimental data and equations we have diffusion coefficient of 20.9 ± 3.71 x 10-6 m2/s for fabric with one layer with 17%-20% fluctuations from the theory, 27.8 ± 4.5 x 10-6 m2/s for fabric with two layers with 6%-14% fluctuations from the theory and 24.9 ± 4.1 x 10-6 m2/s for fabric with three layers with 13%-16% fluctuations from the theory. Since the thickness of the fabric increases so the mass transport rate decreases so the mass transport resistance should be increases. The intrinsic mass resistances of Fabri-1L, Fabri-2L and Fabri-3L are respectively 104 ± 10.2 s/m, 154 ± 23 s/m and 206 ± 26 s/m from the experiment.

In Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, a lack of freshwater, poor soil quality, and ambient temperatures unsuitable for cultivation for parts of the year hinders domestic agriculture. The result is a reliance on a fluctuating supply of imported fresh produce which may have high costs and compromised quality. There are agricultural technologies available such as hydroponics and controlled environment agriculture (CEA) that can allow GCC countries to overcome poor soil quality and ambient temperatures unsuitable for cultivation, respectively. Evaporative cooling is the most common form of cooling for CEA and requires a significant amount of water. In water-scarce regions, it is desirable for sea or brackish water to be used for evaporative cooling. Unfortunately, in many coastal desert regions, evaporative cooling does not provide enough cooling due to the high wet-bulb temperature of the ambient air during hot and humid months of the year. A liquid desiccant dehumidification system has been proven to lower the wet-bulb temperature of ambient air in the coastal city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to a level that allows for evaporative cooling to meet the needs of heat-sensitive crops. Much of the past research on the regeneration of the liquid desiccant solution has been on configurations that release water vapor back to the atmosphere. Studies have shown that the amount of water captured by the liquid desiccant when used to dehumidify a greenhouse can supply a significant amount of the water needed for irrigation. This thesis studied the regeneration of a magnesium chloride (MgCl2) liquid desiccant solution from approximately 20 to 31wt% by direct contact membrane distillation and explored the possibility of using the recovered water for irrigation. Two microporous hydrophobic PTFE membranes were experimentally tested and modeled when the bulk feed and coolant temperature difference was between 10 and 60°C. In eight experiments, the salt rejection was higher than 99.97% and produced permeate suitable for irrigation with a concentration of MgCl2 less than 94 ppm.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the egree of Master of Technology: Chemical Engineering, Durban University of Technology, 2011. / The South African electroplating industry generates large volumes of hazardous waste water that has to be treated prior to disposal. The main source of this waste water has been the rinse system. Conventional end-ofpipe waste water treatment technologies do not meet municipality standards. The use of technologies such as membranes, reverse osmosis and ion exchange are impractical, mainly due to their cost and technical requirements. This study identified source point reduction technologies, close circuiting of the electroplating process, specific to the rinse system as a key development. Specifically the application of a low flow counter current rinse system for the recovery of the rinse water in the plating bath was selected. However, the recovery of the rinse tank water was impeded by the low rates of evaporation from the plating bath, which was especially prevalent in the low temperature operating plating baths. This master’s study proposes the use of an induced draft evaporative cooling tower for facilitation of evaporation in the plating bath. For total recovery of the rinse tank water, the rate of evaporation from the plating bath has to be equivalent to the rinse tanks make up water requirements. A closed circuit plating system mathematical model was developed for the determination of the mass evaporated from the plating bath and the cooling tower for a specified time and the equilibrium temperature of the plating bath and the cooling tower. The key criteria in the development of the closed circuit plating system model was the requirement of minimum solution specific data as this information is not readily available. The closed circuit plating system model was categorised into the unsteady state and steady state temperature regions and was developed for the condition of water evaporation only. The closed circuit plating system model was programmed into Matlab and verified. The key factors affecting the performance of the closed circuit plating system were identified as the plating solution composition and operational temperature, ambient air temperature, air flow rate and cooling tower iv packing surface area. Each of these factors was individually and simultaneously varied to determine their sensitivity on the rate of water evaporation and the equilibrium temperature of the plating bath and cooling tower. The results indicated that the upper limit plating solution operational temperature, high air flow rates, low ambient air temperature and large packing surface area provided the greatest water evaporation rates and the largest temperature drop across the height of the cooling tower in the unsteady state temperature region. The final equilibrium temperature of the plating bath and the cooling tower is dependent on the ambient air temperature. The only exception is that at low ambient air temperatures the rate of water evaporation from the steady state temperature region is lower than that at higher ambient air temperatures. Thus the model will enable the electroplater to identify the optimum operating conditions for close circuiting of the electroplating process. It is recommended that the model be validated against practical data either by the construction of a laboratory scale induced draft evaporative cooling tower or by the application of the induced draft evaporative cooling tower in an electroplating facility.

During the last 10 years solar cooling systems attracted more and more interest not only in the research area but also on a private and commercial level. Several demonstration plants have been installed in different European countries and first companies started to commercialise also small scale absorption cooling machines. However, not all of the installed systems operate efficiently and some are, from the primary energy point of view, even worse than conventional systems with a compression chiller. The main reason for this is a poor system design combined with suboptimal control. Often several non optimised components, each separately controlled, are put together to form a ‘cooling system’. To overcome these drawbacks several attempts are made within IEA task 38 (International Energy Agency Solar Heating and Cooling Programme) to improve the system design through optimised design guidelines which are supported by simulation based design tools. Furthermore, guidelines for an optimised control of different systems are developed. In parallel several companies like the SolarNext AG in Rimsting, Germany started the development of solar cooling kits with optimised components and optimised system controllers. To support this process the following contributions are made within the present work: - For the design and dimensioning of solar driven absorption cooling systems a detailed and structured simulation based analysis highlights the main influencing factors on the required solar system size to reach a defined solar fraction on the overall heating energy demand of the chiller. These results offer useful guidelines for an energy and cost efficient system design. - Detailed system simulations of an installed solar cooling system focus on the influence of the system configuration, control strategy and system component control on the overall primary energy efficiency. From the results found a detailed set of clear recommendations for highly energy efficient system configurations and control of solar driven absorption cooling systems is provided. - For optimised control of open desiccant evaporative cooling systems (DEC) an innovative model based system controller is developed and presented. This controller consists of an electricity optimised sequence controller which is assisted by a primary energy optimisation tool. The optimisation tool is based on simplified simulation models and is intended to be operated as an online tool which evaluates continuously the optimum operation mode of the DEC system to ensure high primary energy efficiency of the system. Tests of the controller in the simulation environment showed that compared to a system with energy optimised standard control the innovative model based system controller can further improve the primary energy efficiency by 19 %.

Este trabalho visa comparar experimentalmente a técnica de resfriamento evaporativo e o condicionamento de ar convencional em relação ao índice de umidificação, à redução da temperatura interna do ar e ao consumo energético. O experimento foi realizado em três células de teste submetidas às mesmas condições climáticas, semelhantes em relação às suas características construtivas e ao volume de ar interno. Cada equipamento foi instalado em uma célula, sendo que a célula restante não contou com qualquer sistema de resfriamento, cumprindo, assim, o papel de padrão de referência do comportamento higrotérmico. A técnica de resfriamento evaporativo consiste em um dispositivo eletromecânico de ventilação forçada que insufla o ar para dentro do ambiente, fazendo-o passar por um filtro de celulose umedecido com água corrente. A ventilação forçada espalha gotículas de água no ambiente interno e o contato da água com o ar quente e seco acelera a sua evaporação. Dessa forma, o ar cede calor sensível e as gotículas de água evaporam. Como conseqüência, a temperatura diminui e a umidade do ar aumenta no interior do ambiente. O condicionador de ar convencional, constituído por evaporador, compressor e condensador, refrigera o ar por meio da compressão e da expansão do gás freon. Os dados do interior de cada célula foram automaticamente coletados por meio do Datalogger Campbell Scientific Inc CR10X. As temperaturas de bulbo seco e úmido foram regitradas com sensores termopares tipo T (Cobre-Constantan). A técnica de resfriamento evaporativo atingiu índices adequados de conforto ambiental em períodos de climas quente e seco, demonstrando, assim, ser eficaz em promover a diminuição da temperatura e a umidificação de ambientes internos. Este trabalho sugere, portanto, que a técnica de resfriamento evaporativo pode ser uma alternativa para melhorar as condições térmicas dos espaços de permanência humana com consumo de energia inferior ao do condicionador de ar convencional. / This experimental research aims to compare the evaporative cooling with the conventional air conditioning in terms of levels of humidity, reduction in indoor air temperature, and energy consume. The experiment was conducted in three purpose-built test cells, similar in structure, which were exposed to the same climatic conditions and showed the same indoor air volume rates. Each equipment was installed in one of the test cells, and the remaining cell had no cooling appliances, thus being used as reference standard. The evaporative cooling technique consists of an electrical-mechanical system of forced ventilation which introduces outdoor air into the indoor environment, across a humidifier pad made of cellulose. The forced ventilation spread small drops of water into the indoor environment and the water’s contact with the dry-warm air accelerates the evaporation process. Thus, the air loses sensible heat and the water evaporates. As a result, the air temperature decreases, and the relative humidity increases inside the environment. The conventional air conditioning system, comprises of an evaporator, a compressor and a condenser, cools the air by compressing and expanding Freon gas. The data from each cell was automatically collected by using a Datalogger CR10X. Both dry and wet bulb temperature was measured by using thermocouples type T (Copper-Constantan). The evaporative cooling technique was shown to provide higher levels of human comfort during warm-dry climate, thereby demonstrating that it can be effective in humidifying and constantly replenishing indoor air. This work therefore suggests that the evaporative cooling can be an alternative for improving the conditions of purpose-built environments with lower levels of energy consume when compared with the conventional air-conditioning systems.

With regard to heat stress, the limiting factor inherent in clothing ensembles is the total evaporative resistance. Clothing with higher evaporative resistance impedes the ability to cool by sweat evaporation. Knowing the evaporative resistance provides a means to compare candidate ensembles. Further, a value for evaporative resistance means that a rational method can be used to assess the heat stress exposure. Evaporative resistance of five clothing ensembles (cotton work clothes, cotton coveralls, and three coveralls of particle barrier, liquid barrier and vapor barrier properties) was determined empirically from wear tests during two study phases. For Phase 1, the metabolic rate was held constant at 160 W/m², and three levels of humidity (20, 50, 70% rh) were explored. Fourteen heat-acclimated participants (9 men and 5 women) completed trials for all combinations of clothing ensemble and environment. In the Phase 2 study, the humidity was held constant at 50% rh, and three levels of metabolic rate (114, 176, 250 W/m²) were explored. Fifteen heat-acclimated participants (11 men and 4 women) completed trials for all combinations of clothing ensemble and environment. The data from both phases were analyzed separately using ANOVA. Significant differences were found among ensembles (p<0.0001). The vapor barrier ensemble had the highest resistance at 0.026 kPa m²/W. The liquid barrier was next at 0.018; followed by the particle barrier and cotton coveralls at 0.016. Work clothes was 0.014 kPa m²/W. Vapor and liquid barrier ensembles were found to be significantly different from other ensembles. From the Phase 2 study, evaporative resistances decreased with increased activity and ranged from 0.0024 (cotton coveralls) to 0.0094 (vapor barrier) kPa m²/W. The higher differences were associated with higher total evaporative resistance. The decreased evaporative resistances in Phase 2 can be explained by the pumping action associated with increased work. The relationship of Re,T to the difference of Pair -- Pskin was explored and found Re,T does not remain constant. Environment appeared to influence this relationship.

The research performed in this work investigated evaporative spray cooling systems using water near a 45 degree bends in gas turbine exhaust piping systems. Both experimental data and numerical data were generated with the goal of evaluating the ability of Fluent 6.3.26 to predict the performance of these systems for the purpose of design using only modest computational resources. Three cases were investigated in this research: single phase exhaust flow with no water injection, injecting water before the bend and injecting water after the bend. Various probes were used to measure dry bulb temperature, total pressure and water mass flux of the two phase flow at the exit of the pipe. Seven hole probes and pitot static probes were used to measure single phase flow properties. Numerical simulations were performed using mass flow boundary conditions which were generated from experimental results. A turbulence model was selected for the simulations based on comparisons of single phase simulations with experimental data and convergence ability. Using Fluent’s discrete phase model, different wall boundary conditions for the discrete phase were used in order to find the model which would best match the evaporation rates of the experimental data. Mass flux values through the exit plane of the pipe were found to be the most reliable of all the two phase data collected. Results from numerical simulations revealed the shortcomings of the available discrete phase wall boundary conditions to accurately predict the interaction of the liquid phase with the wall. Experimental results for both cases showed extensive areas of the wall which had liquid film layers running down the length of the pipe. Simulations resulted in particles either failing to impact the wall and create a liquid film, or creating a liquid film which was much smaller than the film present in experimental results. This led to 8% and 15% discrepancy in evaporation amounts between numerical and experimental results for water injection upstream and downstream of the bend respectively. Under-prediction of areas wetted with a wall film in the simulations also led to gross over predictions of wall temperature in numerical results. / Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2014-01-02 11:02:00.955