Förekomst av trycksår utgör ett omfattande problem inom hälso- och sjukvården fortfarande trots kunskap om förebyggande faktorer som presenteras i litteraturen. Detta medför att det förebyggande omvårdnadsarbetet avseende trycksår även i fortsättning kan vara en mycket angelägen fråga för sjuksköterskan. Syftet i föreliggande studie är därför att belysa omvårdnadsåtgärder som kan utföras i vårdbädden för att förebygga trycksår hos äldre. Litteraturstudie valdes som metod. Sökorden; pressure ulcer, prevention, bed and mattresses, scoles, skin-care, decubitus ulcer, aged och nursing används. För att elektronisk söka relevanta, vetenskapliga artiklar i databaserna CINAHL och MEDLINE. Resultatet bygger på åtta vetenskapliga artiklar som kvalitetsgranskades. Vid dataanalysen användes en modifierad form av komponenten nr 4 i Viginia Hendersons omvårdnadsteori som teoretisk utgångspunkt. Resultatet redovisas utifrån två huvudrubriker med två respektive tre underrubriker. Den första huvudrubriken är: Hur kan patienter med risk för utveckling trycksår identifieras? Med underrubrikerna: Sjuksköterskans kunskaper och bedömningsinstrument. Resultatet visar att sjuksköterskan utför riskbedömningar för att identifiera patienter i riskzon men att dessa inte är tillräckligt omfattande och att visa faktorer såsom födo-och vätskeintag saknas i bedömning. Studien visar också att det finns många olika riskbedömningsinstrument (skalor) med olika variabler för att identifiera patienter som ligger i riskzonen för att utveckla trycksår. Den andra huvudrubriken är: Att hjälpa patienten inta lämplig kroppsställning när han / hon ligger samt att växla ställning, omfattar underrubrikerna: intervall, position och hjälpmedel. Resultatet visar att vändning på en tryckreducerande madrass leder till minskning av trycksår grad II-IV. Litteraturen visar även att patientens position i vårdbädden inte bör överstiga 30 grader av huvudändan för att undvika för höga tryck mot korsbenet generellt ger lägre tryck på patientens hud. Hjälpmedel som rekommenderas för tryckavlastning på häl och korsben är exempelvis gelkuddar.

A fluidized bed gasification (FBG) pilot plant was designed and constructed at the University of Saskatchewan Chemical Engineering Department Fluidization Laboratory. FBG is a thermo-chemical method for converting solid biomass to a gaseous fuel, termed syngas. Several instrumentation and control issues were particularly challenging with this pilot plant, including development of the fuel feeding system, pressure measurement of high temperature fluids, and metering of steam as a process reactant.<p> The fuel feeding system was tested using MBM (meat and bone meal) to determine the output rate stability, and predictability and measurability of the system as the components in the fuel feeding system were integrated. The fuel feeding system that was tested included a 150 mm primary metering screw conveyor, a 150 mm rotary airlock, and a 50 mm secondary injection screw conveyor. Each component of the system was fitted with a 3-phase electric motor and a variable speed drive to allow for a variable output rate. The weighing system that was integral to the metering conveyor was tested as well, but upon pressurizing the metering conveyor and hopper, the weighing system sustained an unreasonable amount of noise. Integrating a pneumatic injection nozzle with the injection conveyor was found to work effectively both under ambient temperatures and hot FBG conditions up to 725oC. Above 725oC, it was found that the test fuel would char and coat the nozzle, causing it to plug. Testing of the feeding system with the injection nozzle removed illustrated that the system could work well without it. It was determined that the injection conveyor speed to metering conveyor speed ratio that should be used for this system was 1:110 for absolute rotational speeds, or 1:1 of the full conveyor speeds. The complete system, including the injection nozzle, was analyzed and determined to produce a fuel output rate (FS) for % speeds from 5-25%, which roughly corresponded to the desired plant fuel feed rate of 1-5 g/s.<p> Techniques for remote pressure measurement of fluidized beds were examined as well, including the use of long tubes to cool hot gases and filters for blocking solid particles. The pressure measurement delay of these techniques was examined in comparison to a direct local measurement. This was conducted by comparing the pressure readings from two identical sensors; one mounted directly to a manifold, and the other mounted via a variable assembly (comprised of a variable length of 6.35 mm (1/4") PE tubing and a porous plate filter). Assemblies without a porous plate were found to have a minimal delay of up to 0.303 seconds for 30 m length of PE impulse tubing. More significant delays were found for systems using both a 10 media grade porous plate filter and impulse tubing; a 3 m tube length with filter has a delay of up to 0.221 s, and a 30 m impulse tube combined with the filter has a measurement delay of up to 1.915 s, a significant delay in cases where high-frequency analysis of pressure is used for bed agglomeration prediction, or systems where fast response is required to changing pressure conditions.<p> Additionally, a steam flow measurement system using an orifice plate and differential pressure sensor was installed and calibrated. By collecting time-based steam samples and process data, the physical system coefficients were determined for this system, allowing for steam flow measurement, accurate within 5% over a flow range of 0.5 to 2.0 g/s.

A fluidized bed gasification (FBG) pilot plant was designed and constructed at the University of Saskatchewan Chemical Engineering Department Fluidization Laboratory. FBG is a thermo-chemical method for converting solid biomass to a gaseous fuel, termed syngas. Several instrumentation and control issues were particularly challenging with this pilot plant, including development of the fuel feeding system, pressure measurement of high temperature fluids, and metering of steam as a process reactant.<p> The fuel feeding system was tested using MBM (meat and bone meal) to determine the output rate stability, and predictability and measurability of the system as the components in the fuel feeding system were integrated. The fuel feeding system that was tested included a 150 mm primary metering screw conveyor, a 150 mm rotary airlock, and a 50 mm secondary injection screw conveyor. Each component of the system was fitted with a 3-phase electric motor and a variable speed drive to allow for a variable output rate. The weighing system that was integral to the metering conveyor was tested as well, but upon pressurizing the metering conveyor and hopper, the weighing system sustained an unreasonable amount of noise. Integrating a pneumatic injection nozzle with the injection conveyor was found to work effectively both under ambient temperatures and hot FBG conditions up to 725oC. Above 725oC, it was found that the test fuel would char and coat the nozzle, causing it to plug. Testing of the feeding system with the injection nozzle removed illustrated that the system could work well without it. It was determined that the injection conveyor speed to metering conveyor speed ratio that should be used for this system was 1:110 for absolute rotational speeds, or 1:1 of the full conveyor speeds. The complete system, including the injection nozzle, was analyzed and determined to produce a fuel output rate (FS) for % speeds from 5-25%, which roughly corresponded to the desired plant fuel feed rate of 1-5 g/s.<p> Techniques for remote pressure measurement of fluidized beds were examined as well, including the use of long tubes to cool hot gases and filters for blocking solid particles. The pressure measurement delay of these techniques was examined in comparison to a direct local measurement. This was conducted by comparing the pressure readings from two identical sensors; one mounted directly to a manifold, and the other mounted via a variable assembly (comprised of a variable length of 6.35 mm (1/4") PE tubing and a porous plate filter). Assemblies without a porous plate were found to have a minimal delay of up to 0.303 seconds for 30 m length of PE impulse tubing. More significant delays were found for systems using both a 10 media grade porous plate filter and impulse tubing; a 3 m tube length with filter has a delay of up to 0.221 s, and a 30 m impulse tube combined with the filter has a measurement delay of up to 1.915 s, a significant delay in cases where high-frequency analysis of pressure is used for bed agglomeration prediction, or systems where fast response is required to changing pressure conditions.<p> Additionally, a steam flow measurement system using an orifice plate and differential pressure sensor was installed and calibrated. By collecting time-based steam samples and process data, the physical system coefficients were determined for this system, allowing for steam flow measurement, accurate within 5% over a flow range of 0.5 to 2.0 g/s.

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No / Not available

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling was used to predict the gas-solid hydrodynamics of fluidized beds. An Eulerian-Eulerian multi-fluid model and granular kinetic theory were used to simulate fluidization and to capture the complex physics associated therewith. The commercial code ANSYS FLUENT was used to study two-dimensional single solids phase glass bead and walnut shell fluidized beds. Current modeling codes only allow for modeling of spherical, uniform-density particles. Owing to the fact that biomass material, such as walnut shell, is abnormally shaped and has non-uniform density, a study was conducted to find the best modeling approach to accurately predict pressure drop, minimum fluidization velocity, and void fraction in the bed. Furthermore, experiments have revealed that all of the bed mass does not completely fluidize due to agglomeration of material between jets in the distributor plate. It was shown that the best modeling approach to capture the physics of the biomass bed was by correcting the amount of mass present in the bed in order to match how much material truly fluidizes experimentally, whereby the initial bed height of the system is altered. The approach was referred to as the SIM approach. A flow regime identification study was also performed on a glass bead fluidized bed to show the distinction between bubbling, slugging, and turbulent flow regimes by examining void fraction contours and bubble dynamics, as well as by comparison of simulated data with an established trend of standard deviation of pressure versus inlet gas velocity. Modeling was carried out with and without turbulence modeling (k-ϵ), to show the effect of turbulence modeling on two-dimensional simulations. / Master of Science

Packed beds find extensive application in a wide variety of industries to cany out a large number of diverse processes. The main objective of the present work is to develop models to predict the arrangement of particles and based on them, to determine and evaluate the structural characteristics of packed beds. These problems have received only a limited attention in the literature. As a first attempt, spheres of uniform size are considered. Beds of aspect ratio up to 2 (referred to as low aspect ratio beds) are analyzed by application of principles of analytical geometry. Expressions are derived for the location of particles and for the structural characteristics of the beds, both of which show periodicity. This leads to the concept of a unit cell which is the repetitive section of the bed whose characteristics are the same as those of the complete bed. The beds fall into three distinct groups — those with aspect ratio between 1 and l√3⁄2, between 1√3⁄2 and 2, and with aspect ratio 2. Equations are distinct for each group. The aspect ratio shows marked influence on the structural characteristics of the beds. Agreement of the predictions on the overall void fraction with the available experimental data is excellent. Radial void fraction profiles are estimated by defining a concentric cylindrical channel (CCC) of an arbitrary thickness and with the cylindrical surface through the radial position of interest located at the middle of the CCC, and by accounting for the solid volumes of all the segments (in this CCC) of spheres with centers lying within a distance of a particle radius on either side of the cylindrical surface. The curved boundaries of the sphere segments are rigorously accounted for. The results show that the entire bed is filled with variations in the void fraction, starting from a value of unity at the wall and zero (or close to zero) towards the axis of the bed. Monte Carlo model for the simulation of high aspect ratio beds has not proved successful even with any of a wide variety of distribution functions for the coordinates of the sphere dropping point. With uniform distribution, the only distribution used in all the reports so far, and with normal distribution, there is not even a qualitative agreement with the reported data on void fraction variations. Distributions with asymmetric density functions such as exponential, Weibull, gamma and beta, show considerable improvement; beta distribution being the best. However even the best results with beta distribution show satisfactory agreement with the experimental data only up to about 2dp from the wall. Simulations with the cluster growth model, modified to account for the confining nature of the wall, lead to more satisfactory results. The proposed algorithm consists of building up the cluster, sphere by sphere, by calculating all possible interior and wall sites for placing an incoming sphere in a stable and non-overlapping position on the current cluster. A preference parameter is defined to place the new sphere at locations along the cross section of the column at which the experimental void fraction profiles show prominent minima, that is, locations around which the bed has relatively high solid volume. Void fraction profiles in beds of various aspect ratios simulated by this model show good agreement with the corresponding experimental data. The structural characteristics of the high aspect ratio beds thus simulated are evaluated. The number of spheres per unit length, Ni is correlated with the aspect ratio. It becomes proportional to the square of the aspect ratio, with the proportionality constant being close to 0.9, for aspect ratios greater than about 10. This follows since in these beds the overall void fraction becomes constant at 0.4. Majority of the spheres have contacts (with neighboring spheres) between 4 and 7, with the lower and upper limits for the coordination number being 2 and 9. The radial profile of the average coordination number (averaged over the height of the bed at the given radial position) shows small oscillations about a mean value of about 6 over almost the entire bed cross section starting from a distance of about ldp from the wall. At a distance of 0.5dp from the wall the predominant number of contacts is four while the mean value is about 4.3. The overall coordination number (averaged over the entire bed) shows inverse dependence on the aspect ratio. For random packings, that is, as the aspect ratio becomes infinity, the overall coordination number tends to six which corresponds to regular cubic arrangement. Cumulative number fraction, CNf is a global measure of the arrangement of spheres in beds of high aspect ratio. Its radial variation shows four distinct regions whose locations are independent of the aspect ratio The CNf values in each region are correlated with aspect ratio The correlations combined with that of NL lead to a very useful and effective model for predicting void fraction profiles in a bed of any specified aspect ratio The validity of the predictive model is demonstrated

Common mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is a non-native plant threatening the integrity of natural ecosystems throughout California. Mechanical, chemical, and biological methods have been utilized for control of common mullein. The objective of this study was to determine which of the following treatment cycles is most effective to reduce populations of common mullein at Lava Beds National Monument: annual (once per year), biennial (once every two years), or no treatment. Vegetation type, natural features, site characteristics, and human disturbance were factors considered when analyzing common mullein distribution and abundance. Forty-five pre-existing plots with populations of common mullein were visited during summer 2005. The interrelationship of common mullein with the surrounding high-desert plant communities was assessed by three vegetation sampling methods. Density, cover, and common mullein stages were measured by point-intercept transects, belt transects, and circular macroplots. Simple linear regressions were performed using common mullein density as the dependent variable with multiple independent variables such as shrub, rock, soil, and grass cover. Analysis of variance test showed no significant relationship between density of common mullein and the three treatment cycles (p > 0.05). However, trends observed imply that annual treatment reduces the population of large rosettes and reproductive stalks over no-treatment and biennial treatment. A bivariate correlation test found the circular macroplot to be similar to belt transects for measuring common mullein density (r = 0.84). / Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management

Granular gas bed filters have been used in industry for a considerable period and mathematical descriptions of dust capture have allowed rigorous design of static beds. Provision for bed movement and electrostatic augmentation, which allows much thinner continuous beds to be used, requires adaptation of design methods for these phenomena. Design methods that allow for this are developed for a cross-flow bed with vertical bed movement and a number of granule and dust types. Direct current charging is applied to the bed itself and to the particles before they enter the bed. In the case of electrostatic augmentation, it is shown that simple models of spherical particles describe the mechanism adequately. The advantages of pre-charging dust particles before they enter the bed are indicated by calculation and proved experimentally. Parameters to describe the enhancement of filtration efficiency by the collected dust are obtained experimentally. It is shown that the factors controlling re-entrainment vary with particle size. For the dust particles less than 1,5 micrometers in size, re-entrainment is linked closely to the electrostatic capture mechanism which is dominant in that size range. For particles approaching 10 micrometer, re-entrainment can be neglected as the impaction efficiency, which is dominant for particles of this size and larger, approaches unity. A complex situation exists between these particle sizes as the magnitude and predominance of capture mechanisms in this region are determined by a number of operational parameters. It did not prove possible to develop predictive equations for re-entrainment efficiency using the results of this study. A number of heuristics are however developed that allow rational design by the use of the empirical parameters found, and that will be valid for the range of parameters used in this work. / Thesis (PhD(Chemical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Chemical Engineering / unrestricted