Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2015-11-30T14:46:17Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Sérgio Luiz Bohrer Filho_.pdf: 1393460 bytes, checksum: 335661e44d51f93aa77abb3a780e6e5a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-11-30T14:46:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sérgio Luiz Bohrer Filho_.pdf: 1393460 bytes, checksum: 335661e44d51f93aa77abb3a780e6e5a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-10-14 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / PROSUP - Programa de Suporte à Pós-Gradução de Instituições de Ensino Particulares / Este trabalho apresenta um estudo de viabilidade de inserção de energia solar térmica na matriz elétrica brasileira, através de integração de um campo de energia termosolar concentrada com uma usina termelétrica de ciclo combinado localizada na Região Centro-Oeste. A atual conjuntura do setor elétrico, que apresenta crescimento do despacho termelétrico e consequente elevação dos custos de geração de energia elétrica, provocados principalmente por períodos de Energia Natural Afluente (ENA) abaixo da média, justifica o desenvolvimento de fontes alternativas. O objetivo principal deste estudo é apresentar um modelo de empreendimento de produção de eletricidade por meio de fonte solar térmica, compatível à realidade tecnológica e econômica do mercado de energia. O estudo baseia-se na simulação de integração de um campo solar com tecnologia de concentração Fresnel linear e geração direta de vapor superaquecido, junto à Usina Termelétrica Luís Carlos Prestes (UTE-LCP), no município de Três Lagoas, no estado de Mato Grosso do Sul. O desempenho do campo solar é verificado através do software System Advisor Model (SAM) da National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) e a produção adicional de termeletricidade é determinada com base na análise de eficiência do ciclo de Rankine da UTE-LCP. Por fim, é realizada a análise financeira do projeto através de ferramentas de engenharia econômica, onde identifica-se um custo nivelado da energia elétrica (LCOE) de pelo menos 139,24 USD MW-1h-1, uma redução de 42,7% em relação às estimativas de custo internacionais para usinas heliotérmicas. Análises de sensibilidade indicam que o custo do capital tem impacto crítico sobre o LCOE, fato atribuído ao caráter de alta dependência dos recursos de capital da tecnologia solar térmica. / This work presents a study of concentrated solar power insertion in the Brazilian energy matrix, through integration of the solar energy with Luís Carlos Prestes Thermoelectric Power Plant (UTE-LCP) in Três Lagoas city. The current situation of the Brazilian electricity sector, which has presented strong growth of thermoelectric dispatch in recent years and the consequent increase in the cost of electricity generation, justifies the development of alternative energy sources. The purpose of this study is to present a model of electricity generation through thermal solar source compatible to technological and economic realities of the energy market. The study is based on evaluation of the linear Fresnel reflector with direct steam generation, because this configuration has investment, operation and maintenance attractive costs. The performance of the solar field is simulated in the System Advisor Model software (SAM) of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The predict performance is used with UTE-LCP operational database to estimate the additional electricity generation. Finally, the financial analysis is carried out through economic engineering tools, which identifies a Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of the 139.24 USD MW-1h-1 at least. This LCOE is 42.7% less than cost estimates for Concentrating Solar Power plants. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the cost of capital has critical impact on the LCOE, which was attributed to the character of high dependence on Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) capital resources.

Neste trabalho estudamos propriedades de integrais concentradas, ou seja, integrais cujo integrando atua apenas em uma vizinhança do domínio em questão. Tais termos são utilizados para conhecer o comportamento do integrando em regiões cuja medida de Lebesgue se aproxima de zero quando um parâmetro tende a zero. Ilustraremos estes resultados abstratos através de duas aplicações, ambas em domínios Lipschitz de R2, onde adicionamos um termo de concentração em problemas semilineares elípticos: domínio com fronteira oscilante que tende a um domínio limite fixo; e domínio do tipo fino com fronteira oscilante. Em ambos os casos, provamos a semicontinuidade superior e inferior da família de soluções dos problemas. / In this work we study concentrating integrals properties, in other words, we analyze integrals which function that is been integrated acts only in a neighborhood of the boundary of the domain. Such terms are use to know the behaviour of the integrand in regions which Lebesgue measure tends to zero when a parameter goes to zero. We will illustrate these abstract results through two applications, both in Lipschitz domains of R2, where we add a concentration term in semi linear elliptic problems: oscillating boundary domain which tends to a fixed limit domain; and a thin domain with a oscillatory boundary. In both cases we prove the upper and lower semicontinuity of the family of solutions from these problems.

Analisamos o comportamento assintótico de uma família de equilíbrios de uma equação de reação-difusão com a condição de Neumann homegênea definido num domínio fino bidimensional com termos de reação concentradas em uma vizinhança oscilante da fronteira. Assumimos que o domínio e portanto a vizinhança oscilante se degeneram em um intervalo quando o parâmetro positivo tende a zero. O objetivo principal foi mostrar que essa família de soluções, converge para uma equação limite unidimensional, que captura a geometria e o comportamento assintótico dos conjuntos abertos onde o problema é estabelecido. De fato mostramos a continuidade da família de equilíbrios / In this work we analyze the behavior of a family of stead state solutions of a semilinear reaction-diffusion equation with homogeneous Neumann boundary condition, posed in a two-dimensional thin domain with reaction term concentrated in an narrow oscillating neighborhood. Indeed, we assume that the domain of definition of the solutions degenerates into an interval as a small parameter $\\epsilon$ goes to zero. Our main result is that this family of solutions converge to the solution of a one-dimensional limit equation capturing the geometry and oscillatory behaviour of the open sets where the problem is estabilished.

Avaliamos o efeito do treinamento físico intenso e da restrição alimentar no eixo reprodutor e na expressão do RNAm do MCH em ratas fêmeas. Utilizamos ratas fêmeas sedentárias alimentadas (SA), sedentárias com restrição alimentar, treinadas alimentadas (TA) e treinadas com restrição alimentar. O grupo TR entrou em anestro a partir da quarta semana de experimento. Os grupos restritos apresentaram redução de peso corporal, ovários, úteros e tecido adiposo branco, comparados aos alimentados. Houve redução sérica de leptina nos grupos SR e TR. Os grupos TA, SR e TR apresentaram cistos ovarianos. A expressão do RNAm do ppMCH na área incerto-hipotalâmica (IHy) foi menor nos animais TR, SR e nos animais alimentados em proestro, e na área hipotalâmica lateral (LHA) foi maior nos animais em restrição alimentar e nos animais alimentados em proestro. Conclui-se que a leptina exerce forte influencia no eixo reprodutor feminino, tal ação parece ter envolvimento do MCH, sobretudo o proveniente da IHy, uma vez que o MCH da LHA tem relação com o estímulo a busca de alimento. / We evaluated the effect of intense physical training and food restriction on the reproductive axis and MCH mRNA expression in female rats. We used female rats fed sedentary (SF), food-restricted sedentary, trained fed (TF) and trained with food restriction. The group entered anestrus TR from the fourth week of the experiment. The restricted groups had reduced body weight, ovary, uterus and white adipose tissue, compared to the fed. There was a reduction of serum leptin in the SR and TR groups. The TF groups, SR and TR had ovarian cysts. The expression of mRNA ppMCH incerto-hypothalamic area (IHy) was lower in TR animals, SR and animals fed on proestrus, and the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) were higher in animals on restricted food and animal feeding in proestrus. It is concluded that leptin exerts a strong influence on female reproductive axis, such action appears to have involvement of MCH, especially from the IHy, since the MCH of the LHA is related to the motivational behavior associated to the search for food.

La durabilité des miroirs solaires est un point clé pour le développement des centrales solaires à concentration, du fait de l’investissement important, des 30 ans d’opération visés et des zones d’implantations aux climats agressifs. Ces travaux de recherche portent ainsi sur l’étude des modes de dégradation et de la durabilité de miroirs solaires en verre monolithiques ou laminés. Cette thèse a permis d’appliquer avec succès au CSP une méthodologie de prédiction de la durée de vie développée dans des domaines plus matures. Les corrélations entre les vieillissements accélérés et les expositions extérieures réalisées sur trois sites ont mis en avant le rôle prédominant de l’eau et de l’irradiance dans la dégradation des peintures de protection des miroirs monolithiques. Les essais en chaleur humide ont quant à eux été jugés trop agressifs pour les miroirs, considérant de plus les conditions climatiques des sites d’application potentiels. Les résultats expérimentaux des essais de vieillissements accélérés ont conduit à la détermination des paramètres cinétiques des miroirs inclus dans les relations mathématiques modélisant les principaux facteurs de stress identifiés précédemment. Les facteurs d’accélération ont ainsi été calculés pour des essais standards par rapport à des sites comportant des centrales CSP opérationnelles. Ce travail a permis au final d’estimer des durées de vie des miroirs sur les sites choisis, en considérant que seuls les facteurs de stress étudiés intervenaient dans la dégradation. / Durability of solar mirrors is a key point for the development of concentrating solar power plants, because of the large investment, the goal of 30 years lifetime and of the implantations areas with hostile climates. This research work concerns the study of degradation modes and of monolithic or laminated glass solar mirrors durability. This thesis allows to successfully apply to CSP a lifetime prediction method already developed in more mature fields. Correlations between accelerated ageing tests and natural outdoor exposures performed on three sites evidence the predominant role of water and irradiance in protection paints of monolithic mirrors degradation. Damp heat tests were evaluated too aggressive for mirrors, considering thus the climatic conditions of potential application sites. Experimental results of accelerated ageing tests lead to the determination of kinetic parameters included in mathematical relationships modelling the main stress factors previously identified. Acceleration factors were then calculated for standard tests compared to sites with operational CSP plants. This work finally allows to estimate lifetimes of mirrors on specific sites, assuming that only the studied stress factors take part in degradation.

This thesis presents a distributed power-management architecture for concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems. Specifically, the Δ-conversion scheme with voltage equalization is analyzed and verified for the CPV system from Morgan Solar, Inc. This architecture uses inverting buck-boost converters, denoted Δ-converters, which equalize the voltages of neighbouring CPV cells in a series-connected string of cells and improve the systems tolerance to parameter variations. The power benefits of Δ-conversion and the Δ-converter current distributions are investigated using statistical simulations. The effectiveness of Δ-conversion in the presence of randomly distributed mismatches is demonstrated, and current cascading is identified as the main design challenge. The Δ-converter is modelled and compensated using Middlebrook's Extra Element Theorem. Analysis of measured data from a six-cell CPV system demonstrate the benefits of Δ-conversion under realistic scenarios. Experimental results from prototype systems show up to 31% power benefits in the presence of mismatches.

The percentage of renewable energy within the global electric power generation portfolio is expected to increase rapidly over the next few decades due to increasing concerns about climate change, fossil fuel costs, and energy security. Solar thermal energy, also known as concentrating solar power (CSP), is emerging as an important solution to new demands for clean, renewable electricity generation. Dish-Stirling (DS) technology, a form of CSP, is a relatively new player in the renewable energy market, although research in the technology has been ongoing now for nearly thirty years. The first large plant utilizing DS technology, rated at 1.5 MW, came online in January 2010 in Peoria, AZ, and plants rated for several hundred MW are in the planning stages. Increasing capacity of this technology within the utility grid requires extensive dynamic simulation studies to ensure that the power system maintains its safety and reliability in spite of the technological challenges that DS technology presents, particularly related to the intermittency of the energy source and its use of a non-conventional asynchronous generator. The research presented in this thesis attempts to fill in the gaps between the well established research on Stirling engines in the world of thermodynamics and the use of DS systems in electric power system applications, a topic which has received scant attention in publications since the emergence of this technology. DS technology uses a paraboloidal shaped dish of mirrors to concentrate sunlight to a single point. The high temperatures achieved at the focal point of the mirrors is used as a heat source for the Stirling engine, which is a closed-cycle, external heat engine. Invented by the Scottish clergyman Robert Stirling in 1816, the Stirling engine is capable of high efficiency and releases no emissions, making it highly compatible with concentrated solar energy. The Stirling engine turns a squirrel-cage induction generator, where electricity is delivered through underground cables from thousands of independent, autonomous 10-25 kW rated DS units in a large solar farm. A dynamic model of the DS system is presented in this thesis, including models of the Stirling engine working gas and mechanical dynamics. Custom FORTRAN code is written to model the Stirling engine dynamics within PSCAD/EMTDC. The Stirling engine and various other components of the DS system are incorporated into an electrical network, including first a single-machine, infinite bus network, and then a larger 12-bus network including conventional generators, loads, and transmission lines. An analysis of the DS control systems is presented, and simulation results are provided to demonstrate the system's steady state and dynamic behavior within these electric power networks. Potential grid interconnection requirements are discussed, including issues with power factor correction and low voltage ride-through, and simulation results are provided to illustrate the dish-Stirling system's capability for meeting such requirements.

The demand for clean and environmentally benign energy resources has been a great concern in the last two decades. To alleviate the associated environmental problems, reduction of the use of fossil fuels by developing more cost-effective renewable energy technologies becomes more and more significant. Among various types of renewable energy sources, solar energy and bioenergy take a great proportion. This dissertation focuses on the heat transfer and flow in solar energy and bioenergy systems, specifically for Thermal Energy Storage (TES) systems in Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants and open-channel algal culture raceways for biofuel production. The first part of this dissertation is the discussion about mathematical modeling, numerical simulation and experimental investigation of solar TES system. First of all, in order to accurately and efficiently simulate the conjugate heat transfer between Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF) and filler material in four different solid-fluid TES configurations, formulas of an effective heat transfer coefficient were theoretically developed and presented by extending the validity of Lumped Capacitance Method (LCM) to large Biot number, as well as verifications/validations to this simplified model. Secondly, to provide design guidelines for TES system in CSP plant using Phase Change Materials (PCM), a general storage tank volume sizing strategy and an energy storage startup strategy were proposed using the enthalpy-based 1D transient model. Then experimental investigations were conducted to explore a novel thermal storage material. The thermal storage performances were also compared between this novel storage material and concrete at a temperature range from 400 °C to 500 °C. It is recommended to apply this novel thermal storage material to replace concrete at high operating temperatures in sensible heat TES systems. The second part of this dissertation mainly focuses on the numerical and experimental study of an open-channel algae culture raceway for biofuel production. According to the proposed flow field design of ARID-HV algal raceway, experiments and numerical simulation have been conducted to understand the enhancement of flow mixing in the flow field of ARID-HV raceway by cutting slots on top of the dam near the dead zones. A new method was proposed to quantitatively evaluate the flow mixing by using the statistics of temporal and spatial distribution of the massless fluid particles (centered in each cell at the inlet surface) in the raceway collecting the data of path-lines of fluid particles from CFD results. It is hoped that this method can be applied to assist the algal raceway flow field design as well as other engineering applications. The third part introduces the details about the construction work of a high temperature molten salt test loop. Because of the limited operating temperature of conventional synthetic oils, in order to obtain higher energy conversion efficiency, higher operating temperature is always desirable in a CSP plant which leads to the requirement of new generation of HTF. Currently, a halide salt eutectic mixture (NaCl-KCl-ZnCl₂) as a potential HTF for future CSP applications has been proposed by a multi-institute research team, led by University of Arizona. The thermophysical properties of the halide eutectic salt have been measured. However, this new developed halide eutectic salt has not been tested in a circulating loop at a high operating temperature for the measurement of heat transfer coefficient. It is a significant effort to build such a test system due to extremely high operating temperature. As a consequence, in the third part of this dissertation, details about the design of the lab-scale test system and all the equipment items will be introduced. The investigations included in this dissertation for the heat transfer and flow in solar energy and bioenergy systems are of particular interest to the renewable energy engineering community. It is expected that the proposed methods can provide useful information for engineers and researchers.

This thesis presents a distributed power-management architecture for concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems. Specifically, the Δ-conversion scheme with voltage equalization is analyzed and verified for the CPV system from Morgan Solar, Inc. This architecture uses inverting buck-boost converters, denoted Δ-converters, which equalize the voltages of neighbouring CPV cells in a series-connected string of cells and improve the systems tolerance to parameter variations. The power benefits of Δ-conversion and the Δ-converter current distributions are investigated using statistical simulations. The effectiveness of Δ-conversion in the presence of randomly distributed mismatches is demonstrated, and current cascading is identified as the main design challenge. The Δ-converter is modelled and compensated using Middlebrook's Extra Element Theorem. Analysis of measured data from a six-cell CPV system demonstrate the benefits of Δ-conversion under realistic scenarios. Experimental results from prototype systems show up to 31% power benefits in the presence of mismatches.

Domestic solar hot water units, if properly designed, are capable of providing all hot water needs in an environmentally friendly and cost-effective way. Despite 50 years of development, commercial technology has not yet achieved substantial market penetration compared to mainstream electric and gas options. Therefore, alternate designs are warranted if they can offer similar or greater performance for a comparable cost to conventional units. This study proved that such alternatives are possible by designing and testing two novel solar hot water systems (SHWS). The first system used compound parabolic collector (CPC) panels to concentrate solar energy and produce steam. The steam moved from a rooftop downward into a heat exchange pipe within a ground level water tank, heating the water, condensing and falling into a receptacle. The operation was entirely passive, since the condensate was pulled up due to the partial vacuum that occurred after system cooling. Efficiencies of up to 40% were obtained. The second system used an air heater panel. Air was circulated in open and closed loop configuration (air recycling) by means of a fan/blower motor and was forced across a compact heat exchanger coupled to a water tank. This produced a natural thermosiphon flow heating the water. Air recycling mode provided higher system efficiencies: 34% vs. 27%. The concurrent development of an analytical model that reasonably predicted heat transfer dynamics of these systems allowed 1) performance optimisation for specific input/starting operating conditions and 2) virtual design improvements. The merit of this model lay in its acceptable accuracy in spite of its simplicity. By optimising for operating conditions and parameter design, both systems are capable of providing over 30 MJ of useful domestic hot water on clear days, which equates roughly to an increase of 35°C in a 200 L water tank. This will satisfy, on average, daily hot water requirements for a 4-person household, particularly in low-latitude regions (eg. Queensland). Preliminary costing for these systems puts them on par with conventional units, with the passive, remotely coupled, low maintenance, CPC SHWS comparable to higher end models. The air heater SHWS, by contrast, was much more economical and easier to build and handle, but at the trade-off cost of 1) the need for an active system, 2) increased maintenance and running costs and 3) the requirement for a temperature control mechanism that would protect the panel body by dumping hot air trapped inside if stagnation were to occur.