Electrical generating sets powered by gas turbines are required for many applications, in particular for emergency situations due to their critical attributes; high reliability, lightweight, small size, multi-fuel capabilities, low maintenance, low noise and low gas emissions. This research contends that a permanent magnet axial flux (PMAF) high-speed generator with a small gas turbine engine offers advantages over the radial flux permanent magnet generators. Higher power densities can be achieved with the axial flux configuration when compared to their counter parts of the radial flux machines of similar output power. The attributes of the PMAF machines were certainly appealing; lightweight, small size, high efficiency and ease of construction. In this research, a design approach for the PMAF high-speed generator which accounts for the mechanical and electrical aspects was provided. The machine's key components such as retainment ring was carefully designed and the materials utilised in their structures were appropriately selected to insure high mechanical integrity, ease of construction and low manufacturing cost. The generator's principle dimensions were determined from a theoretical model which was derived from the machine's main design parameters. This theoretical model was then correlated by some empirical coefficients determined through the manipulation of the experimentally validated finite element (FE) results. The analytical results have shown that with the appropriate design considerations, PMAF high-speed generators can be designed with high power densities in the range of 6-8 kW/kg and high efficiencies ideally in the range of 94 - 96 %. The mechanical integrity and the steady state electrical performance of the machine were analysed using three-dimensional (3D) FE models. More in this research, a parametric study was carried out on the most influential parameters of the machine to improve its electrical performance through minimise rotor and stator eddy current losses. In addition, the total harmonic distortion in the output waveform was minimised through the appropriate and careful design of the magnet shape and topology with the aid of 3D electromagnetic FE analysis. Furthermore, using FE it was possible to design, optimise and analyse the rotor back-iron disc through the selection of best material, shape and size for use in the PMAF high-speed generator. A prototype of the PMAF high-speed generator was constructed and tested preliminary at low speed for the purpose of the evaluation of the electrical performance of the machine. Experimental results have shown that the machine was capable to meet the design requirements. For the mechanical integrity of the machine, the rotors were safely tested on a cold run test rig at the speed of 47,000 rpm. This thesis describes also the trends and the technical details in the manufacturing, construction and experimental setup for the PMAF high-speed generator.

Thesis (M.Tech.: Civil Engineering)-Dept. of of Civil Engineering and Surveying, Durban Institute of Technology, 2005 xii, 89 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm / The Reconstruction and Development Programme adopted by the Government of National Unity is more than a list of the services required to improve the quality of life of the majority of South Africans. It is not just a call for South Africans to unite to build a country free of poverty and misery; it is a programme designed to achieve this objective in an integrated and principled manner. Based on the strategic objectives, as highlighted in the White Paper on Water Supply and Sanitation Policy, with regard to alleviating the chronic potable water shortages in South Africa, this thesis investigates a design methodology to supply potable water through the use of wind energy. The design focuses on small rural off-grid developments where grid electricity either has not or will not reach, and where renewable energy is the only viable option. This thesis provides an overview of wind energy and presents the fundamentals of wind power calculations. It also formulates an overview of the historic and present situation with regards to potable water supply, and reflects on the need for urgent intervention. The feasibility of using wind energy to supply potable water to rural communities in South Africa is explored in a case study. The various problem areas are identified and examined and a wide range of possible solutions are recommended. A final flow chart for the system design is proposed, thus ensuring comprehensive design methodology from which future design of similar systems can be based.

The huge environmental awareness emerging last years by reason of global warming and greenhouse effect, on one hand, and the need of finding other sources of energy production and conversion due to the declining of fossil resources and the increasing cost of this kind of energy resource, on the other hand, both have led position renewable energies as a powerful alternative on the energy production and conversion. PV-systems have emerged at an exponential rate in recent year as the main candidate and a satisfactory possibility with respect to environmental and economic sustainability. Nowadays, the large volume on photovoltaic market is currently dominated by four types of solar cells, divided by the semiconductor material used to absorb light and convert the energy into electricity: (1) crystalline silicon (monocrystalline and polycrystalline), (2) amorphous silicon, (3) CIGS and (4) cadmium telluride; and among them, monocrystalline silicon and CIGS technologies are installed on the building 45 of the University of Gävle, at the south face of the laboratory. In this context and with the motivation to contribute knowledge on PV field, a comparison between single crystal solar technology and thin film CIGS technology has carried out through f ratio and performance ratio procedures in order to perform an assessment of the energy conversion of each one under field conditions. A logger monitors the power conversion from the PV modules since June 2014 while two pyranometers monitor global and diffuse solar radiation since March 2016. It must take into account that only clear sunny days have been considered during a period from 8:00 to 14:00 in order to avoid shadows effect on the PV systems. The results come to conclude that single crystal silicon modules present a better behavior with respect to energy conversion under no shadows effect conditions by two reason: (1) f ratio, relationship of PV conversion per kW (PV yield) between CIGS and single crystal silicon, is about 87.25% with some variations along a day due to ambient temperature, cell temperature and incidence angle; (2) PV module's performance ratio of monocrystalline silicon modules is higher than thin film CIGS ones during a sunny day about 87.56% and 76.38%, respectively; and they are consistent with usual performance ratio values between 80% and 90% since 2010 onwards. In light of the outcome and in order to confirm these conclusions, it intends to launch a project with the objective of evaluating the data collected and compare the performance of the module after a year of measurements outdoors by the PV module's performance ratio procedure. Along the same lines, the next step of the University of Gävle will be to launch a project with the objective of evaluating the potential to be self-sufficient.

Nanoelectrochemistry explores the differences in chemical behaviour at the nanoscale as compared to the macro-scale. This thesis is concerned with nanoelectrochemistry and aims to develop and apply novel experiments for the unambiguous identification of changed electrode kinetics at the nanoscale. This is challenging since electrochemical responses are controlled by diverse factors like enhanced mass transport and adsorption as well as electron transfer kinetics. A joint computational and experimental strategy is employed. Chapter 1, 2 and 3 cover essential introductory material and basic experimental details relevant to all experiment. Fuller descriptions and details are given in the following chapters as and when needed. Chapter 4 reports the development of an electrochemical characterization method, to achieve a fast and simple quantification of the average particle size and the number of nanoparticles deposited on a glassy carbon electrode. The method consists of surface area characterization by underpotential deposition of lead particles and the determination of the amount of gold from anodic stripping in HCl. This method is also proven to be effective by comparing the results with SEM measurements. Next, in chapter 5, a generic strategy combining computation and experimental approach is developed in order to study the electron transfer kinetics of gold nanoparticles. The modelling part considers the kinetics of the electrochemical process on the bulk materials for different regions in the electrode, that is, the substrate (glassy carbon) and the nanoparticles (gold). Comparison of experimental and theoretical results enables the detection of changes in the electrode kinetics at the nanoscale. This approach is applied into the electro-oxidations of nitrite and L-ascorbic acid for gold nanoparticles from 20 - 90 nm. In the former, analysing the system shows that no change in electron transfer kinetics is involved in the process, even though a decrease of the over-potential and an increase in the peak current are observed. But these changes reflect mass transport effects, not electrocatalysis. A case where an authentic enhanced electron transfer kinetic change occurs is shown for the ascorbic acid system. Finally, in chapter 6 , the above strategy is exploited further to apply a quantitative study of electron transfer kinetics for various sizes of gold nanoparticles in the oxygen reduction reaction system in sulphuric acid at 298 K. The latter is at the heart of energy transformation techniques (fuel cells, battery and so on). Compared with the electron transfer kinetics on macro gold electrodes, there is no change at gold nanoparticles from size 5 nm to 40 nm. However, in the presence of Pb(II), a strong enhancement of electron transfer kinetics is observed on 5 nm citrate capped gold nanoparticles for ORR. On the other hand, a significant decrease of electron transfer kinetics has been found for gold nanoparticles of size 2 nm for ORR. The latter observation of strong negative electrocatalysis is also observed for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). This represents the first report of such effects with the HER system. Overall the thesis has established a rigurous, theoretical basis for evaluating electrocatalysis in nanoparticulate system.

Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: See item for full text / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sien item vir volteks

The main performance objective in an electric power grid entails timely and efficient generation and delivery to the time-varying electricity demand. As the electricity industry is witnessing proliferation of the mainstream renewables, the minute-by-minute variations in wind and solar power generation may result in temporary electricity scarcity that jeopardizes grid stability and quality of service. The evolving electricity markets are aimed at incentivizing the conventional generators to reinforce their operating flexibility. This dissertation concerns the goal of enhancing the dynamic response rates of interconnected controllable resources by means of a multi-layered fuel input control of electrically coupled heterogeneous energy conversion components. Both power engineering and large-scale control contributions are made in support of this enhancement. First, improved fuel input controls are designed to enable flexible physics-based energy conversion dynamics required by the interconnected grid. To efficiently utilize the resources load-following and regulation problems are stated. The efficacy of proposed fuel input control designs in enhancing the dynamic response rates is illustrated on IEEE 14-bus system. Second, the problem is formalized as multi-input multioutput time-varying trajectory tracking based on a decentralized spatiotemporal composite control design. The concepts of vector-Lyapunov function and singular perturbation are invoked to formalize model decompositions, over space and time, respectively. Next, the assumptions for model simplifications are relaxed and the problem of parametric uncertainty is addressed. A minimumcost resilient co-design approach is introduced for storage-sensors-communication channels in a complex electric power grid. The notion of selective strong structural fixed modes is explored as a characterization of feasible decentralized control laws for an arbitrary system realization satisfying a pre-specified structure. Finally, it is proposed that planning of generation portfolio must be driven by the objective of maintaining adequate operating flexibility in the system. The goal is to ensure sufficient ramp capacity to sustain the significant integration of intermittent renewable resources.

Orientador: Carlos Alberto Canesin / Banca: Guilherme de Azevedo e Melo / Banca: Flávio Alessandro Serrão Gonçalves / Resumo: Este trabalho apresenta, analisa e implementa uma proposta de conversor para geração de pulsos elétricos de alta tensão para aplicação na produção de ozônio e injeção do mesmo em água, com a finalidade de ação germicida e bactericida para processos de lavagem e higienização industrial. O conversor proposto é composto por dois estágios, sendo o primeiro estágio um retificador Boost operando no Modo de Condução Descontínua (MCD), responsável pela obtenção de um barramento em Corrente Contínua (CC) regulado e, atuando como seguidor de tensão da entrada apresenta um elevado fator de potência com reduzida distorção harmônica para a corrente de entrada; o segundo estágio consiste no uso de um inversor em Ponte Completa (Full-bridge) ressonante com controle por deslocamento de fase (Phase-shift), frequência constante (em torno de 10kHz) e modulação bipolar. O estágio inversor ressonante é composto pelo inversor em ponte associado a um transformador elevador e a indutâncias e capacitâncias para o ajuste da ressonância, resultando em uma estrutura com capacidade de geração de pulsos elétricos na saída com amplitude de até 6kV para o nível de potência do projeto, os quais são aplicados em um conjunto em paralelo de 14 (quatorze) câmaras de descarga para geração de ozônio e injeção em água. O trabalho apresenta uma revisão bibliográfica para as aplicações do ozônio, as principais topologias de conversores em baixa potência para geração de pulsos elétricos em ozonizadores, a análise de um produto comercial, a proposta e desenvolvimento de uma estrutura conversora em substituição ao produto comercial, resultando em melhor eficiência e maior fator de potência, apresentando-se suas análises qualitativas e quantitativas, modelação, metodologias de projeto, implementação de um protótipo funcional, os principais resultados finais e proposta de continuidade para futuras pesquisas / Abstract: This research proposes, analyzes and implements a converter for generating high voltage electric pulses for application to ozone production and injection in water for the purpose of bactericidal and germicidal processes for cleaning and sanitizing industry applications. The proposed converter consists of two stages, the first stage being a Boost rectifier operating in Discontinuous Conduction Mode (DCM), responsible for getting a Continuous Current (CC) bus regulated and, acting as input voltage follower presents a high power factor with reduced harmonic distortion to the input current; the second stage involves the use of a resonant Full-Bridge inverter controlled by phase-shift, using constant frequency (close to 10kHz) and bipolar modulation. The resonant inverter stage is composed of the bridge inverter associated with a step-up transformer, inductors and capacitors to adjust de resonant frequency, resulting in a structure capable of generating electric pulses with amplitude at the output of almost 6kV, which are applied on a set of fourteen (14) discharge chambers in parallel for ozone generation and injection in water. The work presents a literature review for the applications of ozone, the main converter topologies at low power for generating electrical pulses in ozonizators, the analysis of a commercial product, a proposal and development of a power converter structure to replace the commercial one, resulting in better efficiency and high input power factor, presenting their qualitative and quantitative analysis, modeling, design methodologies, implementation of a functional prototype, the main experimental results and proposal of continuity of future researches / Mestre

This thesis deals with the performance of a Wind Energy Conversion System operating as a power generator and Active Filter simultaneously. As a power generator, the Wind Energy Conversion System converts wind energy into electric energy; as an Active Filter, it sinks the harmonic currents injected by Non-Linear Loads connected at the same feeder. Three control systems are developed to ensure the described operation; a specific study regarding the compensation of the triplen harmonics is carried out; Doubly-Fed Induction Generator derating is defined; and an engineering economic analysis is performed to determine the profitability of the proposed operation. The Wind Energy Conversion System performance as generator and Active Filter has been studied for steady-state analysis, fast transients and low transients. It is concluded that the proposed control systems allow operating the Wind Energy Conversion System as power generator and harmonic compensator both during steady state and transient operation; the described operation causes power loss increase and voltage distortion that determine the choice of the component and require system derating.

A utilização de fontes renováveis em plataformas de produção de petróleo e gás natural atualmente é baseada em aplicações experimentais e esparsas. Contudo, a aplicação dessas fontes de forma estruturada permite aumentar a confiabilidade de sistemas críticos e diminuir a emissão de poluentes. Com foco nos projetos para desenvolvimento de produção dos campos petrolíferos do pré-sal no Brasil, esse trabalho apresenta uma proposta de metodologia para avaliação de utilização de fontes renováveis de energia elétrica em plataformas marítimas de produção de petróleo e gás natural. Para isso, foi desenvolvido um fluxograma de projeto e uma metodologia multicritério. O fluxograma de projeto determina as etapas e atividades requeridas para uma adequada aplicação da metodologia de avaliação. Enquanto a metodologia multicritério busca captar os valores e percepções de projetistas, operadores e mantenedores a respeito de características dos dispositivos conversores de energia renovável. A metodologia proposta é aplicada em um caso de plataforma tipo fixa e em outro caso de plataforma tipo FPSO. Esse segundo caso representa características físicas das embarcações utilizadas para desenvolvimento da produção na camada pré-sal, assim como as características ambientais e geográficas de locação. Os resultados permitem comparar as potencialidades de captação de energia renovável, assim como permitem identificar as tecnologias com estado da arte mais adequado para essa aplicação específica. Outras conclusões são apresentadas, como a estimativa de emissão de CO2 evitada e as tecnologias verdes com atratividade para desenvolvimento no âmbito nacional. / Nowadays renewable sources applications at offshore petroleum and natural gas production platform are based at experimental and particular cases. However, a structured design system can increase critical systems reliability and decrease pollutant emissions. Focuses at new developing production projects at Brazilian presalt petroleum fields, this work suggest a new methodology to valuate renewable source applications and solutions at offshore petroleum and natural gas production platform. Based at this purpose, a design project workflow and a multicriteria methodology were developed. Technical activities required to a suitable valuation and sequential steps are detailed at project workflow. The multicriteria methodology simulates values and feelings of designers, operators and technical maintenance about renewable source converters appliances features. This proposed methodology is applied at two specific cases, a fixed platform and FPSO platform. The second one represents physical characteristics of pre-salt production units as well environmental and geographic features of site location. The comparison of results indicates potential renewable energy flows to be harvested and the technologies of renewable sources with high attractiveness for this offshore application. Other conclusions are showed, as quantification of avoided carbonic gas emitted and green technologies that should be produced in Brazil.

A utilização de fontes renováveis em plataformas de produção de petróleo e gás natural atualmente é baseada em aplicações experimentais e esparsas. Contudo, a aplicação dessas fontes de forma estruturada permite aumentar a confiabilidade de sistemas críticos e diminuir a emissão de poluentes. Com foco nos projetos para desenvolvimento de produção dos campos petrolíferos do pré-sal no Brasil, esse trabalho apresenta uma proposta de metodologia para avaliação de utilização de fontes renováveis de energia elétrica em plataformas marítimas de produção de petróleo e gás natural. Para isso, foi desenvolvido um fluxograma de projeto e uma metodologia multicritério. O fluxograma de projeto determina as etapas e atividades requeridas para uma adequada aplicação da metodologia de avaliação. Enquanto a metodologia multicritério busca captar os valores e percepções de projetistas, operadores e mantenedores a respeito de características dos dispositivos conversores de energia renovável. A metodologia proposta é aplicada em um caso de plataforma tipo fixa e em outro caso de plataforma tipo FPSO. Esse segundo caso representa características físicas das embarcações utilizadas para desenvolvimento da produção na camada pré-sal, assim como as características ambientais e geográficas de locação. Os resultados permitem comparar as potencialidades de captação de energia renovável, assim como permitem identificar as tecnologias com estado da arte mais adequado para essa aplicação específica. Outras conclusões são apresentadas, como a estimativa de emissão de CO2 evitada e as tecnologias verdes com atratividade para desenvolvimento no âmbito nacional. / Nowadays renewable sources applications at offshore petroleum and natural gas production platform are based at experimental and particular cases. However, a structured design system can increase critical systems reliability and decrease pollutant emissions. Focuses at new developing production projects at Brazilian presalt petroleum fields, this work suggest a new methodology to valuate renewable source applications and solutions at offshore petroleum and natural gas production platform. Based at this purpose, a design project workflow and a multicriteria methodology were developed. Technical activities required to a suitable valuation and sequential steps are detailed at project workflow. The multicriteria methodology simulates values and feelings of designers, operators and technical maintenance about renewable source converters appliances features. This proposed methodology is applied at two specific cases, a fixed platform and FPSO platform. The second one represents physical characteristics of pre-salt production units as well environmental and geographic features of site location. The comparison of results indicates potential renewable energy flows to be harvested and the technologies of renewable sources with high attractiveness for this offshore application. Other conclusions are showed, as quantification of avoided carbonic gas emitted and green technologies that should be produced in Brazil.