<div>The objective of this research was to develop an efficient simulation of an industrial reheating furnace with a flexible scale formation model and to apply the models to study various conditions within an industrial reheating furnace. This work focused on developing a model capable of considering many different key variables that influence scale formation. The scale formation model was incorporated into the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software ANSYS Fluent © to solve a coupled steady-state and transient simulation. It was also generalized for a low-carbon steel product, so it may not be adequate to cover the effects of alloying metals on the oxidation process. In order to verify the accuracy of these models, baseline cases were simulated and validated against both industrial data and findings from experiments in published literature.</div><div><br></div><div>A parametric study with two levels of oxygen enrichment implementation in only the preheat zone was undertaken to study the effects on the heat transfer, scale formation, and fluid flow within the reheat furnace. A medium oxygen enrichment case of 46 vol% oxygen and an oxy-fuel case were used for study. Both oxygen enrichment cases showed largely increased heat transfer to the slab in the preheat zone and increased scale formation. Based on these results, 46 vol% oxygen enrichment is recommended for use in a typical industrial reheat furnace with additional firing rate drawback to reduce scaling and to reduce the chance of overheating the steel slab product.</div>

The purpose of this life story study was to explore the experiences of a woman high school teacher-coach and the factors that have contributed to her maintained involvement in sport leadership throughout her life. One participant took part in one timeline interview and four subsequent semi-structured interviews over several months. The resultant transcripts were analysed using a combination of narrative and thematic analysis. The findings of this study provided insight into four broad themes: passion for sport, perception of gender, personal traits, and community and belonging. This study contributes a unique, in-depth, exploration of life as a woman teacher-coach in Canada, and the facilitating factors for long term sport involvement. Future studies may explore the experiences of women volunteer coaches. / Graduate

Animals in captivity can be deprived of performing some of their natural behaviours. Using enrichments may allow them to express a larger part of species-specific behaviour repertoire and with a better frequency distribution. This study focuses on three species of the family Herpestidae which live in captivity at Bioparc Valencia (Spain). The project aims to study the effect of environmental enrichment on the behaviour of meerkats, banded mongooses and dwarf mongooses in human care. To achieve this goal two different types of enrichmentswere tested: (1) a food enrichment with several variations and (2) an olfactory enrichment with the presentation of two new odours. The food enrichment aimed to increase foraging behaviour and the olfactory enrichment aimed to test if captive animals behave differently in the presence of a predator’s odour compared to a non-predator’s odour. Results revealed that foraging can increase up to 16% implementing enrichments and that success depends on the presence and quantity of food. On the other hand, animals did not seem to behave differently in the presence of both odours. The frequencies of behaviours and time spent interacting did not differ between these olfactory enrichments. I conclude that implementing enrichment programmes may ensure better welfare for captive animals.

Includes bibliographical references / This study examines work-family enrichment among manufacturing workers within the South Africa. It further investigates whether family-friendly supervisory support and family-supportive benefits and services positively influence work-family enrichment. Self-report questionnaires were distributed by the researcher to human-resource practitioners at seven manufacturing sites. An online survey was also developed and the link to this questionnaire was disseminated to four additional organisations via e-mail. A total of 314 employees (N = 314) complete the questionnaire. The results indicate that work-family enrichment is bi-directional and that supervisory support explains significant variance in work to family enrichment. Implications for future research are also discussed.

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Dolphins at Kolmården dolphinarium were given a set of 20 floating fish hides, in order to simulate aforaging situation. The idea was to motivate the dolphins to use echolocation, in order to differentiatebetween hides which contained fish and hides that were empty. The dolphins would access the fish hidesfor 20-minute sessions five days per week, during a total period of five weeks. The results indicated thattheir interest in the fish hides was maintained over the entire study period for all individuals, and thisinterest did not correlate with age. However, older dolphins seemed more prone to solely inspect, possiblyby using echolocation aimed towards the fish hides than to physically interact with them. Neither was theirinterest affected by the dolphins’ pre-session activities. However, not all dolphins seemed interested in fishunless given to them by care takers. Thus, some dolphins were likely less motivated in solving theecholocation task. As a pod, the dolphins’ interest in this innovative enrichment was maintained over time,and the plasticity of these fish hides would suggest a range of different setups for the future. However,when analysing the potential use of echolocation cues, theoretical calculations of the target strengthdifferences between filled and empty fish hides, together with data on the physical interactions with them,suggested that the dolphins did not use sonar cues, but resorted to more or less random manipulation of thefish hides in order to eject the fish.

The purpose of this study was to examine the changing definition of color harmony and to ascertain a general state of understanding of the term. A content analysis method was applied to writings taken in a special sampling technique, selecting for analysis those works regarded as classics in the broad field of color literature.

<p>Environmental concerns and the increase in energy demand with technology and innovations lead us to develop more efficient and environmentally friendly energy sources. With that purpose, Generation IV International Forum (GIF) Charter determined six advanced nuclear reactors. This thesis focuses on one of those reactors, Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs). MSR was chosen because of its outstanding feature; molten salt coolant/fuel. The fuel/coolant in this reactor type is in its molten salt form, which enables the reactor to reach a high temperature ( ̴ 600°C) with low pressure. As high temperature enhances thermal efficiency, low pressure makes the reactor safer. Besides, low pressure enables the reactor to be more economical because there is no need to use large pumps to maintain high pressure and no need for the pressure vessel, thereby decreasing the cost of construction and maintenance. Furthermore, molten salt reactors are inherently safer than light water reactors (LWRs) due to the molten salt fuel. Materials and structures are designed to tolerate the high-temperature molten salt, which means no risk of a core meltdown accident.</p> <p>A comprehensive literature review has been made on molten salt reactors to have a broad knowledge of MSR design characteristics and the current developments in the reactor. The literature review highlighted the notable features of this reactor design; being inherently safer and economical and having high thermal efficiency. In addition, the literature review showed that there are many studies on MSRs with different designs and materials for different purposes. However, the current parametric studies on literature were mainly performed for single channels and limited materials, meaning there is limited knowledge of whole reactor core analysis. This observation led us to perform a complete MSR core analysis with various design parameters; core size, moderator and fuel/coolant materials, and core configurations (hexagonal and hexahedral lattice geometries). Considering the advantages of MSRs and the need for detailed work on this reactor type in literature, a parametric study on the reactor was performed under the thesis presented here. </p> <p>Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) 6.2 code is chosen for the criticality and the flux simulations. The single-fluid double-zone thorium-based molten salt reactor (SD-TMSR) has been selected as a base model. Single fluid means molten salt is the same as for fuel and coolant. Various molten salt compositions have been investigated to observe the effect of different elements and isotopes on criticality. The active core has two zones with the same molten salt but different fuel/coolant channel diameters for each zone. The inner zone represents where the fission reaction occurs mainly, and the outer zone serves as a blanket that enables the breeding process of thorium. To determine the criticality behavior of the reactor with moderation, simulations were performed with various inner zone fuel channel radii, from 0.25 cm to 5 cm. In comparison with the channel radius of the inner one, the outer zone fuel channel radius is fixed at 5 cm. </p> <p>Additionally, graphite and BeO moderators were examined separately to decide the material for better moderation. On the other hand, the core configuration is essential to make a more compact reactor. Therefore, hexagonal and hexahedral lattice geometries were simulated with all other cases; different fuel channel diameters, molten salts, and moderators. Before the flux distribution and the heat transfer calculations, the best combinations of the parameters which reach the criticality with the less fuel inventory have been decided and used for further calculations. Finally, four fuel/coolant salts have been chosen for the thermal neutron flux distribution simulations. Results for the flux distribution were represented with 2D and 3D color graphs, and results for different salts were compared with 2D graphs for axial and radial directions. Besides, to obtain a general idea of the reactor's power density and thermal-hydraulics characteristics, heat transfer calculations were done for the hot channel as a transition from neutronics to thermal hydraulics for future studies. With those calculations, power density, an average mass flow rate, and core inlet/outlet temperatures were determined.</p>

No description available.

<p> Biodegradation of benzene, a common groundwater contaminant, occurs readily in the presence of oxygen; however, at contaminated sites, aerobic bacteria often deplete the available oxygen, resulting in anaerobic conditions. Field and laboratory studies have shown that the anaerobic biodegradation of other aromatic hydrocarbons such as toluene occurs readily, while anaerobic benzene biodegradation has only been documented in a handful of studies. Despite these difficulties, benzene biodegradation has been shown to occur under iron-reducing, sulphate-reducing and methanogenic conditions, but not under nitrate-reducing conditions.</p> <p> The goal of this thesis research was to enrich and characterize the benzene-degrading microbial populations in microcosms and transfer cultures derived from soil from four different sites. Cultures were amended with potential exogenous electron acceptors (nitrate, sulphate, ferric iron) and the rates of biodegradation under different terminal electron accepting processes were determined. Sustained, anaerobic benzene biodegradation was obtained in transfer cultures containing less than 1% of the original soil inoculum. The rate of benzene degradation was variable, ranging from 1 μM/d to more than 75 μM/d. Growth of bacteria was linked to benzene degradation under sulphate-reducing and nitrate-reducing conditions. Growth was very slow, with doubling times of 9-30 days estimated by modelling benzene depletion curves to the Monod kinetic equation. The rate of benzene degradation was influenced most by biomass concentration and much less by the terminal electron accepting process.</p> <p> The ratio of moles of electron acceptor depleted to moles of benzene degraded was calculated and compared to the theoretically predicted ratios to confirm putative terminal electron acceptors. Anaerobic benzene degradation linked to iron reduction, sulphate reduction and methanogenesis was observed in enrichment cultures, corroborating results from previous studies. In addition, in some enrichment cultures, benzene degradation was linked to nitrate reduction. This is the first report demonstrating benzene degradation linked to nitrate reduction.</p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (MEngr)