The turbulent properties of flow in rivers are of fundamental importance to aquatic organisms yet are rarely quantified during routine river habitat assessment surveys or the design of restoration schemes due to their complex nature. This thesis uses a detailed review of the literature to highlight the various ways in which plants and animals modify the flow field, how this can deliver beneficial effects; and how turbulence can also generate threats to growth and survival. The thesis then presents the results from detailed field assessments of turbulence properties undertaken on low, intermediate and high gradient rivers to advance scientific understanding of the hydrodynamics of rivers and inform effective habitat assessment and restoration. A reach-scale comparison across sites reveals spatial variations in the relationships between turbulent parameters, emphasising the need for direct measurement of turbulence properties, while a geomorphic unit scale assessment suggests that variations in turbulence at the scale of individual roughness elements, and/or within the same broad groupings of geomorphic units (e.g. different types of pools) can have an important influence on hydraulic habitat. The importance of small-scale flow obstructions is further emphasised through analysis of the temporal dynamics of turbulence properties with changes in flow stage and vegetation growth. The highest magnitude temporal changes in turbulence properties were associated with individual boulders and vegetation patches respectively, indicating flow intensification around these sub-geomorphic unit scale features. Experimental research combining flow measurement with underwater videography reveals that more sophisticated turbulence parameters provide a better explanation of fish behaviour and habitat use under field conditions, further supporting direct measurement of turbulent properties where possible. The new insights into interactions between geomorphology, hydraulics and aquatic organisms generated by this work offer opportunities for refining habitat assessment and restoration design protocols to better integrate the important role of turbulence in generating suitable physical habitat for aquatic organisms.

Biodiesel is a re-emerging biofuel as an alternative to the traditional petroleum derived diesel. There are however, several factors that currently hinder the widespread uptake. Majority of the biodiesel are currently produced from edible oils thereby sparking the food versus fuel debate, the cost of feedstock is significantly high, there are problems experienced in the traditional production process and the resulting fuel is of inadequate quality. This work focused on addressing the issue of poor cold flow properties to improve the overall quality of biodiesel. The skeletal isomerisation of linear fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) into branched chain isomers, using solid acid catalysts, appears to be the most comprehensive solution in enhancing the cold flow properties of biodiesel. However, obtaining high branched chain yields, mitigation of undesired side reactions, achieving shorter reaction times, using fewer processing steps and lower operating conditions have still not been achieved to a large extent. Moreover, no studies were found to date investigating isomerisation of FAMEs as a continuous process. A trickle bed reactor (TBR) system has been identified to be an effective continuous reactor. Its key features of being a three phase system and allowing a high degree of contact between the reactant and the catalyst offering a high conversion per unit volume provides an encouraging opportunity to lower reaction times, reaction steps and conditions whilst increasing branched chain yields. This thesis explores the use of the TBR system, for the first time, to enhance the cold flow properties of biodiesel through molecular modification using zeolite beta catalyst with Si/Al ratios of 180 and 12.5. A range of reactions have been investigated including isomerisation, dewaxing (hydroisomerisation and hydrocracking) and decarboxylation on biodiesels derived from camelina, palm and coconut oils. Significant progress has been made in this research area with a 7 °C drop in MP being achieved upon the dewaxing of the coconut biodiesel at 250 °C, 1.01 bar pressure, 0.2 ml/min LF and 37.5 ml/min GF. To achieve greater drops in melting points it has been suggested to investigate mesoporous catalysts as they will ensure greater facilitated molecular access to the active sites, resulting in a higher conversion by preventing pore blockages. All in all, a series of key findings and serendipitous discoveries have brought to surface an array of new challenges as well as paving the way for a host of exciting opportunities for future research. The ability to continuously produce high quality renewable fuel offers a fascinating prospective for various industrial associates such as Argent Energy, Olleco, Neste Oil and ConocoPhillips.

Improvement of biodiesel’s cold flow properties still remains one of the major challenges for using it as an alternative fuel in diesel engines. Therefore, the main objective of the present research was to use newly developed liquid biofuels, 3-hydroxyl fatty acid esters and ethers, as an additive for improving biodiesel cold weather properties. Test results revealed that blending with 10% 3-hydroxyl fatty acid esters (C4, C6, C8 and C12) improved biodiesel volatility, cloud point, flash point and kinematic viscosity without a significant loss in LHV. However, blending biodiesel with 3-hydroxyl fatty acid esters negatively affected the oxidation stability which was then found to improve by blending with 3-hydroxyl fatty acid ethers (1,3-DMO and 1,3-DMD). The latter novel fuel substance (1,3-DMO and 1,3-DMD) exhibited much higher evaporation rate compared to biodiesel and only slightly lower than that of decane, gasoline or ethanol. Moreover, the LHV of 1,3-DMO and 1,3-DMD was found to be almost equal to that of canola biodiesel, and higher than that of methanol and ethanol. These findings suggest that 1,3-DMO and 1,3-DMD have the potential to be used as additive to improve biodiesel cold weather combustion performance or as standalone fuels. / February 2016

Starch is used in many food applications as thickeners, texturisers and fat substitutes. Native starches, although useful, have low stability to conditions such as high shear, extreme pH and high temperatures encountered during food processing. Starches are modified to make them more suitable for processing conditions. The modification of starch by the use of a naturally occurring compound (for example stearic acid) may produce desirable properties and also removes the risk of a chemical residue in the starch. Starch can be from several grain sources. Teff grain is highly underutilized and underresearched. The work conducted in this project investigates the pasting properties, gelling tendencies, clarity and flow properties (using a rheometer) of teff starch pastes treated with stearic acid, in comparison to maize starch pastes. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM) were also used to investigate the possible impact of stearic acid on the structure of the starch granules and pastes. Starch suspensions containing stearic acid (0.25% - 4%) were pasted in a Rapid Visco Analyser using a short pasting cycle of approx. 30 min (held for 5 min at 91°C). Maize starch (treatments) showed a reduced peak viscosity within the holding period, while teff starch (treatments) did not. Teff starch showed increasing viscosity without reaching a peak during the holding time. The pasting cycles were then extended (holding time extended to 2 hr) to investigate the pasting behaviour of teff starch. The extended pasting cycle resulted in a reduced first viscosity peak for maize starch with added stearic acid. Teff starch with added stearic acid showed a large increase in viscosity without the formation of the first viscosity peak. However, both starches displayed a second pasting peak. The addition of stearic acid resulted in an increase in the viscosity of the second pasting peak from about 175 Rapid Visco Units (RVU) to 228 RVU for maize starch, and from 113 RVU to 250 RVU for teff starch. The final viscosity of maize starch increased from 186 RVU to 227 RVU, while that of teff starch increased from 194 RVU to 261 RVU. The second viscosity peak was not observed with waxy maize starch (approx. 97% amylopectin). This suggests that amylose-stearic acid complexation might have been responsible for the formation of this peak. Complexation Index (CI) values increased as the concentration of stearic acid was increased. This further suggests that some interaction between amylose and stearic acid had taken place. The pastes of maize and teff starches modified with stearic acid were more opaque and showed reduced gelling compared to their non-modified counterparts. Maize and teff starches and their stearic acid-treated counterparts followed the Power-Law Model and were shear thinning (n < 1). However, teff starch pastes (control and treatment) seemed to be less shear thinning than their maize starch paste counterparts. An increase in consistency, k, after the extended pasting cycle was used (compared to the short pasting cycle) for the treated starches, reflects the increased viscosities obtained during extended pasting. XRD further suggested that amylose-lipid complexes may have been present in the starch pastes (after extended pasting) due to the occurrence of the 4.4 Å and 12 Å peaks (characteristic of V-type starches). CLSM showed that stearic acid diffused into maize starch granules but not into teff starch granules. This was probably due to the pores of the surfaces of maize starch granules which may have facilitated the diffusion process. In contrast, teff starch granules do not have pores on their surfaces. This structural difference may be attributed for the pasting differences between teff and maize starches. The effects of stearic acid on the pasting (effect on first and second peaks and final viscosity), and functional properties (reduced gelling and increased opacity of pastes) of maize and teff starches have been attributed to the formation of amylose-lipid complexes. These high viscosity and low gelling starches may be extremely useful as fat replacers. Teff starch has the added benefit of its small starch granules which may add to its ability mimic the mouthfeel of fat globules. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Food Science / unrestricted

This dissertation presents a series of laboratory experiments to study flow and mixing properties of multiphase plumes. The particle image velocimetry (PIV) and laserinduced fluorescence (LIF) techniques are developed to measure two-dimensional velocity and concentration fields of multiphase plumes. The developed measurement techniques are applied to bubble plumes in different ambient conditions. The problems and errors in the two-phase PIV application to a bubble plume case are addressed through a comparative study between the optical separation method using fluorescent particles and a new phase separation method using vector postprocessing. The study shows that the new algorithm predicts well the instantaneous and time-averaged velocity profiles and has errors comparable to those for image masking techniques. The phase separation method developed in the previous section is applied to study the mean flow characteristics of a bubble plume in quiescent and unstratified condition. The entrainment coefficients representing the mixing properties of a bubble plume are calculated to lie between 0.08 near the plume source and 0.05 in the upper region, and to depend on the non-dimensional quantity us/(B/z)1/3, where us is the bubble slip velocity, B is the initial buoyancy flux, and z is the height from the diffuser. Further, the LIF technique is investigated to measure the scalar concentration field around a bubble plume in quiescent, unstratified condition. This new application to bubble plumes accounts for light scattering by bubbles using an attenuation coef- ficient that is proportional to the local void fraction. Measured scalar concentration fields show similar trend in concentration fluctuation to turbulent plume cases. Finally, the velocity and concentration field measurements using the developed two-phase PIV and LIF methods are applied for a bubble plume in a density-stratified ambient. The turbulent flow characteristics induced by a bubble plume in a stratified ambient water are studied. The plume fluctuation frequency is measured as about 0.1 Hz and compares well to plume wandering frequency measured in unstratified plume cases.

This study covers the recycling of waste poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) bottles through melt blending with low density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP). In general, polymer blends are known to be immiscible and incompatible with poor mechanical properties. This problem is due to the low intermolecular forces between the components of the immiscible blends. In order to enhance the interaction and compatibility between these matrices, some reactive or non-reactive copolymers were used. In this work / PET was treated with silane coupling agent (SCA) (low molecular weight reactive additive) for compatilization of LDPE-PP-PET blends. LDPE-PP-PET blends were prepared in different compositions (by weight) with and without silane coupling agent at high temperatures by a single screw extrusion and injection molding. Mechanical properties of treated and non-treated blends were studied in terms of tensile strength, strain at break and impact strength. Melt flow properties of blends were investigated by melt flow index. The impact fractured surfaces and thermal behaviour of the blends were examined with Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC), respectively. Through out the studies, good adhesion between PET and LDPE-PP matrix was successfully achieved by the surface treatment of PET particles. The adhesion was also observed in SEM studies. Also the variation in mechanical properties was found to be highly dependent on the number of extrusion.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Grain Science and Industry / R. P. Kingsly Ambrose / Praveen V. Vadlani / Wheat flour processing involves gradual size reduction and size-based fractionation of milled components. The size-based separation efficiency of wheat flour particles, with minimum bran contamination, is an important flour mill operational parameter. The flour particles often behave as imperfect solids with discontinuous flow and agglomerates during the separation process due to their differences in physical and chemical characteristics. Noticeable loss in throughput has been observed during sieving of soft wheat flour compared to that of hard wheat flour due to differences in inter-particle cohesion. However, there is limited understanding on the factors that influence the inter-particulate forces. Direct and indirect methods were applied to investigate the effects of moisture content, particle size, sifter load, and chemical composition on the cohesion behavior of flours from different wheat classes. Image analysis approach was used to quantify the particle characteristics such as surface lipid content, roughness, and morphology with respect to particle size to better understand the differences between hard and soft wheat flours. Surface lipid content and roughness values showed that the soft wheat flours are more cohesive than hard wheat flours. The morphology values revealed the irregularity in flour particles, irrespective of wheat class and particle size, due to nonuniform fragmentation of endosperm particles. The chemical composition significantly contributes to the differences in cohesion and flowability of wheat flours. Based on the particle parameters, a granular bond number (GBN) model was developed to predict the dynamic flow of wheat flour. In order to further understand the wheat flour flow behavior during size-based separation, a correlation was developed using the discrete element method (DEM). The error of predictions demonstrated that this correlation can be used to estimate the sieving performance and sieve blinding phenomenon of wheat flour. The experimental results from this dissertation work and the numerical model could eventually be instrumental to improve the efficiency of size-based separation of flour from various wheat classes. In addition, the models developed in this study will contribute significantly to understand the inter-particle cohesion as influenced by chemical composition.

Information flow properties are away of specifying security properties of systems ,dating back to the work of Goguen and Meseguer in the eighties. In this framework ,a system is modeled as having high-level (or confidential)events as well as low-level (or public) events, and a typical property requires that the high-level events should not “influence ”the occurrence of low-level events. In other words, the sequence of low-level events observed from a system execution should not reveal “too much” information about the high-level events that may have taken place. For example, the trace-based “non-inference” property states that for every trace produced by the system, its projection to low-level events must also be a possible trace of the system. For a system satisfying non-inference, a low-level adversary (who knows the language generated by the system) viewing only the low-level events in any execution cannot infer any in-formation about the occurrence of high-level events in that execution. Other well-known properties include separability, generalized non-interference, non-deducibility of outputs etc. These properties are trace-based. Similarly there is another class of properties based on the structure of the transition system called bisimulation-based information flow properties, defined by Focardiand Gorrieriin1995. In our thesis we study the problem of model-checking the well-known trace-based and bisimulation-based properties for some popular classes of infinite-state system models. We first consider trace-based properties. We define some language-theoretic operations that help to characterize language-inclusion in terms of satisfaction of these properties. This gives us a reduction of the language inclusion problem for a class of system models, say F, to the model-checking problem for F, whenever F, is effectively closed under these language-theoretic operations. We apply this result to show that the model-checking problem for Petri nets, push down systems and for some properties on deterministic push down systems is undecidable. We also consider the class of visibly pushdown systems and show that their model-checking problem is undecidable in general(for some properties).Then we show that for the restricted class of visibly pushdown systems in which all the high (confidential) event are internal, the model-checking problem becomes decidable. Similarly we show that the problem of model-checking bisimulation-based properties is undecidable for Petrinets, pushdown systems and process algebras. Next we consider the problem of detecting information leakage in programs. Here the programs are modeled to have low and high inputs and low outputs. The well known definition of“ non-interference” on programs says that in no execution should the low outputs depend on the high inputs. However this definition was shown to be too strong to be used in practice, with a simple(and considered to be safe)“password-checking” program failing it.“Abstract non-interference(ANI)”and its variants were proposed in the literature to generalize or weaken non-interference. We call these definitions qualitative refinements of non-interference. We study the problem of model-checking many classes of finite-data programs(variables taking values from a bounded domain)for these refinements. We give algorithms and show that this problem is in PSPACE for while, EXPTIME for recursive and EXPSPACE for asynchronous finite-data programs. We finally study different quantitative refinements of non-interference pro-posed in the literature. We first characterize these measures in terms of pre images. These characterizations potentially help designing analysis computing over and under approximations for these measures. Then we investigate the applicability of these measures on standard cryptographic functions.

Magister Pharmaceuticae - MPharm / The overall objective of this research is to attempt to produce, by direct compression, indomethacin tablets which have good dissolution characteristics and an improved bioavailability profile, when compared to the capsule formulations currently available. In order to use the direct compression method, the solubilized form of indomethacin should have good flow properties, as well as a small bulk volume for incorporation into reasonably sized tablets.

The flow properties of two types of operating and clean coolants (A and B) were measured, both used in metalworking. Four samples of both operating liquids were sampled from the process monthly (from the beginning to the end of its use). All liquids were measured at 25 °C with an oil emulsion content of 4%. In addition, flow curves of pure cooling emulsions with concentration of coolant 2, 4, 6 and 8% were measured at 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 °C. Rheological measurement was performed at geometry of concentric cylinders. Microbial activity and content of additives (Thermogravimetry) was determined in operating liquid A. Both operating liquids exhibited non-Newtonian behavior. Viscosity increased with the shear rate (10–100 s-1) and impurity level. Although the amount of impurity was approximately the same in both liquids, viscosity varied. For pure liquids, the viscosity increased with increasing concentration and decreased with increasing temperature, except for liquid A with concentration of coolants 6 and 8%, which, depending on the temperature, exhibited both shear thinning, shear thickening and Newtonian behavior. The results shown that impurity level of operating liquids has only minor effect on viscosity and flow properties, but it had an effect on cooling effect. Impurities diluted operating liquids, partial decomposition of the oil component may occur, but in particular, microbial activity causes skin problems of staff. Recommended is to introduce a specific control test for the presence of bacteria.