M.Sc. / This report details the identification of potential sites suitable for both renewable and non-renewable electricity generating technologies in South Africa. Eskom through its Integrated Electricity Planning Process (IEP) determines future-planning scenarios based on demand and supply side options, while considering expected growth in demand for electricity. Site suitability can have a significant influence on the viability of options selected through IEP ...

Thesis (M. Tech. Mechanical engineering -- Vaal University of Technology / Strict emission legislation has forced industry in general to seriously consider the negative impact it has on the environment, specifically concerning emissions from burning fossil fuel into the atmosphere. In cases where emission levels exceed the allowable limit, companies are forced to operate at lower operating conditions and these load losses can result in a significant loss of revenue. This has forced companies to improve their ash filtering capabilities by optimising electrostatic precipitation systems. One of the main factors impacting on the efficiency of such a system is the distribution of the flow across the collection plates. The design of the inlet diffuser plays a major role in the ultimate distribution of the flow through the precipitator. Porous screens are positioned in the diffuser in order to distribute the flow across the total flow area with the aim to achieve a uniform distribution of the flow. CFD is widely used in industry to simulate the flow through precipitators in order to optimise the flow distribution and thus increase the efficiency of the system. It was found however that the current methods used to simulate these screens in CFD models were not well researched and employed fixed resistance values that could not reliably compensate for changes in the resistance coefficient due to a change in the angle of incidence. This study investigates advanced numerical methods for the simulation of porous screens in applications where the angle of incidence changes continuously across the face of the screen. New methods are introduced where the resistance of the screen is calculated as a function of the changing angle of incidence. The methods currently used are also investigated and compared with results from the new methods. Extensive experimental work was required to supply empirical data for the validation of the numerical methods that are proposed. For this reason, the first part of this study focused on the design construction and commissioning of a low speed wind tunnel. Results are presented and discussed for flow profiles through wide-angle diffusers at different angles and also for a number of different screens positioned in the centre of the diffuser. This study also investigates the sensitivity of a CFD simulation code to factors such as numerical discretisation schemes, turbulence models and solution relaxation specifically for wide-angle diffusers. These factors were tested for diffusers at different angles and included tests on open diffusers and also with screens positioned inside the diffuser. It was concluded that the current methods used are not adequate to capture the true flow profiles for a range of different screen geometries. Although the proposed models did improve on the limitations of the current methods, it was found that the applicability of these models is still limited and that further research would be required to develop numerical methods that are valid for a wide range of applications. / Vaal University of Technology, The National Research Foundation (NRF) and Eskom TSI

In accordance with the main aim of the study, a widely accessible, modifiable tool was created for parties interested in maintaining the national electricity supply network and parties interested in informing policy on plug-in vehicle adoption schemes and recharging behaviour control. The Parry Tool enables the user to incorporate present limits to plug-in vehicle recharging demand scheduling as imposed by the state of present technology (no third party mechanism for monitoring and control of recharging), present human travel behaviour needs and existing patterns in electricity usage; into the investigation of the impacts of recharging demand impacts and the design of mitigation measures for deflecting (parrying) worst case scenarios. The second aim of the project was to demonstrate the application of the Parry Tool. The multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary information gathered by the Parry Tool was used to produce national demand profiles for plug-in vehicle recharging demand, calculated using socioeconomic and travel behaviour-estimated population sizes for plug-in eligible vehicles and vehicle usage patterns, which were added to existing national electricity demand for a chosen test week – this was the first scenario subsequently tested. The information gathered by the Parry Tool was then used to inform the design of two demand management methods for plug-in vehicle recharging: Recharging Regimes and weekly recharging load-shifting – these were the second and third scenarios subsequently tested. Unmitigated simultaneous recharging demand in scenario 1 (all vehicles assumed to recharge at home upon arrival home every day) severely exacerbated peak demand, raising it by 20% above the highest peak in existing demand for the year 2009 over half an hour from 58,554 MW to 70,012 MW – a challenge to the generation sector. This increased the difference between daily demand minima and maxima and made the new total demand have sharper peaks – a challenge for grid regulators. Recharging Regimes in scenario 2 split the estimated national plug-in vehicle populations into groups of different sizes that started recharging at different times of the day, with the word ‘regime’ being applied because the spread of start times changed over the course of the test week from workdays to weekend. This avoided exacerbation of the peak and reduced the difference between daily demand minima and maxima by raising minima, providing a load-levelling service. Scenario 3 embellished the Recharging Regimes with workday-to-weekend recharging load-shifting that therefore took better advantage of the often overlooked weekly pattern in existing demand (demand being higher on workdays than weekends), by allowing partial recharging of a segment of the plug-in vehicle population. Limited consideration of the impact of changing vehicle energy usage (for which distance travelled was assumed to proxy in this study) showed that the more vehicles used their batteries during the day, the better the levelling effect offered by Recharging Regimes. Greater utilisation of battery capacity each day, however, can also be assumed to lessen the potential for workday-to-weekend load levelling, because load-shifting depends upon vehicles being able to partially recharge or defer recharging to later days and still meet their travel needs plus keep a reserve State Of Charge (SOC) for emergency and other unplanned travel. Whilst altering vehicle energy usage did not change the finding that unmitigated simultaneous recharging exacerbated existing peak demand, it was noted that when limited mileage variation was considered this sharpened the profile of total demand – the rise and fall of the new peak far steeper than that of the original peak in existing demand. The Parry Tool combines a series of integrated methods, several of which are new contributions to the field that use UK data archives but may potentially be adapted by researchers looking at energy issues in other nations. It presents a novel fossil-fuel based justification for targeting road transport – acknowledging energy use of fossil fuel as the originator of many global and local problems, the importance of non-energy use of petroleum products and subsequent conflicts of interest for use, and a fossil fuel dependency based well-to-wheel assessment for UK road transport for the two energy pathways: electricity and petroleum products. It presents a method for the recalculation and ranking of top energy use/users using national energy use statistics that better highlights the importance of the electricity industry. It also presents the first publicly documented method for the direct consultation and extraction of vehicle-focused statistics from the people-focused National Travel Survey database, including a travel behaviour and household income-based assessment of plug-in vehicle eligibility, used to scale up to national estimates for battery electric and plug-in electric hybrid vehicle (BEV and PHEV) national population sizes. The work presented here is meant to allow the reader to perceive the potential benefits of using several resources in combination. It details the Parry Tool, a framework for doing so, and where necessary provides methods for data analysis to suit. It should however be noted that methods were kept as simple as possible so as to be easily followed by non-specialists and researchers entering the field from other disciplines. Methods are also predominantly data-exploratory in nature: strong conclusions therefore should not be drawn. Rather, the work here should be seen as a guideline for future work that may more rigorously study these combined topics and the impacts they may have upon plug-in vehicle ownership, usage behaviour, impacts of recharging upon the national network and the design of mitigation measures to cope with this new demand.

Estonia is the only country in the world, which is totally dependent on oil shale in its energy system. Although this fossil fuel exists in enormous quantities around the world, it has so far not been utilized on a larger scale. The reasons for this have been both economic and, in recent times, ecological. It can therefore be argued that in most cases, oil shale represents an inferior solution compared to other energy sources. This work examines why a technology utilizing oil shale has developed in Estonia and why Estonia appears not to be in a position to switch to other energy sources. In this work it is claimed that oil shale actually has been an appropriate solution to short-term concerns, despite the fact that its long-term drawbacks have been identified. These circumstances led to path dependence. Once the technology was in place, it advanced along its learning curve producing a satisfactory outcome, but not an optimal one. However, this situation has been accepted due to the extremely turbulent institutional environment Estonia has undergone in the 20th century. In Sweden, a somewhat similar (but smaller) oil shale industry was shut down in the 1960s because of poor economic performance, but also because of the competition from other energy sources. Such competition did not take place in Estonia, in part due to the specific institutional set-up of the Soviet Union. This made it possible for the Estonian oil shale industry to develop further, causing the present lock-in. Today the existing infrastructure, the knowledge-base, and the particular socio-political circumstances of Estonia effectively prevent change. Furthermore, it is argued that because there was only little oil shale-related technology developed outside Estonia, most technology had to be developed domestically. This in turn has forced the Estonian oil shale industry to make several highly inconvenient alliances in order to gain room to manoeuvre. Partially as a result of this, there is today wide-spread scepticism towards the industry, but no exit in sight in the foreseeable future. One purpose of this work is to contribute to a broader understanding why human societies have become dependent on fossil fuels and to extend our knowledge on where to search for an exit.

In the general section of this thesis are shortly characterized fossil fuel, peat bogs and peat, process of their origin, their types and importance. Another important part of this work is the extraction of peat, its trend, subsequent restoration and environmental problem of the peat extraction. The main part is the characteristic of the area Borkovická blata, mapping out mining process in the area and the present condition. Furthermore, there is shortly characterized the company Rašelina, a. s., which extracted in Borkovická blata peat for a long time and is still engaged in the extraction and processing of peat.

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Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-11-12T11:42:15Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Dênia Kássia Aureliano Dal Castel - 2018.pdf: 2109398 bytes, checksum: f4f887beb06494cc3a6f022f0a422a58 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-11-12T14:25:59Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Dênia Kássia Aureliano Dal Castel - 2018.pdf: 2109398 bytes, checksum: f4f887beb06494cc3a6f022f0a422a58 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-12T14:25:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Dênia Kássia Aureliano Dal Castel - 2018.pdf: 2109398 bytes, checksum: f4f887beb06494cc3a6f022f0a422a58 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-09-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / There are more than 100 different polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in the atmosphere, of which 16 are considered priority pollutants by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) because they have mutagenic and/or carcinogenic characteristics. The objective of this unprecedented study was to quantify these PAH in the particulate matter (PM) of Goias, and to identify its sources and health implications. The concentrations of PM in Goiania varied from 41 to 116 μg.m- ³, and in Anapolis the concentrations were higher, 97 to 165 μg.m- ³. Several times the concentrations of PM collected (monthly) in the city of Anapolis exceeded the limits recommended by CONAMA Resolution 03/90 (150 µg.m-3 ) and Goias State Decree number 8544/78 (120 µg. m -3 ), and the average concentration at this site (135 ± 10 μg.m- ³) was higher than the maximum concentration established by state legislation (120 µg.m-3 ). The sum of the concentrations of the 24 HPA analyzed in the PM samples from Goiania ranged from 5.2 to 10.0 ng.m-3 (7.0 ± 1.8 ng.m-3 ). In the city of Anapolis the sum of the concentrations of the 24 PAH was larger and more variable, 6.9 to 19.2 ng.m-3 (12.4 ± 3.8 ng.m-3 ) which may be due to the proximity between the sampler and two highways. In both sample sites statistically significant seasonal variations were not observed in PM and PAH concentrations. The most abundant HPA in these sites was Carbazole, which is originated in the burning of fossil fuel. The diagnostic ratios, ratios among PAH concentrations, confirmed that the main source of particulate matter in the region was the vehicular emission, mainly diesel vehicles. The mean values of benzo[a]pyrene equivalent index (BaPE) were 0.24 ± 0.19 ng.m-3 (n = 10) in the PM samples collected in Goiania, and 0.64 ± 0.38 ng .m-3 (n = 13) in Anapolis. For two samples collected in Anapolis the BaPE values exceeded the limit recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO - 1 ng.m-3 ). Another worrisome was the significant linear correlation between PM and PAH concentrations with some hospitalization data and deaths due to respiratory, circulatory and neoplastic diseases. Therefore, this work showed, for the first time, the concentrations of PAH in PM collected in Goias, and that these particulates can cause damage to health. New calculations will be performed to evaluate these correlations, increasing the number of samples and using programs developed for these analyzes. / Há mais de 100 diferentes hidrocarbonetos policíclicos aromáticos (HPA) na atmosfera, sendo 16 deles considerados poluentes prioritários pela agência de proteção ambiental dos Estados Unidos (USEPA), pois possuem características mutagênicas e/ou carcinogênicas. O objetivo deste estudo inédito foi quantificar estes HPA no material particulado (MP) de Goiás, e identificar suas fontes e implicações na saúde. As concentrações de MP em Goiânia variaram de 41 a 116 µg.m-3 , e em Anápolis as concentrações foram maiores, de 97 a 165 µg.m-3 . Diversas vezes as concentrações de material particulado coletado (mensalmente) na cidade de Anápolis ultrapassaram os limites preconizados pela Resolução CONAMA 03/90 (150 µg.m-3 ) e pelo Decreto Estadual de Goiás nº 8544/78 (120 µg.m-3 ), sendo a média das concentrações de MP neste sítio (135 ± 10 µg.m-3 ) maior que a concentração máxima estabelecida pela legislação estadual. A soma das concentrações dos 24 HPA analisados nas amostras de MP de Goiânia variaram de 5,2 a 10,0 ng.m-3 (7,0 ± 1,8 ng. m -3 ). Na cidade de Anápolis as somas foram maiores e mais variáveis, de 6,9 a 19,2 ng.m-3 (12,4 ± 3,8 ng.m-3 ), o que pode ser devido à proximidade entre o amostrador e duas rodovias. Em ambos os sítios amostrais não foram observadas variações sazonais estatisticamente significativas nas concentrações de MP e de HPA. O HPA mais abundante nesses sítios foi o Carbazol, este é originado na queima de combustível fóssil. As razões de diagnósticos, razões entre as concentrações de HPA, confirmaram que a principal fonte de material particulado na região foi à emissão veicular, principalmente de veículos a diesel. Os valores médios dos índices benzo[a]pireno equivalente (BaPE) foram de 0,24 ± 0,19 ng.m-3 (n = 10) nas amostras de MP coletadas em Goiânia, e 0,64 ± 0,38 ng.m-3 (n = 13) em Anápolis. Para duas amostras coletadas em Anápolis, os valores de BaPE calculados ultrapassaram o limite recomendado pela Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS - 1 ng.m-3 ). Outro dado preocupante foram as correlações lineares significativas entre as concentrações de MP e HPA com alguns dados de internações e óbitos por doenças respiratórias, circulatórias e neoplasias. Portanto, este trabalho mostrou, pela primeira vez, as concentrações de HPA no MP coletado em Goiás e que estas partículas podem causar danos à saúde. Novos cálculos serão realizados para avaliar estas correlações, aumentando o número amostras e utilizando programas desenvolvidos para estas análises.

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