Thesis (MEng) -- Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: See PDF for abstract. / AFRIKKANSE OPSOMMING: Sien PDF vir die opsomming.

Thermoacoustic engines convert heat into acoustic pressure waves with no moving parts; this inherently results in high reliability, low maintenance and low manufacturing costs. Significant increases in the performance of these devices have enabled rivalry with more mature energy conversion methods in both efficiency and power output. This optimal production of acoustic power can be ultimately used to achieve cryogenic temperatures in thermoacoustic refrigerators, or can be interfaced with reciprocating electro-acoustic power transducers to generate electricity. This thesis describes the design, fabrication and testing of a Thermoacoustic Power Converter. The system interfaces a thermoacoustic-Stirling heat engine with a pair of linear alternators to produce 100 watts of electricity from a heat input. It operates with helium at 450 psig internal pressure and a hot side temperature of 1200F. Through thermoacoustic phenomena, these conditions sustain a powerful pressure wave at a system specific 100 Hz. This pressure wave is used to drive the two opposed linear alternators in equal and opposite directions to produce a single phase AC electrical output at that same system frequency. The opposing motion of the two alternators enables a vibration-balanced system. The engine has created 110 watts of acoustic power and the complete Thermoacoustic Power Converter system has produced 70 watts of AC electricity. Compensating for some heat leaks, the converter reaches 26.3% heat to acoustic power efficiency and 16.8% heat to electric efficiency when those maximum values are achieved. This conversion of heat to acoustic power is 40% of the Carnot thermodynamic efficiency limit.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the dropwise condensation on a cylindrical surface including the sweeping effect theoretically. For this purpose, first the problem of the equilibrium shape and departure size of drops on the outer surface of a cylinder was formulated. The equations of the surface of the drop were obtained by minimizing (for a given volume) the total energy of the drop which consists of surface and gravitational energy by using the techniques of variational calculus. The departure size of the droplets on a surface at varies angle of inclinations were also determined experimentally. Drop departure size is observed to decrease up to as the surface inclination was decreased up to 90 degree and then it increased up to 180 degree. Mean base heat flux, drop departure rate, sweeping frequency, fraction of covered area, sweeping period, local heat flux and average heat flux for the dropwise condensation on a cylindrical surface including the sweeping effect is formulated and the resulting integral equation was solved by using the finite difference techniques. The results show that drop departure rate and sweeping frequency was strongly affected by the angular position and reached asymptotic value at large angular positions. Comparing the results of the average heat flux values at different diameters show that at larger diameters the average heat flux becomes larger. This is due to the increased sweeping effect at larger diameters.

A ratchet is an asymmetric, non-equilibrated system that can produce a directed current of particles without the need for macroscopic potential gradients. In rocked quantum electron ratchets, tunnelling and wave-reflection can induce reversals in the direction of the net current as a function of system parameters. An asymmetric quantum point contact in a GaAs/GaAlAs heterostructure has been studied experimentally as a realisation of a quantum electron ratchet. A Landauer model predicts reversals in the direction of the net current as a function of temperature, amplitude of the rocking voltage, and Fermi energy. Artifacts such as circuit-induced asymmetry, also known as self-gating, were carefully removed from the experimental data, which showed net current and net differential conductance reversals, as predicted by the model. The model also predicts the existence of a heat current where the net electron current changes sign, as equal numbers of high and low energy electrons are pumped in opposite directions. An idealised quantum electron ratchet is studied analytically as an energy selective electron heat engine and refrigerator. The hypothetical device considered consists of two electron reservoirs with different temperatures and Fermi energies. The reservoirs are linked via a resonant state in a quantum dot, which functions as an idealised energy filter for electrons. The efficiency of the device approaches the Carnot value when the energy transmitted by the filter is tuned to that where the Fermi distributions in the reservoirs are equal. The maximum power regime, where the filter transmits all electrons that contribute positively to the power, is also examined. Analytic expressions are obtained for the power and efficiency of the idealised device as both a heat engine and as a refrigerator in this regime of operation. The expressions depend on the ratio of the voltage to the difference in temperature of the reservoirs, and on the ratio of the reservoir temperatures. The energy selective electron heat engine is shown to be non-endoreversible, and to operate in an analogous manner to the three-level amplifier, a laser based quantum heat engine. Implications for improving the efficiency of thermionic refrigerators and power generators are discussed.

In this thesis study, a least-squares finite element method (LSFEM) based conjugate heat transfer solver was developed. In the mentioned solver, fluid flow and heat transfer computations were performed separately. This means that the calculated velocity values in the flow calculation part were exported to the heat transfer part to be used in the convective part of the energy equation. Incompressible Navier-Stokes equations were used in the flow simulations. In conjugate heat transfer computations, it is required to calculate the heat transfer in both flow field and solid region. In this study, conjugate behavior was accomplished in a fully coupled manner, i.e., energy equation for fluid and solid regions was solved simultaneously and no boundary conditions were defined on the fluid-solid interface. To assure that the developed solver works properly, lid driven cavity flow, backward facing step flow and thermally driven cavity flow problems were simulated in three dimensions and the findings compared well with the available data from the literature. Couette flow and thermally driven cavity flow with conjugate heat transfer in two dimensions were modeled to further validate the solver. Finally, a microchannel conjugate heat transfer problem was simulated. In the flow solution part of the microchannel problem, conservation of mass was not achieved. This problem was expected since the LSFEM has problems related to mass conservation especially in high aspect ratio channels. In order to overcome the mentioned problem, weight of continuity equation was increased by multiplying it with a constant. Weighting worked for the microchannel problem and the mass conservation issue was resolved. Obtained results for microchannel heat transfer problem were in good agreement in general with the previous experimental and numerical works. In the first computations with the solver / quadrilateral and triangular elements for two dimensional problems, hexagonal and tetrahedron elements for three dimensional problems were tried. However, since only the quadrilateral and hexagonal elements gave satisfactory results, they were used in all the above mentioned simulations.

L'objectif de cette thèse est l'étude des échanges et de la dissipation d'énergie aux échelles mésoscopiques, à travers l'étude de nanotubes, de nanofils ou de pointes taillées par exemple. Notre intérêt pour la dissipation d'énergie nous portera vers les NEMS (Nano Electro Mechanical Systems) et leur facteur de qualité. Pour étudier les échanges d'énergie nous nous intéresserons à la thermodynamique aux petites échelles et notamment aux machines thermiques qui exploitent ces échanges d'énergie pour extraire un travail utile (mécanique, électrique...). Ce travail se concentre dans un premier temps sur la dissipation d'énergie et plus particulièrement sur le facteur de qualité de nanotubes de carbone mono-paroi à température ambiante et sur la façon de l'augmenter par application d'une tension électrique. Cette tension électrique induit un fort tirage sur le nanotube et la modification concomitante de la forme du mode résonant modifie la dissipation d’énergie. Ce phénomène, couplé à une modification des propriétés de l’ancrage (effet d’ancrage mou ajustable en tension) résultant également de la tension, diminue drastiquement la dissipation d’énergie et on atteint alors des facteurs de qualité record. Dans un second temps, nous nous intéressons aux machines thermiques : une machine stochastique cyclique et une machine électrique continue. La machine thermique stochastique est réalisée avec un nanofil vibrant sous ultra haut vide. La thermodynamique stochastique permet de redéfinir le travail et la chaleur pour un objet qui stocke des quantités d’énergies similaires aux fluctuations du bain thermique avec lequel il est en contact. Le premier objectif est de réaliser un cycle de Carnot permettant d'atteindre le rendement du même nom, inaccessible pour les machines macroscopiques. Pour la machine thermique continue nous étudions numériquement un prototype de machine thermique électrique basé sur des effets de résonance d'effet tunnel qui pourrait être une amélioration du principe des machines thermoïoniques. L’utilisation de l’effet tunnel permet à priori de réduire la température de la source chaude de la machine puisque l’on a plus besoin de vaincre le travail de sortie des deux électrodes. Les résonances dans l’effet tunnel, obtenues par confinement dans une dimension, permettent un filtrage en énergie des électrons passant d’un réservoir thermique à l’autre, ce qui a pour effet d’améliorer le rendement de la machine / The purpose of this work is the study of energy transfer and dissipation at the mesoscopic scale, through the study of nanotubes, nanowires, or sharp tips for example. Our interest for energy dissipation will lead us to dive into Nano Electro Mechanical Systems (NEMS) and their quality factor. Energy transfers will be studied with small scale thermodynamics and stochastic heat engines which use those energy transfers to produce useful work (mechanical, electrical…). This work is focused in a first time on the energy dissipation and particularly on the quality factor of single wall carbon nanotubes at room temperature and the ways to improve it by applying an electrical voltage. This voltage induces a strong pulling on the nanotube and the resulting vibrating shape modification changes the dissipation. This phenomenon, coupled with a clamping modification (tunable soft clamping) also stemming from the voltage, drastically reduces the dissipation. We can then achieve record high quality factors. In a second time we take interest in heat engines: a stochastic cyclic heat engine and a continuous electrical heat engine. The stochastic heat engine is realized with a vibrating nanowire under high vacuum. The stochastic thermodynamics allow us to redefine work and heat for an object that stores energies of the order of magnitude of thermal fluctuations in the thermal bath it interacts with. The aim is to build a Carnot cycle and achieve the corresponding yield, out of reach for macroscopic engines. Concerning the continuous heat engine we study numerically a prototype for an electrical heat engine based on resonant tunneling which could be an improvement of the thermionic heat engines. Allowing the thermal reservoirs to exchange electrons through tunneling allows in principle to reduce the temperature of the hot source because overcoming the work function of both electrodes is not necessary anymore. The resonances in the tunnel effect, obtained through confinement of one dimension, is useful for filtering the energy of the electrons tunneling from one reservoir to another, thus increasing the yield of the heat engine

Cette thèse analyse certains aspects de la dynamique hors équilibre de systèmes quantiques unidimensionnels lorsqu’ils sont soumis à des champs externes dépendant du temps. Nous considérons plus particulièrement le cas des forçages périodiques, et le cas d’une variation temporelle lente d’un paramètre de l’Hamiltonien qui permet de traverser une transition de phase quantique. La première partie contient une présentation des notions, des modèles et des outils nécessaires pour comprendre la suite de la thèse, avec notamment des rappels sur les modèles quantiques critiques (en particulier sur les chaines de spin et sur le modèle de Bose-Hubbard), le mécanisme de Kibble-Zurek, et la théorie de Floquet. Ensuite, nous étudions la dynamique hors équilibre des gaz de Tonks-Girardeau dans un potentiel harmonique dépendant du temps par différentes techniques : développements perturbatifs, diagonalisation numérique exacte et solutions analytiques exactes basées sur la théorie des invariants dynamiques d’Ermakov-Lewis. Enfin, nous analysons la dynamique hors équilibre des systèmes quantiques ouverts markoviens soumis à des variations périodiques des paramètres du système et de l’environnement. Nous formulons une théorie de Floquet afin d’obtenir des solutions exactes des équations de Lindblad périodiques. Ce formalisme de Lindblad-Floquet est utilisé pour obtenir une caractérisation exacte du fonctionnement en temps fini des machines thermiques quantiques. / This thesis analyzes some aspects regarding the dynamics of one-dimensional quantum systems which are driven out-of-equilibrium by the presence of time- dependent external fields. Among the possible kinds of driven systems, our focus is dedicated to the slow variation of a Hamiltonian’s parameter across a quantum phase transition and to the case of a time-periodic forcing. To begin with, we prepare the background and the tools needed in the following. This includes a brief introduction to quantum critical models (in particular to the xy spin chain and to the Bose-Hubbard model), the Kibble-Zurek mechanism and Floquet theory. Next, we consider the non-equilibrium dynamics of Tonks-Girardeau gases in time-dependent harmonic trap potentials. The analysis is made with different techniques: perturbative expansions, numerical exact diagonalization and exact methods based on the theory of Ermakov-Lewis dynamical invariants. The last part of the thesis deals instead with the non-equilibrium dynamics of markovian open quantum systems subject to time-periodic perturbations of the system parameters and of the environment. This has led to an exact formulation of Floquet theory for a Lindblad dynamics. Moreover, within the Lindblad-Floquet framework it is possible to have an exact characterization ofthe finite-time operation of quantum heat-engines.

Mankind has come a long way since the invention of wheel to accessing information in the quintillionth of a second. At the heart of every invention ever made, there has been only one objective, to ease the way of living. The progeny of this philosophy automatically came to be known as technology. It was technology that led to the design of the wheel for fast human transportation and the same motivation let him design more sophisticated machines. In mankind’s journey to improve technology, it began to learn efficient or correct ways to utilize and understand resources around it, creating a whole new philosophy called science. Ingeniously, it was science that let humans understand what they were made of: matter, to discovering what matter itself was composed of: atoms and what puts these together: forces. Science and technology has been of tremendous comfort for mankind and has helped it evolve throughout history. However, it is not always that science and technology go hand in hand. Technology has always helped man design devices and instruments which often bring physical comfort. Science on the other hand has made sure that loss in manual labor is compensated by increased inquisitiveness. There were times when technology was more developed than science. This was the time when machines were taking mankind by fire, resulting in the first and second industrial revolutions. During that same time, science was develop-ing slowly by increasing human curiosity to learn the way nature functioned at finer details. This led to the discovery of the electron by Joseph John Thomson, who proved the electron to be a negatively charged particle. Consequently, he was awarded the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on electricity conduction in gases. Later, his son, George Paget Thomson, counter-proved that electrons are actually waves. He was also awarded the 1937 Nobel Prize in Physics, along with Clinton Joseph Davisson for their discovery of electron diffraction caused by crystals. Despite the ambiguity, mankind today accepts electrons to have dual properties. It is both a wave and a particle. This duality is not limited to electrons but is applicable to all matter, as proposed by Louis de Broglie and is one of the fundamental principles in science. With the help of well-developed technology, mankind can now design machines that allow controlled flow of electrons establishing the world of electronics, allowing faster human communication. The study of electronic properties and its usage in designing efficient devices is what electronics is all about. Electrons are the protagonist of mankind today. The presence of electrons is unanimously accepted by everyone. All physical and chemical processes are a result of electrons getting transported. Electron transfer processes are ubiquitous in nature, be it in photosynthesis or energy production in mitochondria . It is the fundamental process in all chemical reactions and all physical processes related to electricity. Every piece of hi-tech gadget practically uses the electron, and the whole of humanity is being serviced by it. In fact, a life without utilizing the electrons is abysmally mundane. Electronics has evolved from designing the first millimeter sized point contact transistor to silicon chip processors that contain billions of nanosized transistors. Studying electron transport has also led to the discovery of light emission during conduction popularly known as LED, an abbreviation for light emitting diode. Heating up of devices during electron transport forced mankind to study heat transport and design materials that have highly efficient electron transfer processes. Electron transfer is also the basic principle behind the Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and the Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) which replaced the conventional idea of using light (photons) as a source to observe matter at the nanolevel. However, mankind is still in the process of developing a technology which exploits both properties of the electron simultaneously. Today, science and technology work together to overcome this barrier. Indeed, science and technology today have come as far as controlling electron transport up to a single atomic level where quantum effects (discretization and interference of states that make up the system) are very pronounced. This branch can be referred to as quantum electronics or quantronics. It is one of the possible alternatives to conventional silicon based electronics, and is made of three separate fields. The first one that exploits the quantum nature of electron transport in nanoscopic systems, is usually called molecular electronics or moletronics. The second involves ex-ploiting the spin of the electron and is termed as spintronics. The third is the most challenging where neither science nor technology has been able to fully grasp the characteristics, i.e utilizing the heat quanta in designing thermal de-vices at the single atomic level. In general, for ultimate exploitation of both the wave and particle characteristics of the electron, a proper comprehension of the quantum effects during electron transport is necessary to design a quantronic device. Also, in any quantronic device, apart from quantum effects, fluctuations in temperature cause changes in the flow of electrons. Since electron flow is a random process, fluctuations need to be analyzed from a statistical point of view. Moreover, to address issues related to efficiency and power of these quantronic devices, a proper understanding of the thermodynamic aspects is required. The aim of the work in the thesis is to theoretically analyze the fluctuations, quantum effects and thermodynamics, that in principle, affect the basic physics and chemistry during electron and heat transport in a specific class of out of equilibrium quantum systems. This class of quantum systems are prototypes for designing quantronic devices, where both wave and particle nature of the electrons are pronounced. These are called molecular junctions or quantum junctions. It will in turn help the field of quantronics in the long run. However, in this thesis, it is the science that I address and not the technological aspects.

This work focuses on the cooling of diesel engines. Facing heavy constraints such<p>as emissions control or fossil energy management, political leaders are forcing car<p>manufacturers to drastically reduce the fuel consumption of passenger vehicles. For<p>instance, in Europe, this fuel consumption has to reach 120 g CO2 km by 2012, namely 25 % reduction from today's level.<p>Such objectives can only be reached with an optimization of all engines components<p>from injection strategies to power steering. A classical energy balance of an internal<p>combustion engine shows four main losses: enthalpy losses at the exhaust, heat<p>transfer to the cylinder walls, friction losses and external devices driving. An<p>optimized cooling will improve three of them: the heat transfer losses by increasing<p>the cylinder walls temperature, the friction losses by reducing the oil viscosity and<p>the coolant pump power consumption.<p>A model is first built to simulate the engine thermal behavior from the combustion<p>itself to the temperatures of the different engine components. It is composed by two<p>models with different time scales. First, a thermodynamic model computes the in cylinder<p>pressure and temperature as well as the heat flows for each crank angle.<p>These heat flows are the main input parameters for the second model: the nodal<p>one. This last model computes all the engine components temperatures according<p>to the nodal model theory. The cylinder walls temperature is then given back to<p>the thermodynamic model to compute the heat flows.<p>The models are then validated through test bench measurements giving excellent<p>results for both Mean Effective Pressure and fluids (coolant and oil) temperatures.<p>The used engine is a 1.9l displacement turbocharged piston engine equipped with<p>an in-cylinder pressure sensor for the thermodynamic model validation and thermocouples<p>for the nodal model validation.<p>The model is then used to optimize the coolant mass flow rate as a function of<p>the engine temperature level. Simulations have been done for both stationary<p>conditions with effciency improvement up to 7% for specific points (low load, high<p>engine speed) and transient ones with a heating time improvement of about 2000s.<p>This gains are then validated on the test bench showing again good agreement. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished