Ανάλυση των μοντέλων που περιγράφουν τη διαδικασία απορρόφησης και αποβολής αδρανών αερίων στο ανθρώπινο σώμα κατά τη διάρκεια μίας αυτόνομης κατάδυσης. / Analysis of the models that describe the procedure of absorption and expulsion of inert gases in the human body during scuba diving.

Στη διπλωματική αυτή εργασία γίνεται μελέτη της τεχνικογεωλογικής συμπεριφοράς βραχωδών σχηματισμών για την καταλληλότητά τους και την χρήση τους ως αδρανή υλικά σε έρμα σιδηροδρομικών γραμμών ταχείας κυκλοφορίας. / -

Στην πτυχιακή αυτή εργασία μελετάται η συμεριφορά των βραχωδών σχηματισμών που μπορούν να χρησιμοποιηθούν ως αδρανή υλικά για έρμα σιδηροδρομικών γραμμών ταχείας κυκλοφορίας. / -

Sérios problemas ambientais têm origem em processos de combustão incompletos. Entre os produtos indesejados está a fuligem, considerada como um dos principais fatores da mudança climática observada nos último anos. Desta forma, ferramentas para diagnóstico da emissão de material particulado se fazem necessárias. Com o advento do laser, o desenvolvimento de técnicas óticas não intrusivas teve início. Dentre elas, destaca-se a técnica denominada incandescência induzida por laser (laser induced incandescence – LII), a qual pode gerar resultados resolvidos no espaço para a fração volumétrica de fuligem. Neste contexto, este trabalho apresenta um estudo experimental sobre a produção de fuligem em duas situações: na primeira, foram estudadas chamas laminares pré-misturadas de etileno e ar aplicando-se a técnica LII. Os resultados foram calibrados a partir da fração volumétrica de fuligem média empregando a técnica de extinção de luz, obtendo-se, então, resultados quantitativos espacialmente resolvidos da fração volumétrica de fuligem. A utilização de diferentes gases no escoamento anular também foi avaliada. A segunda situação abordada envolve o estudo de chamas laminares não pré-misturadas utilizando o gás natural como combustível. O impacto da diluição de inertes em diferentes proporções sobre a fração volumétrica de fuligem em diversas alturas da chama foi estudado por meio da técnica LII. Os resultados obtidos foram comparados à outros resultados presentes na literatura e servirão como validação de futuros modelos de formação de fuligem. / Serious environmental problems are assigned to incomplete combustion processes. Among the unwanted products, soot can be related as an important factor of climate changes observed in the last years. Thus, particulate material emissions diagnostic tools are necessary. Due the laser advent, the development of non-intrusive optical techniques was possible. One of the most importante technique is the laser induced incandescence, LII, which can generate spatially and temporally resolved results of soot volume fraction. In this context, an experimental study regarding the soot production was developed in two different situations: in the first one, premixed laminar flames of ethylene and air were investigated by applying the LII technique. The results were calibrated through the average of soot volume fraction results obtained by the light extinction technique. Therefore, it was possible to obtain quantitative results of spatially resolved soot volume fraction. Different gases employment at the annular flow were also evaluated. The second situation studied involves the analysis of natural gas laminar non-premixed flames. The impact of different inert gas dilution ratio on the soot volume fraction at different heights of the flame was evaluated by the LII technique. The results were compared to other authors and will serve as validation for future soot formation models.

Sérios problemas ambientais têm origem em processos de combustão incompletos. Entre os produtos indesejados está a fuligem, considerada como um dos principais fatores da mudança climática observada nos último anos. Desta forma, ferramentas para diagnóstico da emissão de material particulado se fazem necessárias. Com o advento do laser, o desenvolvimento de técnicas óticas não intrusivas teve início. Dentre elas, destaca-se a técnica denominada incandescência induzida por laser (laser induced incandescence – LII), a qual pode gerar resultados resolvidos no espaço para a fração volumétrica de fuligem. Neste contexto, este trabalho apresenta um estudo experimental sobre a produção de fuligem em duas situações: na primeira, foram estudadas chamas laminares pré-misturadas de etileno e ar aplicando-se a técnica LII. Os resultados foram calibrados a partir da fração volumétrica de fuligem média empregando a técnica de extinção de luz, obtendo-se, então, resultados quantitativos espacialmente resolvidos da fração volumétrica de fuligem. A utilização de diferentes gases no escoamento anular também foi avaliada. A segunda situação abordada envolve o estudo de chamas laminares não pré-misturadas utilizando o gás natural como combustível. O impacto da diluição de inertes em diferentes proporções sobre a fração volumétrica de fuligem em diversas alturas da chama foi estudado por meio da técnica LII. Os resultados obtidos foram comparados à outros resultados presentes na literatura e servirão como validação de futuros modelos de formação de fuligem. / Serious environmental problems are assigned to incomplete combustion processes. Among the unwanted products, soot can be related as an important factor of climate changes observed in the last years. Thus, particulate material emissions diagnostic tools are necessary. Due the laser advent, the development of non-intrusive optical techniques was possible. One of the most importante technique is the laser induced incandescence, LII, which can generate spatially and temporally resolved results of soot volume fraction. In this context, an experimental study regarding the soot production was developed in two different situations: in the first one, premixed laminar flames of ethylene and air were investigated by applying the LII technique. The results were calibrated through the average of soot volume fraction results obtained by the light extinction technique. Therefore, it was possible to obtain quantitative results of spatially resolved soot volume fraction. Different gases employment at the annular flow were also evaluated. The second situation studied involves the analysis of natural gas laminar non-premixed flames. The impact of different inert gas dilution ratio on the soot volume fraction at different heights of the flame was evaluated by the LII technique. The results were compared to other authors and will serve as validation for future soot formation models.

Os fatores envolvidos na obstrução dos gotejadores são divididos em químicos, físicos e biológicos, os quais, dependem da qualidade da água utilizada na irrigação e dos adubos utilizados em fertirrigação. Dentre os fatores físicos estão as partículas de areia, que são classificadas como sólidas inertes, pois não sofrem agregação com outras partículas já presentes na água e nem dispersão. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a influência do tamanho e concentração de partículas de areia e da velocidade de escoamento da água nas linhas laterais na obstrução de um único modelo de gotejador do tipo cilíndrico, não regulado, com vazão nominal de 2 L h-1. Foram realizados ensaios de obstrução com areia misturada em água destilada, combinando os seguintes fatores: três faixas granulométricas de partículas de areia (53-105; 105-250 e 250-500 μm), três concentrações de areia na água destilada (100, 250 e 500 mg L-1) e três velocidades de escoamento da água no início das linhas laterais (0,13; 0,25 e 0,94 m s-1). O tempo de ensaio para cada combinação de fatores foi de 48 horas. A vazão de 32 gotejadores foi medida a cada doze minutos por meio de um sistema automatizado desenvolvido durante esta pesquisa, sendo que esse operou adequadamente durante todo o período de ensaios de obstrução. Utilizaram-se oito linhas laterais conectadas em linha de derivação com bifurcações simétricas, cuja finalidade era distribuir uniformemente a água as partículas de areia entre as linhas laterais. Em ensaios com faixa granulométrica de 105 a 250 μm, ocorreu a obstrução nas concentrações de 250 e 500 mg L-1, para as velocidades de escoamento da água no inicío das linhas laterais V2 (0,25 m s-1) e V3 (0,94 m s-1). Já na faixa granulométrica de 250 a 500 μm, ocorreu obstrução nas concentrações de 100, 250 e 500 mg L-1, para V2 e V3. A obstrução de gotejadores ocorreu de forma aleatória nas oito linhas laterais. Após obstruídos os gotejadores não desobstruíram com o passar do tempo de ensaio, portanto fenômenos de autolimpeza não foram observados durante os experimentos. / Clogging of emitters is influenced by chemical, physical and biological agents that are associated with irrigation water quality and fertilizers, in case of adoption of fertigation practices. Among the physical agents, sand particles are one of the most important clogging sources. Sand particles are considered to be inert since it does not aggregate with other particles suspended in water. The purpose of this research was to assess influence of concentration, size of sand particles, and flow velocity within laterals on sensitivity of drippers to clogging. The results are limited to a cylindrical integrated dripper of 2 L h-1 nominal flow rate that is a nonpressure compensating emitter. Experiments were undertaken using distilled water and sand particles. The following levels were evaluated: (a) three ranges of particles sizes (0.053-0.105; 0.105-0.25 and 0.25-0.5 mm); (b) three concentrations of particles (100, 250 and 500 mg L-1); and, (c) three flow velocities at the laterals inlet (0.13, 0.25 and 0.94 m s-1). Each testing level had 48 hours duration. The flow rate of 32 drippers was measured every 12 minutes by an automated system developed and successfully validated during this research. A manifold with symmetrical bifurcations was designed to assure uniform water distribution among eight parallel laterals installed on the testing bench. Within the range of particle sizes from 105 to 250 μm, clogging of emitters was observed under concentration of particles of 250 and 500 mg L-1 and under flow velocities of 0.25 and 0.94 m s-1. Within the range of particles sizes from 250 to 500 μm, clogging was observed under all concentrations and under flow velocities of 0.25 and 0.94 m s-1. Apparently, clogging of emitters of the eight laterals occurred randomly. Once clogged, emitters did not recovered its initial flow rate, therefore self-cleaning phenomena was not observed during the experiments.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(地球環境学) / 甲第22815号 / 地環博第202号 / 新制||地環||39(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院地球環境学舎地球環境学専攻 / (主査)教授 勝見 武, 教授 木村 亮, 准教授 高井 敦史 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Global Environmental Studies / Kyoto University / DFAM

Polypyridyl transition metal complexes containing ruthenium, rhodium and iridium centers are mainly studied due to their light absorbing and emitting properties. Lanthanide oxides such as europium oxide absorb light as well and exhibit strong luminescence and long lifetimes. The optical properties of these materials were significant especially in solar energy utilization schemes and optical applications. Energy transfer across a surface is important in several applications including phosphors and biomedical applications. Excited states of metal complexes with a carboxylate-containing ligand such as deeb = diethyl-2,2'-bipyridine-4,4'-dicarboxylate were studied on nanoparticle surfaces. In this work, [Rh(deeb)2Cl2](PF6), [Ir(deeb)2Cl2](PF6) and [Ir(deeb)2(dpp)](PF6)3 were synthesized using the building block approach. The metal complexes were characterized using 1H NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, electronic absorption spectroscopy and electrochemistry. The 1H NMR spectra of the complexes were consistent with those of their ruthenium analogs. Mass spectra contain fragmentation patterns of the (M-PF6)+ molecular ion for [Rh(deeb)2Cl2](PF6) and [Ir(deeb)2Cl2](PF6), and (M-3PF6)3+ molecular ions for [Ir(deeb)2(dpp)](PF6)3. The electronic absorption spectrum of [Rh(deeb)2Cl2](PF6) shows a maximum at 328 nm, which is assigned as 1π→π*transition. The electronic absorption spectrum of [Ir(deeb)2Cl2](PF6) shows maxima at 308 nm and 402 nm, which are assigned as 1π→π* and metal-to-ligand charge transfer transitions, respectively. The [Ir(deeb)2(dpp)](PF6)3 complex exhibits peaks due to 1π→π* transitions at 322 nm and 334 nm. [Rh(deeb)2Cl2](PF6) has emission maxima from the 3LF state at 680 nm and 704 nm for the solid and glassy solutions at 77 K, respectively. [Ir(deeb)2Cl2](PF6) has emission maxima from the 3MLCT state at 538 nm in acetonitrile and 567 nm in the solid state at room temperature, with lifetimes of 1.71 μs and 0.35 μs, respectively. [Ir(deeb)2Cl2](PF6) has an unusually higher quantum yield than analogous compounds. [Ir(deeb)2(dpp)](PF6)3 has emission maxima from the 3IL state at 540 nm in acetonitrile and 599 nm in the solid state at room temperature, with lifetimes of 1.23 μs and 0.14 μs, respectively. Cyclic voltammetry of [Ir(deeb)2Cl2](PF6) and [Ir(deeb)2(dpp)](PF6)3 yield reversible and quasi-reversible couples corresponding to deeb ligand and Ir3+/+reductions, respectively. Attachment of the complexes were conducted by equilibration of complex solutions in acetonitrile with europium oxide nanoparticles. Europium oxide nanoparticles, which were synthesized by gas-phase condensation, have 11-nm diameters and exhibit sharp f-based luminescence in the visible and near IR regions. EDX, TEM, IR and reflectance spectroscopy measurements indicate substantial coating through various modes of attachment of the nanoparticle surface by the metal complexes while retaining the excited state properties of the metal complexes. Surface adsorption studies indicate monolayer coverage of the nanoparticle surface by the metal complexes, consistent with limiting surface coverages of previously reported analogous systems. Eu2O3 nanoparticles modified with [Rh(deeb)2Cl2]+ exhibit minimal to no energy transfer from emission spectra, and a reduction in the lifetime at 77K could be due to the rhodium complex preventing the excitation of Eu3+. Upon attachment of the Ir complexes [Ir(deeb)2Cl2]+ and [Ir(deeb)2(dpp)]3+ on as-prepared nanoparticles, Eu3+ luminescence was observed for nanoparticles modified with iridium complexes at room temperature, which could be due to energy transfer among other possibilities. Efficiencies of 68% and 50%, and energy transfer rate constants of 1.1 x 10-5 and 1.0 x 10-5 were calculated from lifetime data for [Ir(deeb)2Cl2]+ and [Ir(deeb)2(dpp)]3+ on Eu2O3 nanoparticles, respectively. Since iridium complexes are used as components of light-emitting diodes, europium oxide nanoparticles modified with iridium complexes have potential in optical applications which make studies of these compounds interesting. / Master of Science

In the effort to reduce emission and fuel consumption in industrial gas turbines, lean premixed combustion is utilized but is susceptible to thermoacoustic instabilities. These instabilities occur due to an in-phase relationship between acoustic pressure and unsteady heat release in a combustor. Thermoacoustic instabilities have been shown to cause structural damage and limit operability of combustors. To mitigate these instabilities, a variety of active and passive methods can be employed. The addition of porous inert media (PIM) is a passive mitigation technique that has been shown to be effective at mitigating an instability. Practical industrial application of a mitigation strategy requires early-stage design considerations such as reduced order modeling, which is often used to study a systems' stability response to geometric changes and mitigation approaches. These reduced order models rely on flame transfer functions (FTF) which numerically represent the relationship between heat release and acoustic perturbations. The accurate quantification of heat release is critical in the study of these instabilities and is a necessary component to improve the reduced order model's predictive capability. Heat release quantification presents numerous challenges. Previous work resolving heat release has used optical diagnostics. For perfectly premixed, laminar flames, it has been shown there are proportional relationships between OH* or CH* chemiluminescence to heat release. This is an ideal case; in reality, practical burners produce turbulent and partially premixed flames. Due to the additional straining of the flame caused by turbulence, the heat release is no longer proportional to chemiluminescence quantities. Also, partially premixed systems have spatially varying equivalence ratios and heat release rates, meaning analysis reliant on perfectly premixed assumptions cannot be used and techniques that can handle spatial variations is needed. The objective of this thesis is to incorporate PIM effects into a reduced order model and resolve quantities vital to understand how PIM is mitigating thermoacoustic instabilities in a partially premixed, turbulent combustion environment. The initial work presented in this thesis is the development of a reduced order model for predicting mode shapes and system stability with and without PIM. This was the first time that a reduced order model was developed to study PIM effects on the thermoacoustic response. Model development used a linear FTF and can predict the system frequency and stability response. Through the frequency response, mode shapes can be constructed which show the axial variation in acoustic values, along with node and anti-node locations. Stability trends can be predicted, such as the independent effects of system parameter variation, to determine its stability response. The model was compared to canonical case studies as well as experimental data with reasonable agreement. With PIM addition, it was shown that a combustor would be under stable operation at more flow conditions than without PIM. The work also shows the stability sensitivity to different porous parameters and PIM locations within the combustor. The model has been used to aid in the design of other combustion systems developed at Virginia Tech's Advanced Propulsion and Power Laboratory. To better understand how PIM is affecting the system stability and demonstrate measurements for the improvement of a numerical FTF, experimental work to resolve the spatially varying equivalence ratio fluctuations was conducted in an atmospheric, swirl-stabilized combustor. The experimental studies worked to improve the fundamental understanding of PIM and its mitigation effects through spatially and temporally resolved equivalence ratios during a self-excited instability. The experimental combustor has an optically accessible flame region which allowed for high speed chemiluminescence to be captured during the instability. Equivalence ratio values were calculated from a relation involving OH*/CH* chemiluminescence ratio. The acoustic perturbations were studied to show how the equivalence ratio fluctuations were being generated and coupling with the acoustic waves. The fluctuation in equivalence ratio showed about 65% variation around its mean value during the period of an instability cycle. When porous media was added to the system, the fluctuation in equivalence ratio was mitigated and a reduction in peak frequency (sound pressure level) SPL of 38 dB was observed. Changes in the spatial distribution of equivalence ratio with PIM addition were shown to produce a more stable operation. Effects such as locally richer burning and changes to recirculation zones promoted more stable operation with PIM addition. Testing with forced acoustic input was also conducted to quantify the flame response. The results demonstrated that a flame in a system with PIM responds differently than without PIM, highlighting the need to develop FTF for systems with PIM. This experimental study was the first to study equivalence ratio in a turbulent, partially premixed combustor using PIM as a mitigation technique. A final experimental investigation was conducted to resolve the spatially defined heat release and its fluctuation during a thermoacoustic instability period. This was the first time that heat release had been investigated in a partially premixed, thermoacoustically unstable system, using PIM as a migration method. Heat release was quantified using equivalence ratio, strain rate, OH* intensity, and a correction factor determined from a chemical kinetic solver. The heat release analysis built upon the equivalence ratio study with additional flow field analysis using PIV. The velocity vectors showed prominent corner and central recirculation zones in the no PIM case which have been shown to be feedback mechanisms that support instability formation. With PIM addition, these flow features were reduced and decoupled from the combustor inlet reactants. The velocity results were decomposed using a spectral proper orthogonal decomposition (SPOD) method. The energy breakdown showed how PIM reduced and distributed the energy in the flow structures, creating a more stable flow field. Heat release results with velocity information demonstrated the significant coupling mechanisms in the flow field that were mitigated with the PIM addition. The no PIM case showed high heat release areas being directly influenced by the incoming flow fluctuations. The feedback mechanisms, both mean flow and acoustic, have a direct path to the incoming flow to the combustor. In the PIM case, there is significant mixing and burning taking place in locations where it is less likely that feedback can reach the incoming flow to couple to form an instability. The methodology to quantify heat release provides a framework for quantifying a non-linear FTF with PIM. The development and testing to determine a non-linear FTF with PIM are reserved for future work and discussed in the final chapter. The methodologies and modeling conducted here provided insight and understanding to answer why PIM is effective at mitigating a thermoacoustic instability and how it can be studied using a reduced order numerical tool. / Doctor of Philosophy / In the effort to reduce emission and fuel consumption in industrial gas turbines, lean premixed combustion is utilized but is susceptible to thermoacoustic instabilities. These instabilities occur due to a relationship between acoustic pressure and unsteady heat release in a combustor. Thermoacoustic instabilities have been shown to cause structural damage and limit operability of combustors. To mitigate these instabilities, a variety of active and passive methods can be employed. The addition of porous inert media (PIM) is a passive mitigation technique that has been shown to be effective at mitigating an instability. Implementation of these mitigation strategies require early-stage design considerations such as reduced order modeling, which is often used to study a systems' stability response to geometric changes and mitigation approaches. These reduced order models rely on flame transfer functions (FTF) which numerically model the flame response. The accurate quantification of heat release is critical in the study of these instabilities and is a necessary component to improve the reduced order model's predicative capability. Heat release quantification presents numerous challenges. Previous work resolving heat release has used optical diagnostics with varying levels of success. For perfectly premixed, laminar flames, it has been shown there are proportional relationships between flame light emission and heat release. This is an ideal case; in reality, practical burners produce complex turbulent flames. Due to complex turbulent flame, the heat release is no longer proportional to the flame light emission quantities. Also, partially premixed systems have spatially variant flame quantities, meaning analyses reliant on perfectly premixed assumptions cannot be used and techniques that can handle spatial variations are required. The objective of this thesis is to incorporate PIM effects into a reduced order model and resolve quantities vital to understand how PIM is mitigating thermoacoustic instabilities in a partially premixed, turbulent combustion environment. The initial work presented in this thesis is the development of a reduced order model for predicting mode shapes and system stability with and without PIM. The model uses a simple relationship to model the flame response in an acoustic framework. To improve the model and understanding of PIM mitigation, experimental data such as the local heat release rates and equivalence ratios need to be quantified. An experimental technique was utilized on an optically accessible atmospheric, swirl-stabilized combustor, to resolve the spatially variant equivalence ratio and heat release rates. From these results, better understanding of how PIM is improving the stability in a combustion environment is shown. Quantities such as velocity, acoustic pressure, equivalence ratio, and heat release are all studied and used to explain the improved stability with PIM addition. The methodologies and modeling conducted here provided insight and understanding to answer why PIM is effective at mitigating a thermoacoustic instability and how it can be studied using a reduced order numerical tool. Furthermore, the present work provides a framework for quantifying spatially varying heat release measurements, which can be used to develop FTF for use with thermoacoustic modeling approaches.

Samtidigt som världens energiproduktion till stor del baseras på förbränning av fossila bränslen behandlas enorma mängder avfall genom deponering. Ökad energiåtervinning av avfall kan bidra till att minska världens utsläpp av växthusgaser. Då avfall bör ses som en resurs är det dock viktigt med en effektiv energiåtervinning. Förbränning i fluidbäddspanna möjliggör god förbränning och hög verkningsgrad men kräver ett finfördelat avfall med lågt innehåll av inert (icke brännbart) material, så kallat RDF. Därför behöver avfallet beredas innan förbränning. En effektiv och välfungerande beredning av avfallsbränsle möjliggör resurseffektiv avfallshantering av utsorterade fraktioner samt effektiv förbränning genom hög bränslekvalitet. Mälarenergis panna 6 på kraftvärmeverket i Västerås är en avfallseldad CFB-panna med bränsleeffekt på omkring 170 MW, vilket motsvarar omkring 50 ton avfall per timme. På den tillhörande bränsleberedningen produceras avfallsbränsle, RDF, i tre beredningslinjer genom att avfallet krossas och olika typer av inert material avskiljs och bildar rejekt från anläggningen.  Magnetisk metall avskiljs med magnetavskiljare, icke-magnetisk metall avskiljs med virvelströmsavskiljare och en tungfraktion bestående av bland annat sten och glas avskiljs med vindsikt. Kvaliteten på avskiljningen är dock bristfällig vilket leder till högt innehåll av inert material i bränslet och högt innehåll av brännbart material i de avskilda fraktionerna. Dessa två problem orsakar kostnader och miljöpåverkan som skulle kunna minskas. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar avskiljningen av inert material från avfallsbränsle för förbränning i fluidbäddspanna samt ge förslag på åtgärder som kan leda till förbättrad avskiljning. Detta har undersökts genom en fältstudie på den aktuella bränsleberedningen. För att insamla kunskap om bränsleberedningsprocessen och problembilden genomfördes en kartläggning av avskiljningen. Utifrån detta identifierades faktorer som kan påverka avskiljningen. För att ytterligare undersöka vad som påverkar avskiljningsprocessen genomfördes ett antal provtagningar av avskiljningen. En anpassad metod för provtagning av kvaliteten på avskiljningen genom plockanalys togs fram. Sammanlagt genomfördes nio provtagningar under olika förutsättningar. En ny typ av vindsikt testades också för att undersöka hur en investering skulle kunna förbättra avskiljningen. Vindsikten testades utifrån två alternativ av placering. Utifrån resultatet av kartläggningen identifierades fem faktorer som tros påverka avskiljningen. Dessa faktorer är det inkommande avfallet och dess egenskaper, materialflödets storlek genom produktionslinjen, ojämnt materialflöde genom magnetavskiljaren, tillbakakastande turbulens i vindsikten och fastnande material på spjället i vindsikten. Resultatet från de genomförda provtagningarna av kvaliteten på avskiljningen bekräftar att det inkommande avfallet samt materialflödets storlek genom produktionslinjen tros ha stor påverkan på samtliga avskiljare. Då den nya typen av vindsikt testades för att placeras i beredningslinjen visades ingen utmärkande förbättring jämfört med de befintliga vindsiktarna. Då den testades som andra steget i en två-stegs vindsiktning visade däremot resultatet potential att uppnå förbättrad avskiljning. Resultatet visade att två-stegs vindsiktningen har potential att minska mängden tungfraktionsrejekt med cirka 30 – 50 %. Det inerta innehållet i utgående lättfraktion var dock 6 – 8 % vilket motsvarar en höjning av det inerta innehållet i den totala mängden RDF på cirka 0,5 procentenheter. Dock medför en två-stegs vindsiktning att mer material kan siktas ut i vindsiktarna i beredningslinjerna vilket därmed skulle kunna ge en minskning av den totala mängden inert material i RDF. Som slutsats dras att investeringen i ny vindsikt för att skapa en två-stegs vindsiktning skulle kunna ge förbättrad avskiljning. Den nya vindsikten kan med fördel efterföljas av ytterligare avskiljning eftersom mängden inert material i RDF är relativt koncentrerat där. Dock bör en vidare utredning om kostnader och besparingspotential genomföras innan investeringen kan föreslås som åtgärd. Två typer av enklare konstruktioner föreslås för att åtgärda tre av de faktorer som identifierats. En konstruktion för att jämna ut materialflödet innan magnetavskiljaren samt en konstruktion för att förändra luftflödet i vindsikten. Att minska materialflödet genom linjerna föreslås som en viktig åtgärd för att förbättra avskiljningen. Detta kan åstadkommas genom att fördela RDF-produktionen så jämnt som möjligt på produktionslinjerna samt att sprida ut produktionen jämnt över tid. Detta kräver en mer aktiv planering av produktionen samt minimering av stopptider. En viktig slutsats som har dragits är att det inkommande avfallet varierar kraftigt och har stor inverkan på avskiljningsprocessen. En åtgärd som föreslås för att ge förbättrad avskiljning är att en regelbunden kontroll och variation av processen bör införas. Detta föreslås ske genom uttag och kontroll av RDF och rejekt från beredningslinjerna tillsammans med en bedömning av det inkommande avfallet. Informationen bör sedan ligga till grund för ett beslut om hur processen ska styras för att säkerställa en stabil kvalitet på avskiljningen. / Energy recovery of waste got huge potential of decreasing the greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Combustion in fluidized bed boilers gives high resource efficiency but demands a comminuted fuel with low content of inert (non-combustible) materials, a so called refuse derived fuel (RDF).  A well-functioning separation process as part of the RDF-production allows efficient combustion as well as efficient treatment of the separated materials. The purpose of this degree project is to investigate what factors that influences on the separation of inert material from waste for combustion in a fluidized bed boiler and how the separation can be improved. This is investigated through a field study of a fuel-preparation plant in Sweden. The separation process has been examined visually and by experiments based on sampling and manual sorting of waste fractions. The results show five factors that are assumed to influence on the sorting. Three of them are suggested to be solved by simple constructions. One factor that shows to have a great impact is the input waste to the process which is varying to a large extent. A measure that is suggested to give improved separation is a recurrent check of the RDF quality and the reject quality. Combined with information about the input waste this should be basis for recurrent adjustments of the plant to achieve a more stable quality of the separation output. Another measure that is suggested is to decrease the size of the material flow through the production line. This is suggested since the size of the flow is assumed to have an important impact on the separation. The decrease can be achieved by more evenly distribute the production over time and over the production lines. This will though require a more active planning of the production and minimization of production stops. As part of the work a new wind sifter has also been tested.  The wind sifter show good potential of improving the separation if it would be installed to create a two-step wind sifting. However, since the investment of a new wind sifter implies a high investment, a study of the costs and saving potential is required before the investment can be suggested as a measure.