Made available in DSpace on 2014-08-20T13:32:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_charles_huber.pdf: 1046471 bytes, checksum: a81eb3b445f28a007ba73c7b94476592 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-12-10 / The addition a chemical surfactant in the sodium hydroxide solution was evaluated in the peach peeling process. The results were compared to the traditional process, without chemical addition. It could be observed reduction from 57.14% in the sodium hydroxide consumption, 49.18% in wastewater generation of the fruit washing process and 42.81%, 16.02%, 45.45%, 24.16% and 31.82%, in the loads of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), total suspended solids (TSS) and the settleable solids (SS), respectively. The fruit-cannery wastewaters must be treated. There are several processes that can be used for the removal of materials and chemicals that can degrade the environment. An upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) of a cannery industry (fruits and vegetables) was evaluated. The system was assessed for 712 days and the efficiency of total DQO removal was evaluated. The start-up began with a mean organic loading rate (OLR) of 0.40kgDQO.m-3.d-1, and achieved a maximum OLR of 5.29kgDQO.m-3.d-1 in 307 days. The mean removal of total DQO was 86.87%. This study showed that even with the seasonality of production, the UASB reactor is a good alternative for the secondary treatment of fruit-cannery industry / Avaliou-se a adição de um surfactante químico à solução de hidróxido de sódio, utilizada no processo de descasque químico do pêssego. Os resultados obtidos foram comparados com o do processo tradicional, sem a adição desta substância. Observou-se reduções de 57,14% no consumo de hidróxido de sódio, 49,18% na geração de efluente líquido, no processo de lavagem da fruta e 42,81%, 16,02 %, 45,45%, 24,16% e 31,82%, nas cargas da demanda química de oxigênio (DQO), demanda bioquímica de oxigênio (DBO), nitrogênio total Kjeldahl (NTK), sólidos suspensos totais (SST) e dos sólidos sedimentáveis (SS), respectivamente. As águas residuárias originadas no processo de industrialização da fruta devem ser tratadas em uma estação de tratamento de efluentes. Existem diversos processos que podem ser utilizados para a remoção dos materiais e substâncias potencialmente prejudiciais ao meio ambiente. Monitorou-se a partida e a operação de um reator anaeróbio de fluxo ascendente (UASB) tratando efluentes de uma indústria de conservas de frutas e vegetais. O sistema foi monitorado por 712 dias e avaliou-se a eficiência da remoção de demanda química de oxigênio (DQO) total. O início da operação do reator foi com uma carga orgânica volumétrica (COV) aplicada de 0,40kgDQO.m-3.d-1, atingindo-se uma COV máxima de 5,29kgDQO.m-3.d-1 em 307 dias. A remoção de DQO total foi de 86,87%. Este estudo mostrou que mesmo com a sazonalidade de produção, os reatores UASB são uma boa alternativa de tratamento secundário para a indústria conserveira

Nowadays, new approaches to fabricate high-performance electrode materials are of vital importance in the renewable energy field. Here, we present a facile synthesis procedure of 3D Ni(OH)2/graphene hybrids for supercapacitors via synchronous electrochemical-assisted exfoliation and assembly of graphene on 3D Ni(OH)2 networks. With the assistance of an electric field, the electrochemically exfoliated high-quality graphene can be readily, uniformly assembled on the surfaces of 3D Ni(OH)2. When serving as electrode materials for supercapacitors, the resulting 3D Ni(OH)2/graphene composites exhibited excellent specific capacitance (263 mF cm−2 at 2 mA cm−2), remarkable rate capability and super-long cycle life (retention of 94.1% even after 10 000 continuous charge–discharge cycles), which may be attributed to their highly porous, stable 3D architecture as well as uniform, firm anchoring of ultrathin graphene on their surfaces. Therefore, our approach provides a facile strategy for the large-scale synthesis of high-quality graphene based composites towards various applications.

<div>In this thesis, we propose a model to predict the interfacial delamination in a flexible solar cell. The interface in a multilayer Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide (CIGS) flexible solar cell was studied applying the principles of fracture mechanics to a fixed-arm-peel test. </div><div>The principles of fracture mechanics ( J-integral and cohesive model) were implemented in a finite element software to compare the experimental with the numerical peeling force. A fixed-arm-peel test was used to obtain the peeling force for different peeling angles. This peel force and material properties from the CIGS solar cell were processed in several non-linear equations, so the energy required to start the delamination was obtained.The accuracy of the model was compared by fitting the experimental and numerical peeling force, which had a difference of 0.08 %. It is demonstrated that the peeling process for 90-degree could be replicated in COMSOL® software for a CIGS solar cell.</div>

Rendering shadows of transparent objects in real-time applications is difficult. The number of usable methods is limited by the available computing power. Depth Peeling and Dual Depth Peeling methods are described in this document. These allow rendering of transparent objects without the need of sorting them. Deep Shadow Maps are described as a method for rendering shadows of transparent objects. These methods were used to create an demonstration application. This application provides rendering of transparent objects and their shadows, including colored ones. The Application is build upon OpenGL and Qt framework. Evaluation of rendering speed according to various parameters is also part of this work.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the ultrastructure of the membrana limitans interna (internal limiting membrane, ILM) and to evaluate alterations to the retinal cell layers after membrane peeling with vital dyes. Twenty-five patients (25 eyes) who underwent macular hole surgery were included, whereby 12 indocyanine green (ICG)- and 13 brilliant blue G (BBG)-stained ILM were analyzed using light, transmission electron and scanning electron microscopy. Retinal cell fragments on the ILM were identified in both groups using immunohistochemistry. Comparing ICG- and BBG-stained membranes, larger cellular fragments were observed at a higher frequency in the BBG group. Thereby, the findings indicate that ICG permits an enhanced separation of the ILM from the underlying retina with less mechanical destruction. A possible explanation might be seen in the known photosensitivity of ICG, which induces a stiffening and shrinkage of the ILM but also generates retinal toxic metabolites

Nous étudions l’analyse asymptotique en relativité générale sous deux aspects: le peeling et le scattering (diffusion) conforme. Le peeling est construit pour les champs scalaires linéaire et non-linéaires et pour les champs de Dirac en espace-temps de Kerr (qui est non-stationnaire et à symétrie simplement axiale), généralisant les travaux de L. Mason et J-P. Nicolas (2009, 2012). La méthode des champs de vecteurs (estimations d’énergie géométriques) et la technique de compactification conforme sont développées. Elles nous permettent de formuler les définitions du peeling à tous ordres et d’obtenir les données initiales optimales qui assurent ces comportements. Une théorie de la diffusion conforme pour les équations de champs sans masse de spîn n/2 dans l’espace-temps de Minkowski est construite.En effectuant les compactifications conformes (complète et partielle), l’espace-temps est complété en ajoutant une frontière constituée de deux hypersurfaces isotropes représentant respectivement les points limites passés et futurs des géodésiques de type lumière. Le comportement asymptotique des champs s’obtient en résolvant le problème de Cauchy pour l’équation rééchelonnée et en considérant les traces des solutions sur ces bords. L’inversibilité des opérateurs de trace, qui associent le comportement asymptotique passé ou futur aux données initiales, s’obtient en résolvant le problème de Goursat sur le bord conforme. L’opérateur de diffusion conforme est alors obtenu par composition de l’opérateur de trace futur avec l’inverse de l’opérateur de trace passé. / This work explores two aspects of asymptotic analysis in general relativity: peeling and conformal scattering.On the one hand, the peeling is constructed for linear and nonlinear scalar fields as well as Dirac fields on Kerr spacetime, which is non-stationary and merely axially symmetric. This generalizes the work of L. Mason and J-P. Nicolas (2009, 2012). The vector field method (geometric energy estimates) and the conformal technique are developed. They allow us to formulate the definition of the peeling at all orders and to obtain the optimal space of initial data which guarantees these behaviours. On the other hand, a conformal scattering theory for the spin-n/2 zero rest-mass equations on Minkowski spacetime is constructed. Using the conformal compactifications (full and partial), the spacetime is completed with two null hypersurfaces representing respectively the past and future end points of null geodesics. The asymptotic behaviour of fields is then obtained by solving the Cauchy problem for the rescaled equation and considering the traces of the solutions on these hypersurfaces. The invertibility of the trace operators, that to the initial data associate the future or past asymptotic behaviours, is obtained by solving the Goursat problem on the conformal boundary. The conformal scattering operator is then obtained by composing the future trace operator with the inverse of the past trace operator.

Next-generation and present fusion devices such as the Joint European Torus (JET) aim for plasma operations in H-mode, a plasma regime with high confinement and low loss of energy and fuel that results from a barrier for heat and particle transport at the plasma edge, the pedestal. Due to steep gradients of the density, temperature and pressure profiles, the pedestal experiences instabilities called Edge-localized-modes (ELMs) which lead to large fluxes of heat and particles that might damage machine components. A theoretical value for the critical threshold for the pressure gradient is determined by the Peeling-Ballooning (PB) model. Although this model has been rather reliable, experiments have shown a discrepancy between the experimental pedestal pressure gradient and the critical pressure gradient determined by the model. A number of experimental gradients were significantly lower than the predicted gradients. The mechanisms responsible for this discrepancy are not fully understood yet. The present hypothesis identifies the relative shift between the positions of the temperature and density pedestals and neutral pressure as key parameters, related to input power and gas dosing among other engineering parameters. Further impact could arise from the assumption of equal ion and electron temperature and the neglecting of the plasma rotation (velocity). In order to investigate this issue more thoroughly, JET established a comprehensive database containing pedestal characteristics. As a part of this work, a software has been implemented to visualize the data since such a tool did not exist yet. The tool enables the plotting of pedestal related parameters while specific data subsets can be selected or neglected. The tool has been used to investigate the impact of ion temperature and plasma rotation on the discrepancy between the theoretical and experimental critical gradients. Hereby, many relevant parameters needed to be constrained to observe an isolated impact of ion temperature and plasma rotation. The results of this investigation support the hypothesis that mainly the relative shift affects the discrepancy between experimental and predicted pressure gradient, but that also the use of experimental ion temperature can contribute to reduce the discrepancy. / Nästa generations och nuvarande fusionsanordningar, såsom Joint European Torus (JET), syftar till plasmaoperationer i H-läge, en plasmaregim med hög inneslutning och låg förlust av energi och bränsle som är ett resultat av en barriär för värme­ och partikeltransport vid plasmakanten, piedestalen. På grund av branta gradienter i densitets-, temperatur- och tryckprofilerna, är piedestalen instabil. Instabiliteten kallas Edge-Localised-Mode (ELM) och leder till stora flöden av värme och partiklar som kan skada maskinkomponenter. En kritisk tröskel för tryckgradienten bestäms av modellen Peeling-Ballooning (PB). Även om denna modell har varit ganska tillförlitlig, har experiment visat en diskrepans mellan den experimentella piedestaltryckgradienten och den kritiska tryckgradienten som bestäms av modellen. Ett antal experimentellt uppmätta kritiska gradienter är signifikant lägre än de förväntade enligt modellen. De mekanismer som ligger bakom denna diskrepans är ännu inte helt klarlagda. Den nuvarande hypotesen identifierar skillander i pos positionen av temperature- och täthetspiedestalen, samt trycket från neutraler som nyckelparametrar, relaterade till inmatad effekt och gasdosering bland andra ingenjörparametrar. Ytterligare påverkan kan uppstå genom antagandet att joner och elektroner har samma temperatur och försummandet av plasmarotationen. För att undersöka denna fråga mer ingående upprättade JET en omfattande databas med piedestalegenskaper. Som en del av detta arbete har en programvara implementerats för att visualisera data eftersom ett sådant verktyg inte funnits tidigare. Verktyget möjliggör plottning av piedestalrelaterade parametrar medan specifika data delmängder kan väljas eller väljas bort. Verktyget har använts för att undersöka inverkan av jontemperatur och plasmarotation på diskrepansen mellan teoretiska och experimentell kritiska tryckgradienten. För denna analys behövde många relevanta parametrar begränsas för att observera en isolerad påverkan av jontemperatur och plasmarotationen. Resultaten av denna undersökning stödjer hypotesen att det relativa skiftet främst påverkar diskrepansen mellan experimentell och förutsedd tryckgradient men att även användning av experimentell jontemperatur kan bidra till att minska diskrepansen.

2D molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) gives a new inspiration for the field of nanoelectronics, photovoltaics, and sensorics. However, the most common processing technology, e.g., liquid‐phase based scalable exfoliation used for device fabrication, leads to the number of shortcomings that impede their large area production and integration. Major challenges are associated with the small size and low concentration of MoS₂ flakes, as well as insufficient control over their physical properties, e.g., internal heterogeneity of the metallic and semiconducting phases. Here it is demonstrated that large semiconducting MoS₂ sheets (with dimensions up to 50 µm) can be obtained by a facile cathodic exfoliation approach in nonaqueous electrolyte. The synthetic process avoids surface oxidation thus preserving the MoS₂ sheets with intact crystalline structure. It is further demonstrated at the proof‐of‐concept level, a solution‐processed large area (60 × 60 µm) flexible Ebola biosensor, based on a MoS₂ thin film (6 µm thickness) fabricated via restacking of the multiple flakes on the polyimide substrate. The experimental results reveal a low detection limit (in femtomolar–picomolar range) of the fabricated sensor devices. The presented exfoliation method opens up new opportunities for fabrication of large arrays of multifunctional biomedical devices based on novel 2D materials.

Voltage instability is a major concern in operation of power systems and it is well known that voltage instability and collapse have led to blackout or abnormally low voltages in a significant part of the power system. Consequently, tracking the proximity of the power system to an insecure voltage condition has become an important element of any protection and control scheme. The expected time until instability is a critical aspect. There are a few energy management systems including voltage stability analysis function in the real-time environment of control centres, these are based on assumptions (such as off-line models of the system loads) that may lead the system to an insecure operation and/or poor utilization of the resources. Voltage instability is driven by the load dynamics, and investigations have shown that load restoration due to the on-load tap changer (OLTC) action is the main cause of the voltage instability. However, the aggregate loads seen from bulk power delivery transformers are still the most uncertain power system components, due to the uncertainty of the participation of individual loads and shortcomings of the present approaches in the load modeling. In order to develop and implement a true on-line voltage stability analysis method, the on-line accurate modeling of the higher voltage (supply system) and the lower voltage level (aggregate load) based on the local measurements is required. In this research, using the changes in the load bus measured voltage and current, novel methods are developed to estimate the supply system equivalent and to identify load parameters. Random changes in the load voltage and current are processed to estimate the supply system Thevenin impedance and the composite load components are identified in a peeling process using the load bus data changes during a large disturbance in the system. The results are then used to anticipate a possible long-term voltage instability caused by the on-load tap changer operation following the disturbance. Work on the standard test system is provided to validate the proposed methods. The findings in this research are expected to provide a better understanding of the load dynamics role in the voltage stability, and improve the reliability and economy of the system operation by making it possible to decrease uncertainty in security margins and determine accurately the transfer limits.

MSCAGR / Department of Animal Science