Thesis (M. S.)--Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010. / Committee Co-Chair: Haynes, Comas; Committee Co-Chair: Wepfer, William; Committee Member: Jeter, Sheldon. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

Thesis--University of Florida. / Description based on print version record. Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 226-233).

Thesis (Doctoral)--Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, 2006. / Bibliography: p. [143]-158.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon Graduate Center, 1982.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon Graduate Center, 1985.

Texte remanié de: Doctoral diss.--McMaster university, 1990. / Bibliogr. p. 125-133. Index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-138). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Diss.--Evangelisch-theologische Fakultät--Universität Bern, 1990.

Pavements are one of the most important components of modern civil infrastructure systems. Being constantly exposed to weather conditions, pavements may be subject to heating and cooling cycles, which vary as a function of the location and are proven to reduce the lifespan and reliability of our transport infrastructure. The most extreme effects of weather are generally seen in the form of overheating of the paving materials or freezing of the pavement surface. In this Thesis, natural convection of air is considered as a means to harvest heat from pavements during hot periods and to provide heat to them when the weather is cold. In the research presented, a buoyancy-driven air flow is allowed through metal pipes installed under an asphalt wearing course. The analysis of the phenomena at work is performed from an experimental, computational, and theoretical point of view. The main contribution to research provided by this Thesis it that the experiments performed show that a convection-powered air flow can be effectively used for the reduction or increase of pavement temperatures up to about �5°C. Moreover, the effects of variations in the design of energy harvesting pavements are quantified and discussed, proving that the installation of all pipes in a single row under the wearing course of a pavement is the overall best solution for the implementation of this technology. Finally, CFD simulations suggest that the air pores that are naturally present in asphalt mixtures are not suitable to allow the air flow required for convection-powered energy harvesting, due to both fluid-dynamic and practical reasons.

This research investigates the potential for employing solar energy as a sustainable power generation source in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The work maps the availability of solar energy throughout the country, and investigates the feasibility of implementing the technology at two case study locations. These are the existing power generation grid sites of Wadi Aldawasir (located 20° 23′ 22.00″ N 45° 12′ 32.00″ E), and Shuaibah (located 20° 37′ 22.84″ N 39° 33′ 44.02″ E). The first case study site, Wadi Aldawasir, covers an area of 48,900 m2, where parabolic trough solar thermal technology is proposed for power generation. The second case study site, Shuaibah power plant is one of the largest desalination and fossil fuel plants in the world with a 1,030,000 m3/ day capacity. Both case studies were assessed in terms of site specifications with selection based on Direct Normal Irradiation (DNI). A feasibility study examining Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) potential was conducted for both locations, with analysis of weather data, particularly monthly and annual, global horizontal and beam normal irradiation data. From these data, a reasonable estimate of CSP potential, and viability of the technology was determined. Simulation was then performed using Solar Advisor Model (SAM) and Renewable Energy Technology Screen (RETScreen) software, taking into account the location weather data, (DNI, dry-bulb and dew-point temperatures, relative humidity, barometric pressure, and wind speed), technical specification, (solar field, Solar Multiple (SM) Solar collector Assemblies (SCAs), power cycle and thermal storage) and economic parameters (energy unit cost, maintenance, etc.). Simulation evaluated annual energy performance (solar radiation resource of the solar field, electrical energy delivered by solar thermal plant, system losses, required solar field area), levelised cost of unit of power generated, CO2 emissions savings, and other financial feasibility indicators. The work shows that the energy yield of the new solar power plants using proposed CSP technology in both case studies is feasible.