Yes / Brackish water can be considered an important source of fresh water, via desalination, especially for arid districts. Reverse Osmosis (RO) process has been successfully used to produce fresh water from brackish water sources. However, there is still the challenge of improving the performance of multistage RO desalination plants. From the selection of the RO configurations to the selection of the appropriate type of membranes and the operating conditions at the end determines the performance of RO process in terms of recovery, salt rejection, energy consumptions and ultimately the cost of production of freshwater. Using model-based simulation, this work attempts to investigate the most suitable types of membranes for an industrial scale RO plant from a set of different membrane brands that would attain the highest-performance at lowest specific energy consumption (SEC). As a case study, we considered a multistage multi-pass medium-scale RO plant (1200 m3/day) of Arab Potash Company (APC, Jordan) which produces high quality water for the boilers after pre-treatment stage. The simulation results confirmed that employment of the Filmtec BW30LE-440 would increase water recovery by about 22% besides reducing the product salinity and SEC by about 15% and 10%, respectively compared to the existing membrane.

No / Optimisation of the drilling operations is becoming increasingly important as it can significantly reduce the oil well development cost. One of the major objectives in oil well drilling is to increase the penetration rate by selecting the optimum drilling bit based on offset wells data, and adjust the drilling factors to keep the bit in good condition during the operation. At the same time, it is important to predict the bit wear and the time to pull out the bit out of hole to prevent fishing jobs. Numerous models have been suggested in the literature for predicting the time to pull the bit out to surface rather than predict or estimate the bit wear rate. Majority of the available models are largely empirical and can be applied for limited conditions, and do not include all the drilling parameters such as the formation abrasiveness and bit hydraulic. In this paper, a new approach is presented to improve the drill bit wear estimation that consists of a combination of both Bourgoyne and Young (BY) drilling rate model and theory of empirical relation for the effects of rotary speed (RPM), and weight on bit (WOB) on drilling arte (ROP) and rate of tooth wear. In addition to the drilling parameters, the formation abrasiveness and the effect of the jet impact force of the mud have also been accounted to estimate the bit wear. The proposed model enables estimation of the rock abrasiveness, and that lead to calculate the dynamic dulling rate of the bit while drilling that used in more accurate to assess the bit tooth wear compared with the mechanical specific energy (MSE). Then the estimated dulling rate at the depth of pulling out is used to determine the dull grade of the bit. The technique is validated in five wells located in two different oil fields in Libya. All studied wells in this showed a good agreement between the actual bit tooth wear and the estimated bit tooth wear.

Yes / Polymer extrusion is an important but an energy intensive method of processing polymeric materials. The rapid increase in demand of polymeric products has forced manufactures to rethink their processing efficiencies to manufacture good quality products with low-unit-cost. Here, analyzing the operational conditions has become a key strategy to achieve both energy and thermal efficiencies simultaneously. This study aims to explore the effects of polymers' rheology on the energy consumption and melt thermal quality (ie, a thermally homogeneous melt flow in both radial and axil directions) of extruders. Six commodity grades of polymers (LDPE, LLDPE, PP, PET, PS, and PMMA) were processed at different conditions in two types of continuous screw extruders. Total power, motor power, and melt temperature profiles were analyzed in an industrial scale single-screw extruder. Moreover, the active power (AP), mass throughput, torque, and power factor were measured in a laboratory scale twin-screw extruder. The results confirmed that the specific energy consumption for both single and twin screw extruders tends to decrease with the processing speed. However, this action deteriorates the thermal stability of the melt regardless the nature of the polymer. Rheological characterization results showed that the viscosity of LDPE and PS exhibited a normal shear thinning behavior. However, PMMA presented a shear thickening behavior at moderate-to-high shear rates, indicating the possible formation of entanglements. Overall, the findings of this work confirm that the materials' rheology has an appreciable correlation with the energy consumption in polymer extrusion and also most of the findings are in agreement with the previously reported investigations. Therefore, further research should be useful for identifying possible correlations between key process parameters and hence to further understand the processing behavior for wide range of machines, polymers, and operating conditions.

Yes / Predicting the PDC bit performance during drilling operation is important for the cost effectiveness of the operation. The majority of PDC bits are assessed based on their performance that are relative to offset wells. Determination of mechanical specific energy (MSE) in real time and compare it with the known MSE for a sharp bit to assess the bit life has been utilized by several operators in the past. However, MSE still cannot be used to predict the bit performance in exploration wells and also it cannot assess the bit efficiency in the inner and outer cones. A more precise approach needs to be devised and applied to improve the prediction of bit life and the decision when to pull the bit out of the hole. Effective mechanical specific energy (EMSE) developed in this work is a new wear and performance predictive model that is to measure the cutting efficiency based on number of cutters, which contact the rock as a function of weight on bit (WOB), rotary speed (RPM), torque, and depth of cut (DOC). This model modifies the previous MSE model by incorporating such parameters and including detailed design of the bit, number of blades, cutter density, cutter size, and cutting angle. Using this approach together with the analysis of rock hardness, a level of understanding of how the drilling variables influence the bit performance in the inner and outer cone is improved, and a convenient comparison of the bit condition in the frame of the standard bit record is achieved. This work presents a new simple model to predict the PDC cutters wear using actual data from three sections drilled in three oil wells in Libya. It is found that the obtained results are in well agreement with the actual dull grading shown in the bit record.

Yes / In this work, we considered model-based simulation and optimisation of a medium scale brackish water desalination process. The mathematical model is validated using actual multistage RO plant data of Al- Hashemite University (Jordan). Using the validated model, the sensitivity of different operating parameters such as pump pressure, brackish water flow rate and seasonal water temperature (covering the whole year) on the performance indicators such as productivity, product salinity and specific energy consumption of the process is conducted. For a given feed flow rate and pump pressure, winter season produces less freshwater that in summer in line with the assumption that winter water demand is less than that in summer. With the soaring energy prices globally, any opportunity for the reduction of energy is not only desirable from the economic point of view but is an absolute necessity to meet the net zero carbon emission pledge by many nations, as globally most desalination plants use fossil fuel as the main source of energy. Therefore, the second part of this paper attempts to minimise the specific energy consumption of the RO system using model-based optimisation technique. The study resulted not only 19 % reduction in specific energy but also 4.46 % increase in productivity in a particular season of the year. For fixed product demand, this opens the opportunity for scheduling cleaning and maintenance of the RO process without having to consider full system shutdown.

The laboratory cutting specific energy is widely used to estimate the cuttability of rocks by a roadheader fitted with sharp picks. Sharp picks on the other hand become blunt due to wear in time and require replacement. Although it is known that the pick blunting affects adversely the rock cuttability, no study exists to show the relationships between the degree of pick wear and the cutting specific energy obtained by standard cutting tests. In this study, standard cutting tests were carried out on different rock types, with picks having varying degrees of blunting. The relationships between wear flats and the cutting forces, specific energies and size distribution for various rock properties such as uniaxial compressive strength, tensile strength, cone indenter number, shore hardness, schmidth hammer hardness, density and grain size were established. The mean cutting force and the cutting specific energy have been found to increase 2-3 times and 4-5 times respectively with 4 mm wear flat as compared to sharp picks as the strength and density of rocks increase. No relation exists between mineral grain size and the cutting performance. A definite relation could not be established between the wear land and the size distribution of the product. Charts have been produced to predict critical wear flats for different rock property values considering 25 MJ/m&sup3 / as the limiting specific energy above which poor cutting performance occurs. Nine prediction models have been developed by statistical analysis to estimate the laboratory cutting specific energy from various rock properties and wear rates.

In this thesis, in-situ instantaneous cutting rates of boom type, medium-weight milling type roadheaders (Mk-2B) at &Ccedil / ayirhan Coal Mine are determined by studying previous performance tests and carrying out additional underground cutting tests. Some rock properties such as uniaxial compressive strength, tensile strength, Cone Indenter hardness, Shore hardness, Schmidt hammer rebound hardness and laboratory cutting specific energies are determined by laboratory tests for the rock and coal types encountered in the drivage of roadways. The relations between the instantaneous cutting rates and the above rock characteristics and the laboratory cutting specific energies are established. The results show that instantaneous cutting rates can be best predicted using laboratory cutting specific energy which provides the highest correlation (R2 = 0.8411) as compared to other rock properties. The model developed for the medium-weight machine to predict instantaneous cutting rate is compared with those developed earlier for the light-weight and heavy-weight machines. It is determined that improvements in cutting performance with the medium-weight machines as compared to light-weight machines is achieved for the rocks requiring laboratory cutting specific energy greater than 5 MJ/m3.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / To meet a fast-growing market demand for next generation portable electronic devices with higher performance and increased device functionalities, efficient electrical energy devices with substantially higher energy, power densities and faster recharge times such as supercapacitors are needed. The overall aim of this thesis was to synthesize nanostructured sulphonated polyaniline and transition metal single, binary and ternary mixed oxide doped nanocomposites with electro-conductive properties. These nanocomposites were anchored on activated graphitic carbon and used in design of asymmetric supercapacitors. Tantalum(IV)oxide, tantalum(IV)oxide-nickel(II)oxide, tantalum(II)oxide-manganese(III)oxide, tantalum(II)oxide-nickel(II)oxide-manganese(II,III)oxide nanoparticles were synthesised using modified sol-gel methods. These were then dispersed, individually, in acidic media through sonication and incorporated in-situ into the polymeric matrix during the oxidative chemical polymerization of aniline doped with poly(4-styrene sulphonic acid). These novel polymeric nanocomposites were characterised with FTIR, UV-visible, TEM, SEM, EDS, XRD to ascertain successful polymerization, doping, morphology and entrapment of the metal oxide nanoparticles. SECM approach curves and interrogation of CV revealed that these nanocomposites are conductive and electro-active. The cells showed good supercapacitor characteristics with high specific capacitances of 170.5 Fg⁻¹ in TaO₂- PANi-PSSA, 166.1 Fg⁻¹ in TaO₂-NiO-PANi-PSSA, 248.4 Fg-1 in TaO-Mn₂O₃-PANi- PSSA and 119.6 Fg⁻¹ in TaO-NiO-Mn₃O₄-PANi-PSSA. Their corresponding energy densities were calculated as 245.5 Whg⁻¹, 179.4 Whg⁻¹, 357.7 Whg⁻¹ and 172.3 Whg⁻¹ respectively. They also gave respective power densities of 0.50 Whg⁻¹, 0.61 Whg⁻¹, 0.57 Whg⁻¹ and 0.65 Whg⁻¹ and showed good coulombic efficiencies ranging between 77.97% and 83.19%. These materials are found to have a long cycle life and therefore good electrode materials for constructing supercapacitor cells. / National Research Foundation (NRF)

Senast år 2045 ska utsläpp av växthusgaser reduceras till en nollnivå enligt Sveriges riksdag. I Sverige står bostads- och servicesektorn för 40 % av den sammanlagda energiförbrukningen. Studien baseras på en energianalys av ett flerbostadshus beläget i Ronneby, av typen trygghetsboende vilket leder till en unik boendesituation i byggnaden. Byggnaden förbrukar cirka 25 % mer energi än den beräknade samt avtalade energiförbrukningen. Syftet är att i framtida projekt kunna få energiberäkningar att stämma bättre överens med verklig specifik energiförbrukning. Studien bygger på energisimuleringar, termografering samt undersökningar av vädringsvanor. Simuleringarna som är baserade på den verkliga datan, visar en förväntad energiförbrukning i liknande storleksordning som den uppmätta förbrukningen. Skillnaden mellan resultaten i studiens olika beräkningar beror på den unika boendesituationen i byggnaden, indatan för installationer samt byggnadens klimatskal. Studien påvisar att aktuella boendesituationer i byggnader och hur byggnader nyttjas påverkar den specifika energiförbrukningen i stor grad. / After 2045, greenhouse gases should be reduced to a zero level according to the Swedish parliament. Energy use in Sweden from residential and service sector is 40 % of the country´s total energy use. The study is based on an energy analysis of a multi-family building in Ronneby. The building is a trygghetsboende, which means unique living conditions for the residens. Actual energy use in the building is about 25 % higher than projected energy use. The main purpose of the study is to make energy calculations to match better with real specific energy use. The study is based on energy simulations, thermography and interviews of residents´ airing habits. Results from the simulations based on actual data, show an expected energy use similar to the measured values. Differences between the simulations depend on the unique conditions in the building, input data for ventilation and the building envelope elements. The conclusion is that living habits of residents in buildings have a decisive role in the buildings energy use.

This report is an exploratory and comparative study of Boverkets constitution BEN1. In this study the constitution BEN1 is examined, why the constitution was established, when is it applicable and what advantages and disadvantages will come with it. Today the housing and service sector is using a major part of Europe’s final energy use, in addition to this, these sectors also represents a major part of the total carbon dioxide emissions. The EU-commission aims to reduce the housing and service sectors energy use and emissions. In 2002 the European parliament established directives and demands for buildings energy performance. These directives were changed in 2009-2010, which led to an inspection of the already existing Swedish constitution, this was found to be inadequate by the EU-commission. Sweden decided to create a new constitution in order to satisfy EU’s new directives and demands. The focus is on a normal usage of the building in a normal year in the new constitution, BEN1.  The reader should receive an idea and understanding about BEN1 and why it was established in this report. Beyond this, the study will show the changes that happen to a buildings energy performance after the constitution is applied and what advantages and disadvantages this could bring.  This study was performed by simulating the buildings energy use with the input from BEN1 in a simulation tool, IDA Indoor Climate and Energy.  The study shows that the energy performance will change but it also shows that further studies should be made in order to obtain a more carefully drawn and common conclusion. / Detta är ett examensarbete på grundnivå (kandidatexamen), 15 högskolepoäng. Examensarbetet är en utredande och jämförande studie av Boverkets senaste författningssamling BEN1. I denna studie utreds BEN1, varför det upprättades, när det ska tillämpas och vad det medför i fråga om för- och nackdelar.   Idag utgör tjänste- och bostadssektorn en stor del av Europas slutliga energianvändning och totala koldioxidutsläpp, något som EU-kommissionen har som mål att minska. Minskningen skulle ske med tillämpning av Europaparlamentets direktiv och krav gällande energideklarationer som kom år 2002. Direktivet omarbetades under 2009-2010 vilket ledde till en granskning av det befintliga svenska regelverket, EU-kommissionen fann detta bristfälligt och beslutade därför om ett överträdelseförfarande. Sverige svarade på överträdelseförfarandet med den nya författningssamlingen BEN1 som handlar om fastställande av byggnaders energianvändning vid normalt brukande och ett normalår.  I denna rapport ska läsaren få en uppfattning om och förståelse kring Boverkets författningssamling BEN1 och varför den upprättats. Utöver det ska studien påvisa förändringarna som sker hos en byggnads energiprestanda vid tillämpning av BEN1 samt upplysa läsaren om vilka för- och nackdelar tillämpningen av BEN1 kan ge. Studien har utförts genom att simulera byggnadernas energianvändning, enligt BEN1s föreskrifter och allmänna råd, i IDA Indoor Climate and Energy, ett simuleringsverktyg. Studien visar att en byggnads energiprestanda kommer att förändras men att vidare studier bör göras för att en mer noggrann och allmän slutsats ska kunna erhållas. De största förändringarna gällande energiprestandan har skett i byggnadens behov av värme och varmvattenberedning, detta efter tillämpande av de schablonvärden BEN1 erhåller. Resultaten som erhålls i denna studie är enligt BEN1 validerade värden för byggnadernas energiprestanda.