Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliography.

Loudspeakers were invented over 150 years ago, but the loudspeakers used todayare still based on the same ideas. Traditionally, good sound quality has been obtainedby using expensive materials in the loudspeakers and by allowing themto be big. However, nowadays loudspeakers are wanted in applications such asmobile phones and tablets where size and weight are very limited and there is aconstant desire to decrease production costs. Special small loudspeakers, knownas micro loudspeakers, have been developed for this purpose but due to the severerestrictions in size and manufacturing costs, the sound quality in the microloudspeakers is relatively poor. One problem is that the nonlinearities of thesystem, present in any loudspeaker, become more evident in the case of microloudspeakers and cause noticeable distortion of the sound.This master’s thesis has been performed in cooperation with Opalum (formerlyActiwave), a company specializing in using digital signal processing to improvethe sound in loudspeakers with poor acoustic properties. The objective of thethesis is to investigate ways to increase the sound quality in micro loudspeakersby using nonlinear control. Focus has been on frequencies below the resonancefrequency since the distortion is more noticeable at low frequencies. First, a nonlinearmodel of the micro loudspeaker has been obtained using system identificationstrategies. The model describes the relationship between the voltage overthe voice-coil and the diaphragm displacement. Subsequently, input-output linearisationhas been used to design a controller for the system and the effect onthe distortion has been investigated through experiments. Two different modelstructures have been tested, a physical model based on the Thiele-Small modeland a black-box model with a Hammerstein-Wiener structure. In both cases, thenonlinearities were modelled as polynomials. The controller was then extendedwith an updating algorithm, making it adaptive.The efficiency of the controllers has been proved by experiments, where distortionwas decreased by up to 60 % compared to the case without control. The effectwas largest for low frequencies, around one third of the resonance frequency,but improvements were noted up to about two thirds of the resonance frequency,depending on the loudspeaker unit. The approach using a physical model andthat using a black-box model have shown similar results. / Högtalaren uppfanns för över 150 år sedan men de högtalare som används idagbygger till stora delar på samma teknik. Högkvalitativt ljud har traditionellt uppnåttsgenom att ge högtalaren goda akustiska egenskaper genom att tillåta den attvara stor och tillverkad av dyra material. Utmaningen idag ligger i att högtalarefinns inbyggda i exempelvis mobiltelefoner, vilket innebär att de behöver görassmå, lätta och billiga att producera. För att möta dessa krav har kompromisserkrävts vilket gör att dessa små högtalare, kallade mikrohögtalare, har sämre ljudkvalitet.Ett problem är att de olinjäriteter som finns i alla högtalare blir extraframträdande i små högtalare vilket leder till distorsion och övertoner i ljudsignalen.Detta examensarbete är gjort i samarbete med Opalum (tidigare Actiwave), vilketär ett företag som specialiserar sig på att med hjälp av digital signalbehandlingförbättra ljudkvaliteten för högtalare med akustiskt dåliga egenskaper. Syftetmed examensarbetet har varit att minska distorsionen i en mikrohögtalaremed hjälp av olinjär reglering. Fokus har legat på den lägre delen av frekvensbandet,under resonansfrekvensen, eftersom det är där distorsionen är mest märkbar.Först har en olinjär modell av högtalaren tagits fram genom systemidentifiering.Modellen förklarar sambandet mellan spänningen över högtalarens talspole ochmembranets utslag. I ett nästa steg har en regulator designats utifrån modellenoch regulatorns effekt på distorsionen har utvärderats genom experiment. Två olikamodellstrukturer har undersökts, dels en fysikalisk modell baserad på Thiele-Smallmodellen och dels en svartlådemodell med Hammerstein-Wienerstruktur.I båda fallen har olinjäriteterna modellerats som polynom. Regulatorn har sedanutökats med en uppdateringsalgoritm som gör den adaptiv.Experiment har visat att regleringen bidrog till att minska distorsionen med upptill 60 % jämfört med då systemet kördes utan reglering. Effekten har varit störstför låga frekvenser, kring en tredjedel av resonsnsfrekvensen, men förbättringarhar kunnat ses upp till frekvenser kring två tredjedelar av resonansfrekvensen.Både metoden med en fysikalisk modellstruktur och med en svartlådestrukturhar visat likartade resultat.

De par leur morphologie, les cristaux creux de zéolithe permettent d’étudier les phénomènes de limitations diffusionnelles en catalyse et également d’encapsuler des particules métalliques ; les nano-réacteurs ainsi obtenus ont montré des activités catalytiques originales. Leur synthèse, qui nécessite des caractéristiques structurales particulières, a longtemps été limitée aux zéolithes de structure MFI. Le but de cette thèse était d’étudier différentes voies de synthèse pour préparer des cristaux creux de zéolithe Beta, une des zéolithes les plus utilisées dans l’industrie. Deux voies ont été suivies : l’utilisation d’un zincosilicate de même structure que la zéolithe Beta comme gabarit sacrificiel et une méthode plus classique de désilication sélective. L’encapsulation de nanoparticules de platine dans les cristaux obtenus selon la première voie a été confirmée par l’hydrogénation d’aromatiques substitués. L’’influence de la morphologie sur la diffusion de différentes molécules a été étudiée par ZLC : le temps caractéristique de diffusion a été réduit de 30 à 83 % par rapport à des cristaux conventionnels. Malgré cela, la présence d’une cavité dans les cristaux de zéolithe Beta n’a pas d’effets sur l’activité catalytique dans les réactions d’hydro-isomérisation du nC16 et du craquage du cyclohexane. La thèse discute de la présence/absence de limitations diffusionnelles / Hollow zeolite single crystals have received particular interest in catalysis. The presence of a large cavity in these model zeolites enables the study of diffusional limitation in Catalysis. The cavity also enables the encapsulation of metal nanoparticles. However, their synthesis requires specific structural characteristics and it has been limited for long to zeolites with the MFI structure. The objective of this PhD work was to investigate the synthesis of hollow Beta zeolites (*BEA framework type) and study the impact of the hollow morphology on molecular diffusion and catalysis. Two different strategies have been envisaged: a dissolution/recrystallization approach using CIT-6, a zincosilicate with the same *BEA topology and a selective desilication route. Pt nanoparticles encapsulated in hollow crystals obtained from CIT-6 showed remarkable size-selectivity in the hydrogenation of aromatics. The effect of the hollow morphology in molecular diffusion was studied using the ZLC technique; the characteristic diffusion time of the hollow morphology was reduced by 30-83% compared to the corresponding bulk zeolite. Despite that, the hollow structure had no influence on the catalytic activities for the hydroisomerization of n-C16 and for the cracking of cyclohexane. The presence/absence of diffusional limitation is discussed

Siegfried Thiele schrieb in den 1970er Jahren drei Orchesterwerke nach Vorlagen Guillaume de Machauts. In dem Beitrag wird untersucht, in welcher Weise sie sich als pädagogische bzw. popularisierende Kompositionen verstehen lassen und wie sie sich als Stücke, die in der DDR entstanden, in einer Geschichte der Machaut-Bearbeitung situieren.

Catalyst deactivation in single catalyst pellets and in an isothermal catalytic fixed bed reactor have been analytically studied. The work reported here is unlike the vast majority of previous theoretical analyses which are numerical. This thesis deals with two types of deactivation - parallel and series mechanisms in which respectively, reactant and product are directly responsible for poisoning. For the single particle studies, the principal analytical tools used are based on singular perturbation theory. Use of these techniques in the temporal domain depends crucially on the smallness of the ratio of the deactivation rate constant to that of the main reaction. Depending on the range of Thiele modulus, whether small, intermediate or large, three different techniques are used in the spatial domain. First, when the Thiele modulus is small, a lumping technique due to Frank-Kamentskii (1955) is used to replace the Laplacian operator by a suitable constant. This reduces the coupled partial differential equations to ordinary ones. Main chemical kinetics of n-th order and of Michaelis-Menten type are investigated. Second, when the Thiele modulus is very large, matched asymptotic expansions in the spatial domain are used. The analysis is based on the smallness of the inverse Thiele modulus, 1/phi2. A moving reaction zone of thickness 0(1/phi) is found to separate the dead shell from the active core of the catalyst pellet. The catalyst activity profile exhibits a sharp change within the reaction zone and the structure of this profile is found to be self-preserving during the period of its propagation. Solutions are obtained for three different geometries - planar, cylindrical and spherical. The large Thiele modulus results obtained here are found to be more accurate than the shell-model solutions of Masamune and Smith (1966) (except for a slab geometry, when they are identical). Finally, for an intermediate range of Thiele modulus, finite Sturm-Liouville integral transforms along with the concept of an effective average are successfully applied. The approach taken is novel, and although not rigorously justifiable, it leads to results of suprising accuracy. The versatility of the technique is demonstrated by application to various non-linear problems which posess exact solutions and remarkable agreement is found. The finite-cylindrical catalyst pellet is also investigated using a double-integral transform in the spatial domain and it is shown that for small Thiele modulus, the infinite cylinder and slab results are good approximations to finite length cylinders with small and large ratio, R/L, respectively. The analytical solutions reported in this thesis agree well with the known numerical results of others (Masamune and Smith, 1966; Khang and Levenspiel, 1973 and Lamba and Dudukovic, 1978). The parametric - dependence of these solutions is explicit and numerical results can be easily obtained from them by hand calculation. All the single pellet results are brought together in the final chapter and used to analyze the performance of isothermal fixed-bed reactors undergoing poisoning. Such effects as external mass transfer resistance, pellet shape and chemical kinetic type are included in the analysis, which embraces the entire range of Thiele modulus.

Siegfried Thiele schrieb in den 1970er Jahren drei Orchesterwerke nach Vorlagen Guillaume de Machauts. In dem Beitrag wird untersucht, in welcher Weise sie sich als pädagogische bzw. popularisierende Kompositionen verstehen lassen und wie sie sich als Stücke, die in der DDR entstanden, in einer Geschichte der Machaut-Bearbeitung situieren.

Small-signal moving-coil loudspeaker driver parameters are traditionally derived through electrical impedance measurement techniques. These parameters are commonly called Thiele/Small parameters, after Neville Thiele and Richard Small who are credited with developing industry-standard loudspeaker modeling techniques. However, because loudspeaker drivers are electro-mechano-acoustical transducers, it should be possible to measure their parameters in physical domains other than the electrical domain. A method of measuring loudspeaker parameters from the acoustical domain will be developed. The technique uses a plane wave tube to measure acoustical properties of a baffled driver under test. Quantities such as the transmission loss through the driver are measured for a driver placed in the tube using the two-microphone transfer-function technique. Models have been developed to curve fit the resulting data, from which small-signal loudspeaker parameters are subsequently derived. This thesis discusses the acoustical measurement theory, apparatus, and system modeling methods (via equivalent circuits). It also compares measured parameters to those derived using electrical techniques. Parameters derived from both approaches are compared with reference values to establish bias errors. Sequential measurements are also compared to reveal random errors in the derivation processes.

Ce travail sur le broyage micronique de la dolomie a permis d'étudier le comportement de deux nouveaux broyeurs: le broyeur RSK LAB 10-25 MATTER PARTNER à billes humides (broyeur à circulation forcée) et le broyeur alpine AFG 100-50 ATP (voie sèche à jets d'air). L'étude sur le broyage par voie humide a permis d'apprécier la grande efficacité de ce broyeur. Les paramètres essentiels sont la vitesse de rotation et le débit d'alimentation. Les granulométries grossières présentent une réaction de broyage du premier ordre et un broyage non linéaire en fonction du temps. Les granulométries fines ne présentent pas de reaction du premier ordre, mais un broyage linéaire en fonction du temps. Une méthode de dimensionnement, derivée de la méthode Mac Cabe et Thiele a été proposée. Les dispersants industriels jouent un rôle essentiellement rhéologique et favorisent l'action de broyage. Dans le cas de la dolomie le polyacrylate de sodium a un effet plus important que le polynapthalène sulfonate de sodium. L'étude du broyeur à jets d'air a mis en évidence le couple prépondérant: Vitesse du sélecteur-pression de broyage. Quelle que soit la nature du broyage, nous n'avons pas observé de modifications importantes quant aux propriétés physico-chimiques de la dolomie. L'obtention des poudres ultrafines relève d'un processus de division et la réactivité des produits peut être reliée totalement au développement de la surface

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor technologiae (engineering: chemical) In the faculty of engineering at the cape peninsula university of technology / Since the first uses of hollow-fiber membrane bioreactors (MBR’s) to immobilize whole cells were reported in the early 1970’s, this technology has been used in as wide ranging applications as enzyme production to bone tissue engineering. The potential of these devices in industrial applications is often diminished by the large diffusional resistances of the membranes. Currently, there are no analytical studies on the performance of the MBR which account for both convective and diffusive transport. The purpose of this study was to quantify the efficiency of a biocatalytic membrane reactor used for the production of enzymes. This was done by developing exact solutions of the concentration and velocity profiles in the different regions of the membrane bioreactor (MBR). The emphasis of this study was on the influence of radial convective flows, which have generally been neglected in previous analytical studies. The efficiency of the MBR was measured by means of the effectiveness factor. An analytical model for substrate concentration profiles in the lumen of the MBR was developed. The model was based on the solution of the Navier-Stokes equations and Darcy’s law for velocity profiles, and the convective-diffusion equation for the solute concentration profiles. The model allowed for the evaluation of the influence of both hydrodynamic and mass transfer operating parameters on the performance of the MBR. These parameters include the fraction retentate, the transmembrane pressure, the membrane hydraulic permeability, the Reynolds number, the axial and radial Peclet numbers, and the dimensions of the MBR. The significant findings on the hydrodynamic studies were on the influence of the fraction retentate. In the dead-end mode it was found that there was increased radial convective flow, and hence more solute contact with the enzymes/biofilm immobilised on the surface of the membrane. The improved solute-biofilm contact however was only limited to the entrance half of the MBR. In the closed shell mode there was uniform distribution of solute, however, radial convective flows were significantly reduced. The developed model therefore allowed for the evaluation of an optimum fraction retentate value, where both the distribution of solutes and radial convective flows could be maximised.

Thesis (PhD (Electical and Electronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Resonant frequencies and Q-factors of microwave ring resonators are predicted using interpolation- based modelling. A robust and efficient multivariate adaptive rational-multinomial combination interpolant is presented. The algorithm models multiple resonance frequencies of a microwave ring resonator simultaneously by solving an eigenmode problem. To ensure a feasible solution when using the Method of Moments, a frequency dependent scaling constant is applied to the output model. This, however, also induces a discontinuous solution space across the specific geometry and requires that the frequency dependence be addressed separately from other physical parameters. One-dimensional adaptive rational Vector Fitting is used to identify and classify resonance frequencies into modes. The geometrical parameter space then models the different mode frequencies using multivariate adaptive multinomial interpolation. The technique is illustrated and evaluated on both two- and three-dimensional input models. Statistical analysis results suggest that models are of a high accuracy even when some resonance frequencies are lost during the frequency identification procedure. A three-point rational interpolant function in the region of resonance is presented for the calculation of loaded quality factors. The technique utilises the already known interpolant coefficients of a Thiele-type continued fraction interpolant, modelling the S-parameter response of a resonator. By using only three of the interpolant coefficients at a time, the technique provides a direct fit and solution to the Q-factors without any additional computational electromagnetic effort. The modelling algorithm is tested and verified for both high- and low-Q resonators. The model is experimentally verified and comparative results to measurement predictions are shown. A disadvantage of the method is that the technique cannot be applied to noisy measurement data and that results become unreliable under low coupling conditions.