Output of this diploma work is an overall project of the Cranked Chain Conveyer, arising from specification of the assignment. Project is divided into several phases, whereas first of them is composed of calculations and finding of necessary driving unit. First phase is followed by second phase, where I - regarding the engine power - dimension individual structural parts like loop chain, conveyer drive unit, stressing etc. In last phase I deal with drawing documentation of designed parts of the conveyer.

HAWE Hydraulic SE, Munich, engineers and manufactures hydraulic drives (CSP-drives) for parabolic trough plants consisting of a compact power pack, directional and control valves, over-center valves, two cylinders and the fittings/hoses for connecting these components. Optional, but this is depending on the system and the control philosophy, also a hydralic accumulator. An optimized hydraulic drive for a parabolic trough field makes the power plant operator profit from savings at components, higher system efficiency, lower operational energy supply needs, less time spent on commissioning and first start-up, lower maintenance effort and increased life span of the drive and finally also savings on peripheral and safety devices. Many of shown proposals are even combining two or more of above mentioned advantages.

Hospitals are one of the most energy consuming centers in which thermal energy is utilized for different medical equipments and others. Sterilizers, laundry and kitchens are the main thermal energy utilizing equipments. In addition, large amount of hot water is utilized mainly for showering and dish washing. The main sources of this thermal energy are fossil fuel for oil fired boilers and solar irradiation for solar thermal steam generation system. This project aims in analyzing the Technical performance of parabolic trough steam generation and oil fired boiler steam generation system for Black lion general specialized hospital which is located in Addis Ababa and to perform economic assessment on both systems so as to make comparison test. The result from technical feasibility study shows the parabolic trough can meet the steam demand of the hospital at the required time, more than 8hour per day, as the hospital currently require steam for different activities during the day time for 8hour per day. During cloudy day the conventional back up steam generation system will meet the daily demand for few days of the year. The economic assessment result shows that although the initial investment of concentrated solar steam generation is high as compared to convention steam generation system, the reverse is observed in operation and maintenance cost, resulting solar thermal steam generation break even (payback) to occur early, after 7 year the system let to operate over the conventional oil fired steam generation. In addition the levelized cost of energy for concentrated solar steam generation is found to be 58% higher than conventional steam generation.   Hence, the result shows that parabolic trough is found to be more economical for steam generation than oil fired boiler. If solar thermal steam generation (parabolic through) is implemented, the fuel consumption and operational cost of the boiler can be reduced appreciably.

A predominant amount of energy needed in the industrial sector is in the form of heat. A significant number of industries in the world still relies on fossil fuels for meeting their heat requirements. A transition to renewable energy for heating needs is at a snail's pace due to fossil fuel lock-in, cost superiority of conventional fuels, and less government support for renewable technology for thermal requirements. The dairy industry is one of the sectors that need heat energy for its production process. This study deals with a techno-economic analysis on the integration of parabolic trough collectors in the dairy industry. The thesis finds the barriers for solar-thermal collectors to evolve in the dairy sector and the viewpoint of the dairy industry towards the acceptance of solar thermal for meeting their thermal needs. From a literature review, it is observed that the need for dairy product will increase in the coming year. To meet the demand, the production process has to be increased. For sustainable production, companies have to rely on environment-friendly energy sources to meet the thermal demand. In the thesis work, it was also found that for several solar fractions, the LevelizedCost of Heat (LCoH) of solar-assisted heating system is less than the LCoH of the fossil-fueled conventional boiler. Therefore, it is economically viable to integrate solar thermal collectors in the dairy industry. The project also compares the LCoHof solar-assisted heating system when solar integration is done at a) feed water heating, b) direct steam generation, and c) process integration. The effect of integration point on the solar fraction, LCoH, and carbon mitigation potential is presented for a real case dairy unit in Dubai. The simulations are performed using a dynamic simulation tool. Results show that minimum LCoH and solar fraction are achieved for process integration. The process integration results in up to 90 % of the solar fraction. Through process integration, the LCoH of the conventional boiler can be reduced by 60%.

In 1852, a five-minute long earthquake hit the Banda Arc region that was felt over most of Indonesia. It caused uplift of new islands and sent a tsunami across the Banda Sea that reached a height of 8 meters at Banda Neira and was also registered at Ambon, Saparua and other islands. Records of the 1852 earthquake at multiple locations provide the constraints needed to reconstruct the disastrous event through earthquake intensity analysis and numerical modeling of the tsunami. Using tsunami heights and arrival times as the major constraints, best fit numerical models of the tsunami were constructed using Clawpack. These models indicate that the earthquake was most likely a mega-thrust event along the Tanimbar Trough with a Mw of around 8.4. At least 10-15 meters of elastic strain energy has accumulated along the Tanimbar Through since the 1852 event, and the population in the region has increased exponentially. When another event occurs ≥ that in 1852, there will be many more people and treasure in harms way.

The Cardigan pluton, located in the southern half of New Hampshire, is a strongly peraluminous, S-type granite which is granodioritic in composition. It is inferred to have been emplaced rapidly, thrust up along west-verging nappes during the Acadian orogeny. Distinctive pods, consisting of 50 to 70 percent modal garnet, are found throughout the pluton in assemblages of garnet + sillimanite + biotite + plagioclase + quartz. These garnetite rocks present an intriguing case for restite. Textural features of the garnetite rocks, such as fibrolitic sillimanite mats and flat, unzoned major and trace-element garnet grain profiles, provide evidence for biotite dehydration melting with single-stage garnet growth from the reaction: bio + plag + qtz + kspar = gar + sill + liq. Temperatures calculated using garnet-biotite (GB) thermometry and garnet-aluminum silicate-quartz-plagioclase (GASP) barometry yield estimates between 662-714ºC and 3.8 kbars. These low calculated temperatures are most likely the result of biotite compositions which have been altered by retrograde exchange reactions. The dominant source rock for the Cardigan magmas was likely calc-pelitic to greywacke in composition. Major element modeling suggests that ~70% melting of a calc-pelitic metasediment from the Central Maine trough could have generated a granodioritic melt similar to the average granodiorite of the Cardigan pluton. However, most of the Cardigan garnetite rocks appear to have been derived from pelites, as they are too poor in CaO and Na2O. Hence, though the majority of garnetite rocks cannot represent the dominant restite of the source rocks that produced the Cardigan pluton, they do appear to be the melt-depleted residue of an unidentified pelitic source. Comparison of Nd and Sr isotopic data from garnetite and Central Maine trough metasediments permit an interpretation that the Lower Rangeley Formation, from the Central Maine trough, could be the source rock of the Cardigan magmas. However, one feldspar Pb isotopic analysis in the literature (Moench and Allienikoff, 2002) and rare monazite chemical ages near 600 Ma suggest that the Cardigan pluton does not have a Laurentian source (i.e. Lower Rangeley Formation or other Central Maine trough metasediments), whereas an inferred peri-Gondwanan basement source is permissible.

The principal objective of this study is to develop, investigate and optimise the Heteroconical Tubular Cavity receiver for a parabolic trough reflector. This study presents a three-stage development process which allowed for the development, investigation and optimisation of the Heteroconical receiver. The first stage of development focused on the investigation into the optical performance of the Heteroconical receiver for different geometric configurations. The effect of cavity geometry on the heat flux distribution on the receiver absorbers as well as on the optical performance of the Heteroconical cavity was investigated. The cavity geometry was varied by varying the cone angle and cavity aperture width of the receiver. This investigation led to identification of optical characteristics of the Heteroconical receiver as well as an optically optimised geometric configuration for the cavity shape of the receiver. The second stage of development focused on the thermal and thermodynamic performance of the Heteroconical receiver for different geometric configurations. This stage of development allowed for the investigation into the effect of cavity shape and concentration ratio on the thermal performance of the Heteroconical receiver. The identification of certain thermal characteristics of the receiver further optimised the shape of the receiver cavity for thermal performance during the second stage of development. The third stage of development and optimisation focused on the absorber tubes of the Heteroconical receiver. This enabled further investigation into the effect of tube diameter on the total performance of the Heteroconical receiver and led to an optimal inner tube diameter for the receiver under given operating conditions. In this work, the thermodynamic performance, conjugate heat transfer and fluid flow of the Heteroconical receiver were analysed by solving the computational governing Equations set out in this work known as the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) Equations as well as the energy Equation by utilising the commercially available CFD code, ANSYS FLUENT®. The optical model of the receiver which modelled the optical performance and produced the nonuniform actual heat flux distribution on the absorbers of the receiver was numerically modelled by solving the rendering Equation using the Monte-Carlo ray tracing method. SolTrace - a raytracing software package developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), commonly used to analyse CSP systems, was utilised for modelling the optical response and performance of the Heteroconical receiver. These actual non-uniform heat flux distributions were applied in the CFD code by making use of user-defined functions for the thermal model and analysis of the Heteroconical receiver. The numerical model was applied to a simple parabolic trough receiver and reflector and validated against experimental data available in the literature, and good agreement was achieved. It was found that the Heteroconical receiver was able to significantly reduce the amount of reradiation losses as well as improve the uniformity of the heat flux distribution on the absorbers. The receiver was found to produce thermal efficiencies of up to 71% and optical efficiencies of up to 80% for practically sized receivers. The optimal receiver was compared to a widely used parabolic trough receiver, a vacuum tube receiver. It was found that the optimal Heteroconical receiver performed, on average, 4% more efficiently than the vacuum tube receiver across the temperature range of 50-210℃. In summary, it was found that the larger a Heteroconical receiver is the higher its optical efficiency, but the lower its thermal efficiency. Hence, careful consideration needs to be taken when determining cone angle and concentration ratio of the receiver. It was found that absorber tube diameter does not have a significant effect on the performance of the receiver, but its position within the cavity does have a vital role in the performance of the receiver. The Heteroconical receiver was found to successfully reduce energy losses and was found to be a successfully high performance solar thermal tubular cavity receiver.

Parabolic solar trough receivers are used to collect heat via the mean of a heat transfer fluid. This component is one among a myriad of the Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) devices. Parabolic troughs reach high temperatures around 400 ºC. improving the Parabolic Solar Trough's receiver with an IR selective coating will increase the heat transfer absorbed by the heat transfer fluid and reduce the radiative heat loss. Thus, optimizing the receiver will ameliorate the efficiency of the electrical production for a CSP. The parabolic solar receiver existing in industry currently are made of stainless steel with no specific coating for IR solar rays spectrum selection. Therefore, the heat transferred through the absorber is limited to certain light spectrum. Furthermore, numerous receivers proposed are made from materials that contaminates their optical properties when oxidized such as aluminum [1]. The heat transfer and optical analysis of the PTC are essential to optimize and understand its performance under high temperatures and reduce the heat loss. In this paper, our focus is on presenting a super-lattice IR selective coating to minimize the radiative heat loss. Making use of the power of metamaterials to confection optical properties that are inexistent in nature, the coating will serve to maximize the tube's reflectance above 70% in the IR. Not only does the selective coating enhance the optical properties of the receiver, but also it ensures performance stability for high temperatures.

Continental rifting ultimately creates a deep accommodation space for sediment. When a major river flows into a late-stage rift, thick deltaic sediment can change the thermal regime and alter the mechanisms of extension and continental breakup. The Salton Trough, the northernmost rift segment of the Gulf of California plate boundary, has experienced the same extension as the rest of the Gulf, but is filled to sea level by sediment from the Colorado River. Unlike the southern Gulf, seafloor spreading has not initiated. Instead, seismicity, high heat flow, and minor volcanoes attest to ongoing rifting of thin, transitional crust. Recently acquired controlled-source seismic refraction and wide-angle reflection data in the Salton Trough provide constraints upon crustal architecture and active rift processes. The crust in the central Salton Trough is only 17-18 km thick, with a strongly layered but relatively one-dimensional structure for ~100 km in the direction of plate motion. The upper crust includes 2-3 km of Colorado River sediment. The basement below the sediment is interpreted to be similar sediment metamorphosed by the high heat flow and geothermal activity. Meta-sedimentary rock extends to at least 7-8 km depth. A 4-5 km thick layer in the middle crust is either additional meta-sedimentary rock or stretched pre-existing continental crust. The lowermost 4-5 km of the crust is rift-related mafic magmatic material underplated from partial melting in the hot upper mantle. North American lithosphere in the Salton Trough has been almost or completely rifted apart. The gap has been filled by ~100 km of new transitional crust created by magmatism from below and sedimentation from above. These processes create strong lithologic, thermal, and rheologic layering. Brittle extension occurs within new meta-sedimentary rock. The lower crust, in comparison, stretches by ductile flow and magmatism is not localized. This seismic interpretation is also supported by 1D thermal and rheological modeling. In this passive rift driven by far-field extensional stresses, rapid sedimentation keeps the crust thick and ductile, which delays final breakup of the crust and the initiation of seafloor spreading. / Ph. D.

Chapter 1-2:The Cassini RADAR mapper has imaged elevated blocks and mountains on Titan we term ‘ridges’. Two unresolved problems regarding Titan's surface are still debated: what is the origin of its ridges and was there tectonic activity on Titan? To understand the processes that produced the ridges, in this study, (1) we analyze the distribution and orientation of ridges through systematic geomorphologic mapping and (2) we compare the location of the ridges to a new global topographic map to explore the correlation between elevation and ridges and the implications for Titan's surface evolution. Globally, the orientation of ridges is nearly E-W and the ridges are more common near the equator than at the poles, which suggests a tectonic origin for most of the ridges on Titan. In addition, the ridges are found to preferentially lie at higher-than-average elevations near the equator. We conclude the most reasonable formation scenario for Titan's ridges is that contractional tectonism built the ridges and thickened the icy lithosphere, causing regional uplift. The combination of global and regional tectonic events, likely contractional in nature, plus enhanced fluvial erosion and sedimentation near the poles, would have contributed to shaping Titan's tectonic landforms and surface morphology to what we see today. However, contractional structures (i.e. thrusts and folds) require large stresses (8~10 MPa), the sources of which probably do not exist on Titan. Liquid hydrocarbons in Titan's near subsurface must play a role similar to that of water on Earth and lead to fluid overpressures, which enable contractional deformation at smaller stresses (< 1MPa) by significantly reducing the shear strength of materials. We show that crustal conditions with enhanced pore fluid pressures on Titan favor the formation of thrust faults and related folds, in a contractional stress field. The production of folds, as on Earth, is facilitated by the presence of crustal liquids to weaken the crust. These hydrocarbon fluids have played a key role in Titan's tectonic evolutionary history, leaving it the only icy body on which strong evidence for contractional tectonism exists. Chapter 3: Arthur Wichmann's ‘Earthquakes of the Indian Archipelago’ documents several large earthquakes and tsunami throughout the Banda Arc region that can be interpreted as mega-thrust events. However, the source regions of these events are not known. One of the largest and well-documented events in the catalog is the great earthquake and tsunami affecting the Banda islands on 1 August 1629. It caused severe damage from a 15-meter tsunami that arrived at the Banda Islands about a half hour after violent shaking stopped. The earthquake was also recorded 230 km away in Ambon, but no tsunami is mentioned. This event was followed by at least 9 years of uncommonly frequent seismic activity in the region that tapered off with time, which can be interpreted as aftershocks. The combination of these observations indicates that the earthquake was most likely a mega-thrust event. We use an inverse modeling approach to numerically reconstruct the tsunami, which constrains the likely location and magnitude of the 1629 earthquake. Only linear numerical models are applied due to the low-resolution of bathymetry in the Banda Islands and Ambon. Therefore, we apply various wave amplification factors (1.5 to 4) derived from simulations of recent, well-constrained tsunami to bracket the upper and lower limits of earthquake moment magnitudes for the event. The closest major earthquake sources to the Banda Islands are the Tanimbar and Seram Troughs of the Banda subduction/collision zone. Other source regions are too far away for such a short arrival time of the tsunami after shaking. Moment magnitudes predicted by the models in order to produce a 15 m tsunami are Mw of 9.8 to 9.2 on the Tanimbar Trough and Mw 8.8 to 8.2 on the Seram Trough. The arrival times of these waves are 58 minutes for Tanimbar Trough and 30 minutes for Seram Trough. The model also predicts 5 meters run-up for Ambon from a Tanimbar Trough source, which is inconsistent with the historical records. Ambon is mostly shielded from a wave generated by a Seram Trough Source.We conclude that the most likely source of the 1629 mega-thrust earthquake is the Seram Trough. Only one earthquake > Mw 8.0 is recorded instrumentally from the eastern Indonesia region although high rates of strain (50-80 mm/a) are measured across the Seram section of the Banda subduction zone. Enough strain has already accumulated since the last major historical event to produce an earthquake of similar size to the 1629 event. Due to the rapid population growth in coastal areas in this region, it is imperative that the most vulnerable coastal areas prepare accordingly.