An efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamp driver circuit is proposed for retrofitting the conventionally used incandescent lamps with existing TRIAC dimmer. The dimming feature in a wide range of firing angle from 30¢X to 130¢X can be accomplished by means of double pulse-width modulation (DPWM) and analog current regulation. The LED lamp driver adopts a flyback converter with an auxiliary active power MOSFET for synchronous switch and an associated inductor for zero voltage switching (ZVS), leading to lower switching loss and thus achieving a higher circuit efficiency. In the thesis, the mode operation of the driver circuit is analyzed and the design equations are derived accordingly. A laboratory circuit is designed for an 50 W LED lamp which is composed of 45 high-brightness white LEDs in series. Experiments are carried out to test the circuit performances with two dimming schemes. The experimental results indicate that the driver can achieve a circuit efficiency of 95 % at the rated output. When the LED lamp is dimmed, the circuit efficiency with DPWM is higher than that with the analog current regulation. On the other hand, the LED lamp dimmed by analog current regulation has a higher efficiency but a less color shift by DPWM.

The objective of the proposed research is to investigate feasible approaches to dynamic control of the power grid. Growth in the demand for electric power, and an increase in the penetration of renewable energy resources are causing congestion on an already aging power grid. Conventional grid control involves the use of static assets that operate on long time scales. These assets provide no dynamic control on the grid, and are typically used for scheduled support. Existing solutions (FACTS devices) to dynamic grid control have seen minimal market penetration because of high cost and low reliability. The proposed research provides a solution for dynamic control of the power grid that augments existing grid assets with a thin AC converter (TACC) to realize enhanced dynamic control. The TACC is a direct AC converter with filter elements and no bulk energy storage that dynamically reflects the asset value on the grid. The converter has a fail-normal mode of operation that returns the asset to its initial operating state, thereby not degrading system reliability. Some applications of TACCs include Inverter-Less STATCOMs and Controllable Network Transformers, which are realized by augmenting shunt VAR capacitors and load tap changers respectively. The principle of virtual quadrature sources is proposed to enable conditioning of AC voltages and currents. The concept is a novel method to realize control of phase angle and, or harmonics in single-phase AC converters, with no bulk energy storage. This concept is used to control the TACC and provides the asset with significantly enhanced control capabilities. Scaling of the TACC to utility voltage and power levels has been addressed by proposing a novel multilevel direct AC converter. The concept proposes the use of commercially available low cost semiconductor devices to realize high power converters. The specific application chosen to validate the concept of TACCs, through a medium voltage design, is the Inverter-less STATCOM.

Οι συνεχώς αυξανόμενες ενεργειακές απαιτήσεις της σύγχρονης κοινωνίας σε συνδυασμό με τις ραγδαίες κλιματικές αλλαγές μας οδηγούν στην ανάγκη παραγωγής ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας με όσο το δυνατό πιο οικονομικό και φιλικό προς το περιβάλλον τρόπο. Έτσι, οι Ανανεώσιμες Πηγές Ενέργειας αποκτούν ολοένα και μεγαλύτερο μερίδιο στην παραγωγή ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας, αλλάζοντας συνεχώς τον παγκόσμιο ενεργειακό χάρτη. Τα αιολικά συστήματα, τα οποία αξιοποιούν την κινητική ενέργεια του ανέμου, είναι ένα είδος ΑΠΕ. Στην παρούσα εργασία μελετάμε ένα αιολικό σύστημα, το οποίο αποτελείται από μία ανεμογεννήτρια μεταβλητών στροφών που χρησιμοποιεί μία σύγχρονη μηχανή μόνιμου μαγνήτη, έναν μετατροπέα πηγής τάσης, ένα R-L φίλτρο στην πλευρά του δικτύου και μία γραμμή μεταφοράς μικρού μήκους. Η αυξημένη αξιοπιστία και απόδοση της ΣΜΜΜ την καθιστούν ιδιαίτερα ελκυστική λύση για τα αιολικά συστήματα. Στην εργασία αυτή προσομοιώνουμε σε περιβάλλον Matlab/Simulink το σύστημα που περιγράψαμε παραπάνω. Εφαρμόζοντας τις κατάλληλες τεχνικές ελέγχου από την πλευρά της μηχανής προσπαθούμε να πετύχουμε μέγιστη απομάστευση ισχύος από τον άνεμο, ενώ στην πλευρά του δικτύου προσπαθούμε μέσω άμεσου ελέγχου ροής ισχύος να πετύχουμε μοναδιαίο συντελεστή ισχύος με ταυτόχρονη ρύθμιση της τάσης της dc διασύνδεσης. Στη συνέχεια, μέσω ενός πρόσθετου ελέγχου προσπαθούμε να κρατήσουμε την τάση στην έξοδο του φίλτρου σταθερή, κατά τη διάρκεια πτώσης της τάσης του δικτύου. Τέλος, παραθέτουμε τα αποτελέσματα της προσομοίωσης μαζί με έναν σύντομο σχολιασμό και τα συμπεράσματα. / The continuously increasing energy requirements of modern society combined with the rapid climate changes lead us to the need to produce electrical energy in a more economic and environmentally friendly way. Thus, the Renewable Energy Sources gain an increasing share of electrical energy production, constantly changing the global energy map. Wind power systems, which utilize the kinetic energy of the wind, are a kind of RES. In this thesis we study a wind power system, which comprises a variable speed wind turbine, which uses a permanent magnet synchronous machine, a voltage source converter, an R-L filter in the grid side and a short transmission line. The increased reliability and performance of PMSG make it particularly attractive solution for wind power systems. In this thesis we simulate in Matlab/Simulink environment the system described above. Applying appropriate control techniques on the machine side we try to achieve maximum power harvesting from the wind, while on the grid side we try through direct power flow control to achieve unit power factor with simultaneous control of the dc link voltage. Then, using an additional control we try to keep constant the voltage at the end of the R-L filter during a grid voltage drop. Finally, we present the simulation results along with a brief commentary and the conclusions.

In this work, the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) is discussed. The Hybrid Genetic Algorithm for solving the TSP is presented. The traveling salesman problem is formulated as follows: given matrix D=(dij)nxn of distances between n objects and the set P of permutations of the integers from 1 to n, find a permutation p=(p(1), p(2), ..., p(n)) P that minimizes. Many heuristic algorithms can be applied for the TSP. Recently, genetic algorithms (GAs) are among the advanced heuristic techniques for the combinatorial problems, like the TSP. genetic algorithms are based on the biological process of natural selection. The original concepts of GAs were developed in 1970s. Many simulations have demonstrated the efficiency of GAs on different optimization problems, among them, bin–packing, generalized assignment problem, graph partitioning, job–shop scheduling problem, set covering problem, vehicle routing. One of the main operators in GAs is the crossover (i.e. solution recombination). This operator plays a very important role by constructing competitive GAs. In this work, we investigate several crossover operators for the TSP, among them, CX (cycle crossover), PMX (partialy mapped crossover), POS (position based crossover), ER (edge recombination crossover), edge-NN (edge recombination crossover, nearest neighbour) and AP (alternating-positions crossover). Comparison of these crossover operators was performed. The results show high efficiency of the edge-NN, ER and PMX crossovers.

This thesis develops efficient modeling frameworks via a Partial Differential Equation (PDE) approach for multi-factor financial derivatives, with emphasis on three-factor models, and studies highly efficient implementations of the numerical methods on novel high-performance computer architectures, with particular focus on Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and multi-GPU platforms/clusters of GPUs. Two important classes of multi-factor financial instruments are considered: cross-currency/foreign exchange (FX) interest rate derivatives and multi-asset options. For cross-currency interest rate derivatives, the focus of the thesis is on Power Reverse Dual Currency (PRDC) swaps with three of the most popular exotic features, namely Bermudan cancelability, knockout, and FX Target Redemption. The modeling of PRDC swaps using one-factor Gaussian models for the domestic and foreign interest short rates, and a one-factor skew model for the spot FX rate results in a time-dependent parabolic PDE in three space dimensions. Our proposed PDE pricing framework is based on partitioning the pricing problem into several independent pricing subproblems over each time period of the swap's tenor structure, with possible communication at the end of the time period. Each of these subproblems requires a solution of the model PDE. We then develop a highly efficient GPU-based parallelization of the Alternating Direction Implicit (ADI) timestepping methods for solving the model PDE. To further handle the substantially increased computational requirements due to the exotic features, we extend the pricing procedures to multi-GPU platforms/clusters of GPUs to solve each of these independent subproblems on a separate GPU. Numerical results indicate that the proposed GPU-based parallel numerical methods are highly efficient and provide significant increase in performance over CPU-based methods when pricing PRDC swaps. An analysis of the impact of the FX volatility skew on the price of PRDC swaps is provided. In the second part of the thesis, we develop efficient pricing algorithms for multi-asset options under the Black-Scholes-Merton framework, with strong emphasis on multi-asset American options. Our proposed pricing approach is built upon a combination of (i) a discrete penalty approach for the linear complementarity problem arising due to the free boundary and (ii) a GPU-based parallel ADI Approximate Factorization technique for the solution of the linear algebraic system arising from each penalty iteration. A timestep size selector implemented efficiently on GPUs is used to further increase the efficiency of the methods. We demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed GPU-based parallel numerical methods by pricing American options written on three assets.

Baigiamajame magistro darbe gautos dvejetainių atstatymo procesų sumų konvergavimo į Puasono procesą sąlygos. Remiamasi Grigelionio teorema, nusakančia nepriklausomų taškinių procesų sumų konvergavimo sąlygas. Analizuojami atvejai, kai sumuojamų dvejetainių atstatymo procesų veikimo ir atstatymo periodai yra nepriklausomi ir pasiskirstę pagal tolygųjį, eksponentinį, geometrinį ir Erlango dėsnius. Taip pat nagrinėjamas atvejis, kai veikimo ir atstatymo laikotarpiai turi skirtingus skirstinius. Kiekvienu atveju gautos ir įrodytos būtinos ir pakankamos sąlygos. Remiantis teoriniais rezultatais, procesai yra modeliuojami ir lyginami. Darbo pabaigoje yra suformuluojamos išvados. / In this master thesis conditions for convergence of sums of alternating renewal processes to Poisson process is obtained. Thesis is based on Grigelionis theorem, which defines conditions for convergence of sums of independent counting processes. More specific cases, when alternating renewal processes life and recovery periods are independent and have uniform, exponential, geometric and Erlang distributions, are examined too. Also, case when life and recovery periods have different distributions is examined. Necessary and sufficient conditions are formulated and proven for each case. Processes are modeled and compared according to theoretical results. In the end of thesis conclusions are made.

Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The worldwide increase in the popularity of high voltage direct current (HVDC) power transmission application has led to questions regarding the performance of high voltage alternating current (HVAC) insulators when energized under HVDC excitation. These questions have led researchers conduct numerous research projects worldwide. A particular question NamPower (the power utility in Namibia) has faced is: how do these insulators perform and age when energized under HVDC excitation in heavily polluted environments? This question was only partly answered by some insulator ageing tests conducted under laboratory conditions for HVDC excitation. However, the natural ageing tests on insulators, which are preferred, have to date been confined predominantly to HVAC excitation voltages. Thus, this research was initiated to investigate the natural ageing performance of insulators under both HVAC and HVDC excitations, when subjected to harsh marine pollution environments. This research project involved performance and ageing tests on three identical sets of line insulators made from different insulator materials, energised under HVAC and both polarities HVDC excitations respectively. The tests were conducted at Koeberg insulator pollution test station (KIPTS), which is a natural marine pollution insulator test station located near Cape Town, along the west coast of South Africa, approximately 50 m from the sea. The set of insulators consisted of EPDM silicone alloy rubber, HTV silicone rubber, RTV silicone rubber coated porcelain, Porcelain and Glass insulators. The HVAC excitation voltage was chosen as 12.7 kV r.m.s. phase-to-ground and it was decided to use a HVDC excitation voltage equal to this value. The research results showed that the insulators made from HTV silicone rubber performed better than the insulators made from EPDM silicone alloy rubber under all excitation voltages. It is also showed that RTV silicone rubber coated porcelain insulators performed better than Glass and Porcelain insulators under all excitation voltages. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die wêreld wye toename in gewildheid van hoë spanning gelyk stroom (HSGS) krag transmisie aplikasie het gelei na vrae oor die effektieweteit van hoë spanning wissel stroom (HSWS) insolators in HSGS aplikasies. Hierdie vrae het gelei na baie navorsings projekte. Een vraag waarmee NamPower (die krag voorsienings maatskapy in Namibia) gekonfronteer was, was hoe gaan die insolators wat onderworpe is aan ’n HSGS toevoer reageer in ’n baie besoedelde omgewing. Hierdie vraag was slegs gedeeltelik beantwoord deur verouderings toetse op insolators wat gedoen is in ’n labaratorium met ’n HSGS toevoer. Inteendeel, die meeste natuurlike verouderings toetse op insolators, soos verkies, is meestal gedoen met ’n HSWS toevoer. Om hierdie rede was hierdie navorsing begin om natuurlike verouderings toetse te doen op insolators onderworpe beide aan HSWS en HSGS toevoere binne ’n marien besoedelde omgewing. Hierdie navorsings projek gaan oor prestering en verouderings toetse op drie, identiese, transmissie lyn insolator stelle, wat onderskeidelik onderworpe was aan HSWS en beide polariteite HSGS toevoere. Die toetse was gedoen by Koeberg insolator besoedeling toets stasie (KIBTS) wat naby Kaapstad geleë is langs die weskus van Suid Africa omtrent 50 m van die see. ’n Stel toets insolators bestaan uit EPDM silikon allooi rubber, HTV silikon rubber, RTV silikon rubber bedekte porselein, Porselein en Glas insolators. Die HSWS waarde waarmee die insolators getoets was, was 12.7 kV w.g.k., fase-na-grond, en dit was besluit om ’n HSGS waarde gelyk aan hierdie spannings waarde te gebruik. Die navorsings resultate wys dat insolators wat gemaak is met HTV silikon rubber presteer beter as insolators wat met EPDM silikon allooi rubber gemaak is onder al die verskillende toevoere. Dit wys ook dat RTV silikon rubber bedekte porselein presteer beter as Porselein en Glas insolators onder al die verskillende toevoere.

On s’intéresse dans cette thèse à la PGD (Proper Generalized Decomposition), l’une des méthodes de réduction de modèles qui consiste à chercher, a priori, la solution d’une équation aux dérivées partielles sous forme de variables séparées. Ce travail est formé de cinq chapitres dans lesquels on vise à étendre la PGD aux espaces fractionnaires et aux espaces des fonctions à variation bornée, et à donner des interprétations théoriques de cette méthode pour une classe de problèmes elliptiques et paraboliques. Dans le premier chapitre, on fait un bref aperçu sur la littérature puis on présente les notions et outils mathématiques utilisés dans le corps de la thèse. Dans le second chapitre, la convergence des suites des directions alternées (AM) pour une classe de problèmes variationnels elliptiques est étudiée. Sous une condition de non-orthogonalité uniforme entre les itérés et le terme source, on montre que ces suites sont en général bornées et compactes. Alors, si en particulier la suite (AM) converge faiblement alors elle converge fortement et la limite serait la solution du problème de minimisation alternée. Dans le troisième chapitre, on introduit la notion des dérivées fractionnaires au sens de Riemann-Liouville puis on considère un problème variationnel qui est une généralisation d’ordre fractionnaire de l’équation de Poisson. En se basant sur la nature quadratique et la décomposabilité de l’énergie associée, on démontre que la suite PGD progressive converge fortement vers la solution faible de ce problème. Dans le quatrième chapitre, on profite de la structure tensorielle des espaces BV par rapport à la topologie faible étoile pour définir les suites PGD dans ce type d’espaces. La convergence de telle suite reste une question ouverte. Le dernier chapitre est consacré à l’équation de la chaleur d-dimensionnelle, où on discrétise en temps puis à chaque pas de temps on cherche la solution de l’équation elliptique en utilisant la PGD. On montre alors que la fonction affine par morceaux en temps obtenue à partir des solutions construites en utilisant la PGD converge vers la solution faible de l’équation. / In this thesis, we are interested in the PGD (Proper Generalized Decomposition), one of the reduced order models which consists in searching, a priori, the solution of a partial differential equation in a separated form. This work is composed of five chapters in which we aim to extend the PGD to the fractional spaces and the spaces of functions of bounded variation and to give theoretical interpretations of this method for a class of elliptic and parabolic problems. In the first chapter, we give a brief review of the litterature and then we introduce the mathematical notions and tools used in this work. In the second chapter, the convergence of rank-one alternating minimisation AM algorithms for a class of variational linear elliptic equations is studied. We show that rank-one AM sequences are in general bounded in the ambient Hilbert space and are compact if a uniform non-orthogonality condition between iterates and the reaction term is fulfilled. In particular, if a rank-one (AM) sequence is weakly convergent then it converges strongly and the common limit is a solution of the alternating minimization problem. In the third chapter, we introduce the notion of fractional derivatives in the sense of Riemann-Liouville and then we consider a variational problem which is a generalization of fractional order of the Poisson equation. Basing on the quadratic nature and the decomposability of the associated energy, we prove that the progressive PGD sequence converges strongly towards the weak solution of this problem. In the fourth chapter, we benefit from tensorial structure of the spaces BV with respect to the weak-star topology to define the PGD sequences in this type of spaces. The convergence of this sequence remains an open question. The last chapter is devoted to the d-dimensional heat equation, we discretize in time and then at each time step one seeks the solution of the elliptic equation using the PGD. Then, we show that the piecewise linear function in time obtained from the solutions constructed using the PGD converges to the weak solution of the equation.

Orientador: Madileine Francely Américo / Resumo: Os imunossupressores são utilizados após o transplante de órgãos e no tratamento de doenças autoimunes, desencadeando diversos efeitos colaterais. No esquema tríplice de imunossupressão pós-transplante, cada droga ou a combinação delas podem alterar a estrutura e/ou funcionamento do trato gastrintestinal. Apesar da importância do trato gastrintestinal e de conhecer os efeitos da ingesta oral de imunossupressores, há poucos estudos enfocando esses aspectos e vários desafios éticos para essas avaliações no homem. Desse modo, objetivou-se avaliar as alterações provocadas pela imunossupressão nos parâmetros de esvaziamento gástrico, frequência e amplitude das contrações gástricas, bem como as alterações histológicas no estômago de ratos. Para isso foram utilizados a Biosusceptometria de Corrente Alternada (BAC) e a Eletrogastrografia (EGG). No primeiro capítulo, avaliou-se individualmente sete imunossupressores de diferentes classes (Tacrolimo, Ciclosporina, Micofenolato Mofetil, Azatioprina, Sirolimo, Everolimo e Prednisona) comumente utilizados na terapia imunossupressora. Todos os imunossupressores estudados, exceto o Micofenolato Mofetil causaram alguma alteração nos parâmetros gastrintestinais analisados em ratos. Já o segundo capítulo apresenta os efeitos da terapia imunossupressora combinada, baseada em três classes de imunossupressores (inibidores da calcineurina, antimetabólitos e glicocorticoides). Um dos grupos experimentais recebeu Tacrolimo associado à Micofenolato S... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Immunosuppressants are used after organ transplantation and in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, triggering several side effects. In the triple regimen of post - transplant immunosuppression, each drug or combination of them may alter the structure and / or function of the gastroin testinal tract. Despite the importance of gastrointestinal tract and knowledge of the effects of oral intake of immunosuppressants, there are few studies focusing on these aspects and several ethical challenges for these evaluations in humans. The aim of t his study was to evaluate the effects provoked by immunosuppression in gastric emptying parameters, frequency and amplitude of gastric contractions, as well as the histological aspects in the stomach of rats. Alternating Current Biosusceptometry (BAC) and Electrogastrography (EGG) were used. In the first chapter, seven immunosuppressants from different classes (Tacrolimus, Cyclosporine, Mycophenolate Mofetil, Azathioprine, Sirolimus, Everolimus and Prednisone) commonly used in immunosuppressive therapy were evaluated individually. All immunosuppressants studied except Mycophenolate Mofetil , caused some alteration in the gastrointestinal parameters analyzed in rats. The second chapter presents the effects of combined immunosuppressive therapy based on three c lasses of immunosuppressants (calcineurin inhibitors, antimetabolites and glucocorticoids). One of the experimental groups received Tacrolimus associated with Mycophenolate Sodium and Pr... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

L'efficacité des cellules photovoltaïques organiques est influencée par la morphologie du mélange composant la couche active. L'objectif de cette thèse a été d'élaborer un agent compatibilisant pour stabiliser la morphologie du mélange P3HT:PCBM. Nous avons choisi de synthétiser des copolymères alternant motifs C60 et polythiophène pour améliorer la miscibilité entre P3HT et PCBM. Les copolymères ont été réalisés par polycondensation d'un dérivé C60 avec plusieurs oligothiophènes régioréguliers de difonctionnalité contrôlée. Une attention particulière a été accordée aux conditions de polycondensation qui ont été optimisées pour favoriser de hauts degrés de polymérisation. Les caractérisations structurales, optiques et électrochimiques des matériaux ont été réalisées. Leur effet compatibilisant a été évalué en caractérisant la morphologie de la couche active par des mesures en cellules photovoltaïques, des observations par microscopie à force atomique et des calculs d'énergies de surface. / Efficiency of organic photovoltaic solar cells is influenced by the active layer's morphology. The aim of this thesis was to elaborate a compatibilising agent which could stabilise the morphology of the P3HT:PCBM blend. We chose to synthesize alternating copolymers based on fullerene and polythiophene blocks to improve compatibility between P3HT and PCBM. The synthesis of copolymers has been achieved by polycondensation of a fullerene derivative with several regioregular oligothiophenes for which difunctionality was well controlled. Particular care has been given to the optimisation of polycondensation conditions in order to favour high polymerisation degrees. Structural, optical and electrochemical characterisations have been realized. The compatibilising effect of our copolymers on the active layer morphology has been investigated on the basis of photovoltaic measurements, atomic force microscopy observations and surface energy calculations.