Submitted by Reginaldo Soares de Freitas (reginaldo.freitas@ufv.br) on 2016-11-01T17:01:30Z No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 3159739 bytes, checksum: b72252f3c160a6f7c58b5a719003a721 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-11-01T17:01:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 3159739 bytes, checksum: b72252f3c160a6f7c58b5a719003a721 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003-08-04 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Desenvolveu-se um sistema multimídia, com a finalidade de subsidiar a melhoria de procedimentos de higiene em Unidades de Alimentação e Nutrição (UAN). Neste sistema, que consiste de cinco módulos, as informações estão interligadas, facilitando a compreensão e proporcionando rapidez no seu uso. O primeiro módulo, “Métodos de Higienização”, é considerado o mais relevante do sistema e descreve, de forma detalhada, os procedimentos de higienização para manipuladores, equipamentos, utensílios, ar de ambientes de processamento e alimentos. Os módulos seguintes fornecem as informações de apoio à tomada de decisão e ao treinamento. Nesses, estão contidos informações, conceitos e descrição de técnicas para a implementação, controle e correção dos procedimentos de higienização. O módulo “Limites Críticos” fornece os valores recomendados, máximos ou mínimos, para parâmetros físicos, químicos e microbiológicos de forma a se determinar a eficiência dos procedimentos operacionais, fundamentados na legislação brasileira e em entidades como a APHA (American Public Health Association) e WHO (World Health Organization). O módulo “Monitoramento dos Limites Críticos” fornece a metodologia para a implantação e o desenvolvimento das atividades de monitoramento do procedimento de higienização. O módulo “Ações Corretivas” propõe ações que deverão ser implementadas quando os resultados do monitoramento estiverem fora dos limites estabelecidos. O módulo “Entendendo a Higiene” é o maior do sistema e contém informações de apoio para a realização dos procedimentos. Nele, está detalhado o método de higienização, levando-se em conta o tipo de sujidade, a natureza da superfície a ser higienizada e os auxiliares de limpeza usados como coadjuvantes no processo. Enfatiza a qualidade e o adequado tratamento da água para as UAN. Esclarece sobre as funções, o modo de ação, como e onde poderão ser empregados os detergentes e sanitizantes químicos e físicos e, ainda, exemplifica cálculos necessários para a preparação de soluções. Finalmente, oferece informações sobre a importância da higienização no controle da adesão bacteriana e formação de biofilme. Dentro dos “Itens de Apoio”,estão disponíveis para o usuário as seções “Glossário” e a seção “Legislação” que contêm leis e resoluções brasileiras pertinentes ao processamento de alimentos com qualidade. Assuntos complementares encontram-se na seção intitulada “Saiba Mais”. Ao final da fase de desenvolvimento, o sistema foi submetido à avaliação, para verificar a sua capacidade de proporcionar satisfação ao usuário, requisição essencial ao seu eventual sucesso. A ferramenta desenvolvida para a coleta de dados foi um questionário constituído de questões quantitativas que avaliaram a interface, o conteúdo e os módulos. Questões qualitativas complementares avaliaram o sistema em relação aos benefícios e possíveis obstáculos para sua utilização. Uma cópia da primeira versão foi disponibilizada a uma equipe de trinta painelistas, alunos do Programa de Pós-graduação da Universidade Federal de Viçosa. A operacionalização das variáveis quantitativas foi realizada utilizando-se a escala Likert modificada, com nove pontos. Os dados coletados foram analisados por métodos estatísticos descritivos. Através da freqüência das notas foram determinados a moda, as porcentagens e, a partir destas porcentagens, construíram-se gráficos demonstrativos dos resultados. A interface foi avaliada segundo apresentação das telas, estética e qualidade gráfica dos ambientes, cores e imagens, quanto à facilidade de navegação pelos ambientes por usuários não treinados e à legibilidade do texto, tendo sido classificada em todos estes itens como “muito bom”. Os avaliadores classificaram como “extremamente bom” a abordagem do assunto “higienização” no sistema e a adequação do conteúdo ao público-alvo. Foram classificados como “muito bom” a qualidade das informações escritas, a qualidade das mídias, a seqüência lógica da apresentação do conteúdo e quantidade de informações disponíveis para o entendimento do assunto. Todos os módulos foram considerados “muito bom”, destacando-se “Métodos de Higienização” e o “Entendendo a Higiene”, para os quais não foram atribuídas notas inferiores a 7. Permitiu-se, nesta avaliação, identificar deficiências do sistema e observar onde serão necessários ajustes. A inclusão de recursos que agilizem a navegação e facilitem o acesso às informações, assim como outras mídias, poderá melhorar a interação do usuário com o sistema multimídia. / A multimedia system was developed to give support to hygiene procedures for food services. The system consists of five modules providing interconnected information to facilitate understanding and speedy use. The first module, “Hygiene Methods”, is the most important one, providing a detailed description of the hygiene procedures, equipments, utensils, air processing area and raw supplies used in food processing. The other modules supply information concerning decision- making and training describing concepts and techniques for controlling and correcting hygiene procedures. The module “Critical Limits” supplies the maximal and minimal recommended values for the physical, chemical and microbiological parameters used to determine the efficiency of the operational procedures based on the Brazilian legislation and entities such as the APHA (American Public Health Association) and WHO (World Health Organization). The module “Monitoring Critical Limits” supplies the methodology for implementing and developing the monitoring activities of hygiene procedures. The module “Corrective Actions” proposes actions to be implemented when the “Monitoring Critical Limits” results are beyond the limits established. The module “Understanding Hygiene” is the largest module of the system, supplying support information for procedure application, including the sanitizing method taking into account the type of dirt, the surface to be cleaned and the cleaning assistants involved in the process. Emphasis is placed on water quality and adequate treatment for food services, with explanation being supplied on the functions, modes of action, and how and where the detergents and chemical or physical products may be applied, as well as the calculation needed for the preparation of solutions. Finally, information is given on the importance of hygiene for controlling bacterial adherence and bio film formation. A glossary entitled “Know More” and a section on Brazilian legislation related to quality food processing are also available to the user. The multimedia system was evaluated during its final development phase to verify its capacity to meet consumers’ satisfaction, an essential requirement for its success. The tool developed for data assessment was a questionnaire consisting of quantitative questions to evaluate the interface, contents and modules. Additional qualitative issues evaluated the possible benefits provided by the system and the obstacles for its use. A copy of the first version was made available for a team of 30 members, graduate students from the UFV ,Viçosa -MG, Brazil. A modified 9-point Likert scale was used in the evaluation. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistical methods. Based on score frequency, the mode and percentages were determined and on the basis of these percentages, graphics showing the results were designed. The interface was evaluated based on screen presentation, aesthetics, and graphic quality of the environments, colors and images, easiness of use by untrained users and text readability , being classified in all these items as “ very good “. The evaluators classified the approach to the subject “hygiene’’ and its suitability to the target public as ‘’extremely good’’. Written information, media quality, logical sequence of content presentation and quantity of information available for understanding the subject matter were classified as ‘’very good. ‘’ All the modules were classified as ‘’very good,’’ especially ‘’Hygiene Methods’’ and ‘’Understanding Hygiene,’’ with scores not below 7.The evaluation allowed to identify the deficiencies of the system and the adjustments that need to be made. The inclusion of resources to speed up use and access to information as well as introduction of other media, such as videos and photographs, may improve user interaction.

Le biogaz fait partie des stratégies de diversifications des énergies renouvelables à l’échelle européenne. Un des freins technico-économiques à la valorisation en moteur thermique est la formation de dépôts abrasifs résultant de la combustion d'impuretés contenues dans les biogaz notamment les Composés Organiques Volatils du Silicium (COVSi communément appelés siloxanes) qui pénalisent le fonctionnement et les coûts de maintenance associés. L’impact négatif sur la filière est conséquent, de même que celui du sulfure d’hydrogène (H2S). Les recherches, articulées en 3 axes, sont développées avec la volonté de prendre en compte la réalité industrielle : -Analyse de dépôts moteurs prélevés sur plusieurs sites industriels. Ils sont caractérisés par analyses élémentaire, diffraction des rayons X, microcalorimétrie et microscopie électronique. L’objectif est de réfléchir à la possibilité d’utiliser les caractéristiques physico-chimiques d’un dépôt comme un indicateur de la qualité du biogaz dont il est issu. -Comparatif de deux méthodes d’analyses des COVSi, non seulement concernant les biais analytiques liés à la nature même des composés, mais aussi sur les difficultés liées aux prélèvements de biogaz sur site. Les résultats permettent d'appréhender les valeurs absolues des résultats analytiques avec plus de recul et de les pondérer. -Evaluation de traitements épuratoires du biogaz vis-à-vis des COVSi et d’H2S. Un comparatif des performances de plusieurs charbons actifs est réalisé au laboratoire en conditions contrôlées, et sur le terrain. Un réacteur de traitement gaz-liquide est testé sur biogaz réel pour en apprécier les performances vis-à-vis de certains COVSi. L’ensemble de cette étude permet de réfléchir sur la pertinence du choix des critères de qualité d’un biogaz, mais aussi sur les méthodes analytiques d’évaluation de ces critères. Ce dernier point est fondamental pour toute mise en œuvre et dimensionnement d’un système de traitement épuratoire. / As a renewable source of energy, biogas is part of the European strategies of energetic diversifications. However, some biogas impurities hampered economics benefices of recovery by causing damages to industrial process. Amongst these impurities, the worst are Volatile Organic Silicon Compounds (VOSiC commonly named siloxanes) which badly impact the system, as well as hydrogen sulfide (H2S). The approach of this work is developed with the will to take into account the industrial reality: in our case, landfill industries. For that purpose, 3 axes of research have been investigated: The first part deals with the most important barrier for electricity production from landfill gas (LFG), i.e solid oxide deposits in the engines, which increase maintenance costs and frequencies. Deposits from several landfills have been analyzed: elementary analysis, X-Ray diffraction, micro-calorimetry and scanning electron microscopy. The study aim is to develop a reflexion on the possibilities to use physico-chemical properties of a deposit as an indicator of corresponding landfill gas quality. The second part describes a comparison between two analytical methods for VOSiC in LFG. The main focus is not only about analytical bias but also a reflexion dealing with sampling issues. The knowledge of these biases allows the evaluation of analytical results. The third part is dedicated to H2S and VOSiC removal from LFG. An efficiency comparison of several sorbents (activated charcoal) has been performed under field and controlled conditions at laboratory. A gas-liquid pilot system has been built and evaluated with real LFG on site, mainly for VOSiC removal. The overall study provides scientific discussions about the relevance of biogas quality criteria, the efficiency of analytical methods in regards to the design basis of biogas treatment processes.

Parameters that characterizes quality internal building environment come forth these days. One of the main reasons for the choice of the topic of this thesis is to ensure the quality of the internal environment and well-being during the usage of the buildings. Prevention of the excessive wall dampness is one of the basic conditions of a healthy and quality building environment. The thesis verifies reliability and compares the efficiency of the selected damp-proof materials and its joints. The first part deals with the influences that are reasons for the dampness of the buildings, earmark of an interest area, introducing of the valid legislation focused on the building redevelopment, consideration and evaluation of the building constructions in light of the dampness. The next part of the thesis sets main and partial targets and consecutive steps leading to fulfilment of the targets. Selection of the appropriate redevelopment procedures, materials and joints of the selected materials selected for the experiment realization follows. As this area is relatively large, we selected mechanical redevelopment methods reaching the walls and three most commonly used materials and its joints within the framework of the selected methods. There are three main steps set in the thesis: preparation of the methodology and experiment realization, measurement optimization and measurement within the laboratory and on the real buildings, comparison and evaluation of the measured values. Experimental part of the thesis took place between the years 2008 - 2011. Experiment realization comprises of material acquisition, building of the test samples and application of the single redevelopment measures. The next step includes measurement on the individual samples on the fixed measuring points. Measurements are evaluated through the mathematical statistical methods. Efficiency of the particular materials are compared and evaluated.

Costões rochosos da região de São Sebastião são ecossistemas muito vulneráveis a derrames de petróleo, devido à proximidade do Terminal Petrolífero Almirante Barroso (TEBAR) da PETROBRÁS. Foram documentados 144 vazamentos nos últimos 14 anos, na região. No terminal circulam 30.000.000 toneladas de petróleo por ano, cerca de 55 % da circulação nacional. Pouco se sabe sobre a estrutura da comunidade existente nos costões do canal de São Sebastião, especialmente quanto aos efeitos do petróleo na biota. Os procedimentos de limpeza empregados nestes costões têm sido definidos, principalmente, com base em aspectos estéticos e não ecológicos, o que termina por gerar impactos adicionais muitas vezes mais sérios que os do próprio petróleo. O presente estudo visou avaliar os efeitos do petróleo, aplicado experimentalmente, e acompanhar a recuperação da comunidade após o jateamento com água a alta pressão, avaliando-se a eficiência deste método de limpeza, do ponto de vista ecológico. Pretendeu-se, com isso, definir critérios ecologicamente coerentes para a limpeza de costões rochosos na região. O local do experimento situa-se na praia de Barequeçaba, São Sebastião, S. P., onde uma faixa de costão rochoso previamente estudada recebeu experimentalmente 50 litros de petróleo durante sete dias consecutivos. Dos sete transectos permanentes de estudo, três permaneceram com óleo, dois foram jateados com água à pressão de 2500 libras por polegada quadrada (PSI), além dos dois transectos controle. As amostragens pós impacto duraram dois anos e meio. Concluiu-se que as aplicações de petróleo não causaram impacto perceptível na comunidade estudada, sendo que as maiores alterações observadas foram atribuídas às variações naturais, exceto para Siphonaria hispida, Acmaea subrugosa e Crassostrea rhizophorae, espécies que apresentaram alterações que podem estar relacionadas ao contato com o petróleo. A confirmação destas conclusões necessita de estudos específicos mais aprofundados. O jateamento foi um método de limpeza altamente impactante à comunidade, a qual necessitou de mais de dois anos para retornar às condições de equilíbrio. Concluiu-se que este método, assim como outros métodos de limpeza mecânica, com efeitos similares, devem ser evitados. / Rocky shores of São Sebastião region are vulnerable ecosystems to oil spills, due to the proximity of the Petroleum Terminal Almirante Barroso (TEBAR) from PETROBRÁS. It was documented 144 spills in the last 14 years, at the area. Few studies were done about the community structure of rocky shores on São Sebastião Channel, specially including the effects of petroleum on the biota. The cleaning procedures employed on these shores have been defined, mainly, on aesthetical basis and not ecological basis, generating additional impacts sometimes bigger than those caused by the oil itself. The present study focused the evaluation of the oil effects, when applied experimentally, and evaluated the community recovery process after high pressure water flushing. It was intended to compare the cleanup procedures on an ecological point of view. It is intended to define criteria ecologically coherent for the cleanup of rocky shores on the region. The study area is on Barequeçaba beach, São Sebastião, S.P., were one shore area, previously studied, received 50 liters of crude oil during 7 consecutive days. From the seven permanent study transects, 3 remained with oil, 2 were flushed with a 2500 PSI pressure. 2 transects were the controls. The sampling period was of 2 and a half year. It is concluded that the applications of crude oil didn\'t caused visible impact on the studied community, and the natural variations were responsible for the observed fluctuations, except for Siphonaria hispida, Acmaea subrugosa and Crassostrea rhizophorae, species that presented variations that could be related to the contact with the oil. To confirm these conclusions it must be done more accurate studies with these species. The flushing was a very destructive method to the community, which needed more than 2 years to return to the equilibrium state. It is concluded that this method, like the other mechanical cleanup techniques, with similar effects, must be avoided.

Costões rochosos da região de São Sebastião são ecossistemas muito vulneráveis a derrames de petróleo, devido à proximidade do Terminal Petrolífero Almirante Barroso (TEBAR) da PETROBRÁS. Foram documentados 144 vazamentos nos últimos 14 anos, na região. No terminal circulam 30.000.000 toneladas de petróleo por ano, cerca de 55 % da circulação nacional. Pouco se sabe sobre a estrutura da comunidade existente nos costões do canal de São Sebastião, especialmente quanto aos efeitos do petróleo na biota. Os procedimentos de limpeza empregados nestes costões têm sido definidos, principalmente, com base em aspectos estéticos e não ecológicos, o que termina por gerar impactos adicionais muitas vezes mais sérios que os do próprio petróleo. O presente estudo visou avaliar os efeitos do petróleo, aplicado experimentalmente, e acompanhar a recuperação da comunidade após o jateamento com água a alta pressão, avaliando-se a eficiência deste método de limpeza, do ponto de vista ecológico. Pretendeu-se, com isso, definir critérios ecologicamente coerentes para a limpeza de costões rochosos na região. O local do experimento situa-se na praia de Barequeçaba, São Sebastião, S. P., onde uma faixa de costão rochoso previamente estudada recebeu experimentalmente 50 litros de petróleo durante sete dias consecutivos. Dos sete transectos permanentes de estudo, três permaneceram com óleo, dois foram jateados com água à pressão de 2500 libras por polegada quadrada (PSI), além dos dois transectos controle. As amostragens pós impacto duraram dois anos e meio. Concluiu-se que as aplicações de petróleo não causaram impacto perceptível na comunidade estudada, sendo que as maiores alterações observadas foram atribuídas às variações naturais, exceto para Siphonaria hispida, Acmaea subrugosa e Crassostrea rhizophorae, espécies que apresentaram alterações que podem estar relacionadas ao contato com o petróleo. A confirmação destas conclusões necessita de estudos específicos mais aprofundados. O jateamento foi um método de limpeza altamente impactante à comunidade, a qual necessitou de mais de dois anos para retornar às condições de equilíbrio. Concluiu-se que este método, assim como outros métodos de limpeza mecânica, com efeitos similares, devem ser evitados. / Rocky shores of São Sebastião region are vulnerable ecosystems to oil spills, due to the proximity of the Petroleum Terminal Almirante Barroso (TEBAR) from PETROBRÁS. It was documented 144 spills in the last 14 years, at the area. Few studies were done about the community structure of rocky shores on São Sebastião Channel, specially including the effects of petroleum on the biota. The cleaning procedures employed on these shores have been defined, mainly, on aesthetical basis and not ecological basis, generating additional impacts sometimes bigger than those caused by the oil itself. The present study focused the evaluation of the oil effects, when applied experimentally, and evaluated the community recovery process after high pressure water flushing. It was intended to compare the cleanup procedures on an ecological point of view. It is intended to define criteria ecologically coherent for the cleanup of rocky shores on the region. The study area is on Barequeçaba beach, São Sebastião, S.P., were one shore area, previously studied, received 50 liters of crude oil during 7 consecutive days. From the seven permanent study transects, 3 remained with oil, 2 were flushed with a 2500 PSI pressure. 2 transects were the controls. The sampling period was of 2 and a half year. It is concluded that the applications of crude oil didn\'t caused visible impact on the studied community, and the natural variations were responsible for the observed fluctuations, except for Siphonaria hispida, Acmaea subrugosa and Crassostrea rhizophorae, species that presented variations that could be related to the contact with the oil. To confirm these conclusions it must be done more accurate studies with these species. The flushing was a very destructive method to the community, which needed more than 2 years to return to the equilibrium state. It is concluded that this method, like the other mechanical cleanup techniques, with similar effects, must be avoided.

International trade in large amounts of commodities resulted in the recent growth of the shipping industry. With larger ships being constructed to meet land based demands for various types of commodities combined with the unpredictable and often perilous conditions at sea, the risk of a shipwreck arising becomes more likely. Not only do these wrecks pose a danger to the environment and to navigation but also, in the event of the shipowner escaping liability by abandoning the wreck for instance, the state affected by the wreck finds itself financially burdened by the costs involved in having the wreck removed. Moreover, an affected state cannot intervene and impose conditions to the shipowner to have a wreck removed if it occurred in its exclusive economic zone because the state’s jurisdiction is limited to preserving natural resources. Thus, despite drifting cargo and the ship itself posing a hazard to coastal states, they had no authority to intervene and issue a wreck removal notice. Recognising these safety concerns and lacunae in international law, the International Maritime Organisation formulated the Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, 2007, (“Nairobi Convention”) which was aimed at governing the regulation of removing wrecks whilst imposing strict liability on the shipowner, subject to the other liability Conventions and limitation of liability. However, after a survey was conducted by the Comitè Maritime International it was also established that national laws of many states such as the United Kingdom (“UK”) and South Africa were inadequate to enforce liability claims for costs incurred in removing a wreck. As a result, the Convention allows contracting states to apply the provisions of the Convention to their territorial sea. This dissertation will discuss relevant provisions of the Nairobi Convention and illustrate how it has been implemented and consequently reformed the law of the United Kingdom. The dissertation will then analyse the implementation strategy which enforces the Convention in the UK, with the aim of providing a suggestion of how South Africa should enforce the Convention into its national laws. This will lead to an assessment of the current legislative framework governing wreck removal in South Africa with the aim of establishing whether the law is need of reform and how this should be facilitated. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

Computer Aided Design (CAD) models often need to be processed due to data translation issues and requirements of the downstream applications like computational field simulation, rapid rototyping, computer graphics,computational manufacturing, and real-time rendering before they can be used. Automatic CAD model processing tools can significantly reduce the amount of time and cost associated with the manual processing.In this dissertaion, automated topology generation and feature removal techniques are developed to prepare suitable models with mimunum user interaction. A topology generation algorithm, commonly known as CAD repairing/healing, is presented to detect commonly found geometrical and topological issues like cracks, gaps, overlaps, intersections, T-connections, and no/invalid topology in the model, process them and build correct topological information. The present algorithm is based on the iterative vertex pair contraction and expansion operations called stitching and filling respectively. The algorithm closes small gaps/overlaps via the stitching operation and fills larger gaps by adding faces through the filling operation to process the model accurately. Processed models are guaranteed to be free of intersecting faces or surfaces. Moreover, the topology generation algorithm can process manifold as well as non-manifold models, which makes the procedure more general and flexible. This algorithm uses an automatic and adaptive distance threshold that enhances reliability of the process and preserves small features in the model. In addition, a spatial data structure, the octree, is used for searching and neighbor finding to process large models efficiently. In this way, the combination of generality, accuracy, reliability, and efficiency of this algorithm seems to be a significant improvement over existing techniques. Results are presented showing the effectiveness of the algorithm to process two- and three-dimensional configurations. Feature detection and removal and feature collapse algorithms are presented to detect and remove small features from CAD models automatically. The feature detection and removal algorithm uses a feature size measure based on the surface area and perimeter to detect small features accurately and remove them from the model. Small feature removal may create holes in the model that are post-processed using the stitching and/or filling operations of the topology generation algorithm. The feature collapse algorithm is based on the iterative vertex pair contraction operation, which is a generalization of an edge-collapse operation, to collapse small features. Unlike previous efforts that use edge-collapse as a dimension reduction operator, the feature collapse algorithm can pair up any arbitrary vertices and perform iterative vertex pair contraction to collapse small features as well as glue unconnected regions. Results showing the automatic detection and removal of most commonly found small features like small edges/faces, fillets, chamfers, nuts, and bolts from real mechanical parts are presented.

O presente trabalho apresenta os resultados obtidos na avaliação dos problemas ambientais relacionados a lixiviação de poluentes do lixão próximo ao Ribeirão dos Moinhos na cidade de Poços de Caldas (MG). O estudo considera as características geológicas - geotécnicas e climáticas da área e os vários tipos de técnicas de \"cleanup\". O software Visual Modflow foi usado para desenvolver simulações em termos de fluxo de água subsuperficial e de transporte de poluentes. / This work presents the results obtained from assessment of the environment problems related to the pollutant lixiviation from the urban wastes disposed near the Moinho River in Poços de Caldas (MG) city. The study considered the geological - geotechnical and climatic characteristics of the area and the main kinds of cleanup techniques. The software Visual Modflow were used to developed the simulation in terms of groundwater flow and pollutant transport.

O presente trabalho apresenta os resultados obtidos na avaliação dos problemas ambientais relacionados a lixiviação de poluentes do lixão próximo ao Ribeirão dos Moinhos na cidade de Poços de Caldas (MG). O estudo considera as características geológicas - geotécnicas e climáticas da área e os vários tipos de técnicas de \"cleanup\". O software Visual Modflow foi usado para desenvolver simulações em termos de fluxo de água subsuperficial e de transporte de poluentes. / This work presents the results obtained from assessment of the environment problems related to the pollutant lixiviation from the urban wastes disposed near the Moinho River in Poços de Caldas (MG) city. The study considered the geological - geotechnical and climatic characteristics of the area and the main kinds of cleanup techniques. The software Visual Modflow were used to developed the simulation in terms of groundwater flow and pollutant transport.

Cable-actuated manipulators (or 'cable robots') constitute a relatively new classification of robots which use motors, located at fixed remote locations, to manipulate an end-effector by extending or retracting cables. These manipulators possess a number of unique properties which make them proficient with tasks involving high payloads, large workspaces, and dangerous or contaminated environments. However, a number of challenges exist which have limited the mainstream emergence of cable robots. This thesis addresses two of the most important of these issues-- workspace analysis and disturbance compensation. Workspace issues are particularly important, as many large-scale applications require the end-effector to operate in regions of a particular shape, and to exert certain minimum forces throughout those regions. The 'Force-Feasible Workspace' represents the set of end-effector positions, for a given robot design, for which the robot can exert a set of required forces on its environment. This can be considered as the robot's 'usable' workspace, and an analysis of this workspace shape for point-mass cable robots is therefore presented to facilitate optimal cable robot design. Numerical simulation results are also presented to validate the analytical results, and to aid visualization of certain complex workspace shapes. Some cable robot applications may require mounting motors to moving bases (i.e. mobile robots) or other surfaces which are subject to disturbances (i.e. helicopters or crane arms). Such disturbances can propagate to the end-effector and cause undesired motion, so the rejection of motor mount disturbances is also of interest. This thesis presents a strategy for measuring these disturbances and compensating for them. General approaches and implementation issues are explored qualitatively with a simple one-degree-of-freedom prototype (including a strategy for mitigating accelerometer drift), and quantitative simulation results are presented as a proof of concept.