Den här rapporten handlar om en ändring i livsmedelsföretaget Freezing Food Småland Öland AB:s avfrostningsrutin för deras förångare i frysrummet. Ändringen gick ut på att avfrostningstiden och maxtemperaturen sänktes samt att tiden mellan avfrostningarna nu sker varannan i stället för varje natt. Syftet var att undersöka om ändringen av rutinen hade bidragit till en minskad energiförbrukning i förhållande till innan ändringen gjordes genom att också granska andra faktorer än själva avfrostningen som kunde tänkas påverka energiförbrukningen. Metoden gick ut på att insamla och analysera stora datamängder tillhandahållna av företaget för att sedan reducera dem till hanterbara siffror. Även data för lokala utomhustemperaturer samlades in. Med hjälp av detta beräknades medelvärden för en given tidsperiod för energiförbrukning, lagerhållning och utomhustemperatur. Resultatet visade en sänkning av energiförbrukningen, hur stor andel som berodde på avfrostningens ändrade rutiner lämnade undersökningen obesvarat. Utomhustemperaturen bör ha minskat effektbehovet, samtidigt bör lagerhållningen ökat den. Slutsatsen blev att mer tid behövde passera och en ny undersökning behöver framställas efter att avfrostningsrutinen ändrades för att möjliggöra en säkrare bedömning. / This report is about a change in the food company Freezing Food Småland Öland AB’s defrosting routine for their evaporators in the freezer warehouse. The change was that the defrosting time and maximum temperature were reduced and that the time between defrostings now takes place every other night instead of every night. The aim was to examine whether the change in the routine had contributed to a reduction in energy consumption compared to before the change was made by also examining factors other than defrosting itself that might affect energy consumption. The method was to collect and analyze large amounts of data provided by the company and then reduce them to manageable figures. Data for local outdoor temperatures were also collected. This calculated averages for a given time period for energy consumption, warehousing and outdoor temperature. The results showed a decrease in energy consumption, the proportion due to the change in defrosting procedures left the investigation unanswered. The outdoor temperature should have reduced the power requirement, at the same time the storage should have increased it. It was concluded that more time needed to pass,and a new study needed to be produced after the defrosting routine was changed to allow for a safer assessment.

The energy used by building sector accounts for approximately 40% of the total energy usage. In residential buildings, 30-60% of this energy is used for space heating which is mainly wasted by transmission heat losses. A share of 20-30% is lost by the discarded residential wastewater and the rest is devoted to ventilation heat loss.   The main objective of this work was to evaluate the thermal potential of residential wastewater for improving the performance of mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) systems during the coldest periods of year. The recovered heat from wastewater was used to preheat the incoming cold outdoor air to the MVHR in order to avoid frost formation on the heat exchanger surface.   Dynamic simulations using TRNSYS were used to evaluate the performance of the suggested air preheating systems as well as the impact of air preheating on the entire system. Temperature control systems were suggested based on the identified frost thresholds in order to optimally use the limited thermal capacity of wastewater and maintain high temperature efficiency of MVHR. Two configurations of air preheating systems with temperature stratified and unstratified tanks were designed and compared. A life cycle cost analysis further investigated the cost effectiveness of the studied systems.   The results obtained by this research work indicated that residential wastewater had the sufficient thermal potential to reduce the defrosting need of MVHR systems (equipped with a plate heat exchanger) in central Swedish cities to 25%. For colder regions in northern Sweden, the defrosting time was decreased by 50%. The temperature control systems could assure MVHR temperature efficiencies of more than 80% for most of the heating season while frosting period was minimized. LCC analysis revealed that wastewater air preheating systems equipped with temperature stratified and unstratified storage tanks could pay off their costs in 17 and 8 years, respectively. / <p>QC 20190830</p>

<p dir="ltr">Structural instability, traditionally deemed undesirable in engineering, can be leveraged for beneficial outcomes through intelligent design. One notable instance is elastic buckling, often leading to structures with two stable equilibria (bistable). Connecting bistable elements to form multistable mechanical metamaterials can enable the discretization and offer tunability of mechanical properties without the need for continuous energy input.<i> </i>In this work, we study the physics of these multistable metamaterials and utilize their state and property alterations along with snap-through instabilities resulting from state change for engineering applications. These materials hold potential for diverse applications, including mechanical and thermo-mechanical defrosting, energy absorption, energy harvesting, and mechanical storage and computation.</p><p dir="ltr">Focusing on defrosting, we find that the energy-efficient mechanical method using embedded bistable structures in heat exchanger fins significantly outperforms the thermal methods. The combination of manufacturing methods, material choice, boundary conditions, and actuation methodologies is systematically investigated to enhance defrosting performance. A purely mechanical strategy is effective against solid, glaze-like ice accumulations; however, performance is substantially diminished for low-density frost. To address this limitation, we study frost formation on the angular shape morphing fins and subsequently introduce a thermo-mechanical defrosting strategy. This hybrid approach focuses on the partial phase transition of low-density frost to solid ice through thermal methods, followed by mechanical defrosting. We experimentally validate this approach on a multistable heat exchanger fin pack.</p><p dir="ltr">Recent advancements have led to a new paradigm of reusable energy-absorbing materials, known as Phase Transforming Cellular Materials (PXCM) that utilize multiple negative stiffness elements connected in series. We explore the feasibility of this multistable metamaterial as frequency up-conversion material and utilize these phase transformations for energy harvesting. We experimentally demonstrate the energy-harvesting capabilities of a phase-transforming unit-cell-spring configuration and investigate the potential of multicell PXCM as an energy harvesting material.</p><p dir="ltr">The evolution towards intelligent matter, or physical intelligence, in the context of mechanical metamaterials can be characterized into four distinct stages: static, responsive, adaptive, and intelligent mechanical metamaterials. In the pursuit of designing intelligent mechanical metamaterials, there has been a resurgence in the field of mechanical computing. We utilize multistable metamaterials to develop mechanical storage systems that encode memory via bistable state changes and decode it through a global stiffness readout. We establish upper bounds for maximum memory capacity in elastic bit blocks and propose an optimal stiffness distribution for unique and identifiable global states. Through both parallel and series configurations, we realize various logic gates, thereby enabling in-memory computation. We further extend this framework by incorporating viscoelastic mechano-bits, which mimic the decay of neuronal action potentials. This allows for temporal stiffness modulation and results in increased memory storage via non-abelian behavior, for which we define a fundamental time limit of detectability. Additionally, we investigate information entropy in both elastic and viscoelastic systems, showing that temporal neural coding schemes can extend the system’s entropy beyond conventional limits. This is experimentally validated and shown to not only enhance memory storage but also augment computational capabilities.</p><p dir="ltr">The work in this thesis establishes multistability as a key design principle for developing responsive, adaptive, and intelligent materials, opening new avenues for future research in the field of multistable metamaterials.</p>

<p dir="ltr">This thesis presents a comprehensive dynamic modeling and model calibration framework and experimental validations for air-source heat pumps under cycling of frosting and reverse-cycle defrosting operations. </p>

The energy consumption in the world continues to increase, which makes energy saving measures important. In Sweden, where buildings account for a large part of total energy use, heat exchangers in ventilation are important to reduce energy consumption. However, Sweden's winters are often cold over large parts of the country, causing frost in the heat exchanger and high and uneven heating power requirements for ventilation units. The heating system in the building is required to manage the biggest power demand that may arise. From the ventilation unit, the greatest heating power requirement is arise in the event of frost conditions, as the power requirement from the heating coil increases during defrosting. By installing an accumulator tank together with the ventilation unit, the power requirement can be evened out. Power requirement for three different scenarios where the storage tank is used has been calculated. By using thermodynamic equations and measurements from Swegon counter flow heat exchanger results were accomplished. Optimal defrosting cycle times were evaluated by theory and equations. Other defrosting methods have been calculated to be compared to the solution with the accumulator tank. In a case with 600 litres per seconds supply and exhaust air flow, outdoor temperature at -10 ° C, the power requirement to the unit could be reduced by 67 % using an accumulator tank. An accumulator tank with a volume of 73 litres was required. By using an accumulator tank with the ventilation unit, investment costs could decrease by approximately 18 000 SEK when district heating is used as energy source. However, the solution with the storage tank will not be able to reduce district heating costs more than reduced flow cost for the district heating. If a heat pump I used approximately 95 000 SEK in investment cost could be saved when using an accumulator tank. Electricity cost could also be reduced but not much. Compared to other defrosting methods, the solution with accumulator tank will require the lowest power requirement for the ventilation unit, heat recover  most energy in the heat exchanger and at the same time create an even heat power requirement at frost conditions. / Energianvändningen i världen fortsätter öka vilket gör energisparåtgärder viktiga. I Sverige där byggnader står för en stor del av den totala energianvändningen är värmeväxlare inom ventilation viktiga för att minska energiförbrukningen. Dock är Sveriges vintrar ofta kalla över stora delar av landet vilket orsakar frostproblem i värmeväxlaren och högt och ojämnt värmeeffektbehov till ventilationsaggregat. Byggnadens värmesystem måste dimensioneras efter det största effektbehov som kan uppstå. Från ventilationsaggregatet sker det största värmeeffektbehovet vid frostförhållanden eftersom effektbehovet från värmebatteriet ökar vid avfrostning. Genom att installera en ackumulatortank tillsammans med ventilationsaggregatet skulle effektbehovet kunna jämnas ut. Effektbehov för tre olika scenarion där ackumulatortank används har beräknats. Det skedde genom användande av termodynamiska ekvationer och mätningar från Swegons motströmsvärmeväxlare. Tiden för hur lång avfrostningscykel som är optimal har utvärderas genom teori och ekvationer. Andra avfrostnings metoder har beräknats för att kunna jämföras med lösningen med ackumulatortank. I ett fall med till-och frånluftflöde på 600 l/s och dimensionerande utomhustemperatur på -10 °C kunde effektbehovet fram till aggregatet minskas med 67% genom att använda en ackumulatortank. En ackumulatortank med volymen 73 liter krävdes. Genom att använda en ackumulatortank tillsammans med ventilationsaggregatet kunde investeringskostnaden kunna minskamed cirka 18000 kr när fjärrvärme används som energikälla. Lösningen med ackumulatortank kommer dock inte kunna minska fjärrvärmekostnaden mer än att minska eventuell flödeskostnad för fjärrvärmen. Vid användande av bergvärmepump skulle cirka 95000 kr i investeringskostnad kunna sparas vid användande av ackumulatortank. Eleffektkostnaden kunde även minskas men relativt lite. Jämfört med andra avfrostningsmetoder kommer en lösning med ackumulatortank kräva lägst effektbehov till ventilationsaggregatet, återvinna mest energi i värmeväxlaren och samtidigt skapa ett jämt värmeeffektbehov under frostförhållanden.

Dans un objectif de réduction des consommations énergétiques et des impacts environnementaux, la pompe à chaleur (PAC) s'est imposée comme une alternative aux systèmes à combustion fossile pour le chauffage et la production d'eau chaude sanitaire dans les secteurs résidentiel et tertiaire. Les industriels ne cessent de chercher à accroitre la performance énergétique des pompes à chaleur. Toutefois, un phénomène encore mal maitrisé limite les progrès : le givrage. En effet, dans certaines conditions de température et d'humidité de l'air extérieur, du givre peut se former sur la surface de l'évaporateur de la PAC, provoquant ainsi une chute de performance. En France, près de 98 % des PAC du marché utilisent l'air extérieur comme source de chaleur et sont donc exposées à ce phénomène. Malgré des logiques de dégivrage de plus en plus sophistiquées mises en œuvre par les industriels, le fonctionnement cyclique givrage/dégivrage réduit fortement les performances des PAC. Pour optimiser les méthodes de dégivrage, il est nécessaire de comprendre en amont, les mécanismes d'apparition et de croissance du givre. Ce travail de thèse propose ainsi d'étudier la formation et le développement du givre sur une plaque plane refroidie. Une étude approfondie de la bibliographie a permis d'établir des bases de données regroupant des points expérimentaux de l'épaisseur et de la masse volumique du givre. Des modèles et corrélations de formation du givre disponibles dans la littérature ont été reproduits et appliqués à ces bases de données afin d'évaluer la capacité de prédiction de chacun de ces modèles. Les plus performants ont ainsi pu être identifiés. En parallèle, un banc d'essais a été conçu pour observer la formation et la croissance du givre sur une plaque plane. L'étude de sensibilité menée sur la température de l'air, la température de la plaque froide, la vitesse de l'air et l'humidité relative a permis d'évaluer l'impact de ces paramètres sur la formation du givre, et plus particulièrement sur trois de ses propriétés : l'épaisseur, la masse volumique et la conductivité thermique. L'humidité relative et la température de la plaque froide ont été identifiées comme les paramètres prépondérants. Un des résultats importants de ce travail a été de mettre en évidence le rôle de la structure du givre sur ses propriétés (masse volumique et conductivité). Les points expérimentaux obtenus sur le banc d'essais ont été comparés aux résultats issus des modèles de la littérature. Les méthodes de prédiction identifiées comme satisfaisantes dans la partie bibliographique de cette thèse ont fourni des résultats similaires d'un point de vue statistique. Des perspectives de travail ont également été proposées. / In the energy consumption and environmental impact reduction goal, heat pumps emerged as an alternative to fossil fuel systems for space heating and hot water production in residential and tertiary sectors. Manufacturers still try to improve energy performance of heat pumps. However, a non-controlled phenomenon is limiting progress: frosting. Indeed, in some outdoor air temperature and relative humidity conditions, frost can form on the heat pump evaporator surface, leading to performance reduction. On the French market, almost 98 % of the heat pumps are using outdoor air as heat source and are thus affected. Despite more and more sophisticated defrosting strategies, the frosting/defrosting cyclic operation strongly reduces heat pump performance. For optimizing defrosting strategies, there is a need understanding frost appearance and growth mechanisms. This PhD work thus proposes to study frost formation and development on a cold plane plate. An in-depth bibliography study helped establishing databases gathering experimental points on frost thickness and frost density. Models and correlations of frost formation available in the literature have been reproduced and applied to the databases in order to evaluate their prediction capacity. The most performing models have been identified. Meanwhile, an experimental bench allowing visualization of frost formation and development on a cold plane plate has been set up. The sensitivity analysis on air temperature, cold plate temperature, air velocity and relative humidity allowed an evaluation of these parameters impact on frost formation, and more particularly on three of its properties thickness, density and thermal conductivity. Relative humidity and cold plate temperature have been identified as the leading parameters. One of the main results of this work was to highlight the frost crystal structure role on properties (i.e. density and thermal conductivity). Experimental data points obtained with the test bench have been compared to the results provided by literature models. Predictive methods identified as satisfying in the bibliography study gave similar results (from a statistical point of view). Perspectives for future work have also been proposed.

This diploma thesis targets on diagnostics and assessment of bridge structure Most Kaštanová přes Svitavu, reg. number 380-001. Concrete material characteristics have been assessed in laboratory, after visual inspection, diagnostical testing and sample core drilling were made. Findings from laboratory tests are summarized in the conclusion of the thesis. It focuses on an evaluation of current bridge condition and presents various options that will help polong lifetime of the bridge.

Master‘s thesis focuses on concrete combined with polypropylen fibres produced commercially, fibres without surface modifications and fibres modificated by plasma. Most important topic of the thesis is experimental verification of influence of plasma modificated fibres on attributes of fresh concrete and physical-mechanical attributes of solidified concrete. Based on the results of the tests perfomed on examin units compares results and anylyses applicability of different fibre surface modifications.