abstract: The North American Monsoon (NAM) is a late summer increase in precipitation fundamentally caused by a wind shift that is evident in the southwestern United States and northwest Mexico from approximately June-August. Increased precipitation during these months bring an increased regional threat from heavy rains, blowing dust, and damaging storms. (Adams and Comrie 1997). Researchers in Phoenix, AZ theorized that using surface dewpoint measurements was an objective way to officially mark the start of the NAM in Phoenix, AZ (and Tucson, AZ). Specifically, they used three consecutive days at or above a certain dewpoint temperature (Franjevic 2017). The justification for this method was developed by Reitan (1957) who established that 25.4mm (1.00”) of integrated precipitable water (IPW) was a sufficient threshold to create storm activity in the NAM region. He also determined (Reitan 1963) that a strong correlation existed between (IPW) and surface dewpoint (Td), whereas, Td could be used as a proxy to determine IPW. I hypothesize that the correlation coefficients between IPW and Td will be greatest when using seasonal mean averages of IPW and Td, and they will decrease with shortened mean timescales (from seasonal to three-days). Second, I hypothesize that there is a unique relationship between IPW/Td that may signal monsoon onset. To conduct this study, I used the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) dataset (1979-2015). For ten locations in the Southwest, I conducted a series of statistical analyses between IPW, Td, and accumulated precipitation. I determined that there is a correlation between the two as set forth by Reitan (1963) as well as (Benwell 1965; Smith 1966; Ojo 1970). However, from the results I concluded this relationship is highly variable, spatially and temporally. Additionally, when comparing the three-hour, three-day, and the weekly mean measurements, I can conclude that, for my study, timescale averaging did enhance the IPW/Td relationship from three-hour to weekly as expected. The temporal and spatial evolution of the IPW/Td correlation as presented in this thesis may provide a framework for future research that reevaluates the NAM’s domain and the associated methods for determining its onset. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Geography 2017

<p>Heat exchanger tubes are commonly made from stainless steel.In a heat exchanger both the process fluid and the cooling orheating media can be corrosive. It is therefore important to beable to select materials that do not suffer from corrosion.Current methods in this area, however, suffer from limitationsand shortcomings. This thesis concerns corrosion tests forgeneral corrosion, dewpoint corrosion and stress corrosioncracking, respectively. For evaluation of general corrosion ofsuperduplex stainless steels in hydrochloric acid and sulphuricacid the importance of activation was studied. The results showthat activation has a great influence on the test result.Further the results indicate that experimental differences canbe the explanation for previously reported differences incorrosion resistance of superduplex stainless steel that havebeen attributed to the alloying with Cu and W. Furthermore, asimple test loop for testing stainless steels under dew formingconditions with a formed condensate of 1 % hydrochloric acidhas been developed. In the work constant strain and constantload test result have been compared and the observationsindicate that the differences can be explained by differencesin the relaxation properties of the materials.</p><p><b>Key words:</b>corrosion testing, heat exchanger, stainlesssteel, general corrosion, immersion tests, activation, stresscorrosion cracking, constant load, u-bends, relaxation,dewpoint corrosion</p>

Hydrogen is the smallest element in the periodical table. It has been shown in several studies that hydrogen has a large influence on the corrosion and cracking behaviour of stainless steels. Hydrogen is involved in several of the most common cathode reactions during corrosion and can also cause embrittlement in many stainless steels. Some aspects of the effect of hydrogen on corrosion and hydrogen-induced stress cracking, HISC, of stainless steels were studied in this work. These aspects relate to activation of test specimens for uniform corrosion testing, modification of a test cell for dewpoint corrosion testing and the mechanism of hydrogen-induced stress cracking. The results from uniform corrosion testing of superduplex stainless steels indicated that there is a large difference between passive and activated surfaces in hydrochloric acid and in lower concentrations of sulphuric acid. Hence, initial activation of the test specimen until hydrogen evolution can have a large influence on the results. This may provide another explanation for the differences in iso-corrosion curves for superduplex stainless steels that have previously been attributed to alloying with copper and/or tungsten. In concentrated sulphuric acid, potential oscillations were observed; these oscillations activated the specimen spontaneously. Due to these potential oscillations the influence of activation was negligible in this acid. An experimental set-up was developed for testing dewpoint corrosion of stainless steels in a condensate containing 1 % hydrochloric acid. There was an existing experimental set-up that had to be modified in order to avoid azeotroping of the water and hydrogen chloride system. A separate flask with hydro chloric acid was included in the experimental set-up. The final set-up provided reasonably good agreement with field exposures in contrary to much higher corrosion rates in the original set-up. Relaxation and low temperature creep experiments have been performed with several stainless steels in this work. The aim was to understand how creep and relaxation relates to material properties and the relative ranking between the tested materials. For low temperature creep with a load generating stresses below the yield strength, as well relaxation at stress levels above and below the yield strength, the same ranking with respect to changes in mechanical properties of the steel grades was found. For low temperature creep with a load level above the yield strength, the same ranking was not obtained. This effect can most probably be explained by annihilation and generation of dislocations. During low temperature creep above the yield strength, dislocations were generated. In addition, low temperature creep experiments were performed forone superduplex stainless steel in two different product forms with differentaustenite spacing in the microstructure. The superduplex material experienced low temperature creep at a lower load level for the material with large austenite spacing compared to the one with smaller austenite spacing. Also this differenceis influenced by dislocations. In a material with small austenite spacing the dislocations have more obstacles that they can be locked up against. Studies of the fracture surfaces of hydrogen induced stress cracking, HISC, tested duplex stainless steels showed that HISC is a hydrogen-enhanced localised plasticity, HELP, mechanism. Here a mechanism that takes into account the inhomogeneous deformation of duplex stainless steels was proposed. This mechanism involves an interaction between hydrogen diffusion and plastic straining. Due to the different mechanical properties of the phases in a superduplex stainless steel, plastic straining due to low temperature creep can occur in the softer ferrite phase. A comparison between low temperature creep data showed that for the coarser grained material, HISC occurs at the load levelwhen creep starts. However, in the sample with small austenite spacing, HISC did not occur at this load level. Microhardness measurements indicated that the hydrogen level in the ferrite was not high enough to initiate cracking in the coarser material. The proposed mechanism shows that occurrence of HISC is an interaction between local plasticity and hydrogen diffusion. / QC20100618

Kondensbildning är ett stort problem i ishallar vilket leder till stora konsekvenser ifall det inte åtgärdas. Installation av ett avfuktningssystem är ett måste i ishallar men det betyder högre energianvändning. Denna studie undersöker hur RH-styrning (relativ fukthalt) för en avfuktare i PF Arenan lokaliserat i byn Lindefallet i Hudiksvalls kommun kan energieffektiviseras och samtidigt se till att kondensbildning undviks i ishallen. Kondensbildning i ishallar framkommer framförallt på takytan och isplanen. Kondens på isplanen sker när luftens absoluta luftfuktighet är större än den absoluta fuktigheten för isens gränsskikt. Eftersom isen har en temperatur under 0 °C så kommer vattnet att frysas på planen vilket åtgärdas genom att slipa isen med en ismaskin. Forskning visar att avfuktningsstyrning för att undvika kondens på isplanen leder till att avfuktaren blir överdimensionerad för att undvika takkondens. Konsekvenser för takkondens anses som mer allvarliga än de för kondens på isplanen, vilket har lett till att framtagning av ny styrning har fokuserat på att undvika takkondens. Mätningar har utförts i PF Arenans roterande sorptionsavfuktare och lufttillstånden inuti ishallen samt utomhus. Resultatet från mätningar används för att avgöra om det sker kondensbildning i ishallen. Olika styrstrategier jämförs med befintlig RH‑styrning för att fastställa vilka förbättringar som kan tillämpas. Resultat visar att vid stora personlaster och användning av ismaskinen leder till att takkondens framkommer under korta perioder. Samtidigt så går inte regenereringsbatteriet på maxeffekt under dessa perioder vilket betyder att avfuktningskapaciteten kan höjas. RH-styrning leder till överdimensionering i förhållande till båda kondensfenomenen under stora perioder, speciellt under kalla inomhustemperaturer. Föreslagen styrning går ut på att processluftens daggpunkt ska hållas två grader Celsius under takets yttemperatur. Styrningen kan definieras som en varierande daggpunktsstyrning. Det rekommenderas också att regenereringstemperaturen ökar ju mer börvärdet avviker från målfunktionen. Dock så analyserades inte en sådan ökning av regenereringstemperaturen i detalj. Det approximerades att ungefär 1 100 kWh el per månad kan sparas för avfuktaren motsvarande en energiminskning av 22 % gentemot den befintliga styrningen. Approximering förmodar att ismaskin slipar isen lika mycket med båda styrningarna och tar inte hänsyn till den ökade energianvändningen ifall högre regenereringstemperaturer tillämpas i avfuktaren. / Condensation is a major problem in ice rink arenas and if it is not resolved, will lead to construction damages. Generally, ice arenas use dehumidifiers to dehumidify the indoor air which causes an increase in energy use in the facility. This study investigates how the control strategy of the dehumidifier in the PF Arena localized in Lindefallet in Hudiksvall municipality can be improved to save energy while preventing the occurrence of condensation in the ice rink arena. Condensation in ice arenas occur on the ice surface and roof surface. Ice surface condensation occur if the indoor air humidity is higher than the humidity of the ice surface boundary layer. The ice will freeze the moisture onto the surface which require an ice resurfacer to flatten the playing field. Studies has shown that control strategies for dehumidification to prevent condensation on the ice surface results in oversizing of the dehumidifier for preventing condensation on the roof surface. And as condensation on roof surface leads to more serious consequences than that of ice surface condensation, it is of more interest to prevent the former. Measurements has been carried out on PF Arenan’s desiccant wheel dehumidifier and indoor as well as outdoor air. Results from measurements are used to analyze if any condensation occurs in the ice rink arena. Other control strategies are compared to the one used in PF Arenan to determine what improvements can be applied to the dehumidifier. Results show that during events and use of ice resurfacers some condensation on the roof surface occurs for short periods. During these periods, the regeneration heater does not use full power which could be used to increase the moisture removal capacity. The RH-control strategy results in oversizing for most hours when controlled to both condensation phenomenon, especially during cold temperatures. The recommended control strategy is to keep the dewpoint of the inlet process air 2 °C below the roof surface temperature. This control strategy is a type of variable dewpoint control function. It is also recommended to increase the regeneration temperature proportionally to the difference between the setpoint and the objective function. However, the results of this measure were not analyzed in detail. The new control strategy would approximately save 1 100 kWh per month over the current control function which amounts to an energy use decrease of 22 % for the dehumidifier. Assumed that behavior of ice resurfacing is not changed with the new control function and the approximation does not consider the increase of energy use if the regeneration temperature is increased.

Heat exchanger tubes are commonly made from stainless steel.In a heat exchanger both the process fluid and the cooling orheating media can be corrosive. It is therefore important to beable to select materials that do not suffer from corrosion.Current methods in this area, however, suffer from limitationsand shortcomings. This thesis concerns corrosion tests forgeneral corrosion, dewpoint corrosion and stress corrosioncracking, respectively. For evaluation of general corrosion ofsuperduplex stainless steels in hydrochloric acid and sulphuricacid the importance of activation was studied. The results showthat activation has a great influence on the test result.Further the results indicate that experimental differences canbe the explanation for previously reported differences incorrosion resistance of superduplex stainless steel that havebeen attributed to the alloying with Cu and W. Furthermore, asimple test loop for testing stainless steels under dew formingconditions with a formed condensate of 1 % hydrochloric acidhas been developed. In the work constant strain and constantload test result have been compared and the observationsindicate that the differences can be explained by differencesin the relaxation properties of the materials. <b>Key words:</b>corrosion testing, heat exchanger, stainlesssteel, general corrosion, immersion tests, activation, stresscorrosion cracking, constant load, u-bends, relaxation,dewpoint corrosion / NR 20140805