A utilização de aditivos incorporadores de ar em concretos é uma prática comum na construção civil e sua aplicação influencia significativamente diversas propriedades do concreto no estado fresco e endurecido. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a influência do teor de ar incorporado, por meio de aditivo, no desempenho de concretos com diferentes teores de agregados. O programa experimental incluiu avaliação da eficiência de aditivos na incorporação de ar em pastas de cimento, análise microestrutural e ensaios para determinação de propriedades físicas, mecânicas e de durabilidade de concretos com diferentes teores de ar e agregados. No estado fresco, foram realizados ensaios para determinação do teor de ar, massa específica e abatimento. No estado endurecido foram realizados ensaios de massa específica, absorção, resistência à compressão, módulo de elasticidade, velocidade de propagação da onda ultrassônica, carbonatação acelerada e condutividade térmica. Utilizando Microtomografia Computadorizada de Raios-X (Micro-CT) foram dimensionados e quantificados os poros presentes nas amostras dos concretos, bem como determinadas suas porosidades. Os concretos com ar incorporado apresentaram redução na resistência mecânica. Os concretos com menores teores de agregados apresentaram menor resistência mecânica, menor velocidade da frente de carbonatação e menor condutividade térmica. De acordo com os resultados obtidos, pode-se concluir que o aditivo a base de resinas sintéticas foi mais eficiente na incorporação de ar; maiores teores de ar implicam em variabilidade nos resultados de ensaios de resistência à compressão e módulo de elasticidade; os concretos com maiores teores de agregados apresentaram maior velocidade da frente de carbonatação, para mesmos teores de ar incorporado; a condutividade térmica é inversamente proporcional ao teor de ar incorporado no concreto, e quanto menor o teor de agregados, menor a condutividade térmica; o aumento do teor de ar no concreto promove aumento no diâmetro equivalente dos poros e redução da incidência de poros esféricos. / The use of entraining air additives in concrete is a common practice in construction and its application influences several concrete properties in the fresh and hardened state. The aim of this study was evaluate the influence of air entrained content, by additive, in concrete performance with different aggregate contents. The experimental program included the evaluation of additives effectiveness of air entrainment in cement pastes, microstructural analysis and the concretes physical and mechanical properties and durability, with different levels of entrained air and aggregates. Tests were performed in fresh to determine the air content, density and slump. In hardened concrete, density, absorption, compressive strength, elastic modulus, ultrasonic pulse velocity, accelerated carbonation and thermal conductivity tests were performed. By computed X-ray microtomography, the pores present in the concrete samples were sized and quantified and determined the concretes porosities. The air entrained concrete presented decrease in mechanical strength. Concretes with lower aggregate levels presented lower mechanical strength, carbonation speed and thermal conductivity. According to the results, it can be concluded that the synthetic resins base additive was more efficient in air entrainment; larger air content implies variability in the results of the compressive strength and elastic modulus tests; concrete with higher aggregate levels presented higher carbonation speed, for the same entrained air content; thermal conductivity is inversely proportional to the air entrained content in concrete, and as lower was the aggregate content, lower was the thermal conductivity; the increase of air content in concrete promotes increase in the pores diameter and reduction of the incidence of spherical pores.

Gasification of black liquor is an alternative to the combustion of black liquor, which is currently the dominant form of chemical recovery in the paper industry. Gasification of black liquor offers the possibility of higher thermal efficiencies than combustion, reducing manufacturing costs and creating new revenue streams through a forest biorefinery. Pressurizing the gasification reactor further enhances the efficiency advantage of gasification over combustion. This study uses a pressurized entrained flow reactor (PEFR) to study black liquor gasification behavior under pressures, temperatures, and heating rates similar to those of next-generation high-temperature black liquor gasifiers. The effects of pressure on black liquor char morphology, gasification rates, pyrolysis carbon yields, and sulfur phase distribution were studied. These characteristics were investigated in three main groups of experiments at 900oC: pyrolysis (100% N2), gasification with constant partial pressure (0.25 bar H2O and 0.50 bar CO2), and gasification with constant mole fraction (10% CO2, 2% H2O, 1.7% CO, 0.3% H2), under five, ten, and fifteen bar total pressure. It was found that pressure had an impact on the char physical characteristics immediately after the char entered the reactor. Increasing pressure had the effect of decreasing the porosity of the chars. Pressure also affected particle destruction and reagglomeration mechanisms. Surface areas of gasification chars decreased with increasing pressures, but only at low carbon conversions. The rate of carbon conversion in gasification was shown to be a function of the gas composition near the particle, with higher levels of inhibiting gases slowing carbon conversion. The same phenomenon of product gas inhibition observed in gasification was used to explain carbon conversions in pyrolysis reactions. Sulfur distribution between condensed and gas phases was unaffected by increasing total pressure in the residence times investigated. Significant amounts of sulfur are lost during initial devolatilization. With water present this gas phase sulfur forms H2S and did not return to the condensed phase.

La gazéification de la biomasse permet d’obtenir un gaz de synthèse riche en CO et H2 utilisable pour la production d’électricité, de biocarburants ou de composés chimiques. Ce procédé permet de palier à l’épuisement des ressources fossiles. L’utilisation de boues d’épuration comme ressources de biomasse assurerait à ce type de déchets organiques une valorisation énergétique. Cependant, les boues contiennent une forte charge minérale (entre 30 et 50% massique). Cette fraction est composée d’une vingtaine d’oxyde notamment la silice, la chaux et l’oxyde de phosphore, P2O5 (plus de 15%).Les boues sont des systèmes complexes très peu étudiés jusqu'à présent. Il est donc nécessaire de connaitre le comportement en température des inorganiques afin de mesurer leur impact lors du processus de gazéification et de se prémunir contre les risques de corrosion et de pollution du gaz liés à leur présence. - Dans un premier temps, les températures de liquidus de deux fractions minérales de boues ont été déterminées. Il s’avère que celles-ci, comprises entre 1257°C et 1358°C, sont dans la plage opératoire d’un gazéifieur à lit entrainé. De plus, une étude menée sur le binaire SiO2-P2O5 a permis d’améliorer les bases de données thermodynamiques. - Dans un second temps, les études thermodynamiques et cinétiques de volatilisation du phosphore ont mis en évidence le faible relâchement en température du phosphore grâce à la formation de phases réfractaires associant l’oxyde de phosphore et la chaux tel que Ca3(PO4)2 et Ca9Fe(PO4)7. La volatilité des inorganiques des boues est inférieure à 0.5% massique. - Enfin, l’interaction entre les inorganiques liquides et plusieurs céramiques réfractaires a été étudiée, par des essais de corrosion statique et dynamique. Un matériau, constitué d’alumine et d’oxyde de chrome, s’est révélé être un excellent candidat pour le garnissage du réacteur de gazéification. / Synthesis gas can be obtained by biomass gasification. It is composed of CO and H2 and can be used for the production of electricity, organic coumpounds and biofuels. The use of sewage sludges allows exploiting this kind of waste as biomass resources. However, sewage sludges contain a large percentage of minerals (30 to 50 % wt) composed of at least 20 different oxides including silica, lime and phosphorous oxide, P2O5 (15 % wt of the minerals). Mineral matters of sludges are complex and not well known. So, it is necessary to study their behaviour in function of temperature to understand their impact during gasification process and avoid gas pollution and corrosion of the ceramic refractories. Firstly, liquidus temperatures of two different mineral matters were determined. The result shows that these temperatures, between 1257 and 1358°C, are in the operating range of the gasifier. Thus, a study of the binary system SiO2-P2O5 had enabled to enhance thermodynamic databases. Secondly, thermodynamic and kinetic studies, confirmed the low release of P2O5 in function of temperature due to the formation of refractory compounds like Ca3(PO4)2 and Ca9Fe(PO4)7. Release of inorganics from the sludge is less than 0.5 % wt. Finally, interaction between slag and different ceramic refractories was studied. Static and dynamic trials were performed to choose the most resistant ceramic refractory. One of them composed of alumina and chrome oxide proved to be a good choice to build the gasifier wall.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T15:18:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 capa_rosto_sumario_amalia silva alves.pdf: 117785 bytes, checksum: dfedb23b6700048a2384032a36be6cee (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-09-20 / The lack of cohesion in mortar renderings corresponds to the loss of mechanical strength among theirs layers due to the weakening of particles bond, a fact which is reflected, among other events, by a low surface resistance of these renderings. Thus, poor surface strength of mortar renderings accelerates their degradation process, leading to a significant reduction in the level of their performance and leading to failures in the functions assigned to them. In this context, this basically experimental research aimed to study the property of surface strength in mortar renderings. So, was investigated the applicability of some test techniques, pendulum hammer, dynamometer traction and ultrasounds (by indirect method) to evaluate surface characteristics of the mortar renderings. In addition, were also evaluated the effects of moisture absorbed by the renderings, the influences of composition, air entrained content and application way in the surface strength of the mortar renderings. In this study, the experimental program was divided into two stages. In the first stage, were used: one mortar mixed (cement: lime: sand) and one industrial mortar (with air entrained content equal 20%) applied in one type of substrate (concrete surface - standard substrate ABCP) by compressed air projection, so that their produced coverings were tested under different conditions of moisture (oven-dry, dry environment, wet and saturated). In the second stage, were used: one mortar mixed (cement: lime: sand) and three industrial mortars (with air entrained content equal 20%, 30% and 40%) applied to the substrate standard in three ways (manually, by means fall box and by compressed air projection). Using statistical criteria, the main results have shown a significant effect of the four mentioned factors on the surface strength, in view of the testing techniques used. However, only showed no significant the effect of moisture in the hardness index. / A falta de coesão dos revestimentos de argamassa corresponde à perda da resistência mecânica entre as suas camadas devida ao enfraquecimento das ligações entre partículas, fato que se traduz, dentre outras ocorrências, pela baixa resistência superficial desses revestimentos. Dessa maneira, a deficiente resistência superficial dos revestimentos de argamassa acelera o processo de degradação, conduzindo a uma queda significativa do nível de desempenho e ao não cumprimento das funções que lhe são atribuídas. Nesse contexto, o presente trabalho, eminentemente experimental, tem como objetivo geral estudar a propriedade resistência superficial em revestimentos de argamassa. Assim, foi investigada a aplicabilidade dos ensaios de esclerometria de pêndulo, de ultra-som (método indireto) e de determinação da resistência superficial empregando-se o dinamômetro de tração na avaliação das características da superfície dos revestimentos de argamassa. Alem disso, foram também avaliados os efeitos da umidade absorvida pelos revestimentos e ainda a influência da composição, do teor de ar e da forma de aplicação da argamassa na resistência superficial. Neste estudo, o programa experimental foi dividido em duas etapas. Na primeira etapa, foram utilizadas: uma argamassa mista (cimento: cal: areia) e uma argamassa industrializada (com teor de ar incorporado igual a 20%) aplicadas sobre um único tipo de substrato (superfície de concreto substrato-padrão da ABCP) por meio de projeção mecânica a ar comprimido, de modo que os respectivos revestimentos produzidos foram ensaiados sob diferentes condições de umidade (seco em estufa, seco ao ambiente, úmido e saturado). Na segunda etapa, foram utilizadas: uma argamassa mista (cimento: cal: areia) e três argamassas industrializadas (com teores de ar iguais a 20%, 30% e 40%), aplicadas ao substrato-padrão de três maneiras distintas (manual por meio de lançador de queda e por projeção mecânica ar comprimido). Como resultado, foi constatado, empregando-se critérios estatísticos, o efeito significativo na resistência superficial dos quatro fatores testados, tendo em vista as técnicas de ensaio empregadas. Não se mostrou significativo, contudo, o efeito da umidade nos valores de índice esclerométrico.

A utilização de aditivos incorporadores de ar em concretos é uma prática comum na construção civil e sua aplicação influencia significativamente diversas propriedades do concreto no estado fresco e endurecido. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a influência do teor de ar incorporado, por meio de aditivo, no desempenho de concretos com diferentes teores de agregados. O programa experimental incluiu avaliação da eficiência de aditivos na incorporação de ar em pastas de cimento, análise microestrutural e ensaios para determinação de propriedades físicas, mecânicas e de durabilidade de concretos com diferentes teores de ar e agregados. No estado fresco, foram realizados ensaios para determinação do teor de ar, massa específica e abatimento. No estado endurecido foram realizados ensaios de massa específica, absorção, resistência à compressão, módulo de elasticidade, velocidade de propagação da onda ultrassônica, carbonatação acelerada e condutividade térmica. Utilizando Microtomografia Computadorizada de Raios-X (Micro-CT) foram dimensionados e quantificados os poros presentes nas amostras dos concretos, bem como determinadas suas porosidades. Os concretos com ar incorporado apresentaram redução na resistência mecânica. Os concretos com menores teores de agregados apresentaram menor resistência mecânica, menor velocidade da frente de carbonatação e menor condutividade térmica. De acordo com os resultados obtidos, pode-se concluir que o aditivo a base de resinas sintéticas foi mais eficiente na incorporação de ar; maiores teores de ar implicam em variabilidade nos resultados de ensaios de resistência à compressão e módulo de elasticidade; os concretos com maiores teores de agregados apresentaram maior velocidade da frente de carbonatação, para mesmos teores de ar incorporado; a condutividade térmica é inversamente proporcional ao teor de ar incorporado no concreto, e quanto menor o teor de agregados, menor a condutividade térmica; o aumento do teor de ar no concreto promove aumento no diâmetro equivalente dos poros e redução da incidência de poros esféricos. / The use of entraining air additives in concrete is a common practice in construction and its application influences several concrete properties in the fresh and hardened state. The aim of this study was evaluate the influence of air entrained content, by additive, in concrete performance with different aggregate contents. The experimental program included the evaluation of additives effectiveness of air entrainment in cement pastes, microstructural analysis and the concretes physical and mechanical properties and durability, with different levels of entrained air and aggregates. Tests were performed in fresh to determine the air content, density and slump. In hardened concrete, density, absorption, compressive strength, elastic modulus, ultrasonic pulse velocity, accelerated carbonation and thermal conductivity tests were performed. By computed X-ray microtomography, the pores present in the concrete samples were sized and quantified and determined the concretes porosities. The air entrained concrete presented decrease in mechanical strength. Concretes with lower aggregate levels presented lower mechanical strength, carbonation speed and thermal conductivity. According to the results, it can be concluded that the synthetic resins base additive was more efficient in air entrainment; larger air content implies variability in the results of the compressive strength and elastic modulus tests; concrete with higher aggregate levels presented higher carbonation speed, for the same entrained air content; thermal conductivity is inversely proportional to the air entrained content in concrete, and as lower was the aggregate content, lower was the thermal conductivity; the increase of air content in concrete promotes increase in the pores diameter and reduction of the incidence of spherical pores.

Ce travail porte sur l'étude de la gazéification de biomasse en Réacteur à Flux Entrainé (RFE), dans le contexte du développement de procédés pour la production de biocarburants de deuxième génération. L'objectif de cette thèse est de modéliser les différents phénomènes qui régissent la conversion de la biomasse dans des conditions représentatives d'un RFE. La pyrolyse et la gazéification de particules de hêtre de taille comprise entre 315 et 415 µm ont été étudiées entre 800 et 1400°C en four à chute de laboratoire. L'influence de l'ajout de H2O, de CO2 et de O2 sur les produits de gazéification a été explorée, et les essais ont été simulés à partir d'un modèle 1D. L'ajout de H2O ou de CO2 permet de diminuer les rendements en char de manière significative. En phase gaz, l'influence principale de ces deux espèces est la modification de la composition en espèces majoritaires avec la réaction de gaz à l'eau. L'ajout de O2 a pour effet d'améliorer la conversion du carbone de la biomasse en gaz, et de réduire de manière significative la production de suies et de char. Le modèle, basé sur une chimie détaillée, permet de simuler ces essais de façon très satisfaisante sur toute la gamme de variation des conditions opératoires. La pyrolyse et la gazéification de particules de hêtre tamisées entre 1,12 et 1,25 mm a été étudiée en présence de O2. À 800, 1000 et 1200°C, la conversion de ces « grosses » particules est plus faible que celles des petites particules, mais à 1400°C la taille de particule n'a pas d'influence. Enfin, une étude expérimentale a été menée dans un RFE pilote pour étudier l'influence de la quantité de O2, de la taille de particule et de la pression sur la gazéification de particules de bois. Ces essais ont été simulés de façon satisfaisante en adaptant le modèle 1D. / The present work deals with biomass gasification in Entrained Flow Reactor (EFR) in the context of the development of new Biomass-to-Liquid processes. The objective of this study is to develop a comprehensive model to better understand the phenomena controlling biomass gasification in conditions representative of an EFR. Biomass pyrolysis and gasification of beech particles sieved between 315 and 450 µm have been studied between 800 and 1400°C in a drop tube furnace. The influence of H2O, CO2 and O2 addition on gasification products has been investigated and the tests have been simulated with a 1D model. The addition of H2O or CO2 leads to a significantly lower char yield. The main influence of these two oxidants in gas phase is the modification of major species composition with water gas shift reaction. With the addition of O2, the carbon conversion into gas is improved and the char and soot yields are significantly lower. The simulations are in very good agreement with the experimental results. Biomass pyrolysis and gasification of beech particles sieved between 1.12 and 1.25 mm have been studied in presence of O2. Between 800 and 1200°C the carbon conversion into gas is lower than with the smaller particles but at 1400°C the particle size has no influence. At last, the influence of O2 addition, particle size and pressure on biomass gasification has been studied in a pilot scale EFR. These experimental results have been satisfactorily simulated by adapting the 1D model.

The diploma thesis deals with the possibilities of evaluating the degradation of mechanical resistance of non-air-entrained concrete in the structure by frost cycles. The first part is focused on concrete, its resistance and test methods. This is followed by the definition of frost resistance, the effects of freeze-thaw on concrete at all stages of its service life and the possibilities of determining freeze-thaw resistance according to current standards. It describes in more detail selected test methods for determining frost resistance. In the practical part, it focuses on the determination of degradation resistance of test specimens made in molds and taken from the structure using reference and non-reference methods. In conclusion, it compares the different test methods and their suitability for the determination of freeze-thaw resistance.

The durability of concrete is of major concern in all types of concrete structures where the combined effect of exposure conditions and the type and quality of the concrete material usually determines the rate of degradation. Furthermore, there are synergy effects between different deterioration mechanisms, which means that the combined rate of degradation is higher than the sum of the individual rates of each mechanism. Therefore, to accurately predict the residual service life of existing structures or when designing new structures, it is essential to consider all these aspects. This means that various chemical and physical processes, as well as how these interact, must be taken into account in models aiming to be used for service life predictions. This thesis presents the first part of a research project with the aim to investigate common deterioration mechanisms of concrete in hydraulic structures, and to improve the knowledge how these and other related phenomena can be described using mathematical models. The objective is also to study how different mechanisms interact and to find suitable approaches to account for these interactions in the models. To this end, a literature survey on commonly detected damage in hydraulic structures is presented. In addition, it also addresses in what types of and where in hydraulic structures the various damage types are usually observed. The mathematical models presented in this part of the project are focused on long-term water absorption in air-entrained concrete as well as on freezing of partially saturated air-entrained concrete. Both models are based on a multiphase description of concrete and poromechanics to describe the coupled hygro-thermo-mechanical behaviour. The thesis also presents some of the basic concepts of multiphase modelling of porous media, including discretization of the models using the finite element method (FEM). Furthermore, it covers the simplifications that are usually introduced in the general macroscopic balance equations for mass, energy and linear momentum when modelling cement-based materials. To verify the developed models and to show their capabilities, simulation results are compared with experimental data, in situ measurements and other simulations from the literature. The results indicate that both models perform well and can be used to predict long-term moisture conditions in hydraulic structures as well as freezing-induced strains in partially saturated air-entrained concrete, respectively. Even though no interactions with other deterioration mechanisms are included in the models, the development and use of these have given insights to which parameters that are important to consider in such extensions. Furthermore, based on the insights gained, the complexity of describing the full interactions between several mechanisms in mathematical models is also discussed. It is concluded that models aiming to be used for service life predictions of hydraulic structures in day-to-day engineering work need to be simplified. However, the type of advanced models presented in this thesis can serve as a basis to study which aspects and parameters that are essential to consider in simplified prediction models. / Beständigheten hos betong är av avgörande betydelse i alla typer av betongkonstruktioner där den kombinerade effekten av exponeringsförhållanden samt typ och kvalitet på betongmaterialet vanligtvis avgör nedbrytningshastigheten. Dessutom finns synergieffekter mellan olika nedbrytningsmekanismer som innebär att den kombinerade nedbrytningshastigheten är större än summan av de enskilda nedbrytningshastigheterna. För att noggrant kunna prediktera den återstående livislängden hos befintliga konstruktioner eller vid design av nya konstruktioner är det därför viktigt att ta hänsyn till samtliga av dessa aspekter. Detta innebär att olika kemiska och fysikaliska processer, samt hur dessa interagerar med varandra, måste tas i beaktande i modeller som avses användas för livslängdsbedömningar. Den här licentiatuppsatsen presenterar den första delen av ett forskningsprojekt där målet är att studera vanligt förekommande nedbrytningsmekanismer i vattenbyggnadskonstruktioner och att öka kunskapen om hur dessa och andra relaterade fenomen kan beskrivas med matematiska modeller. Målet är också att studera hur olika nedbrytningsmekanismer samverkar och att hitta lämpliga tillvägagångssätt att ta hänsyn till dessa interaktioner i modellerna. För detta ändamål presenteras en litteraturstudie avseende vanligt förekommande skador i vattenbyggnadskonstruktioner. Dessutom behandlar denna i vilka typer av vattenbyggnadskonstruktioner och var i dessa som de olika typerna av skador vanligtvis observeras. De matematiska modeller som presenteras i denna del av projektet är inriktade på långtidsabsorption av vatten i lufttillsatt betong samt på frysning i delvis vattenmättad lufttillsatt betong. Båda modellerna är baserade på en multifasbeskrivning av betong samt poromekanik för att beskriva det kopplade hydro-termo-mekaniska beteendet. Uppsatsen presenterar också några av de grundläggande koncepten gällande multifasmodellering av porösa material, inklusive diskretisering av modellerna genom användning av finita elementmetoden (FEM). Dessutom beskrivs de förenklingar som vanligtvis införs i de generella makroskopiska balansekvationerna för massa, energi och rörelsemängd då cementbaserade material modelleras. Simuleringsresultat från de utvecklade modellerna jämförs med försöksdata, fältmätningar samt andra simuleringsresultat från litteraturen för att verifiera modellerna samt visa hur de beter sig. Resultaten visar att båda modellerna ger tillfredställande resultat och kan användas för att uppskatta de långsiktiga fuktförhållandena i vattenbyggnadskonstruktioner samt frysinducerade töjningar i delvis vattenmättad lufttillsatt betong. Även om inga interaktioner mellan andra nedbrytningsmekanismer inkluderades i modellerna, så har utvecklingen samt användandet av dessa gett insikter gällande vilka parametrar som är viktiga att beakta i sådana vidareutvecklingar. Baserat på dessa insikter diskuteras också komplexiteten i att beskriva interaktionen mellan flertalet mekanismer i matematiska modeller. Det konstateras också att modeller som avses användas i dagligt ingenjörsarbete för livstidsbedömningar av vattenbyggnadskonstruktioner behöver förenklas. Däremot kan den typ av avancerade modeller som presenteras i denna uppsats användas som en grund för att studera vilka aspekter och parametrar som är viktiga att beakta i förenklade modeller. / <p>QC 20180403</p>

Mit Hilfe eines variabel einsetzbaren Reaktornetzwerkmodells (RNM) wird in der vorliegenden Dissertation der Prozess der Vergasung von Brennstoffmischungen in der Fließbildsimulation beschrieben. Neben der Untersuchung von gestuften Prozessketten zur Veredelung von kohlenstoffhaltigen Energieträgern ist damit auch die differenzierte Analyse von Effekten während der Vergasung von binären und ternären Brennstoffmischungen möglich. Die Erstellung sowie Validierung des RNM wird anhand des PEFR-Vergasers, des SFGT-Vergasers und des Hybridwandvergaser vorgenommen. Die anschließende Analyse der Vergasung von Brennstoffmischungen zeigt, dass in ihren Eigenschaften sehr heterogene Brenn¬stoffmischungen Synergieeffekte bei der Vergasung hervorrufen. Diese sind in der Literatur schon oft beschrieben worden, eine systematische Analyse wird jedoch erst in der vorliegenden Dissertation durchgeführt. / Within this document the modeling and simulation of fuel blend gasification is investigated based on a variably applicable Reduced Order Model (ROM) developed for the flowsheet simulation of entrained-flow gasification reactors and processes. On one hand this enables the investigation of cascaded solid fuel conversion technologies and on the other hand effects during gasification of binary and ternary fuel blends are describable. The development as well as the validation of the ROM has been carried out for the SFGT gasifier, the PEFR gasifier and the hybrid-wall gasifier. The subsequent analysis of binary and ternary fuel blend gasification shows that fuel blends with very heterogeneous component properties induce synergy effects which have been reported in various peer review publications.

The diploma thesis deals with different methods of determining levels of degradation of concrete due to freezing, also considering the options of freeze thaw resistance determination in structure. At first the properties of concrete and possible mechanisms of concrete degradation are described – mainly the effects of freezing water in the inner structure and of the combination of freezing water and de-icing chemicals on the surface. Principle and properties of air-entrained concrete are also mentioned. An overview of the approaches that current standards use to determine the freeze-thaw resistance of concrete is listed, followed by description of the tests that are used on air-entrained concrete specimens in the main part of the thesis. A portion of the test specimens was made in moulds while the rest was obtained from structure (concrete block). The non-destructive tests used are evaluated in several different ways and their results are compared with the destructive tests. Comparison and evaluation of different approaches used to determine the freeze-thaw resistence of concrete are the main outcome of this thesis.