A cryogenic thermoelectric generator is proposed to increase the efficiency of a vehicle propulsion system that uses liquid nitrogen as its fuel. The proposed design captures some of the heat required for vaporizing or initial heating of the liquid nitrogen to produce electricity. The thermoelectric generator uses pressurized liquid nitrogen as its cold reservoir and ambient air as the high-temperature reservoir to generate power. This study concentrated on the selection of thermoelectric materials whose properties would result in the highest efficiency over the operating temperature range and on estimating the initial size of the generator. The preliminary selection of materials is based upon their figure of merit at the operating temperatures. The results of this preliminary design investigation of the cryogenic thermoelectric generator indicate that sufficient additional energy can be used to increase overall efficiency of the thermodynamic cycle of a vehicle propulsion system.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / An analysis of in-situ aircraft observations collected in the parent cloud of a waterspout is presented. Previous waterspout studies were confined mainly to photometric and model simulated data, no in-situ observations were made internal to the parent cloud. On 27 June 2002 the Cooperative Institute for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS) UV-18A Twin Otter aircraft collected observations in a cloud that had developed in a cloud line, located approximately 15km south of Key West, and that formed a waterspout. This study attempts to analyze the waterspout formation process using these data and through a series of scale interactions, from the synoptic scale down to the individual cloud scale. Based upon the analyzed data a hypothetical formation process is developed. The background synoptic scale flow is shown to establish the necessary ambient shear as a key factor in the waterspout formation. The orientation of mesoscale convergent boundaries and thermodynamic processes, internal to the cloud, proved to be an essential factor in developing the vertical motion patterns necessary for formation of an organized circulation in the shear region and to provide the tipping and stretching of the resultant vortex necessary to account for the waterspout formation. This is consistent with conclusions derived from previous studies. / Captain, United States Air Force

QC 351 A7 no. 78 / Observers responded to abstract forms (quadrigons) in six experiments, under a signal detection paradigm. Duration of stimulus exposure was shown to have strong effects upon detection accuracy (two studies); immediate feedback of accuracy information to observers affected performance chiefly by influencing guessing bias, not sensitivity (two studies); images that had been blurred and then deblurred by means of an analog device were compared with unblurred originals, and the effects of the retrieval process (deblurring) were characterized quantitatively by a signal detection index (one study); and electroencephalographic correlates of signal detection responses were found to vary with performance accuracy and observer confidence (one study). Discussions of the theory of signal detectability and of electroencephalography, as tools in the study of image quality and of observer sensitivity, are included in the report.

We investigate the unprovability of NP$\not\subseteq$P/poly in various fragments of arithmetic. The unprovability is usually obtained by showing hardness of propositional formulas encoding superpolynomial circuit lower bounds. Firstly, we discuss few relevant techniques and known theorems. Namely, natural proofs, feasible interpolation, KPT theorem, iterability, gadget generators etc. Then we prove some original results. We show the unprovability of superpolynomial circuit lower bounds for systems admitting certain forms of feasible interpolation (modulo a hardness assumption) and for systems roughly described as tree-like Frege systems working with formulas using only a small fraction of variables of the statement that is supposed to be proved. These results are obtained by proving the hardness of the Nisan-Wigderson generators in corresponding proof systems.

Master of Science / Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering / Ruth Douglas Miller / This thesis presents the design of two models for permanent-magnet direct-drive wind turbines. The models are of a 10 kW and a 5 MW wind turbine, which are representative of residential scale and commercial scale turbines respectively. The models include aerodynamic and mechanical simulations through the FAST software, as well as concurrent electrical simulations through the SimPowerSystems toolbox for MATLAB/Simulink. The aim is to provide wind turbine designers and researchers with a comprehensive simulation tool that they can use to design and test many different aspects of a wind turbine. The particular novelty of these models is their high level of detail in electromechanical simulations. For each model, a generator speed controller was designed in a reference frame attached to the generator’s rotor, and was executed with a 3-phase active rectifier using space-vector pulse-width modulation. Also for each model, active and reactive power controllers were designed in a reference frame synchronous with the grid, and were executed with a 3-phase inverter using space-vector pulse-width modulation. Additionally, a blade pitch controller was designed for the 5 MW model. Validation of the models was carried out in the MATLAB/Simulink environment with satisfactory results.

Master of Science / Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering / William B. Kuhn / This work was a part of NASA EPSCoR Project NNX11AM05A: Biosensor Networks and Telecommunication Subsystems for Long Duration Missions, EVA Suits, and Robotic Precursor Scout Missions. The project’s main goal is the development of a wireless sensor network inside an astronaut’s spacesuit. Antennas are essential components in a wireless network. Since this antenna will be used inside the spacesuit it is important to consider both the physical size limitations and the desired antenna polarization. After exploring the WWVB radio station antenna which provides the preferred vertical polarization and has a suitable aspect ratio, the top hat antenna seemed promising for intrasuit communication. The design of a top hat antenna is outlined. Then, the antennas were tested using 433 MHz radios in a full scale model spacesuit. This spacesuit was designed specifically to model the behavior of aluminized mylar in the real suit. Test results support the feasibility of an intrasuit wireless network. If a gateway radio is placed on the chest or back, a sensor could be placed anywhere on the body and provide an adequate signal. These initial tests did not include a matching network, but the additional link-margin afforded by a matching network, even an imperfect match, is considered. Energy harvesting is explored as an alternative to batteries powering the intrasuit radio. In the oxygen rich environment of a spacesuit, even the smallest spark can be catastrophic. A variety of energy harvesting options are explored with a focus on thermal energy harvesting. The temperature difference between the human skin and the astronaut’s Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment can be used to produce a small voltage. To increase the voltage a step-up converter is implemented. Final integration of the two systems with a biosensor is left for on-going work in the three year NASA project.

The aim of this thesis is to determine market value of enterprise, Avaya Czech Republic 30.9.2009. Date of valuation is 30.9.2009. Avaya is part of a global concern that affects business operation. Value is sought due to the possible sale of the company. The awards are 2 methods used, DCF Equity and comparison method.Filling of the thesis is an analysis of the value of generators, build a financial plan and the actual valuation.

The goal of this thesis is to provide the value of the company ZEMASPOL Uherský Brod a.s. company as per 1st January 2010. The thesis is divided into a theoretical and methodological part, which serve as the basis for last practical part. The practical part acquaints with valuated company. For the purpose of valuation the strategic analysis is performed and results in sales forecasting of the valuated company. After analyzing financial health of the company with help of the financial analysis there is financial plan compiled for time period of 2010 - 2014. Forecast value of the generators is the base of the financial plan. The result of the valuation with DCF entity method is to be found at the end of the thesis. For the comparison of the final company's value the second method of valuation is used -- book value. After valuation the sensitivity analysis the sensitivity on the company's value growth and the weighted average cost of capital are performed.

Atualmente, os procedimentos normalizados para determinar os parâmetros transitórios e subtransitórios dos geradores hidrelétricos impõem dificuldades de execução. Assim, em muitos casos, esses ensaios não são realizados e, consequentemente, os respectivos geradores hidrelétricos ficam carentes de uma comprovação em campo de suas características transitórias e subtransitórias. Para preencher essa lacuna, o presente trabalho apresenta uma metodologia para execução do ensaio por rejeição de carga como forma de viabilizar a caracterização de grandes e médios geradores hidrelétricos dentro de determinadas condições e faixa de aplicação. / Currently, the standards procedures to determine the hydro generators transient and subtransient parameters impose several execution difficulties. Therefore, in several cases those tests cannot be conducted and consequently the respective hydro generators miss a field measurement of its transient and subtransient characteristics. In order to fill this gap, the present work presents a method to execute the load rejection test for determination of medium and large hydro generator parameters.

Neste trabalho, investigamos um algoritmo para estimação dos parâmetros de geradores síncronos baseado em análise de sensibilidade de trajetórias. Os parâmetros são estimados através da resolução de um problema de otimização não-linear de mínimos quadrados. Medidas são comparadas com as soluções obtidas dos modelos dinâmicos do gerador e o algoritmo busca minimizar a diferença entre as medidas e a saída do modelo matemático. As medidas foram obtidas de forma artificial por intermédios de simulações computacionais, admitindo-se não somente as dinâmicas transitórias da máquina, mas também considerando as dinâmicas sub-transitórias. O algoritmo proposto é adequado para medidas acessíveis em campo e permite estimar os parâmetros a partir de medidas de perturbações do sistema sem a necessidade da desconexão da máquina do sistema. A principal contribuição deste trabalho é a proposição de uma nova modelagem empregada para estimar os parâmetros do gerador síncrono. Para isto, propõe-se um modelo simplificado, modificado do modelo de dois eixos do gerador, que utiliza a corrente de campo do gerador como uma das entradas. Este modelo é constituído por um conjunto de equações algébrico-diferenciais (EADs) que contém uma equação algébrica de balanço de corrente. Esta equação elimina a necessidade de medidas de variáveis de difícil acesso. O algoritmo proposto foi testado com dados obtidos de simulações dinâmicas realizadas a partir de um sistema teste com resultados satisfatórios. Os resultados obtidos são analisados frente a resultados obtidos também para o modelo de dois eixos utilizando a tensão de campo como uma entrada. Através destes resultados é possível observar a possibilidade de sua utilização em aplicações reais. / In this work, we investigate an algorithm for estimating parameters of synchronous generators based on trajectories sensitivity analysis. The parameters are estimated by solving a nonlinear optimization problem of least squares. Measurements are compared with the solutions obtained from the dynamic model of the generator and the algorithm seeks to minimize the difference between the measurements and the output of the mathematical model. Measurements were obtained artificially by means of simulations, assuming not only the transient dynamics of the machine, but also considering the subtransient dynamics. The proposed algorithm is suitable for accessible measurements in the field and allows the estimation of parameters from measurements of system disturbances, without the necessity of disconnecting the machine from the system. The main contribution of this work is to propose a new generator model to estimate the parameters of the synchronous generator. To this end, a simplified model is proposed. This model is a modification of the two-axis model of the generator, which uses the generator field current as an input of the model. This model consists of a set of differential-algebraic equations (DAEs) containing an algebraic equation of balance of current. This equation eliminates the need of measuring variables that are difficult to access. The proposed algorithm has been tested with data obtained from dynamic simulations conducted from a test system with satisfactory results. The results has been analysed against the results of the two-axis model using the generator field voltage as an input of the model. These results indicate the possibility of application in real machines.