<p> The purpose of this study was twofold: Part 1, to empirically develop and statistically analyze a new model that measures the culture-based motivators to consume luxury wine by business travelers that identify as culturally-Chinese; and Part 2, to validate the new model. Luxury wine stakeholders may often have issues accessing luxury wine and providing the ideal choices that appeal to the business traveler from China, and yet there is a larger concern. </p> <p>In a field with a significant lack of research, it is a challenge for global stakeholders to gather information, acquire and implement cross-cultural competence, and remain knowledgeable of the most important motivators for Chinese consumers to pursue luxury wine in an environment of accelerated consumption. The intent of developing and validating this model was so that the resulting developmental process might be adopted by other researchers who wish to explore the psychological, culture-based motivators to consume luxury products by those that identify as culturally-Chinese, including, but not limited to, wine. The model provides stakeholders with culture-based knowledge to meet, or transcend, their consumers’ luxury wine purchasing, tasting, and presenting needs. It also addresses gaps in research literature surrounding luxury product consumption, such as emerging markets, global affairs, Chinese (Eastern) versus Euro-American (Western) perspectives, and consumer sociodemographics. Interdisciplinary scale development and inventory tests followed by hospitality-specific, culture-based scale development and item development literature were reviewed and deduced for model development. The scale underwent validity and reliability tests; through a rigorous scale development procedure that tested theory, the scale became a model. The findings and implications are discussed and recommendations for future research are offered.</p>

Effective distribution of hydrogen in refinery hydrogen networks is a major concern for refiners tackling the stringent specifications on maximum sulphur levels in middle distillates and the increasing global demand of diesel fuel. A major challenge is the implementation of a shift from conventional to ultra-deep methods of desulphurisation. Meanwhile, the capacity of secondary conversion processes such as fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) and hydrocracking in refineries has steadily increased in converting the bottom of the barrel into high-value lighter products resulting in increased levels of hydroprocessing, which exerts a higher demand on refinery hydrogen systems. Previous methodologies on hydrogen network optimization have been developed mainly based on the assumption of fixed hydroprocessing performance with constant hydrogen consumption and light hydrocarbon yields, in order to reduce the complexity of the optimisation problem. Consequently, critical interactions among feed and catalyst properties, hydroprocessor operating conditions, product quality and yields, and hydrogen consumption are usually neglected. This research work involves three major aspects: 1. Development of semi-empirical nonlinear lumped hydrodesulphurisation (HDS) and hydrocracker models that are robust and sufficiently detailed to capture the behaviour of the process with changes in feed characteristics and operating conditions. The formation of light hydrocarbons during HDS reactions have been accounted for. Hydrocracker conversion models and five/six-lumped product yield models for vacuum gas oil (VGO) and vacuum residue (VR) feedstocks have been developed from a combination of first principles and empirical methods based on several process parameters. The proposed models are validated with different feedstocks and shows good agreement with industrial data. 2. Integration of HDS and hydrocracker performance models into refinery hydrogen network models to explore existing interactions between processes and the hydrogen network, and their combined effect on the overall network objective. 3. Optimization of the overall superstructure under different operating scenarios to facilitate the efficient distribution and utilization of hydrogen and the maximization of clean high-value products. The integrated superstructure network model is developed and optimized within the General Algebraic Modelling System (GAMS). The model is representative of the dynamic interactions between hydrodesulphurisation and hydrocracking processes in the refinery hydrogen network as demonstrated by the reproducibility of industrial refinery data. Thus, this work presents a holistic and realistic implementation of refinery hydrogen management technique.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Computer Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

There are a number of factors that influence both the physical and the economical performance of a photovoltaic solar energy (PV) installation. The aim of this project was to develop a simulation and optimization model with which these factors could be analyzed and the PV installation optimized. By supplying the model with meteorological data, electricity consumption data and available building surfaces the model finds the optimum PV installation. The output consists of both physical and economical performance as well as information on how to distribute and install the PV modules on the available building surfaces. The model was validated using annual and hourly measurement data from Swedish PV installations. The validation shows that the model is a reliable tool for simulating the electricity generation from a PV system. In the second part of the project the model was used to evaluate the PV potential at two different hospitals and one health care center within the Uppsala County, Sweden. The model was also used to study the effect of different house orientations on the PV potential in Swedish neighborhoods. The physical and economical PV potentials are high for the hospitals and the health carecenter. This is mainly due to a high electricity demand but also due to a good match between the load profile and the PV electricity generation profile. The study on different neighborhoods shows that for gable roof buildings it might be more favorable to plan the houses so that the roofs face east-west rather than north-south. / Det är många faktorer som påverkar de fysikaliska och ekonomiska resultaten av en planerad solcellsinstallation. Syftet med det här projektet var att utveckla en simulerings- och optimeringsmodell med vars hjälp det skulle gå att analysera dessa frågor och hitta det bästa installationsalternativet i varje enskilt fall. Modellen som togs fram i detta projekt kan både studera ett givet installationsalternativ och räkna ut den mest optimala installationen utifrån de av användaren specificerade målen och begränsningarna. För att kunna göra detta behöver modellen förses med meteorologiska data för den aktuella platsen, elkonsumtionsdata från det aktuella objektet samt mått och orienteringar för de tillgängliga byggnadsytorna. Dessutom behöver användaren ange vissa ekonomiska parametrar såsom exempelvis avbetalningstid, ränta och aktuellt solcellspris. Resultatet från modellen består av både fysikaliska och ekonomiska resultat, exempelvis timvis nettoflöde av elektricitet, avbetalningstid och genomsnittligt elpris från solcellssystemet. I optimeringsresultatet redovisas hur solcellerna bör fördelas och installeras på de olika byggnadsytorna för att ge bäst resultat enligt målspecifikationen. För att validera modellen jämfördes dess simuleringsresultat med årliga och timvisa mätvärden från svenska solcellsanläggningar. Dessutom jämfördes modellens resultat med motsvarande resultat från andra simuleringsverktyg för solceller. Valideringsresultaten visar att modellen är ett pålitligt verktyg för att simulera elgenereringen från solcellsystem med olika moduler, växelriktare och installationssätt. Som ett delresultat vid modellutvecklingen simulerades ett stort antal olika solcellssystempå platta och svagt lutande tak. Utifrån dessa simuleringar utformades ett antal tumregler för hur uppvinklade moduler på platta eller svagt lutande tak skall monteras. Tumreglerna visar vilket avstånd mellan modulraderna och vilken vinkel på modulerna som ger den högsta taktäckningsgarden (största installationen) vid olika övre gränser för de interna skuggningsförlusterna. I projektets andra del användes modellen för att utvärdera solcellspotentialen på Akademiska sjukhuset, Enköpings lasarett och Tierps vårdcentral. Resultaten som levererades till Landstinget i Uppsala län visar att både den tekniska och den ekonomiska solcellspotentialen är stor på dessa enheter. Huvudanledning till den höga potentialen är att elbehovet är väldigt stort på dessa enheter samt att solcellernas elgenereringsprofil stämmer mycket väl överens med när elbehovet är som störst. Modellen användes även för att studera hur olika byggnadsorienteringar påverkar solcellspotentialen i olika tänkbara svenska bostadsområden. De olika resultaten från dessa studier visar att det i många fall är bättre att orientera byggnader med sadeltak så att taken pekar i östlig och västlig riktning snarare än mot syd och nord. Därmed föreslås en översyn avde nu rådande rekommendationerna att optimera huvudorienteringarna av taken mod syd vid detaljplanering av stadsdelar.

ABSTRACT The increase of carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the atmosphere has become a severe environmental problem, since it could cause global warming due to greenhouse effects. Thus, the reduction of CO2 emission to tackle the greenhouse effect has become one of the most important tasks for sustainable development. The outcomes of this study would be valuable to evaluate the feasibility of applying photocatalytic reduction process to remove CO2 from the atmosphere as well as the flue gas. This study investigated the photocatalytic reduction of CO2 in a self-designed batch UV/TiO2 photocatalytic reactor. The photocatalysts tested included commercial TiO2 (Degussa P-25) and synthesized TiO2 via modified sol-gel process (i.e. NO3-/TiO2 and SO42-/TiO2). Stainless steel supports coated with TiO2 were packed in the batch reactor. The initial concentrations of CO2 ranged from 0.5% to 7.5%. The reductants investigated included hydrogen (H2), water vapor (H2O), and hydrogen with water vapor (H2+H2O). The incident UV light with wavelength of 365 nm was irradiated by a 15-watt low-pressure mercury lamp. The photocatalytic reaction was conducted continuously for approximately 48 hours. Reactants and products were analyzed quantitatively by a gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector followed by a methaneizer (GC/FID-Methaneizer). Experimental results indicated that stainless steel coated with TiO2 had better photoreduction efficiency than that of quartz glass. The optimal operating conditions of CO2 photoreduction were observed by using H2 over SO42-/TiO2, which could produce major products of CO and CH4 and minor products of C2H4 and C2H6. Sulfuric acid used as a stabilizer in the sol-gel process could produce TiO2 of high specific surface area. Results obtained from the operating parameter tests showed that the photoreduction rate increased with the initial concentration of carbon dioxide and resulted in more product accumulation. Higher photoreduction efficiency of carbon dioxide was observed by using the hydrogen (H2) than water vapor (H2O). The photoreduction rate of carbon dioxide increased with reaction temperature, which promoted the formation of products. In addition, proper water vapor (ie. relative humidity of water vapor =25%~75%) could increase the photoreduction efficiency. However, the photoreduction efficiency decreased white it was close to (ie. relative humidity of water vapor =75%~100%). Concurred with previous researches, the reaction rate of major products over SO42-/TiO2 were higher than previous investigations of CO2 photoreduction. This study proposed the reaction pathway using hydrogen and/or water vapor as the reductants. Moreover, a one-site Langmiur-Hinshewood kinetic model (L-H model) was successfully applied to simulate the reaction rate of CO2 during the photoreduction reaction process.

In nuclear power plants, a pipe break in the cooling line releases a jet that damages other equipment in containment, and is known as a loss of coolant accident (LOCA). This report specifically focuses on boiling water reactor (BWR) applications as a guide for future studies with pressurized water reactors (PWRs). This report presents a methodology for characterizing the jet such that, given a set of upstream conditions, the pressure field and damage potential of the jet can be predicted by an end user with a minimum of computation. The resultant model has many advantages over previous models in that it is easily calculated with knowledge readily available to plant operators and it provides new metrics that allow for a quick and intuitive understanding of the damage potential of the jet. / text

Automation plays an important role when dealing with changes caused by globalization. The introduction of industrial robots is widely seen as an effective strategy against rising competition and outsourcing to low-cost countries. With the launch of amongst other the “Industrie 4.0” initiative, automation has been put into focus more than ever before and it is seen as the future way of production. Although the investment decisions for industrial robots are quite complex, the final purchasing decision is often only based on the initial offering. Procurement decisions based only the initial price are often poor decisions since they do not consider the hidden costs such as maintenance costs or energy consumption. A far better alternative is to calculate the total cost of ownership (TCO) of industrial robots and use this as the fundament in the decision making process. The TCO incorporates all costs from acquisition to the disposal of the industrial robot cell.   The study develops, based on a TCO and total value of ownership (TVO) model for industrial robots, an operational template, which can be used in the sales process. By applying the case study research methodology, the model is developed based on a literature review as well as on expert knowledge from employees of Yaskawa Nordic AB (YNR). Qualitative and quantitate data is gathered at two customer companies and the most crucial factors are identified in order to create a simple, operational template. As most important factors, operators’ wages, spare parts and energy consumptions have been identified. However, while the development of a general model is accomplished in a satisfying way, the realization of the template is hindered due to too few available data. The study shows that many companies cannot control the costs, which are created by their automation equipment. This leads to the conclusion that with further implementation of tools for “Industrie 4.0” the model and template can be revised allowing far more precise TCO/TVO calculations.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Computer Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Computer Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

The purpose of this study was to develop a model that would enhance the development, dissemination, and adoption of educational multimedia materials. The grounded theory definition of open coding was used to analyze data collected from the 3-year Technology Leadership Web Library Project at the University of North Texas. Weekly meeting minutes, email communication, reports, notes, questionnaires, and surveys were examined to determine major factors involved in the process of product development and dissemination. From the analysis of this study, five major factors in product development and dissemination were identified. These factors were leadership, team dynamics, expert advisors, feedback, and consumers. The synthesis of the factors led to the development of the PROMOTE (process revolving around ongoing management of team and evaluative feedback) model. The PROMOTE model is based on the establishment of a system that includes leadership, development team, and expert advisors at its center. The system is tied together with well-established feedback loops for stages of evaluation. The PROMOTE model is iterative and uses consumer feedback to generate new products. The PROMOTE model differs from other product development and evaluation models both in the focus of the process and the nature of the evaluation feedback.