The present dissertation provided an insight of the organizational culture and the innovative behavior of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the early stages of the innovation process. The method Culture Types of Organizations certified that the investigated SMEs possessed a distinctive family culture, and in addition an innovation cul-ture at the company headquarters. By using the social research method Grounded Theory the so called theory "Innovation kultivieren" was developed. This theory consists of three process stages. The first process stage "Mindset geben" is about defining and anchoring new innovative company's values. The second process stage "Innovation organisieren" defines the organizational responsibilities and last but not least, the third process stage "Innovation strukturieren" delivers various accompanying soft skill factors to improve the innovation culture of companies.

[EN] The Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) include a wide range of issues; those that cover food safety, animal health and plant protection, are known as Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS). SPS are a key element in the agrifood trade and a major challenge for trade policy and food safety. The application of the SPS is a dynamic and complex process due to the diversity of actors involved and the heterogeneity of objectives pursued: political, social, economic and environmental. In this global scenario, with increasingly complex regulations and organizations that affect the rules of agricultural trade, it is necessary to know more about its operation. This research aims to improve the understanding of the implementation of SPS in the agrifood trade. It challenges the assumption that the application of MNA is directly or exclusively linked to technical issues or others related to food safety, aiming to investigate other drivers that influence its application. An analysis of the implementation of SPS is carried out through two research questions: Q1) whether the implementation of NTMs is related to the elimination of trade tariffs, ultimately, the existence of policy substitution between NTMs and tariff; Q2) the application of NTMs is motivated by a systematic behaviour, guided by economic considerations and policies beyond the application of specific food notifications and health problems. The Q1 is studied in the countries of the South and East Mediterranean (SEMC) while Q2 is studied at the European Union (EU). The methodology used to address the first hypothesis, the policy substitution, begins with an analysis of the state of the art, continues with the classification into categories based on the use of NTMs and tariffs, and finally applies multiple regression models to test the hypothesis. To compare tariffs and NTMs, the research works with the Ad Valorem Equivalents (AVEs) established by Kee et al. (2009) and supported by an extensive literature. To address the second hypothesis, the source of information used is the RASFF (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed) database. The methodology applied begins with the construction of a tool able to transform the descriptive information from the RASFF into the numerical coding of the Harmonized System (HS) of trade, to subsequently apply the Negative Binomial model (NB) and Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial model (ZINB), thus identifying the determinants of the notifications process included in the RASFF from several Member States (MS) studied. The thesis presents the four articles written throughout the investigation. The results indicate that: (i) there is need for pursuing a new approach in agrifood trade policies, beyond the economic sphere, to strengthen the partnership between the EU and other countries, particularly the SEMC, and among the countries belonging to the latter ; (ii) the SEMC are at very different stages of harmonization of trade policies, but in regards to agrifood trade SEMC countries generally show low level of tariff protection, although levels of implementation of NTMs are variable and substitution policy is recognized in some specific sectors; (iii) the EU MS studied show homogeneous implementation of food notifications regardless of the country of origin. At product level, a correlation has been found between the notifications applied one year and the expected number of notifications in the following years (path dependence and reputation effect); (iv) however, there is a tendency among the EU MS studied to adopt common behaviours in implementing food safety measures. / [ES] Las Medidas No Arancelarias (MNA) incluyen una amplia gama de políticas que los países aplican a las importaciones y exportaciones, aquellas que abarcan la inocuidad de los alimentos, la sanidad animal y la protección fitosanitaria, son conocidas como Medidas Sanitarias y Fitosanitarias (MSF). Se trata de un elemento clave en el comercio agroalimentario y un importante desafío para la normativa alimentaria y las políticas de comercio. La aplicación de las MSF es un proceso dinámico y complejo por la diversidad de actores que intervienen así como por la heterogeneidad de motivos que persiguen: políticos, sociales, económicos y ambientales. En este escenario global, con cada vez más organizaciones y normativas complejas que influyen en las reglas del comercio agroalimentario es necesario conocer más de cerca su funcionamiento. La presente investigación tiene como objetivo mejorar la comprensión del funcionamiento de las MSF en el comercio agroalimentario. La investigación cuestiona que la aplicación de MSF esté directa o exclusivamente ligada a cuestiones técnicas o relacionadas con la inocuidad de los alimentos, por lo que busca estudiar otras motivaciones que influyan en su aplicación. Se ha planteado un análisis a través de dos preguntas de investigación: P1) si la profusión de MNA está relacionada con la eliminación de los aranceles para el comercio, en definitiva, la existencia de sustitución de políticas entre MNA y aranceles; P2) si la aplicación de MNA está motivada por una conducta sistemática, guiada por consideraciones económicas y políticas más allá de la aplicación de notificaciones alimentarias específicas y problemas de sanidad y salud. La P1 será estudiada en los Países Sur-Este Mediterráneos (PSEM) mientras que la P2 se analizara en países de la Unión Europea (UE). La metodología empleada para abordar la P1, sustitución de políticas, se inicia con un análisis del estado del arte, prosigue con la clasificación de los paises en función del uso de MNA y aranceles y la aplicación de modelos de regresión múltiple para contrastar la hipótesis. Para poder comparar los aranceles y las MNA, se ha trabajado con los Equivalentes Ad Valorem (EAV) establecidos por Kee et al. (2009) y el respaldo de una amplia literatura. En la P2 la fuente de información utilizada ha sido la base de datos RASFF (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed). La metodología seguida comenzó con la construcción de una herramienta capaz de transformar la información descriptiva obtenida del RASFF en la codificación numérica del Sistema Armonizado (SA) de comercio, para posteriormente aplicar el modelo Binomial Negativo (NB) y el modelo Binomial Negativo Inflado con Zeros (ZINB) y así identificar los factores determinantes de las notificaciones incluidas en el RASFF por parte de varios países miembros. La tesis recoge cuatro artículos elaborados a lo largo de la investigación. Los resultados obtenidos indican que: (i) Es necesario apostar por un nuevo planteamiento de las políticas de comercio agroalimentario, más allá del ámbito económico, para reforzar la asociación entre la UE y otros países, en particular los PSEM, y entre estos últimos entre sí; (ii) Los PSEM se encuentran en etapas muy diferentes de armonización de políticas comerciales, pero en general en el comercio agroalimentario muestran un nivel de protección bajo, aunque los niveles de aplicación de MNA son variables y se reconoce sustitución de políticas en algunos sectores específicos; (iii) Se ha encontrado una relación a nivel producto entre las notificaciones registradas un año y el número de notificaciones registradas el año siguiente (efecto reputación); (iv) Existe una tendencia entre los Estados Miembros (EM) estudiados de la UE en la adopción de comportamientos comunes en la aplicación de normas alimentarias en su comercio con países terceros, como caso particular de la aplicación de MSF. / [CAT] Les Mesures No Aranzelàries (MNA) inclouen una àmplia gamma de temes, aquelles que abasten la innocuïtat dels aliments, la sanitat animal i la protecció fitosanitària, són conegudes com a Mesures Sanitàries i Fitosanitàries (MSF). Es tracta d'un element clau en el comerç agroalimentari i un important repte per a les polítiques de comerç i la normativa alimentària. L'aplicació de les MSF és un procés dinàmic i complex per la diversitat d'actors que intervenen, així com per l'heterogeneïtat de motius que persegueixen: polítics, socials, econòmics i ambientals. En aquest escenari global, amb cada vegada més organitzacions i normatives complexes que influeixen en les regles del comerç agroalimentari és necessari conèixer de més a prop el seu funcionament. La present investigació té com a objectiu millorar la comprensió del funcionament de les MSF en el comerç agroalimentari. La investigació qüestiona que l'aplicació de MSF estiga directa o exclusivament lligada a qüestions tècniques o relacionades amb la innocuïtat dels aliments, per la qual cosa busca estudiar altres motivacions que influeixen en la seua aplicació. S'ha plantejat una anàlisi a través de dues preguntes de recerca: P1) Si la profusió de MNA està relacionada amb l'eliminació dels aranzels per al comerç, en definitiva, l'existència de substitució de polítiques entre MNA i aranzels; P2) Si l'aplicació de MNA està motivada per una conducta sistemàtica, guiada per consideracions econòmiques i polítiques més enllà de la aplicació de notificacions alimentàries específiques i problemes de sanitat i salut. La P1 serà estudiada als Països Sud-Est de la Mediterrània (PSEM) mentre que la P2 s'analitzés en països de la Unió Europea (UE). La metodologia emprada per abordar la P1, la substitució de polítiques, s'inicia amb una anàlisi de l'estat de l'art, prossegueix amb la classificació per categories en funció de l'ús de MNA i aranzels i l'aplicació de models de regressió múltiple per contrastar la hipòtesi. Per a poder comparar els aranzels i les MNA, s'ha treballat amb els Equivalents Ad Valorem (EAV) establerts per Kee et al. (2009) i amb el suport d'una àmplia literatura. A la P2 la font d'informació utilitzada ha estat la base de dades RASFF (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed). La metodologia seguida va començar amb la construcció d'una eina que transforma la informació descriptiva obtinguda del RASFF en la codificació numèrica del Sistema Harmonitzat (SA) de comerç, per a posteriorment aplicar el model Binomial Negatiu (NB) i el model Binomial Negatiu Inflat amb Zeros (ZINB) i així identificar els factors determinants de les notificacions incloses en el RASFF per part de diversos països membres. La tesi recull quatre articles elaborats al llarg de la investigació. Els resultats obtinguts indiquen que: (i) Cal apostar per un nou plantejament de les polítiques de comerç agroalimentari, més enllà de l'àmbit econòmic, per reforçar l'associació entre la UE i altres països, en particular els PSEM, i d'aquests últims entre sí; (ii) Els PSEM es troben en etapes molt diferents d'harmonització de polítiques comercials, però en general en el comerç agroalimentari mostren un nivell de protecció aranzelària baixa, tot i que els nivells d'aplicació de MNA són variables i es reconeix substitució de polítiques en alguns sectors específics; (iii) S'ha trobat relació, a nivell producte, entre les notificacions d'un any respecte el nombre de notificacions esperades a l'any següent (efecte reputació); (iv) Hi ha una tendència entre els Estats Membres (EM) estudiats de la UE en l'adopció de comportaments comuns en l'aplicació de normes alimentàries en el seu comerç amb països tercers, com a cas particular de l'aplicació de MSF. / Tudela Marco, L. (2015). Factores determinantes de las Medidas No Arancelarias aplicadas al comercio agroalimentario [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/57708 / TESIS

Plasmodium falciparum is a protozoan parasite responsible for causing the most severe form of malaria in humans. This species is responsible for over 90% of malaria mortalities which occur predominantly in Africa. An increase in drug resistant parasites in recent years is threatening the progress made against malaria and thus new antimalarial drugs and vaccines are needed to combat this disease. During the intraerythrocytic phase, merozoites egress from mature schizonts to invade new uninfected erythrocytes. Glycophosphatidylinositol (GPI) -anchored proteins cover most of the exterior surface of the merozoite prior to invasion, while other GPI-anchored proteins are released onto the merozoite surface through apical organelle secretions. These proteins are involved in interactions with erythrocytes and are thought to be vital to erythrocyte invasion. GPI-anchored proteins have also been implicated as a cause of pathogenic symptoms and activation of immune components. These proteins are then released or cleaved to enable merozoite entry into the erythrocyte. Several enzymes are thought to be involved in their cleavage including the serine proteases subtilisin-like proteases (SUB) 1 and 2, and phosphatidylinositol-phospholipase C (PIPLC); GPI-anchored proteins are also generally sensitive to phospholipase A2 (PLA2). Cleaved proteins are released into the host blood system, while uncleaved proteins are carried into the erythrocyte during invasion. Merozoites have a limited period in which they retain invasive capacity. A previous lack of available techniques that are specifically adapted to merozoite analysis has resulted in an incomplete understanding of invasion and GPI-anchored protein involvement in invasion. This study aimed to determine how GPI-anchored proteins on the merozoite surface are altered in the invasive phase, and explore the possibility of using merozoite GPI-anchored proteins as potential drug targets to block erythrocyte invasion. Optimised methods of in vitro parasite culturing which produce highly synchronised merozoites was essential to this study. Parasite culturing techniques were optimised by utilising low haematocrit cultures with frequent culture splitting and optimised synchronisation. The “Malarwheel” is a tool that was developed for this research to provide a means for scheduling sorbitol treatments and MACs isolations. This tool and optimised culturing methods enabled large volumes of highly synchronised invasive merozoites to be harvested. Four compounds (vanadate, edelfosine, dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (DSS), and gentamicin) suspected to interfere with GPIanchored cleavage or processes were screened on intraerythrocytic stages and merozoites. Antimalarial and anti-invasive properties of these compounds were screened by modified malaria SYBR Green I-based fluorescence (MSF) assay and merozoite invasion assays (MIA) respectively. DSS and gentamicin showed limited potential as antimalarials or as anti-invasive agents. Vanadate and edelfosine both showed antimalarial and anti-invasive activity, while edelfosine was the most potent anti-invasive agent at physiological concentrations. The merozoite GPI-anchored proteome was analysed by sodium dodecyl sulphatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) followed by complete gel lane analyses conducted by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) on soluble and pelleted merozoite proteins in samples from either invasive or non-invasive merozoites. Thirteen known or predicted GPI-anchored proteins were identified in samples. Several changes were identified in merozoite GPI-anchored proteins between the invasive phase and after its completion, and minor differences were observed following treatment with edelfosine. Edelfosine showed partial inhibition of erythrocyte invasion, however, the primary cause of inhibition cannot be directly related to interferences with GPI-anchored proteins. These results suggest that GPIanchored proteins are controlled by various complex processes, and are cleaved or processed by diverse mechanisms during the invasive phase. These mechanisms may be controlled by multiple signals which effect proteins or groups of proteins in specific ways. These signals may be influenced by “checkpoints” during invasion processes including the time period after egress from schizonts, and possibly the recognition of erythrocyte targets. These methods and results provide a foundation for future research to enable culturing of P. falciparum parasites specifically for merozoite research, and to identify merozoite proteins active during the invasive phase. These results confirm and challenge previous ideas reported in literature on the GPI-anchored processes of merozoites and further characterise less studied GPIanchored proteins. The results suggest that the processes controlling GPI-anchored proteins may be more complex than previously thought. These results form a basis to further identify and characterise GPI-anchored proteins in the aim to develop antimalarial medications and vaccines that target merozoites and their GPI-anchored processes. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Pharmacology / MSc / Unrestricted

Humanitarian help organisations today may benefit on improving their location analysis when placing field hospitals in countries hit by a disasters or catastrophe. The main objective of this thesis is to develop and evaluate a spatial decision support method for strategic placing of field hospitals for two time perspectives, long term (months) and short term (weeks). Specifically, the possibility of combining existing infrastructure and satellite data is examined to derive a suitability map for placing field hospitals. Haut-Katanga in Congo is used as test area where exists a large variety of ground features and has been visited by aid organisations in the past due to epidemics and warzones. The method consists of several steps including remote sensing for estimation of population density, a Multi Criteria Evaluation (MCE) for analysis of suitability, and visualization in a webmap. The Population density is used as a parameter for an MCE operation to create a decision support map for locating field hospitals. Other related information such as road network, water source and landuse is also taken into consideration in MCE. The method can generate a thematic map that highlights the suitability value of different areas for field hospitals. By using webmap related technologies, these suitability maps are also dynamic and accessible through the Internet. This new approach using the technology of dasymetric mapping for population deprival together with an MCE process, yielded a method with the result being both a standalone population distribution and a suitability map for placing field hospitals with the population distribution taken into consideration. The use of dasymetric mapping accounted for higher resolution and the ability to derive new population distributions on demand due to changing conditions rather than using pre-existing methods with coarser resolution and a more seldom update rate. How this method can be used in other areas is also analysed. The result of the study shows that the created maps are reasonable and can be used to support the locating of field hospitals by narrowing down the available areas to be considered. The results from MCE are compared to a real field hospital scenario, and it is shown that the proposed method narrows down the localisation options and shortens the time required for planning an operation. The method is meant to be used together with other decision methods which involves non spatial factors that are beyond the scope of this thesis.

To be a humanitarian aid worker [HAW] in the field entails working in a demanding environment, and in this milieu, interpersonal conflicts [IC] sometimes arise which may risk the entire project. The ones responsible for dealing with ICs, should they occur, are HAWs in management positions employed by various humanitarian organisations [HO]. However, the hypothesis presented in this thesis is that HAWs are not always provided with the training necessary. This thesis aims to critically analyse how HO prepare and train HAWs, specifically in IC management, and whether two significant HOs, Médecins Sans Frontières [MSF] and the International Federation of the Red Cross [IFRC], can be described as learning organisations [LO] according to Senge’s (1990) five disciplines. Through qualitative content analysis, involving interviews and literature reviews, the author seeks to identify training gaps, how MSF and IFRC can become LOs, and how these organisations would benefit from becoming LOs.  According to interview participants, the author found that more training would be beneficial, both for themselves and for MSF and IFRC, since many ICs go unmanaged. Furthermore, it was identified that MSF and IFRC had taken a few steps in a direction that could lead to them becoming LOs. However, more can be done, and through Senge’s disciplines, MSF and IFRC would benefit from more involved HAWs, improved wellbeing of HAWs, and possibly lower staff turnover.  In conclusion, the hypothesis of this thesis was proven to some extent. HAWs do receive training; however, more training can be provided. The wellbeing of HAWs is also a vital problem that HOs have to consider to lower retention rates, encourage their HAWs to stay employed, and further encourage learning within the organisations.

L’objet de ce mémoire est de s’interroger sur la co-construction et la négociation de l’identité organisationnelle par la parole dans les interactions quotidiennes. Cette étude a été menée sur une organisation du monde de l’humanitaire, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) et plus précisément sur une mission réalisée dans la région du Nord- Kivu en République Démocratique du Congo. Les données ont été collectées en employant la méthode du vidéo shadowing, encore appelée vidéo filature, une approche consistant à suivre et filmer des acteurs dans leurs interactions du quotidien, et particulièrement, dans notre cas, le chef de mission. La méthodologie utilisée pour analyser les enregistrements vidéo a, par la suite, été inspirée de l’analyse de conversation et de l’ethnométhodologie. Les concepts phares sur lesquels se base cette recherche sont la « ventriloquie » et la « présentification », deux concepts en communication organisationnelle développés par François Cooren de l’École de Montréal. Plus précisément, nous nous sommes attachés à montrer comment les acteurs de MSF cultivent l’identité et l’image de leur organisation à travers des « conversations identitaires». Nous avons ainsi pu observer et analyser comment les acteurs de l’organisation agissent par le biais de la parole pour construire et établir l’identité de leur organisation, et à travers cela, leur propre identité. / The purpose of this thesis is to examine the co-construction and the negotiation of organizational identity through speech in everyday interactions. This study focused on a humanitarian organization, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and more specifically on a mission carried out in the North-Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Data were collected by using shadowing, that is, by filming MSF actors in their daily interactions, particularly in our case, a head of mission. These data were analyzed, in turn, by using conversation analysis. The methodology used to analyze the video recordings was inspired by conversation analysis and ethnomethodology. The key concepts of this research are « ventriloquism » and « presentification », both developed by François Cooren of the Montreal School of Organizational Communication. Specifically, our analyses show how MSF actors cultivate the identity and image of their organization through « identity conversations ». In other words, it is through these conversations that MSF actors construct and establish the identity of their organization, as well as their own identity.

L’objet de ce mémoire est de s’interroger sur la co-construction et la négociation de l’identité organisationnelle par la parole dans les interactions quotidiennes. Cette étude a été menée sur une organisation du monde de l’humanitaire, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) et plus précisément sur une mission réalisée dans la région du Nord- Kivu en République Démocratique du Congo. Les données ont été collectées en employant la méthode du vidéo shadowing, encore appelée vidéo filature, une approche consistant à suivre et filmer des acteurs dans leurs interactions du quotidien, et particulièrement, dans notre cas, le chef de mission. La méthodologie utilisée pour analyser les enregistrements vidéo a, par la suite, été inspirée de l’analyse de conversation et de l’ethnométhodologie. Les concepts phares sur lesquels se base cette recherche sont la « ventriloquie » et la « présentification », deux concepts en communication organisationnelle développés par François Cooren de l’École de Montréal. Plus précisément, nous nous sommes attachés à montrer comment les acteurs de MSF cultivent l’identité et l’image de leur organisation à travers des « conversations identitaires». Nous avons ainsi pu observer et analyser comment les acteurs de l’organisation agissent par le biais de la parole pour construire et établir l’identité de leur organisation, et à travers cela, leur propre identité. / The purpose of this thesis is to examine the co-construction and the negotiation of organizational identity through speech in everyday interactions. This study focused on a humanitarian organization, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and more specifically on a mission carried out in the North-Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Data were collected by using shadowing, that is, by filming MSF actors in their daily interactions, particularly in our case, a head of mission. These data were analyzed, in turn, by using conversation analysis. The methodology used to analyze the video recordings was inspired by conversation analysis and ethnomethodology. The key concepts of this research are « ventriloquism » and « presentification », both developed by François Cooren of the Montreal School of Organizational Communication. Specifically, our analyses show how MSF actors cultivate the identity and image of their organization through « identity conversations ». In other words, it is through these conversations that MSF actors construct and establish the identity of their organization, as well as their own identity.

The relationship between a country's political decision-making and top military leadership is central, but also debated. Not least whether the military side should take political life into account and to what extent one should become a part of it. This essay aims to increase the understanding of the challenges of the military-political relationship, focusing on the borderland between peace and war that is usually described as a gray zone. Through scenario-based interviews with senior officials and politicians within the Swedish government and government office, it is investigated what impact a gray zone problem can have on the military advice provided. By combining a future scenario with interviews, an empirical material unique to the research field is created. The results show that the gray zone affects the strategic decision-making process, but not really by adding any completely new challenges, but mainly by strengthening and partly developing existing ones. The logic of peace, rather than war, on strategy should therefore form the basis for how the gray zone is viewed from a decision-making process perspective. The gray zone's character of ambiguity creates and reinforces tensions between different actors in the strategy process, which in turn risks delaying strategic decisions. The ambiguities arise mainly in three areas: the view of the strategic problem, the political consequences and the organization that will deal with the gray zone. Some of the ambiguities are amplified by the opponent, while others are more the result of internal factors. In order to reduce the negative effects of the gray zone problem, a much closer integration between the military and politics is proposed than in peacetime: policy-making must take place jointly and traditional boundaries need to be redrawn. The key is spelled relationships and these must be created and maintained in good time before the gray zone enters. / Relationen mellan ett lands politiska beslutsfattning och högsta militärledning är central, men också omdebatterad. Inte minst huruvida den militära sidan ska ta hänsyn till det politiska livet och i vilken grad man själv ska bli en del av detta. Denna uppsats syftar till att öka förståelsen för den militär-politiska relationens utmaningar, med fokus på det gränsland mellan fred och krig som brukar betecknas som en gråzon. Genom scenariobaserade intervjuer med högre tjänstemän och politiker inom Sveriges regering och regeringskansli undersöks vilken påverkan en gråzonsproblematik kan ha på de militära råd som lämnas. Genom att kombinera ett framtidsscenario med intervjuer skapas ett för forskningsfältet unikt empiriskt material. Resultatet visar att gråzonen påverkar den strategiska beslutsprocessen men egentligen inte genom att tillföra några helt nya utmaningar, utan främst genom att förstärka och till del utveckla redan existerande. Fredens, snarare än krigets, logik på strategi bör därför ligga till grund för hur gråzonen betraktas ur ett beslutsprocessperspektiv. Gråzonens karaktär av otydlighet skapar och förstärker spänningar mellan olika aktörer inom strategiprocessen, som i sin tur riskerar att försena strategiska beslut. Otydligheterna uppstår främst inom tre områden: synen på det strategiska problemet, de politiska konsekvenserna och den organisation som ska hantera gråzonen. Vissa av otydligheterna förstärks av motståndaren, medan andra mer är ett resultat av interna faktorer. För att minska gråzonsproblematikens negativa effekter föreslås en betydligt närmare integrering mellan militär och politik än i fredstid: policyskapandet måste ske gemensamt och traditionella gränser behöver dras om. Nyckeln stavas relati-oner och dessa måste skapas och underhållas i god tid innan gråzonen träder in.

The rapid increase in the demand on fresh water due the increase in the world population and scarcity of natural water puts more stress on the desalination industrial sector to install more desalination plants around the world. Among these desalination plants, multistage flash desalination process (MSF) is considered to be the most reliable technique of producing potable water from saline water. In recent years, however, the MSF process is confronting many problems to cut off the cost and increase its performance. Among these problems are the non-condensable gases (NCGs) and the accumulation of fouling which they work as heat insulation materials. As a result, the MSF pumps and the heat transfer equipment are overdesigned and consequently increase the capital cost and decrease the performance of the plants. Moreover, improved process control is a cost effective approach to energy conservation and increased process profitability. Thus, this study is motivated by the real absence of detailed kinetic fouling model and implementation of advance process control (APC). To accomplish the above tasks, commercial modelling tools can be utilized to model and simulate MSF process taking into account the NCGs and fouling effect, and optimum control strategy. In this research, gPROMS (general PROcess Modeling System) model builder has been used to develop the MSF process model. First, a dynamic mathematical model of MSF is developed based on the basic laws of mass balance, energy balance and heat transfer. Physical and thermodynamic properties of brine, distillate and water vapour are included to support the model. The model simulation results are validated against actual plant data published in the literature and good agreement with these data is obtained. Second, the design of venting system in MSF plant and the effect of NCGs on the overall heat transfer coefficient (OHTC) are studied. The release rate of NCGs is studied using Henry’s law and the locations of venting points are optimised. The results reveal that high concentration of NCGs heavily affects the OHTC. Furthermore, advance control strategy namely: generic model control (GMC) is designed and introduced to the MSF process to control and track the set points of the two most important variables in the MSF plant; namely the Top Brine Temperature (TBT) which is the output temperature of the brine heater and the Brine Level (BL) in the last stage. The results are compared to conventional Proportional Integral Derivative Controller (PID) and show that GMC controller provides better performance over conventional PID controller to handle a nonlinear system. In addition, a new control strategy called hybrid Fuzzy-GMC is developed and implemented to control the same aforementioned loops. Its results reveal that the new control outperforms the pure GMC in some areas. Finally, a dynamic fouling model is developed and incorporated into the MSF dynamic process model to predict fouling at high temperature and high velocity. The proposed dynamic model considers the attachment and removal mechanisms of calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide with more relaxation of the assumptions. Since the MSF plant stages work as a series of heat exchangers, there is a continuous change of temperature, heat flux and salinity of the seawater. The proposed model predicts the behaviour of fouling based on the physical and thermal conditions of every single stage of the plant.

The rapid increase in the demand on fresh water due the increase in the world population and scarcity of natural water puts more stress on the desalination industrial sector to install more desalination plants around the world. Among these desalination plants, multistage flash desalination process (MSF) is considered to be the most reliable technique of producing potable water from saline water. In recent years, however, the MSF process is confronting many problems to cut off the cost and increase its performance. Among these problems are the non-condensable gases (NCGs) and the accumulation of fouling which they work as heat insulation materials. As a result, the MSF pumps and the heat transfer equipment are overdesigned and consequently increase the capital cost and decrease the performance of the plants. Moreover, improved process control is a cost effective approach to energy conservation and increased process profitability. Thus, this study is motivated by the real absence of detailed kinetic fouling model and implementation of advance process control (APC). To accomplish the above tasks, commercial modelling tools can be utilized to model and simulate MSF process taking into account the NCGs and fouling effect, and optimum control strategy. In this research, gPROMS (general PROcess Modeling System) model builder has been used to develop the MSF process model. First, a dynamic mathematical model of MSF is developed based on the basic laws of mass balance, energy balance and heat transfer. Physical and thermodynamic properties of brine, distillate and water vapour are included to support the model. The model simulation results are validated against actual plant data published in the literature and good agreement with these data is obtained. Second, the design of venting system in MSF plant and the effect of NCGs on the overall heat transfer coefficient (OHTC) are studied. The release rate of NCGs is studied using Henry’s law and the locations of venting points are optimised. The results reveal that high concentration of NCGs heavily affects the OHTC. Furthermore, advance control strategy namely: generic model control (GMC) is designed and introduced to the MSF process to control and track the set points of the two most important variables in the MSF plant; namely the Top Brine Temperature (TBT) which is the output temperature of the brine heater and the Brine Level (BL) in the last stage. The results are compared to conventional Proportional Integral Derivative Controller (PID) and show that GMC controller provides better performance over conventional PID controller to handle a nonlinear system. In addition, a new control strategy called hybrid Fuzzy-GMC is developed and implemented to control the same aforementioned loops. Its results reveal that the new control outperforms the pure GMC in some areas. Finally, a dynamic fouling model is developed and incorporated into the MSF dynamic process model to predict fouling at high temperature and high velocity. The proposed dynamic model considers the attachment and removal mechanisms of calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide with more relaxation of the assumptions. Since the MSF plant stages work as a series of heat exchangers, there is a continuous change of temperature, heat flux and salinity of the seawater. The proposed model predicts the behaviour of fouling based on the physical and thermal conditions of every single stage of the plant.