Submitted by Rosivalda Pereira (mrs.pereira@ufma.br) on 2017-09-28T17:07:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 CarlaAlbuquerque.pdf: 1781335 bytes, checksum: 233490c37121535d82c417f10b832f87 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-28T17:07:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CarlaAlbuquerque.pdf: 1781335 bytes, checksum: 233490c37121535d82c417f10b832f87 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-09-06 / Hydrotalcites were synthesized in the absence and presence of sucrose, and at temperatures of 28 oC (HDL and HDL / S) and 65 oC (HDL / S-65), by the coprecipitation method. All materials were characterized by ICPE, DRX, FTIR, MEV and BET. The general formulation obtained was: [Mg5.4Al2 (OH) 14.8] CO3.nH2O for all samples, confirming the success of the syntheses. The materials were used as adsorbents by two methods (Gravimetry and Turbidimetry), for the removal of petroleum from an emulsion in hydroalcoholic medium. The order of efficiency observed for a mass of 0.03 g of the adsorbents for the gravimetric method was: HDL/S-65 (92%) > HDL/S-28 (85%) > HDL (59%), indicating the positive effect of sucrose on the synthesis of the material. All the adsorptions followed a pseudo-second order kinetics, with an equilibrium time of approximately 50 min. Based on the results obtained by gravimetry it was understood that another method would be necessary, to better understand the behavior of the materials applied. The turbidimetry method showed favorable adsorption kinetics for the concentration used, showing that the process apparently occurred in multilayer, however complex. The models of Pseudofirst order, Pseudo-second order and intraparticle applied has favorable contributions to the understanding of these processes taking into account the several factors that influence the adsorption. The system also shows that HDL / S-28 has a higher removal capacity than HDL and HDL / S-65 respectively at 8h and 24h: HDL (8h) = 3538, HDL / S-28 (8h) = 3907; HDL / S-65 (8h) = 2127; HDL (24h) = 3252, HDL / S-28 (24h) = 5122; HDL / S-65 (24h) = 4201. / Hidrotalcitas foram sintetizadas na ausência e presença da sacarose, e nas temperaturas de 28 oC (HDL e HDL/S) e 65 oC (HDL/S-65), pelo método da coprecipitação. Todos os materiais foram caracterizados por ICPE, DRX, FTIR, MEV e BET. A formulação geral obtida foi: [Mg5,4Al2(OH)14,8]CO3.nH2O para todas as amostras, confirmando o sucesso das sínteses. Os materiais foram empregados como adsorventes por dois métodos (Gravimetria e Turbidimetria), para remoção de petróleo a partir de uma emulsão em meio hidroalcoólico. A ordem de eficiência observada para uma massa de 0,03 g dos adsorventes para o método gravimétrico, foi: HDL/S- 65 (92%) > HDL/S-28 (85%) > HDL (59%), indicando o efeito positivo da sacarose na síntese do material. Todas as adsorções seguiram uma cinética de pseudo-segunda ordem, com tempo de equilíbrio aproximado de 50 min. Com base nos resultados obtidos por gravimetria entendeu-se que um outro método seria necessário, para melhor entender o comportamento dos materiais aplicados. O método por turbidimetria apresentou uma cinética de adsorção favorável para a concentração utilizada, mostrando que o processo ocorreu aparentemente em multicamada, porém complexo. Os modelos de Pseudo-primeira ordem, Pseudo-segunda ordem e intrapartícula aplicados tem contribuições favoráveis para o entendimento desses processos levando em consideração os diversos fatores que influenciam a adsorção. O sistema nos mostra ainda que o HDL/S-28 tem maior capacidade de remoção que o HDL e HDL/S-65 respectivamente nos tempos de 8h e 24h: HDL (8h) = 3538, HDL/S- 28 (8h) = 3907; HDL/S-65 (8h) = 2127; HDL (24h) = 3252, HDL/S-28 (24h) = 5122; HDL/S-65 (24h) = 4201.

Foram conduzidos dois experimentos com um total de 416 poedeiras Hisex White, com os objetivos de avaliar os efeitos de diferentes níveis dietários de proteína bruta (PB) e de lisina (LIS) sobre as características de desempenho, qualidade interna dos ovos e determinar o balanço e o coeficiente de metabolizabilidade aparente do nitrogênio (Experimento 1) e avaliar os efeitos de diferentes níveis dietários de LIS e metionina (MET) sobre o desempenho, qualidade interna dos ovos e propriedades funcionais dos componentes dos ovos (Experimento 2). No Experimento 1, foram utilizadas 160 poedeiras alojadas individualmente e submetidas ao delineamento inteiramente casualizado (DIC) em esquema fatorial 4 x 2, com os fatores: níveis de PB (12%, 14%, 16% e 18%) e de LIS (0,85% e 1,00%), totalizando oito tratamentos com cinco repetições de quatro aves cada. No Experimento 2, foram utilizadas 256 poedeiras alojadas individualmente e submetidas ao DIC em arranjo fatorial 4x4, com os fatores: níveis de LIS (0,482%, 0,682%, 0,882% e 1,082%) e de MET (0,225%, 0,318%, 0,411% e 0,505%), totalizando 16 tratamentos com quatro repetições de quatro aves cada. O desempenho foi avaliado por meio das características consumos de ração (CR), lisina (CLIS), metionina (CMET), proteína bruta (CPB) e de energia (CE), peso (PO), produção (PROD) e massa de ovos (MO), e conversão alimentar (CA). As características CPB, PO e MO tiveram respostas linear crescente. A qualidade interna dos ovos foi avaliada por meio das características peso e porcentagens de albúmen (ALB%) e gema (GEM%), e unidade Haugh (UH). A ALB% apresentou diferença significativa com resposta linear crescente. Em ambos experimentos, a qualidade dos ovos armazenados foi mensurada pelas características UH, PO e altura de albúmen, as quais apresentaram melhores resultados quando os ovos foram conservados em ambiente refrigerado. No entanto, independente do ambiente, a qualidade dos ovos piorou com o aumento do tempo de armazenamento. Respostas máximas das análises de proteína, sólidos totais, viscosidade e pH dos componentes albúmen e gema, foram obtidas quando as aves foram alimentadas com a concentração média de 15,33% de PB na dieta. No Experimento 1, após o término do período experimental foram realizadas coletas das excretas por um período de três dias para cálculo do balanço de nitrogênio, sendo observado aumento significativo da ingestão e excreção de nitrogênio conforme o incremento de PB na dieta. No experimento 2, as características CR, CMET, CE, PROD, PO e MO apresentaram resposta máxima quando as aves foram alimentadas com as concentrações dietárias médias de 0,870% de LIS e de 0,450% de MET. A classificação dos ovos por tipo e as características de qualidade interna e externa dos ovos não sofreram influência dos diferentes níveis dietários de MET e LIS. As propriedades funcionais dos componentes albúmen e gema foram avaliadas por meio da qualidade do cozimento com a confecção de bolos tipos Angel e Sponge cakes, a qual não foi influenciada pelos tratamentos. Conclui-se que níveis médios de 15,33% de PB, 0,450% de MET e 0,870% de LIS satisfazem as exigências das poedeiras para as características avaliadas. / Four hundred sixteen Hisex White hens were used to evaluate the effects of different dietary levels of crude protein (CP) and lysine (LYS) on performance, internal egg quality and to determine the nitrogen balance and its apparent metabolizability coefficient (Experiment 1), and to evaluate the effects of different dietary levels of LYS and methionine (MET) on performance, internal egg quality and functional properties of egg components (Experiment 2). One hundred sixty hens were randomly distributed in a 4 x 2 factorial scheme: CP levels (12%, 14%, 16% and 18%) and LYS levels (0,85% and 1,00%) totalizing eight treatments with five replicates of four birds each (Experiment 1). Two hundred fifty six hens were randomly distributed in a 4 x 4 factorial scheme: LYS levels (0,482%, 0,682%, 0,882% and 1,082%) and MET levels (0,225%, 0,318%, 0,411% and 0,505%) totalizing sixteen treatments with four replicates of four birds each (Experiment 2). Several characteristics were evaluated such as performance: intakes of feed, LYS, MET, CP and energy, egg production, egg weight, egg mass, and feed conversion; internal egg quality: weight and percentages of egg albumen and egg yolk, Haugh unit; quality of storaged eggs: Haugh unit, egg weight and albumen height; analyses of concentrations of protein, total solids, viscosity and pH of the egg components. The characteristics intake of CP, egg weight, egg mass, and albumen percent showed positive and linear response. In both experiments, the quality of storaged eggs was better when eggs were storaged in refrigerated environment than natural environment. However, irrespective of the environment, the internal egg quality was impaired as the time of storage was increased. Maximum responses for analyses of protein, total solids, viscosity, and pH of albumen and yolk were obtained when hens were fed diets containing 15,33% of CP. In the Experiment 1, after the experimental period, another assay was carried out to determine the nitrogen balance by using total excreta procedure during a three-day period. It was observed increase of intake and excretion of nitrogen as the content of CP in the diet was increased. In the Experiment 2, feed intake, MET intake, energy intake, egg production, egg weight, and egg mass showed maximum responses when hens were fed diets containing 0,870% of LYS and 0,450% of MET. Egg grading, internal and external egg quality characteristics were not influenced by the different dietary levels of MET and LYS. The functional properties of egg components (cooking quality by making Angel and Sponge cakes) were not affected by the treatments. It was concluded that hens fed diets containing 15,33% of CP, 0,450% of MET, and 0,870% of LYS show optimum performance, internal and external egg quality.

Imagens adquiridas por sensores orbitais possibilitam observações da Terra e auxiliam estudos de grande áreas. Este trabalho utilizou imagens orbitais para analisar os componentes que modificam as características óticas da água na Lagoa dos Patos, localizada no sul do Brasil. A partir de imagens multiespectrais dos sensores MODIS/Terra e OLI/Landsat-8, foi possível avaliar a variação espaço-temporal de sólidos em suspensão (SS) e estimar alguns parâmetros de qualidade da água na Lagoa dos Patos. Na primeira etapa desse trabalho, o padrão anual e espacial de SS na laguna foi determinado com base em uma série de 15 anos do produto MOD09Q1 (reflectância na faixa do vermelho do sensor MODIS). Foi observado que a reflectância possui um padrão sazonal com aumento do outono até o final da primavera, e que no corpo lagunar e no estuário a reflectância varia ao longo do ano. Interpretações da variação da reflectância, relacionadas a descarga fluvial e a ação dos ventos, foram apresentadas. Na segunda etapa desse trabalho, o modelo linear de mistura espectral (MLME) foi aplicado em uma imagem do sensor OLI para separar águas espectralmente distintas do estuário da Lagoa dos Patos. A partir das imagens frações, geradas pelo MLME, e das bandas do sensor OLI e TIRS modelos empíricos foram desenvolvidos para estimar alguns parâmetros de qualidade da água. Os modelos obtidos foram capazes de estimar a concentração de clorofila-a (R2 = 0,82) e de sólidos em suspensão (R2 = 0,62), a turbidez (R2 = 0,67) e a profundidade do disco Secchi (R2 = 0,64). Conclui-se que o MLME e os dados do satélite Landsat-8 apresentam grande potencial para estimativa de parâmetros da água por imagens orbitais. / Images acquired by orbital sensors enable observations of the Earth and assist studies of large areas. This work used orbital images to analyze the components that modify the optical characteristics of the water of Lagoa dos Patos, located in the southern region of Brazil. By using multispectral images from MODIS/Terra and OLI/Landsat-8 sensors it was possible to evaluate the spatio-temporal variation of suspended solids (SS) and estimate some parameters of water quality. In the first stage of this work, the annual and spatial pattern of SS were estimated based on a series of 15 years of MOD09Q1 product (reflectance in the red channel of MODIS sensor). It was observed that the reflectance has a seasonal pattern with increase in the autumn until the late spring, and that in the lagoon body and estuary the reflectance varies throughout the year. Interpretations of the spatio-temporal variation of reflectance related to river discharge and the action of the winds were presented. In second stage of this study, the Linear Spectral Mixing Model (LSMM) was applied to an image of the OLI sensor to separate spectrally distinct waters of Lagoa dos Patos estuary. From the fraction images generated by LSMM and the bands of OLI and TIRS sensors, empirical models were developed to estimate some parameters of water quality. The obtained models were able to estimate the concentration of chlorophyll (R2 = 81,56) and the suspended solids (R2 = 61,57), turbidity (R2= 67,14) and Secchi disk depth (R2 = 64,29). Combination of LSMM and the Landsat- 8 satellite have shown great potential for water parameters estimation from orbital images.

Ground water resources are heavily used for drinking water supply and often as a receptacle for waste water. One concern is the possible contamination of wetland areas by ground water receiving septic system infiltration. To investigate this, two tracer studies were performed using the bacteriophage PRD-1 by seeding septic systems adjacent to wetlands with the phage and monitoring migration towards wetland areas. Transport velocities were evaluated based on appearance of tracer in sampling wells at various distances from the injection point. Velocities were estimated to be 0.25 m/d and 0.4 m/d at the two sites. Some retardation with respect to the conservative tracer SF6 was observed, with a factor of about 1.5. Due to dry conditions, the water table was well below surface, so transport of the virus into surface water was not observed. Survival of public-health-related microorganisms in ground water is also a concern. The effects of temperature and total dissolved solids (TDS) on survival of 5 groups of indicator organisms were evaluated in controlled experiments. TDS did not have significant effects on inactivation of these microbes up to 1000 mg/l, but there was indication of reduced inactivation of enterococci at TDS concentrations of 3000 mg/l. Increased temperature consistently resulted in more rapid inactivation. Survival in aquifer and reservoir water samples was also evaluated, and significant effects due to water type, temperature, and pasteurization treatment were observed. Inactivation was more rapid in surface water sources, and pasteurization enhanced survival. For enterococci and DNA coliphage, pasteurization effects were more pronounced in surface water. DNA coliphage and perhaps fecal coliform appeared to be the more-conservative indicator organisms for aquifer injection monitoring. Lastly, it was observed that inactivation rates were considerably slower in pore water of saturated limestone than in the bulk water column of similar water sources and conditions, particularly for enterococci and fecal coliform.

Two framework oxide materials of the MO��� network type have been synthesized and structurally characterized by synchrotron and X-ray powder diffraction and the Rietveld method in the temperature range 25~500 K. The results show one of them to be a low thermal expansion material. Theoretical studies of negative thermal expansion (NTE) in framework oxides were conducted with two methods, geometrical modeling by Rigid Unit Mode (RUM) method and lattice dynamic calculations by free energy minimization (FEM) method, the results are compared with each other as well as with experimental observations. RUM analysis of all five types of framework oxide structures negates any simple and direct correlation between presence or absence of RUMs in a structure and the sign of its thermal expansion. Instead, results suggest that NTE of a crystalline solid can not be explained by pure geometrical considerations over its structure alone, and for a better understanding of structure-relationship in negative thermal expansion structures, specific interatomic interactions present in each one must be brought in explicitly. FEM calculation of two negative thermal expansion structures indicates on a structure by structure basis NTE could be predicted and understood within the Gruneisen model, which attributes NTE of a structure to special vibration modes in a structure that softens when the lattice shrinks. The soft NTE modes are, however, not necessarily RUM or RUM like vibration motions. / Graduation date: 2003

In this dissertation, an experimental and numerical study of dense coarse solids-liquid flows has been performed. The experimental work mainly involved pressure drop measurements in a vertical flow loop. A limited number of measurements of solids velocity profiles were also obtained in the upward flow section of the flow loop. The numerical work involved simulations of coarse particles-in-water flows in vertical and horizontal pipes. The vertical flow simulations were performed using the commercial CFD software, ANSYS CFX-4.4, while ANSYS CFX-10 was used to simulate the flows in the horizontal pipes. The simulations were performed to investigate the applicability of current physically-based models to very dense coarse-particle flows.<p> In the experimental study, measurements of pressure drop and local solids velocity profiles were obtained. The experiments were conducted in a 53 mm diameter vertical flow loop using glass beads of 0.5 mm and 2.0 mm diameter solids for concentration up to 45%. The liquid phase was water. The measured pressure drop exhibited the expected dependence on bulk velocity and solids mean concentration. The wall shear stress was determined by subtracting the gravitational contribution from the measured pressure drop. For flow with the 0.5 mm particles at high bulk velocities, the values of the wall shear stress were essentially similar for each concentration in the upward flow sections but more variation, indicating the effect of concentration, was noted in the downward flow section. At lower bulk velocities, the wall shear stresses with the 0.5 mm glass beads-water flow showed a dependence on concentration in both test sections. This was attributed to an increase in the slip velocity. For the large particle (2.0 mm glass beads), similar observations were made but the effect of concentration was much less in the upward test section. In the downward test section, the wall shear stress for the flow of the 2.0 mm glass beads increased by almost a constant value for the bulk velocities investigated. The solids velocity profiles showed that the solids velocity gradient is large close to the wall. In addition, the solids velocity profiles indicated that the slip velocity increased at lower velocities due to increase in the bulk concentration in the upward flow section.<p> For the vertical flow simulations, different physical models based on the kinetic theory of granular flows were programmed and implemented in ANSYS CFX-4.4. These models, referred to as the kf-ef-ks-es, kf-ef-ks-es-Ts and kf-ef-ks-kfs models, were investigated by focusing on the closure laws for the solids-phase stress. The treatment of the granular temperature Ts depends on whether small- or large-scale fluctuating motion of the particles is considered. The models were implemented via user-Fortran routines. The predicted results were compared with available experimental results. The predicted solids-phase velocity profiles matched the measured data quite well close to the pipe wall but over-predicted it in the core region. The solids concentration, on the other hand, was significantly under-predicted for concentrations higher than 10%. Variations in the predictions of the phasic turbulent kinetic energy and the eddy viscosity were noted; the effect of solids concentration on them was mixed. A general conclusion drawn from the work is that a more accurate model is required for accurate and consistent prediction of coarse particle flows at high concentrations (less than 10%). In a related study, attention was given to wall boundary conditions again focusing on the effect of the solids-phase models at the wall. Comparison between numerical predictions, using some of the existing wall boundary condition models for the solids phase in particulate flows, with experimental results indicated that the physical understanding of the influence of the fluid and solids-phase on each other and their effect on frictional head loss is far from complete. The models investigated failed to reproduce the experimental results. At high solids concentration, it was apparent from the present study that the no-slip and free-slip wall boundary conditions are not appropriate for liquid-solid flows.<p> For the horizontal flow case, three-dimensional simulations were performed with a focus on the velocity and concentration distributions. Medium and coarse sand-in-water flows in three pipe diameters were considered to investigate the default solids stress models in ANSYS CFX-10. Simulations were performed for three cases by considering: 1) no additional solids-phase stress, i.e. no model for Ts; 2) a zero equation, and 3) an algebraic equilibrium model for the granular temperature. The model predictions were compared to experimental results. The effect of particle size, solids-phase concentration, and pipe diameter was explored using the algebraic equilibrium model. All the cases for the models considered exhibited the characteristic features of horizontal coarse particle slurry flows. The zero equation and the algebraic equilibrium model for the granular temperature produced similar results that were not significantly different from the prediction obtained when no solids-phase stress was considered. The comparison with experimental results was mixed. Locally, the measured solids-phase velocity distributions were over-predicted, whereas the solids concentration was reasonably reproduced in the core of all the pipes. The concentration at the bottom and top walls were over-, and under-predicted, respectively. This was attributed to the inappropriate phasic wall boundary condition models available.

Vegetated roof technologies are increasingly being adopted as treatment measures to mitigate the effects of urban stormwater. A mass balance approach was used to assess the wet weather performance of a vegetated roof on the top of city hall in Waterloo, Ontario. Vegetated and control roof sections were instrumented to measure precipitation inputs, storage and outflow for 18 storm events from June to October, 2006. Concentrations of suspended solids (SS), total phosphorus (TP), soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr) and cadmium (Cd) in precipitation and roof (vegetated and control) runoff were measured. A total of 155.6 mm of rain fell during the study period. The vegetated roof retained 64.5 mm (41.5%) of the total rainfall while the control roof retained ~ 5.1 mm (3.3 %). For individual rain events, the vegetated roof retained an average of 3.5 mm (47.6 %) while the control roof retained ~ 0.3 mm (4.7 %). Water retention varied with storm size, season and was influenced by wetting history. The vegetated roof retained 80.6 % of precipitation for light storm events (≤ 3.5 mm) and 34.9 % for large storm events (> 3.5 mm). The control roof retained 7.6 % light storm events and 3.7 % for large storm events. Water quality from the vegetated roof did not show significant improvement as only Zn concentrations in runoff from the vegetated roof were significantly lower than that measured in runoff from the control roof. Concentrations of SS, Cu, Cr and Cd in vegetated roof runoff were relative to concentrations in rainfall and control roof runoff and TP and SRP concentrations were significantly higher than that in rainfall or control roof runoff. Results gained from this study may assist people in planning and stormwater management by providing insight into the monitoring, development and application of new stormwater controls.

Vegetated roof technologies are increasingly being adopted as treatment measures to mitigate the effects of urban stormwater. A mass balance approach was used to assess the wet weather performance of a vegetated roof on the top of city hall in Waterloo, Ontario. Vegetated and control roof sections were instrumented to measure precipitation inputs, storage and outflow for 18 storm events from June to October, 2006. Concentrations of suspended solids (SS), total phosphorus (TP), soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr) and cadmium (Cd) in precipitation and roof (vegetated and control) runoff were measured. A total of 155.6 mm of rain fell during the study period. The vegetated roof retained 64.5 mm (41.5%) of the total rainfall while the control roof retained ~ 5.1 mm (3.3 %). For individual rain events, the vegetated roof retained an average of 3.5 mm (47.6 %) while the control roof retained ~ 0.3 mm (4.7 %). Water retention varied with storm size, season and was influenced by wetting history. The vegetated roof retained 80.6 % of precipitation for light storm events (≤ 3.5 mm) and 34.9 % for large storm events (> 3.5 mm). The control roof retained 7.6 % light storm events and 3.7 % for large storm events. Water quality from the vegetated roof did not show significant improvement as only Zn concentrations in runoff from the vegetated roof were significantly lower than that measured in runoff from the control roof. Concentrations of SS, Cu, Cr and Cd in vegetated roof runoff were relative to concentrations in rainfall and control roof runoff and TP and SRP concentrations were significantly higher than that in rainfall or control roof runoff. Results gained from this study may assist people in planning and stormwater management by providing insight into the monitoring, development and application of new stormwater controls.

An alternative approach to energy integrating systems is photon counting which provides higher dose efficiency through efficient noise rejection and optimal energy weighting, and, moreover, is not susceptible to memory artifacts such as image lag and ghosting. The first large-area photon counting imager was Charpak's Nobel Prize winning invention of the gas-filled multiwire proportional chamber (MWPC), which revolutionized the field of radiation detection in 1968. In most applications, however, the use of a solid detection medium is preferable because solid densities are about three orders-of-magnitude greater than gas, and thus, they can yield much smaller detector dimensions with unsurpassed spatial and temporal resolution. Thus far, crystalline Cadmium Zinc Telluride is the only room-temperature solid-state detector that meets the requirements for photon counting imaging. However, the material is grown in small ingots and production costs are high for large-area imaging applications. The problem is that disordered (or non-crystalline) solids, which are easier and less expensive to develop over large-area than single crystalline solids, have been ruled out as viable photon counting detectors because of their poor temporal resolution, or more specifically, extremely low carrier mobilities and transit-time-limited photoresponse. To circumvent the problem of poor charge transport in disordered solids with a conventional planar detector structure, we propose unipolar charge sensing by establishing a strong near-field effect using an electrostatic shield within the material. We introduce the concept of time-differential photoresponse in unipolar solids and show that their temporal resolution can be improved substantially to reach the intrinsic physical limit set by spatial dispersion. Inspired by Charpak's MWPC and its variants, and for the first time, we have implemented an electrostatic shield inside evaporated amorphous selenium (a-Se) using the proposed lithography-based microstrip solid-state detector (MSSD). The fabricated devices are characterized with optical, x-ray, and gamma-ray impulse-like excitations. Using optical time-of-flight (TOF) measurements, we show for the first time a unipolar Gaussian TOF transient from the new MSSD structure, instead of a rectangular response with a Gaussian-integral at the tail which is a typical response of a conventional planar device. The measured optical and x-ray TOF results verify the time-differential property of the electrostatic shield and the practicality of the dispersion-limited photoresponse. Furthermore, we use single gamma-ray photon excitations to probe detector's temporal resolution in pulse mode for photon counting. For the MSSD, we show a depth-independent signal for photon absorption across the bulk and a reduction in signal risetime by a factor of 350, comparing performance limiting factors being hole-dispersion for the MSSD and electron-transit-time for the conventional planar device. The time-differential response obtained from the proposed unipolar detector structure enables disordered photoconductive films to become viable candidates for large-area photon counting applications.

In this dissertation, an experimental and numerical study of dense coarse solids-liquid flows has been performed. The experimental work mainly involved pressure drop measurements in a vertical flow loop. A limited number of measurements of solids velocity profiles were also obtained in the upward flow section of the flow loop. The numerical work involved simulations of coarse particles-in-water flows in vertical and horizontal pipes. The vertical flow simulations were performed using the commercial CFD software, ANSYS CFX-4.4, while ANSYS CFX-10 was used to simulate the flows in the horizontal pipes. The simulations were performed to investigate the applicability of current physically-based models to very dense coarse-particle flows.<p> In the experimental study, measurements of pressure drop and local solids velocity profiles were obtained. The experiments were conducted in a 53 mm diameter vertical flow loop using glass beads of 0.5 mm and 2.0 mm diameter solids for concentration up to 45%. The liquid phase was water. The measured pressure drop exhibited the expected dependence on bulk velocity and solids mean concentration. The wall shear stress was determined by subtracting the gravitational contribution from the measured pressure drop. For flow with the 0.5 mm particles at high bulk velocities, the values of the wall shear stress were essentially similar for each concentration in the upward flow sections but more variation, indicating the effect of concentration, was noted in the downward flow section. At lower bulk velocities, the wall shear stresses with the 0.5 mm glass beads-water flow showed a dependence on concentration in both test sections. This was attributed to an increase in the slip velocity. For the large particle (2.0 mm glass beads), similar observations were made but the effect of concentration was much less in the upward test section. In the downward test section, the wall shear stress for the flow of the 2.0 mm glass beads increased by almost a constant value for the bulk velocities investigated. The solids velocity profiles showed that the solids velocity gradient is large close to the wall. In addition, the solids velocity profiles indicated that the slip velocity increased at lower velocities due to increase in the bulk concentration in the upward flow section.<p> For the vertical flow simulations, different physical models based on the kinetic theory of granular flows were programmed and implemented in ANSYS CFX-4.4. These models, referred to as the kf-ef-ks-es, kf-ef-ks-es-Ts and kf-ef-ks-kfs models, were investigated by focusing on the closure laws for the solids-phase stress. The treatment of the granular temperature Ts depends on whether small- or large-scale fluctuating motion of the particles is considered. The models were implemented via user-Fortran routines. The predicted results were compared with available experimental results. The predicted solids-phase velocity profiles matched the measured data quite well close to the pipe wall but over-predicted it in the core region. The solids concentration, on the other hand, was significantly under-predicted for concentrations higher than 10%. Variations in the predictions of the phasic turbulent kinetic energy and the eddy viscosity were noted; the effect of solids concentration on them was mixed. A general conclusion drawn from the work is that a more accurate model is required for accurate and consistent prediction of coarse particle flows at high concentrations (less than 10%). In a related study, attention was given to wall boundary conditions again focusing on the effect of the solids-phase models at the wall. Comparison between numerical predictions, using some of the existing wall boundary condition models for the solids phase in particulate flows, with experimental results indicated that the physical understanding of the influence of the fluid and solids-phase on each other and their effect on frictional head loss is far from complete. The models investigated failed to reproduce the experimental results. At high solids concentration, it was apparent from the present study that the no-slip and free-slip wall boundary conditions are not appropriate for liquid-solid flows.<p> For the horizontal flow case, three-dimensional simulations were performed with a focus on the velocity and concentration distributions. Medium and coarse sand-in-water flows in three pipe diameters were considered to investigate the default solids stress models in ANSYS CFX-10. Simulations were performed for three cases by considering: 1) no additional solids-phase stress, i.e. no model for Ts; 2) a zero equation, and 3) an algebraic equilibrium model for the granular temperature. The model predictions were compared to experimental results. The effect of particle size, solids-phase concentration, and pipe diameter was explored using the algebraic equilibrium model. All the cases for the models considered exhibited the characteristic features of horizontal coarse particle slurry flows. The zero equation and the algebraic equilibrium model for the granular temperature produced similar results that were not significantly different from the prediction obtained when no solids-phase stress was considered. The comparison with experimental results was mixed. Locally, the measured solids-phase velocity distributions were over-predicted, whereas the solids concentration was reasonably reproduced in the core of all the pipes. The concentration at the bottom and top walls were over-, and under-predicted, respectively. This was attributed to the inappropriate phasic wall boundary condition models available.