In Sweden, there are about 0.5 million single-family houses that are heated by electricity alone, and rising electricity costs force the conversion to other heating sources such as heat pumps and wood pellet heating systems. Pellet heating systems for single-family houses are currently a strongly growing market. Future lack of wood fuels is possible even in Sweden, and combining wood pellet heating with solar heating will help to save the bio-fuel resources. The objectives of this thesis are to investigate how the electrically heated single-family houses can be converted to pellet and solar heating systems, and how the annual efficiency and solar gains can be increased in such systems. The possible reduction of CO-emissions by combining pellet heating with solar heating has also been investigated. Systems with pellet stoves (both with and without a water jacket), pellet boilers and solar heating have been simulated. Different system concepts have been compared in order to investigate the most promising solutions. Modifications in system design and control strategies have been carried out in order to increase the system efficiency and the solar gains. Possibilities for increasing the solar gains have been limited to investigation of DHW-units for hot water production and the use of hot water for heating of dishwashers and washing machines via a heat exchanger instead of electricity (heat-fed appliances). Computer models of pellet stoves, boilers, DHW-units and heat-fed appliances have been developed and the parameters for the models have been identified from measurements on real components. The conformity between the models and the measurements has been checked. The systems with wood pellet stoves have been simulated in three different multi-zone buildings, simulated in detail with heat distribution through door openings between the zones. For the other simulations, either a single-zone house model or a load file has been used. Simulations were carried out for Stockholm, Sweden, but for the simulations with heat-fed machines also for Miami, USA. The foremost result of this thesis is the increased understanding of the dynamic operation of combined pellet and solar heating systems for single-family houses. The results show that electricity savings and annual system efficiency is strongly affected by the system design and the control strategy. Large reductions in pellet consumption are possible by combining pellet boilers with solar heating (a reduction larger than the solar gains if the system is properly designed). In addition, large reductions in carbon monoxide emissions are possible. To achieve these reductions it is required that the hot water production and the connection of the radiator circuit is moved to a well insulated, solar heated buffer store so that the boiler can be turned off during the periods when the solar collectors cover the heating demand. The amount of electricity replaced using systems with pellet stoves is very dependant on the house plan, the system design, if internal doors are open or closed and the comfort requirements. Proper system design and control strategies are crucial to obtain high electricity savings and high comfort with pellet stove systems. The investigated technologies for increasing the solar gains (DHW-units and heat-fed appliances) significantly increase the solar gains, but for the heat-fed appliances the market introduction is difficult due to the limited financial savings and the need for a new heat distribution system. The applications closest to market introduction could be for communal laundries and for use in sunny climates where the dominating part of the heat can be covered by solar heating. The DHW-unit is economical but competes with the internal finned-tube heat exchanger which is the totally dominating technology for hot water preparation in solar combisystems for single-family houses. / <p>QC 20100916</p>

<p>A 6082 aluminium alloy has been characterized with regard to the influence of surface roughness on fatigue strength.</p><p>Fatigue life testing of smooth specimens was used to establish reference curves for the material in extruded and forged T6 condition. The extruded material was found to have better fatigue strength than the forged material, although the cyclic stress-strain response was similar for both. The forged material was tested in T5, T6 and T7 tempers, showing no significant difference in fatigue strength.</p><p>Surface roughness was created by circumferential grinding of cylindrical test specimens, and the surface topography was measured using a white light interferometry microscope. The measurements proved to be accurate, although errors were observed for certain surface features. Residual stresses were quantified by X-ray diffraction. Compressive residual stresses of around 150 MPa were found in both rough and smooth specimens. Load cycling did not significantly alter the surface residual stresses.</p><p>Stress solutions ahead of all major surface grooves were found using a linear elastic material model. Estimates of cyclic stresses and strains were calculated in the notch roots using different Neuber corrections of the linear solution. The results were compared to finite element analysis employing a bilinear kinematic hardening model. A generalized version of the Neuber correction was found to be within 20% of the nonlinear finite element results.</p><p>Several empirical models for the notch sensitivity factor were investigated. These were found to be unable to describe the notch influence on fatigue life and initiation life. In order to follow this approach, it was recommended that different test specimens should be used where the short fatigue crack growth could be monitored.</p><p>It was shown that microstructural fracture mechanics theories could be used to estimate the fatigue limit of rough surfaces. In some cases, initiation from material defects or weaknesses would override the influence of surface geometry. In one specimen, the initiation appeared to have started as at a de-bonded grain, while in other cases, initiation was thought to have started at larger second phase particles embedded in notch roots. Further work in this area should focus on statistical descriptions of surface roughness, inherent material defects, and their interaction.</p>

<p>One of the traditional approaches to reduce costs of solar energy is to use inexpensive reflectors to focus the light onto highly efficient solar cells. Several research projects have resulted in designs, where the excess heat is used as solar thermal energy.</p><p>Unlike a solar thermal system, which has a selective surface to reduce the radiant heat loss, a CPV/T (Concentrating PhotoVoltaic/Thermal) system uses a receiver covered with solar cells with high thermal emittance.</p><p>This project analyzes whether the heat loss from the receiver can be reduced by covering parts of the receiver surface, not already covered with solar cells, with an optically selective coating. Comparing different methods of applying such a coating and the long-term stability of low cost alternatives are also part of the objectives of this project.</p><p>To calculate the heat loss reductions of the optically selective surface coating a mathematical model was developed, which takes the thermal emittances and the solar absorptances of the different surfaces into account. Furthermore, a full-size experiment was constructed to verify the theoretical predictions.</p><p>The coating results in a heat loss reduction of approximately 20 % in such a CPV/T system and one of the companies involved in the study is already changing their design to make use of the results.</p>

<p>För ett genomsnittligt småhus i Sverige idag går ca 5000 kWh till hushållsel. Av dessa 5000 kWh går 7% till att driva diskmaskiner. Effektiviseringen av diskmaskiner har framförallt strävat efter en låg vatten- och energianvändning, en kort processtid samt en effektiv rening av disken.</p><p>Det finns dock gränser för hur effektiva diskmaskinerna kan göras med traditionell teknik. Därför har producenter under de senaste åren börjat se sig om efter mindre traditionella metoder som till exempel bruket av en värmepump för att få ned energiförbrukningen.</p><p>Syftet med det här examensarbetet har varit att ta fram systemlösningar för värmepump i diskmaskin samt att utvärdera energibesparingspotentialen i denna tillämpning.</p><p>Målet har varit att ta fram och beskriva de möjliga systemlösningar som uppstår vid en idégenerering. Att välja ut två lösningar för närmare undersökning, att bestämma en lämplig kompressoreffekt samt att beräkna energibesparingen dessa lösningar ger.</p><p>En litteraturstudie har gjorts av teknik och tillämpningar inom området, som till exempel värmeväxlaranvändning i diskmaskiner samt användandet av värmepumpar i andra vitvaror. Denna litteraturstudie följdes upp av en idégenerering, som tar hänsyn till möjliga värmekällor och –sänkor. Idégenereringen gav upphov till två systemlösningar som modellerades i MATLABs Simulink för att en lämplig kompressoreffekt och storleken på energibesparingen skulle bestämmas.</p><p>De två utvalda lösningarna ifrån idégenereringen var utomhusluftlösningen, där värme hämtas från uteluften och energilagerlösningen, där värme hämtas ur ett energilager. I båda lösningarna överförs värmen till det kalla ingående vattnet.</p><p>Energiåtgången för utomhusluftlösningen var beroende av köldmediets förångningstemperatur och modellering av lösningen visade att energiåtgången var 0,25 kWh vid en förångningstemperatur på -10°C, och 0,18 kWh vid 5°C. Vid modellering av energilagerlösningen påvisades en energiåtgång på 0,23 kWh. Slutsatsen som drogs var att kompressorn vid energilagerlösningen skall leverera en effekt på 240 W till köldmediet.</p> / <p>For an average detached house in Sweden today about 5000 kWh are used for household electricity. Of these 5000 kWh 7% are used to run dishwashers. The streamlining of dishwashers has above all strived for a lower water and energy use, a short process time along with a more efficient cleaning of the dishes.</p><p>There are however limits for how efficient the dishwashers can be made with traditional technology and acceptable costs. Therefore producers have, during recent years, started looking for less traditional methods, for example the use of a heat pump to reduce the energy use.</p><p>The purpose of this examination work has been to find system solutions for an application of a heat pump in a dishwasher and to evaluate the possible energy saving for each solution.</p><p>The goal has been to find and describe possible system solutions, which came up during the idea generation. To choose some of these for a closer investigation, to decide a fitting mechanical power for the compressor and to calculate the energy saving these solutions give rise to.</p><p>The method has consisted of a literature study, an idea generation, which takes the heat sources and sinks in consideration and a modelling in MATLAB’s Simulink of the selected solutions from the idea generation, which has been used to fit a mechanical power for the compressor.</p><p>The result of the idea generation was two solutions, an outdoor air solution, which collects heat from the outdoor air and gives it to the cold water which enters the machine and a energy storage solution, which collect heat from a heat stock to give to the cold entering water. A modelling of these show an energy usage of 0,24 respectively 0,17 kWh for the outdoor air solution, with a heat source temperature at 10 °C respectively 5°C and a energy usage of 0,22 kWh for the energy storage solution for one round.</p><p>The conclusion that was drawn was that the compressor of the energy storage solution should deliver a mechanical power of 240 W to the refrigerant.</p>

A 6082 aluminium alloy has been characterized with regard to the influence of surface roughness on fatigue strength. Fatigue life testing of smooth specimens was used to establish reference curves for the material in extruded and forged T6 condition. The extruded material was found to have better fatigue strength than the forged material, although the cyclic stress-strain response was similar for both. The forged material was tested in T5, T6 and T7 tempers, showing no significant difference in fatigue strength. Surface roughness was created by circumferential grinding of cylindrical test specimens, and the surface topography was measured using a white light interferometry microscope. The measurements proved to be accurate, although errors were observed for certain surface features. Residual stresses were quantified by X-ray diffraction. Compressive residual stresses of around 150 MPa were found in both rough and smooth specimens. Load cycling did not significantly alter the surface residual stresses. Stress solutions ahead of all major surface grooves were found using a linear elastic material model. Estimates of cyclic stresses and strains were calculated in the notch roots using different Neuber corrections of the linear solution. The results were compared to finite element analysis employing a bilinear kinematic hardening model. A generalized version of the Neuber correction was found to be within 20% of the nonlinear finite element results. Several empirical models for the notch sensitivity factor were investigated. These were found to be unable to describe the notch influence on fatigue life and initiation life. In order to follow this approach, it was recommended that different test specimens should be used where the short fatigue crack growth could be monitored. It was shown that microstructural fracture mechanics theories could be used to estimate the fatigue limit of rough surfaces. In some cases, initiation from material defects or weaknesses would override the influence of surface geometry. In one specimen, the initiation appeared to have started as at a de-bonded grain, while in other cases, initiation was thought to have started at larger second phase particles embedded in notch roots. Further work in this area should focus on statistical descriptions of surface roughness, inherent material defects, and their interaction.

Enormous quantities of heat are available in air, soil, water, exhaust air from buildings, and in waste water of any kind. However these heat sources are use-less for heating purposes since their temperatures are lower than the tempera-ture required for heating. Heat pumps can be used to extract heat from these sources with a small expenditure of additional energy and up-grade and deliver the energy as useful heat for room heating. The heat pump cycle employs the well-known vapour compression cycle. The amount of heat delivered by a heat pump is equal to the amount of energy extracted from the heat source plus the heat equivalent to the compression work of the heat pump. Heat pumps, of course, are being generally accepted as outstanding energy saving units due their coefficient of performance (COP). Heat pumps for house heating have been used extensively in many countries and are especially common in Sweden. The annual growth rate of heat pump usage in Sweden is the same as in rest of Europe. According to the Swedish heat pump association, between 1986 to August 2003, the number of installed heat pump units in Sweden was 332,309. The demand for heat pumps started to increase from the year 1995 and in the year 2002, approximately 40,000 heat pump units were installed. Among the many types available, single-family heat pumps providing heating capacity of about 5 kW are widely popular. The main drawbacks of heat pumps are the complexity of the systems, high cost, need of technical knowledge, safety hazards and environmental effects of certain refrigerants, etc. An efficient heat pump with small refrigerant charge would have less of some of these drawbacks and could be a competitive alterna-tive to other heating processes. In this study, methods of refrigerant charge minimisation without reducing the performance of a small capacity (5 kW) heat pump have been investigated. Work has been focused on finding refrigerant charge distribution in different components of the heat pump, on finding out the solubility of refrigerant (pro-pane) with different compressor lubrications oils, on testing different types of compact heat exchangers, on constructing new minichannel heat exchangers and on finding correlations for calculating the heat transfer of minichannel heat exchangers. The results included in this thesis have been presented in four con-ference papers and five journal papers of which two were published and three were submitted for publication. / QC 20100707

The tendency to use renewable energy resources has grown continuouslyover the past few decades, be it due to fear over warnings of globalwarming or because of the depletion and short life of fossil fuels or evenas a result of the interest which has developed among researchers doingscientific research into it. This work can be considered as joining any ofthese groups with an objective of giving electric light to the poorpopulation living in one of the poorest nations in the world.The aim of the work is to investigate supplying electric energy fromsolar-wind hybrid resources to remotely located communities detachedfrom the main grid line in Ethiopia. The communities in mind are one oftwo types; the first is the majority of the poor population residing in thecountryside; and the other is people relocated by the Government fromthe over used and dry regions to relatively productive and fertile ones inline with the long-term poverty reduction plan.The work was begun by investigating wind energy and solar energypotentials at four geographically different locations in Ethiopia bycompiling data from different sources and analyzing it using a softwaretool. The locations are Addis Ababa (09:02N, 038:42E), Mekele (13:33N,39:30E), Nazret (08:32N, 039:22E), and Debrezeit (8:44N, 39:02E).The results related to wind energy potential are given in terms of themonthly Average wind speed, the wind speed probability densityfunction (PDF), the wind speed cumulative density function (CDF), thewind speed duration curve (DC), and power density plots for all fourselected sites. According to the results obtained through the analysis, thewind energy potential, even if it is not exceptional, is irrefutably highenough to be exploited for generating electric energy.The solar energy potential, based on sunshine duration data collectedover a period of 7 - 11 years and radiation data obtained from differentsources, has been calculated using regression coefficients specific to thesites in question. Based on the sunshine duration data, the monthlyaverage daily sunshine amount for each of the places has also beencomputed and given in a form of plot. Through additional work on theresults of the calculations, the solar energy potential has been given inthe form of solar radiation plots for each of the selected sites. Asexpected, the results indicated an abundance of solar energy potential.It is based on the promising findings of these two energy resourcepotentials, wind and solar, that the feasibility study for a standalonesolar-wind hybrid energy supply system has proceeded, targeting thecommunity mentioned earlier. The hybrid system consisted of Windturbine, Photovoltaic panel, diesel generator and a bank of batteries, witha power conditioning converter included in the system.The hybrid standalone supply system is intended to provide electricity toa model community of 200 families with five to six family members ineach. The community is equipped with a primary load, a deferrable load,a community school and a health post. An electric load which includeslighting, water pumping, a radio receiver, and some clinical equipmenthas been suggested. Hybrid Optimization Model for ElectricRenewables, HOMER, software has been used for the analysis. Theaverage wind speed and average solar radiation calculated from the datafor all of the selected sites has been used to input into the software.The hybrid system design is approached in three different ways. The firstapproach is to include within the hybrid system those components whichare locally available, without giving special attention to their efficienciesand proceed with the design work. The second approach is tothoroughly search the market for the best and most efficienttechnological products and to select the best components for theanalysis. A third approach considered in an attempt of cost minimizationis to see if a self-contained type of design can be a better solution. Whatthis means is every household will have its own supply system that mayconsist of any combination of PV and wind turbine including converter,battery and charge controller.After running the simulations, lists of power supply systems have beengenerated, sorted according to their net present cost. Sensitivity variables,such as range of wind speeds, range of radiation levels and diesel pricehave been defined as inputs into the software and the optimizationprocess has been carried out repeatedly for the sensitivity variables andthe results have been refined accordingly. / QC 20100623

För ett genomsnittligt småhus i Sverige idag går ca 5000 kWh till hushållsel. Av dessa 5000 kWh går 7% till att driva diskmaskiner. Effektiviseringen av diskmaskiner har framförallt strävat efter en låg vatten- och energianvändning, en kort processtid samt en effektiv rening av disken. Det finns dock gränser för hur effektiva diskmaskinerna kan göras med traditionell teknik. Därför har producenter under de senaste åren börjat se sig om efter mindre traditionella metoder som till exempel bruket av en värmepump för att få ned energiförbrukningen. Syftet med det här examensarbetet har varit att ta fram systemlösningar för värmepump i diskmaskin samt att utvärdera energibesparingspotentialen i denna tillämpning. Målet har varit att ta fram och beskriva de möjliga systemlösningar som uppstår vid en idégenerering. Att välja ut två lösningar för närmare undersökning, att bestämma en lämplig kompressoreffekt samt att beräkna energibesparingen dessa lösningar ger. En litteraturstudie har gjorts av teknik och tillämpningar inom området, som till exempel värmeväxlaranvändning i diskmaskiner samt användandet av värmepumpar i andra vitvaror. Denna litteraturstudie följdes upp av en idégenerering, som tar hänsyn till möjliga värmekällor och –sänkor. Idégenereringen gav upphov till två systemlösningar som modellerades i MATLABs Simulink för att en lämplig kompressoreffekt och storleken på energibesparingen skulle bestämmas. De två utvalda lösningarna ifrån idégenereringen var utomhusluftlösningen, där värme hämtas från uteluften och energilagerlösningen, där värme hämtas ur ett energilager. I båda lösningarna överförs värmen till det kalla ingående vattnet. Energiåtgången för utomhusluftlösningen var beroende av köldmediets förångningstemperatur och modellering av lösningen visade att energiåtgången var 0,25 kWh vid en förångningstemperatur på -10°C, och 0,18 kWh vid 5°C. Vid modellering av energilagerlösningen påvisades en energiåtgång på 0,23 kWh. Slutsatsen som drogs var att kompressorn vid energilagerlösningen skall leverera en effekt på 240 W till köldmediet. / For an average detached house in Sweden today about 5000 kWh are used for household electricity. Of these 5000 kWh 7% are used to run dishwashers. The streamlining of dishwashers has above all strived for a lower water and energy use, a short process time along with a more efficient cleaning of the dishes. There are however limits for how efficient the dishwashers can be made with traditional technology and acceptable costs. Therefore producers have, during recent years, started looking for less traditional methods, for example the use of a heat pump to reduce the energy use. The purpose of this examination work has been to find system solutions for an application of a heat pump in a dishwasher and to evaluate the possible energy saving for each solution. The goal has been to find and describe possible system solutions, which came up during the idea generation. To choose some of these for a closer investigation, to decide a fitting mechanical power for the compressor and to calculate the energy saving these solutions give rise to. The method has consisted of a literature study, an idea generation, which takes the heat sources and sinks in consideration and a modelling in MATLAB’s Simulink of the selected solutions from the idea generation, which has been used to fit a mechanical power for the compressor. The result of the idea generation was two solutions, an outdoor air solution, which collects heat from the outdoor air and gives it to the cold water which enters the machine and a energy storage solution, which collect heat from a heat stock to give to the cold entering water. A modelling of these show an energy usage of 0,24 respectively 0,17 kWh for the outdoor air solution, with a heat source temperature at 10 °C respectively 5°C and a energy usage of 0,22 kWh for the energy storage solution for one round. The conclusion that was drawn was that the compressor of the energy storage solution should deliver a mechanical power of 240 W to the refrigerant.

Energy price are on the way up to a high level that will not diminish in the future make us to focus more on the sustainable development for a better solution of residential houses. Passive house or low energy housing are one of the solution to make residential more environment friendly, in same time it´s a financial security using less energy, and saving money. The last 10 years in Germany and all around Europe the concept of passive house been developed, and people aim to know more about these concept that leading the market more attractive for passive houses. A passive house is a well designed building highly insulated and air tight with mechanical ventilated system for the whole building envelope that minimizes the use of energy for heating [1]. The housing company Mimer has chosen to invest in low energy consumption in every new housing project.  These future plan projects are decided to use less than 75 kwh per square meter annually in purchased energy [2]. This thesis is about new constructed passive houses, and focuses on the evaluations of the temperature, and moisture condition for attic, external walls and joist. Reason for doing this investigation is to see if passive houses fulfill the building codes regarding moisture, and temperature changes, and to find in early stage suspicious changes that could affect badly on the building envelop. The aim of this study is -         Moisture risk analyses of the attic, external walls and joist -         Studying temperature analysis   With highly insulated walls the risk for moistures extra sensitive than normal building construction.  Also during summer time the comfort inside may be surprised by high indoor temperature and one solution for that could be using sun shading.

Recent developments in biological research, has shown that the initial maximum permissible exposure (MPE) limits for protection of workers from risks associated with artificial optical radiations were more stringent than needed. Using the most recent MPE limits for artificial optical radiation this piece of work was focused on the investigation of the level of visible light attenuation needed by automatic welding filters in case of switching failure. Results from the comparison of different exposure standards were employed in investigating the need of Vis/IR and blue light transmittance requirement for automatic welding filters. Real and arbitrary spectra were taken into consideration for the worst and best case scenarios of artificial optical radiations. An excel worksheet developed during the execution of this project took into consideration the exposure from different light sources and the precision of the spectrometer used in measuring the transmittances of a welding filter. The worksheet was developed and tested with known product properties to investigate the validity of its formulation. The conclusion drawn from this project was that attenuation in the light state will be needed for products with the darkest state shade 11 or higher. Also shown is that current welding filter protects the eye well enough even in the case of switching failure. / Nya resultat inom den biologiska forskningen har visat att de tidigare gränserna för högsta tillåtna exponering (MPE) av artificiell optisk strålning för skydd av arbetare, var strängare än nödvändigt. Utgående från färska gränsvärden för artificiell optisk strålning har det här arbetet fokuserat på att undersöka vilken nivå av dämpning av det synliga ljuset som är nödvändig när ett automatiskt svetsglas fallerar att slå om vid svets. Resultat från jämförelse mellan olika standarder för maximal exponering användes som utgångspunkt för att undersöka behovet av krav på Vis/IR- och blåljustransmittans för automatiska svetsglas. Verkliga och antagna spektralfördelningar användes för att simulera olika fall av artificiell optisk strålning. Ett excel-diagram för att beräkna exponeringsvärden från olika ljuskällor samt att beräkna vikta detransmittanser utgående från spektrala transmittansmätningar på svetsfilter togs fram under projektets gång. Excel-diagrammet utvecklades och testades utgående från kända produktegenskaper för att verifiera tillförlitligheten. Slutsatsen från det här projektet är att det behövs dämpning av det synliga ljuset i ljusa läget om täthetsgraden i det mörkaste läget är 11 eller högre. Det visades också att ett befintligt automatiskt svetsglas med stor marginal ger tillräckligt skydd även om produkten fallerar att slå om vid svets.