Solid-state nanopores are an emerging class of single-molecule detectors that provide information about molecular identity via the analysis of transient fluctuations in the ionic current flowing across a nanoscale pore in a thin membrane. The transport of biomolecules across a pore is a key step in nanopore-based sensing of DNA, RNA and proteins. The dynamics of biomolecular transport are complex and depend on the strength of many interactions, which can be tuned with temperature. However, temperature is rarely controlled during solid-state nanopore experiments because of the added electrical noise from the temperature control and measurement systems, greatly reducing the signal-to-noise ratio when detecting individual molecules. So far, the use of electric-based heating and cooling strategies has limited the recording bandwidth to the kHz range, restricting the studies to long polymers translocating via the pore relatively slowly. Yet, many molecules translocate through the pore orders of magnitude faster. This research presents the development and testing of an instrument to allow low-noise electrical recording of nanopore signals at MHz bandwidth as a function of temperature. Initial experiments using this custom-built instrument for the study of linear DNA polymers confirm previously observed translocation behaviours, while providing a higher temporal resolution. Overall results show that high-speed nanopore experiments are possible while controlling the temperature up to 70 °C, opening up exciting opportunities to study the unfolding of proteins toward single-molecule protein sequencing and the passage of DNA nanostructures for different bioassays. Future work will focus on realizing microfluidic flow cells and nanopore performance at higher temperature for longer recording times.

The integrated solar roof collector system can bring the house year-round energy saving benefit. In heating season, part of the space heating and preheating domestic hot water demand can be met by this integrated system. In the cooling season, cooling load reduction and preheating domestic hot water can be achieved by operating this system. The traditional solar thermal system is an add-on system rather than integrated, which increases the cost-benefit ratio. The current system is integrated with the roof structure. Except for the energy collecting benefit, it will reduce the material cost, labor cost and construction period. The objectives of this research is to estimate the energy performance of three collector configurations including space heating saving, and preheat hot water saving. This study also compares energy performance for the three collectors on two types of evaluated houses in Roanoke, Virginia. / Master of Science

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At a time when global environmental change is posing a growing challenge to the world’s economy and creating uncertainties to livelihood of its inhabitants, Coal thermal power plants are under pressure to meet stringent environmental regulations into achieving worldwide set millennial goals for mitigating the effect of emission gases on the atmosphere. Owing to its abundance, it is unlikely to see the use of coal completely missing from the global energy mix within the next hundred years to come. While innovative emission reduction technologies are evolving for the better, trendy technological solutions which require reintegration of these coal plants with alternative greener fuels are growing at the moment. Among these solutions, the following paper investigates possible means for repowering a coal steam power plant with indirect solar heating solutions to boost its annual outputs. Two widely deployable solar thermal technologies, parabolic trough and Central tower receiver systems, are introduced at different locations in the steam plant to heat working fluid thereby enhancing the thermodynamic quality of steam being generated. Potential annual energy output was estimated using commercially available TRNSYS software upon mass and heat balance to every component of solar and steam plant. The annual energy outputs are weighed against their plant erecting and running costs to evaluate the economic vitality of the proposed repowering options. The results show that parabolic trough heating method could serve as the most cost effective method generating electricity at competitive prices than solar only powered SEGS plants. While cost may be acceptable in the unit of energy sense, the scale of implementation has been proven to be technically limited. / Kriel Power Plant

O modelo do sistema térmico do corpo humano consegue representar as respostas térmicas e fisiológicas do corpo a diferentes condições ambientais. Diversos modelos foram propostos por pesquisadores durante algumas décadas. E mesmo os modelos mais utilizados e de pesquisadores conceituados não são robustos o suficiente para apresentar boas respostas para condições ambientais extremas. No presente trabalho, foram introduzidas melhorias no modelo disponível para que este possa melhor representar as reações do corpo em condições de climas tanto rigorosas quanto amenas. Dentre as principais modificações implementadas estão o detalhamento dos membros superiores do corpo, aplicação do efeito q10 e inclusão do modelo de duração da termogênese ativa. Deve-se ressaltar que o modelo é aplicável tanto para climas frios ou quentes. As melhorias devido às modificações aplicadas foram mais notáveis em condições de ambientes frios. As temperaturas das extremidades dos membros superiores tendem a se aproximar da temperatura ambiente. Esse comportamento térmico do corpo também é observado através dos dados experimentais disponíveis na literatura. / The thermal system model of human body is capable to estimate physical and physiological response of body at different environmental conditions. Several models were proposed by some researchers over the last 80 years. Most models are not robust, despite at current developments and studies in the area. In the present work, improvements were applied in the available model, this upgrade allows the human thermal system model respond better at both environmental conditions rigorous and moderate. Detailing the upper limbs vascular system, finger representation, q10 effect on metabolism rate and shivering endurance are among the major changes. The model works well for both environmental conditions, hot and cold. The difference between the proposed model and the available one is most notable at cold environmental condition. The temperature of fingers and hands tend to approach the environment temperature. This thermal behavior of human body is also observable in the experimental data of literature.

abstract: Nanoparticle suspensions, popularly termed “nanofluids,” have been extensively investigated for their thermal and radiative properties. Such work has generated great controversy, although it is arguably accepted today that the presence of nanoparticles rarely leads to useful enhancements in either thermal conductivity or convective heat transfer. On the other hand, there are still examples of unanticipated enhancements to some properties, such as the reported specific heat of molten salt-based nanofluids and the critical heat flux. Another largely overlooked example is the apparent effect of nanoparticles on the effective latent heat of vaporization (hfg) of aqueous nanofluids. A previous study focused on molecular dynamics (MD) modeling supplemented with limited experimental data to suggest that hfg increases with increasing nanoparticle concentration. Here, this research extends that exploratory work in an effort to determine if hfg of aqueous nanofluids can be manipulated, i.e., increased or decreased, by the addition of graphite or silver nanoparticles. Our results to date indicate that hfg can be substantially impacted, by up to ± 30% depending on the type of nanoparticle. Moreover, this dissertation reports further experiments with changing surface area based on volume fraction (0.005% to 2%) and various nanoparticle sizes to investigate the mechanisms for hfg modification in aqueous graphite and silver nanofluids. This research also investigates thermophysical properties, i.e., density and surface tension in aqueous nanofluids to support the experimental results of hfg based on the Clausius - Clapeyron equation. This theoretical investigation agrees well with the experimental results. Furthermore, this research investigates the hfg change of aqueous nanofluids with nanoscale studies in terms of melting of silver nanoparticles and hydrophobic interactions of graphite nanofluid. As a result, the entropy change due to those mechanisms could be a main cause of the changes of hfg in silver and graphite nanofluids. Finally, applying the latent heat results of graphite and silver nanofluids to an actual solar thermal system to identify enhanced performance with a Rankine cycle is suggested to show that the tunable latent heat of vaporization in nanofluilds could be beneficial for real-world solar thermal applications with improved efficiency. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Mechanical Engineering 2015

abstract: Surface exploration of the Moon and Asteroids can provide important information to scientists regarding the origins of the solar-system and life . Small robots and sensor modules can enable low-cost surface exploration. In the near future, they are the main machines providing these answers. Advanced in electronics, sensors and actuators enable ever smaller platforms, with compromising functionality. However similar advances haven’t taken place for power supplies and thermal control system. The lunar south pole has temperatures in the range of -100 to -150 oC. Similarly, asteroid surfaces can encounter temperatures of -150 oC. Most electronics and batteries do not work below -40 oC. An effective thermal control system is critical towards making small robots and sensors module for extreme environments feasible. In this work, the feasibility of using thermochemical storage materials as a possible thermal control solution is analyzed for small robots and sensor modules for lunar and asteroid surface environments. The presented technology will focus on using resources that is readily generated as waste product aboard a spacecraft or is available off-world through In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). In this work, a sensor module for extreme environment has been designed and prototyped. Our intention is to have a network of tens or hundreds of sensor modules that can communicate and interact with each other while also gathering science data. The design contains environmental sensors like temperature sensors and IMU (containing accelerometer, gyro and magnetometer) to gather data. The sensor module would nominally contain an electrical heater and insulation. The thermal heating effect provided by this active heater is compared with the proposed technology that utilizes thermochemical storage chemicals. Our results show that a thermochemical storage-based thermal control system is feasible for use in extreme temperatures. A performance increase of 80% is predicted for the sensor modules on the asteroid Eros using thermochemical based storage system. At laboratory level, a performance increase of 8 to 9 % is observed at ambient temperatures of -32oC and -40 oC. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Mechanical Engineering 2016

O modelo do sistema térmico do corpo humano consegue representar as respostas térmicas e fisiológicas do corpo a diferentes condições ambientais. Diversos modelos foram propostos por pesquisadores durante algumas décadas. E mesmo os modelos mais utilizados e de pesquisadores conceituados não são robustos o suficiente para apresentar boas respostas para condições ambientais extremas. No presente trabalho, foram introduzidas melhorias no modelo disponível para que este possa melhor representar as reações do corpo em condições de climas tanto rigorosas quanto amenas. Dentre as principais modificações implementadas estão o detalhamento dos membros superiores do corpo, aplicação do efeito q10 e inclusão do modelo de duração da termogênese ativa. Deve-se ressaltar que o modelo é aplicável tanto para climas frios ou quentes. As melhorias devido às modificações aplicadas foram mais notáveis em condições de ambientes frios. As temperaturas das extremidades dos membros superiores tendem a se aproximar da temperatura ambiente. Esse comportamento térmico do corpo também é observado através dos dados experimentais disponíveis na literatura. / The thermal system model of human body is capable to estimate physical and physiological response of body at different environmental conditions. Several models were proposed by some researchers over the last 80 years. Most models are not robust, despite at current developments and studies in the area. In the present work, improvements were applied in the available model, this upgrade allows the human thermal system model respond better at both environmental conditions rigorous and moderate. Detailing the upper limbs vascular system, finger representation, q10 effect on metabolism rate and shivering endurance are among the major changes. The model works well for both environmental conditions, hot and cold. The difference between the proposed model and the available one is most notable at cold environmental condition. The temperature of fingers and hands tend to approach the environment temperature. This thermal behavior of human body is also observable in the experimental data of literature.

This research project was based on the Design, Implementation and Evaluation of a Photovoltaic Water heating system in South Africa, Eastern Cape Province. The purpose of the study was to design and investigate the scientific and economic contribution of direct water cooling on the photovoltaic module. The method involved performance comparison of two photovoltaic modules, one naturally cooled (M1) and the other, direct water cooled module (M2). Module M2 was used to produce warm water and electricity, hence, a hybrid system. The study focused on comparing the modules’ efficiency, power output and their performance. The temperatures attained by water through cooling the module were monitored as well as the electrical energy generated. A data logger and a low cost I/V characteristic system were used for data collection for a full year. The data were then used for performance analysis of the modules. The results of the study revealed that the directly water cooled module could operate at a higher electrical efficiency for 87% of the day and initially produced 3.63% more electrical energy each day. This was found to be true for the first three months after installation. In the remaining months to the end of the year M2 was found to have more losses as compared to M1 as evidenced by the modules’ performance ratios. The directly water cooled module also showed an energy saving efficiency of 61%. A solar utilization of 47.93% was found for M2 while 8.77% was found for M1. Economically, the project was found to be viable and the payback period of the directly cooled module (M2) system was found to be 9.8 years. Energy economics showed that the system was more sensitive to the price changes and to the energy output as compared to other inputs such as operation and maintenance and years of operation. A generation cost of R0.84/kWh from the system was found and when compared to the potential revenue of R1.18 per kWh, the system was found to enable households to make a profit of 40.5 %. Use of such a system was also found to be able to contribute 9.55% towards carbon emission reduction each year. From these results, it was concluded that a directly cooled photovoltaic/thermal heating (PV/T) system is possible and that it can be of much help in terms of warm water and electricity provision.

In order to enhance the performance of a large horizontal thermal energy storage, a numerical model was generated and validated using measurements obtained from Drake Landing Solar Community (DLSC). A total of nine different baffle configurations were tested in order to enhance the thermal stratification. The designs were tested for a total of six different cases of charging, discharging and simultaneous charging and discharging in an attempt to better identify key features that mix the tank under realistic conditions. Characterization of the tank performance was done by monitoring the tank outlet temperature and computing Huhn's efficiency Second Law characterization index). Results show that the current tanks at DLSC experience excessive mixing due to plume entrainment that occurs during the spreading of the inlet jet. The introduction of a baffle into the middle of the tank was found to have no impact on the level of stratification. In addition, most designs tested have a relatively high level of stratification during charging, discharging and simultaneous charging and discharging, but fail to sustain the level of stratification when a positive buoyant jet is introduced. It was demonstrated that the inlets and outlets should be moved to the top and bottom of the tank to eliminate stagnant fluid that is not easily discharged. Horizontal baffles are effective in allowing the inlet jet to spread horizontally but not vertically, thus reducing the mixing. Alternatively, a simple solution would be to increase the size of the inlet, which has a comparable performance to the best baffle configurations. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)