South Africa is on a path of dramatically increasing its energy supplying capabilties. Eskom (the main utility supplying electricity to the national grid) recently announced that future power station technologies will focus on renewable energy and nuclear power. This is done in an effort to reduce South Africa’s dependance on burning fossil-fuels and thereby decreasing CO2 emissions and other harmful gases. This, together with the fact that there are a lot of fresh water scarce areas especially along the Eastern Cape coast of South Africa, is what inspired this study. This study investigates the use of a 200 MWth High Temperature Reactor (HTR) for cogeneration purposes. Heat from the reactor is utilised for electricity generation (Rankine cycle) and process heat (desalination). Two desalination concepts were evaluated thermodynamically and economically, namely Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) and Reverse Osmosis (RO). Computer software, Engineering Equation Solver (EES), was used to simulate different cycle configurations, where the heat available in the condenser was increased successively. The coupling of the two desalination technologies with a HTR was compared and it was found that a RO plant produces nearly twice as much water while sending the same amount of electricity to the grid (compared to coupling with MED). Coupling options were investigated and each simulation model was optimised to deliver maximum output (power and water). The best configuration was found to be the coupling of a HTR with a RO plant producing 86.56 MW generator power. This is equal to 2077 MWh/day. Using 332 MWh/day for desalination through RO, delivers 73 833 m3/day fresh water and results in 1745 MWh/day sent to the grid. This scenario is the best option from a thermodynamic and economic point of view. From an investment point of view, it will produce an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 10.9 percent and the Net Present Value (NPV) is calculated to be R 2,486,958,689. The results and analysis for the different cycle configurations are presented in such a way that an easy comparison can be made. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Nuclear Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

South Africa is on a path of dramatically increasing its energy supplying capabilties. Eskom (the main utility supplying electricity to the national grid) recently announced that future power station technologies will focus on renewable energy and nuclear power. This is done in an effort to reduce South Africa’s dependance on burning fossil-fuels and thereby decreasing CO2 emissions and other harmful gases. This, together with the fact that there are a lot of fresh water scarce areas especially along the Eastern Cape coast of South Africa, is what inspired this study. This study investigates the use of a 200 MWth High Temperature Reactor (HTR) for cogeneration purposes. Heat from the reactor is utilised for electricity generation (Rankine cycle) and process heat (desalination). Two desalination concepts were evaluated thermodynamically and economically, namely Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) and Reverse Osmosis (RO). Computer software, Engineering Equation Solver (EES), was used to simulate different cycle configurations, where the heat available in the condenser was increased successively. The coupling of the two desalination technologies with a HTR was compared and it was found that a RO plant produces nearly twice as much water while sending the same amount of electricity to the grid (compared to coupling with MED). Coupling options were investigated and each simulation model was optimised to deliver maximum output (power and water). The best configuration was found to be the coupling of a HTR with a RO plant producing 86.56 MW generator power. This is equal to 2077 MWh/day. Using 332 MWh/day for desalination through RO, delivers 73 833 m3/day fresh water and results in 1745 MWh/day sent to the grid. This scenario is the best option from a thermodynamic and economic point of view. From an investment point of view, it will produce an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 10.9 percent and the Net Present Value (NPV) is calculated to be R 2,486,958,689. The results and analysis for the different cycle configurations are presented in such a way that an easy comparison can be made. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Nuclear Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

Several applications, including those in the energy sector that require high thermal efficiency, such as those in the solar energy industry, require a careful thermal analysis of heat exchange components. In this regard, thermal resistance is a major cause of exergy destruction and must be minimised as much as possible, but also adequately designed. In the past, a number of correlations have been developed to predict heat transfer coefficients in compact heat exchangers. The designers of such heat exchangers often exploit the development of thermal boundary layers to achieve higher overall efficiency due to increases in local heat transfer coefficients. However, most of the correlations that have been developed for heat exchangers neglect the specific effect of the thermal boundary layer development in the inlet region, and instead only offer effective average heat transfer coefficients, which most users assume to be constant throughout the heat exchanger. This is often an over-simplification and leads to over-designed heat exchangers. In this study, focus is placed on annular flow passages with uniform heating on the inner wall. This geometry has many applications. This study aims to collect experimental heat transfer data for water at various flow rates and inlet geometries, to process the data and determine local and overall heat transfer coefficients, and to develop an improved local heat transfer coefficient correlation. Experimental tests were performed on a horizontal concentric tube-in-tube heat exchanger with a length of 1.05 m and a diameter ratio of 0.648. The surface of the inner tube was treated with thermochromic liquid crystals (TLCs), which allowed for high-resolution temperature mapping of the heated surface when combined with an automated camera position system in order to determine local heat transfer coefficients. Conventional in-line and out-of-line annular inlet configurations were evaluated for Reynolds numbers from 2 000 to 7 500, as well as the transition from laminar to turbulent flow for a single in-line inlet configuration. It was found that the local heat transfer coefficients were significantly higher at the inlets, and decreased as the boundary layers developed. With the high resolution of the results, the local heat transfer coefficients were investigated in detail. Local maximum and minimum heat transfer coefficients were identified where the thermal boundary layers merged for high turbulent flow cases. The annular inlet geometries only influenced the heat transfer for Reynolds numbers larger than 4 000, for which larger inlets are favoured. Out-of-line inlet geometries are not favoured for heat transfer. A new heat transfer correlation was developed from the experimental data, based on an existing heat transfer correlation for turbulent flow in an annular flow passage, considering the boundary layer development. The new correlation estimated the area-weighted heat transfer coefficients within 10% of the experimental data and closely followed trends for local heat transfer coefficients. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / MEng / Unrestricted

We present two possible thermodynamical approaches towards a derivation of a model, proposed by Korteweg at the beginning of the 20th century, that is suitable to describe phase transitions liquid-vapor with non-sharp interfaces. The first approach (Dunn, Serrin (1985)) is based on classical rational continuum thermodynamics. The second approach (Heida, Málek (2010)) stems from the principles of classical nonequilibrium continuum thermodynamics. We compare both approaches in favor of the second one. The considered constitutive equation for the Cauchy stress is nonlinear. Nonlinearity and higher order derivatives of the density makes the analysis of relevant problems for the Navier-Stokes- Korteweg (NSK) fluid more difficult in comparison to problems concerning Navier-Stokes equations. Special attention is devoted to the appropriate choice of the boundary conditions. We also investigate the influence of compressibility on the stability of bubbles by comparing numerical simulations for compressible NSK fluid and its incompressible variant. Instabilities observed for a compressible NSK fluid are due to the pressure that has a different meaning for incompressible fluid. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Flow of granular materials is usually initiated when the shear stress is large enough and exceeds certain critical value. This can result in the presence of the dead-zones in which the flow itself does not take place. Motions of such materials are frequently described by Bingham model. Flows of granular fluids are frequently connected with the presence of free surface. In the thesis Bingham model is incorporated into a more general framework of Bingham-Korteweg fluids, which is a suitable way how to transfer free- boundary problems into the problems on fixed domains. A part of the thesis concerns mathematical analysis of interesting relevant problems for incompressible fluids. 1

Nafion membranes, are polymeric thin films widely employed in micro-batteries and fuel cells. These devices are expected to play a key role in the next generation energy systems for use in vehicles as a replacement to combustion engines. In fact, a minimum environmental impact is guaranteed by reduced carbon dioxide emissions. It is usually complicated to investigate the behavior of thin membranes through experiments. Therefore, numerical simulations are carried out in order to enable a better understanding of the phenomena and of the multi-field couplings occurring in polymeric membranes. A continuum-based, three-dimensional and electro-chemo-mechanical (ECM) model for a hydrated polymer membrane is presented. Different effects are taken into account: (i) mechanics, (ii) water uptake, (iii) ion transport, and (iv) electrostatics. The dissipation inequality drives the choice of the suitable constitutive equations of the multi-physics theory. In the mechanical field, an additive decomposition of the deformation gradient in (i) a distortion part, related to the ion motion, and (ii) an elastic part, is assumed. The multi-field model is numerically solved within the finite element framework. Time-dependent simulations are performed by using the commercial tool COMSOL Multiphysics. Furthermore, two closed form solutions are obtained by using (i) a one-dimensional reduced model and (ii) an approach based on the bar theory with an electro-chemical distortion field.

Raman spectra of aqueous lanthanum perchlorate, triflate (trifluorosulfonate), chloride and nitrate solutions were measured over a broad concentration (0.121–3.050 mol Lˉ¹) range at room temperature (23 °C). A very weak mode at 343 cmˉ¹ with a full width at half height at 49 cmˉ¹ in the isotropic spectrum suggests that the nona-aqua La(III) ion is thermodynamically stable in dilute perchlorate solutions (∼0.2 mol Lˉ¹) while in concentrated perchlorate solutions outer-sphere ion pairs and contact ion pairs are formed. The La³⁺ nona-hydrate was also detected in a 1.2 mol Lˉ¹ La(CF₃SO₃)₃(aq). In lanthanum chloride solutions chloro-complex formation was detected over the measured concentration range from 0.5–3.050 mol Lˉ¹. The chloro-complexes in LaCl₃(aq) are fairly weak and disappear with dilution. At a concentration <0.1 mol Lˉ¹ almost all complexes disappeared. In LaCl₃ solutions, with additional HCl, a series of chloro-complexes of the type [La(OH₂)₉₋nCln]⁺³⁻ⁿ (n = 1–3) were formed. The La(NO₃)₃(aq) spectra were compared with a spectrum of a 0.409 mol Lˉ¹ NaNO₃(aq) and it was concluded that in La(NO₃)₃(aq) over the concentration range from 0.121–1.844 mol Lˉ¹, nitrato-complexes, [La(OH₂)₉₋n-(NO₃)n]⁺³⁻ⁿ (n = 1, 2) were formed. These nitrato-complexes are quite weak and disappear with dilution <0.01 mol Lˉ¹. DFT geometry optimizations and frequency calculations are reported for a lanthanumnona-hydrate with a polarizable dielectric continuum in order to take the solvent into account. The bond distances and angles for the cluster geometry of [La(OH₂)₉]³⁺ with the polarizable dielectric continuum are in good agreement with data from recent structural experimental measurements and high quality simulations. The DFT frequency of the La–O stretching mode at 328.2 cmˉ¹, is only slightly smaller than the experimental one.