Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'RWHS'

Ce travail propose une approche innovante pour la production, caractérisation et utilisation de catalyseurs biosourcés pour des applications dans les domaines de l'énergie et de l'environnement, afin de réduire le coût et l'impact des catalyseurs commerciaux actuellement utilisés. Le travail développé ici promeut une approche d'économie circulaire dans la mesure où des plantes issues de la phytoremédiation ont été employées pour la production de catalyseurs biosourcés, respectueux de l'environnement. Ces catalyseurs ont été utilisés pour produire des vecteurs énergétiques tels que l'hydrogène à partir des réactions de gaz à l'eau direct (water-gas shift, WGS) et indirect (reverse water-gas shift, RWGS), et pour la décomposition des polluants de NOx (deNOx). Les catalyseurs biosourcés ont été produits à partir de saule et fougère avec un contenu contrôlé en métaux introduit par imprégnation avant ou après pyrolyse à 800°C afin d'imiter l'hyperaccumulation (&gt;3 g métal /kg biocarbone) dans un support carboné poreux. Les catalyseurs ainsi produits ont été testés pour les réactions de deNOx, ainsi que dans WGS et RWGS, et les dispositifs expérimentaux associés ont été développés et optimisés pendant la thèse. Ils ont été caractérisés en termes de composition, structure et stabilité thermique, ceci avant et après utilisation. Pour les trois réactions, les catalyseurs ont montré une sélectivité et une conversion élevées et maintenues dans les conditions de réaction, facilitées par le contenu en métaux catalytiques dont l'activité a été renforcée par les métaux inhérents. La présence de fonctions oxygénées de surface et d'une surface spécifique élevée (&lt;419 m²/g) ont amélioré l'adsorption et la dissociation des gaz réactifs grâce à des sites supplémentaires formés par réduction et à une meilleure activité électronique. Avec ces caractéristiques, les catalyseurs biosourcés ont montré des performances meilleures que celles de catalyseurs références de la littérature en raison d'une meilleure stabilité ou activité catalytiques (conversion maintenue pour plus de 120h, énergie d'activation entre 0.5 et 186 kJ/mol, constante cinétique entre 1.9 x 10^-9 et 4.3 x 10^12. Le catalyseur de saule imprégné au Ni avant pyrolyse et le catalyseur bimétallique (Ni/Fe) de fougère ont montré les meilleures performances pour les réactions de deNOx, et RWGS et WGS, respectivement<br>This work proposes an innovative approach to the production, characterization and use of biocarbon catalysts for energy and environment-related applications, in order to reduce the cost and impact of the commercial catalysts currently in use. The work developed here promotes a circular economy approach in the way that plants from phytoremediation have been used for the production of eco-friendly biocarbon catalysts. They were used for the production of energy vectors such as hydrogen by direct and reverse water-gas shift reaction (WGS and RWGS respectively), as well as for the decomposition of NOx pollutants (deNOx). Biocarbon catalysts were produced from willow and fern with a controlled metal content introduced by wet impregnation before or after pyrolysis at 800°C to imitate hyperaccumulation (&gt;3 g metal/kg biocarbon) in a porous carbon support. The resulting catalysts were tested in deNOx, as well as WGS and RWGS reactions, and the associated experimental equipments were developed and optimized during this thesis work. They were characterized in terms of composition, structure and thermal stability, before and after use. For the three reactions, the catalysts showed high selectivity and conversion, facilitated by the catalytic metals whose activity was enhanced by the inherent metals. The presence of surface oxygen functions and a high specific surface area (&lt;419 m²/g) improved adsorption and dissociation of reactive gases thanks to additional reactive sites formed by reduction and enhanced electronic activity. With these characteristics, biocarbon catalysts showed better performances than literature-based reference catalysts as they were either more stable or active (conversion maintained for more than 120h, activation energy from 0.5 to 186 kJ/mol, kinetic constant between 1.9 x 10^-9 and 4.3 x 10^12). Willow biocarbon impregnated with Ni before pyrolysis and bimetallic (Ni/Fe) fern biocarbon showed the best performances for the deNOx, and RWGS and WGS reactions, respectively

Rainwater harvesting is one of the methods that can ensure availability of water for winter crop in Iraq. Using this technique the excess rainwater (runoff) is stored in reservoirs of dams of different sizes. The water from these reservoirs can be used later when required to satisfy the crops requirements. It is believed that rainwater harvesting will be one of the solutions to overcome water shortages problem in Iraq.This work includes four parts dealing with macro rainwater harvesting modeling. The study area includes selected sites at three Governorates located north of Iraq (Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Nineveh). In part one of the work, three selected sites at south, north and east of Sinjar district (Nineveh Governorate) were used. The slope of the study area at Sinjar district is less than 5%. The technique was first applied on southern Sinjar Mountain. Linear programming technique was adopted to optimize the irrigated area of barley crop for irrigation scenario of supplemental irrigation (SI) 100% of full irrigation requirements. Two scenarios of reservoir operation were considered for each main basin. In the first, each reservoir was operated as a separate unit while in the second all reservoirs in main basin were operated as one system. Both scenarios gave encouraging results. Scenario two however, was relatively better. The technique was applied again on the northern and eastern Sinjar Mountain area but with different catchments area and scenarios of irrigation (supplemental irrigation (SI) 100%, deficit irrigation (DI) 50%, and deficit irrigation (DI) 25% of full irrigation requirements). Wheat crop was considered as the main crop grown in the area. A linear programming technique was adopted to optimize the irrigated area for the above three scenarios of irrigation. The results of the three scenarios used indicated that, using deficit irrigation (DI) of 50% can be more beneficial than SI of 100% and DI of 25% of full irrigation requirements. Part two of the work includes application of Macro RWH technique at mountain areas in Northeastern part of Iraq. In these areas, all selected basins having slope more than 5 % and located at the rain-fed farms of Kurdistan region of Iraq, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah Governorates. The annual rainfall is greater than what was available at Nineveh Governorate. Part three of the work focused about the ability of Macro RWH technique to support wheat crop yield production in dry rain-fed farms at north Sinjar district, north west of Iraq, using wheat crop yield-water relationship that conducted by International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). Three scenarios of supplemental irrigation (100%, 75% and 50%) of full irrigation. requirements with, various rainfall conditions were used, two types of wheat (bread and durum) were considered. Part four of the work focused on climatic change and future prospects for Macro RWH technique. Box-Jenkins methodology for time series analysis and forecasting (ARIMA model) was used to study future rainfall for 4 main rainfall stations surrounding Sinjar area in order to forecast expected rainfall for the period 2012-2016. Future rainfall depths were forecasted with adoption of a confidence level of 95%. The future rainfall was employed for RWH technique. This part also includes a review of the impact of climatic change on countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region). The climatic model CGCM3.1 (T47) 2 was used to explain the changes in the average temperatures and rainfall on MENA region with special emphases on Iraq. Long term future seasonal rainfall during the period 2020-2099 at east Sinjar (Nineveh Governorate) showed a clear negative trend reflecting the reduction in total seasonal rainfall amount. For these future rainfall depths, the maximum, minimum and average harvested runoff volumes were estimated. The comparison of the runoff results between future and historical recorded rainfall for the same study area was carried out to show the future validity of rainwater harvesting. In order to estimate the amount of runoff that can be harvested from a given catchment area at eastern Sinjar, an attempt was made to provide set of charts that are easy to be used in order to estimate the equivalent harvested runoff depth (mm) for different selected rainfall depths under different hydraulic conditions for the catchment area. Macro rainwater harvesting (RWH) technique had been tested for future rainfall data that predicted by two emission scenarios of climatic change (A2 and B2) for the period 2020-2099 at Nineveh and Sulaymaniyah Governorates north of Iraq. The results of the four parts of the thesis reflect useful values for RWH and its influence to increase the irrigated area and then the crop yield in the studied region when combined with an effective system like supplemental irrigation. Rain-fed land in the studied areas requires effective technique in terms of saving significant runoff water for irrigation purposes and this might be achieved by rain-water harvesting (RWH) technique.<br>Godkänd; 2014; 20140310 (andbra); Nedanstående person kommer att disputera för avläggande av teknologie doktorsexamen. Namn: Saleh Mohammed Saleh Zakaria Ämne: Geoteknik/Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering Avhandling: Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) North of Iraq Opponent: Professor Ahmed Hachum, Dams and Water Resources Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Mosul University, Mosul, Iraq Ordförande: Professor Sven Knutsson, Avd för geoteknik, Institutionen för samhällsbyggnad och naturresurser, Luleå tekniska universitet Tid: Tisdag den 29 april 2014, kl 10.00 Plats: F1031, Luleå tekniska universitet

Nowadays there is a growing interest in the capture and utilization of CO2 because of the increase of its concentration in the atmosphere. Captured CO2 can be recycled through different processes to obtain several value-added products, such as fuels. Current processes for the production of synthetic fuel and of some other products use syngas, a mixture of CO and H2 of varying composition, as feedstock. Syngas can be obtained by the catalytic reduction of CO2 to CO using an excess of H2 through the reverse water gas shift (RWGS) reaction. The RWGS reaction is endothermic and to reach appropriate conversion values, needs high temperature and the presence of a catalyst. Suitable catalysts should present not only high activity and selectivity, but also a good stability and low cost. In this context, transition metal carbides (TMCs) have been proposed as a good alternative to conventional catalysts to be used in the RWGS reaction. Theoretical and experimental investigations have shown that molybdenum carbide presents good catalytic behavior in the RWGS reaction. However, very few investigations about the use of TMCs of group 5 as catalysts in this reaction have been reported. The main objective of this work is the study of the CO2 reduction to CO under RWGS conditions over catalysts based on transition metal carbides of group 5 (G5TMC=VC, NbC and TaC). Additionally, some of these materials have been tested as catalysts in the methanol steam reforming (MSR). The catalysts have been characterized before and after reaction by means of different techniques, such as, X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, H2-temperature programmed reduction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and precession electron diffraction. In addition, studies of CO2 adsorption and reactivity have been carried out using thermogravimetry, calorimetry and in-situ diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy. The preparation of bulk and, ɣ-Al2O3-, TiO2-, SBA-15-, SiO2-, CeO2-, ZrO2- and activated carbon-supported catalysts, based on G5TMC has been performed avoiding the use of carburizing methods. A sol-gel method using 4,5- dicyanoimidazole as carbon source, metal chloride and alkoxide as metal precursors, and different thermal treatments has been developed. The use of metal alkoxides resulted in the preparation of bulk G5TMCs with smaller crystallite size compared to that obtained when metal chloride was used. Moreover, for metal alkoxide precursors, a decrease of the crystallite size of G5TMC was observed when the 4,5-dicyanoimidazole/metal precursor molar ratio was increased. An increase of the temperature of treatment led to a higher crystallite size of the G5TMCs. For supported vanadium carbide catalysts, VCx with different crystallite sizes were obtained as a function of the support and/or method of preparation used. The catalysts were tested under RWGS conditions, CO2/H2=1/3 in the 573- 873 K range. The catalysts based on vanadium carbide were active and highly CO selective, reaching values of CO selectivity near to 100% above 773 K. The samples based on niobium carbide and tantalum carbide were inactive under the experimental conditions used. For bulk vanadium carbide catalysts, the coexistence of two different phases, VC (stoichiometric), and V8C7 (C deficient) was determined. The presence of a higher amount of V8C7 phase was related with a smaller VCx crystallite size and a higher CO2 adsorption energy. The catalyst, which presented a higher presence of V8C7, showed a better catalytic behavior in all the temperature range studied. The experimental results obtained in this work have been interpreted in the light of theoretical studies performed in the group of Prof. Illas (University of Barcelona) in a frame of a collaborative research. The dissociative adsorption of CO2 to CO+O over G5TMC is proposed; a subsequent surface oxy-carbide species formation and CO release would take place. The presence of C vacancies in vanadium carbide catalysts allows the reactants to absorb more strongly, lowering the energy barrier for both H2 and CO2 dissociation steps. VC- based catalysts with smaller VCx crystallite size, showed lower activation energy in the RWGS reaction under the conditions used. Supported vanadium carbide catalysts produced a higher amount of CO per mol of V than the corresponding bulk catalyst. VC/Al2O3, VC/SiO2 and VC/AC, which had the smallest crystallite sizes of VCx phase showed the best catalytic behavior in the RWGS reaction. Some catalysts have been tested in the RWGS during 4 days, showing a high stability under the reaction conditions used. Finally, several bulk and supported G5TMC catalysts were tested under MSR conditions (CH3OH/H2O=1/1, 573-723 K). CH4 was the main product found when vanadium carbide catalysts were used; this is related with the methanol decomposition. On the other hand, for niobium carbide and tantalum carbide catalysts, HCHO was the main product, which could be formed via methanol dehydrogenation. After MSR catalytic tests, the characterization of used catalysts revealed a high SBET reduction and the presence of abundant carbon deposits, which is associated with the high deactivation of the catalysts observed under the reaction conditions used.<br>El principal objetivo de este trabajo es el estudio de catalizadores basados en carburos de metales de transición del grupo 5 (CMTG5=VC, NbC and TaC) en la reducción selectiva de CO2 a CO bajo condiciones de reacción inversa de desplazamiento de agua (RWGS por sus siglas en inglés). Adicionalmente, algunos de estos materiales se han probado como catalizadores en el reformado de metanol con vapor (MSR por sus siglas en inglés). Los catalizadores se han caracterizado adecuadamente antes y después de su uso en reacción mediante diversas técnicas físico-químicas. Asimismo, se han llevado a cabo estudios de adsorción y reactividad de CO2 mediante termogravimetría, calorimetría y espectroscopia infrarroja en modo reflectancia difusa in situ. Se han ensayado los diferentes materiales bajo condiciones de RWGS, CO2/H2=1/3 en el rango de 573-873 K. Los catalizadores basados en carburo de vanadio fueron activos y altamente selectivos a CO alcanzando valores cercanos al 100% a partir de 773 K. Los materiales basados en carburo de niobio y carburo de tántalo fueron inactivos bajo las condiciones experimentales usadas. En los catalizadores de carburo de vanadio másico se pudo determinar la coexistencia de dos fases, una estequiométrica VC, y otra deficiente en C, V8C7. La presencia de una mayor cantidad de la fase V8C7 se relaciona con el menor tamaño de cristalito y se refleja en una mayor energía de adsorción de CO2. El catalizador que presentó mayor presencia de la fase V8C7 mostró el mejor comportamiento catalítico en todo el rango de temperatura estudiado. Todos los catalizadores soportados de carburo de vanadio produjeron una mayor cantidad de CO por mol de V que el catalizador másico correspondiente. Los catalizadores soportados, VC/Al2O3, VC/SiO2 y VC/AC, que tuvieron los menores tamaños de cristalito de la fase VCx mostraron el mejor comportamiento catalítico. Algunos catalizadores se ensayaron en la RWGS durante 4 días, mostrando una elevada estabilidad bajo las condiciones de reacción utilizadas. Finalmente, diversos catalizadores másicos y soportados de CMTG5 se ensayaron bajo condiciones de MSR, CH3OH/H2O=1/1 en el rango de 573-723 K. Con los catalizadores de carburo de vanadio se obtuvo como producto mayoritario CH4. Por otra parte, con los catalizadores de carburo de niobio y carburo de tántalo, se obtuvo mayoritariamente HCHO. La caracterización de los catalizadores usados en el MSR reveló una gran reducción del área superficial SBET y la presencia de abundantes depósitos carbonosos, lo que se asocia con la elevada desactivación observada bajo las condiciones de reacción utilizadas.

Increase in carbon dioxide emissions due to economic activity induce global warming. The strong increase in energy demand, mainly based on oil and coal, induces a rapid increase in CO2 in the atmosphere. Within Canada, the amount of human-produced carbon dioxide is considerable because a large portion of energy is supplied by burning of fossil fuels. The Reverse Water Gas Shift (RWGS) reaction is a promising catalytic process for the utilization and subsequent activation of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide, which can be further converted into fuels such as gasoline. The current thesis studies the development of nano-catalytic systems for the RWGS reaction. Mono- and bi-metallic nanoparticles based on Cu, Fe, Ru and Pt were prepared using a polyol synthesis method. The catalytic performance of three different types of metal oxides (ionically conductive, mixed ionic-electronic conductive and non-conductive) was investigated for the RWGS reaction. Conductive metal oxides including samarium-doped ceria (SDC), ceria (CeO2), yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and iron III oxide (Fe2O3) were further used as the catalyst supports and the nanoparticles of Cu, Fe, CuxFe1-x (x = 50 and 95 at.%), Ru, Pt, Ru50Pt50 and RuxFe1-x (x = 80 and 90 at.%) were subsequently deposited on them. A stoichiometric mixture of H2 and CO2, i.e. H2/CO2 = 1, was used under atmospheric pressure in the temperature range of 300 - 600°C in order to evaluate the catalyst performance in terms of activity, stability and selectivity. Nanoparticles deposited on ceria-based supports (CeO2 and SDC) showed superior catalytic performance compared to other metal oxides. Among all the catalyst tested, 5 wt.% Ru50Pt50/CeO2 showed the highest CO yield and satisfactory stability for RWGS reaction. The second best catalytic systems were based on Ru90Fe10/CeO2 and Ru80Fe20/CeO2, which are more attractive from the practical point of view.

Sustainable innovations are observed as a major way by which the ill-effects of the built environment can be avoided or offset. The adoption of innovations are critical to the society, as they pave the way for further incremental or radical innovations, depending on the feedback from their users. In this process, the attributes of an innovation play an important role in its adoption. The objective of this study was to determine whether observability, one of many attributes of innovations identified in the literature as affecting their adoption, plays a critical role in the adoption of sustainable innovations, specifically Rainwater Harvesting Technologies and Strategies (RwHTS). Further, the study aimed to determine whether the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) resulted in frequent adoption RwHTS. Last but not least, the study also sought to understand how designers used BIM to enhance the acceptance of RwHTS in capital projects. The stakeholders identified for this study were architectural firms that are geographically located in the southeastern states of the United States, and the study was conducted from their perspective. This study was segregated into two major phases. The first phase involved a survey of 2,200 designers/architects located in seven southeastern states, including Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, and District of Columbia. The survey questions targeted experiences associated with the implementation of RwHTS and the use of BIM for designing and constructing facilities over the last decade by the architectural firms. Based on the responses received, six firms were purposively selected for Phase II, which involved a case study approach that included meeting with the designers, conducting interviews, understanding general firm policies for capital projects, identifying factors that result in the adoption of RwHTS, and developing a process-based profile undertaken by the firm to understand how key decisions were made. By the end of this phase the researcher identified the factors that result in the adoption of RwHTS. In addition, the researcher also found that observability did not emerge as an attribute that played a critical role in the adoption of RwHTS, in comparison to the other attributes. The study also found that the current use of BIM did not result in the frequent adoption of RwHTS. Finally, the study was able to produce a generalized process map that depicted the steps undertaken during the design process for the adoption of RwHTS in capital projects. This study encompassed the basic principles of sustainability in the built environment, adoption of innovation, and Building Information Modeling use within the design industry.<br>Ph. D.

In this research project, adsorption is considered in conjunction with the reverse water gas shift reaction in order to convert CO2 to CO for synthetic fuel production. If the CO2 for this process can be captured from high emitting industries it can be a very good alternative for reduced fossil fuel consumption and GHG emission mitigation. CO as an active gas could be used in Fischer-Tropsch process to produce conventional fuels. Literature review and process simulation were carried out in order to determine the best operating conditions for reverse water gas shift (RWGS) reaction. Increasing CO2 conversion to CO requires CO2/CO separation downstream of the reactor and recycling unreacted CO2 and H2 back into the reactor. Adsorption as a viable and cost effective process for gas separation was chosen for the CO2/CO separation. This was started by a series of adsorbent screening experiments to select the best adsorbent for the application. Screening study was performed by comparing pure gas isotherms for CO2 and CO at different temperatures and pressures. Then experimental isotherm data were modeled by the Temperature-Dependent Toth isotherm model which provided satisfactory fits for these isotherms. Henry law’s constant, isosteric heat of adsorption and binary mixture prediction were determined as well as selectivity for each adsorbent. Finally, the expected working capacity was calculated in order to find the best candidate in terms of adsorption and desorption. Zeolite NaY was selected as the best candidate for CO2/CO separation in adsorption process for this project. In the last step breakthrough experiments were performed to evaluate operating condition and adsorption capacity for real multi component mixture of CO2, CO, H2 in both cases of saturated with water and dry gas basis. In multi components experiments zeolite NaY has shown very good performance to separate CO2/CO at low adsorption pressure and ambient temperature. Also desorption experiment was carried out in order to evaluate the working capacity of the adsorbent for using in industrial scale and eventually temperature swing adsorption (TSA) process worked very well for the regeneration step. Integrated adsorption system downstream of RWGS reactor can enhance the conversion of CO2 to CO in this process significantly resulting to provide synthetic gas for synthetic fuel production as well as GHG emission mitigation.

Our society needs to continuously perform transports of people and goods toensure that business is kept going. Every disturbance in the transportation ofpeople or goods affects the commerce and may result in economical losses forcompanies and society. Severe traffic accidents cause personal tragedies forpeople involved as well as huge costs for the society. Therefore the roadauthorities continuously try to improve the traffic safety. Traffic safety may beimproved by reduced speeds, crash safe cars, tires with better road grip andimproved road maintenance. The environmental effects from roadmaintenance when spreading de-icing chemicals need to be considered, i.e.how much chemicals should be used to maximize traffic safety and minimizethe environmental effects. Knowledge about the current and upcoming roadcondition can improve the road maintenance and hence improve traffic safety.This thesis deals with sensors and models that give information about the roadcondition.The performance and reliability of existing surface mounted sensors wereexamined by laboratory experiments. Further research involved field studies tocollect data used to develop surface status models based on road weather dataand camera images. Field studies have also been performed to find best usageof non intrusive IR technology.The research presented here showed that no single sensor give enoughinformation by itself to safely describe the road condition. However, the resultsindicated that among the traditional road surface mounted sensors only theactive freezing point sensor gave reliable freezing point results. Furtherresearch aimed to find a model that could classify the road condition indifferent road classes from existing road weather sensor data and road images.The result was a model that accurately could distinguish between the roadconditions dry, wet, snowy and icy. These road conditions are clearly dissimilarand are therefore used as the definition of the road classes used in this thesis.Finally, results from research regarding remote sensing IR technology showedthat it significantly improves knowledge of the road temperature and statuscompared to data from surface mounted sensors.<br>Vårt samhälle bygger på att det finns effektiva transporter av människor ochvaror för att säkerställa att samhällets funktioner fungerar och att företagenkan genomföra sina affärer. Störningar i transporterna av människor och varorpåverkar handeln och kan leda till ekonomiska förluster för både företag ochvårt samhälle. Allvarliga trafikolyckor orsakar personliga tragedier för deinblandade samt stora kostnader för samhället. Det är med denna bakgrundsom vägmyndigheterna kontinuerligt arbetar med att förbättratrafiksäkerheten. Trafiksäkerheten kan förbättras genom att minskahastigheterna, se till att bilarna blir krocksäkra, krav på däck med bättreväggrepp och ett bättre vägunderhåll. Miljöeffekterna från vinterväghållningdär avisningsmedel sprids på vägarna måste beaktas, d.v.s. hur mycketkemikalier bör användas för att maximera trafiksäkerheten och minimeramiljöpåverkan. Denna avhandling handlar om sensorer och modeller som gerinformation om väglaget. En kunskap om aktuellt och kommande väglag kanförbättra väghållningen och därmed öka trafiksäkerheten.I avhandlingen har prestanda och tillförlitlighet hos befintliga vägmonteradesensorer granskats i laboratorieexperiment. Data från fältstudier har använtsför att utveckla modeller som kan ge information om vägytans status baseratpå meteorologiska mätdata och kamerabilder. Det har också genomförtsfältstudier för att utforska den fördelaktigaste användningen av beröringsfriinfraröd sensorteknik.Den forskning som presenteras här visar att ingen enskild givare ger tillräckliginformation för att säkert beskriva väglaget. Från de traditionella ytmonteradesensorerna drogs slutsatsen att den aktiva fryspunktsgivaren gav de mesttillförlitliga fryspunktsresultaten. Det vidare arbetet handlade om att hitta enmodell som skulle kunna klassificera vägförhållanden i olika vägklassergenom att utnyttja information från befintliga sensorer och kamerabilder.Detta arbete resulterade i en modell som tillförlitligt kan särskilja väglagentorr, våt, snöig och isig. Dessa väglag är väsentligt olika och har därför valtssom väglagsklasser i denna avhandling. Under en säsong genomfördes ävenfältförsök med beröringsfri infraröd mätteknik där det visade sig att denberöringsfria teknologin förbättrar kunskapen om vägbanans temperatur och vägbanans status.

The current energy and environmental scenario in the world demands acute attention on sustainable repurposing of waste CO2 to high value hydrocarbons that not only addresses the CO2 mitigation problem, but also provides pathways for a closed loop synthetic carbon cycle. Difference in the scales of global CO2 emissions (about 40 Gtpa, 2017) and the carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) facilities (estimated cumulative 40 Mtpa, 2018) provokes active research on this topic. Solar thermochemical (STC) and visible light photocatalysis are two of the most promising routes that have garnered attention for this purpose. While STC has the advantages of high CO2 conversion rates, it operates at high temperatures (more than 1000 °C) limiting its industrial implementation. Photocatalysis, on the contrary, is plagued by the poor quantum efficiency and conversion rates, although its exhibits the benefits of low temperature operation. Thus, any significant progress towards low temperature STC and visible light photocatalytic CO2 reduction is a giant leap towards a greener and sustainable energy solution. This dissertation is an effort towards improving both the STC and photocatalytic CO2 reduction. Reverse water gas shift - chemical looping (RWGS-CL) is a modified STC approach that has the potential for low temperature CO2 conversion. RWGS-CL process uses mixed metal oxides like perovskite oxides (ABO3) for the conversion to CO, a potential feedstock for subsequent hydrocarbon production. Generation of oxygen vacancy defects on these perovskite oxides is a key step of RWGS-CL and thus, oxygen vacancy formation energy has been found to be a key descriptor for this process. Using density functional theory based calculations, this intrinsic material property has been used towards rational design of better catalysts. Highest rate of CO2 conversion at the low temperatures of 450 °C was demonstrated by earth abundant perovskite oxide via RWGS-CL. This low temperature and stable CO2 conversion process enables thermal integration with subsequent Fischer Tropsch processes for the hydrogenation of CO to hydrocarbons. Parallel to the developments on materials discovery, another crucial parameter that deserves attention is the surface termination effects of the perovskite oxides. Hence, the site specificity of the bulk and surface oxygen vacancies have been probed in detail towards elucidating the CO2 conversion performance over these materials. In the view of recent progress on the growth of selective crystal facets and terminations, this study opens new avenues for enhanced CO2 conversion performance not only through bulk composition variation, but also via exposing desired crystal facets. Type-II semiconductor heterojunctions (staggered type) are promising candidates for efficient photocatalytic reactions, not only because of their capabilities of electronic density of states tuning, but also their ability to segregate the excited electrons and holes into different materials thereby restricting exciton recombination. Metal oxynitride heterojunctions have recently demonstrated promising activity on visible light water splitting. Elucidating the structure-function relationships for these materials can pave the way towards designing better CO2 conversion photocatalysts. This dissertation focuses on unravelling the roles of material composition, anion vacancy defects and lattice strain towards modulating the electronic density of states of lateral and vertical heterojunctions of (ZnO)X(AlN)1-X and (ZnO)X(GaN)1-X. The heterojunctions consist of periodic potential wells that allows for restricting interlayer charge transport. Increased ZnO concentration was explicitly shown to decrease the band gap due to N 2p and Zn-3d repulsion. Biaxial and vertical compressive strain effected increased band gap while tensile strain reduced the same. Oxygen vacancies was found to have different effect on the electronic state of the materials. When present in charged state (+2), it promotes mid gap state formation, while in neutral state it revealed increased electronic densities near the valence band and conduction band edges. These fundamental site specific material property tuning insights are essential for designing better photocatalysts for future.

Saab Dynamics is a division of Swedish company Saab AB, offering solutions, products, and services for military defence. Included in the Saab Dynamics portfolio is the Carl-Gustaf recoilless rifle; a man-portable, reusable, anti-tank weapon system. Another Saab produced system is the Trackfire Remote Weapon Station; a remotely operated weapon and sensor system, purposed for use on all types of military platforms. Armoured vehicles used by the Swedish Armed Forces are sometimes equipped with remote weapon stations that aim to provide the vehicle crew with protection, by allowing them to operate the weapons from inside the vehicle. These weapon stations can integrate a selection of different weapons, but there are currently no systems in operation that allow integration of the Carl-Gustaf system. This project was initiated based on a request from the Life Guards, for an integrating system between the Carl-Gustaf M4 and a remote weapon station. The project was conducted at Saab Dynamics, Karlskoga, in cooperation with Karlstad University, and aimed to generate suggestions of vehicle integration between the Carl-Gustaf M4 and a remote weapon station. The project was performed as a product development process, using a systematic method for construction and design to develop concept solutions of an integrating system between Carl-Gustaf M4 barrels, and the Trackfire RWS. The report includes a literature study, performed during a feasibility study, on the three systems: Carl-Gustaf weapon system, remote weapon stations, and wheeled armoured vehicles. Recoil principles and interior ballistics of recoilless rifles are further explained and applied to the study. The feasibility study resulted in a specification of requirements, which was used as a foundation for the concept development.  Concepts of solutions were generated and eliminated using a brainstorming session, a morphological matrix, elimination matrices, and decision matrices. One concept was chosen as the final concept solution; a concept comprised of a construction that enables integration of four Carl-Gustaf M4 barrels on the Trackfire RWS, while dampening the recoil that comes from firing a gun. The construction was modelled and analysed using 3D design and engineering platform 3DExperience. Analyses revealed a strong construction that withstands forces arising when a weapon is operated, yet further analyses on how the construction would manage subjection to long-term vehicle vibration and weapon operation are required. Construction dimension optimisations are encouraged, as well as further development of construction details. Recommendations and suggestions on how to proceed with the system integration are provided as a final part of the report.<br>Saab Dynamics är en division i svenska företaget Saab AB, som erbjuder lösningar, produkter och tjänster för militärt försvar. Inkluderat i Saab Dynamics porfolio finns granatgevär Carl-Gustaf; ett bärbart, återanvändbart pansarvärnsvapen. Ett annat Saab-producerat system är Trackfire Remote Weapon Station; ett fjärrstyrt vapen- och sensorsystem, ämnat för användning på alla typer av militärplattformar. Pansarfordon som används av Försvarsmakten är ibland utrustade med fjärrstyrda vapenstationer som skyddar fordonsbesättningen genom att låta dem manövrera vapnen inifrån fordonet. Dessa vapenstationer kan integrera ett urval av olika vapen, men för närvarande finns det inget system i drift som tillåter integrering av Carl-Gustaf systemet.  Detta projekt initierades baserat på en begäran från Livgardet, om ett integrerande system mellan Carl-Gustaf M4 och en fjärrstyrd vapenstation. Projektet utfördes på Saab Dynamics Karlskoga, i samarbete med Karlstads universitet, och syftade till att generera förslag på fordonsintegrering mellan Carl-Gustaf M4 och en fjärrstyrd vapenstation. Projektet utfördes som en produktutvecklingsprocess, och använde en systematisk metod för konstruktion och design för att utveckla konceptlösningar för ett integrerande system mellan Carl-Gustaf M4 eldrör och Trackfire RWS. Rapporten inkluderar en litteraturstudie, som utfördes under en förstudie, om de tre systemen: Carl-Gustaf granatgevär, fjärrstyrda vapenstationer och hjuldrivna pansarfordon. Rekylprinciper och inre ballistik hos granatgevär förklaras vidare och appliceras i studien. Förstudien resulterade i en kravspecifikation, som användes som grund för konceptutvecklingen. Konceptlösningar genererades och eliminerades genom användning av en brainstorming session, en morfologisk matris, elimineringsmatriser och beslutsmatriser. Ett koncept valdes ut som den slutliga lösningen; ett koncept bestående av en konstruktion som möjliggör integrering av fyra Carl-Gustaf M4 eldrör på Trackfire RWS, samtidigt som den dämpar rekylen som uppstår vid skjutning av ett eldrör. Konstruktionen modellerades och analyserades i 3D-design- och teknikplattformen 3DExperience. Analyser avslöjade en stark konstruktion som motstår de krafter som uppstår vid användning av ett granatgevär, dock är fortsatta analyser av hur konstruktionen skulle klara att utsättas för fordonsvibrationer och gevärsanvändning under en längre period nödvändiga. Optimering av konstruktionsdimensioner uppmuntras, så som fortsatt utveckling av konstruktionsdetaljer. Rekommendationer och förslag på hur arbetet med systemintegrationen kan fortsättas presenteras i slutet av rapporten.

Vatten är en livsnödvändig förutsättning för allt levande och förändringar i vattentillgången kan ha förödande konsekvenser. Därför är det viktigt att hitta ett hållbart sätt att konsumera och återanvända vatten på, särskilt i områden med risk för vattenbrist eller vattenkvalitetsproblem. Sandön är en skärgårdsö med speciell natur och denna studie behandlar en undersökning kring möjligheterna för implementering av regnvatteninsamling på ön för att minska grundvattenuttaget. Studien har omfattat en litteraturgenomgång, insamling, sammanställning och bearbetning av digitala data samt en fältstudie för insamling och kontroll av platsspecifika data. Resultatet av studien visar att möjligheterna för implementering av regnvatteninsamlingslösningar på Sandön är god och olika alternativa lösningar för insamling presenteras. Med den mest kostnadseffektiva lösningen blir den möjliga mängd som går att ersätta med regnvatten 26,7 % av hushållets användning under månaderna juni, juli och augusti, beroende på fastighetens storlek och utrymme för uppsamlingstank samt antalet personer. Den begränsande faktorn är inte potentialen på 23 miljoner liter vatten per år, utan uppsamlingstankens volym som är beroende av fastighetens storlek. Den beräknade optimala totala tankvolymen med avseende på nederbörd och vattenanvändning för Sandön är 3 m3. Vad studien också visar är att grundvattenuttaget på sommaren inte kan täckas upp av enbart regnvatten och att ytterligare lösningar krävs.<br>Water is a critical necessity for all living creatures and changes in the reservoirs may have disastrous consequences. It is important to find a sustainable way to consume and re-use water, especially in areas with a higher risk of water shortageor quality issues. Sandön is an island in the Swedish archipelago with unique nature and this study includes a survey on the possibilities for implementation of rainwater harvesting on the island in order to decrease the groundwater consumption. The study has covered a literature study on books, reports and articles, collection and processing of digital data and a field study was performed. The result of the study shows that the possibilities of implementation of rainwater harvesting solutions on Sandön is good and different system alternatives are presented. With the most cost-effective system the quantity that is possible to replace with rainwater is 26,7 % of the households use during the months of June, July and August, depending on the properties size, space for placement of tanks and the number of people. The limiting factor is not the potential of 23 millions of liters of water per year, but the volume of the storage tank which is dependent on the size of the property. The optimal total tank volume for Sandön is 3 m3. The study also concludes that the water consumption during the summer can not be covered only by the collection of rainwater and additional solutions are needed.

In many areas of India, increasing groundwater use has led to depleted aquifers. Rainwater harvesting (RWH), the small scale collection and storage of runoff to augment groundwater stores, is seen as a solution to the deepening groundwater crisis in India. However while the social and economic gains of RWH have been highlighted, there has not yet been a thorough attempt to evaluate the impacts of RWH on larger catchment hydrological balances. The thesis here will endeavour to address this research gap through a case study of the 476 km2 ungauged semi-arid Arvari River catchment in the state of Rajasthan. Over 366 RWH structures have been built in this catchment since 1985 by the community and the local non-government organisation (NGO), Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS). The local effects of RWH structures and general catchment characteristics were determined through field investigations during the monsoon seasons of 2007 and 2008. The analysis described large variability in both climatic patterns and recharge estimates. Potential recharge estimates from seven RWH storages, of three different sizes and in six landscape positions, were calculated using the water balance method, which were compared with recharge estimates from water level rises in twenty-nine dug wells using the water table fluctuation method. The average daily potential recharge from RWH structures is between 12 – 52 mm/day, while recharge reaching the groundwater was between 3 – 7 mm/day. The large difference between recharge estimates could be explained through soil storage, and a large lateral transmissivity in the aquifer. Approximately 7% of rainfall is recharged by RWH in the catchment, which is similar in both the comparatively wet and dry years of the field analysis. This is because the capacity of an individual structure to induce recharge is related to structure size and capacity, catchment runoff characteristics and underlying geology. Due to the large annual fluctuations in groundwater levels, the field study results suggest that RWH has a large impact on the groundwater supply, and that there is a large lateral flow of groundwater in the area. The results inferred from the field analysis were then applied to a conceptual water balance model to study catchment-scale impacts of RWH. An existing model was not used because of the paucity of data, and the need to incorporate an effective representation of RWH function and impact. The model works on a daily time step and is divided into subbasins. Within the subbasin hydrological response units (HRUs) describe the different land use/soil combinations associated with the Arvari River catchment, including irrigated agriculture. Sustainability indices, related to water from groundwater and rainfall for irrigated agriculture demand, were used to compare scenarios of management simulated in the conceptual model. The analysis shows that as RWH area increases, it reaches a limiting capacity from where developing additional RWH area does not increase the benefit to groundwater stores, but substantially reduces streamflow. This limiting capacity was also seen at the local-scale, where cumulative potential recharge from an individual RWH structure reaches a maximum daily recharge rate. These results could have important implications for RWH development, but require further research. The analysis highlighted the important link between irrigation area and RWH area. If the irrigation area is increased at the optimal level of RWH, where the sustainability indices were greatest, the resilience of the system actually decreased. Nevertheless RWH in a system increased the overall sustainability of the water demand for irrigated agriculture, compared to a system without RWH. Also RWH provided a slight buffer in the groundwater store when drought occurred. While RWH addresses the supply-side issues of groundwater operation, the institutions that form rules for groundwater use must also be considered, because of the link between irrigation area and RWH. The Arvari River Parliament, the community-based group in the case study area, was examined according to Ostrom’s factors for collective action. It was found that the major limitation for the effectiveness of this group was the minimal information available about the aquifer characteristics.

Doctor of Philosophy(PhD)<br>In many areas of India, increasing groundwater use has led to depleted aquifers. Rainwater harvesting (RWH), the small scale collection and storage of runoff to augment groundwater stores, is seen as a solution to the deepening groundwater crisis in India. However while the social and economic gains of RWH have been highlighted, there has not yet been a thorough attempt to evaluate the impacts of RWH on larger catchment hydrological balances. The thesis here will endeavour to address this research gap through a case study of the 476 km2 ungauged semi-arid Arvari River catchment in the state of Rajasthan. Over 366 RWH structures have been built in this catchment since 1985 by the community and the local non-government organisation (NGO), Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS). The local effects of RWH structures and general catchment characteristics were determined through field investigations during the monsoon seasons of 2007 and 2008. The analysis described large variability in both climatic patterns and recharge estimates. Potential recharge estimates from seven RWH storages, of three different sizes and in six landscape positions, were calculated using the water balance method, which were compared with recharge estimates from water level rises in twenty-nine dug wells using the water table fluctuation method. The average daily potential recharge from RWH structures is between 12 – 52 mm/day, while recharge reaching the groundwater was between 3 – 7 mm/day. The large difference between recharge estimates could be explained through soil storage, and a large lateral transmissivity in the aquifer. Approximately 7% of rainfall is recharged by RWH in the catchment, which is similar in both the comparatively wet and dry years of the field analysis. This is because the capacity of an individual structure to induce recharge is related to structure size and capacity, catchment runoff characteristics and underlying geology. Due to the large annual fluctuations in groundwater levels, the field study results suggest that RWH has a large impact on the groundwater supply, and that there is a large lateral flow of groundwater in the area. The results inferred from the field analysis were then applied to a conceptual water balance model to study catchment-scale impacts of RWH. An existing model was not used because of the paucity of data, and the need to incorporate an effective representation of RWH function and impact. The model works on a daily time step and is divided into subbasins. Within the subbasin hydrological response units (HRUs) describe the different land use/soil combinations associated with the Arvari River catchment, including irrigated agriculture. Sustainability indices, related to water from groundwater and rainfall for irrigated agriculture demand, were used to compare scenarios of management simulated in the conceptual model. The analysis shows that as RWH area increases, it reaches a limiting capacity from where developing additional RWH area does not increase the benefit to groundwater stores, but substantially reduces streamflow. This limiting capacity was also seen at the local-scale, where cumulative potential recharge from an individual RWH structure reaches a maximum daily recharge rate. These results could have important implications for RWH development, but require further research. The analysis highlighted the important link between irrigation area and RWH area. If the irrigation area is increased at the optimal level of RWH, where the sustainability indices were greatest, the resilience of the system actually decreased. Nevertheless RWH in a system increased the overall sustainability of the water demand for irrigated agriculture, compared to a system without RWH. Also RWH provided a slight buffer in the groundwater store when drought occurred. While RWH addresses the supply-side issues of groundwater operation, the institutions that form rules for groundwater use must also be considered, because of the link between irrigation area and RWH. The Arvari River Parliament, the community-based group in the case study area, was examined according to Ostrom’s factors for collective action. It was found that the major limitation for the effectiveness of this group was the minimal information available about the aquifer characteristics.

Membranes are a promising, effective and energy efficient separation strategy for effluent gases in the Reverse Water Gas Shift (RWGS) reaction to increase the overall conversion of CO2 to CO. This process involves a separation and recycling process to reuse the unreacted CO2 from the RWGS reactor. The carbon monoxide produced from this reaction, alongside hydrogen (composing syngas), can be used in the Fischer-Tropsch process to create synthetic fuel, turning stationary CO2 emissions into a useable resource. A literature review was performed to select suitable polymers with high CO2 permeability and selectivities of CO2 over CO and H2. PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) was selected and commercial and in-house PDMS membranes were tested. The highest CO2 permeability observed was 5,883 Barrers, including a CO2/H2 selectivity of 21 and a CO2/CO selectivity of 9, with ternary gas feeds. HY zeolite, silica gel and activated carbon were selected from previous research for their CO2 separation capabilities, to be investigated in PDMS mixed matrix membranes in 4 wt % loadings. Activated carbon in PDMS proved to be the best performing mixed matrix membrane with a CO2 permeability of 2,447 Barrers and comparable selectivities for CO2/H2 and CO2/CO of 14 and 9, respectively. It was believed that swelling, compaction and the homogeneity of the selective layer were responsible for trends in permeability with respect to driving force. The HY and silica gel mixed matrix PDMS membranes were believed to experience constraints in performance due to particle and polymer interfaces within the membrane matrix.

A molécula de CO2 é a principal responsável pelas consequências negativas do efeito estufa. Os números cada vez maiores associados à emissão de CO2 na atmosfera têm atraído a atenção de cientistas na busca de novos catalisadores para reações de dissociação de CO2. Simultaneamente, vários eventos atômicos podem influenciar as propriedades catalíticas de tal sistema, como o efeito de forte interação metal-suporte (SMSI - Strong Metal-Support Interaction) e o rearranjo atômico nas nanopartículas bimetálicas expostas a atmosferas gasosas. Este trabalho apresenta os resultados de um estudo sobre o comportamento de nanopartículas (NPs) de CuNi1-/CeO2 (0<<1) durante o tratamento de redução em H2 (etapa usada na ativação de catalisadores) seguido da reação inversa de deslocamento gás-água (RWGS - Reverse Water-Gas Shift). As amostras foram inicialmente caracterizadas em termos de suas composições, componentes químicas, arranjo atômico e tamanhos usando as técnicas de espectroscopia de raios X por dispersão em energia (EDS - Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy), espectroscopia de fotoelétrons excitados por raios X (XPS - X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy) e microscopia eletrônica de transmissão (TEM - Transmission Electron Microscopy). Após, as amostras foram aquecidas até 500 ∘C em uma atmosfera de H2. Em 500 ∘C as amostras foram expostas às atmosferas de H2 e H2+CO2. Durante todos esses tratamentos, as amostras foram caracterizadas in situ pelas técnicas de XPS em pressões próximas à ambiente (NAP-XPS - Near Ambient Pressure X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy) com energias de fótons incidentes de 1250 eV e 2000 eV, espectroscopia de absorção de raios X (XAS - X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy) e XAS resolvido no tempo medido no modo transmissão nas bordas K do Cu (8979 eV), K do Ni (8333 eV) e L3 do Ce (5723 eV). As medidas in situ realizadas mostraram uma migração de átomos de Cu (Ni) para a superfície das nanopartículas durante o tratamento em atmosfera de H2 (H2+CO2). Além disso, a população atômica de Cu na superfície é dependente da quantidade de Cu usada no processo de síntese. Uma maior concentração de Cu durante a síntese implica em uma menor população de Cu na superfície durante as reações de redução em H2 e de RWGS. A ocorrência do fator geométrico do efeito SMSI, caracterizado por uma camada de óxido de cério em torno das nanopartículas durante o tratamento de redução, foi observado para algumas nanopartículas, revelando a existência de um limite na concentração de Cu para a ocorrência do efeito. Somente as nanopartículas com grande quantidade de Cu apresentaram o efeito SMSI durante o tratamento de redução em H2. A superfície das nanopartículas apresentando o efeito SMSI retorna ao estado inicial (sem a camada de óxido de cério) após a inserção da atmosfera de CO2. Além disso, a natureza do efeito SMSI foi elucidada pela primeira vez: a camada de óxido de cério interage com os átomos de Cu e Ni através dos estados iniciais Ce3d10O2p6Ce4f0 e Ce3d10O2p6Ce4f1, dependendo do caso estudado. Como consequência do efeito SMSI, os átomos de Cu das nanopartículas reduzem antes (temperaturas mais baixas) do que nanopartículas semelhantes que não apresentam o efeito SMSI. Os resultados de reatividade para a formação de CO através da reação RWGS, associados aos eventos catalíticos a nível atômico observados (efeito SMSI, população atômica de superfície, mudança no estado de oxidação dos catalisadores) levaram à projeção de um catalisador otimizado aplicado à reação RWGS. A camada de óxido de cério do efeito SMSI tem consequência negativa nos resultados de reatividade. A migração de átomos de Ni para a superfície levou a uma diminuição da reatividade catalítica na reação RWGS. Baseado nesses resultados, é proposta a síntese de nanopartículas com uma grande quantidade de Ni visando evitar a ocorrência do efeito SMSI e permitir uma grande população atômica de Cu na superfície durante a reação RWGS, ambos desempenhando um papel fundamental nos resultados de reatividade para a reação RWGS.<br>The CO2 molecule is the main responsible for the negative consequences of the greenhouse effect. The increasing numbers associated to the amount of CO2 emission in the atmosphere have attracted the attention of scientists aiming the discovery of new catalysts to CO2 dissociation reactions. At the same time, several atomic events may influence the catalytic properties of such systems, like the Strong Metal-Support Interaction (SMSI) effect and atomic rearrangement when the bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) are exposed to a gaseous atmosphere. This work presents the results of a study about the behavior of CuNi1-/CeO2 (0<<1) NPs during the H2 reduction treatment (step used in the activation of the catalysts) followed by the reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) reaction. The samples were initially characterized in terms of their compositions, chemical components, atomic arrangement and sizes, using the Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) techniques. Afterwards, these samples were heated to 500 ∘C in a H2 atmosphere. At 500 ∘C the samples were exposed to H2 and H2+CO2 atmospheres. During all these treatments, the samples were characterized in situ by Near Ambient Pressure XPS (NAP-XPS) with incident photon energies of 1250 eV and 2000 eV, X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) and time-resolved XAS techniques in transmission mode at the Cu K (8979 eV), Ni K (8333 eV) and Ce L3 (5723 eV) edges. The in situ measurements performed showed a copper (nickel) migration to the nanoparticles surface during H2 (H2+CO2) gaseous treatment. Moreover, the Cu surface atomic population is dependent on the Cu amount used in the synthesis process. The higher concentration of Cu during the synthesis implies in a smaller Cu surface atomic population during H2 reduction and RWGS reaction. The occurrence of the geometrical factor of the SMSI effect, characterized by a cerium oxide capping layer surrounding the nanoparticles during reduction treatment, was observed for some of the NPs, revealing the existence of a threshold in the Cu concentration to occur the SMSI effect. Only nanoparticles with high amounts of Cu present the SMSI effect during the H2 reduction treatment. The surface of the nanoparticles presenting the SMSI effect is recovered to the initial state (free of the capping layer) after inserting the CO2 atmosphere. Moreover, the nature of the SMSI effect was elucidated for the first time: the capping layer interacts with the Cu and Ni atoms via Ce3d10O2p6Ce4f0 and Ce3d10O2p6Ce4f1 initial states, depending on the case studied. As a consequence of the SMSI effect, the Cu atoms of the nanoparticles reduce earlier (lower temperature) than similar nanoparticles that do not present the SMSI effect. The reactivity results towards the CO formation in the RWGS reaction, associated to the catalytic events at atomic level observed (SMSI effect, surface atomic population, change on the oxidation state of the catalysts) led to the design of an optimized catalyst applied to this reaction. The capping layer of the SMSI effect has a negative influence on the reactivity results. The migration of Ni atoms to the surface led to a decrease of the catalyst reactivity in the RWGS reaction. Based on these results, it is proposed a synthesis of nanoparticles with a high amount of Ni in order to avoid the SMSI effect and to allow a high Cu surface atomic population during the RWGS reaction, both playing a key role in the reactivity results towards the RWGS reaction.

Baigiamajame magistro darbe yra nagrinėjamos Lietuvoje žiemos metu naudojamos intelektinės transporto sistemos. Didžiausias dėmesys yra skiriamas KOSIS trūkumo – nesugebėjimo prognozuoti – pašalinimui. Darbo tikslas yra išsiaiškinti, ar yra galimybė, pasinaudojus minėtos sistemos teikiamais duomenimis, prognozuoti kritulių pradžios laiką VĮ „Vilniaus regiono keliai" prižiūrimuose keliuose. Darbo aktualumui atskleisti yra aptarta kritulių prognozės svarba tiek eismo dalyviams tiek kelių priežiūros įmonėms ypač šaltuoju metų laiku. Tikslui pasiekti yra aprašoma tyrimo metodiką, kurios pagrindą sudaro vėjo, nešančio kritulių debesis, greitis. Greičiui apskaičiuoti yra pateikiami teoriniai pagrindai, padedantys pasirinkti atitinkamus parametrus šio dydžio nustatymui. Žinant debesų judėjimo greitį yra parengtos prognozės, kurių rezultatai gretinami su realiai užfiksuotais laiko intervalais. Atlikus tyrimą yra nustatyta, kokiu spinduliu yra tikslinga atlikti tokias prognozes ir kokiam laikotarpiui galima prognozuoti. Darbą sudaro 6 dalys: įvadas, literatūros apžvalga, Lietuvoje naudojamos intelektinės transporto sistemos kelių priežiūroje žiemą, klimatinių sąlygų prognozavimo tyrimas, išvados ir pasiūlymai, literatūros sąrašas. Darbo apimtis – 71 p. teksto be priedų, 35 iliustracijos, 13 lentelės, 29 bibliografiniai šaltiniai. Atskirai pridedami darbo priedai.<br>In this master thesis there are analysed intelligent transport systems used for winter road maintenance in Lithuania. The main attention is payed to Road Weather Information system. The aim of this thesis is to find out the posibility of forecasting the precipitation start time in Vilnius region using Road Weather stations information. All stations are located within a 200 km radius to the southwest of Vilnius region. At first there is a disputed importance of precipitation forecasting to drivers and road maintenance personnel especially during the winter season. In order to achieve the aim of this thesis, there are described forecasting method based on the wind speed. Also there is a theory that explains how to select basic parameters to calculate the wind speed. There are some forecasts made in this paperwork and their results are compared with real data. It helps to find out which stations are useful for further forecasting and what is the longest time of forecasting. The thesis includes 6 parts: introduction, survey of literature, Road Weather Information systems used for winter road maintenance in Lithuania, the reserach of weather forecasting, conclusions and suggestions, references. Pages - 71 p . text, 35 figures . , 13 tables . , 39 bibliographic sources . All appendixes are separately attached.

Self supply is an emerging approach to water supply which focuses on fostering household investment in incremental improvements to their water sources. When successful, it can lower costs and increase sustainability by offering users a larger share of ownership in their own supply, and harnessing the already existing strengths of a community rather than trying to impose an external perspective. In addition to well upgrading and source protection, one of the key self supply areas is rainwater harvesting. Uganda has a diverse selection of rainwater storage options, but many of them are scattered and disparate. The objective of this study was to create a comprehensive collection of well-established Ugandan rainwater storage options, and to demonstrate the geographical disparities in availability, particularly for Rakai District, where the author lived and worked as a Water and Sanitation Engineer for two years. Data was gathered by interviewing key stakeholders in rainwater harvesting at the national, regional, and district level in order to gather their collective knowledge in rainwater harvesting storage techniques. In order to understand the availability and pricing of manufactured products, a survey of Rakai District hardware stores determined the prices and range of volumes at which different manufactured products were available. The study found 11 distinct technologies widely used for rainwater storage: three informal or traditional, three manufactured, and five built-in-place by skilled artisans. The traditional/informal technologies consisted of clay pots, pots and basins, and brick mortar tanks. The manufactured products were plastic tanks ranging from 60 to 24,000 liters, corrugated iron tanks, and 55-gallon metal drums. The built-in-place tank technologies were mortar jars, tarpaulin tanks, ferrocement tanks, partially below ground ferrocement tanks, and interlocking stabilized soil brick tanks. The study also found that while the manufactured products are well distributed, built-in-place options have not spread beyond where they were originally introduced by NGO's trying to promote certain technologies. With regard to costs, tanks with storage volume less than 1,000 liters had costs that ranged from 182 to 724 UGX/liter, with small plastic tanks being least expensive. For volumes between 1,000 and 10,000 liters, costs ranged between 42 and 350 UGX/liter, with tarpaulin tanks providing the largest storage per unit cost. Above 10,000 liters of storage, tanks ranged from 35 to 341 UGX/liter, with tarpaulin tanks again ranking first by cost per unit volume. In order for self supply to flourish, these technologies need to be implemented in such a way that fosters a thriving private sector and independent uptake of rainwater harvesting. This research provides a starting point by laying out the technologies, costs, and volumes available.

Dissertação apresentada para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia do Ambiente, Perfil Engenharia Sanitária<br>With increasing pressure on the environment, particularly on water resources, due to outside forces such as climate change and population growth, water is nowadays a scarce and a valuable resource. With the need to find new alternatives, rainwater harvesting should be seen as an important strategy for better management of water resources, once it constitutes a free source of potable water. Rainwater harvesting systems, which already have a global implementation, are a recognised way for urban buildings to reduce their reliance on the public mains supply. Its applications are predominantly non-potable, namely toilet flushing and gardening. The aim of this report is to produce a comprehensive assessment of rainwater harvesting and its potential use all over the world, as well as the potential economical and environmental benefits. It is provided a description of all the rainwater harvesting system components, as well as water quality requirements according to the water final purpose. A case study is presented, which main object is to evaluate the feasibility of rainwater harvesting for gardening, applied to the University Campus of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of Universidade Nova, Lisbon (FCT/UNL). A detailed characterization of the existing irrigation system on campus is provided, as well as its potential ability to collect rainwater. According to the supply and demand balance, several scenarios are presented in order to provide the necessary information for the decision-makers to evaluate the best solution for the desired application. For such, all the available information was analyzed, in order to determine the environmental, technical and economical viability of the project.

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) in the UK has seen a low level of uptake relative to similar settings such as Australia and Germany. The relatively low cost of municipal water in the UK limits the financial savings associated with RWH systems, especially in a domestic setting. Although financial benefits can be relatively low (in terms of reduced water bills), academic and practitioner studies have demonstrated the potential for RWH to significantly reduce potable water demands at typical UK houses. Hence, increased uptake of RWH has potential to contribute to mitigating droughts in water scarce regions. Stormwater management in the UK is receiving increasing attention at all levels; from grass-roots sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) such as downpipe disconnections and raingardens; through to implementation of urban realm attenuation schemes and continued development of guidance from UK policy makers. The public realm nature of most SuDS presents a need for partnership approaches to be fostered between infrastructure mangers and the general public. The application of RWH as a technology within the SuDS management train has been limited in the UK as policy makers have taken the view that RWH tanks may be full at the start of a design storm, and thus the potential for attenuation and peak discharge reduction has been largely ignored. However, in the last few years there has been a shift in emphasis; from RWH perceived purely as a water demand management technology to a focus on its wider benefits e.g. mitigating surface water flooding through improved stormwater management. RWH systems examined in this thesis are now available which offer multiple benefits to both end-users and water service providers. The application of RWH in a dual purpose configuration (to displace potable water demands and control stormwater discharges) has seen increasing interest during the development of this thesis. However, the successful design of RWH as a stormwater management tool requires a series of calculations to be completed. To date, practitioners have frequently relied upon low-resolution heuristic methods which lead to a small range of configurations being deployed, with minimal demonstrable stormwater control benefits. In this thesis, full details of novel and traditional RWH technologies were identified and described. Empirical data was collected, both in laboratory conditions and at field sites, to identify the real world operating characteristics of a range of RWH configurations. Additionally a new time series evaluation methodology was developed to enable RWH systems to be designed and analysed. This method quantifies water demand benefits and also focusses on stormwater management metrics (i.e. largest annual discharge and total discharge volume per year). The method was developed to enable a range of RWH configurations to be evaluated at a given site. In addition, a decision support tool (RainWET) was developed and tested which enabled the methods to be deployed in real world settings. The application of the RainWET software allowed a UK-wide, time series analysis of RWH configurations to be completed and the holistic benefits of a range of dual purpose RWH systems to be analysed and described. Evidence from the UK study suggests that a traditional RWH installation (3000l storage, 300l/day demand and 60m2 roof) installed at a house in a water scarce region (London, SAAR 597mm) was able to fully mitigate stormwater overflows over a 20 year analysis whilst providing a mean water saving of 31,255l/annum. An equivalent system located in the wettest region studied (Truro, SAAR 1099mm) saw mean reductions in the largest annual storm of 62% (range 35-86%) whilst satisfying a mean rainwater demand of 50,912l/annum. The study concluded that suitably designed dual purpose RWH systems offered better stormwater management benefits than those designed without a stormwater control device. In addition, the integration of smart RWH controls were shown to maximise stormwater control benefits with little or no reduction in a system’s ability to satisfy non-potable water demands.

CO2 global emissions exceed 30 Giga tonnes (Gt) per year, and the high atmospheric concentrations are detrimental to the environment. In spite of efforts to decrease emissions by sequestration (carbon capture and storage) and repurposing (use in fine chemicals synthesis and oil extraction), more than 98% of CO2 generated is released to the atmosphere. With emissions expected to increase, transforming CO2 to chemicals of high demand could be an alternative to decrease its atmospheric concentration. Transportation fuels represent 26% of the global energy consumption, making it an ideal end product that could match the scale of CO2 generation. The long-term goal of the study is to transform CO2 to liquid fuels closing a synthetic carbon cycle. Synthetic fuels, such as diesel and gasoline, can be produced from syngas (a combination of CO and H2) by Fischer Tropsch synthesis or methanol synthesis, respectively. Methanol can be turned into gasoline by MTO technologies. Technologies to make renewable hydrogen are already in existence, but CO is almost exclusively generated from methane. Due to the high stability of the CO2 molecule, its transformation is very energy intensive. Therefore, the current challenge is developing technologies for the conversion of CO2 to CO with a low energy requirement. The work in this dissertation describes the development of a recyclable, isothermal, low-temperature process for the conversion of CO2 to CO with high selectivity, called Reverse Water Gas Shift Chemical Looping (RWGS-CL). In this process, H2 is used to generate oxygen vacancies in a metal oxide bed. These vacancies then can be re-filled by one O atom from CO2, producing CO. Perovskites (ABO3) were used as the oxide material due to their high oxygen mobility and stability. They were synthesized by the Pechini sol-gel synthesis, and characterized with X-ray diffraction and surface area measurements. Mass spectrometry was used to evaluate the reducibility and re-oxidation abilities of the materials with temperature-programmed reduction and oxidation experiments. Cycles of RWGS-CL were performed in a packed bed reactor to study CO production rates. Different metal compositions on the A and B site of the oxide were tested. In all the studies, La and Sr were used on the A site because their combination is known to enhance oxygen vacancies formation and CO2 adsorption on the perovskites. The RWGS-CL was first demonstrated in a non-isothermal process at 500 °C for the H2-reduction and 850 °C for the CO2 conversion on a Co-based perovskite. This perovskite was too unstable for the H2 treatment. Addition of Fe to the perovskite enhanced its stability, and allowed for an isothermal and recyclable process at 550 °C with high selectivity towards CO. In an effort to decrease the operating temperature, Cu was incorporated to the structure. It was found that Cu addition inhibited CO formation and formed very unstable oxide materials. Preliminary studies show that application of this technology has the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions from captured flue gases (i.e. from power plants) or from concentrated CO2 (adsorbed from the atmosphere), while generating a high value chemical. This technology also has possible applications in space explorations, especially in environments like Mars atmosphere, which has high concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Because winter maintenance is so costly, Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) personnel asked researchers at Brigham Young University to determine whether asphalt or concrete pavements require more winter maintenance. Differing thermal properties suggest that, for the same environmental conditions, asphalt and concrete pavements will have different temperature profiles. Climatological data from 22 environmental sensor stations (ESSs) near asphalt roads and nine ESSs near concrete roads were used to 1) determine which pavement type has higher surface temperatures in winter and 2) compare the subsurface temperatures under asphalt and concrete pavements to determine the pavement type below which more freeze-thaw cycles of the underlying soil occur. Twelve continuous months of climatological data, primarily from the 2009 calendar year, were acquired from the road weather information system operated by UDOT, and erroneous data were removed from the data set. To predict pavement surface temperature, a multiple linear regression was performed with input parameters of pavement type, time period, and air temperature. Similarly, a multiple linear regression was performed to predict the number of subsurface freeze-thaw cycles, based on month, latitude, elevation, and pavement type. A finite-difference model was created to model surface temperatures of asphalt and concrete pavements based on air temperature and incoming radiation. The statistical analysis predicting pavement surface temperatures showed that, for near-freezing conditions, asphalt is better in the afternoon, and concrete is better for other times of the day, but that neither pavement type is better, on average. Asphalt and concrete are equally likely to collect snow or ice on their surfaces, and both pavements are expected to require equal amounts of winter maintenance, on average. Finite-difference analysis results confirmed that, for times of low incident radiation (night), concrete reaches higher temperatures than asphalt, and for times of high incident radiation (day), asphalt reaches higher temperatures than concrete. The regression equation predicting the number of subsurface freeze-thaw cycles provided estimates that did not correlate well with measured values. Consequently, an entirely different analysis must be conducted with different input variables. Data that were not available for this research but are likely necessary in estimating the number of freeze-thaw cycles under the pavement include pavement layer thicknesses, layer types, and layer moisture contents.

Since ancient times, roads have tied people and cultures together. Roads have been createdwith the aim of facilitating trade and cultural exchange among different regions in the world. After the technologic development in vehicle industry and dramatically increase of motoring in the world during the past century road communication has gained a great importance for transporting people and goods. Thus, good safety and accessibility on roads all year round is now a vital necessity for a healthy economy in all modern societies. In order to keep roads safe, available for use with high transport quality they need to be maintained in real time. One of the most difficult tasks in this context is to keep the roads in good condition and accessible even during winter. The main objective of this doctoral thesis is to attempt to specify the most efficient ways of executing winter road maintenance.  The preliminary issue in this context is whether it is the use of current assistive tools, that is, technical aspects that should be optimized and developed or whether it is the way in which winter maintenance services are procured and outsourced, that is, contractual aspects that should be improved which could give the optimal impact for both clients and contractors and make winter road maintenance more effective, or both issues. In order to define the outline of the research project a comprehensive state of the art survey was initiated with the intention of collecting and gaining insights into the earlier studies in the research area. Three basic areas associated with the performance of winter road maintenance were considered to be most relevant for review due to the anchorage between the areas. The selected areas were climatological, technical and contractual aspects. The literature review was followed by an electronic questionnaire survey. The results of the study in this stage showed that current technical methods almost functioned in a reasonable manner but there was an imprecise dissatisfaction with the current maintenance contract. The second stage of the research consisted of a number of additional empirical investigations in order to identify contractual problematic issues behind the current winter road maintenance in Sweden. Generally, those factors that are rarely considered as potential underlying causes to costly performance of winter road maintenance in Sweden were studied in this research project for example improper use of related technical assistive tools, procurement of improper bundled winter services and inappropriate contract structure. This thesis consists of six papers, five of which are related to each other, and the first one is completely independent but within research area. Findings in the thesis contributes to extend understanding about; how designing appropriate contracts can improve winter road maintenance, how proper use of assistive tools can reduce unnecessary winter road maintenance costs and minimize road traffic disruptions and delays, how a partnering structure in contracts can create confidence and trust between clients and contractors that in turn leads to minimizing or eliminating conflicts and disputes between parties involved, how choice of appropriate procurement methods through proper bundling of winter road services can contribute to shorten the procurement process and create incentives for contractors, and how selection of proper payment mechanisms can contribute to higher service quality of performed winter road measures. Additionally, an adequate knowledge and understanding of climate, proper knowledge of road weather and its impact on winter road traffic is essential for contribution of better planning of how to maintain the road network during winter. Since understanding about winter issues and its effect on winter road traffic is far from complete and winter road maintenance in the cold regions is a similar challenge, broad and complex, the results of this research may even contribute to improving winter maintenance problems in the countries with severe winters like Sweden.<br><p>QC 20140227</p>

The limitation of urban water supplies is becoming worse each year. Several studies estimate that 2 billion of the world’s population will suffer from water scarcity by 2050; and urbanization rates is placing an even greater challenge in providing the infrastructure needed to serve growing populations. At this point, rainwater may be considered as the most critical, untapped water resource in a global aspect. Rainwater Harvesting Systems (RWHS) have tremendous potential, not only to provide sufficient water supply, but also to serve as a valuable stormwater management tool. Despite these benefits, RWHS is still not popular among ordinary people in urban situations, due mostly to high installation costs. This study aims to explore the equitable cost reallocation of residential rainwater harvesting systems between the urban utility, land developer and homebuilder, and individual homeowner sectors. It may be possible to redistribute the cost equitably among the parties based on potential benefits received,thereby making RWHS more affordable and more viable as a new water supply for urban areas.<br>text

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Civil<br>A procura de estratégias de racionalização no consumo de água ou de fontes alternativas de água têm levado ao surgimento de várias soluções, sendo algumas já utilizadas no passado mas caídas em desuso com o desenvolvimento das sociedades. Uma das soluções já adotada de forma significativa em vários países é o aproveitamento da chuva em todo o tipo de utilizações. Neste trabalho explora-se a viabilidade da implantação de um sistema de aproveitamento de água pluvial (SAAP) para fins domésticos em Portugal continental. Esta dissertação pretende ajudar a resolver a problemática do aproveitamento de água pluvial em contexto doméstico, determinando onde um SAAP pode constituir um sistema economicamente atraente e uma fonte alternativa credível de água não potável. O investimento inicial na implantação de um SAAP constitui o maior entrave na expansão deste tipo de sistema, sendo o reservatório de armazenamento de água pluvial o elemento mais dispendioso. Desenvolveu-se um programa denominado PSAAP, para fazer a simulação do aproveitamento de água pluvial. O PSAAP foi desenvolvido com o objetivo de dimensionar a capacidade ideal do reservatório e estudar a viabilidade económica do SAAP. Para um determinado SAAP, este simulador calcula iterativamente até encontrar a capacidade ideal. A capacidade ideal do reservatório de um SAAP será a capacidade que levar a que o SAAP tenha o menor período de recuperação do investimento (PRI) possível. Através do PSAAP, o utilizador pode obter a capacidade do reservatório recomendável para a sua localização, consumo e capacidade de captação da chuva, conseguindo também perceber qual o investimento inicial e o PRI associados ao respetivo SAAP. Na aplicação da ferramenta, estuda-se a implantação de um SAAP em cidades de diferentes regiões de Portugal continental, de forma a perceber a sua viabilidade em condições distintas. Estudou-se numa primeira análise a utilização de um SAAP que abastece-se apenas uma moradia unifamiliar e numa segunda análise estudou-se a utilização de um SAAP que abastece-se um conjunto de quatro moradias unifamiliares, de forma a verificar se o projeto beneficia economicamente por ser um sistema de maior dimensão. Através das simulações efetuadas no PSAAP, conclui-se que quanto mais elevado for o nível de consumo, o custo da água consumida, área de captação e a precipitação disponível, menor é o PRI do SAAP.<br>The demand for rationalizing strategies or alternative sources of water have led to the appearance of several solutions, some already used in the past, but have fell into disuse with the development of societies. One of the significantly solutions, already adopted in several countries, is the use of rainwater. This work explores the economic viability of implementing a rainwater harvesting system (RWHS) for domestic purposes in Portugal mainland. This dissertation aims to help solve the problem of use rainwater in the domestic context, determining where a RWHS can be an economically attractive system and a credible alternative source of non-potable water. The initial investment in the implementation of a RWHS is the major obstacle in the expansion of this type of system where the rainwater storage tank is the most expensive element. In order to study the economic viability of a RWHS and calculate the ideal capacity to the storage tank under different conditions, was developed a program for simulation of rainwater harvesting called PSAAP. For a RWHS with different storage capacities, this simulator calculates iteratively to find the ideal capacity. The ideal capacity of a RWHS’s storage tank is the capacity that leads to the RWHS has the lowest possible payback period. Through PSAAP, the user can get the recommended capacity of the reservoir to its location, consumption and ability to capture the rain. This program can also help the user realize the initial investment and the payback period associated with the respective RWHS. In the application of this tool, was study the implementation of a RWHS in cities of different regions of Portugal mainland in order to understand its viability in different conditions. It was studied the use of a RWHS that supplies just one dwelling unfamiliar house and has also been studied the use of a RWHS which supplies a set of four dwelling unfamiliar houses in order to benefit from a larger dimension. Through simulations performed on PSAAP, it is concluded that the higher the level of consumption, the cost of water consumed and precipitation available, the lower is the payback period.

For this project, an optimization scheme was developed to locate Road Weather Information System (RWIS) stations along the Interstate Highway 35 (IH-35) corridor for the Austin TxDOT district. In order to do this, eight major roadways in the three counties, Williamson, Travis, and Hays, that IH-35 passes through were chosen for analysis. Four north-south highways were selected, IH-35, SH-130, SL-1, and US-183, and four east-west highways were selected, SH-45, US-79, US-290, and SH-71. Crash Record Information System (CRIS) crash data was used to determine crashes that happened along these routes between 2006 and 2011 during inclement weather conditions. Routes were broken up into segments of equal lengths and crash rates were determined using TXDOT AADT information. These crash rates were calculated over a smoothing distance larger than the segment distances to provide more consistent rates and optimal locations were determined using a maximization algorithm based on the crash rate for these segments and their distance away from the sensor locations. Applying different segment lengths, smoothing distances, and crash data in analysis yielded varying optimal locations that were analyzed based on coverage area within the three county analysis region based on a 10 mile radius of coverage for each station.<br>text

碩士<br>長庚大學<br>化工與材料工程學系<br>98<br>Since industrialization making large amounta of greenhouse gases continue to be discharge, causing the phenomenon of global warminig become increasingly serious. The purpose of this study is to investigate the reduction and recoveryof CO2, and understand the characteristics of carbon deposition on the surface of catalysts. In this study, catalysts are prepared by using different proportion of sodium nitrate to add to the commercial catalyst Ni/Al2O3 in impregnation method. The perpose to use the reverse water gas shift reaction in the reactor is to get the main product CO by hydrogenation of CO2 and the carbon fiber tube on surface of catalysts. We can use the different amounts of sodium-nickel catalyst, feed gas concentration and reaction temperature to observe the formation of CO and CH4 on the yield and the amount of coke. By TGA, XRD, ICP, XPS, Raman, TEM and other instrunments to achieve identification of catalysts and characterization of coke. The results showed that, Na/Ni/Al2O3 at 500 ℃ for water gas shift reaction, the ratio of sodium and 2.7wt% to 1.1wt% with greater amount of coke deposition. Determination the heat tolerance of coke by TGA, and carbon deposition time increases with the pyrolysis temperature shift to high temperature, which has good heat tolerance of coke. And by the TGA results indicat that change over time, the structure of coke also different, adding different amounts of sodium can withstand temperatures of about 500 ℃. XPS and ICP data indicate that sodium catalyst surface coverage by adding 2.7wt% or more of sodium, due to the nickel surface covered by the amount of sodium, will produce fewer carbon deposition of the active site, so that carbon deposition is reduced.

碩士<br>長庚大學<br>化工與材料工程研究所<br>96<br>The goal of the research is to reduce ration of carbon dioxide and to recycle of the carbon dioxide with using the reverse water gas shift reaction (RWGS) on K-Ni/Al2O3 catalysts. There are some carbon deposition on Ni-K catalysts in the course of reaction. K-promoter can induce formation of solid carbon on Ni/Al2O3 catalysts. All carbon deposition containing CNFs have been identified by using TEM ,Raman spectroscopy and XRD . We can see the production of CO and CH4 with K-Ni/Al2O3 catalyst during the RWGS. The conversion of CO2 to CO is independent with K content, but the production of CH4 is inhibited as K adding. 7wt% K-Ni/Al2O3 catalysts has the highest activity to form carbon deposition .The carbon formation can be deduced to associate with inhibition of CH4. K covered on Ni/Al2O3 catalysts can create new sites between K and Ni, leading to production of solid carbon from CO2.

Weather conditions have significant impact on road safety and roadway maintenance operations. Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS) play a significant role in providing weather and surface conditions to transportation agencies to monitor weather events. Fixed installations of RWIS are used for weather and pavement surface monitoring. However, permanent fixture installations may not be feasible due to reasons such as cost, accessibility to the site, siting concerns, and terrain. Portable RWIS provide a cost-effective solution in areas where permanent weather station installation is not possible. This study discusses use and benefits of the portable RWIS and outlines the issues involved in building them. This thesis presents the system design for building prototypes of two portable RWIS systems to be used by Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). Portable RWIS consist of weather sensors and pavement sensors installed on a trailer-based platform and operate on solar power. The RWIS equipment mounted on trailers consists of non-invasive pavement sensors, wind sensor, precipitation sensor, atmospheric pressure sensor, humidity and dew point sensor and data logger to transmit data from the sensors to a central server. RWIS equipment from two different manufacturers have been selected. The two systems have been evaluated for their cost, operability, ease- of-use and deployability. A field study of two portable RWIS has been conducted to test accuracy of the data collected by these systems and the results have been evaluated. Characterizing the issues involved in developing such portable systems provide insights into situations where these systems may be most applicable.

This thesis discusses rainwater harvesting systems (RWH systems). It particularly focuses on systems collecting rainwater for domestic consumption in rural areas of developing countries. The main aim of the thesis is to identify factors, which influence the willingness and ability of people to adopt and use properly these RWH systems. I began with a brief introduction into the topic of the good-quality drinking water scarcity and with a discussion of relevant information about the RWH systems. The method used for the research was a systematic review. The relevant literature was systematically searched, selected, evaluated, and the relevant material was then processed with regards to the importance of particular factors influencing the RWH systems adption and utilization. Altogether, 26 influential factors were identified and discussed.

Covering the Northern part of the Province, Ontario’s low-volume roads provide a link from remote resource areas to markets. Thus, preserving this transportation asset from the two main sources of pavement deterioration, namely traffic loading and the environment is extremely critical to the movement of goods and to the economy. In particular, Northern Ontario’s secondary highways are challenged by a combination of heavy, low frequency traffic loading and a high number of freeze-thaw cycles for which most of these highways have not been structurally designed. Therefore they experience environmental damage and premature traffic-induced deterioration. To cope with this issue, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation places Spring Load Restrictions (SLR) every year during spring-thaw. For economic reasons, the duration of SLRs is usually fixed in advance and is not applied proactively or according to conditions in a particular year. This rigidity in the schedule needs to be addressed, as it can translate into economic losses either when the payload is unnecessarily restricted or when pavement deterioration occurs. While the traditional approaches are usually qualitative and rely on visual observations, engineering judgment and historical records to make SLR decisions, the latest approaches resort to climatic and deflection data to better assess the bearing capacity of the roadway. The main intent of this research was to examine how the use of a predictor for frost formation and thawing could improve the scheduling of load restrictions by tracking the frost-strengthening and thaw-weakening of the pavement structure. Based on field data captured in Northern Ontario, and on a preliminary analysis that found good correlation between frost thickness in the roadway and Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS) variables, more advanced frost and thaw predictors were developed as part of this research and are presented herein. The report outlines how the model was developed, details the calculation algorithms, and proposes an empirical methodology for a systematic site-specific calibration. This research also involved several experimental and numerical tools, including the use of a Portable Falling Weight Deflectometer (PFWD) to estimate pavement strength during spring thaw, and the use of the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) software to simulate the impact of SLR on the performance of typical Northern Ontario low volume roads.

Relatório de Estágio do Mestrado em Tradução apresentado à Faculdade de Letras<br>The emergence of machine translation systems in the professional world has changed translation processes and the role translators have to play, requiring new ways of performing the job. Alongside the use of translation memories, post-editing practices developed and translation companies like RWS began to implement this new practice into their environment, to increase productivity without compromising quality. In this regard, this paper aims to outline the post-editing process performed during my curricular internship at RWS and investigate the performance of the machine translation system applied in the projects for a client in the clothing industry. It begins by addressing the post-editing concept and the processes involved, such as the use of machine translation systems and translation memories. The next section of my project introduces the post-editing methods recommended by the company, as well as the client profile and their respective quality criteria. This will provide the context for the study case which involves an analysis of the machine translation suggestions for the projects translated during the internship. Errors will be categorized according to the quality metrics SAE J2450, to compare the initial quality to the required quality. The results show that, while the performance of the system is always dependent on the type of text, the suggestions made by the system used do not have the quality required, forcing the translator to intervene and perform post-editing.<br>A introdução de sistemas de tradução automática no mundo profissional veio modificar a tarefa de tradução e o papel do tradutor, exigindo novas formas de trabalhar. Juntamente com a utilização das memórias de tradução, surgiu uma nova prática denominada pós-edição e as empresas de tradução como a RWS começaram a adotá-la com o objetivo de aumentar a produtividade, sem comprometer a qualidade. Nesse sentido, o presente relatório visa descrever o processo de pós-edição realizado durante o meu estágio curricular na RWS e analisar o desempenho do sistema de tradução automática utilizado nos projetos para um cliente da indústria do vestuário. Este trabalho começa por abordar o conceito de pós-edição e os processos envolvidos, como a utilização de um sistema de tradução automática e memórias de tradução. Posteriormente, apresenta os métodos de pós-edição recomendados pela empresa, bem como o perfil do cliente e os respetivos critérios de qualidade. Tudo isto serve de contexto para o estudo de caso realizado que envolve uma análise das sugestões de tradução automática dos textos trabalhados durante o estágio. Os erros identificados são categorizados segundo a métrica de qualidade SAE J2450, para comparar a qualidade inicial com a qualidade desejada. Os resultados revelam que, embora o desempenho do sistema esteja sempre dependente do tipo de texto, as sugestões de tradução automática não apresentam a qualidade exigida, obrigando o tradutor a intervir e a realizar a tarefa de pós-edição.

Relatório de Estágio do Mestrado em Tradução apresentado à Faculdade de Letras<br>The emergence of machine translation systems in the professional world has changed translation processes and the role translators have to play, requiring new ways of performing the job. Alongside the use of translation memories, post-editing practices developed and translation companies like RWS began to implement this new practice into their environment, to increase productivity without compromising quality. In this regard, this paper aims to outline the post-editing process performed during my curricular internship at RWS and investigate the performance of the machine translation system applied in the projects for a client in the clothing industry. It begins by addressing the post-editing concept and the processes involved, such as the use of machine translation systems and translation memories. The next section of my project introduces the post-editing methods recommended by the company, as well as the client profile and their respective quality criteria. This will provide the context for the study case which involves an analysis of the machine translation suggestions for the projects translated during the internship. Errors will be categorized according to the quality metrics SAE J2450, to compare the initial quality to the required quality. The results show that, while the performance of the system is always dependent on the type of text, the suggestions made by the system used do not have the quality required, forcing the translator to intervene and perform post-editing.<br>A introdução de sistemas de tradução automática no mundo profissional veio modificar a tarefa de tradução e o papel do tradutor, exigindo novas formas de trabalhar. Juntamente com a utilização das memórias de tradução, surgiu uma nova prática denominada pós-edição e as empresas de tradução como a RWS começaram a adotá-la com o objetivo de aumentar a produtividade, sem comprometer a qualidade. Nesse sentido, o presente relatório visa descrever o processo de pós-edição realizado durante o meu estágio curricular na RWS e analisar o desempenho do sistema de tradução automática utilizado nos projetos para um cliente da indústria do vestuário. Este trabalho começa por abordar o conceito de pós-edição e os processos envolvidos, como a utilização de um sistema de tradução automática e memórias de tradução. Posteriormente, apresenta os métodos de pós-edição recomendados pela empresa, bem como o perfil do cliente e os respetivos critérios de qualidade. Tudo isto serve de contexto para o estudo de caso realizado que envolve uma análise das sugestões de tradução automática dos textos trabalhados durante o estágio. Os erros identificados são categorizados segundo a métrica de qualidade SAE J2450, para comparar a qualidade inicial com a qualidade desejada. Os resultados revelam que, embora o desempenho do sistema esteja sempre dependente do tipo de texto, as sugestões de tradução automática não apresentam a qualidade exigida, obrigando o tradutor a intervir e a realizar a tarefa de pós-edição.

Dissertação de mestrado em Engenharia Urbana<br>No actual contexto em que as relações entre os seres humanos e os recursos naturais são cada vez mais relevantes em razão do aumento populacional no mundo e da mudança dos hábitos de consumo dos seres humanos - com aumento da exploração destes recursos, em especial a água - é essecial que sejam estudadas formas alternativas de obtenção e consumo destes recursos sob a ótica sustentável. Dentre as possibilidades de mundanças em relação ao uso de água no dia-a-dia das populações está o aproveitamento de águas pluviais, que é um método muito antigo, com registos de utilização a mais de 5000 anos. A adoção de métodos alternativos de abastecimento de água, entretanto, pode acarretar em impactes nos sistemas de distribuição de água já existentes, que por isso devem ser estudados para que se possa tomar atitudes em relação a possíveis constrangimentos causados por esta mudança de comportamento. O objetivo desta dissertação é analisar a influência que a adoção de métodos alternativos de abastecimento de água, como os Sistemas de Aproveitamento de Águas Pluviais - SAAP, podem causar numa rede pública de distribuição de água potável; mais especificamente avaliar quais as influências da redução do consumo de água da rede pública – causada pelo aumento do uso de SAAP – nas velocidades médias nas condutas de água, nas pressões dinâmicas nos nós da rede, e também na concentração de cloro residual nos nós desta rede. Utilizou-se como caso de estudo a rede que abastece o Lago Norte, Brasília-DF Brasil. Os resultados das simulações demostram que quanto maior o uso de SAAP (e menor consumo de água da rede pública) menores as velocidades mínimas e máximas nas condutas, maiores as pressões dinâmicas mínimas e máximas nos nós e menor a quantidade de CRL nos nós da rede. Portanto, o uso de sistemas alternativos de abastecimento pode causar alterações no funcionamento da rede pública de abastecimento de água, que por este motivo devem ser monitoradas. Sugere-se a realização de alterações à rede, já que as mudanças dos valores destes parâmetros provocadas pela adopção de SAAP podem afetar os aparelhos hidráulicos da rede, assim como a qualidade da água fornecida pelo sistema público tradicional. É apresentada uma nova configuração da rede simplificada, com o uso de válvulas redutoras de pressão e de pontos de cloragem ao longo da rede.<br>The relations between humankind and natural resources are, in actual context, getting more relevant because of the increasing number of populations in the world and changes about people consumption habits – with the increase of the exploration of these resources, especially water – is essential that alternative ways of obtaining and consuming these resources have to be studied looking for sustainable practices. Rainwater harvesting is one of the alternatives about changing the way people deal with water daily, and it is an old method with registers of more than 5000 years old. Adopting alternatives methods of water supply, however, can cause impacts at the public water supply network, and it must be studied to try to solve possible problems these changes of behavior can cause, if necessary. The objective of this master thesis is to analyze the influence of the adoption of alternative methods of water supply, such as rainwater harvesting systems - RWS, can cause at the public water supply network; more specifically, the influence of the reduction of water from the public system – caused by the increase of rainwater harvesting – can occur relatively at the average velocity in the pipes, at the dynamic pressures at the nodes as well as the variations of the free residual chlorine at the nodes of the network. It was used as a case of study the water network that supplies the Lago Norte, Brasília-DF Brazil. The simulation’s results demonstrate that as much as the use of RWS increase (and the water from public supply network decrease) lower the minimum and maximum velocities in the pipes are, higher the dynamic minimum and maximum pressure at the nodes are, and lower the FRC quantities are at the network nodes. Therefore, the use of alternative systems of water supply can cause disturbs at the public water supply network, so it has to be monitored, and modification plans for this network must be done, whereas the changes of the parameters values provoked by the use of alternative systems can affect the hydraulic equipment of the network, as well as the quality of the water offered by traditional public system. A new network is presented after adding pressure reduction valves, as well as new chlorination points throughout the network.

Title: Evaluation of postural stability of athletes - a literature review Objectives: Thesis will address retrieval processing rating Dynamic Postural Stability of athletes . Compares analysis or results of research or investigations of different laborers working with this theme. It also mentions tests and machines used in clinical practice. It also investigates in what sports was postural stability tested and how or with what results. The most advanced, currently the most recognized dynamic posturography with impartial value is EquiTest device from NeuroCom. Therefore, the practical part focuses primarily on the results of examination of this device and make statistics about that. Methods: The diploma thesis has descriptive and analytical character. It is elaborate as a literary review . Results: The study includes 142 studies, of which only 11 concern the assessment of postural stability of athletes. Sports disciplines include tennis, football, baseball, tai-chi, taekwondo, gymnastics, basketball, softball. Entire EquiTest testing battery (which contains 7 test in total - Sensory Organization Test, Motor Coordination and Control Test, Adaptation Test, Unilateral Stance Test, Limits Of Stability Test, Rhytmics Weight Shift, Weight Bearing Squat) is almost never used in assessments although it's a...