Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Soft conditions'

In this paper I argue that both parametric variation and the alleged differences between languages in terms of their internal complexity straightforwardly follow from the Strongest Minimalist Thesis that takes the Faculty of Language (FL) to be an optimal solution to conditions that neighboring mental modules impose on it. In this paper I argue that hard conditions like legibility at the linguistic interfaces invoke simplicity metrices that, given that they stem from different mental modules, are not harmonious. I argue that widely attested expression strategies, such as agreement or movement, are a direct result of conflicting simplicity metrices, and that UG, perceived as a toolbox that shapes natural language, can be taken to consist of a limited number of markings strategies, all resulting from conflicting simplicity metrices. As such, the contents of UG follow from simplicity requirements, and therefore no longer necessitate linguistic principles, valued or unvalued, to be innately present. Finally, I show that the SMT does not require that languages themselves have to be optimal in connecting sound to meaning.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 2013.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 157-168).
Recent developments in computer-integrated surgery and in tissue-engineered constructs necessitate advances in experimental and analytical techniques in characterizing properties of mechanically compliant materials such as gels and soft tissues, particularly for small sample volumes. One goal of such developments is to quantitatively predict and mimic tissue deformation due to high rate impact events typical of industrial accidents and ballistic insults. This aim requires advances in mechanical characterization to establish tools and design principles for tissue simulant materials that can recapitulate the mechanical responses of hydrated soft tissues under dynamic contact-loading conditions. Given this motivation, this thesis studies the mechanical properties of compliant synthetic materials developed for tissue scaffold applications and of soft tissues, via modifying an established contact based technique for accurate, small scale characterization under fully hydrated conditions, and addresses some of the challenges in the implementation of this method. Two different engineered material systems composed of physically associating block copolymer gels, and chemically crosslinked networks including a solvent are presented as potential tissue simulants for ballistic applications, and compared directly to soft tissues from murine heart and liver. In addition to conventional quasistatic and dynamic bulk mechanical techniques that study macroscale elastic and viscoelastic properties, new methodologies are developed to study the small scale mechanical response of the aforementioned material systems to concentrated impact loading. The resistance to penetration and the energy dissipative constants are quantified in order to compare the deformation of soft tissues and mechanically optimized simulants, and to identify the underlying mechanisms by which the mechanical response of these tissue simulant candidates are modulated. Finally, given that soft tissues are biphasic in nature, atomic force microscopy enabled load relaxation experiments are utilized to develop approaches to distinguish between poroelastic and viscoelastic regimes, and to study how the anisotropy of the tissue structure affects elastic and transport properties, in order to inform the future design of tissue simulant gels that would mimic soft tissue response.
by Zeynep Ilke Kalcioglu.
Ph.D.

For the first time the conditions of synthesis As2S3 microtubules were defined. Investigation of the synthesized scroll-like structures was carried out by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, electron microprobe analysis, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscope. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/35003

In this research a suspected "gray" area in computer network performance that might exist between the network's optimum performance and complete network failure was investigated. Changes in performance were studied as seen by the application layer of the network as attenuation was introduced at the physical layer of the network. The network performance was measured for four groups of tests running over TCP and UDP. Various scripts emulating different network applications were used. Ultimately the performance was evaluated at different optical power levels, based on throughput, transaction rate, response time, and lost data. Additionally, the bit error rate characterization of the attenuated optical fiber link was analyzed. Ultimately, performance of the fiber optic ATM-based computer network as seen by the user was correlated with optical power degradation introduced in the physical layer. A decrease in performance was found as attenuation was increased, even in the range of "normal" operating conditions. As expected, TCP, although not immune to soft failures, performed better than UDP. A description of the investigation, tests, scripts, methods and results are included.
Master of Science

A Soft Open Point (SOP) is a power electronic device, usually implemented using back-to-back voltage source converters (VSCs) installed at normally-open points (NOP) of a distribution network. SOPs are typically utilised to enhance distribution network operation, under normal network conditions. Their applications include power loss reduction, feeder load balancing, network reinforcement, voltage profile improvement and distributed generation (DG) connection support. This thesis investigates the operating principle and applications of a back-to-back VSC based SOP under faulted network conditions. The dynamics of a network with SOP were observed during normal and faulted network conditions. The conventional fault analysis technique using symmetrical components was extended to include SOP, such that it can be applied on distribution networks with SOP. Equivalent sequence networks were developed for different type of faults, including phase-to-ground faults, phase-to-phase faults and three-phase faults. The correlation between the symmetrical components (of voltages and currents) at the SOP grid connection point and the SOP set points were studied. A simple but effective method of fault detection during grid-connected operation was formulated using the sequence voltages at the grid connection point of the SOP. The impact of the SOP dynamics on a conventional distributed feeder automation (D-FA) scheme was investigated. It was found that the current contributed from the SOP during a fault could potentially disturb the protection coordination of the network. Consequently, the sequence of events in a feeder automation scheme is disrupted if the SOP is kept operational beyond the fault ride-through period. A new operating mode was defined to operate the SOP during network faults such that it can be co-ordinated with network protection. Based on the local measurements at SOP grid connection point, methods to determine the presence of a fault, fault type and location of a fault were investigated. A D-FA scheme was proposed, in which the fault diagnostic capability of an SOP was utilised to coordinate the feeder automation sequence. Substantial improvements were achieved in both the restoration time and life of existing switchgear by using SOPs for feeder automation. The fault diagnostic capability of an SOP was validated using a power hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL) experimental setup. A VSC prototype with a constant DC voltage source was used to emulate an SOP. The prototype was integrated with a distribution network modelled in the real-time digital simulator (RTDS), through a power interface. Individual protection features of the SOP including fault detection, fault type identification and estimation of fault location were validated using this experimental setup. The results obtained using the real-time PHIL experiment were consistent with the results obtained using software simulations.

The plantar soft tissue at the heel and ball of the foot provide the interface between the body and the ground. This tissue is adapted to attenuate large amounts of energy during impact (heel strike) and to become rigid under continuous loading (standing). The heel pad tissue is composed of multiple specialised layers including a rigid bone (Calcaneus), a highly compliant fatty pad and a stiff rugged skin boundary. To assess this complex tissue STRIDE (Soft Tissue Response Imaging Device) has been developed. Using bespoke displacement driven profiles STRIDE is capable of simulating the vertical component of gait to compress the tissue, whilst collecting data to describe the response of the tissue via the combination of ultrasound imaging to detect vertical displacement and a miniature load cell to detect vertical load. From this data we are able to calculate tissue stress and strain and derive the characteristic mechanical properties of the tissue. A study of 38 individuals ranging in age from 18 to 85 was conducted to develop a baseline of tissue properties over age. The results show that the tissue has a highly rate dependent nature, reinforcing the need to conduct tests at rates relevant to the functional range of the tissue. Under gait conditions the elderly group displayed non-significant trends toward increased Energy loss (+45%), elastic modulus (+4%) and compressibility (+11%) whilst decreased trends were observed for viscosity (-20%) and the measured gradient of the stress strain curve throughout tissue compression. These differences suggest that the normal structural changes, which occur within the tissue as a result of aging, can cause disruption to the mechanical response of the tissue during compression. The mechanical properties derived will be used to inform the development of mechanisms (therapy/treatment) or interventions (orthotics/shoes) which may compensate for these changes.

Potato ranks fourth after wheat, rice and corn as a major food crop. It is an excellent source of nutrients and at the same time relatively inexpensive, therefore it is the mainstay in the diets of people in both developed and developing countries. Potato losses and quality degradation due to the effect of storage variables or processing conditions must be reduced to increase the world food supply. To accomplish these objectives, studies have been conducted to evaluate: (a) quality changes in potatoes during cooking and frying, (b) quality changes in raw potatoes as influenced by storage conditions, (c) changes in cooking quality of potatoes as influence by storage conditions, (d) changes in frying quality of potatoes as influenced by storage conditions, and finally (e) quality changes in potatoes as influenced by Erwinia carotovora ssp. carotovora infection (Ecc, casual agent of soft rot disease in potato).
Kinetics of quality changes during cooking and frying of potatoes were evaluated. Potatoes were cooked at 80--100°C or fried at 160--190°C for selected times and their texture and color were evaluated. Results showed that texture values of cooked potatoes decreased with the progress of cooking, and the rate of texture changes at each temperature was found to be consistent with two pseudo first-order kinetic mechanisms. Textural values of fried potatoes increased with frying time and followed a first order kinetic model. Cooked potatoes were less bright, more red and less yellow in color as compared to raw samples. A modified first order model was used to characterize the color changes kinetics of both cooked and fried potatoes based on the changes occurring between the initial and a maximum or minimum value. 10 min cooking at 100°C and 10 min frying at 180°C were considered to give the designed cooked and fried products, respectively.
The changes in quality characteristics of potatoes as a function of storage variables (temperature and time) were evaluated. Potatoes were stored at five temperatures (4, 8, 12, 16 and 20°C) for selected duration (at least 5 time intervals) and different physico-chemical quality parameters were evaluated. Potatoes remained healthier when they stored at lower temperatures due to absence of sprouts and visible spoilage. They became softer and darker by passage of time.

Les bruts lourds et extra-lourds ainsi que les résidus pétroliers issus des étapes de distillation constituent une réserve énergétique importante, alors que l'offre en pétroles légers s'appauvrit. Ces produits sont chargés en molécules lourdes et nécessitent des étapes de raffinage élaborées pour être convertis et valorisés. Une des limitations actuelles de ces procédés est la faible mobilité, au sein du réseau poreux des catalyseurs, des molécules auto-associées les plus lourdes : les asphaltènes. L'examen d'une littérature abondante montre que le comportement d'agrégation de ces espèces reste sujet à débat. Pour décrire et comprendre l'agrégation de ces molécules complexes, particulièrement dans les conditions de température des procédés, la diffusion de rayonnement a constitué la principale technique expérimentale de cette étude pour observer les systèmes colloïdaux sur une échelle de taille étendue (1 nm - 1 μm). La complémentarité des sondes (neutrons/rayons X/lumière, ainsi que statique/dynamique) a permis d'améliorer la sélectivité des modèles. Dans un premier temps, une étude approfondie des asphaltènes en solvants modèles a été menée pour décrire finement les différents états d'agrégation : des nanoagrégats de molécules sous la forme d'un disque plat organisés en coeur aromatique/couronne aliphatique s'associent en clusters polydisperses présentant une structure fractale. Dans un deuxième temps, ce schéma d'organisation a pu être étendu aux résidus de distillation. L'étude de fractions issues de nanofiltration a permis de montrer que ces fluides complexes sont assimilables à une suspension de particules. Leur comportement à haute température (300°C) a montré que si les clusters se dissocient à haute température, les nanoagrégats subsistent. Le schéma d'organisation et son évolution avec la température est en bon accord avec les variations de viscosité observées. Par la description approfondie de l'organisation colloïdale de ces systèmes en condition d'usage, les étapes de transport et de raffinage des produits pétroliers seront mieux appréhendées.

In this thesis, we present a MAC-layer packet scheduling algorithm, called Best-effort Packet Scheduling Algorithm(BPA), for real-time switched Ethernet networks. BPA considers a message model where application messages have trans-node timeliness requirements that are specified using Jensen's benefit functions. The algorithm seeks to maximize aggregate message benefit by allowing message packets to inherit benefit functions of their parent messages and scheduling packets to maximize aggregate packet-level benefit. Since the packet scheduling problem is NP-hard, BPA heuristically computes schedules with a worst-case cost of O(n^2), faster than the O(n^3) cost of the best known Chen and Muhlethaler's Algorithm(CMA) for the same problem. Our simulation studies show that BPA performs the same or significantly better than CMA. We also construct a real-time switched Ethernet by prototyping an Ethernet switch using a Personal Computer(PC) and implementing BPA in the network protocol stack of the Linux kernel for packet scheduling. Our actual performance measurements of BPA using the network implementation reveal the effectiveness of the algorithm. Finally, we derive timeliness feasibility conditions of real-time switched Ethernet systems that use the BPA algorithm. The feasibility conditions allow real-time distributed systems to be constructed using BPA, with guaranteed soft timeliness.
Master of Science

La présente thèse analyse l’incidence de la concurrence bancaire sur le coût et la qualité du crédit produit par les établissements de crédit. Plus précisément, les investigations empiriques menées dans le cadre de ce travail visent deux objectifs complémentaires. Tout d’abord, évaluer dans quelle mesure le degré de rivalité entre les banques influence la stratégie de tarification des banques et par conséquent le coût de financement des entreprises. Le second objectif de cette thèse consiste à étudier l’impact de la concurrence bancaire sur la manière dont les banques produisent de l’information privée sur leurs clients. Pour cela, nous procédons en deux étapes. En premier lieu, nous examinons l’influence du degré de rivalité entre les banques sur la nature des informations utilisées par les chargés d’affaires dans l’évaluation de la qualité des emprunteurs. En second lieu, nous vérifions l’implication de la concurrence bancaire dans la rupture des relations de long terme. Nous adoptons pour toutes les analyses conduites dans cette thèse une démarche permettant d’exploiter la complémentarité entre différents indicateurs de concurrence utilisés dans la littérature afin d’appréhender au mieux le niveau de rivalité entre les banques. Plusieurs résultats se dégagent des multiples analyses empiriques menées dans le cadre de ce travail. Premièrement, il ressort de nos investigations empiriques que le pouvoir de marché des institutions financières découle de deux sources distinctes: le poids de la banque dans la structure du marché local du crédit et le degré d’efficience de l’établissement de crédit. Par conséquent, l’incidence de la concurrence bancaire dépend de sa capacité à influencer la structure du marché local du crédit ou bien l’efficience des banques. De plus, nous montrons qu’au sein d’un marché bancaire concentré, l’existence de fortes rivalités entre les banques réduit le coût de financement des entreprises si ces dernières disposent d’une relation bancaire principale. Enfin, nous démontrons que la concurrence bancaire accroît la longévité des relations de clientèle et encourage les chargés d’affaires à produire plus d’informations privées sur les emprunteurs. Toutefois, il serait prudent au niveau des banques de suivre l’évolution des comportements des gestionnaires de relations bancaires en matière de production d’informations afin d’adapter les mesures incitatives à mettre en place pour garantir la pérennité de leurs comportements
This thesis investigates the effect of banking competition on the cost and the quality of lending to firms by financial institutions. Specifically, the empirical analyzes conducted in this thesis aim to reach two complementary objectives. First, assessing the degree to which the rivalry between banks influences their pricing strategy and therefore the cost of corporate financing. The second objective of this thesis is to study the impacts of bank competition on the way banks generate private information about their customers. To this end we proceed in two steps. First, we investigate whether banking competition affects the type of information used by loan officers to assess borrower’s quality. Then, we check the involvement of bank competition in the termination of bank-firm relationships. We consider for all the analyzes conducted in this thesis an approach where the complementarity between different competition indicators used in the literature is exploited in order to better understand the level of rivalry among banks. Several results emerge from the multiple empirical analyzes conducted in this thesis. First, these show that the market power of financial institutions result from two separate sources: the weight of the bank in the local credit market structure, and the level of efficiency of the credit institution. Therefore, the impact of competition between banks depends on the ability of banking competition to influence the local market structure of credit or the efficiency of bank. Moreover, we show that within a concentrated banking market, the existence of strong rivalries between banks reduced the financing cost of firms that had a house bank. Finally, we demonstrate that banking competition increases the duration of bank-firm relationships and encourages loan officers to produce more private information about borrowers. However, it would be safe for banks to monitor the behavior of loan officers regarding their role on information production, in order to design incentives that ensure a sustained effort on their part

Le développement des moteurs électromagnétiques nécessite des matériaux magnétiques possédant une forte induction à saturation, une perméabilité magnétique importante, ainsi que de faibles pertes magnétiques lorsque le matériau est utilisé à des fréquences allant jusqu’à 20 kHz.Pour réduire ces pertes, le matériau doit alors posséder une résistivité électrique la plus élevée possible. Les composites magnétiques doux ont été développés dans ce contexte, en associant du fer (ou un alliage) à un matériau isolant. Historiquement, ceux-ci étaient présents sous forme de couches laminées, mais des matériaux coeur-écorce se sont développés ces dernières années.Au cours de ces travaux, nous avons développé l’enrobage de particules de fer par un matériau isolant et magnétique : le ferrite NiZn. L’enrobage de ferrite a été réalisé par voie liquide. De cette manière, il a été possible de réaliser un enrobage homogène d’épaisseur contrôlée sur des particules de fer sphériques.L’étude de la mise en forme de ces particules coeur-écorce, par métallurgie des poudres, a montré qu’en frittant le matériau composite à une température supérieure à 580°C, une réaction d’oxydoréduction a lieu entre les deux composés. Cette réaction mène à la formation d’une phase type FexNi1-x et d’une solution solide FeO-FeZnO. Ces deux phases font alors chuter les propriétés magnétiques du matériau final.Pour éviter cette réaction d’oxydoréduction, nous avons montré qu’il est possible d’ajouter une barrière de diffusion : la silice, ou bien de fritter le matériau à l’aide de techniques type FAST. De cette manière, nous avons obtenu un matériau possédant des pertes magnétiques comparables à celles de poudres industrielles mais avec une perméabilité magnétique supérieure
Magnetic materials with high saturation induction, high magnetic permeability and low magnetic losses, are necessary for the development of electromagnetic motors used at frequencies up to 20 kHz.The electric resistivity of these materials must be as high as possible to reduce iron losses. To increase the resistivity of ferromagnetic materials, soft magnetic composites (SMC) were developed combining a ferromagnetic material with an insulating one. Firstly, laminated steel sheets were developed but during the last years core-shell materials were investigated.In this work, we have studied the coating of iron particles by an insulating and a magnetic material: NiZn ferrite. These coatings were deposited by an aqueous solution to obtain a homogenous coating with a controlled thickness on spherical iron particles.A study of composite shaping by powder metallurgy shows a redox reaction between ferrite and iron at a sintering temperature above 580°C. This reaction leads to the formation of a FexNi1-x and a FeO-FeZnO solid solution. These two phases deteriorate the magnetic properties of the final material.To avoid this redox reaction, we have shown that a silica layer can be used as a diffusion barrier. Another solution is to sinter the composite with a Field Assisted Sintering Technique (FAST) as Spark Plasma Sintering. A material with properties similar to industrial material and with a superior magnetic permeability was obtained with Spark Plasma Sintering

Also aged bottles are safer to use than new bottles because their chemical leaching was found to be lower than that of new bottles. This study recommends the reassessment of the absence of international guidelines for acetaldehyde in water and foods. The study also recommends that the amount of acetaldehyde that can be added to soft drinks as flavouring agent should be below the specific migration limit (SML) for migration of acetaldehyde from PET bottle into bottle contents. This is essential since the SML was designed to ensure that exposure to acetaldehyde, as a result of intake of bottled water and soft drinks in PET bottles, is below the tolerable daily intake (TDI) for acetaldehyde. As antimony was reported to go beyond the safe limits in some Nigerian bottled water and soft drinks after 11 months of storage this study discourages the use of bottle contents stored for a very long time.

Les procédés de photopolymérisation connaissent un développement important avec des applications considérables dans le milieu industriel en raison de ses avantages économiques et écologiques. Les réactions de photopolymérisation sont très représentées, elles reposent sur l’utilisation d’un composé ou d'un système photosensible sous irradiation, générant des espèces réactives capables d’amorcer la polymérisation et de réagir avec le monomère. Le principal objectif de ce travail de thèse consiste à développer des molécules efficaces comme photoamorceurs (PA) pour la photopolymérisation radicalaire (FRP) d’une part et la photopolymérisation cationique (CP) ou la photopolymérisation cationique sensibilisée par les radicaux (FRPCP) d’autre part. Nous nous sommes intéressés à des systèmes amorceurs hautes performances absorbant fortement dans le domaine du visible et permettant l’utilisation de lampes non nocives et à faible consommation d'énergie : les diodes électroluminescentes (LED). Ainsi, un procédé original portant sur la combinaison de la photopolymérisation radicalaire et la photopolymérisation cationique en une seule étape a été examiné. Cette approche a fait appel à la synthèse de réseaux interpénétrés de polymères (RIP) comportant les propriétés spécifiques de chaque polymère. Les efforts ont été consacrés au développement de nouveaux composés avec de nouvelles structures chimiques et d’excellentes propriétés d’absorption de lumière avec de coefficients d’extinctions molaires très élevés.Des systèmes construits sur l’utilisation de différentes structures comme photoamorceurs ont pu être mis au point dans le cadre de cette thèse. La possibilité d’utiliser des colorants présentant un caractère push-pull, ou des colorants étant caractérisés par une structure polyène ou une structure polyaromatique a pu être considérée. Egalement, des structures à base de xanthène sensibles dans le domaine proche visible ont pu être proposées. De plus, ce travail a permis d’étudier de nouveaux systèmes photoamorceurs à base de structures minérales telles que les polyoxométallates ou les pérovskites. Ainsi, la possibilité de proposer de nouveaux sels d’iodonium à base de coumarine a pu être démontrée. Des meilleures performances ont été atteintes en utilisant des systèmes photoamorceurs à deux composants (PA/Ph2I+) ou à trois composants (PA/Ph2I+/additif) dans des conditions d’irradiation douce. Afin d’étudier et caractériser ces photoamorceurs, la cinétique de la réaction de photopolymérisation a été suivie par spectroscopie infrarouge à transformée de Fourier (RT-FTIR). Les radicaux générés ont été détectés par résonance paramagnétique électronique (RPE). La photolyse laser éclair (LFP) a été utilisée comme technique complémentaire pour étudier l’efficacité et la réactivité de radicaux générés
The photopolymerization reaction is used in an increasing number of industrial applications because of the remarkable performance of the process. The photopolymerization reactions require the presence of photosensitive compounds. These latter can absorb light and participate in the photoinitiation through the generation of reactive species. The main objective of this PHD was to develop efficient molecules as photoinitiators (PI) for the free radical photopolymerization (FRP), the cationic photopolymerization (CP) and the free radical promoted cationic photopolymerization (FRPCP). We were interested in new high performance photoinitiating systems (PISs) exhibiting excellent light absorption properties (especially in the visible wavelength range). The photopolymerization must be carried out under soft irradiation conditions (non harmful lamps, low energy consumption and low intensity sources: light-emitting diodes LED). Thus, a novel method involving concomitant radical/cationic photopolymerization in one step was examined. This approach involves the synthesis of interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) comprising the specific properties of each polymer. The efforts have been devoted to the development of new compounds with new chemical structures and excellent light absorption properties with high molar extinctions coefficients.Many PISs based on different photoinitiators structures have been developed in this work. The possibility to use dyes having a push-pull character, or dyes being characterized by a polyene or polyaromatic structures were considered. Also, originals xanthenes derivatives sensitive in the visible region have been proposed. In particular, this work has enabled the study of new PISs based on inorganic structures such as polyoxometalates and perovskites. Thus, the possibility to propose new iodonium salts based coumarin could be demonstrated. The best performance was achieved using two-components (PI/Ph2I+) or three-components (PI /Ph2I+/additive) photoinitiating systems under soft irradiation conditions. The kinetics of photopolymerization were evaluated using real time FTIR spectroscopy. The generated radicals were observed using the electron spin resonance (ESR) technique. The laser flash photolysis (LFP) was used as a complementary technique to study the efficiency and the reactivity of radicals generated

In order to improve understanding of diesel soot oxidation, an experimental rig was designed and set up, in which the soot oxidation conditions, such as temperature, oxygen partial pressure, and CO2 partial pressure, could be varied independently of each other. The oxidizing gas flow in the oxidizer was under laminar condition. This test rig comprised a naturally-aspirated single cylinder engine which acted as the soot generator, and a separate premixed oxidation burner system in which soot extracted from the engine was oxidized under controlled conditions. Diesel soot was extracted from the engine exhaust pipe and from the engine pre-combustion chamber, and the soot-laden gas was then conveyed to the burner where it was oxidized. The burner was positioned vertically and it had a flat flame whose thickness was only a few millimetres. The hot gases from the flame flew upwards through a quartz transparent tube which acted as the soot oxidation duct. The soot-laden gas from the engine was premixed with the feedgas (itself a premixed mixture of methane, air, oxygen, and nitrogen) to the burner. The soot particles passed vertically through the flame front and continued burning in the post-flame gas flowing through the quartz tube oxidation duct. The oxygen concentration and temperature of the post-flame soot oxidation gas were controllable by adjusting the flowrate and composition of the burner feedgas. Diesel soot particles were sampled at different heights along the centreline of the quartz tube above the burner. Profiles of oxygen concentration, temperature, and soot particle velocity in the oxidation zone were thus measured. Morphology and size distributions of the sampled diesel soot particles were analyzed by means of Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and a computer software called ImagePro Plus. Subsequently, the specific surface oxidation rates of the soot particles were worked out based on soot particle size distributions. The TEM micrographs obtained in this study showed that the diesel soot agglomerates existed in forms of clusters and chains, each containing between a small number and thousands of individual, mostly spherical tiny particles. Of order 97% of the individual spherical particles (spherules) had a size range from 10 to 80 nm. Occasionally, individual spherules of about 150 nm in diameter could be observed. The diesel soot particles sampled from the pre-chamber of the engine had different size distributions from those sampled from the exhaust of the engine, indicating that the soot underwent an oxidation process in the combustion chamber. Soot oxidation experiments were performed in the burner post-flame gas under oxygen partial pressures ranging from 0.010 to 0.050 atm and temperatures from 1520 to 1820 K. The test results showed that the oxidation rates of the diesel soot extracted from the diesel engine were generally lower than those predicted by the well-known Nagle and Strickland-Constable formula; however, the measured oxidation rates were higher than the predictions made with another well-known formula - the Lee formula. The soot extracted from the engine pre-chamber appeared not to oxidize as fast as the soot extracted from the exhaust of the engine. CO2 gas injection to the post-flame oxidation gas at constant oxygen partial pressure and oxidation temperature seemed to have accelerated the diesel soot oxidation rate. Based on the experimental results of this study and the results of other researchers, modifications to the Nagle and Strickland-Constable formula and to the Lee formula were accomplished. Also, an empirical expression, as an alternative to semi-empirical formulae, was worked out and presented in the thesis.

The demand for cost effective, reliable and safe machinery operation requires accurate fault detection and classification. These issues are of paramount importance as potential failures of rotating and reciprocating machinery can be managed properly and avoided in some cases. Various methods have been applied to tackle these issues, but the accuracy of those methods is variable and leaves scope for improvement. This research proposes appropriate methods for fault detection and diagnosis. The main consideration of this study is use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and related mathematics approaches to build a condition monitoring (CM) system that has incremental learning capabilities to select effective diagnostic features for the fault diagnosis of a reciprocating compressor (RC). The investigation involved a series of experiments conducted on a two-stage RC at baseline condition and then with faults introduced into the intercooler, drive belt and 2nd stage discharge and suction valve respectively. In addition to this, three combined faults: discharge valve leakage combined with intercooler leakage, suction valve leakage combined with intercooler leakage and discharge valve leakage combined with suction valve leakage were created and simulated to test the model. The vibration data was collected from the experimental RC and processed through pre-processing stage, features extraction, features selection before the developed diagnosis and classification model were built. A large number of potential features are calculated from the time domain, the frequency domain and the envelope spectrum. Applying Neural Networks (NNs), Support Vector Machines (SVMs), Relevance Vector Machines (RVMs) which integrate with Genetic Algorithms (GAs), and principle components analysis (PCA) which cooperates with principle components optimisation, to these features, has found that the features from envelope analysis have the most potential for differentiating various common faults in RCs. The practical results for fault detection, diagnosis and classification show that the proposed methods perform very well and accurately and can be used as effective tools for diagnosing reciprocating machinery failures.

La théorie bancaire récente a bien mis en évidence l'avantage comparatif des banques dans l'octroi du crédit aux petites et moyennes entreprises. La dépendance des PME vis-à-vis du financement bancaire est caractérisée par une asymétrie d'information due à l'opacité des firmes. Afin d'échapper à la surveillance de la banque prêteuse, les entreprises se dirigent vers une multibancarisation comme étant d'une part un contrat d'assurance implicite contre le risque de rationnement et d'une autre part une stratégie de diversification des sources de financement. Cette stratégie élimine également le risque de capturation (Hold-up problem) provenant de l'avantage informationnel détenu par la banque prêteuse et assure des conditions de crédits plus favorables. Ce travail de recherche teste et analyse les effets de la relation durable et de la multibancarisation sur les conditions de crédits. Après une présentation des fondements théoriques nous testons, sur un échantillon de 150 PME libanaises, l'effet du financement relationnel multibancaire respectivement sur le coût du crédit, le rationnement du crédit et les garanties demandées. Nous testons de même l’effet de la consolidation bancaire sur la propension des PME à diversifier leurs relations bancaires
The recent banking theory highlights the comparative advantage of banks in financing SME (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. The dependence of the SME from the banking financing is mainly due to their information opacity. To escape the permanent control of the banks, companies go to a multi-banking relationship as an implicit insurance contract against the availability risk but also as an efficient way to diversify sources of funding. This strategy also eliminates the risk of capturation (Holdup Problem) resulting from the informative advantage detained by banks and insures more favorable credit terms. This research tests and analyzes the effects of the long-lasting relation and the multi-banking relationships on credit terms. After a detailed presentation of the literature review when we developed the main theoretical concepts we tested our hypothesis on a sample of 150 Lebanese SME firms. Our empirical works was focused on the effect of the multi-banking financing respectively on the credit cost, on credit availability and on collaterals. We also tested the effect of banking Mergers and acquisitions on SME’s intention to diversify their banking relations

A Differentiation Factor (DF) was purified from rat lung conditioned medium by a four-steps procedure. The DF has a molecular weight of 27000, and an isoelectric point of 4.70. Although DF is stable up to 60°C, it is sensitive to digestion by trypsin, chymotrypsin and subtilisin. DF forms granulocyte colonies in soft agar. Studies using anti-NRK CSF antibody demonstrated that DF is distinct from GM-CSF.

With increasing digitization, models are more important than ever. Especially their use as soft sensors during operation offers opportunities in cost saving, easy data acquisition and therefore additional functionality of systems. In soft sensor networks there is redundant data acquisition and consequently the occurrence of inconsistent values from different soft sensors is encouraged. The resolution of these data-induced conflicts allows for the detection of changing components characteristics. Hence soft sensor networks can be used to detect wear in system components. In this paper this approach is validated on a test rig. It is found, that the soft sensor network is capable to determine wear and its extent in eccentric screw pumps and valves via data induced conflicts with relatively simple models.

Le littoral du pays basque sur sa partie française n’a fait l’objet que de très peu d’études des communautés benthiques qu’il renferme. A l’exception des suivis mis en œuvre dans le cadre de la surveillance DCE des masses d’eau et de quelques études d’impact ponctuelles, les systèmes benthiques apparaissent peu investigués. Par ailleurs, du fait de sa sédentarité, ce compartiment biologique s’avère être un bon indicateur de suivi environnemental, intégrant les variations de l’environnement. L’étude de la macrofaune benthique permet en effet d’obtenir un signal relativement clair, susceptible de détecter une perturbation du système. Néanmoins, afin d’évaluer l’impact écologique d’une perturbation, il est nécessaire de distinguer la variabilité naturelle (intrinsèque au milieu) de celle liées à la perturbation elle-même (activités anthropiques).L’objectif majeur de ce travail de thèse a été l’étude de l’influence des conditions hydrodynamiques sur la structure, la répartition et la dynamique des communautés benthiques de substrat meuble du littoral basque français. Derrière cet objectif académique, cette étude, menée en entreprise, supportait également un profond besoin d’opérationnalité en répondant au déficit de connaissances locales.L’étude s’est appuyée sur un important effort d’échantillonnage. Quatre campagnes de prélèvements (une par saison) ont ainsi été répliquées pendant 2 ans au débouché de 3 estuaires du pays basque français, complétées par une année supplémentaire d’investigations sur l’Adour. Afin d’appréhender l’influence des facteurs abiotiques, les conditions hydrodynamiques ont été simulées à l’aide des modèles opérationnels développés dans le cadre du projet Européen LOREA.Les résultats indiquent une incidence prédominante des conditions hydrodynamiques (vagues et apports des fleuves), contrôlant la dynamique sédimentaire locale, sur la structure et la répartition des communautés benthiques côtières de substrat meuble. D’un point de vue temporel, une relative stabilité a été observée suggérant ainsi une certaine résilience de ces communautés face à une perturbation naturelle de leur milieu.L’exploitation des données biosédimentaires acquises au large de l’Adour, mises au regard du régime hydrologique du fleuve, des vagues et des opérations de clapage du port de Bayonne, confirme ces observations. En effet, bien qu’un effet des immersions puisse être observé, dans ce milieu à fort hydrodynamisme, les matériaux sont rapidement dispersés et la macrofaune récupère vite.Enfin, l’étude a permis de signaler pour la première fois au Sud du Golfe de Gascogne, dans le Pays Basque français, Grandidierella japonica (Stephensen, 1938), espèce d’amphipode de la famille des Aoridae native de la mer du Japon. L’étude préliminaire de son installation locale et des niches écologiques estuariennes impactées proposée dans la cadre ce travail nécessite encore d’être approfondie. Des données complémentaires, biologiques et environnementales, sont en effet nécessaires pour affiner et confirmer les résultats obtenus
Along the French Basque coast, soft-bottom communities are poorly described. Indeed, except for the monitoring program of water bodies carried out through the WFD and some isolated impact studies, benthic systems appear weakly investigated. However, macrobenthos are known to be an effective indicator to establish the ecological quality of coastal and estuarine waters. Due to their sedentary nature, benthic macrofauna integrates effects of environmental variations and provides a relatively clear signal, susceptible to detect a disturbance on the ecosystem. Nonetheless, to assess disturbance ecological impact, it is necessary to discriminate natural variability (intrinsic to the environment) from that related to anthropogenic activities.The main issue of this PhD is to investigate the hydrodynamic conditions effects on the structure, the distribution and the dynamic of the soft-bottom communities of the French Basque coast. Behind this academic objective, this study conducted in a private company also supported a deep operationality need in improving local knowledges.A substantial sampling effort was carried out during this study. Four biosedimentary field campaigns (one per season) were replicated for two years in the vicinity of the three main French Basque country estuaries, supplemented by another year of investigations at the Adour river mouth. In order to assess the influence of abiotic factors, the hydrodynamic conditions were simulated using the operational models developed in the framework of the European project LOREA.The results show a predominant influence of hydrodynamic conditions (wave and river inputs) controlling local sediment dynamics and thus the structure and distribution of benthic soft-bottom nearshore communities. In terms of temporal variation, a relative stability has been observed suggesting an ecological resilience from natural disturbances.The analysis of the biosedimentary data from the area located in the vicinity of the Adour river mouth in relation to river flow, wave climate and dredge spoil disposal activities of the Bayonne harbour corroborate these observations. Indeed, despite the fact that a dumping impact can be noticed within this high naturally exposed environment, dredged materials are rapidly dispersed and the macrofauna recovers quickly.Finally, through the study of the macrobenthic communities, the non-native amphipod Grandidierella japonica Stephensen, 1938 of the family Aoridae has been reported for the first time in the southern part of the Bay of Biscay, along the French Basque Country. The preliminary study of this species local installation and the estuarine impacted ecological niches still requires improvement. Complementary biological and environmental data are needed to improve and confirm the obtained results

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Cincinnati, 2005.
Title from electronic thesis title page (viewed Apr. 13, 2006). Includes abstract. Keywords: Condition Based Maintenance, Model based maintenance, Neuro-Fuzzy, Backpropagation, Information Entropy, Model selection. Includes bibliographical references.

L’objectif de la thèse est d’explorer de nouveaux systèmes chimiques à réactivité élevée à température ambiante et les soumettre à un cahier des charges de polymères thermodurcissables. Ce projet a été construit autour de deux chimies capables de s’effectuer dans des conditions douces : l’addition d’aza-Michael et la cycloaddition de Diels-Alder. L’addition d’aza-Michael est une réaction spontanée à température ambiante, s’effectuant entre une fonction amine et un composé  insaturé comme les acrylates. Cette réaction peut être réalisée sans solvants ni catalyseurs. Elle est donc couramment utilisée depuis de nombreuses années dans le domaine des polymères. Une autre voie faisant également l’objet de nombreuses études dans les thermodurcissables est la réaction de cycloaddition de Diels-Alder, s’effectuant entre un diène et un diénophile. L’avantage de cette réaction est son caractère potentiellement réversible, effectif à partir de températures supérieures à 100°C. Les travaux de la thèse ont été divisés en deux chapitres importants dans lesquels l’addition d’aza-Michael a été principalement utilisée. Un premier chapitre a été consacré au développement de nouveaux systèmes mono-composants, et l’autre à l’obtention de systèmes bi-composants. Pour la première partie, différents systèmes mono-composants ont été préparés par addition de Michael. Concernant le deuxième chapitre, une partie a été dédiée à l’utilisation de la cycloaddition de Diels-Alder pour l’obtention de matériaux réticulés. L’autre partie s’est consacrée à l’emploi de l’addition aza-Michael via plusieurs systèmes de réticulation
The aim of the thesis is to explore new chemical systems with high reactivity at room temperature and to submit them to coatings specifications. Two chemicals reactions performing under mild conditions was used : the aza michael additionn and the Diels-Alder cycloaddition. The aza-Michael addition is a spontaneous reaction at room temperature between an amine function and an  unsaturated compound such as acrylates. This reaction can be carried out without solvents or catalysts. The other one that has also been the subject of numerous studies in thermosets field is the Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction, carried out between a diene and a dienophile. The advantage of this reaction is its potentially thermo-reversible nature.The work of the thesis was divided into two important parts in which the aza-Michael addition was mainly used. The first chapter was devoted to the development of one-component systems, and the other one to the production of two-component systems. For the first chapter, several one-component systems have been prepared by Michael addition. Concerning the second chapter, a part was dedicated to the use of the Diels-Alder cycloaddition for obtaining thermosets. The other part is devoted to the use of aza-Michael addition via several crosslinking systems

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2004.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 225-230).
Past research has shown that during diesel combustion, soot is formed in local premixed fuel-rich regions. This project focuses on the fundamentals soot formation under fuel-rich conditions similar to those in diesel engine operation. Since these conditions cannot be easily reproduced in typical laboratory scale experiments, such as flat-flame burners, and since diesel engine data are difficult to interpret because of uncertainty in the local charge composition and thermal state, a new rapid compression machine (RCM) was built to study the phenomenon. The RCM provides a well-controlled and uniform engine-like thermal environment, where mixing and chemistry are decoupled. Fuel-rich mixtures of n-butane and air were primarily used in this study; aromatics, oxygenates and cetane improvers completed the test matrix. Line-of-sight absorption technique was used to investigate the details of soot evolution. The primary data set consisted of soot volume loading history for selected fuels at various equivalence ratios, temperatures and pressures. Based on existing sub-models, a detailed chemical kinetic calculation leading to soot particles was per- formed to study the relative importance of the underlying chemistry. The results show that the initial soot volume grows exponentially with time, reflecting an "autocatalytic" mechanism. The growth rate depends strongly on temperature and pressure. The lower rates observed for richer mixtures can be attributed to lower temperatures after the end of the main heat release process, when most of the soot is formed. Soot yield increases steadily with fuel-air equivalence ratio and depends on fuel structure. Toluene addition to n-butane increases the final soot yield at constant fuel-air equivalence ratio (-1%/1% toluene by mol) but not at constant C/O ratio.
(cont.) Oxygenates totally suppress soot formation at or above 30% oxygen in fuel by mass. Since soot formation is kinetically limited at lower temperatures and soot precursors are not thermodynamically stable at higher temperatures, soot yield exhibits a bell-shape dependence on temperature with a maximum at approximately 1800-2000K. Thus different surface growth mechanisms prevail across the temperature range; the relative contribution of C2H2 over PAH to soot growth increases with temperature. Even though nucleation is mostly governed by PAH coalescence, it was found that the C2H2 route is not negligible under certain conditions. The kinetics of fuel-rich combustion was found to be sensitive to the fuel+HOO reaction. Suggestions are made for better correlation between model and experiments regarding ignition delay and rate of heat release. While performing this study, insight was gained into RCM operation. Assuming uniform and homogeneous environment at the end of compression, was sufficient to model ignition delays under most conditions (2-10 ms), but not rate of heat release and maximum pressure. CFD analysis predicted non-negligible temperature stratification at the end of compression (-80% of mass within 50K). A multizone model, taking into account zones of constant mass and allowing heat transfer and flow into the crevice, was developed and improved the agreement significantly.
by Ioannis Kitsopanidis.
Ph.D.

Objectives: To study the treatment practice of chronic tennis elbow (TE) among general practitioners (GPs) and physiotherapists (PTs), the effects of a simple, graded home exercise regime versus expectation, the effects of eccentric versus concentric exercise, and the involvement of the substance P – NK1 receptor system in the peripheral, painful tissue of chronic TE patients by positron emission tomography (PET). Materials and methods: A postal survey regarding therapeutic methods used in patients with chronic TE was sent to 129 GPs and 77 PTs, 81 subjects with chronic TE were randomly and blindly assigned to either an exercise group or a wait list group, 120 subjects were randomly assigned to either eccentric or concentric exercise and ten subjects were examined by PET and the NK1 specific radioligand [11C]GR205171. Results: High proportions of GPs and PTs used ergonomic counselling and stretching in the treatment of chronic TE. The majority of GPs prescribed passive anti-inflammatory measures such as sick leave and anti-inflammatory medication. Many PTs prescribed dynamic, particularly eccentric, exercise. Graded dynamic exercise according to a simple low-cost protocol, has better effect on pain than a wait-and-see attitude. Adjusted for outcome affecting variables, eccentric graded exercise has quicker effect than concentric graded exercise. During PET scan with the NK1 specific radioligand [11C]GR205171, voxel volume and signal intensity of this volume was significantly higher in the affected than the unaffected arm in subjects with unilateral chronic TE. Conclusions: GPs and PTs used many treatments to a similar extent but differed regarding the use of exercise. Chronic TE responds favourably to graded dynamic exercise aimed specifically at the painful tissue. The exercise should stress the eccentric work phase. The substance P – NK1 receptor system seems to play a part in the peripheral, painful tissue of a chronic, soft tissue pain condition such as chronic TE.
Epi-X

Le travail présenté dans ce manuscrit concerne les mesures de taille de particule et de fraction volumique de suies dans des conditions moteur Diesel. Les techniques utilisées sont la laser-Induced incandescence (LII), la méthode d’extinction laser (LEM), la pyrométrie, et l’analyse d’images de microscopie électronique par transmission (TEM) d’échantillons prélevés in-Situ. Des stratégies de mesure de tailles de particules sont développées en se basant sur l’utilisation d’un modèle LII et en analysant la poly-Dispersion des tailles de particules, aussi bien à partir de signaux de LII résolu en temps (mesures ponctuelles) à pression atmosphérique, que d’informations résolues spatialement provenant d’images acquises a deux instants différents. Des mesures sont effectuées avec ces stratégies sur une flamme à pression atmosphérique et dans des conditions représentatives des conditions moteur Diesel pour évaluer leur applicabilité. Des mesures supplémentaires de température et de fraction volumique de suies sont aussi réalisés.Une nouvelle méthode, appelée two-Exponential reverse fitting (TERF) est introduite. Elle vise à extraire des informations sur la distribution de tailles de particules. Cette méthode est basée sur l’utilisation de fits mono-Exponentiel du signal de décroissance de LII à différents intervalles de temps. La distribution de tailles de particules est approximée par la combinaison de deux distributions de tailles de particules mono-Disperses : une petite et une large. Aucune hypothèse sur la forme de la distribution n’est nécessaire. La méthode permet aussi de fournir le ratio de la proportion respective des deux classes de particules. L’erreur systématique induite par la description mono-Exponentielle de la décroissance du signal de LII a été calculée et est inférieure à 2% pour des décroissances de signal de LII d’aggregats mono-Disperses avec des températures de chauffe pour lesquels la sublimation des suies est négligeable. La méthode a été appliquée à des données de LII obtenus sur une flamme laminaire atmosphérique éthylene/air à différentes hauteurs. Les résultats obtenus montrent un bon accord entre les tailles des grosses particules évaluées avec la méthode TERF et celle obtenue par analyse des images TEM. En revanche l’accord n’est pas obtenu pour les petites particules, ce qui est attribué à un manque d’information sur cette classe de particule dans l’analyse TEM.Des champs de fraction volumique de suies sont ensuite obtenus dans une cellule haute pression haute température dans les conditions opératoires du réseau ECN (Engine Combustion Network) par technique combinée de LEM et LII simultanées. Les mesures sont réalisées dans les conditions du spray A et incluent des variations paramétriques (température et dilution). La distance de Lift Off de la flamme est déterminée en parallèle par visualisation directe de la chimiluminescence OH. Des niveaux de fraction volumique maximale de 2-3ppm sont obtenus dans les conditions nominales du spray A (i.e. 900K), et peuvent atteindre 12 pmm à haute température (1030K). L’effet des variations de température et de concentration d’oxygène sur la formation et l’oxydation des suies et cohérente avec les résultats issus de la littérature.Une méthode d’imagerie de taille de particules est développée. Elle est basée sur l’acquisition de deux images de LII obtenues à deux instants différents après le pulse laser et l’analyse de ces images à l’aide de la simulation du signal LII pour déduire les tailles des particules à partir du rapport des images. Une stratégie basée sur une analyse par modèle LII est développée pour évaluer les incertitudes de mesure. La dépendance aux conditions limites de l’imagerie de taille de particule par LII est ainsi évaluée. [...]
This work focuses on measurements of soot particle size and volume fraction at Diesel engine conditions. A combination of laser-Induced incandescence (LII) imaging, line-Of-Sight laser extinction, soot pyrometry, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements of thermophoretically-Sampled soot was used. Particle sizing strategies were developed with LII model for the analysis of particle-Size poly-Dispersity with time-Resolved LII signal that is suitable for point-Wise measurements at atmospheric pressure, and for spatially-Resolved characterization with two-Time-Step LII imaging. Measurements were performed with these strategies in a flame at atmospheric pressure and in Diesel engine combustion to investigate their applicability. Additional measurements were performed for temperature and soot volume fraction.A novel method, called two-Exponential reverse fitting (TERF), is introduced to extract information about the size distribution. The method is based on mono-Exponential fits to the LII signal decay at a delayed time. It approximates the particle-Size distribution as a combination of one large and one small mono-Disperse equivalent mean particle size and does not require a distribution assumption. It also provides a ratio of the contribution of both size classes. The systematic error caused by de-Scribing LII signals by mono-Exponential decays was calculated as less than 2% for LII signals simulated for mono-Disperse aggregated soot with heat-Up temperatures for which evaporation is negligible. The method was applied to LII data acquired in a laminar non-Premixed ethylene/air flame at various heights above the burner. The particle size of the large particle-Size class evaluated with the method showed good consistency with TEM results, however the size of the small particle-Size class and its relative contribution could not be compared due to insufficient information in the TEM results for small particles. Simultaneous line-Of-Sight laser extinction measurements and LII imaging were performed to de-Rive the soot volume fraction in a high-Temperature high-Pressure constant-Volume pre-Combustion vessel under the Engine Combustion Network’s (ECN) "Spray A" conditions with parametric variations of gas temperature and composition. Extinction measurements were used to calibrate LII images for quantitative soot distribution measurements. OH-Chemiluminescence imaging was used to determine the lift-Off length, and used to interpret the soot measurements. Maximum soot volume fractions around 2–3 ppm were obtained at the nominal ambient temperature defined for Spray A (i.e. 900 K) that rise to 12 ppm at elevated temperature (1030 K). Variations of ambient temperature and oxygen concentration were carried out showing effects on soot formation and oxidation that are consistent with the literature.The method for particle-Size imaging is based on evaluating gated LII signals acquired with two cameras consecutively after the laser pulse and using LII modeling to deduce particle size from the ratio of local signals. A strategy was developed with a model-Based analysis: the dependence of LII particle-Size imaging on the assumed boundary conditions was identified such as bathgas temperature, pressure, particle heat-Up temperature, thermal accommodation coefficients, and soot morphology. Various laser-Fluence regimes and gas pressures were considered. Effects of laser attenuation were evaluated. A combination of one detection gate starting with the particle-Heating and the other starting with 11 ns delay with twice as long gate width was found to provide the highest sensitivity for particle sizing at 60 bar. The optimum gate delays for different pressures were calculated. The effects of timing jitter for laser pulse and poly-Dispersity were investigated. Systematic errors in pyrometry imaging at 60 bar was evaluated. [...]

With growing concerns over the detrimental effects of soot emission, it has become important to study possible emission reduction strategies and explore new measurement techniques to advance soot diagnostic capabilities. In this study, the potential of using nitrogen as a fuel diluent to reduce soot is measured in a series of combustion experiments under engine-relevant conditions using Laser Induced Incandescence (LU). In the first part of this research, a calibration was conducted to allow conversion of LIT signals into soot mass concentration values. This calibration was performed by measuring samples of different, but known, soot concentration with LII under different configurations. Secondly, a test plan was designed for this study using a statistical design-of-experiment technique, response surface methodology (RSM). The concept of R SM is to conduct a small number of experiments strategically and use the results to create an empirical model. Using this approach, a test matrix of 135 experiments was developed. Finally, combustion experiments were carried out in a shock tube. In these experiments, soot concentration within a combusting ethene jet was measured with LII. The LII results were then processed and used as inputs for building the empirical models, from which the following trends were observed: • . Addition of nitrogen was observed to lower the levels of soot within the fuel jet. • Increases in pre-combustion temperature reduced the level of soot detected. • Changes in fuel injection pressure and pre-combustion pressure were observed to cause competing effects on the level of soot detected. This might be caused by underlying changes in air fuel ratio associated with changes in the two pressures. The results of this work indicate fuel dilution with nitrogen can be a potential soot reduction strategy for non-premixed gaseous-fuelled combustion systems. This study also shows that the ability to instantaneously generate a map of soot distribution within a combusting fuel jet makes LII more powerful than traditional soot diagnostic techniques.
Applied Science, Faculty of
Mechanical Engineering, Department of
Graduate

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2013.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 167-175).
Direct injection spark ignition engines are growing rapidly in popularity, largely due to the fuel efficiency improvements in the turbo-downsized engine configuration that are enabled by direct injection technology. Unfortunately, direct injection spark ignition engines also emit higher concentrations of particulate matter than conventional port fuel injected engines. In light of evidence linking particulate matter to adverse human health impacts, particulate emissions standards have been strengthened in both the United States and in Europe. A great deal of research seeking particulate emissions reductions is ongoing. This study contributes to this body of research by offering a refined explanation of the soot formation process in direct injection engines under cold-idle operating conditions. A number of engine and rapid compression machine experiments were conducted in order to understand the impacts of engine operating conditions and fuel composition on particulate matter emissions. Using these data, a conceptual model describing the formation of soot in direct injection engines is outlined. This model suggests that soot forms after the main combustion event in fuel vapour plumes surrounding liquid fuel films on cylinder surfaces through pyrolytic reactions enabled by heat transfer from burned gases from the primary combustion event.
by Justin Edward Ketterer.
Ph. D.

A novel technique is presented in which two colour, two dimensional, time-resolved Laser induced incandescence (2C-2D-TiRe-LII) is used to produce planar spatially resolved, quantified, soot particle sizing. The technique is applied to a well characterized laboratory flame (Santoro burner) for validation. Accordance with other research efforts of spatial distribution of soot particle size was demonstrated.

[EN] Several major problems have to be solved before Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) can operate continuously using hydrocarbon fuels such as natural gas. The risk of low catalytic behavior for fuel reforming, the carbon formation/deposition on the anode material at high operating temperatures and the presence of impurities in the fuel (in particular sulfides) can dramatically reduce the performance and durability of the cells. Taking all this into account, new anode materials with adequate (electro)catalytic properties are required. Recently, manganite compounds with Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) structure have been studied as potential new anode materials in INTERFASE group at Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS). Their electrochemical performance have been described in previous works with promising results, but a fundamental knowledge was missing concerning the catalytic properties of such materials and the way to improve them by the addition of nickel metallic particles on the electrode surface. The current Ph.D. thesis was focused on the synthesis, characterization and catalytic study for steam reforming in SOFC anode conditions (low steam content) of a new RP manganite (La1.5Sr1.5Mn1.5Ni0.5O7±δ), which, in reducing atmosphere at high operating temperatures promotes via an exsolution mechanism the formation of two phases, i.e. an RP manganite of composition LaSrMnO4±δ decorated with metallic active Ni nanoparticles embedded in the surface; such strategy can be viewed as an original way to improve the (electro)catalytic properties of the anode materials and then a promising option for future SOFC systems operating with Colombian natural gas. The first chapter deals with the synthesis and characterization of the RP n= 2 phase La1.5Sr1.5Mn1.5Ni0.5O7±δ using the Pechini method. In agreement with SOFC operating temperature, Ni exsolution has been studied in diluted H2 at different temperatures (750, 800 and 850 °C) and reduction times. Ni nanoparticles decorating an RP n= 1 manganite is confirmed by XRD, TEM-EDS analysis and the size of the metallic particles on the oxide surface, below 100 nm, is characterized as a function of the exsolution conditions. The second chapter presents the catalytic behavior for the methane steam reforming reaction of the exsolved material applying the Gradual Internal Reforming concept adapted to SOFC operation (i.e. low water content, steam to carbon ratio equal to 0.15) at different reaction temperatures (750, 800 and 850 °C). The catalytic properties of Ni impregnated samples using a similar (La,Sr)2MnO4±δ ceramic support are also presented for comparison. The exsolved material exhibits better performance than the impregnated manganite for the reaction, especially at 850 °C, with higher conversion, conversion rate, and H2 production rate. Concerning the steam reforming of light alkane gas mixtures (CH4-C2H6, and CH4-C3H8), the behavior is affected due to the competition between the molecules and low available metallic active sites, but without affecting the H2 production. In addition, at long reaction times, the activity over the exsolved material is stable even with 100 h of reaction, without formation of carbonaceous species on the Ni particles, as confirmed by TEM and TGA/MS analysis. In the third and last chapter, the possible coke formation and sulfide poisoning are presented. Despite the high and stable catalytic behavior for methane steam reforming reaction with considerable carbon formation resistance, the exsolved material exhibits a high level of sensitivity to H2S poisoning, similar to the case of state-of-the-art Ni/YSZ anodic cermet and or Ni impregnated catalyst, with a drop of the activity to almost zero. Nevertheless, the exceptional overall results obtained for the exsolution-based material are promising for a possible use as SOFC anode operating with sulfur-free Colombian natural gas.
[ES] Muchos son los problemas que deben resolverse antes de que las celdas de combustible de óxido sólido (SOFC por sus siglas en inglés) puedan operar continuamente usando combustibles hidrocarbonados como por ejemplo el gas natural. El riesgo de una baja actividad catalítica para el reformado del combustible, la formación y depósito en el material de ánodo a elevadas temperaturas de operación y la presencia de impurezas en el combustible empleado (en particular de sulfuros) pueden reducir dramáticamente el desempeño y la durabilidad de las celdas. Teniendo todo esto en cuenta, nuevos materiales de ánodo con adecuadas propiedades (electro)catalíticas son necesarios. Recientemente, en el grupo INTERFASE de la Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS), compuestos de tipo manganita con estructura Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) han sido estudiados como potenciales materiales de ánodo. Su desempeño electrocatalítico ha sido descrito en trabajos previos con promisorios resultados, pero el conocimiento fundamental sobre las propiedades catalíticas de dichos materiales y la forma de mejorarlos mediante la adición de partículas metálicas de níquel en la superficie del electrodo aún faltaba. La presente tesis doctoral se enfocó en la síntesis, caracterización y estudio catalítico en el reformado con vapor en condiciones de ánodo de celdas SOFC (bajo contenido de vapor) de una nueva manganita de tipo RP (La1.5Sr1.5Mn1.5Ni0.5O7±δ), la cual, en atmósfera reductora y a elevadas temperaturas de operación, promueven a través del mecanismo de exsolución la formación de dos fases: una manganita tipo RP de composición LaSrMnO4±δ decorada con nanopartículas metálicas y activas de Ni incrustadas en la superficie; dicha estrategia puede ser vista como una manera muy original de mejorar las propiedades (electro)catalíticas de los materiales de ánodo y por lo tanto ser consideradas como una opción prometedora para sistemas SOFC operados con gas natural colombiano. El primer capítulo trata sobre la síntesis de la fase RP n= 2 La1.5Sr1.5Mn1.5Ni0.5O7±δ usando el método de Pechini y su caracterización. De acuerdo con la temperatura de operación de las celdas SOFC, la exsolución del Ni en atmósfera de H2 diluido a diferentes temperaturas (750, 800 y 850 °C) y tiempos de reducción fue estudiada. Las nanopartículas de Ni decorando la manganita de estructura RP n= 1 es confirmada a través de análisis de DRX, MET-EDS y el tamaño de las partículas metálicas en la superficie del óxido, inferiores a 100 nm, es caracterizado en función de las condiciones de exsolución. El segundo capítulo presenta el comportamiento catalítico del material exsuelto en la reacción de reformado de metano aplicando el concepto de reformado interno gradual (GIR por sus siglas en inglés) adaptado a celdas SOFC (en otras palabras, bajo contenido de agua, relación vapor carbono igual a 0.15) a diferentes temperaturas de reacción (750, 800 y 850 °C). Las propiedades catalíticas de las muestras impregnadas con Ni utilizando como soporte un material cerámico similar (La,Sr)2MnO4±δ, son también presentados como comparación. El material exsuelto exhibe un mejor desempeño catalítico en la reacción de reformado que la manganita impregnada, especialmente a 850 °C, mostrando una más alta conversión, velocidad de conversión y de producción de H2. Con respecto al reformado de la mezcla de alcanos ligeros (CH4 -C2H6, y CH4 -C3H8), el comportamiento catalítico es afectado debido a la competición entre moléculas y la baja disponibilidad de sitios activos metálicos, sin afectar la producción de H2. Adicionalmente, a tiempos de reacción prolongados, la actividad en el material exsuelto es estable incluso con 100 h de reacción, sin formación de especies carbonáceas sobre las partículas de Ni como lo confirman las imágenes MET y el ATG/MS. En el tercer y último capítulo, la posible formación y depósito de carbón y el envenenamiento con sulfuros son presentados. Sin embargo, a pesar de la elevada y estable actividad catalítica en la reacción de reformado de metano con vapor con una considerable resistencia a la formación de carbón, el material exsuelto tiene un alto nivel de sensibilidad al envenenamiento con H2S, similar al Ni/YSZ (material de referencia de la literatura) o al material impregnado con Ni, con una disminución de la actividad catalítica a prácticamente cero No obstante, el excepcional resultado global obtenido en el material exsuelto es prometedor para un posible uso como material de ánodo en sistemas SOFC alimentados con gas natural colombiano libre de H2S.
[CA] Molts són els problemes que han de ser resolts abans que les cel·les de combustible d'òxid sòlid (SOFC per les seues sigles en anglès) puguen operar contínuament usant combustibles hidrocarbonats com per exemple el gas natural. El risc d'una baixa activitat catalítica per al reformat del combustible, la formació i depòsit en el material d'ànode a elevades temperatures d'operació i la presència d'impureses en el combustible emprat (en particular de sulfurs) poden reduir dramàticament l'acompliment i la durabilitat de les cel·les. Tenint tot això en compte, nous materials d'ànode amb propietats (electro)catalítiques adequades són necessaris. Recentment, en el grup d'investigació INTERFASE de la Universitat Industrial de Santander (UIS), compostos de tipus manganita amb estructura Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) han sigut estudiats com a potencials materials anòdics. El seu acompliment electroquímiques ha sigut tractades en treballs previs amb resultats promissoris, però el coneixement fonamental sobre les característiques catalítiques d'aquests materials i la manera de millorar-los mitjançant l'addició de partícules metàl·liques de níquel en la superfície de l'elèctrode encara faltava. La present tesi de doctorat es va enfocar en la síntesi, caracterització i estudi d'activitat catalítica en el reformat amb vapor en condicions d'ànode de cel·les SOFC (sota contingut de vapor) d'una nova manganita de d'estructura RP (La1.5Sr1.5Mn1.5Ni0.5O7±δ), la qual, en atmosfera reductora i a elevades temperatures d'operació, promouen, a través del mecanisme de exsolució; la formació de dues fases: una manganita de composició LaSrMnO4±δ decorada amb nanopartícules metàl·liques i actives de Ni incrustades en la superfície; aquesta estratègia pot ser vista com una manera molt original de millorar les propietats (electro)catalítiques dels materials d'ànode i per tant, ser considerades com una prometedora opció per a futurs usos en sistemes SOFC alimentats amb gas natural colombià. El primer capítol tracta sobre la síntesi de la fase RP n= 2 La1.5Sr1.5Mn1.5Ni0.5O7±δ usant el mètode de Pechini i la seua caracterització. D'acord amb la temperatura d'operació de les cel·les SOFC, la exsolució del Ni en atmosfera d'H2 diluït a diferents temperatures (750, 800 i 850 °C) i temps de reducció va ser estudiada. Les nanopartícules de Ni decorant la manganita d'estructura RP n= 1 és confirmada a través d'anàlisi de DRX, MET-EDS i la grandària de les partícules metàl·liques en la superfície de l'òxid, inferiors a 100 nm, és caracteritzat en funció de les condicions de exsolució. El segon capítol presenta el comportament catalític del material d’exsolució en la reacció de reformat de metà amb vapor aplicant el concepte de reformat gradual intern (GIR per les seues sigles en anglès) adaptat a cel·les SOFC (en altres paraules, sota contingut de vapor, relació vapor-carboni de 0.15) a diferents temperatures de reacció (750, 800 i 850 °C). Les propietats catalítiques de les mostres impregnades amb Ni utilitzant com a suport un material ceràmic similar (La,Sr)2MnO4±δ, són també presentats com a comparació. El material d’exsolució exhibeix un millor resultat catalític en la reacció de reformat que la manganita impregnada, especialment a 850 °C, mostrant una més alta conversió, velocitat de conversió i de producció d'H2. En el reformat de la mescla d'alcans lleugers (CH4 -C2H6, i CH4 -C3H8), el comportament catalític és afectat per la competició entre molècules i la baixa disponibilitat de llocs actius metàl·lics, sense afectar la producció d'H2. Addicionalment, a temps de reacció llargs, l'activitat en el material d’exsolució és estable fins i tot desprès de 100 h de reacció, sense formació d'espècies carbòniques sobre les partícules de Ni, com ho confirmen les imatges MET i el ATG/MS. En el tercer i últim capítol, la possible formació i depòsit de carbó i l'enverinament amb sulfurs són presentats. No obstant això, malgrat l'elevada i estable activitat catalítica en la reacció de reformat de metà amb vapor amb una considerable resistència a la formació de carbó, el material d’exsolució té un alt nivell de sensibilitat a l'enverinament amb H2S, similar al Ni/YSZ (material de referència de la literatura) o el material impregnat amb Ni, amb una disminució de l'activitat catalítica a pràcticament zero No obstant això, l'excepcional resultat global obtingut aquest nou material és prometedor per a un possible ús futur com a material d'ànode en sistemes SOFC alimentats amb gas natural colombià lliure d'H2S.
Al Departamento Administrativo de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (COLCIENCIAS) por la beca de estudios de Doctorados Nacionales Conv. 647 y el proyecto # 110265842833 “Symmetrical high temperature Fuel Cell operating with Colombian natural gas”. Al Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas por el apoyo con la ayuda económica para la estancia mediante la convocatoria I-coop Project # COOPA20112.
Vecino Mantilla, JS. (2020). Nickel exsolution effect on the catalytic behavior of ruddlesden-popper manganites in sofc conditions using colombian natural gas [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/149474
TESIS

The effects of elevated pressure and high heating rates on coal pyrolysis and gasification were investigated. A high-pressure flat-flame burner (HPFFB) was designed and built to conduct these studies. The HPFFB was designed to provide an environment with laminar, dispersed entrained flow, with particle heating rates of ~10^5 K/s, pressures of up to 15 atm, and gas temperatures of up to 2000 K. Residence times were varied from 30 to 700 ms in this study. Pyrolysis experiments were conducted at particle heating rates of ~10^5 K/s and maximum gas temperatures of ~1700 K at pressures of 1 to 15 atm. A new coal swelling correlation was developed that predicts the effects of heating rate, pressure, and coal rank on the swelling ratio at heating rates above ~10^4 K/s. A coal swelling rank index system based on 13C-NMR chemical structural parameters was devised. The empirical swelling model requires user inputs of the coal ultimate and proximate analyses and the use of a transient particle energy balance to predict the maximum particle heating rate. The swelling model was used to explain differences in previously reported bituminous coal swelling ratios that were measured in facilities with different heating rates. Char gasification studies by CO2 were conducted on a subbituminous coal and 4 bituminous coals in the HPFFB. Pressures of 5, 10, and 15 atmospheres were used with gas compositions of 20, 40, and 90 mole % CO2. Gas conditions with peak temperatures of 1700 K to 2000 K were used, which resulted in char particle temperatures of 1000 K to 1800 K. Three gasification models were developed to fit and analyze the gasification data. A simple 1st-order model was used to show that the measured gasification rates were far below the film-diffusion limit. The other two models, designated CCK and CCKN, were based on three versions of the CBK models. CCKN used an nth-order kinetic mechanism and CCK used a semi-global Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic mechanism. The two CCK models fit the HPFFB gasification data better than the 1st-order model. The fits of the gasification data with CCK and CCKN were comparable to each other. The fit of the data in CCK suggests that Knudsen diffusion may have influenced the gasification rates in the HPFFB experiments. The gasification rate parameters in each of the three models were correlated with coal rank. 13C-NMR parameters were used to estimate a structural parameter of the coal char. Char-CO2 gasification rate coefficients correlated better with this NMR-based char structure index than it did with the carbon and oxygen content of the parent coal.

In this dissertation, the behavior of geosynthetic reinforced embankments constructed on soft cohesive foundations under undrained and partially drained conditions is examined by conducting a rigorous numerical analysis using the finite element method for some particular case studies. Special attention is given to the mobilized strains in the geosynthetic reinforcement at embankment failure, short and long-term working conditions state and during staged construction considering the influence of the time-dependency of the system in terms of construction rate, excess pore pressure dissipation and viscous deformations in the soil foundation (i.e., creep). The effects of reinforcement stiffness and adopted constitutive model are also investigated. The obtained results highlight the importance of assessing the allowable compatible reinforcement strain at failure and taking into account this soil-reinforcement interaction. It is illustrated the significant combined influence of consolidation process and soft soil creep deformation on the numerically observed embankment performance at working conditions, particularly in terms of mobilized reinforcements strains. Finally, an approximate approach for studying numerically staged constructed embankments is presented, pointing out the adequate definitions of Limit States for the considered stages and the effects of time in the embankment behavior.

Nous avons analysé par différents procédés expérimentaux, l'influence des éléments d'alliage sur la transformation bainitique de type première étape de la fonte g. S. Ainsi que la stabilité thermique et la résistance a l'usure abrasive de la fonte g. S. Bainitique. Les résultats montrent que l'ajout d'éléments d'alliage comme le manganèse, le nickel ou le cuivre dans les fontes g. S. Peut non seulement diminuer la vitesse de transformation bainitique, mais aussi changer la morphologie et la proportion de la phase ferritique. La formation de plaquette de ferrite s'effectue par germination répétée et croissance des sub-units de ferrite. En ce qui concerne la stabilité thermique, la décomposition de la structure ferrito-austénitique s'effectue par précipitation de carbures dans l'austénite enrichie, suivie de la formation de ferrite d'équilibre. La nature des carbures précipités varie en fonction de la température de vieillissement. Nous avons confirmé l'existence du carbure hagg et celle d'un silico-carbure (g) et nous avons également identifié l'existence d'un carbure fe-c-si-mn de type monoclinique. La formation des carbures peut s'expliquer par un mécanisme de cisaillement-diffusion. Dans le cas de revenus anisothermes, la coexistence de plusieurs carbures a été confirmée: silico-carbure (g) orthorhombique, carbure fe-c-si-mn monoclinique et carbure fe7c3 orthorhombique. Ces carbures se transforment en cémentite puis coalescent. Cette transition des carbures est de type séparé

A typical approach to the synthesis/design optimization of energy systems is to only use steady state operation and high efficiency (or low total life cycle cost) at full load as the basis for the synthesis/design. Transient operation as reflected by changes in power demand, shut-down, and start-up are left as secondary tasks to be solved by system and control engineers once the synthesis/design is fixed. However, transient regimes may happen quite often and the system response to them is a critical factor in determining the systemâ s feasibility. Therefore, it is important to consider the system dynamics in the creative process of developing the system. A decomposition approach for dynamic optimization developed and applied to the synthesis/design and operation/control optimization of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) based auxiliary power unit (APU) is the focus of this doctoral work. Called DILGO (Dynamic Iterative Local-Global Optimization), this approach allows for the decomposed optimization of the individual units (components, sub-systems or disciplines), while taking into account the intermediate products and feedbacks which couple all of the units which make up the overall system. The approach was developed to support and enhance current engineering synthesis/design practices by making possible dynamic modular concurrent system optimization. In addition, this approach produces improvements in the initial synthesis/design state at all stages of the process and allows any level of complexity in the unitâ s modeling. DILGO uses dynamic shadow price rates as a basis for measuring the interaction level between units. The dynamic shadow price rate is a representation of the unitâ s cost rate variation with respect to variations in the unitâ s coupling functions. The global convergence properties of DILGO are seen to be dependent on the mathematical behavior of the dynamic shadow price rate. The method converges to a â globalâ (system-level) optimum provided the dynamic shadow price rates are approximately constant or at least monotonic. This is likely to be the case in energy systems where the coupling functions, which represent intermediate products and feedbacks, tend to have a monotonic behavior with respect to the unitâ s local contribution to the systemâ s overall objective function. Finally, DILGO is a physical decomposition used to solve system-level as well as unit-level optimization problems. The total system considered here is decomposed into three sub-systems as follows: stack sub-system (SS), fuel processing sub-system (FPS), and the work and air recovery sub-system (WRAS). Mixed discrete, continuous, and dynamic operational decision variables are considered. Detailed thermodynamic, kinetic, geometric, physical, and cost models for the dynamic system are formulated and implemented. All of the sub-systems are modeled using advanced state-of-the-art tools. DILGO is then applied to the dynamic synthesis/design and operation/control optimization of the SOFC based APU using the total life cycle cost as objective function. The entire problem has a total of 120 independent variables, some of which are integer valued and dynamic variables. The solution to the problem requires only 6 DILGO iterations.
Ph. D.

Le contrôle de la production des particules de suies est aujourd'hui un enjeu industriel majeur en raison de leur impact néfaste tant sur le climat que sur la santé humaine et de leur forte contribution aux transferts radiatifs. Pour mieux comprendre et contrôler la production de ces polluants dans les foyers industriels, il est primordial d’améliorer nos connaissances à ce sujet dans un brûleur turbulent. L’objectif de cette thèse est donc de mettre en place des diagnostics optiques pour l’étude des flammes suitées turbulentes et pour caractérise la production de suies dans une nouvelle configuration de combustion prémélangée,confinée, swirlée turbulente académique tout en se rapprochant des configurations industrielles. Une première configuration expérimentale laminaire est donc considérée afin de valider la mise en place de la technique d’Incandescence Induite par Laser (LII) pour mesurer la fraction volumique de suies fv. Il s’agit d’un brûleur conçu à l’université de Yale qui permet la stabilisation d’une flamme laminaire de diffusion éthylène/air. Ce brûleur a été largement étudié dans la littérature nous permettant ainsi de comparer nos mesures aux résultats de différentes équipes internationales. La calibration du signal LII avec la technique MAE (Modulated Absorption Emission) a été effectuée via une collaboration avec l’UPMC, permettant de mesurer quantitativement fv et de comparer les techniques MAE et LII. Le brûleur a ensuite été équipé d’un haut-parleur afin de moduler l’écoulement et de pouvoir étudier les effets d’une perturbation contrôlée sur la production de suies, se rapprochant ainsi des phénomènes instationnaires caractéristiques des écoulements turbulents. Enfin, les effets d’élargissement de la nappe laser sur les résultats de la LII sont examinés afin de pouvoir appliquer ce diagnostic optique dans une configuration turbulente innovante caractérisée par de grandes dimensions. Ce brûleur (EM2Soot) a été développé pour mesurer la production de suies dans une flamme turbulente swirlée riche confinée prémélangée. Il permet de quantifier indépendamment les effets de la richesse, de la puissance et de l’environnement thermique sur la production de suies. Un point de fonctionnement représentatif a alors été étudié et, en parallèle avec la LII, les techniques de vélocimétrie par images de particules (PIV), et de mesure de température des parois par phosphorescence induite par laser (LIP) ont été employées afin de caractériser l’effet de la turbulence sur la production des suies et d’établir une base de données pour la validation de futures simulations numériques. Enfin, la géométrie du brûleur a été modifiée permettant une stabilisation différente de la flamme (en forme d’un V). Un nouveau point de fonctionnement a alors été étudié afin de mettre en évidence le rôle de la géométrie de l’injecteur sur la stabilisation de la flamme et, par conséquent, la production totale de suies
The control of soot particles production represents today a major industrial issue because of their harmful impact on both the climate and the human health and their strong contribution to the radiative transfers. To better understand and control the production of these polluting emissions, it is essential to improve our knowledge on this subject in a turbulent burner. The objective of this Ph.D. is to set up optical diagnostics for the study of turbulent flames and to experimentally characterize soot production in a new academic turbulent premixed combustion configuration while approaching industrial configurations, generally confined and swirled flows. For this, a laminar experimental configuration is first considered to validate the implementation of the Laser Induced Incandescence (LII) technique to measure the soot volume fraction fv. This burner designed at Yale University allows the stabilization of a laminar ethylene/air diffusion flame. This burner has been widely studied in the literature, so that it is possible to compare the quality of our measurements with the results of different international teams. Through collaborations with the UPMC, we calibrated the LII signal with the MAE (Modulated Absorption Emission) technique, making it possible to quantitatively measure fv and to compare the MAE and LII techniques. Finally, the burner was equipped with a loudspeaker to modulate the flow and to study the effects of a controlled perturbation on the soot production, thus approaching the unsteady phenomena characteristics of turbulent flows. Finally, the effects of the enlargement of the laser sheet on LII results were also investigated in order to be able to apply this diagnostic technique in an innovative large turbulent configuration. This experimental configuration, called EM2Soot, was developed to measure the production of soot in a turbulent swirled rich confined premixed ethylene/air flame. This burner makes it possible to independently quantify the effects of the equivalence ratio, the total flame power and the thermal environment on the total soot production. A representative operating point was then characterized, in parallel with LII measurements, Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Laser Induced Phosphorescence (LIP) techniques have been employed in order to characterize the effect of the turbulence on soot production and to establish a database for the validation of future numerical simulations. Finally, the geometry of the burner has been modified allowing a different stabilization of the flame (V flame shape). A new operating point is then studied in order to highlight the role of the injector geometry on the stabilization of the flame and, consequently, on the total soot production

Cette Thèse s'inscrit au coeur d'un programme de recherche visant, entre autres, l'évaluation de la relation d'attachement mère-enfant à travers divers programmes d'intervention avec des clientèles variées. "L'attachment Q-Sort" (version 3) de Waters (1995) a été utilisé aux fins de la formation au construit de l'attachement, ainsi que pour l'évaluation de la qualité de la relation parent-enfant. Étant donné que cet instrument Q-Sort s'inscrit dans une tradition de recherche distincte selon que l'on privilégie des approches quantitatives ou qualitatives, il y avait lieu d'explorer plus systématiquement la contribution de chacune quant au potentiel de discrimination des patrons relationnels d'attachement mère-enfant sur le plan de la comparaison intra- et intergroupe. Cette démarche analytique a été réalisée selon les paramètres de la démarche normative employée couramment dans les recherches rapportées dans la littérature sur l'attachement, en plus d'aborder le traitement statistique habituellement adopté par les tenants de la méthodologie Q (Stephenson, 1953). Les résultats obtenus démontrent qu'effectivement les scores critères de sécurité et de dépendance permettent de bien distinguer les quatre échantillons à l'étude, sélectionnés sur la base de conditions pouvant compromettre la qualité du lien d'attachement mère-enfant. Quant aux résultats des analyses Q, ils permettent de mettre en évidence des profils d'attachement plus variés et l'utilisation par les évaluatrices des items les plus probants dans la description de ces profils. Dans l'ensemble, les résultats normatifs distinguent quatre profils d'attachement mère-enfant et les résultats descriptifs issus des analyses Q permettent d'identifier 47 des 90 items, ayant davantage contribué à la description des profils obtenus aux analyses factorielles Q.

The accurate description of the turbulence chemistry interactions that can determine chemical conversion rates and flame stability in turbulent combustion modelling is a challenging research area. This thesis presents the development and implementation of a model for the treatment of fluctuations around the conditional mean (i.e., the auto-ignition and extinction phenomenon) of realistic turbulence-chemistry interactions in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. The wider objective is to apply the model to advanced combustion modelling and extend the present analysis to larger hydrocarbon fuels and particularly focus on the ability of the model to capture the effects of particulate formation such as soot. A comprehensive approach for modelling of turbulent combustion is developed in this work. A direct quadrature conditional moment closure (DQCMC) method for the treatment of realistic turbulence-chemistry interactions in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software is described. The method which is based on the direct quadrature method of moments (DQMOM) coupled with the Conditional Moment Closure (CMC) equations is in simplified form and easily implementable in existing CMC formulation for CFD code. The observed fluctuations of scalar dissipation around the conditional mean values are captured by the treatment of a set of mixing environments, each with its pre-defined weight. In the DQCMC method the resulting equations are similar to that of the first-order CMC, and the “diffusion in the mixture fraction space” term is strictly positive and no correction factors are used. Results have been presented for two mixing environments, where the resulting matrices of the DQCMC can be inverted analytically. Initially the DQCMC is tested for a simple hydrogen flame using a multi species chemical scheme containing nine species. The effects of the fluctuations around the conditional means are captured qualitatively and the predicted results are in very good agreement with observed trends from direct numerical simulations (DNS). To extend the analysis further and validate the model for larger hydrocarbon fuel, the simulations have been performed for n-heptane flame using detailed multi species chemical scheme containing 67 species. The hydrocarbon fuel showed improved results in comparison to the simple hydrogen flame. It suggests that higher hydrocarbons are more sensitive to local scalar dissipation rate and the fluctuations around the conditional means than the hydrogen. Finally, the DQCMC is coupled with a semi-empirical soot model to study the effects of particulate formation such as soot. The modelling results show to predict qualitatively the trends from DNS and are in very good agreement with available experimental data from a shock tube concerning ignition delays time. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the DQCMC approach is a promising framework for soot modelling.

Induction motors are widely used in industrial processes. The malfunction of a motor may not only lead to high repair costs, but also cause immense financial losses due to unexpected process downtime. Since thermal overload is one of the major root causes of stator winding insulation failure, an accurate and reliable monitoring of the stator winding temperature is crucial to increase the mean time to catastrophic motor breakdown, and to reduce the extraordinary financial losses due to unexpected process downtime. To provide a reliable thermal protection for induction motors fed by motor control devices, a dc signal-injection method is proposed for in-service induction motors fed by soft-starter and variable-frequency drives. The stator winding temperature can be monitored based on the estimated stator winding resistance using the dc model of induction motors. In addition, a cooling capability monitoring technique is proposed to monitor the cooling capability of induction motors and to warn the user for proactive inspection and maintenance in the case of cooling capability deterioration. The proposed cooling capability monitoring technique, combined with the proposed stator winding temperature monitoring technique, can provide a complete thermal protection for in-service induction motors fed by motor control devices. Aside from online thermal protection during a motor's normal operation, the thermal protection of de-energized motors is also essential to prolong a motor's lifetime. Moisture condensation is one of the major causes to motor degradation especially in high-humidity environments. To prevent moisture condensation, a non-intrusive motor heating technique is proposed by injecting currents into the motor stator winding using soft-starters. A motor's temperature can be kept above the ambient temperature due to the heat dissipation, so that the moisture condensation can be avoided. To sum up, active stator winding temperature estimation techniques for induction motors under both operating and de-energization conditions are proposed in this dissertation for both thermal protection and optimizing the operation of a motor system. The importance of these proposed techniques lies in their non-intrusive nature: only the existing hardware in a motor control device is required for implementation; a motor's normal operation is not interrupted.

Dans les années soixante-dix, les travaux sociologiques concernant les jeunes sont marques par l'importance accordée au thème du travail. La génération nouvelle était alors sensée développer à cet égard une attitude caractéristique de "refus" "résistance" voire "allergie". Dans la décennie suivante, c'est le travail qui marque la génération nouvelle en ce sens qu'elle est la victime privilégiée du chômage et de la précarité. Cette difficulté a-t-elle renforce le mouvement du travail ? Cela n'est pas confirmé par la recherche empirique exposée ici qui montre plutôt une sorte de "réhabilitation" du fait de travailler. N’ayant plus pour envers le loisir, la fête et la liberté, mais bien plutôt le chômage, la pauvreté et la dépendance, le travail parait, à présent, affecte d'un signe positif. Cette thèse étudie un échantillon de jeunes (19-25 ans) chômeurs ou travailleurs précaires. Elle décrit ensuite un petit échantillon de jeunes travailleurs peu qualifiés. Chaque population est d'abord considérée pour elle-même et l'on cherche à saisir ce qui en constitue la spécificité. Une comparaison est tentée ensuite qui met en lumière d'autres critères de différenciation entre ces jeunes et aboutit a proposer une typologie des modes contemporains d'intégration sociale des jeunes.