Simulation of a resonant inverter

Mostly developed since the Industrial Revolution, the automation of systems and equipment around us is responsible for a technological progress and economic growth without precedents, but also by a relentless energy dependence. Currently, fossil fuels still tend to come as the main energy source, even in developed countries, due to the ease in its extraction and the mastery of the technology needed for its use. However, the perception of its ending availability, as well as the environmental impact of this practice has led to a growing energy production originated from renewable sources. Easy maintenance, coupled with the fact that they are virtually inexhaustible, makes the solar and wind energy very promising solutions. In this context, this work proposes to facilitate energy production from these sources. To this end, in this work the power inverter is studied, which is an equipment responsible for converting DC power available by solar or wind power in traditional AC power. Then it is discussed and designed a new architecture which, in addition to achieve a high energy e - ciency, has also the ability to adapt to the type of conversion desired by the user, namely if he wants to sell electricity to the power grid, be independent of it or bet on a self consumption system. In order to achieve the promised energy e ciency, the projected inverter uses a resonant DC-DC converter, whose architecture signi cantly decreases the energy dissipated in the conversion, allowing a higher power density. The adaptability of the equipment is provided by an adaptive control algorithm, responsible for assessing its behavior on every iteration and making the necessary changes to achieve maximum stability throughout the process. To evaluate the functioning of the proposed architecture, a simulation is presented using the PLECS simulation software.

Canções de fogo: a apreensão de saberes através da performance da escuta no contexto da União do Vegetal

O ritual onde se utiliza a cocção conhecida por ayahuasca vem sendo ressignificado em contextos urbanos há mais de oito décadas, sobretudo após sua expansão iniciada pelos movimentos organizados. Essa experiência derivante dos povos da floresta amazônica, vem ultrapassando tanto fronteiras geográficas como culturais, sendo constantemente reinventada por diferentes agentes. Contemporaneamente, o fenômeno abarca indivíduos provenientes de várias partes do mundo incorporando legados doutrinários de mestres originários da América Latina. A linha doutrinária conhecida por União do Vegetal - UDV, na qual este trabalho se centra, vem ganhando espaço entre os circuitos europeus neo esotéricos. Atualmente o ritual é vivenciado por mais de 18 mil pessoas espalhadas pelo globo e tem como característica, após a ingestão da cocção, a utilização da música como uma das ferramentas mediadoras para a apreensão dos princípios doutrinários. Usualmente os mestres da UDV têm como característica a utilização de fonogramas de variadas categorias musicais que adquirem uma dimensão simbólica e funcional no momento do ritual. A comunidade estabelecida em Portugal - foco desta tese – e as comunidades digitais Musincante e Músicas do Alto, permitiram-me perceber, através do trabalho de campo e de observação participante, elementos constitutivos que abrangem toda a comunidade da UDV. O enfoque parte da perspectiva de observar essa doutrina como um lugar de conhecimento sistematizado e formal. No sentido de compreender os processos de construção desse saber, foi verificado o protagonismo do ato da escuta como elemento central para a apreensão da doutrina. Neste sentido, esta tese adota o conceito de performance da escuta como meio de explorar as formas como o indivíduo e o coletivo absorvem um saber doutrinário a partir da música e de como esta assume o papel de mediadora dos saberes transmitidos no contexto da UDV e de manutenção deste conhecimento num contexto extra ritual.

Radiative Behaviour of Gd2O3:Er/Yb nanoparticles under near infrared illumination

Upconverting nanoparticles have attracted much attention in science recently, specifically in view of medical and biological applications such as live imaging of cell temperatures or cancer treatment. The previously studied system of gadolinium oxide nanorods co-doped with erbium and ytterbium and decorated with different number densities of gold nanoparticles has been studied. So far, these particles have been proven as efficient nanothermometers in a temperature range from 300 up to 2000 K. In this work, a more detailed study on the morphological and radiative behaviour of these particles has been conducted. It was found that the laser power threshold for the onset of the black body radiation decreases strongly with the increase in the gold concentration. The temperature of the onset itself seems to remain approximately constant. The heating efficiency was determined to increase significantly with the gold concentration. The morphological study revealed that the temperature at the black body radiation threshold was not enough to induce any significant transformation in neither the nanorods nor the gold nanoparticles, as was expected from comparison with literature. However, significant changes in radiative properties and the morphology were detected for powders that underwent strong laser heating until the emission of brightly visible black body radiation.