Estudo e desenvolvimento de modelo de dispositivo controlado por temperatura no contexto de eficiência energética: potencial de aplicação para DSR-SF

Dissertação para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica Ramo de Energia

Potentially viable solar powered appliances cooling and distillation

Stand alone solar powered refrigeration and water desalination, two of the most popular and sought after applications of solar energy systems, have been selected as the topic of research for the works presented in this thesis. The water desalination system based on evaporation and condensation was found to be the most suitable one to be powered by solar energy. It has been established that highoutput fast-response solar heat collectors used to achieve high rates of evaporation and reliable solar powered cooling system for faster rates of condensation are the most important factors in achieving increased outputs in solar powered desalination systems. Comprehensive reviews of Solar powered cooling/refrigeration and also water desalination techniques have been presented. In view of the fact that the Institute of Technology, Sligo has a well-established long history of research and development in the production of state of the art high-efficiency fast-response evacuated solar heat collectors it was decided to use this know how in the work described in this thesis. For this reason achieving high rates of evaporation was not a problem. It was, therefore, the question of the solar powered refrigeration that was envisaged to be used in the solar powered desalination tofacilitate rapid condensation of the evaporated water that had to be addressed first. The principles of various solar powered refrigeration techniques have also been reviewed. The first step in work on solar powered refrigeration was to successfully modify a conventional refrigerator working on Platen-Munters design to be powered by highoutput fast-response evacuated solar heat collectors. In this work, which was the first ever successful attempt in the field, temperatures as low as —19°C were achieved in the icebox. A new approach in the use of photovoltaic technology to power a conventional domestic refrigerator was also attempted. This was done by modifying a conventional domestic refrigerator to be powered by photovoltaic panels in the most efficient way. In the system developed and successfully tested in this approach, the power demand has been reduced phenomenally and it is possible to achieve 48 hours of cooling power with exposure to just 7 hours of sunshine. The successful development of the first ever multi-cycle intermittent solar powered icemaker is without doubt the most exciting breakthrough in the work described in this thesis. Output of 74.3kg of ice per module with total exposure area of 2.88 m2, or 25.73kg per m2, per day is a major improvement in comparison to about 5-6kg of ice per m2 per day reported for all the single cycle intermittent systems. This system has then become the basis for the development of a new solar powered refrigeration system with even higher output, named the “composite” system described in this thesis. Another major breakthrough associated with the works described in this thesis is the successful development and testing of the high-output water desalination system. This system that uses a combination of the high-output fast-response evacuated solar heat collectors and the multi-cycle icemaker. The system is capable of producing a maximum of 141 litres of distilled water per day per module which has an exposure area of 3.24m2, or a production rate of 43.5 litres per m2 per day. Once again when this result is compared to the reported daily output of 5 litres of desalinated water per m per day the significance of this piece of work becomes apparent. In the presentation of many of the components and systems described in this thesis CAD parametric solid modelling has been used instead of photographs to illustrate them more clearly. The multi-cycle icemaker and the high-output desalination systems are the subject of two patent applications.

Performance comparativa entre R290/R600a (50:50) e R134a para drop-in em refrigerador doméstico

This research this based on the seminar on Use of Natural Fluids in Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Systems conducted in 2007 in Sao Paulo. The event was inserted in the National Plan for Elimination of CFCs, coordinated by the Ministry of Environment and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The objective of this research is analyze the performance of the hydrocarbons application as zeotropic mixtures in domestic refrigerator and validate the application of technical standards for pull down and cycling (on-off) tests to the mixture R290/R600a (50:50) in domestic refrigerator. It was first developed an computational analysis of R290/R600a (50:50) compared to R134a and other mass fractions of the hydrocarbons mixtures in the standard ASHRAE refrigeration cycle in order to compare the operational characteristics and thermodynamic properties of fluids based on the software REFPROP 6.0. The characteristics of the Lorenz cycle is presented as an application directed to zeotropic mixtures. Standardized pull down and cycling (on-off) tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of the hydrocarbons mixture R290/R600a (50:50) as a drop-in alternative to R134a in domestic refrigerator of 219 L. The results showed that the use of R290/R600a (50:50) with a charge of refrigerant reduced at 53% compared to R134a presents reduced energy performance than R134a. The COP obtained with hydrocarbon mixture was about 13% lower compared to R134a. Pull down times in the refrigerator compartments for fluids analyzed were quite close, having been found a 4,7% reduction in pull down time for the R290/R600a compared to R134a, in the freezer compartment. The data indicated a higher consumption of electric current from the refrigerator when operating with the R290/R600a. The values were higher than about 3% compared to R134a. The charge of 40 g of R290/R600a proved very low for the equipment analyzed

Coeficiente de operación de un sistema formado por un refrigerador doméstico acoplado a un acumulador de agua caliente para la recuperación de energía

An experimental apparatus containing a domestic refrigerator coupled to a vertical hot water storage tank was used for energy recovery. The original condenser of the refrigerator was maintained, but modified with a concentric tubes heat exchanger with countercurrent water and refrigerating gas flows. The coefficient of performance for the heat pump is calculated by the ratio of energy in the heat storage and the electric power consumed by the domestic refrigerator compressor. The results show that the increasing of hydrostatic pressure in the storage tank increases the water flow rate and the coefficient of performance. The proposed device also reduces the heat dissipation to the surroundings. This is more important in small confinements found in low-cost houses.

Simulação numérica da convecção natural no interior de um refrigerador doméstico

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Análise numérica de condensadores do tipo arame-sobre-tubo usados em refrigeradores domésticos

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Análise teórica e experimental do comportamento térmico e elétrico do refrigerador doméstico

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Levantamento de coeficientes de desempenho de armazenador térmico associado a refrigerador doméstico modificado

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Risk assessment to improve food safety along different food chains

The great challenges of today pose great pressure on the food chain to provide safe and nutritious food that meets regulations and consumer health standards. In this context, Risk Analysis is used to produce an estimate of the risks to human health and to identify and implement effective risk-control measures. The aims of this work were 1) describe how QRA is used to evaluate the risk for consumers health, 2) address the methodology to obtain models to apply in QMRA; 3) evaluate solutions to mitigate the risk. The application of a QCRA to the Italian milk industry enabled the assessment of Aflatoxin M1 exposure, impact on different population categories, and comparison of risk-mitigation strategies. The results highlighted the most sensitive population categories, and how more stringent sampling plans reduced risk. The application of a QMRA to Spanish fresh cheeses evidenced how the contamination of this product with Listeria monocytogenes may generate a risk for the consumers. Two risk-mitigation actions were evaluated, i.e. reducing shelf life and domestic refrigerator temperature, both resulting effective in reducing the risk of listeriosis. A description of the most applied protocols for data generation for predictive model development, was provided to increase transparency and reproducibility and to provide the means to better QMRA. The development of a linear regression model describing the fate of Salmonella spp. in Italian salami during the production process and HPP was described. Alkaline electrolyzed water was evaluated for its potential use to reduce microbial loads on working surfaces, with results showing its effectiveness. This work showed the relevance of QRA, of predictive microbiology, and of new technologies to ensure food safety on a more integrated way. Filling of data gaps, the development of better models and the inclusion of new risk-mitigation strategies may lead to improvements in the presented QRAs.

Refrigerator COP with thermal storage

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Morphological and functional characteristics of chilled semen obtained from domestic feline epididymides (Felis catus)

The objective of this study was to determine morphological and functional characteristics of semen retrieved from the feline epididymis before and after cooling. Sixteen adult male cats were orchiectomized. The distal portion of the epididymis and proximal part of the deferent ducts were dissected and squeezed to obtain their content. After centrifugation, the supernatant was removed, sperm were resuspended in a 0.9 mL Tris-fructose-citric acid extender containing 20% egg yolk, aliquoted into three 0.3 mL samples, placed in a refrigerator (4.8 degrees C) and cooled (0.5 degrees C/min). Semen evaluations were performed on four occassions: immediately after epididymal sperm retrieval (TO), and at 24 h (T-1), 48 h (T-2) and 72 h (T-3) after cooling. on each occasion, progressive motility, vigor and sperm morphology were determined. Mean motility and vigor decreased (P < 0.05) between each successive examination. Although the majority of sperm cell damage occurred within the first 24 h, there was a decrease (P < 0.05) in mean percentage of morphologically normal sperm between To and each evaluated time (T-1, T-2, T-3) after cooling, due to an increase in coiled and bent sperm tails. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effects of cooling on the fertilizing capacity of cat epididymal spermatozoa in assisted reproduction programs. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

INFLUENCE of THE EVAPORATOR POSITION IN STATIC DOMESTIC REFRIGERATORS

The temperature and velocity distributions of the air inside the cabinet of domestic refrigerators affect the quality of food products. If the consumer knows the location of warm and cold zones in the refrigerator, the products can be placed in the right zone. In addition, the knowledge of the thickness of thermal and hydrodynamic boundary layers near the evaporator and the other walls is also important. If the product is too close to the evaporator wall, freezing can occur, and if it is too close to warm walls, the products can be deteriorated. The aim of the present work is to develop a steady state computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for domestic refrigerators working on natural convection regime. The Finite Volume Methodology is chosen as numerical procedure for discretizing the governing equations. The SIMPLE-Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equations algorithm applied to a staggered mesh was used for solving the pressure-velocity coupling problem. The Power-Law scheme is employed as interpolation function for the convective-diffusive terms, and the TDMA-Tri-Diagonal Matrix Algorithm is used to solve the systems of algebraic equations. The model is applied to a commercial static refrigerator, where the cabinet is considered an empty three-dimensional rectangular cavity with one drawer at the bottom of the cabinet, but without shelves. In order to analyze the velocity and temperature fields of the air flow inside the cabinet the evaporator temperature, Te, was varied from -20 degrees C to 0 degrees C, and nine different evaporator positions are evaluated for evaporator temperature of -15 degrees C. The cooling capacity of the evaporator for the steady state regime is also computed for each case. One can conclude that the vertical positioning of the evaporator inside the cabinet plays an important role on the temperature distribution inside the cabinet.

Occurrence and molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium spp. isolated from domestic animals in a rural area surrounding Atlantic dry forest fragments in Teodoro Sampaio municipality, State of São Paulo, Brazil

The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of Cryptosporidium in domestic animals in rural properties surrounding rain forest fragments within the municipality of Teodoro Sampaio, southeastern Brazil. Conventional sucrose flotation method followed by molecular characterization of the parasites by sequencing PCR products amplified from SSU rRNA gene were used. Stool samples were collected from domestic animals raised as pets and livestock in all rural properties surrounding three forest fragments. Samples from cattle (197), equine (63), pigs (25), sheep (11), and dogs (28) were collected from 98 rural properties. The frequency of occurrence of Cryptosporidium within each animal species was 3.0% (6/197) among cattle and 10.7% (3/28) among dogs. Cryptosporidium was not detected in stool samples from equine, sheep, and pigs. All sequences obtained from the six samples of calves showed molecular identity with Cryptosporidium andersoni while all sequences from dog samples were similar to C. canis. The frequency of occurrence of Cryptosporidium in these domestic animal species was low. The absence of C. parvum in the present study suggests that the zoonotic cycle of cryptosporidiosis may not be relevant in the region studied. The presence of Cryptosporidium species seldom described in humans may be, otherwise, important for the wild fauna as these animals are a source of infection and dissemination of this protozoan to other animal species. The impact and magnitude of infection by C. andersoni in wild ruminants and C. canis in wild canids have to be assessed in future studies to better understand the actual importance of these species in this region.

Exposure of free-ranging wild carnivores, horses and domestic dogs to Leptospira spp in the northern Pantanal, Brazil

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease affecting most mammals and is distributed throughout the world. Several species of domestic and wild animals may act as reservoirs for this disease. The purpose of this study was to assess the exposure of free-ranging wild carnivores, horses and domestic dogs on a private reserve located in the northern Pantanal (Brazil) and the surrounding areas to Leptospira spp from 2002-2006, 75 free-ranging wild carnivores were captured in the Pantanal and serum samples were collected. In addition, samples from 103 domestic dogs and 23 horses in the region were collected. Serum samples were tested for the presence of Leptospira antibodies using the microscopic agglutination test. Thirty-two wild carnivores (42.7%) were considered positive with titres > 100, and 18 domestic dogs (17.5%) and 20 horses (74.1%) were also found to be positive. Our study showed that horses, dogs and several species of free-ranging wild carnivores have been exposed to Leptospira spp in the Pantanal, suggesting that the peculiar characteristics of this biome, such as high temperatures and an extended period of flooding, may favour bacterial persistence and transmission. In this region, wild carnivores and horses seem to be important hosts for the epidemiology of Leptospira species.

Molecular detection of Hepatozoon canis and Babesia canis vogeli in domestic dogs from Cuiabá, Brazil

The objective of this study was to report for the first time infection by Hepatozoon spp. and Babesia spp. in 10 dogs from the city of Cuiabá, State of Mato Grosso, central-western Brazil. A pair of primers that amplifies a 574 bp fragment of the 18S rRNA of Hepatozoon spp., and a pair of primers that amplifies a 551 bp fragment of the gene 18S rRNA for Babesia spp. were used. Six dogs were positive for Babesia spp., and 9 were positive for Hepatozoon spp. Co-infection of Babesia spp. and Hepatozoon spp. was seen in 5 dogs. Sequenced samples revealed 100% identity with B. canis vogeli, and H. canis. This is the first molecular detection of H. canis in domestic dogs from Cuiabá. Additionally, it is described for the first time the presence of B. canis vogeli circulating among dogs in Cuiabá.