The potential for carbon capture and utilization (CCU) for the state of Kuwait

PhD ThesisCarbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) is a crucial enabling technology that supports delivery of the dual challenges of maintaining fossil fuels as a key energy source, whilst simultaneously dramatically reducing the associated CO2 emissions. This thesis aims to develop a realistic database of CO2 emission sources in the state of Kuwait. The research then investigates the potential of deploying CCU in Kuwait, currently one of the highest carbon emitting countries in the world. After identifying the major sectors responsible for CO2 emissions, both 'top-down' and 'bottom-up' approaches were used to aggregate data from these sectors. The Emission Factors (EFs) were acquired from open literature such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The analysis then explored the stakeholders’ inclinations towards CCU. Both qualitative and quantitative surveys methods were conducted in the form of focus group discussions and the Information- Choice Questionnaire (ICQ), respectively. The Kuwaiti power sector proved to be the predominant stationary source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (42%) due to high regional demand for electricity and water. The chemical industry ranked second in this analysis with a significant share of CO2 emissions (26%) which was attributed to heavy and energy intensive industries, and this was followed by road transportation (16%). The total process emissions were covered in this analysis for the first time which explains the variation between the real carbon footprint of Kuwait 98 Mt CO2/y and both the World Bank 91.03 Mt CO2/ y (WBR, 2006) and International Energy Agency 69.82 Mt CO2/ y (IEA, 2010b) with differences of 7.7% and 40%, respectively. The geographical distribution of CO2 emissions was analysed, showing that high emission facilities are clustered mainly in the southeast which is the predominant industrial area in the state. This distribution could potentially be favourable for the formation of a ‘capture cluster’ which could reduce the overall cost of carbon capture deployment as a route for a sustainable carbon mitigation practice. If the Kuwait government diversify its economy towards non-oil bases, the carbon footprint of the state will increase from 118 to 126 Mt/y. Overall, there was a positive attitude among all stakeholders, across a number of different sectors, regarding the potential of deploying CCU technology. However, some technical and economic barriers should first be addressed in each of the sector facilities since they are not designed to be retrofitted with carbon capture units. iii In general, limited flexibility in Kuwaiti facilities with regard to being retrofitted with CCU technologies, and the impact of this process on their efficiencies, represent the main technical obstacles in the State. In addition to the technical barriers of reusing the existing high-pressure natural gas infrastructure for CO2 transportation and managing the injecting process of CO2 into a deep saline aquifer. From an economic aspect, the economic burden of introducing this technology to various institutions in the country will vary significantly depending on the lifetime and operating conditions of the current facilities. Oxy-fuel combustion appears to be the most economically attractive technology with its cumulative cost equivalent to approximately one third of the cost of post-combustion. The key actions required to fully understand the potential of CCU in the state of Kuwait include developing new environmental regulations, extending the scope of the analysis to include techno-economic analyses, deployment of more pilot plants for CO2-EOR in the north of Kuwait, and carrying out field optimization studies for the saline aquifer reservoirs

An investigation into the acute effects of treatments created and developed from either date fruit or date seeds on the mood and cognitive performance of healthy young volunteers

Ph. D. ThesisThe first aim of this thesis was to assess and compare the effects of an acute dose of two varieties of mature unripe freeze-dried date fruit (Barhi and Khassab) on cognitive performance, mood, and blood glucose concentration. An acute randomised, doubleblind, placebo-controlled, crossover study with a week washout period between visits was conducted on thirty-five healthy young participants (18–35 years). Cognitive function was assessed using computerised tests for attention, working and episodic memory before and 45, 90 and 135 minutes after treatment. Participants consumed the equivalent of 115 g of fresh weight fruit, which differed in the total phenolics content. The vehicle was yoghurt (150 g per portion), and the placebo was yoghurt with added sugars matching the treatments for sugars. There were no significant differences in cognitive responses for the individual task outcomes (p = 00625), nor for the cognitive indices outcomes (p = 0.0017 after Bonferroni correction). Roasted date seed drink is a popular beverage in Arab countries, so the second aim of this thesis was to assess the acute effect of a “coffee-like beverage” made from commercial date seeds on mood and cognitive function. It was postulated that some potential benefits may be related to the content of phenolic compounds in the date seeds which were characterised using HPLC. A randomised, double-blind, placebocontrolled, crossover study was conducted on fifty-two healthy young participants. Cognitive function was assessed as in the first trial, that is, before and 45 and 90 minutes after treatment. The experimental date beverage was tested against a positive control “regular coffee” and a placebo. The trial was designed to have 85% power to detect an effect size of half the published effect of regular coffee. The vehicle was hot water (280 ml per cup), with the date beverage obtained from 45 g of roasted ground date seeds, the regular coffee from 6 g of roasted ground coffee, and the placebo was hot water with brown food colour matched to the treatments. There were no significant differences in cognitive effects among the three treatments, indicating not only that the date beverage did not affect cognitive function, but that the published effect of coffee also may not be consistently reproducibl

Decentralised, trustless marketplace for brokered IoT data trading

PhD ThesisTrading data as valuable assets has become a trend. The use of real-time data generated from IoT devices provides a new insight into how to conduct a profitable business. As data marketplaces are becoming ubiquitous, it is also becoming clear that IoT data hold value for potential third-party consumers. This work introduces a marketplace for IoT data streams that can unlock such potential value in a scalable way, by enabling any pairs of data providers and consumers to engage in data exchange transactions without any prior assumption of mutual trust. It investigates the use of the power of blockchain technology in automating data trade agreements in a decentralised architecture. We present a marketplace protocol to support trading of streaming data, from the advertising of data assets and the stipulation of legally binding trading agreements, to their fulfilment and payment settlement, and managing trade participants’ reputations. This work has two outcomes: a marketplace model and a reputation model. We present a decentralised, trustless marketplace for brokered IoT data trading, using Blockchain in Ethereum network that enables producers and consumers to start trading in the absence of trust; however, it is managed by a reputation model. Our marketplace is powered by a reputation system that is designed to address participants’ trust and the reputation management of these traders in this marketplace. We mathematically define the reputation model by applying a reputation function to the marketplace participants – either producers or consumers – to quantify their trustworthiness in trading, based on various criteria. We evaluate the marketplace functionalities and its reputation model by designing a marketplace simulator. It is designed to simulate participant trading in the marketplace and how reputations are quantified based on rules and criteria defined in the system protocol. It is configured to replicate the behaviour of multiple pairs of producers and consumers in different trading scenarios and show how reputations are measured in these different scenarios. We experimentally show the trade-off between a trade overhead cost and the level of participant trust. On Blockhain Ethereum Mainnet, our system evaluates the latency of transactions an Ethereum takes to process and confirm our marketplace transactions

a Extracellular processes in wastewater treatment

PhD ThesisOne of the limitations of low-temperature anaerobic treatment of domestic wastewater is poor lipid degradation. Even when psychrophiles are used as an inoculum, the lipids degrade relatively less than carbohydrates and proteins. The first step towards the rational engineering of lipolysis in any system is to identify the lipolytic bacteria. In this study the combination of metagenomics and metaproteomics is used to screen for potential and actual lipolytic bacteria and their extracellular lipases in anaerobic membrane bioreactors treating domestic wastewater at 4℃ and 15℃. The reactors were inoculated by psychrophilic biomass collected from the sediment and soils of Lake Geneva, Switzerland (annual temperature range -11 – 21 °C) and Svalbard, Norway (annual temperature range - 16 – 6 °C), respectively. The feed of the reactors was primary influent collected from an activated sludge plant. The bacterial psychrophilic community and their lipases at 4℃ and 15℃ were compared. Of the 40 recovered putative lipolytic metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs), only three (Chlorobium, Desulfobacter, and Mycolicibacterium) were common and abundant (relative abundance ≥ 1%) in all reactors. Notably, some MAGs that represented aerobic autotrophs (Nitrosomonas) contained lipases. Therefore, the lipases found may not always be associated with exogenous lipid degradation and may have other roles such as polyhydroxyalkanoates accumulation/degradation and interference with the outer membranes of other bacteria. Different protein classification tools were used for the putative lipase sequences identified by metagenomics to verify if they have potential lipolytic activity. None of the current tools, including InterProScan, could precisely assign lipolytic activity to these sequences. Enrichment of public databases by lipase sequences that have been experimentally tested can alleviate this problem. Metaproteomics did not provide sufficient proteome coverage for relatively lower abundant proteins such as lipases. The expression of fadL genes (long-chain fatty acid transporters) was confirmed for four genera (Dechloromonas, Azoarcus, Aeromonas and Sulfurimonas), but none of them was recovered as putative lipolytic MAGs. Metaproteomics also confirmed the presence of 15 relatively abundant (≥1%) genera in all reactors, of which at least 6 can potentially accumulate lipid/polyhydroxyalkanoates. For most putative lipolytic MAGs, there was no statistically significant correlation between the read abundance and ii reactor conditions such as temperature, phase (biofilm and bulk liquid), and feed type (treated by ultraviolet light or not). Reactor temperature had no statistical correlation with the length of the lipases either. Results obtained by metagenomics and metaproteomics did not confirm each other and further work is required to identify the true lipid degraders in these systems

A holistic study of the sustained impact of non-standard refined diesel fuel on the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Ph. D. ThesisThe non-standard refining of crude oil in the creeks of the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria has come to be a profitable business. The monetary benefits this brings to the refiners are obvious, nevertheless the host communities are relentlessly hit by their activities. This research investigates the sustained impact of the activities of the non-standard crude oil refiners on their host communities. The research will take a social study approach, with result from the social study fed into a scientific study, which will in turn be fed into an engineering study. This approach involves all stakeholders and makes for necessary feedback. The results revealed that farming areas and fishing routes have been impacted by the activities of the non-standard refiners. The usage of the non-standard refined diesel fuel oil was found to be damaging to engines contributing to huge expense in their maintenance. The physiochemical properties of the non-standard refined diesel fuel oil revealed that the pour point, flash point, and water content showed differences to ASTM designated standard D975. The Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed significant differences in the BTX concentration of the non-standard refined diesel fuel oils as compared to the control sample. The engine performance and emission analysis revealed high levels of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and carbon monoxide emissions from the non-standard refined diesel fuel oil coupled with high peak cylinder pressure. This study provides evidence-based recommendations that the government should do more to discourage the citizens from establishing non-standard refineries. It also suggests that government agencies like the military given the responsibility of destroying the non-standard refineries must do so in a sustainable manner. The National Orientation Agency must do more to enlighten the public on the dangers of establishing non-standard refineries and purchasing refined products from non-standard refineries.Niger Delta University, Linkages and Advancements and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund

Observing and Theorising the Learning of Songwriting through Autoethnography

Ph. D. ThesisThis thesis contributes to the growing body of work on popular music songwriting pedagogy by developing a theory of songwriting praxis, from the position of practitioner-as-researcher. The literature review draws primarily from scholarly material on creativity, and on popular music, which are discussed from within their respective domains to explore the scope of our current understanding of songwriting. I apply these works through the following thematic lenses: • Authorship • Imagined Audience • Style • Valuing in Songwriting The methodology proposes a Merleau-Pontian phenomenological ontology of songwriting as a lived experience. This process is then developed through autoethnographic and reflective practice applied across a data collection, observation, and interview participant selection. The five core chapters discuss the observation and theorisation, through the four lenses outlined above. In ‘Observations,’ autoethnographic reflections are presented as a naturally occurring narrative of developing a songwriting style. In the proceeding four chapters, these observations are then theorised in the context of the literature and triangulated with interviews from other songwriting practitioners. The theorising chapters are as follows: ‘Models of Authorship in Songwriting’, in which a model is constructed to depict the flow of authorship; ‘Identifying the Imagined Audience’, which describes how songs are written with an audience in mind using the songwriter’s ‘structuring knowledge’ – knowledge acquired from immersion in the domain, elsewhere referred to as Domain Acquired Knowledge; ‘Style and Voice’, balances the previous structuring knowledge with the songwriter’s creative agency; lastly, ‘Valuing in Songwriting’ focuses on how the previous concepts are applied in the context of the songwriter’s intentions. In the conclusion, the theories are contextualised within a systems model. The outcome is a critical lens through which to observe and theorise how songwriting is learned rather than an epistemology of how to write songs. It is hoped that this approach will contribute to the pedagogy of songwriting

Optimization of System Identification for Multi-Rail DC-DC Power Converters

Ph. D. Thesis.There have been many recursive algorithms investigated and introduced in real time parameter estimation of Switch Mode Power Converters (SMPCs) to improve estimation performance in terms of faster convergence speed, lower computational cost and higher estimation accuracy. These algorithms, including Dichotomous Coordinate Descent (DCD) - Recursive Least Square (RLS), Kalman Filter (KF) and Fast Affine Projection (FAP), etc., are commonly applied for performance comparison of system identification of single-rail power converters. When they need to be used in multi-rail architectures with a single centralized controller, the computational burden on the processor becomes significant. Typically, the computational effort is directly proportional to the number of converters/rails. This thesis presents an iterative decimation approach to significantly alleviate the computational burden of centralized controllers applying real-time recursive system identification algorithms in multirail power converters. The proposed approach uses a flexible and adjustable update rate rather than a fixed rate, as opposed to conventional adaptive filters. In addition, the step size/forgetting factors are varied, as well, corresponding to different iteration stages. As a result, reduced computational burden and faster model update can be achieved. Recursive algorithms, such as Recursive Least Square (RLS), Affine Projection (AP) and Kalman Filter (KF), contain two important updates per iteration cycle. Covariance Matrix Approximation (CMA) update and the Gradient Vector (GV) update. Usually, the computational effort of updating Covariance Matrix Approximation (CMA) requires greater computational effort than that of updating Gradient Vector (GV). Therefore, in circumstances where the sampled data in the regressor does not experience significant fluctuations, re-using the Covariance Matrix Approximation (CMA), calculated from the last iteration cycle for the current update can result in computational cost savings for real- time system identification. In this thesis, both iteration rate adjustment and Covariance Matrix Approximation (CMA) re-cycling are combined and applied to simultaneously identify the power converter model in a three-rail power conversion architecture. Besides, in multi-rail architectures, due to the high likelihood of the at-the-same-time need for real time system identification of more than one rail, it is necessary to prioritize each rail to guarantee rails with higher priority being identified first and avoid jam. In the thesis, a workflow, which comprises sequencing rails and allocating system identification task into selected rails, was proposed. The multi-respect workflow, featured of being dynamic, selectively pre-emptive, cost saving, is able to flexibly change ranks of each rail based on the application importance of rails and the severity of abrupt changes that rails are suffering to optimize waiting time and make-span of rails with higher priorities

Investigation into the effects of infrared,visible and ultraviolet wavelengths of the solar spectrum on human skin cell damage

PhD ThesisUltraviolet light is known to cause skin damage and photoaging, and chronic exposure can lead to skin cancer. The effects of visible light and infrared light on the skin are less well understood, though some believe they contribute to oxidative stress and photoaging. Understanding the mechanisms of photodamage is important for the development of sunscreens to effectively prevent photodamage and maintain skin health. The objective of this study was to optimise experimental conditions for assaying the irradiation of visible and infrared light on human skin cells in vitro, and determining the effects of these wavelengths on reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and gene expression. Temperature control during infrared irradiations is critical to understanding the effect of light on chromophores rather than through heating. Without adequate temperature control, tissue culture plates could exceed 60°C, resulting in greater than 90% cell death. Careful consideration of medium conditions is crucial for ensuring results are not due to unexpected interactions of light with medium components. The presence of riboflavin, a component of almost all commercially available cell culture medium, reduced viability in cells irradiated with blue light by 45%. When adequately controlled, it was found that 2 hours of infrared at solar intensity or a 10- hour equivalent dose at 9 x peak solar intensity did not affect ROS as measured with flow cytometry, and RNA sequencing showed few changes to gene expression with less than 10 differentially expressed genes. A dose of visible light equivalent to one hour of peak solar visible light did not induce a ROS signal measurable after irradiation. However, it was found to affect extracellular matrix genes MMP1 and MMP3 to similar extents to a 2.16 standard erythemal dose of UV and induce ferritin expression where the UV dose did not, indicating a possible effect on photoaging and oxidative stress. In summary, this thesis demonstrates that infrared light has little effect through absorption of chromophores, but visible light may affect fibroblast extracellular matrix regulation and iron homeostasis.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and CROD

Methodology for managing shipbuilding projectby integrated optimality

PhD ThesisSmall to medium shipyards in developing shipbuilding countries face a persistent challenge to contain project cost and deadline due mainly to the ongoing development in facility and assorted product types. A methodology has been proposed to optimize project activities at the global level of project planning based on strength of dependencies between activities and subsequent production units at the local level. To achieve an optimal performance for enhanced competitiveness, both the global and local level of shipbuilding processes must be addressed. This integrated optimization model first uses Dependency Structure Matrix (DSM) to derive an optimal sequence of project activities based on Triangularization algorithm. Once optimality of project activities in the global level is realized then further optimization is applied to the local levels, which are the corresponding production processes of already optimized project activities. A robust optimization tool, Response Surface Method (RSM), is applied to ascertain optimum setting of various factors and resources at the production activities. Data from a South Asian shipyard has been applied to validate the fitness of the proposed method. Project data and computer simulated data are combined to carry out experiments according to the suggested layout of Design of Experiments (DOE). With the application of this model, it is possible to study the bottleneck dynamics of the production process. An optimum output of the yard, thus, may be achieved by the integrated optimization of project activities and corresponding production processes with respect to resource allocation. Therefore, this research may have a useful significance towards the improvement in shipbuilding project management

Mechanistic modelling of microscale chromatography

Ph. D. Thesis.Microscale chromatography as an experimental tool has shown much utility in process development due to reduced material consumption and ease of parallelisation which are of major benefit when compared to conventional lab-scale studies. Microscale columns are commonly used in early process development where the most impactful decisions, such as choice of unit operation, purification strategy, resin, and the choice of candidate are made with limited resources and knowledge. Understanding the behaviour of microscale chromatography and better applying the knowledge gained from microscale studies to large scale chromatography may allow faster, more efficient and more robust early process development, and therefore more effective processes once a bioprocess is fully developed and products commercialised. It is the overall aim of the project to develop a model to determine large scale mass transfer parameters describing a lab-scale chromatographic process from microscale data, and allow one to simulate and optimise large scale separations whilst enjoying the benefits of reduced resource consumption of the microscale domain. From the outset, characterisation ofthe differences between lab-scale columns operated on a conventional Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography (FPLC) system and microscale columns on a robotic Liquid Handling System (LHS) was performed. Determining the common metrics of column performance, HETP, asymmetry and experimentto-experiment or column-to-column variation between columns and experiments provides an understanding of some of the key differences between lab-scale and microscale column formats with regards to system, scale and data quality, as well as providing an opportunity to optimise the experimental design of microscale experiments. This was performed through evaluating methods of improving resolution, including fashioning rigs to use microscale columns on a conventional system, evaluating various tracer substances and evaluating a novel strategy of pre-filling collection plates. Investigations into ascertaining the dynamic binding capacity (DBC) of IgG to Protein A resin using microscale data has been performed with 3 microscale column volumes at several residence times using the high throughput system, and repeated at lab scale, with further work into understanding the effect of intermittent flow on resin: target interaction by mimicking the microscale operation on a larger system. This effort has led towards data used to calibrate a mechanistic model of chromatography at both lab scale and microscale with the intention of predicting lab scale behaviour. By correcting for scale, operational and flow effects, one may predict large scale performance through calibrating a model with microscale data, enabling better process understanding with reduced material consumption.EPSR