CFD modeling of a fixed-bed biofilm reactor coupling hydrodynamics and biokinetics

Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Advanced Multiphysics Modeling of Solar Tower Receivers Using Object-oriented Software and High Performance Computing Platforms

AbstractThis paper presents an advanced methodology for the detailed modeling of the heat transfer and fluid dynamics phenomena in solar tower receivers. It has been carried out in the framework of a more ambitious enterprise which aims at modeling all the complex heat transfer and fluid dynamics phenomena present in central solar receivers. The global model is composed of 4 sub-models (heat conduction, two-phase flow, solar and thermal radiation and natural convection) which are described. Results of the numerical model obtained so far are also presented and discusse

El desarrollo de la competencia social y ciudadana en alumnado de educación secundaria con la metodología del aprendizaje-servicio

En la experiencia de innovación docente que aquí presentamos están implicadas tres instituciones: la Universitat Jaume I de Castellón y dos centros de la localidad de Betxí: el Instituto de Educación Secundaria (IES) y la Escuela Popular de Adultos (EPA). Desde la Universitat Jaume I profesorado especializado en la metodología del Aprendizaje Servicio preparó a docentes y alumnado del instituto, concretamente al grupo que participa de un PCPI (Programa de Cualificación Profesional Inicial) para desarrollar competencias sociales y ciudadanas, al mismo tiempo que se les formaba para aprender contenidos relacionados con la asignatura de Educación Física. El elemento motivador del aprendizaje era el poder aplicar los conocimientos aprendidos prestando un servicio a las mujeres, de edad comprendida entre 70-80 años, que realizaban el segundo curso del primer nivel en la EPA. Este colectivo presenta limitaciones en la movilidad articular y la fuerza. Los jóvenes debían indagar acerca de la temática en cuestión y de los destinatarios del programa y diseñar las sesiones que sería necesario aplicar a las alumnas adultas, durante cuatro meses. La fase de análisis y diseño se llevaba a cabo en horario lectivo, mientras que la intervención se realizaba en horario libre. Presentamos aquí los resultados satisfactorios que este tipo de metodología tiene para todos los participantes.Peer Reviewe

A New Coupled CFD/Neutron Kinetics System for High Fidelity Simulations of LWR Core Phenomena: Proof of Concept

The Institute for Neutron Physics and Reactor Technology (INR) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is investigating the application of the meso- and microscale analysis for the prediction of local safety parameters for light water reactors (LWR). By applying codes like CFD (computational fluid dynamics) and SP3 (simplified transport) reactor dynamics it is possible to describe the underlying phenomena in a more accurate manner than by the nodal/coarse 1D thermal hydraulic coupled codes. By coupling the transport (SP3) based neutron kinetics (NK) code DYN3D with NEPTUNE-CFD, within a parallel MPI-environment, the NHESDYN platform is created. The newly developed system will allow high fidelity simulations of LWR fuel assemblies and cores. In NHESDYN, a heat conduction solver, SYRTHES, is coupled to NEPTUNE-CFD. The driver module of NHESDYN controls the sequence of execution of the solvers as well as the communication between the solvers based on MPI. In this paper, the main features of NHESDYN are discussed and the proof of the concept is done by solving a single pin problem. The prediction capability of NHESDYN is demonstrated by a code-to-code comparison with the DYNSUB code. Finally, the future developments and validation efforts are highlighted

Design of the laboratory script by the students in chemistry practicals: Analysis of water

Comunicació presentada a INTED2018, 12th International Technology, Education and Development Conference. (March 5-7, 2018, Valencia, Spain).The laboratory practices during the Degree in Chemistry are currently designed so that the student must learn and execute a fully developed experimental protocol, previously written up by the professor, which contains all the information and requirements for the correct development of each laboratory session. Under these conditions, students do not need to take any initiative and, consequently, they do not put enough effort in reaching practical abilities with a well-based scientific criterion and do not try to think over the purpose of each lab operation, as well as the reason to use each material and/or each reagent. Thus, with the aim to promote a more active role of the students in their learning process and to improve their autonomy, a new laboratory practices design has been developed in this work, which follows methodologies on project-based cooperative learning: the students have been requested to elaborate themselves the laboratory script by pairs. With this innovative design, we pursue to involve the students in both elaboration and execution steps of the laboratory practicals, and then to increase their attention on them. Besides, the required bibliographic research would improve their knowledge about the studied topic and all aspects about the work at the laboratory. The practicals to-be-developed were related to the study of the physico-chemical quality of natural water, which has a high social relevance

Management of diversity in master classroom: an increasing challenge for science education in valencian universities

Comunicació presentada a INTED2018, 12th International Technology, Education and Development Conference. (March 5-7, 2018, Valencia, Spain).Currently, many foreign students study a Master degree at the Valencian Universities. We can find students, which have immigrated to Spain in the recent years, and then have partially or fully follow the Spanish curricula (High School and/or Grade), and others which have come specifically to study the Master, attracted by the reputation of the Universities and the job and way-of-life offered by the country, and then have achieved their Grade in their countries. This has increased the diversity of the students in the classrooms, related to the ethnic origin, mother language, study practices, background and integration in the society. The present work gives an overview on how students and teacher manage the heterogeneity and diversity in a Master classroom related to chemistry. The term “diversity” is first detailed prior to discussing explicit studies. Different aspects of diversity are stated. The personal experience of the foreign students to adapt to the Spanish courses and environment was investigated. The actions taken by the lecturer to take advantage of diversity and minimize its negative effects were examined. A comparison between the academic results obtained by international and national students is given. Finally, the attention will be focused on language, study practices and background, since these dimensions are frequently discussed in the Valencian context. The implications and opportunities that offer diversity for national but also for international science research are presented

An Innovative Project to Strengthen and Improve the Knowledge Acquisition in the Degree in Chemistry Using e-Learning Tools

Comunicació presentada a EDULEARN2018, 10th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (July 2-4, 2018, Palma, Mallorca, Spain).The subject "Chemistry II (QU910)" is taught at first academic year (second semester) of the Degree in Chemistry at the University Jaume I. Some of its specific and general competencies are selflearning and writing and oral communication, regarding the main chemical concepts: chemical reactions, elements of the periodic table and calculations of the concentrations of the formed products and the remaining reagents in acid/base, complex, precipitation and redox reactions. We have noticed that 65% of the students have not studied any chemistry subjects (or only one) in High School or Professional Training before undertaking the Degree in Chemistry. The present project aims firstly to help these students to overcome their lack of background, secondly to compare the academic results of the students with and without previous contact with chemistry and finally, to establish actions to solve this prejudicial situation. This objective was reached by the implementation of a zero course, a course including the basic content of chemistry taught in the last years of High School, the month before the beginning of the first academic year. After the first year, students having attended chemistry before university obtained only 0.75/10 points more than the others. The Virtual Classroom, the emails and tutorial played an important role in the achievement of this zero-course

Development of Conductivity Sensors for Multi-Phase Flow Local Measurements at the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and University Jaume I of Castellon (UJI)

[EN] This paper describes all the procedures and methods currently used at UPV (Universitat Politécnica de Valencia) and UJI (University Jaume I) for the development and use of sensors for multi-phase flow analysis in vertical pipes. This paper also describes the methods that we use to obtain the values of the two-phase flow magnitudes from the sensor signals and the validation and cross-verification methods developed to check the consistency of the results obtained for these magnitudes with the sensors. First, we provide information about the procedures used to build the multi-sensor conductivity probes and some of the tests performed with different materials to avoid sensor degradation issues. In addition, we provide information about the characteristics of the electric circuits that feed the sensors. Then the data acquisition of the conductivity probe, the signal conditioning and the data processing including the device that have been designed to automatize all the measurement process of moving the sensors inside the channels by means of stepper electric motors controlled by computer are shown in operation. Then, we explain the methods used for bubble identification and categorization. Finally, we describe the methodology used to obtain the two-phase flow information from the sensor signals. This includes the following items: void fraction, gas velocity, Sauter mean diameter and interfacial area concentration. The last part of this paper is devoted to the conductance probes developed for the annular flow analysis, which includes the analysis of the interfacial waves produced in annular flow and that requires a different type of sensorThe authors are indebted to the support received from MINECO for the project MODEXFLAT ENE2013-48565-C2-1-P and ENE2013-48565-C2-2-P.Muñoz-Cobo, JL.; Chiva, S.; Mendez, S.; Monrós, G.; Escrivá, A.; Cuadros-Orón, JL. (2017). Development of Conductivity Sensors for Multi-Phase Flow Local Measurements at the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and University Jaume I of Castellon (UJI). Sensors. 17(5):1-35. https://doi.org/10.3390/s17051077S13517

Modeling hydrodynamics and biochemical reactions in a Flat Plate Bioreactor

Modeling the complex interactions between biochemical reactions and hydrodynamics is the key to optimize biofiltration systems performance. In this work, biological kinetics expressions were implemented into Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model as transport equations, including convective and diffusive terms. Previously, activity within the biofilm of a flat plate bioreactor (FPB) was experimentally investigated measuring dissolved oxygen (DO) profiles by means of microsensors and under common operating conditions. Moreover, a mathematical model to describe mass transport and metabolic activity in the FPB was developed and their parameters were fitted from experimental results. Then, a CFD model, combining hydrodynamics and biochemical reactions, was developed and solved to simulate local transient flow and dynamic behaviors of biofilm growth and substrate (glucose) biodregradation in the FPB. The CFD simulation results were evaluated by studying hydrodynamics characterization in the FPB and comparing simulated DO profiles with experimental DO profiles within the biofilm section. The hydraulic behaviour corresponds to a laminar flow and simulated DO profiles illustrate a satisfactory agreement with experimental data for different biofilm densities. Glucose and oxygen biodegradation and biomass growth along the bioreactor were described using the CFD model.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Influences of synoptic situation and teleconnections on fog-water collection in the Mediterranean Iberian Peninsula, 2003-2012

Fog-water collection has been widely analysed for its quantification and potential uses; however, there are few studies assessing the synoptic conditions and largescale teleconnection patterns that affect its occurrence. Focusing on the Mediterranean Iberian Peninsula, this work aims to analyse the synoptic patterns, both at surface level and 850 hPa geopotential height, that most likely to favour fogwater collection, and to quantify the relationship between fog-water collection and the NAOi (North Atlantic Oscillation index), MOi (Mediterranean Oscillation index) as well as WeMOi (Western Mediterranean Oscillation index) teleconnection patterns. For this purpose, daily fog-water observations from a dense network of 23 fog-water collectors located along the Mediterranean Iberian Peninsula for 2003-2012 were analysed in relation to synoptic patterns and the threeteleconnection indices. The major findings are: (a) The most favourable synoptic patterns for fog-water collection are maritime advections carrying humidity from the Mediterranean basin, and cyclonic circulations, whereas anti-cyclonic situations generally led to large number of foggy days with low fog-collection rates. (b) In terms of winds at 850 hPa, the most favourable low-level flows for fogwater collection are associated with strong winds (>5.1 m s−1) from theMediterranean. Atlantic winds generally cause a greater number of fog days than Mediterranean winds, with less fog-water collection rates. (c) WeMOi has the greatest influence on fog-water collection, mainly during winter and spring months, with statistically significant negative relationships for most of the stations. MOi also shows a great influence, with a large number of statistically significant negative correlations, mainly during the same months as WeMOi. Lastly, NAOi presented the lowest and no significant negative correlations with fog-water collection