Performance Analysis of Solar Walls in Minnesota: Final Project Report

A study of unglazed transpired solar collectors (referred to as solar walls for this report), has been undertaken. Several installations in the Twin Cities, MN region have been identified, researched, and studied. A combination of weather stations, data logging systems, and building energy management systems were used to collect experimental data on four buildings. Performance calculations were then performed for these buildings and compared with various performance/modeling tools

Efecto de la aplicación foliar de selenio y zinc para aumentar los rendimientos cuantitativos y cualitativos de colza en diferentes fechas de siembra

The sowing date is an important factor for expanding the cultivated area of rapeseed and affects seed yield, oil content, and fatty acid compounds. Micronutrient elements play an important role in improving the vegetative and reproductive growth of the plant, especially under conditions of biological and environmental stresses. A two-year experiment (2014-2016) was performed to study the response of rapeseed genotypes to foliar application of micronutrients on different sowing dates. The treatments were arranged as a factorial-split plot in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Three sowing dates of 7 (well-timed sowing date), 17, and 27 (delayed sowing dates) October and two levels of foliar application with pure water (control), selenium (1.5%), zinc (1.5%), and selenium+zinc (1.5%) were factorial in the main plots and five genotypes of SW102, Ahmadi, GKH2624, GK-Gabriella, and Okapi were randomized in the subplots (a total of 30 treatments). Seed yield, oil yield and content, oleic acid, and linoleic acid were reduced when rapeseeds were cultivated on 17 and 27 October, while the contents in palmitic, linolenic, and erucic acids, and glucosinolate increased (p < 0.01). a selenium+zinc treatment improved seed yield, oil content and yield (p < 0.01). The oil quality increased due to increased contents of oleic and linoleic acids under the selenium+zinc treatment (p < 0.01). The GK-Gabriella and GKH2624 genotypes are recommended to be sown on well-timed (7 October) and delayed sowing dates (17 and 27 October) and treated with selenium+zinc due to the higher oil yield, linoleic and oleic acids.La fecha de siembra es un factor importante para expandir el área cultivada de colza que afecta el rendimiento de la semilla, el contenido de aceite y la composición en ácidos grasos. Los micronutrientes juegan un papel importante en la mejora del crecimiento vegetativo y reproductivo de la planta, especialmente en condiciones de estrés biológico y ambiental. Se realizó un experimento de dos años (2014-2016) para estudiar la respuesta de los genotipos de colza a la aplicación foliar de micronutrientes en diferentes fechas de siembra. Los tratamientos se organizaron como una parcela dividida factorial en un diseño de bloques completos al azar con tres repeticiones. Tres fechas de siembra del 7 (fecha de siembra en el momento oportuno), 17 y 27 (fechas de siembra retrasadas) de octubre y dos niveles de aplicación foliar con agua pura (control), selenio (1,5%), zinc (1,5%) y selenio + zinc (1.5%) fueron factoriales en las parcelas principales y cinco genotipos de SW102, Ahmadi, GKH2624, GK-Gabriella y Okapi fueron aleatorizados en las subparcelas (un total de 30 tratamientos). El rendimiento de semilla, el contenido y rendimiento de aceite, los ácidos grasos oleico y linoleico se redujeron cuando se cultivaron semillas de colza los días 17 y 27 de octubre, mientras que los contenidos de los ácidos grasos palmítico, linolénico y erúcico y glucosinolato aumentaron (p <0,01). El tratamiento con selenio + zinc mejoró el rendimiento de semillas, el contenido de aceite y el rendimiento (p <0,01). La calidad del aceite aumentó debido al mayor contenido de ácidos oleico y linoleico bajo tratamiento con selenio + zinc (p <0.01). Se recomiendan los genotipos GK-Gabriella y GKH2624 sembrados en fechas oportunas (7 de octubre) y tardía (17 y 27 de octubre) y tratados con selenio + zinc, respectivamente, debido al mayor rendimiento de aceite y contenido de los ácidos linoleico y oleico

Impact of nanosized titanium dioxide on agronomical and physiological characteristics of annual medic (Medicago scutellata L.)

In order to investigate the effect of exogenous application of nano- TiO2 on annual medic, a field study was conducted in a factorial design based on randomized complete blocks with four replications. The experimental treatments included six concentrations of nano-TiO2 (Control, 0.01%, 0.02%, 0.03%, 0.04%, 0.06% g/l) and spraying at two growing stages (pod stage and 10% flowering stage). Results showed that the effects of nano- TiO2 and spraying times on dry forage yield were significant (p<0.01). Nano-TiO2 spray appear to influence the malone dialdehyde (MDA) content (p<0.01). With increasing concentrations of nano-TiO2 the values of aforementioned measured variable significantly decreased. The activities of antioxidant enzymes, including catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) were affected by nanoparticle (p<0.01) and spraying times (p<0.01), as well as their interactive effect of two mentioned factors were significant in terms of guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) (p<0.01) activity and dry forage yield. Among different concentrations of nano- TiO2, 0.04% and 0.06% have the best effect on all traits. Totally, treatment with nano- TiO2 were more effective in the pod stage, compared to 10% flowering stage

Optimization of an Active Electrokinetic Micromixer Based on the Number and Arrangement of Microelectrodes

This paper reports enhancement of mixing process via electroosmotic phenomenon using a microelectrode system, which is structured by aligning a number of electrodes placed on the walls of a mixing chamber integrated within a T-Shape micromixer. A number of electrodes are dispositioned on the inner and outer loops of the annular mixing chamber, and different design patterns based on a variety of arrangements for these electrodes are investigated using numerical methods. The electric potentials on the microelectrodes are time-dependent, and this is found to be a key element for chaotic mixing. Also, it is deduced that due to the impact of the applied AC electric field and the induced surface charge on the fluid particles, a number of vortices are generated in the aqueous solution. These vortices significantly enhance the mixing of the species in the mixing chamber. In order to find an optimum pattern based on electrode dispositioning and the number of electrodes, effects of the geometric configuration of the microelectrodes are analyzed and the mixing effects for different design patterns are investigated via comparing the associated flow structure, concentration transport mechanism, and the mixing performance. Analyzing different designs, an optimum pattern based on the electrode arrangement and the number of electrodes is found to be the case for which the electrodes are placed on the inner and outer loops of the mixing chamber in a cross-like pattern

Structural Identification of an 18-Story RC Building in Nepal Using Post-Earthquake Ambient Vibration and Lidar Data

Few studies have been conducted to systematically assess post-earthquake condition of structures using vibration measurements. This paper presents system identification and finite element (FE) modeling of an 18-story apartment building that was damaged during the 2015 Gorkha earthquake and its aftershocks in Nepal. In June 2015, a few months after the earthquake, the authors visited the building and recorded the building’s ambient acceleration response. The recorded data are analyzed, and the modal parameters of the structure are identified using an output-only system identification method. A linear FE model of the building is also developed to estimate numerically its dynamic properties. The identified modal parameters are compared to those of the model to identify possible shortcomings of the modeling and identification approaches. The identified natural frequencies and mode shapes for two of the three closely spaced vibration modes in the lower frequency range of interest (0.2–1.0 Hz) are in good agreement with the numerical model. The model is used to estimate the response of the building to the nearby recorded ground motion due to earthquake and the main aftershock. The maximum drift ratios are compared to the observed damage in the building and surface defects detected and quantified by the lidar scans as the research team performed a series of light detection and ranging (lidar) scans from interior of selected floors to document the damage patterns along the height of the building

A mathematical model of melt lake development on an ice shelf

The accumulation of surface meltwater on ice shelves can lead to the formation of melt lakes. Melt lakes have been implicated in ice shelf collapse; Antarctica's Larsen B Ice Shelf was observed to have a large amount of surface melt lakes present preceding its collapse in 2002. Such collapse can affect ocean circulation and temperature, cause habitat loss and contribute to sea level rise through the acceleration of tributary glaciers. We present a mathematical model of a surface melt lake on an idealised ice shelf. The model incorporates a calculation of the ice shelf surface energy balance, heat transfer through the firn, the production and percolation of meltwater into the firn, the formation of ice lenses and the development and refreezing of surface melt lakes. The model is applied to the Larsen C Ice Shelf, where melt lakes have been observed. This region has warmed several times the global average over the last century and the Larsen C firn layer could become saturated with meltwater by the end of the century. When forced with weather station data, our model produces surface melting, meltwater accumulation, and melt lake development consistent with observations. We examine the sensitivity of lake formation to uncertain parameters, and provide evidence of the importance of processes such as lateral meltwater transport. We conclude that melt lakes impact surface melt and firn density and warrant inclusion in dynamic-thermodynamic models of ice shelf evolution within climate models, of which our model could form the basis for the thermodynamic component

A time-varying inertia pendulum: Analytical modelling and experimental identification

In this paper two of the main sources of non-stationary dynamics, namely the time-variability and the presence of nonlinearity, are analysed through the analytical and experimental study of a time-varying inertia pendulum. The pendulum undergoes large swinging amplitudes, so that its equation of motion is definitely nonlinear, and hence becomes a nonlinear time-varying system. The analysis is carried out through two subspace-based techniques for the identification of both the linear time-varying system and the nonlinear system. The flexural and the nonlinear swinging motions of the pendulum are uncoupled and are considered separately: for each of them an analytical model is built for comparisons and the identification procedures are developed. The results demonstrate that a good agreement between the predicted and the identified frequencies can be achieved, for both the considered motions. In particular, the estimates of the swinging frequency are very accurate for the entire domain of possible configurations, in terms of swinging amplitude and mass positio