Faculty of Engineering

Robust torque ripple mitigation of a line-start PMSM by means of the Taguchi method

Sorgdrager, A.J.; Grobler, A.J.; Wang, R.-J. (IEEE, 2019)

—In this paper, a robust design framework is proposed to mitigate torque ripple for line-start permanent magnet synchronous machines (LS-PMSM) by using the Taguchi method. The framework is intended for fine-tuning initial ...

CREAK descriptor evaluation for visual odometry

Smulders, Dehan; Uren, Kenneth; Van Schoor, George; Van Daalen, Corné; Engelbrecht, Japie (IEEE, 2019)

Each year, latest state of the art technologies and algorithms arise that claim and prove to-shine their predecessors. One such algorithm is the Colour-based Retina Key-point (CREAK) descriptor, which is based on the FAST ...

Towards an unsupervised morphological segmenter for isiXhosa

Mzamo, Lulamile; Helberg, Albert; Bosch, Sonja (IEEE, 2019)

In this paper, branching entropy techniques and isiXhosa language heuristics are adapted to develop unsupervised morphological segmenters for isiXhosa. An overview of isiXhosa segmentation issues is given, followed by ...

Dynamic load-shedding for enhancement of power system stability for the Lesotho 132 kV transmission network

Raphoolo, Ikaneng Victor; De Kock, Jan A. (IEEE, 2019)

The transient and dynamic stability are key elements that a system should satisfy to achieve stable system operation [1]. Fault type and location determine the impact that each fault puts on the system and whether power ...

Cathodic protection system design framework

Diedericks, Dewald E.; Van Schoor, George; Ranft, Eugén O. (IEEE, 2019)

The aim of this article is to establish a cathodic protection (CP) system design framework for the petrochemical industry in South Africa. The CP system design framework is destined to be used as a guideline when designing ...

Comparative study of steam vs hot water as primary heat transfer medium for a laboratory scale two-tank heated system

Oberholzer, P.Z.; Uren, K.R.; Van Schoor, G.; Van Niekerk, W. (IEEE, 2019)

The need exists for a benchmark multi-domain practical system that could emulate typical process faults for the purposes of condition monitoring. A proposition was made to develop a heated two-tank system, due to its ...

A review on heat and mass integration techniques for energy and material minimization during CO2 capture

Yoro, Kelvin O.; Sekoai, Patrick T.; Isafiade, Adeniyi J.; Daramola, Michael O. (Springer, 2019)

One major challenge confronting absorptive CO2 capture is its high energy requirement, especially during stripping and sorbent regeneration. To proffer solution to this challenge, heat and mass integration which has been ...

The prospect of hydrogen storage using liquid organic hydrogen carriers

Modisha, Phillimon M.; Ouma, Cecil N.M.; Garidzirai, Rudaviro; Bessarabov, Dmitri; Wasserscheid, Peter (ACS, 2019)

Reducing CO2 emissions is an urgent global priority. The enforcement of a CO2 tax, stringent regulations, and investment in renewables are some of the mitigation strategies currently in place. For a smooth transition to ...

The carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen high-pressure sorption properties of South African bituminous coals

Okolo, Gregory N.; Everson, Raymond C.; Neomagus, Hein W.J.P.; Bunt, John R.; Sakurovs, Richard (Elsevier, 2019)

In this paper, we report the CO2, CH4 and N2 sorption isotherms of four dry South African bituminous coals at pressures up to 16 MPa at 55 °C. The sorption capacities of the samples with respect to the adsorbate gases ...

Axial-flux PM disk generator with magnetic gear for oceanic wave energy harvesting

Dobzhanskyi, O.; Gouws, R.; Hossain, E.; Amiri, E.; Grebenikov, V. (IEEE, 2019)

Magnetic gears (MGs) offer many advantages over mechanical ones due to their contactless mechanism of torque transfer. With the flourish of this new avenue of research, a new breed of MGs has been designed that are well ...

The merits of exergy-based fault detection in petrochemical processes

Marais, Henri; Van Schoor, George; Uren, Kenneth R. (Elsevier, 2019)

The complexity and multi-domain nature of petrochemical (PC) plants make the application of conventional model-based fault detection and isolation (FDI) techniques a challenging endeavour. Although hybrid FDI schemes aim ...

The South African perspective on the lean manufacturing Respect for People principles

Coetzee, Rojanette; Jonker, Cara; Van Dyk, Liezl; Van der Merwe, Karl (AOSIS, 2019)

Orientation: Many industries have adopted the popular continuous improvement (CI) approach, lean manufacturing, to facilitate CI initiatives. However, several studies have confirmed that the low success rate of lean ...

Test problems for the verification and validation of the radiation, conduction and convection capabilities of system codes

Du Toit, Charl G. Jat; Niemand, Peter F.; Tak, Nam-Il; Kim, Min-Hwan (ICHMT, 2017)

The purpose of the reactor cavity cooling system in a nuclear plant is to remove the heat released by the reactor pressure vessel effectively. The reactor cavity cooling system must be able to operate naturally or passively ...

Pt/C and Pt/SnOx/C catalysts for ethanol electrooxidation: rotating disk electrode study

Pushkarev, Artem S.; Du Preez, Stephanus P.; Dmitri, Bessarabov; Pushkareva, Irina V.; Ivanova, Natalia A. (MDPI, 2019)

Pt/C and Pt/SnOx/C catalysts were synthesized using the polyol method. Their structure, morphology and chemical composition were studied using a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray ...

Flocculant types and operating conditions influencing particles settling rates in feed water used at a coal power plant

Van der Linde, Johannes Cornelius; Fosso-Kankeu, Elvis; Waanders, Frans; Dreyer, Louise; Lemmer, Nico (Desalination Publications, 2019)

South Africa is a semi-arid country with an average rainfall less than half of the average rainfall worldwide. From the country limited water resource, 2%–3% of the water is used in energy generation. Thus the water ...

Kinetic evaluation of the hydroformylation of the post-metathesis product 7-tetradecene using a bulky phosphite-modified rhodium catalyst

Breckwoldt, Nicholas C.C.; Vosloo, Hermanus C.M.; Van der Gryp, Percy; Goosen, Neill J. (RSC, 2019)

The reaction engineering kinetics for the hydroformylation of the post-metathesis product 7-tetradecene using the bulky phosphite-modified rhodium catalyst Rh-tris(2,4-di-tertbutylphenyl)phosphite were evaluated. The ...