http://41.89.164.27:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/264 2026-04-07T21:55:58Z http://41.89.164.27:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/1743 IN SITU TECHNO-ENVIROECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF A ROOFTOP PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) BACKUP SYSTEM IN THE TROPICAL CLIMATE CHERUIYOT, WILKINS KOSGEI Solar PV generators are increasingly being deployed in the built environment as stand-alone or backup power systems to supply electricity either solely or during power outages respectively. Diesel generators (DGs) are applied routinely as standby power systems by many enterprises and institutions, especially in developing countries where power outages are real and frequent due to unstable national grids. The current pursuit of low-carbon and sustainable source of energy places photovoltaic (PV) power system in advantageous position as a substitute for a DG backup system. An existing off-grid 780 Wp PV system installed as a backup power supply in a learning institution in western part of Kenya was studied both experimentally and theoretically. Technical, economic and environmental analyses were carried out to determine its performance under the local outdoor conditions at the site for a period of one year in 2020. Irradiance estimation models were also validated by experimental data to determine appropriate model(s) for the site. Plane-of-array (POA) solar radiation was measured with solar cell sensor installed at the surface of PV modules and a charge controller/inverter unit with the capability to measure and log real time output current (I) and voltage (V) was used to generate I-V characteristic data. PVsyst software was used to simulate the PV system and generate optimized theoretical results for the site which were compared with experimental results. Available energy was determined as 3202.80 kWh/year, average array efficiency of 11.71%, FF of 0.66, array yield of 4.89 kWh/kW, reference yield of 5.51 kWh/kW, capacity factor as 19.8%, annual average performance ratio (PR) as 76.0%, and average array losses as 0.54 kWh/kW. Economic results for the PV system show that the payback time (PBT) is∼ 6.38 years, LCC of $3057.93, levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of0.045 $/kWh and operation and maintenance (O&M) is17.32 $/year. For the diesel generator (DG),PBT was 4.25 years and O&M was 262.80 $/year for a lifespan of 5 years and assuming that it operates 2 hours per day of blackouts, LCC of $7792.75 and LCOE of 0.324 $/kWh. Environmental results show that the total annual amount of CO2 emissions avoided when PV is used instead of DG power backup system was 5.84 tCO2/year giving an average cost parameter (penalty for CO2 generation) of $9.62. Simulation results gave the available energy as 3746.40 kWh/year, reference yield of 5.55 kWh/kW, array yield of 4.18 kWh/kW, array losses of 0.61 kWh/kW, capacity factor as 21.23%, FF as 0.68, PR as 73.6% and PV array efficiency of 13.19%. The average amount of CO2 emission avoided was 7.95 tCO2/year with annual environmental cost of $116.18. Angstrom-Prescott and Iqbal models were found to be the most accurate for the site having the lowest values of mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 8.5% and 8.9% and root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.252 and 0.302 respectively. In conclusion, technically, the low FF (<<1) indicate that the system is not operating at its optimum, which can be attributed to how the PV system was installed. The LCOE results show that PV power is cheaper by a factor of seven than that of the diesel generator, and the amount of CO2 avoided is at least 0.44 tCO2/month. The PV power presents net benefits over diesel power in all performance indices evaluated, and hence can be used as a reliable and affordable replacement for DG backup systems in tandem to the global quest to transition to clean and sustainable energy sources and attainment of the SDGs 7 and 13. 2022-07-01T00:00:00Z http://41.89.164.27:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/1590 INTEGRATION OF VCSEL WITH MODULATED RAMAN PUMP FOR DATA AND CLOCK TRANSMISSION IN OPTICAL COMMUNICATION OSIEMO, DOUGLAS MOMANYI The evolution of ultrafast optical technologies has led to the realization of low cost, low latency and high speed optical networks. Existing telecommunication infrastructure does not provide sufficient capacity to satisfy future demands in terms of extend of coverage, bandwidth and number of served customers. Fibre-optic technology for data transmission is subject to dynamic development fueled by the increasing demand for large bandwidth and reach extension. High capacity VCSELs are the most desired transmitters for data transmission but, they are limited to short distances. Since high powered Raman lasers are compatible with VCSELs, integration of the two unlocks the puzzle of enhanced data and RF clock signal distribution system. First, a 1550 nm VCSEL was directly modulated with 8.5 Gbps data to counter-propagate with modulated backward Raman pump carrying 8.5 Gbps data over a 50.7 km True Wave Reach fibre to realize enhanced full-duplex bidirectional data transmission system. We report error free data transmission with receiver sensitivity of -14.42 dBm, -14.38 dBm and -13.00 dBm for signal analysis with unmodulated backward Raman, modulated backward Raman pump analysis and signal analysis with modulated backward Raman respectively at BER threshold of 10-9. Secondly, unidirectional data transmission system was realized by employing modulated forward Raman pump instead of modulated backward Raman. Modulated Raman pump simultaneously amplifies the VCSEL channel and transmits data over the transmission link, therefore maximizing the network efficiency. Minimum receiver sensitivity of −14.38 dBm was attained for a transmission configuration with un-modulated forward Raman pump. Thirdly, performance of DFB laser on 2 GHz, 4 GHz and 6 GHz RF clock signal distribution was investigated. At 10 kHz offset frequency lowest phase noise of -119.93 dBc/Hz was recorded for 2 GHz signal. Fourthly, we realized a technique of exploiting forward and backward Raman pumping to both disseminate clock tones and amplify data signal simultaneously. 10 Gbps data from directly modulated VCSEL was coupled into a 50.7 km fibre to counter propagate with 4 GHz modulated Raman pump and repeated the same for forward pumping where the data co-propagated with 4 GHz clock. Amplified errorfree data transmission with minimum receiver sensitivity of -14.8 dBm for modulated forward Raman and distributed stable clock signal over 50.7 km True Wave Reach fibre was achieved. A maximum phase noise of -100.6 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset frequency was experimentally measured for 50.7 km fibre transmission with backward Raman pumping. Finally, long term stability measurement on RF clock signal was analyzed using Allan deviation for DFB laser. Allan deviation of 1.49e-12 /s and 1.63 e-12 /s was obtained for B2B and 24.69 km fibre respectively at 100 s averaging time for 2 GHz clock signal. The results show the suitability of VCSEL light source and Raman amplification for application in integrated optical transmission links. This work offers an integrated VCSEL-based transmission system which satisfy the requirements for the next generation optical fibre networks regarding long reach, enhancement, duplex data/clock dissemination with a single fibre upstream and downstream transmissions. 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z http://41.89.164.27:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/1584 FIELD DEPENDENCE OF THE PROPERTIES OF HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS MASINDE, FRED WEKESA High temperature superconductivity mechanism has remained an elusive concept for a long time. Field dependence of the properties of high temperature superconductors could be on the brink of solving this puzzle. This Study shows that there is a strong field dependence on the theory of high temperature superconductors (HTSCs). High temperature superconductors of transition temperature, 𝑇𝑐> 77 K (boiling point of liquid nitrogen) were studied. This research established that there are effects of applied magnetic field on a two dimensional square lattice, effective magnetic flux per plaquette and electric field on oscillating Cooper pairs parallel to copper oxide planes, and their effects on the thermodynamic properties of HTSCs. Second quantization formalism was used in determining the thermodynamic properties of HTSCs such as the energy gap and transition temperature. The effect of electric field E on an oscillating Cooper pair along the 𝐶𝑢𝑂2plane was found to give the value of Δ = 62.5 meV. The ratio (𝛼) of flux through the lattice cell to one flux quantum indicates that there is no Meissner expulsion of flux as the applied magnetic field H increases through the lattice cell. The value of 𝑇𝑐 at which superconductivity disappears was found to be 177K for YBCO/BSCCO systems. The lattice spacing a at 300Kwas 2.3Å. The value of 𝛼 was2.28 x 10−7 when 𝐻𝑐2 = 3.0 x 106G and a = 3Å.Studies on the effect of effective magnetic flux per plaquette Φ established that increase in values of Φ leads to increase in values of𝑇𝑐 and forΦ = 5.84𝐺/𝑚2, 𝑇𝑐 = 300K. 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z http://41.89.164.27:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/1583 NUCLEATION OF SUPERCONDUCTING VORTICES BY EXCITING ACOUSTIC STANDING WAVES IN A TYPE - II SUPERCONDUCTOR OGANDO, FELIX OCHIEN’G Superconductivity nucleation phenomenon in superconductors under an applied magnetic field close to the upper critical field HC3 has been studied by many authors. Physicists Saint-James and De Gennes were the first to study the surface nucleation phenomenon for a semi-infinite super-conductor occupying the half space and placed in an applied magnetic field which is parallel to the surface of the superconductor. When the applied magnetic field is spatially homogeneous and close to Hc3, a superconducting layer or sheath nucleates on a portion of the surface at which the applied field is tangential to the surface. In the case of non-homogeneous applied magnetic fields, interior nucleation may occur first when the applied field is decreased below the upper critical field. The research is interested in the rotational velocity of a magnitude that would generate a fictitious magnetic field that exceeds Hc1 (the upper limit of the magnetic field for type – I superconductors). The magnitude of Hcl is around 0.2 T. This requires that the angular velocity, ω be around 109 s-1 and it is not possible to experimentally attain such a high value for a mechanical rotation. However, such local rotations could be generated in a superconductor by high frequency ultrasound and we could study the possibility of the nucleation of a vortex by sound. A superconducting cylinder rotated at an angular velocity of ω about its symmetry axis develops a magnetic moment 𝐌. It is this possibility of the nucleation of a vortex by sound that has been theoretically studied in this thesis. For a vortex to enter a superconductor, the Gibb’s free energy of the system must be lowered. Calculations that showed how sound enters the problem were done and equations connecting the generated magnetic fields Bs, rotating cylinder thickness d, rotational angular velocity Ω, ultrasound angular velocity ω, amplitude Uo and wavelength λ, were derived. Calculations and analysis revealed the following major results; the rotating cylinder thickness d and the ultrasound wavelength λ are connected by the equation, d = 0.5 λ; to achieve high rotational angular velocities, Ω desired for the superconducting cylinder, its thickness d must be kept very small; the generated magnetic field and rotational angular velocity of the superconducting cylinders are connected by the equation, Bs = 6.82 x 10-3 Ω. These results imply that it is possible to generate values of fictitious magnetic fields Bs, of the order 103 T that exceed Hc1 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z http://41.89.164.27:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/1568 THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS BASED ON THE t-J-d MODEL RAPANDO, WAKHU BERNARD Many theories that attempt to describe the superconducting state have suffered significant failures, leaving the t-J model as the only model which effectively captures the physics of the strong correlations inherent in this problem. However, many aspects of this model are quite complex and the thermodynamic properties of the superconducting state need to be analyzed carefully. In this thesis, second quantization techniques involving Bogliubov Valatin transformation have been used to diagonalize the t-J model Hamiltonian so that the thermodynamic properties of high temperature superconductors can be studied. Formulae for ground state energy, , specific heat, , and entropy, , of high temperature superconductors have been derived in the framework of the t-J model. Additionally, the superconducting dipole Hamiltonian has been diagonalized and the sum of the t-J and dipole Hamiltonians obtained resulting in what is now referred to as the „t- J-d model‟. Transition temperature for LSCO in the t-J formalism is obtained as and in the t-J-d system. Transition temperature for YBCO in the t-J formalism is obtained as and in the t-J-d model. Both models predict Tc that is higher than the experimental value of 90K but remarkably close to the known values. Highest heat capacity of the superconducting state of the t-J model is found to be while the highest entropy value is 3.15×10-3 eV/K for high-Tc superconductors. The total energy of the system increases exponentially with the temperature. 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z http://41.89.164.27:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/1562 NUCLEON-NUCLEON INTERACTION IN RHENIUM- 186Re. SIRMA, KENNETH KIPCHUMBA Properties of nuclear matter and large finite nuclei have been studied using different types of nucleon-nucleon (NN) interaction potential. In this study, focus is on the thermodynamic properties of a large nucleus of Rhenium ( Re 186 75 ) using NN-interaction potential. Rhenium has been chosen because of its applications in technology, it’s used in engines of airplanes, missiles and high temperature thermo-couplers thus it may equally have an application at lower temperatures. The NN-interaction is used as a perturbation and general methods of quantum mechanics as well as many-body techniques have been used to calculate the energy, the heat capacity and the entropy. It is found that the heat capacity exhibits a phase transition at a critical temperature of 0.144K. The heat capacity increases linearly with increase in excitation energy at constant temperature and this is due to changes in the internal energy of nuclei. The entropy of the nuclei increases linearly with temperature and becomes zero at absolute 0K. These results suggests the possibility of Rhenium, a fermi system exhibiting superfluid properties below the critical temperature Tc~0.144K. 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z http://41.89.164.27:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/1557 ROLE OF LONG – RANGE ELECTRON - PHONON AND COULOMB INTERACTIONS IN HIGH - TC CUPRATE SUPERCONDUCTORS KIPROTICH, TANUI PETER Superconductivity is the disappearance of the electrical resistance of certain materials at certain critical temperatures called transition temperatures. This phenomenon was discovered in 1911 and is one of the most interesting and sophisticated discoveries in condensed matter physics. Superconducting materials have long been classified into two categories, viz low temperature (conventional) and high temperature ( unconventional) supercunductors and the current work deals with the later type. High temperature superconductors have transition temperatures above 30 K (-243.150C) and are further grouped into pnictides and cuprates. Cuprates are copper oxide superconductors. This study investigated the role of long – range electron phonon and Coulomb interactions in high - Tc cuprate superconductors. In the study, the electron – phonon and Coulomb Hamiltonian was derived using frozen phonon method. The expectation value of the Hepc was calculated using second quantization and many body techniques. The equation for the energy of the system at ground state was obtained from the product of the expectation value of Hepc and the thermal activation factor, exp (-E1/kT). The equation relating specific heat and absolute temperature was obtained from the first derivative of the energy of the system at ground state with respect to absolute temperature. The equation relating entropy and absolute temperature was obtained from the specific heat equation, using integral calculus. From the equations relating specific heat and entropy with absolute temperature, values of specific heat and entropy against absolute temperature were calculated. In these calculations, the onsite energy of copper (Ed) was fixed at 2.0 x 10-6 eV. The onsite energy of oxygen (Ep), hybridization energy of oxygen and copper bands (tpd), the electron – phonon interaction energy, (gep) and energy due to repulsion of copper holes occupying the same orbital (ud), were varied. From the results, it was found out that increase in the parameters Ed, tpd, gep and ud leads to increase in the transition temperature from 30 K to 90 K. It was further found that entropy and specific heat decrease with increase in the parameters. It can therefore be concluded that long range electron – phonon and Coulomb interactions increase the transition temperature of superconducting cuprates. 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z http://41.89.164.27:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/1543 PROPERTIES OF A MIXTURE OF BOSONS AND FERMIONS AT ZERO KELVIN TEMPERATURE CHELAGAT, IRENE Quantum materials reveal unexpected and exotic behavour when subjected to extreme conditions such as low temperature and/or high pressure. Ultra cold gases provide a very powerful tool for simulation and study of condensed matter systems. Based on recent developments on applications of quantum gases, we have to look for experimental models that can be used to probe and manipulate particles in quantum state and look at their theoretical framework in order to understand their properties. In this work, a mixture of bosons and fermions at zero Kelvin temperature is considered and its properties studied. Most theoretical work have been devoted to a system of two Bose condensates. It is in this research therefore, that we consider a system of Bose condensate with fermionic impurities and look at the properties that arise due to their interaction. The aim of this research was to determine the density distribution of bosons and fermions that are trapped in isotropic external potential and compare their density distribution for different values of ratio of their interaction strength ℎ/𝑔. Gross Pitaevski mean field equation for the boson distribution in the trap is solved by utilizing Thomas Fermi Approximation to extract the density profile of the fermions and bosons components. The results show that the Fermi gas will constitute a shell around a core of Bose condensate for ℎ > 𝑔 and it forms a core inside the Bose condensate for ℎ > 𝑔. For ℎ = 𝑔, both states exist simultaneously, the fermions has a constant spatial density where the bosons are localized. In this work, the existence of three distinct states of the system under variation of the ratio of the interaction strength ℎ/𝑔 has been confirmed. 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z http://41.89.164.27:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/1516 A DENSITY FUNCTIONAL THEORY STUDY OF COPPER OXIDES NANOWIRES AND CLUSTERS ON ANATASE TiO2 (101) SURFACE FOR PHOTOCATALYTIC WATER SPLITTING MENG'WA, VICTOR KIRUI Copper oxides deposited at titania surfaces have a bene cial e ect on the photocatalytic activity of TiO2, particularly water splitting. However, the role of copper oxides and mechanisms of enhancement remains to be elucidated. In this work, possible nanostructures of copper oxide on TiO2(101) surface have been investigated by simulations based on density functional theory. Various stoichiometries, from Cu2O to CuO, and morphologies, from clusters to nanowires, have been considered. Nanowire structures were found to be consistently more stable than isolated clusters. In these structures, a Cu2O stoichiometry was found to be thermodynamically more stable than CuO at room temperature conditions, in contrast to what happens in bulk copper. Occupied Cu 3d and O 2p states were found to extend well into the band gap of titania, whereas the nature of the lowest-lying empty states depended on the stoichiometry: for Cu2O they consist mostly of Ti 3d orbitals, while in CuO unoccupied Cu 3d orbital at 0.8 eV above the Fermi level are present. Thus, both oxides reduce the band gap of the system with respect to pure titania, but only Cu2O is e ective in separating photogenerated electrons and holes. This work also investigated oxidation of water on the most stable nanostructured Cu2O/TiO2 and CuO/TiO2 systems by density functional theory. Under photoelectrochemical conditions, the most stable structure has a CuO stoichiometry, and yields an overpotential of 0.66 V for water oxidation, with the active site being at the interface between copper oxide and titanium dioxide. A lower overpotential of 0.48 V is found on a metastable Cu2O nanostructure. These values are lower than the values for pure titania (1.39 V) and for copper oxides (0.77 V and 0.96 V). Moreover, in the case of the most stable structure, the active site is directly at the interface between CuO and TiO2. We therefore argue that a cooperative catalytic e ect between cupric oxide and titania is at play in this system, beside the known increased photoabsorption coming from the reduced band gap. The nanostructures display a stronger adsorption of OH with respect to pristine titania, which is essential in lowering the overpotential, and switching the overpotential-determining step from hydroxyl formation to dehydrogenation of the adsorbed hydroxyl. These results provide insight into the role of copper oxides in the photocatalytic process. Moreover, the insight into the water oxidation reaction provides some guiding principles for the design of improved photocatalysts for solar water splitting. 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z http://41.89.164.27:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/1506 SIMULATION OF NOT-, AND- AND OR- OPTICAL GATES USING WIDEBAND TRAVELLING WAVE SEMICONDUCTOR OPTICAL AMPLIFIER NGETICH, WESLEY All optical gates have received practical applications in the recent past. This is due to its high demand in optical communication networks in this age of Information Technology (IT). They have assisted in performance of logic functions along the network such as: building of time reversals, differentiators, integrators and multiplexers. However, challenges still do exist along the communication channels such as data delay which requires automatic switches for routing, wavelength conversion, data generation and regeneration. All optical gates have been built and demonstrated using different types of Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA); Travelling wave and reflective SOA to alleviate this problem. Using Optisystem software, AND, NOT and OR Optical gates were simulated using Wideband Travelling Wave Semiconductor Operational Amplifier (WTW SOA). Their setups were simulated to ascertain working characteristics. A generated pattern of signal was modulated in Mach-Zender Modulator (MZM) with 0 dBm power, 193.1 THz Continuous Wave (CW) laser through several components and fibres. At 10 Gbits, sampled bit sequences and selected injected currents and lengths of fibres and the WTW SOA, were used. The signal was generated and delayed optically along the optical fibre for a NOT gate to be realized , while it was split into two in other gates and delayed to have two overlapped input signals into the WTW SOA. It was established that the working length and current for NOT gate was 0.001 m and 0.13 A while that of AND gate was 0.003 m and 0.0003 A. The OR gate was realized at a length of 0.0000001 m and at a current of 0.0031 A. This research shows that WTW SOA produced essential optical gates at the specified lengths and injection currents. This research, if adapted, will accelerate data propagation in communication networks since all optical gates are useful in optical communication networks as they can make automatic Optical switches, data routers, multiplexers, integrators, differentiators and other combinational optical processing systems. 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z