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This document contains the design of a solar sail. Three main parts will be studied in this project: structural design, thermal design and deployment . The first one will be based in studying the different materials that can be used nowadays to build a solar sail, they will be compared and finally, one will be chosen. The loads on the sail will be also evaluated and the place of all the components too ; the components that will be on the film and the ones that will be placed on the main structure, always taking into account the different interactions that will exist between them and the assembly requirements. The second one will study the thermal equili brium. This equilibrium is based on computing not only the temperature reached on the film, also th e temperature reached at all those components exposed to the Sun. Once the result will be found, some changes will be done in order to accomplish the functio nal requirements listed by the mentioned components. On the other hand, the different types of deployment will be evaluated an compared. Finally one of them will be selected according to the characteristics that our project needs. At the same time, this deployment mechanism will add more components that will be studied in the first chapter. The final result will be a solar sail that, even though the efforts made to reduce the global mass, is heavier than 100 grams so, the conclusion will be that nowadays it is impossible to build this kind of spacecraft. However, the possibility of a solar sail completely func t ional , spending long time periods in mission (analyzing the magnetic camp) will be ratified . The project will end with a built and deployed sola r sail which will be composed for a thin film of Mylar (at 44ºC) with two coatings; one of aluminum and the other of chromium. The deployment system that is going to be chosen is the one that uses the inertia of the Booms to deploy the sail, avoiding any k ind of extreme loads

Climate change is a real problem, which requires action atall levels to be tackled. In the field of energy, it seems essential to introduce renewablegeneration systems,bothcentralized and decentralized.Thus, communities can play an important role by generating their energy locally and from renewable sources.In this context, Santa Maria de Montserrat (or the monastery of Montserrat), a community located in the heart of the famous Catalan massif, wants to be part of the change and introduce renewable energies into its system.This project, which is part of a larger project called Smart Sanctuary,aimsto be a preliminary study to determine the potential of the integration of Renewable Energy Systems (RES)in Montserrat.This study consists of a techno-economic analysis, using the HOMER (Hybrid Optimization Model for Multiple Energy Resources) software,of a hybridgrid-connectedsystem that can be integrated in Montserrat’s current grid. Considering the community restrictions, an assessment of the available resources and technologies has been performed. To know the potential of different technologies, the indicators of systems with different architectures are presented and compared.The most interesting architectures from an economic point of view consider some PV systems but do not consider wind turbines andbatteries. These PV systems have a Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) between 0.035 €/kWh and 0.05 €/kWh, and are able to provide around a 13% of the electricity in Montserrat, which is more or less what is consumed for the monastery and its residents. The winning architecture system have a slightly lower LCOE (0.1096 €/kWh) than the current system but they also include a natural gas generator, requested by the community in order to increase the reliability and resilience of the system. Finally, an economic,social and environmental sustainability analysis is provided in order to present the project and all its consequences to Larsa, group that represents the community of Montserrat.

Traditional data centers represent a significant portion of the yearly power consumption all around the world, many solutions have been submitted to solve this issue such as the elastic-tree topology, a dynamic network structure that suggests that we deactivate unnecessary links and switches in a fattree data center, but with such solutions the availability in the network suffers severely. This paper studies the possibility of improving the elastic-tree topology adding single and double failure path protection to make the network more survivable while still saving energy. To achieve this, three algorithms that will find the minimum active topology necessary for a given traffic matrix will be implemented, one without path protection, one for any single failure and the last one for double failure path protection. The results obtained from all three algorithms show that the protected elastic-tree topology that we propose makes the data centers survivable while still saving a significant amount of energy.

This research paper presents part of a research project that develops the participative design of innovative solar control devices integrated in school architecture using low-cost tensed structures, composed of reused household waste and renewable energy systems. In consequence, these devices are designed to be built during workshops about waste management and sustainability by elementary and high school students and teachers. In general, this project aims to reduce the negative environmental impacts by educational architecture and, at the same time, increase students and teachers´ comfort levels and sustainability awareness. The specific case studies in this project occur in Spanish schools, which have a particular endemic problem in terms of user comfort due to lack of solar control. The main novelty of this project is the aforementioned design of solar control devices composed of household waste to be assembled during workshops by students and teachers. Although there have already been previous workshops in which students learn about school buildings, this project moves a step forward and involves students and teachers in the construction process of a solar control device. This article presents three solar control waste based device prototypes, the main steps followed to design and assess them and the first workshop.

Debido al crecimiento del tráfico de datos de los móviles, las redes cada vez son sistemas más complejos. Para poder proporcionar servicio para todos los usuarios manteniendo una buena calidad, nuevas infraestructuras se construyen y protocolos cada vez más complejos se implementan. En esta situación, los operadores se enfrentan a un aumento de los costes operacionales i capitales. Las Self-Organizing Networks aparecen como una solución para reducir estos costes y, a su vez, mejorar la utilización de los recursos de las redes. Este tipo de redes proporcionan cierto nivel de autonomía a las redes, minimizando la intervención humana en diferentes funciones y aportando soluciones autónomas y adaptativas. En este proyecto se presenta el concepto y características de este tipo de redes, centrándose en un caso en particular, el ahorro de energía. El proyecto desglosa el concepto de Self-Organizing Networks hasta llegar al caso concreto de ahorro de energía. El documento proporciona una visión general de las Self-Organizing Networks seguido de un estudio de la categoría Self-Optimization y finalizando con una extensa discusión sobre el caso de ahorro de energía. Además, se presentan las simulaciones y resultados de un algoritmo que implementa una solución para el ahorro de energía, evaluando si obtiene eficiencia energética. Sin perjudicar el servicio proporcionado por la red, el algoritmo propuesto consigue hasta un 45% de ahorro en potencia. A causa del creixement del tràfic de dades dels mòbils, les xarxes cada vegada esdevenen sistemes més complexos. Per tal de proporcionar servei per a tots els usuaris mantenint-ne una bona qualitat, noves infraestructures es despleguen i protocols cada vegada més complexos s'implementen. En aquesta situació, els operadors afronten un augment en els costos operacionals i capitals. Les Self-Organizing Networks apareixen com una solució per a reduir aquests costos i, alhora, per a millorar la utilització dels recursos de les xarxes. Aquest tipus de xarxes aporten cert nivell d'autonomia a la xarxa, minimitzant la intervenció humana en diferents funcions i aportant solucions autònomes i adaptatives. En aquest treball es presenta el concepte i característiques d'aquest tipus de xarxes, centrant-se en un cas particular, l'estalvi d'energia. El treball desglossa el concepte de Self-Oganizing Networks fins a arribar al cas concret d'estalvi d'energia. El document proporciona una visió general de les Self-Organizing Networks seguit de l'estudi de la categoria Self-Optimization i finalitzant amb una extensa discussió sobre el cas d'estalvi d'energia. A més a més, es presenten les simulacions i resultats d'un algoritme que implementa una solució per a l'estalvi d'energia, avaluant si s'obté eficiència energètica. Sense perjudicar el servei proporcionat per la xarxa, l'algoritme proposat aconsegueix fins a un 45% d'estalvi en potència. Due to the growth of mobile traffic data, networks are becoming more complex systems. In order to provide service for all the users and maintain a good quality of service, new infrastructure is deployed and more complex protocols are developed. In this situation, operators face a rise in operational and capital expenditures. Self-Organizing Networks appear as a solution to reduce these expenditures as well as to improve the utilization of the resources. These type of networks provide certain level of autonomy to the network, minimizing the human intervention in different functions and providing autonomous and adaptive solutions. The concept and its characteristics is presented in this thesis, focusing in a particular use case: Energy Saving. The thesis narrows down from the general concept of Self-Organizing Networks to the concrete use case of Energy Saving. The document provides an overview of Self-Organizing Networks followed by the study of the Self-Optimization category and ending with an extensive discussion of the Energy Saving use case. Furthermore, the simulation and results of an algorithm implementing an Energy Saving solution are presented, with an evaluation of its performance in order to determine if it obtains energy efficiency. Without degrading the network performance, a reduction up to 45% of consumed power can be obtained with the proposed algorithm.

The aim of this work was to study along of different cycles the biomass adaptation process to total polyphenols (TPP) concentrations in an Anaerobic Sequencing Batch Reactor (AnSBR) and to evaluate the degradation of TPP and COD in winery wastewater (WWW). A lab-scale AnSBR was operated at 30º C with intermittent stirring and was fed with WWW with a COD of 182.25 g/l and a TPP concentration of 489 mg/l. The AnSBR was operated in four cycles, after the first cycle the biomass adaptation was taken for granted since reductions in the TPP went from 56% in C1 to around 95% in the consecutive cycles. COD reduction reached the 95% to 99% for all the four cycles.

After natural disasters, displaced people (DP) require important numbers of housing units, which have to be erected quickly due to emergency pressures. These tight timeframes can cause the multiplication of the environmental construction impacts. These negative impacts worsen the already high energy consumption and pollution caused by the building sector. Indeed, post-disaster housing, which is often carried out without pre-planning, usually causes high negative environmental impacts, besides other economic and social impacts. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a suitable strategy to deal with this problem which also takes into account the instability of its causes, like changing ratio between rural and urban population. To this end, this study aims to present a model that assists decisionmakers to choose the most suitable building technology for postdisaster housing units. This model focuses on the alternatives sustainability and fulfillment of the stakeholders’ satisfactions. Four building technologies have been analyzed to determine the most sustainability technology and to validate the presented model. In 2003, Bam earthquake DP had their temporary housing units (THUs) built using these four technologies: autoclaved aerated concrete blocks (AAC), concrete masonry unit (CMU), pressed reeds panel (PR), and 3D sandwich panel (3D). The results of this analysis confirm that PR and CMU obtain the highest sustainability indexes. However, the second life scenario of THUs could have considerable impacts on the results. Peer Reviewed