Browsing by Author "Botha, Frederick Johannes"

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    Abjeksie in MS Burger se Bloedfamilie (2012) en Seuns wat weet (kortverhaalbundel)
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-12) Botha, Frederick Johannes; Schaffer, Alfred, 1973-; Anker, Willem; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Afrikaans and Dutch.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In fulfilment of the degree of Magister in Creative Writing, a mini-thesis is presented with the title, “Abjeksie in MS Burger se Bloedfamilie (2012)” (“Abjection in MS Burger’s Bloedfamilie (Blood Family)”). This research topic was decided upon during the writing of Seuns wat weet (Boys who know), a collection of short stories in which the abject play a prominent role. The mini-thesis points out the close interplay between the individual stories in MS Burger’s Bloedfamilie, which not only creates unity in the collection, but also places the text within the genre of the short story cycle. This genre is briefly defined, after which coherence markers such as the single protagonist, recurring characters, and continuous motifs are pointed out. However, it is the theme of abjection in Bloedfamilie that forms the focus of this mini-thesis. Julia Kristeva’s (1982) authoritative abject theory is outlined, followed by an exploration of the way in which abjection functions in the literature (Booker, 1991; Bousset, 2004; Arya, 2014). Kristeva’s view that abjection contributes to the process of creating identity is taken as point of departure for the textual analysis of Bloedfamilie where abjection is investigated on the basis of the following aspects: the bodily, the sexual, illness, rebellion against the mother, and violence. Apart from the fact that the abject portrayal of these aspects enables the first-person protagonist to establish her identity, it is also used in a moralistic manner to deploy the moral bankruptcy of orders and systems such as religion, family, and tradition, and to comment on issues such as gender inequality and rights. Seuns wat weet is a short story cycle in which Frikkie acts as first-person protagonist, with character development taking place from his childhood through to adulthood. Although the fifteen stories in the collection function individually, they form a greater coherence when they are read as part of a cycle, by showing Frikkie’s emotional development more clearly. The fifteen stories explore themes such as family, religion, culture, violence and (gay) sexuality, and how these aspects have a formative influence on Frikkie’s identity.
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    Simulation of a syngas from coal production plant coupled to a high temperature nuclear reactor
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012-12) Botha, Frederick Johannes; Dobson, R. T.; Harms, T. M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In light of the rapid depletion of the world’s oil reserves, concerns about energy security prompted the exploration of alternative sources of liquid fuels for transportation. One such alternative is the production of synthetic fuels with the indirect coal liquefaction process or Coal-To-Liquids (CTL) process. In this process, coal is burned in a gasifier in the presence of steam and oxygen to produce a synthesis gas or syngas, consisting mainly of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The syngas is then converted to liquid fuels and a variety of useful chemicals in a Fischer Tropsch synthesis reactor. However, the traditional process for syngas production also produces substantial amounts of carbon dioxide. In fact, only about one third of the carbon in the coal feedstock ends up in the liquid fuel product using traditional CTL technology. If additional hydrogen was available, the carbon utilisation of the process could be improved significantly. The high temperature reactor (HTR) is a gas cooled Generation IV nuclear reactor ideally suited to provide electrical power and high temperature heat for the production of carbon neutral hydrogen via high temperature electrolysis. The integration of an HTR into a CTL process therefore provides an opportunity to improve the thermal and carbon efficiency of the CTL process significantly. This thesis presents a possible process flow scheme for a nuclear assisted CTL process. The system is evaluated in terms of its thermal or syngas production efficiency (defined as the ratio of the heating value of the produced syngas to the sum of the heating value of the coal plus the HTR heat input) as well as its carbon utilisation. If the hydrogen production plant is sized to produce only enough associated oxygen to supply in the needs of the gasification plant, syngas is produced at about 63% thermal efficiency, while 71.5% of the carbon is utilised in this process. It was found that the optimum HTR outlet temperature to produce hydrogen with a high temperature steam electrolysis process is 850°C. If enough process heat and electrical power are available and process equipment capacities are sufficient, the carbon utilisation of the process could be improved even further to values in excess of 90%.