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Energy Harvesting Of Human Kinetic Movement, David Marusiak, Julia Carrillo

Electrical Engineering

Development of kinetic energy scavenging applications from the human body necessitates additional research to assist in designating a mounting position for a potential device. A data acquisition system adequately provides a parametric average power comparison among four locations on the body (waist, upper arm, hand, and calf) for both a male and female subject. Experimentally, the hand-held device provided the highest average power. Thus, subsequent investigation at set speeds provides further analysis of the output’s characteristically linear behavior. The physical energy-harvesting device features a plastic tube casing wrapped with the stationary coiled wire through which a neodymium magnet oscillates. While …

The Impact Of Advanced Wastewater Treatment Technologies And Wastewater Strength On The Energy Consumption Of Large Wastewater Treatment Plants, Timothy Stephen Newell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Wastewater treatment is an energy intensive process often requiring the use of advanced treatment technologies. Stricter effluent standards have resulted in an increase in the number of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with advanced treatment over time. Accordingly, associated energy consumption has also increased. Concerns about lowering operating costs for WWTPs and reducing associated greenhouse gas generation present an incentive to investigate energy use in WWTPs. This research investigated the impact of wastewater strength and the introduction of advanced treatment technologies, to replace traditional technologies on energy use to treat wastewater in WWTPs. Major unit processes were designed for a 100 …

Thermo-Mechanical Modeling Of The Electrically-Assisted Manufacturing (Eam) Technique During Open Die Forging, Wesley Salandro

All Dissertations

This thesis contains all of the steps which allow the Electrically-Assisted Manufacturing (EAM) technique to be experimentally explored and analytically modeled for an electrically-assisted forging operation. Chapter 1 includes the problem statement, proposed solution, and literature reviews on EAM. Chapter 2 describes a thorough background on the EAM technique, highlights prior EAM research, and explains the research approach taken for this thesis. The coupled thermo-mechanical modeling strategy, along with the introduction of the Electroplastic Effect Coefficient (EEC) is provided in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 explains the two different approaches to determine the EEC profiles when modeling a particular metal. The …

Anti-Nuclear Activism And The Past, Present And Future Of United States Nuclear Energy Policy, Isabel C. Zellweger

Honors Theses

Nuclear power has had a long and controversial history leading people to have many different views on the topic. Even though nuclear power does provide the nation with a significant portion of its electricity, many still fear its risks, especially after the events at Fukushima last spring. This thesis explores how public opinion, current events, and anti-nuclear activism have shaped nuclear power in America today. After reviewing the literature on nuclear energy in the United States, I discuss the past and current state of United States nuclear energy policy, and then describe changing American attitudes toward nuclear power over time. …

Advanced Intelligent Control And Optimization For Cardiac Pacemaker Systems, Wei Shi

Dissertations

Since cardiovascular diseases are major causes of morbidity and mortality in the developed countries and the number one cause of death in the United States, their accurate diagnosis and effective treatment via advanced cardiac pacemaker systems have become very important. Intelligent control and optimization of the pacemakers are significant research subjects. Serious but infrequently occurring arrhythmias are difficult to diagnose. The use of electrocardiogram (ECG) waveform only cannot exactly distinguish between deadly abnormalities and temporary arrhythmias. Thus, this work develops a new method based on frequency entrainment to analyze pole-zero characteristics of the phase error between abnormal ECG and entrained …

Modeling And Analysis Of A Photovoltaic System With A Distributed Energy Storage System, Anthony Winston Ma

Master's Theses

As California continues to integrate more renewable energy into its electrical system, the state has experienced a corresponding rise in photovoltaic system installations. PV arrays are a unique source of power generation in that they are affected by the location of the sun, shading, and temperature changes. These characteristics make solar one of the most highly variable forms of renewable energy. In order to improve solar power’s consistency, PV systems require a supplemental source of power. The primary focus of this paper is to determine if distributed energy storage systems can be used to reduce the effect of solar intermittency. …

Heterogeneous Water And Energy End-Uses And Implications For Residential Water And Energy Conservation And Management, Adel M. Abdallah

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Indoor water-use consumes energy to heat hot water. Indoor water- and energy-use vary significantly among households due to variable household water-use behaviors and varying ages and efficiencies of water appliances. Also, the energy consumed to heat water varies among households and depends on water heater efficiency, heater thermostat setup, percentage of hot water in the final used water, and the cold water intake temperature. This research considers behavioral and technological variability in household water-and-energy-use to better understand water and energy linkages and help utilities target water and energy conservation actions to customer and appliances within their homes that the most …

On The Extraction Of Volatiles From Lunar Regolith Using Solar Power, Jorge Alberto Frias

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Recent lunar missions have confirmed the presence of water and miscellaneous volatiles within the craters of the Moon's South Pole. If harvested, these resources have the potential to provide an incredible budget saving to the human space exploration program by dropping the total mass that astronauts need to carry from the Earth. The area that develops these technologies is called In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). ISRU allows reducing the payload, and consequently reduces the energy consumption and cost of space exploration. The present thesis investigates methods for the extraction of volatiles from regolith within the shadowed craters of the Moon using …

Sustainable Water Management In The University Of Texas At El Paso, Cora Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This thesis showed how to improve water and financial savings for UTEP and El Paso by improving water conservation and sustainability of the UTEP campus. The goals of this research were successfully accomplished by focusing in three principal objectives.

1. Analyze historical data of water consumption of the UTEP campus for the past decade.

2. Evaluate water consumption to quantify water consumption by buildings and type of use, as well as provide recommendations for water and cost savings.

3. Synthesize a water management framework within the UTEP Facilities' Geographic Information System (GIS) for long-term monitoring and evaluation

Numerical Analysis Of Single Tank Thermocline Thermal Storage System For Concentrated Solar Power Plant, Samia Afrin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The overall efficiency of a Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant depends on the effectiveness of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system. A Single tank TES system has potential to provide effective solution. In a single tank TES system, a thermocline region, which produces the temperature gradient between hot and cold storage fluid by density difference, is used. Preservation of this thermocline region in the tank during charging and discharging cycles depends on the uniformity of the velocity profile at any horizontal plane. One of the major challenges for the single tank thermocline is actually maintaining the thermocline region in the tank, …

Impact Of Plug-In Electrical Cars On Energy Demand, On Power System And On Environment, Sital Tiwari

LSU Master's Theses

The use of an electric vehicle (EV) over a gasoline vehicle (GV) is often portrayed as environment friendly or green movement ignoring how the electricity is produced. EVs get credit for preserving green environment and preventing global warming by minimizing the dependency on oil. Most of the time, these assumptions that favor EV are not well justified. Therefore, proper studies on the impact of electric vehicles on energy demand, on environment and on power system are necessary before reaching to any conclusion. This thesis explores the possibility of energy consumption pattern shift within the different sectors of energy use due …

Analysis Of Passive Louver Shading Systems And Impact On Interior Environment, Cory Joseph Brennan

Masters Theses

An installed passive louver shading systems can affect the heating, cooling, and lighting loads of any building, by altering the amount of solar energy, in the form of light and heat, from entering. The benefits of a louver system are derived from the application of solar geometry incident on the site and the climate within the area. By optimizing a passive louver system's design parameters, a building can reduce the total annual energy consumption due to artificial heating, cooling loads and artificial lighting. This research has implemented simulation modeling software, Energy Plus, to predict the effect of passive louver shades …

Catalytic Tri-Reforming Of Biomass-Derived Syngas To Produce Desired H2:Co Ratios For Fuel Applications, Devin Mason Walker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on upgrading biomass derived syngas for the synthesis of liquid fuels using Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS). The process includes novel gasification of biomass via a tri-reforming process which involves a synergetic combination of CO2 reforming, steam reforming, and partial oxidation of methane. Typical biomass-derived syngas H2:CO is 1:1 and contains tars that deactivate FT catalyst. This innovation allows for cost-effective one-step production of syngas in the required H2:CO of 2:1 with reduction of tars for use in the FTS. To maximize the performance of the tri-reforming catalyst, an attempt to control oxygen mobility, thermal stability, dispersion of metal, …