Engineering Commons^™

Energy Systems Analysis For A Solar Economy, Dharik Sanchan Mallapragada

Open Access Dissertations

The use of solar energy for human needs faces challenges owing to its relatively low energy intensity and intermittent availability, coupled with the constrained availability of renewable carbon and land resources. This study uses systems analysis tools to identify carbon and energy efficient transformations of solar energy for different purposes, including transportation fuels and grid-scale energy storage. These efforts have been complemented with a feasibility analysis of existing fossil-energy and other hybrid pathways.

In an era of limited fossil resources, liquid fuels from sustainably available (SA) biomass could meet the energy needs of the transportation sector. We present a method …

Effect Of Plant Hormones On The Production Of Biomass And Lipid In Microalgae, Malihe Mehdizadeh Allaf

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Limited fossil fuel reserves, increasing demand for energy in all parts of the world are some driving forces to look for new sources of transportation fuels. Among different options available, microalgae are currently attracting wide interests as an alternative and renewable fuel source.

Microalgae are single cell photosynthetic organisms that are known for rapid growth and high energy content and as a part of photosynthesis; they produce oil that can be used as a feedstock for biodiesel production. Some algae strains could contain lipid up to 80% of the dry biomass. The amount of lipid production is in direct relation …

Application Of One Dimensional Turbulence (Odt) To Model Fire Spread Through Biomass Fuel Bed, Abinash Paudel

Theses and Dissertations

Each year fires destroy millions of acres of woodland, lives, and property, and significantly contribute to air pollution. Increased knowledge of the physics and properties of the flame propagation is necessary to broaden the fundamental understanding and modeling capabilities of fires. Modeling flame propagation in fires is challenging because of the various modes of heat transfer with diverse fuels, multi-scale turbulence, and complex chemical kinetics. Standard physical models of turbulence like RANS and LES have been used to understand the flame behavior, but these models are limited by computational cost and their inability to resolve sub-grid scales. Application of several …