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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

The Role Of Surface Area In Catalytic Gasification Of Biomass, Elizabeth A. Wachs, Nitish Kumar, Indraneel Sircar, Prithviraja Basak, Jay P. Gore Phd Aug 2014

The Role Of Surface Area In Catalytic Gasification Of Biomass, Elizabeth A. Wachs, Nitish Kumar, Indraneel Sircar, Prithviraja Basak, Jay P. Gore Phd

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Gasification of biomass has the potential to provide a carbon-negative source of liquid fuels. The current limited use of gasification is due in part to the high temperatures necessary to achieve high conversion levels. These temperatures can be lowered by the use of catalysts, but the mechanisms by which catalysts affect the reaction rate are not fully understood. Here, the structural component of potassium carbonate’s role in the gasification process was examined. Samples of pinewood sawdust were impregnated with potassium carbonate, then pyrolyzed with N2 in a fixed bed reactor at 750°C (heater thermocouple reading). Half of the char was …


Modeling Of Mixed Friction Interactions Occurring In Axial Piston Pumps, Andrew C. Adelsperger, Lizhi Shang, Dan Mizell, Monika Ivantysynova Aug 2014

Modeling Of Mixed Friction Interactions Occurring In Axial Piston Pumps, Andrew C. Adelsperger, Lizhi Shang, Dan Mizell, Monika Ivantysynova

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Axial piston pumps are integral to a variety of hydraulic systems due to their versatility and reliability, but most attempts to model them for design purposes have failed. However, software which fully models the fluid structures within these pumps, such as the FSTI gap design program, has improved significantly. Unfortunately, current discrepancies between simulated and measured friction forces on the cylinder due to the fluid drag and piston movement need to be eliminated so that more accurate simulation of these pumps in operation is possible. Friction measurements and FSTI simulation outputs were analyzed with MATLAB filters and graphs, resulting in …