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Full-Text Articles in Engineering
Untitled, Evan Beyers, Jonathan Ogland-Hand
Untitled, Evan Beyers, Jonathan Ogland-Hand
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)
The solar furnace research project at Valparaiso University utilizes a decoupled solar thermal electrolysis process for the production of H2 from water. We are focusing on an iron oxide system, which involves the conversion of magnetite to hematite in a cyclical process. Our experimental study for the iron oxide system confirmed that the electrolytic oxidation and thermal reduction steps of the metal oxide occur in a laboratory scale environment. Unfortunately, some of the Fe+3 products for the magnetite system stays in solution when the electrolysis is done in a strong acid. We needed to develop methods to quantify the fraction …
The First Step In Solar Hydrogen Production: Development Of A Solar Thermal Reactor For The Reduction Of Metal Oxide Particles, Jesse Fosheim, Andrew Schrader
The First Step In Solar Hydrogen Production: Development Of A Solar Thermal Reactor For The Reduction Of Metal Oxide Particles, Jesse Fosheim, Andrew Schrader
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)
A solar thermal reactor has been designed to experimentally investigate promising paths for reducing metal oxide particles to reduced oxidation states (e.g. Fe2O3 to Fe3O4) utilizing concentrated solar energy. This reactor is windowless and is able to handle internal cavity temperatures in excess of 1700 K. It also has a quasi-continuous feed system that allows the particle residence times to be varied for particles between 0.044 mm and 1 mm in diameter. Furthermore, this reactor utilizes an instrumentation system for the measurement of temperature, particle residence time, particle mass flow rate, and solar flux. In an industrial setting, a large-scale …
Environmental And Economically Conscious Magnesium Production: Solar Thermal Electrolytic Production Of Mg From Mgo, J Fosheim, C Baum, B Borth, B Gruenwald, P Nasserifar, G Vanheeren, R Palumbo, E Beyers, R Diver, S Duncan, P Kissinger, S Nudehi, J Ogland-Hand, L Saks, J Schoer, A Schrader, L Venstom
Environmental And Economically Conscious Magnesium Production: Solar Thermal Electrolytic Production Of Mg From Mgo, J Fosheim, C Baum, B Borth, B Gruenwald, P Nasserifar, G Vanheeren, R Palumbo, E Beyers, R Diver, S Duncan, P Kissinger, S Nudehi, J Ogland-Hand, L Saks, J Schoer, A Schrader, L Venstom
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)
One method to improve the fuel efficiency of American made vehicles is to reduce vehicle weight by substituting steel components with lighter magnesium (Mg) components. Unfortunately, U.S. produced Mg currently costs approximately $3.31 per kg, over seven times the price of steel. Furthermore, Mg production has a staggering energy and environmental impact, consuming up to 102 kW-hr/kg-Mg of energy and producing 36 kg of CO2/kg-Mg. To reduce the overwhelming economic and environmental impact of Mg, a new solar thermal electrolytic process has been developed for the production of Mg from MgO. Through this process, liquid Mg is produced in a …
Design And Fabrication Of An Ultra-Low Capacitive Pressure Transducer, Justin Brown, Armand Gagne, Stephen Charnley, Kyle Devlin, Ryan Finley, Jenan Almishari, Anna Wint, Dr. Shahin Nudehi
Design And Fabrication Of An Ultra-Low Capacitive Pressure Transducer, Justin Brown, Armand Gagne, Stephen Charnley, Kyle Devlin, Ryan Finley, Jenan Almishari, Anna Wint, Dr. Shahin Nudehi
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)
The goal of the Capacitive Pressure Sensor project is to redesign the Alpha Instruments 168 series capacitive pressure sensor sold by Dwyer Instruments. The primary objectives of the new design will be to eliminate the use of welding in the assembly of the sensor components and to eliminate stray capacitance in the system measurements through the use of dielectric boundaries. Additionally, the sensor housing will be a stamped design in order to avoid expensive machining steps. The electrical components of the system will be tailored to accept a capacitive signal and transfer it to a voltage reading. This voltage will …