Engineering Commons^™

Electrochromic Windows: Return On Investment Analysis, Thomas Michael Caprio

Construction Management

In recent years, sustainability in construction has become a topic of undeniable interest. With sustainability certifications becoming more prominent and desirable, members of the construction industry have begun to seek alternatives for standard systems to keep up with market trends. One of the main issues that the construction industry faces is accessibility of technology. While there are new products and technologies being released frequently, members of the construction industry lack knowledge on the specific details and implications of working with newer systems. One piece of technology that was recently introduced is electrochromic glass, or smart glass. Electrochromic windows analyze sunlight …

Methane Production By A Packed-Bed Anaerobic Digester Fed Dairy Barn Flush Water, Sean Richard Thomson

Master's Theses

Packed-bed digesters are an alternative to covered lagoon digesters for methane production and anaerobic treatment of dilute wastewaters such as dairy barn flush water. The physical media of packed-beds retain biofilms, often allowing increased treatment rates. Previous studies have evaluated several types of media for digestion of dilute wastewaters, but cost and media fouling have setback commercial development. A major operational cost has been effluent recirculation pumping.

In the present effort, a novel approach to anaerobic digestion of flush dairy water was developed at pilot-scale: broken walnut shells were used as a low-cost packed-bed medium and effluent recirculation was replaced …

Csp Desalination/Water Purification Unit, Sean Goodison

Industrial Technology and Packaging

An estimated 3.4 million people die each year from unsanitary water or inaccessible water supply. Most of these deaths take place in the developing, third world (99%). There is a dilemma arising on the world stage as well. The water demand/supply deficit is expected to increase significantly over the next 37 years if preemptive action isn’t taken. 97% of the world water supply is oceanic, making it an attractive solution to the water deficit. Providing autonomous, “deploy and watch” systems for utilizing sustainable energy to provide purified water for unitized low pricing has the potential to penetrate a large world …