Engineering Commons^™

Toward Direct Biosynthesis Of Drop-In Ready Biofuels In Plants: Rapid Screening And Functional Genomic Characterization Of Plant-Derived Advanced Biofuels And Implications For Coproduction In Lignocellulosic Feedstocks, Blake Lee Joyce

Doctoral Dissertations

Advanced biofuels that are “drop-in” ready, completely fungible with petroleum fuels, and require minimal infrastructure to process a finished fuel could provide transportation fuels in rural or developing areas. Five oils extracted from Pittosporum resiniferum, Copaifera reticulata, and surrogate oils for Cymbopogon flexuosus, C. martinii, and Dictamnus albus in B20 blends were sent for ASTM International biodiesel testing and run in homogenous charge combustion ignition engines to determine combustion properties and emissions. All oils tested lowered cloud point. Oils derived from Copaifera reticulata also lowered indicated specific fuel consumption and had emissions similar to the ultra-low sulfur diesel control. Characterization …

Neutron Imaging Of Lithium Inside A High-Temperature Heat Pipe, Eric Henry Kirchoff

Masters Theses

Neutron imaging of a high-temperature Mo-Li [molybdenum-lithium] heat pipe has been performed to assess Li flow visualization. The high neutron attenuation cross section of Li allows for imaging inside the heat pipe shell structure, which has a lower value of neutron attenuation, making neutron radiography an ideal choice for characterizing Li movement.

The gravity assisted, cylindrical heat pipe was heated to 903^oC [degree] using a wire resistance Mo heater operating under vacuum. This Mo-Li heat pipe is 35 cm long with a square internal geometry 2.2 cm per side, utilizing small corner radii as the wicking structure for …

Water Transport In Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells: An Exploration Of Net Water Drag In Real Time, Susan Katherine Reid

Masters Theses

Polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) are a promising alternative energy source. One challenge preventing widespread use of this technology is water management. A balance must be reached between providing sufficient water for membrane ionic conductivity while maintaining low enough water content to mitigate the reduction of available reaction sites in the cathode catalyst layer due to liquid water build up. Much exploration of this area of fuel cell research has been conducted, but the details of water transport in an operating fuel cell are not yet fully understood. The motivation of this work was to elucidate mass transport phenomena occurring …