Engineering Commons^™

Carbon Geosequestration And Enhanced Oil Recovery In Geological Formations: Multi-Scale Analysis, Auby Baban

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Carbon geosequestration (CGS) has been recognized as a strategic solution to prevent/counter the catastrophic consequences of climate change. However, despite recent cutting-edge technical research, predicting quantitative CO2 trapping in geological formations via capillary trapping is currently scarce. Moreover, several aspects of multiphase flow characteristics of CO2/brine/rock systems, that greatly impact carbon capture and containment security, require further investigations. Furthermore, combining carbon geosequestration with Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is an efficient and economically attractive technology to reduce global warming caused by emissions of anthropologic CO2 from the combustion of fossil fuels, whereby it offsets some of the costs of CO2 extraction. …

Experimental Investigation Of The Interface And Wetting Characteristics Of Rock-H2-Brine Systems For H2 Geological Storage, Mirhasan Hosseini

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The projected rise in demand for hydrogen (H2) production is a response to several factors, including greenhouse gas emissions caused by burning fossil fuels, depletion of fossil fuel reserves, and their uneven distribution around the earth. Thus, increased requirement for large-scale hydrogen storage solutions is anticipated to overcome imbalance between energy demand and supply. Deep underground formations such as salt caverns and porous reservoir rocks (e.g., depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs and deep saline aquifers) are necessary to achieve such volumes in practice. This process is known as underground hydrogen storage (UHS) which is technically very similar to underground natural gas storage. …

Investigation Of Flow Characteristics In An Open Channel With One-Line Semicircular Vegetation Patches, Hemanta D. Karki

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Experiments are conducted in an open channel with semi-circular patches distributed on one sidewall of the channel in which velocity distribution, turbulent intensity, and vortex generation are analyzed. The resistance force offered by a vegetation patch causes the change in water depth which have a broader application in river management, bank stabilization, and flood control.

The measurement is conducted in the laboratory with the help of different measuring devices like Laser doppler velocimeter, particle image velocimeter, measuring scale, and so on. From the experiment, the velocity distribution in a longitudinal direction suggests that the flow is fully developed after a …

Computer Vision Based Classification Of Fruits And Vegetables For Self-Checkout At Supermarkets, Khurram Hameed

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The field of machine learning, and, in particular, methods to improve the capability of machines to perform a wider variety of generalised tasks are among the most rapidly growing research areas in today’s world. The current applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence can be divided into many significant fields namely computer vision, data sciences, real time analytics and Natural Language Processing (NLP). All these applications are being used to help computer based systems to operate more usefully in everyday contexts. Computer vision research is currently active in a wide range of areas such as the development of autonomous vehicles, …

A Privacy Preserving Online Learning Framework For Medical Diagnosis Applications, Trang Pham Ngoc Nguyen

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Electronic Health records are an important part of a digital healthcare system. Due to their significance, electronic health records have become a major target for hackers, and hospitals/clinics prefer to keep the records at local sites protected by adequate security measures. This introduces challenges in sharing health records. Sharing health records however, is critical in building an accurate online diagnosis framework. Most local sites have small data sets, and machine learning models developed locally based on small data sets, do not have knowledge about other data sets and learning models used at other sites.

The work in this thesis utilizes …

Enhancing The Capabilities Of Electronic Performance Tracking System For Applications In Sports, Adnan Waqar

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The success of electronic technologies has sparked interest in sports amongst coaches, athletes and sports scientists. Consequently, the sporting world has witnessed a rapid rise in sports technologies in recent years. In sports, technologies can assist in a variety of ways, ranging from winner selection to athlete injury prevention. In recent years, wearable technologies have become popular in sports. Wearable microtechnology devices, commonly known as electronic performance tracking system (EPTS) in sports, can be used to monitor and improve an athlete's performance. EPTSs can also play an important role in injury prevention. This thesis investigates the performance of wearable EPTSs …

Optimisation Of Process Parameters In Abrasive Waterjet Contour Cutting Of Aisi 304l, Jennifer M. Llanto

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research work presents an optimisation of abrasive waterjet contour cutting process parameters with the objectives of maximising material removal rate, whilst minimising taper angle and surface roughness. This thesis contains an in-depth review of the systems behind abrasive waterjet machining and recent progress trends regarding its applications. The impacts of input parameters are investigated including traverse speed, waterjet pressure and abrasive mass flow rate against selected responses in abrasive waterjet contour cutting of austenitic stainless steel 304L. Experimental data is utilised to generate regression models in predicting responses, where the results are statistically evaluated to assess the percentage contribution …

Flow And Heat Transfer Characteristics Of Turbulent Swirling Impinging Jets [Thesis], Muhammad Ikhlaq

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Numerous industrial applications rely on impinging jets to impart convective heat and mass transfer in processes ranging from the cooling of electronic devices and gas turbine blades to drying of paper and food products. Conventionally, non-swirling impinging jets have been employed, but some studies have shown that inducing swirl allows better control of uniformity and improved convective fluxes. A better understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms that lead to such behaviour warrants deeper insights into the flow and heat transfer characteristics of impinging jets, both swirling and non-swirling. Whilst important to achieve, the flow field of an impinging jet is …

Simultaneous Machining Of Aerospace Structural Materials Using Poly-Drills, Muhammad Aamir

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Despite the growth of composites and other lightweight materials, aluminium alloys remain an attractive choice for the aerospace industry due to their distinct manufacturing processes, good resistance to fatigue crack growth and superior damage tolerance. In the aerospace industry, the drilling process is widely used among all the machining processes as millions of holes are required to produce riveted and bolted joints in the assembly operation of the aircraft's structures. The major challenges which arise from the drilling of these alloys are characterized by the low hole quality, which might initiate cracks within the airframe structure and reducing their reliability. …

Power Network And Smart Grids Analysis From A Graph Theoretic Perspective, Hossein Parast Vand

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The growing size and complexity of power systems has given raise to the use of complex network theory in their modelling, analysis, and synthesis. Though most of the previous studies in this area have focused on distributed control through well established protocols like synchronization and consensus, recently, a few fundamental concepts from graph theory have also been applied, for example in symmetry-based cluster synchronization. Among the existing notions of graph theory, graph symmetry is the focus of this proposal. However, there are other development around some concepts from complex network theory such as graph clustering in the study.

In spite …

Experimental And Cfd–Pbm Investigation Of An Agitated Bioreactor Using A Dual Helical Ribbon Impeller, Maryamsadat Amiraftabi

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Throughout past decades, the management of solid waste by producing methane gas, as a renewable source of energy, has featured as an important research objective. Anaerobic digesters are widely used in countries with environmental initiatives and green approaches, where biogas produced from a bioreactor is a carbon neutral source of energy. Biogas contains 70% methane, 30% CO2 and some other gases. The by-product of an anaerobic digester is solid sludge that can be used as either fertilizer or compost.

Anaerobic digestion biogas plants can benefit industries by adding value to solid organic waste, reducing fossil fuel usage, eliminating solid waste …

Application Of The Vortex Fluid Device (Vfd) In Polysulfone Synthesis And Ultra-Filtration Membrane Fabrication For Water Treatment Purposes, Aghil Igder

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Extensive studies have been performed to improve key properties of filtration membranes via controlling the fabrication process conditions as well as physical and/or chemical modification of the polymers used in membrane fabrication. The Vortex Fluid Device (VFD) is a newly invented platform which has found many applications in materials science and clean technology. The unique features of the VFD originate from a combination of different effects (e.g., micro-mixing, viscous drag, microfluidic flow, enhanced mass transfer) all resulting in faster, greener, and more efficient and better controlled chemical reactions. The main aims of this project are: (i) to investigate the utility …

A Study Into The Effects Of Spray And Jet Characteristics On Flash Evaporation System, Farshid Fathinia

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Low temperature flash evaporation desalination is a separation system that isolates liquids from other materials when seawater or any fluid undergoes evaporation. Extreme flash evaporation occurs when a low heated liquid is injected into the vacuum area, where the pressure is far below the saturated pressure of the liquid entering the area. This approach of flash evaporation is a key part of this type of system. It has a great potential to develop and improve the implementation of low thermal desalination plants but requires more specific study. Further analysis shows that previous investigations have not given a comprehensive insight into …

The Integration Of Pumped Hydro Storage Systems Into Pv Microgrids In Rural Areas, Navid Mousavi

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Photovoltaic (PV) systems are popular in rural areas because they provide low cost and clean electricity for homes and irrigation systems. The primary challenge of PV systems is their intermittent nature. The typical solution is storing energy in batteries; however, they are expensive and possess a short lifespan. This research proposes a new type of pumped hydro storage (PHS) which can be implemented as an alternative to batteries. The components of the system are modelled to consider losses of the system accurately. The mathematic model developed in this project assists the management system to make more efficient decisions. The proposed …

Application Of Advanced Algorithms And Statistical Techniques For Weed-Plant Discrimination, Saman Akbar Zadeh

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Precision agriculture requires automated systems for weed detection as weeds compete with the crop for water, nutrients, and light. The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of machine learning methods to classify weeds/crops in agriculture. Statistical methods, support vector machines, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are introduced, investigated and optimized as classifiers to provide high accuracy at high vehicular speed for weed detection.

Initially, Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithms are developed for weed-crop discrimination and their accuracies are compared with a conventional data-aggregation method based on the evaluation of discrete Normalised Difference Vegetation Indices (NDVIs) at two different …

A Solar‐Driven Membrane‐Based Water Desalination/Purification System, Abdellah Shafieian Dastjerdi

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Lack of fresh water has turned into one of the major challenges of the world in the present century. Desalination of brackish or seawater has been proven to be one of the best solutions to cope with this global challenge. Among all the desalination methods, Membrane Distillation (MD) is well known as a cost effective and profitable technology for treating saline water. However, higher energy consumption compared to other separation techniques has been reported as MD’s main drawback. That is why the application of solar energy to provide the thermal energy requirement of MD modules has been the focal point …

Design, Microstructure And Properties Of Metastable Beta-Type Biomedical Titanium Alloys, Syed Faraz Jawed

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Many existing implant biomaterials including cobalt-chromium alloy, stainless steel, Ti-6Al-4V and commercially pure titanium have all been shown to demonstrate mechanical incompatibility, poor osseointegration and/or cause cytotoxic effects on the human body after some years of application, leading to revision surgery in most cases. Consequently, there is an immediate need for an enduring biomaterial that displays good mechanical properties and possesses biocompatibility and corrosion resistance, in order to reduce rates of revision surgeries. In this PhD work, based on the 𝐵𝑜̅̅̅̅-𝑀𝑑̅̅̅̅̅, 𝑒/𝑎̅̅̅̅̅-𝛥𝑟̅̅̅ and BF-d-electron superelastic theoretical relationships four new series of quaternary Ti-25Nb-8Zr-xCr, Ti-25Nb-xSn-yCr, Ti26Nb-xMn-yZr and Ti-25Nb-xMn-ySn alloys have been …

Proactive Content Caching In Future Generation Communication Networks: Energy And Security Considerations, Muhammad Ishtiaque Aziz Zahed

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The proliferation of hand-held devices and Internet of Things (IoT) applications has heightened demand for popular content download. A high volume of content streaming/downloading services during peak hours can cause network congestion. Proactive content caching has emerged as a prospective solution to tackle this congestion problem. In proactive content caching, data storage units are used to store popular content in helper nodes at the network edge. This contributes to a reduction of peak traffic load and network congestion.

However, data storage units require additional energy, which offers a challenge to researchers that intend to reduce energy consumption up to 90% …

Microstructure And Mechanical Behavior Of Metastable Beta Type Titanium Alloys, Chirag Dhirajlal Rabadia

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Current biomaterials such as stainless steel, Co-Cr alloys, commercially pure titanium and Ti-6Al- 4V either possess poor mechanical compatibility and/or produce toxic effects in the human body after several years of usage. Consequently, there is an enormous demand for long-lasting biomaterials which provide a better combination of mechanical, corrosion and biological properties. In addition to this, alloys used in high-strength applications possess either high-strength or large plasticity. However, a high-strength alloy should possess a better blend of both strength and plasticity when used in high-strength applications. Metastable β-titanium alloys are the best suited alloys for biomedical and high-strength applications because …

Investigating Optimum Wavelength(S) For Growth Of Lactuca Sativa, L. Using Tunable Led Sources And Developing Thin-Film Filters For Glass Greenhouses, Jacqualine Anne Thomas

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

With the increase in world population, the continued advances in modern greenhouse agriculture and plant growth practices are expected to help overcome the global problem of future food shortages. This research investigates a way to assist in stemming the problem of food shortage by using optimised light irradiation (within the constraints of the experiment) on a sample plant species of lettuce (Lactuca sativa, L.). Whilst lettuce is often grown in hydroponic systems, the current research is conducted in stand-alone pots with hand watering, due to the requirements of health and safety and available resources.

The experiments were designed …

Application Of Heat Pumps And Thermal Storage Systems For Improved Control And Performance Of Microgrids, Ali Baniasadi

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The high penetration of renewable energy sources (RES), in particular, the rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems in power systems, causes rapid ramps in power generation to supply load during peak-load periods. Residential and commercial buildings have considerable potential for providing load exibility by exploiting energy-e_cient devices like ground source heat pump (GSHP). The proper integration of PV systems with the GSHP could reduce power demand from demand-side. This research provides a practical attempt to integrate PV systems and GSHPs e_ectively into buildings and the grid. The multi-directional approach in this work requires an optimal control strategy to reduce energy cost and …

Smart Charging Strategies For Electric Vehicle Charging Stations, Zeinab Moghaddam

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Although the concept of transportation electrification holds enormous prospects in addressing the global environmental pollution problem, consumer concerns over the limited availability of charging stations and long charging/waiting times are major contributors to the slow uptake of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) in many countries. To address the consumer concerns, many countries have undertaken projects to deploy a network of both fast and slow charging stations, commonly known as electric vehicle charging networks.

While a large electric vehicle charging network will certainly be helpful in addressing PEV owners' concerns, the full potential of this network cannot be realised without the implementation …

Smart Management Strategies Of Utility-Scale Energy Storage Systems In Power Networks, Choton Kanti Das

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Power systems are presently experiencing a period of rapid change driven by various interrelated issues, e.g., integration of renewables, demand management, power congestion, power quality requirements, and frequency regulation. Although the deployment of Energy Storage Systems (ESSs) has been shown to provide effective solutions to many of these issues, misplacement or non-optimal sizing of these systems can adversely affect network performance. This present research has revealed some novel working strategies for optimal allocation and sizing of utility-scale ESSs to address some important issues of power networks at both distribution and transmission levels. The optimization strategies employed for ESS placement and …

Intrinsic Variations In Geometric Properties Of Nonlinear Equivalent Strut Models For Infill-Rc Frames, Bruna Kirch Nienkotter Rocha

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Reinforced concrete frames infilled with unreinforced masonry are commonly used in structures worldwide. The interaction between the frame and the infill panel is usually ignored in engineering practice, and the masonry infill is not considered as a structural element. However, observations made after the occurrence of strong earthquakes have shown that the bare frame and infill-frame behave differently when subjected to in-plane lateral loads. Extensive research has been conducted on the behaviour of infill-frames when laterally loaded. This research focuses on the analysis of infill-frames using the equivalent strut modelling method, whereby an infill-frame is simplified, and the infill panel …

Social Impacts Of Climate Change And Occupational Heat Stress And Adaptation Strategies Of Mining Workers In Ghana, Victor Fannam Nunfam

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Excessive heat exposure due to rising temperatures associated with climate change adversely affects workers’ health, safety, productivity, and psychosocial well-being in occupational settings. In the hot and tropical regions of developing countries, long hours of physically demanding work, coupled with inadequate adaptation policies to climate change, increases the occurrence of heat-related illnesses and injuries, and contributes to the loss of productive capacity, poor decision making, and other negative effects on the social well-being of workers.

Based on the theories of social impact assessment, risk assessment, adaptation and resilience planning, this study assesses the social impacts of climate change and occupational …

Wettability Of Quartz Surfaces Under Carbon Dioxide Geo-Sequestration Conditions. A Theoretical Study, Aleksandr Abramov

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The wettability of rocks under reservoir conditions is important to ensure and secure long term underground storage of carbon dioxide. The composition of those rocks vary significantly and are influenced by the fact that quartz is the second most abundant mineral in the earth's continental crust. Thus, the CO2 wettability of quartz dominates the overall CO2 trapping performance of storage and cap rocks. If depleted oil or gas reservoirs are used for storage of CO2 quartz surfaces of rocks in reservoirs which have been previously exposed to hydrocarbons might be covered with chemisorpt hydrocarbon molecules. The CO2 wettability of these …

Mobility Management In 5g Heterogeneous Networks, Mohammad Arifin Rahman Khan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In recent years, mobile data traffic has increased exponentially as a result of widespread popularity and uptake of portable devices, such as smartphones, tablets and laptops. This growth has placed enormous stress on network service providers who are committed to offering the best quality of service to consumer groups. Consequently, telecommunication engineers are investigating innovative solutions to accommodate the additional load offered by growing numbers of mobile users.

The fifth generation (5G) of wireless communication standard is expected to provide numerous innovative solutions to meet the growing demand of consumer groups. Accordingly the ultimate goal is to achieve several key …

Extraction Of Patterns In Selected Network Traffic For A Precise And Efficient Intrusion Detection Approach, Priya Naran Rabadia

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis investigates a precise and efficient pattern-based intrusion detection approach by extracting patterns from sequential adversarial commands. As organisations are further placing assets within the cyber domain, mitigating the potential exposure of these assets is becoming increasingly imperative. Machine learning is the application of learning algorithms to extract knowledge from data to determine patterns between data points and make predictions. Machine learning algorithms have been used to extract patterns from sequences of commands to precisely and efficiently detect adversaries using the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol. Seeing as SSH is one of the most predominant methods of accessing systems it …

An Integrated System To Design Machine Layouts For Modular Special Purpose Machines, Uday Hameed Farhan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis introduces the development of an integrated system for the design of layouts for special purpose machines (SPMs). SPMs are capable of performing several machining operations (such as drilling, milling, and tapping) at the same time. They consist of elements that can be arranged in different layouts. Whilst this is a unique feature that makes SPMs modular, a high level of knowledge and experience is required to rearrange the SPM elements in different configurations, and also to select appropriate SPM elements when product demand changes and new layouts are required. In this research, an integrated system for SPM layout …

Using Agricultural Wastes To Treat Lead-Contaminated Water In Western Australia, Hanie Hashtroudi

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Aqueous solutions are becoming increasingly contaminated in all parts of the world (2015). Heavy metals are toxic contaminants that are mainly distributed in urban stormwater run-off and industrial wastewaters as a result of some mining operations, electronic assembly planting, battery manufacturing, and etching operations (Kadirvelu et al. 2001). Pb (II) is a heavy metal that causes significant damage in the human body. Drinking lead-contaminated water even at low concentrations may cause lifethreatening conditions such as cancer, kidney damage, brain damage, and liver problems (El-Said 2010). Therefore, it is necessary to remove lead from aqueous solutions.

Several conventional physical, chemical, and …