Engineering Commons^™

Analysis Of The Enzymatic Decomposition Of Barley Starch To Simple Carbohydrates, Mark Mathiew Williams

Master's Theses

The decomposition of barley starch plays a fundamental role in the final quality of fermented beverages in the brewing industry. The process of mashing involves steeping milled barley in water to stimulate the enzymatic decomposition of starch into simple carbohydrates. The temperature of the water significantly impacts the activity of the enzymes and in turn the resulting concentrations of sugar products. A kinetic model accurately predicting the types and quantities of sugars formed as a function of mash temperature would serve as a tool to tailor sugar profiles and optimize mashing procedures for a desired product.

Sixty minutes mashes were …

The Role Of Transport Phenomena In The Direct Oxidation Of Solid Fuels, Charles J. Banas

Master's Theses

Direct carbon fuel cells have shown promise for stationary power generation by utilizing the direct oxidation of a solid carbon fuel source at the anode. In laboratory settings, researchers have reported up to 300mA/cm2 of current density from these cells types which suffer from mass transport losses. This paper studies the surface properties of the solid fuel source, and describes the process of CO2 evolution through an analogy to pool boiling. In nucleate boiling (a subset of pool boiling) vapor bubbles grow from nucleation sites where gas are trapped in micro-cavities on the surface. Carbon surfaces possess these same features, …

Investigation Of Bacillus Subtilis As A Biopesticide Against Botrytis Cinerea, Kenneth K. Ng

Master's Theses

The objective of this thesis was to investigate BiOWiSH^TM-Aqua, a commercial dry solid formulation containing a consortium of bacteria and yeast, as a biopesticide for treatment of Botrytis cinerea, a gray mold that affects strawberries. BiOWiSH^TM-Aqua was compared with another commercial product specifically used as a fungicide and bacteriocide, Serenade® Garden Disease Control Spray (concentrated Bacillus subtilis strain QST 713). Both laboratory tests as well as in vivo lab tests were conducted. BiOWiSH^TM-Aqua results varied widely from plate to plate, regardless of experimental conditions. In some of these plates, inhibition zones were observed …

Kinetic Modeling Of Methanol Synthesis From Carbon Monoxide, Carbon Dioxide, And Hydrogen Over A Cu/Zno/Cr2o3 Catalyst, Daaniya Rahman

Master's Theses

The main purpose of this study was to investigate kinetic models proposed in the

literature for methanol synthesis and select the best fit model using regression techniques

in POLYMATH. Another aim was to use the results from the best fit model to explain

some aspects and resolve some questions related to methanol synthesis kinetics. Two

statistically sound kinetic models were chosen from literature based on their goodness of

fit to the respective kinetic data. POLYMATH, the non-linear regression software, was

used to fit published experimental data to different kinetic models and evaluate kinetic

parameters. The statistical results from POLYMATH were …