Engineering Commons^™

Evaluating The Approach Of Using Nox Control Performance Tracking For On-Board Diagnostics Of Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicles, Renata Castiglioni

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

egulatory agencies have taken several measures to ensure proper regulation of engine exhaust in response to a yearly rise in urban pollution levels. This is due in no small part to vehicular traffic and resulting air pollution from exhaust.

This study evaluates the NOx Control Performance Tracking (NCPT) Onboard Diagnostic (OBD) parameter proposed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) as a tool to assess in-use heavy-duty vehicle performance. It also assesses the various criteria prescribed in the NCPT approach for applicability to real-world vehicle data.

In order to analyze the data, the study also investigated the effect of various …

Pharmaceutical Scheduling Using Simulated Annealing And Steepest Descent Method, Bryant Jamison Spencer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

In the pharmaceutical manufacturing world, a deadline could be the difference between losing a multimillion-dollar contract or extending it. This, among many other reasons, is why good scheduling methods are vital. This problem report addresses Flexible Flowshop (FF) scheduling using Simulated Annealing (SA) in conjunction with the Steepest Descent heuristic (SD).

FF is a generalized version of the flowshop problem, where each product goes through S number of stages, where each stage has M number of machines. As opposed to a normal flowshop problem, all ‘jobs’ do not have to flow in the same sequence from stage to stage. The …

Direct Determination Of The Dynamic Elastic Modulus And Poisson's Ratio Of Timoshenko Prisms And Rods, Guadalupe Leon

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

In this study, the exact solution of the Timoshenko beam vibration frequency equation under free-free boundary conditions was determined with an accurate shear shape factor. The exact solution was compared with a 3-D finite element calculation using ABAQUS program, and the difference between the exact solution and the 3-D FEM was within 0.15% for both the transverse and torsional modes. Furthermore, relationships between the resonance frequencies and Poisson’s ratio were proposed that can directly determine the elastic constants, unlike the equations provided by ASTM C215. The frequency ratio between the 1^st bending mode and the 1^st torsional mode, …

Conceptual Design Of Male Uavs, Vincent Spada

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The conceptual design process of aircraft involves the creation of a product, in this case UAVS (unmanned aerial vehicles), using the most effective means possible across multiple subdisciplines of Aerospace Engineering. This paper will outline a unique methodology that involves calculating certain design variables such as wing loading, power loading, aspect ratio and cruise altitude in the conceptual design phase for MALE (medium altitude long endurance) UAVs. Aircraft characteristics from MALE UAVs such as the MQ-9 predator and MQ-1 reaper will used for a comparative aircraft study as “jumping off” points in order to carry out the initial calculations. An …

Kidney Ailment Prediction Under Data Imbalance, Ranaa Mahveen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is the leading cause for kidney failure. It is a global health problem affecting approximately 10% of the world population and about 15% of US adults. Chronic Kidney Diseases do not generally show any disease specific symptoms in early stages thus it is hard to detect and prevent such diseases. Early detection and classification are the key factors in managing Chronic Kidney Diseases.

In this thesis, we propose a new machine learning technique for Kidney Ailment Prediction. We focus on two key issues in machine learning, especially in its application to disease prediction. One is related …

Investigation Of Nano-Ceria Catalyst Infiltration Of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (Sofc) Electrodes Using Bio-Inspired Catechol Surfactants, Ozcan Ozmen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Development of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) electrodes with nano-structured grains can show enhanced power density with high catalytic activity owing to the higher surface area to volume ratio of the particles. However, the addition of nano-particles during the conventional electrode manufacturing process causes inevitable structural changes due to the coarsening of nano-particles at sintering temperatures. Wet impregnation/ infiltration methods are a practical and well-utilized method to form nanoparticles within the porous electrode microstructure of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) which requires relatively low calcination temperatures. Critical factors that impact the reduction of the electrode polarization using the nano-catalyst impregnation …

Low-Power Reconfigurable Sensing Circuitry For The Internet-Of-Things Paradigm, Alexander Dilello

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

With ubiquitous wireless communication via Wi-Fi and nascent 5th Generation mobile communications, more devices -- both smart and traditionally "dumb" -- will be interconnected than ever before. This burgeoning trend is referred to as the Internet-of-Things. These new sensing opportunities place a larger burden on the underlying circuitry that must operate on finite battery power and/or within energy-constrained environments. New developments of low-power reconfigurable analog sensing platforms like field-programmable analog arrays (FPAAs) present an attractive sensing solution by processing data in the analog domain while staying flexible in design. This work addresses some of the contemporary challenges of low-power wireless …

Development Of A Sustainability Evaluation And Control Framework For Chemical Processes, Shuyun Li

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Industry, government, and society have begun to shift from economic stand-alone focus to the inclusion of sustainability in the decision-making process. This shift can be attributed to the growing environmental and social awareness that makes consumers and stakeholders not only care about product quality and cost, but also products and processes that minimize the environmental impact and conserve natural resources. As a result, some progress has been made in recognizing and understanding the challenges of sustainable development, which helps evaluating the sustainability performance of a specific process/product. In particular, sustainability assessment tools and methodologies have been developed to help the …

Design Of Geothermal District Heating And Cooling System For The West Virginia University, Oluwasogo Bolaji Alonge

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Recent Appalachian Basin Geothermal Play Fairway Analysis estimated elevated heat flows in north-central West Virginia. This region provides an optimal and unique combination of elevated temperatures and flow necessary for geothermal development along with year-round surface demand for heating and cooling on the campus. Therefore, West Virginia University’s (WVU’s) Morgantown campus has been identified as a prime location in the eastern United States for the development of a geothermal direct-use heating and cooling application. The objective of this study was to perform a feasibility analysis for the development of a geothermal district heating and cooling (GDHC) system for WVU campus …

Minimizing Trihalomethane Formation Through Source Water Monitoring And Optimizing Treatment Practices, Nashid Mirza

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Trihalomethanes, a family of halogenated disinfection byproducts, are prevalent in finished drinking water. According to USEPA’s Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rules (DBPRs), the regulatory standard of the total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) is 80 μg/L, and water treatment plant operators are required to closely monitor TTHMs in the finished water on a quarterly basis. Although total organic carbon (TOC) has been identified as a precursor for the TTHMs, knowledge gaps still exist in how specific water and treatment related factors (e.g., intake water quality, seasonal variation, contact time, and treatment train) affect TTHMs formation. Focusing on water treatment plants in southwestern Pennsylvania, …

Enhancing The Thermoelectric Performance Of Calcium Cobaltite Ca3co4o9 Through Single And Dual Elements Doping, Cesar Octavio Romo De La Cruz

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Worldwide energy consumption losses more than 60% of the energy after its conversion, most of these losses are in the form of waste heat. Therefore, it is a matter of utmost importance to harness waste heat and reutilize this energy source to improve the overall conversion efficiency. Thermoelectric (TE) technology is one of the rising alternatives to harvest the excessive amount of energy lost as waste heat for a better and sustainable energy future. TE materials can utilize waste heat to improve efficiency in the ever-increasing demand for energy by converting a temperature difference directly into electricity due to the …

Experimental And Numerical Study Of The Stirling Engine Robust Foil Regenerator, Koji Yanaga

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The regenerator is located between the heat accepter and the heat rejecter of the Stirling engine. It works as a thermal energy storage component in the engine. Most of the regenerators are made of woven screen or random fiber. However, the flow going through the woven screen or random fiber is similar to the cylinders in crossflow which has flow separation. To achieve higher engine efficiency, it is required to design a regenerator which has higher convective heat transfer, lower pressure drops. Therefore, a parallel channel regenerator called a robust foil regenerator was designed and manufactured.

In this study, a …

An Empirical Analysis Of An Algorithm For The Budgeted Maximum Vertex Cover Problem In Trees, Mujidat Abisola Adeyemo

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Covering problems are commonly studied in fields such as mathematics, computer science, and engineering. They are also applicable in the real world, e.g., given a city, can we build base-stations such that there is network availability everywhere in the city. However, in the real world, there are usually constraints such as cost and resources. The Budgeted Maximum Vertex Cover is a generalization of covering problems. It models situations with constraints. In this thesis, we empirically analyze an algorithm for the problem of finding the Budgeted Maximum Vertex Cover in undirected trees (BMVCT). The BMVCT problem is defined as follows: Given …

Low Power Voltage Reference Cells For Sensing Applications, Kody Ray Tucker

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Two low-power voltage reference cells for a system on-chip design are presented in this report. Both cells utilize a combination of standard transistors to produce an output voltage near 1 volt. Choosing the appropriate design procedures can aid in minimizing the temperature coefficient (TC) of the output reference voltage coming out of the cell. One circuit, covered first, is currently being fabricated on a standard 0.5 µm chip complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process, while the other is still in the designing stage. The first one has a TC of 86 ppm/◦C with a reference voltage of 1.10 V while …

Energy Efficiency Evaluation Of Blower Heater Non-Purge Compressed Air Dryers, Alexandra M. Botts

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

There are several compressed air dryers available for industrial use including, refrigerant, desiccant, and membrane. This research focuses on twin tower regenerative closed loop desiccant dryers, specifically: blower heater non-purge (BHNP) with and without cooling water pumps, Compressed-air Heater Purge (CHP), Blower Heater Purge (BHP), and Pressure Swing Heaterless (PSH). These styles of dryers are used mainly in industries that require extremely dry air such as, food manufacturing, medical air, or sensitive technology manufacturers. The research was conducted by collecting and analyzing real time current draw data on air compressors and associated dryers at eight different facilities (13 compressor systems) …

Dynamic Discrepancy Reduced Order Modeling For Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis Over Cobalt-Based Catalyst, Jose Miguel Bohorquez

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Advances in carbon capture techniques and demands in alternative fuel sources have increased over the past couple of decades. The Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis (FTS) provides a viable way to produce hydrocarbons from natural gas, coal, CO₂, or biomass. However, current comprehensive models for FTS encompass large number of reacting species, readsorption and conversion of primary products, surface intermediates, and coverage-dependent reaction rates. To accurately predict the products obtained through the process a reduced order model has been developed. By reducing the number of parameters of an existing comprehensive model, uncertainty is introduced. The uncertainty can be quantified by using …

Artificial Immune System For Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Abnormal Condition Detection And Identification, Ryan G. Mclaughlin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

A detection and identification scheme for abnormal conditions was developed for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based on the artificial immune system (AIS) paradigm. This technique involves establishing a body of data to represent normal conditions referred to as “self” and differentiating these conditions from abnormal conditions, referred to as “non-self”. Data collected from simulation of the UAV attempting to autonomously fly a pre-decided trajectory were used to develop and test a scheme that was able to detect and identify aircraft sensor and actuator faults. These faults included aerodynamic control surface locks and damages and angular rate sensor biases. The …

Review Of Water Allocation Models For West Virginia, Madison Lee Alexis Thompson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Modeling river basins started gaining in popularity and usage in the western part of the United States in large part due to its extreme droughts. Planning is necessary to sustain the population, industries, and recreational water use year-round. Water allocation modeling is a tool used to aid in the issues that come from managing water resources. This work considers the continuous models that synthesized the hydrologic processes that occur and provides a simulation of past, current, or future conditions.

West Virginia, located on the eastern side of the United States, does not have an extreme drought problem as seen in …

Lignocellulosic Biomass Derived Activated Carbon For Energy Storage And Adsorption, Changle Jiang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Lignocellulosic biomass has been converted to hierarchical porous carbon materials which possess macro-, meso- and micro-pores. The natural structure of porous lignocellulosic structure was preserved during activation with further developed porosity by the activation. The activated carbon can be well applied to electrochemical double layer capacitor for transportation storage of ions as well as adsorbent materials for metal ion removal from wastewater.

The first chapter of this dissertation presents an introduction of biomass derived carbon and its applications. In the second chapter, both direct and indirect activation methods using carbon dioxide were adopted in this study. The results show that …

Chemometric Calibration Of Surface Enchanced Raman Spectra For Quantitative Analysis, Xiaofei Shi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Raman spectroscopy, recognized as a powerful analytical technique, has been widely employed in many fields especially in the detection of hazard material containing in food or water. However, multiplexed analyte quantification based on Raman spectra remains a challenge due to the difficulties in accurate and precise modeling of the relationship between multiple analyte concentrations and dense spectral data with noise.

In this work, a statistical procedure was developed to efficiently generate high-quality calibration models quantifying the analyte concentrations versus spectra relationship. The resulting calibration models are able to provide estimated concentration ranges (which reflect both point and uncertainty estimates) for …

Utilization Of Scale In Keypoint Detection And Feature Description, Andrew P. Rhodes

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Ubiquitous availability of inexpensive three dimensional (3D) sensors has led to an abundance of keypoint detection and feature description techniques for point-clouds. While some recent methods utilize color along with geometric information, most only implicitly discuss -- if not completely disregard -- the information provided by scale. Scale is an inherent characteristic of any keypoint or feature that describes its physical size or region of support.

Exploiting information provided by scale facilitates the processes of keypoint detection and feature description. A 3D scale-space, extended from robust and popular 2D methods, is constructed to diffuse a signal on triangulated meshes. Methods …

Fundamental Mechanism Of Time Dependent Failure In Shale, Neel Gupta

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

In underground coal mines, mining activity disturbs the natural equilibrium state of in-situ stresses. The induced and in-situ stresses deform the rockmass surrounding the mine openings. Primary roof supports impede the deformation of the rockmass overlying the entries. However, failure can occur in the bolted rockmass, causing fatalities and injuries. The rockmass failure is erratic, and its occurrence often varies from a few days to months and years after the opening of the entry. One of the often-neglected factors in this process is the effect of time on the stability of mine openings, which can often be observed in the …

Investigation Of Heat Exchanger Effectiveness Using A Surface Coating Technology, Allen Duffy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Diesel engine manufacturers continue to improve engine performance through increased thermal efficiency and reduced regulated emissions. The aftercooler located between the turbocharger air outlet and intake manifold experiences a wide range of operating conditions. Improving the heat transfer characteristics in the aftercooler can lead towards improved engine performance through increased charge air density. A surface coating has been proposed to enhance the heat transfer characteristics for a marine-based application on the water - side of the heat exchanger. To evaluate the efficacy of the coating, the rate of heat transfer with and without the coating was quantified in a controlled …

Enabling Robust State Estimation Through Covariance Adaptation, Ryan Magnum Watson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Several robust state estimation frameworks have been proposed over the previous decades. Underpinning all of these robust frameworks is one dubious assumption. Specifically, the assumption that an accurate a priori measurement uncertainty model can be provided. As systems become more autonomous, this assumption becomes less valid (i.e., as systems start operating in novel environments, there is no guarantee that the assumed a priori measurement uncertainty model characterizes the sensors current observation uncertainty).

In an attempt to relax this assumption, a novel robust state estimation framework is proposed. The proposed framework enables robust state estimation through the iterative adaptation of the …

Recovery Of Rare Earth Elements (Rees) From Coal Mine Drainage Sludge Leachate, Panpan Ren

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is the primary cause of aquatic habitat loss in the Appalachian Coal Basin and many other mining districts across the U.S. and the world. The objective of this work is to develop a cost-effective and environmentally benign process to treat and recover Rare Earth Elements (REEs) from AMD. Solvent extraction (SX) is one effective way to turn AMD into a commercially viable feedstock for rare earth production.

In this work, SX experiments were conducted on Y-Ca-Mg-Al-HDEHP-n-heptane-HNO3-H2O system to simulate AMD treatment for Yttrium recovery by changing four parameters: pH values, concentration ratio of Yttrium (Y) over …

Performance Study Of An Unconventional Breathresponse Papr Against A N95 Ffr And Conventional Paprs, Huihui Yang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are the first responders when infectious pathogens occur. Powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs) are one of the most widely used personal protective equipment for healthcare workers. Currently, few studies have been performed with HCWs in the actual healthcare work environments to assess discomforts, acceptance and protective efficiency towards wearing and use of PAPRs. The main purpose of this dissertation was to introduce and assess a brand new unconventional PAPR (Koken breath-response PAPR). The protection performance and user preferance of this unconventional PAPR were studided and compared to that of a N95 FFR and traditional PAPRs.

Firstly, a laboratory …

Roadnet: Robust Adaptive Network For Information Diffusion In Vanet, Priyashraba Misra

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The automotive industry has changed more in the last one decade than ever before. Rapid advancements in autonomous driving have opened up opportunities for CAVs (Connected and Automated Vehicles). Vehicles today rely on a sensor-suite to map the surrounding and use that information for safety and navigation. The sensor's view is limited to its line of sight and this drawback can be tapered off by using Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I), generally referred to as Vehicle to Everything (V2X) communication. In this thesis, we specifically focus on utilizing V2V communication using on-board Dedicated Short Range Communication …

Engineering Plasmonic Nanostructures For Light Management And Sensing, Sujan Phani Kumar Kasani

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The two major global problems are to provide health safety and to meet energy demands for ever growing population on a large scale. The study of light interaction with nanostructures has shown a promising solution in improving the fields of bio-sensor and solar energy devices which addresses above mentioned two major global problems. Nanostructures have tunable physicochemical properties such as light absorption, electrical and thermal properties unlike bulk materials, which gives an advantage in applications like bio-sensing and energy harvesting devices. The development of nanofabrication techniques along with the discovery of Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) and Plasmon Enhanced Fluorescence …

Data Driven Intelligent Grid Stability Monitoring And Adaptive Emergency Response, Hasan Ul Banna

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Power grids are large cyber-physical systems with physical operation controlled and integrated through communications. The technological breakthroughs made by the availability of low-cost, high speed communications, larger storage spaces, greater internet bandwidths have led to increased attentions towards advantages of these systems. The use of Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) in complex interconnected power system for monitoring and control has increased significantly. This has resulted in huge amounts of data and growing databases, thus gearing towards an era where utilities might encounter an enormous amount of data daily from their measurement units including sensitive information useful for daily operations. With increasing …

The Impact Of Permeability Heterogeneity On Liquid Recovery From Gas Condensate Reservoir, Bashayer Alsanea

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

In gas condensate reservoirs, when reservoir pressure drops below dew point pressure as production takes place at the surface, hydrocarbon liquids begin to form. The volume of the liquid formed in the reservoir increases as the reservoir pressure declines below dew point pressure. In most gas condensate reservoirs, the liquid saturation in the formation does not reach to the critical level for liquid flow to occur. Therefore, the liquid formed as result of the pressure decline becomes trapped in the formation. The formation of the liquid in the reservoir causes the produced gas composition to change continuously leading to lower …