Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

A Study On The Integration Of A Novel Absorption Chiller Into A Microscale Combined Cooling, Heating, And Power (Micro-Cchp) System, Scott J. Richard

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the application of micro-CCHP systems that utilize a 30 kW gas microturbine and an absorption chiller. Engineering Equation Solver (EES) is used to model a novel single-effect and double-effect water-lithium bromide absorption chiller that integrates the heat recovery unit and cooling tower of a conventional CCHP system into the chiller’s design, reducing the cost and footprint of the system. The results of the EES model are used to perform heat and material balances for the micro-CCHP systems employing the novel integrated chillers, and energy budgets for these systems are developed. While the thermal performance of existing CCHP …

Fully Coupled Fluid And Electrodynamic Modeling Of Plasmas: A Two-Fluid Isomorphism And A Strong Conservative Flux-Coupled Finite Volume Framework, Richard Joel Thompson

Doctoral Dissertations

Ideal and resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) have long served as the incumbent framework for modeling plasmas of engineering interest. However, new applications, such as hypersonic flight and propulsion, plasma propulsion, plasma instability in engineering devices, charge separation effects and electromagnetic wave interaction effects may demand a higher-fidelity physical model. For these cases, the two-fluid plasma model or its limiting case of a single bulk fluid, which results in a single-fluid coupled system of the Navier-Stokes and Maxwell equations, is necessary and permits a deeper physical study than the MHD framework. At present, major challenges are imposed on solving these physical models …

Characterization Of The Drilling Via The Vibration Augmenter Of Rotary-Drills And Sound Signal Processing Of Impacted Pipe As A Potential Water Height Assessment Tool, Nicholas Morris

STAR Program Research Presentations

The focus of the internship has been on two topics: a) Characterize the drilling performance of a novel percussive augmenter – this drill was developed by the JPL’s Advanced Technologies Group and its performance was characterized; and b) Examine the feasibility of striking a pipe as a means of assessing the water height inside the pipe. The purpose of this investigation is to examine the possibility of using a simple method of applying impacts to a pipe wall and determining the water height from the sonic characteristic differences including damping, resonance frequencies, etc. Due to multiple variables that are relevant …

Supersonic Turbine Cascade Studies Using Computational Fluid Dynamics And Water Table Experiments, Shelby E. Nelson

Honors College Theses

Design engineers use a variety of tools to perform calculations and to aid in the design process. For example, engineers designing gas turbines, specifically the aerodynamicists, use a combination of hand calculations, experimental data, and complex numerical codes to simulate air flow around each blade. Aerodynamicists designing gas turbines must predict the locations of the shocks to locate inefficiencies in the flow. In this thesis, three methods of calculating the shock angles are compared: analytical, experimental, and computational. Three different airfoil shapes are tested: a rectangular flat plate, a supersonic diamond, and a turbine airfoil. Cascade tests of the airfoil …

Universal Scaling And Intrinsic Classification Of Electro-Mechanical Actuators, Sambit Palit, Ankit Jain, Muhammad A. Alam

Birck and NCN Publications

Actuation characteristics of electromechanical (EM) actuators have traditionally been studied for a few specific regular electrode geometries and support (anchor) configurations. The ability to predict actuation characteristics of electrodes of arbitrary geometries and complex support configurations relevant for broad range of applications in switching, displays, and varactors, however, remains an open problem. In this article, we provide four universal scaling relationships for EM actuation characteristics that depend only on the mechanical support configuration and the corresponding electrode geometries, but are independent of the specific geometrical dimensions and material properties of these actuators. These scaling relationships offer an intrinsic classification for …

Influence Of Mechanical And Thermal Boundary Conditions On Stabilizing/Destabilizing Mechanisms In Evaporating Liquid Films, Aneet Dharmavaram Narendranath

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Liquid films, evaporating or non-evaporating, are ubiquitous in nature and technology. The dynamics of evaporating liquid films is a study applicable in several industries such as water recovery, heat exchangers, crystal growth, drug design etc. The theory describing the dynamics of liquid films crosses several fields such as engineering, mathematics, material science, biophysics and volcanology to name a few.

Interfacial instabilities typically manifest by the undulation of an interface from a presumed flat state or by the onset of a secondary flow state from a primary quiescent state or both. To study the instabilities affecting liquid films, an evaporating/non-evaporating Newtonian …

Mechaniczny Rozdział Faz Proj., Wojciech M. Budzianowski

Wojciech Budzianowski

No abstract provided.

Challenges And Prospects Of Processes Utilising Carbonic Anhydrase For Co2 Separation, Patrycja Szeligiewicz, Wojciech M. Budzianowski

Wojciech Budzianowski

This article provides an analysis of processes for separation CO2 by using carbonic anhydrase enzyme with particular emphasis on reactive-membrane solutions. Three available processes are characterised. Main challenges and prospects are given. It is found that in view of numerous challenges practical applications of these processes will be difficult in near future. Further research is therefore needed for improving existing processes through finding methods for eliminating their main drawbacks such as short lifetime of carbonic anhydrase or low resistance of reactive membrane systems to impurities contained in flue gases from power plants.

Project Haiti 2012: Providing An Experiential Learning Experience Through The Design And Delivery Of A Water Purifier In Haiti, Yung Wong, Johnathon Camp, Shavin Pinto, Kyle Fennesy, Marc Compere, Yan Tang

Publications

In this paper, we share our experiences and lessons learned from Project Haiti 2012, a project to design and install a water purification system serving 20,000 people per day in the largest tent city in Haiti. Project Haiti 2012 was the third and largest system we have built for Haitians and represents a huge success for all participants and stakeholders. This paper discusses the unique experiential learning opportunity involved in the design and delivery of the water purifier in a foreign developing country. Multiple positive educational, social, and economic outcomes were achieved including students applying knowledge gained from coursework towards …

A Block Operator Splitting Method For Heterogeneous Multiscale Poroelasticity, Paul M. Delgado

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Traditional models of poroelastic deformation in porous media assume relatively homogeneous material properties such that macroscopic constitutive relations lead to accurate results. Many realistic applications involve heterogeneous material properties whose oscillatory nature require multiscale methods to balance accuracy and efficiency in computation.

The current study develops a multiscale method for poroelastic deformation based on a fixed point iteration based operator splitting method and a heterogeneous multiscale method using finite volume and direct stiffness methods. To characterize the convergence

of the operator splitting method, we use a numerical root finding algorithm to determine a threshold surface in a non-dimensional parameter space …

Determination Of Kinetic Parameters From The Thermogravimetric Data Set Of Biomass Samples, Karol Postawa, Wojciech M. Budzianowski

Wojciech Budzianowski

This article describes methods of the determination of kinetic parameters from the thermogravimetric data set of biomass samples. It presents the methodology of the research, description of the needed equipment, and the method of analysis of thermogravimetric data. It describes both methodology of obtaining quantitative data such as kinetic parameters as well as of obtaining qualitative data like the composition of biomass. The study is focused mainly on plant biomass because it is easy in harvesting and preparation. Methodology is shown on the sample containing corn stover which is subsequently pyrolysed. The investigated sample show the kinetic of first order …