Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Increased Energy Yield Through Fast Pyrolysis: Empowering Malawian Villages, Diehl Mutamba

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Biomass contributes to several renewable energy technologies. This project will explore the use of fast pyrolysis to produce fuels by designing an apparatus for fast pyrolysis. Malawian people harvest firewood from the forests, which is a major contributor to deforestation. Furthermore, they convert some of it to charcoal with about 10-15% efficiency to sell to city dwellers. The project will enable herbaceous fuels to replace wood, increase charcoal yields and create new products. Firewood and charcoal produce smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) that compromises the villagers’ health.

This project will address deforestation problems, improve sustainability, decrease health hazards and improve …

NoX Formation In Light-Hydrocarbon, Premixed Flames, Robert T. Hughes

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering

This study explores the reactions and related species of NO_x pollutants in methane flames in order to understand their production and consumption during the combustion process. To do this, several analytical simulations were run to explore the behavior of nitrogen species in the pre-flame, post- flame, and reaction layer regions. The results were then analyzed in order to identify all "steady-state" species in the flame as well as the determine all the unnecessary reactions and species that are not required to meet a defined accuracy. The reductions were then applied and proven to be viable.