Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Upgrading Biological Treatment Of Wastewater At Dubai’S Plant By A Fixed-Film System, Rashid Ahmed Bin-Fahad

Theses

The wastewater treatment plant in Dubai, with a design capacity of 130,000 m³/d, receives primarily domestic wastewater and employs primary, secondary and tertiary stages of treatment to produce an effluent suitable for reuse in irrigation. Performance of the plant is influenced to a great extent by the success of the secondary aerobic biological treatment stage. This stage comprises the high-rate activated sludge system for removal of carbonaceous organics followed by the biofilter system for removal of nitrogenous material by nitrification. Operational problems have often been experienced at this plant because of increasing sludge solids production and sludge rising …

Far Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy Using Ring Interferometer, Changqing Qiu

Theses

A circular mirror interferometer named ring interferometer, which was designed by Dr. K.D. Moller, was built and set up for far-infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy. The ring interferometer has ten circular mirrors with the same area. By applying Fraunhofer diffraction theory, the calculation shows that the ring interferometer will have large diffraction angle range compared with lamellar grating interferometer which has rectangular mirrors with same width. Therefore the ring interferometer will be more efficient than lamellar grating in far-infrared spectroscopy. The experimental results show that this ring interferometer will work as expected.

In addition, a "home made" helium cooled detector was …

Characterization Of Three-Dimensional Shear Flows, Kurra Bhaswan

Theses

This work investigates techniques to analyze and characterize the presence of microstructure in moderately dilute three-dimensional shear flows. In three dimensional shear flows, a distinct structure develops as the coefficient of restitution is lowered with the particles exhibiting a strong tendency towards the formation of clusters. There exists a need to automatically detect and characterize this microstructure in the given flow. Several methods are examined for effective characterization of the microstructure. The techniques employed are based on the classification of the data based on the properties of the Voronoi diagram constructed from the positional parameters of the two-dimensional slices of …

Nitric Oxide Absorption From Flue Gas With Cumene Hydroperoxide Solution, Chung-Der Chen

Theses

The absorption of nitric oxide from gas streams with cumene hydroperoxide (CHP) in n-hexadecane (cetane) as the scrubbing solution was investigated. The efficiency of the scrubbing solution to remove nitric oxide was evaluated over the temperature range of 90 to 110°C, concentration range of 0.1 to 0.5M, and residence time of 12 to 80 seconds. The products were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and ion chromatography (IC). The goal of this research was to determine the NO removing efficiency of cumene hydroperoxide solution, a relatively inexpensive tertiary organic hydroperoxide. Also, a possible reaction mechanism for …

Finite-Element Ray Tracing, Yong-Chun Liu

Theses

The interesting acoustic modeling problems often push the practical limits of full-wave models. For instance, in acoustic tomography one needs to be able to predict the propagation of an acoustic pulse for successive realizations of 31) environments. For these types of problems ray methods continue to be attractive because of their speed. Unfortunately, existing codes are prone to a number of implementation difficulties which often degrade their accuracy.

As a result most ray models are actually incapable of producing the ray theoretic result. We discuss a. new method for implementing ray theory that uses a. finite-clement formulation. This method is …

Investigation Of Reaction Kinetics Of Hydrogen Chloride With Calcium Oxide By Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Maosheng Li

Theses

The kinetics of HCl reaction with CaO was investigated over the temperature range of 148 to 400 °C. A thin film of CaO was deposited on quartz wool and used as the sorbent. The HCl concentration was maintained uniformly in the closed system with a circulating pump in order to minimize the effects of the bulk mass transfer and pore diffusion. The HCl concentration was continuously monitored in a FT-IR cell and the HCl and H₂O spectra were collected automatically by GC software at 1.2 second intervals. In this way, fewer errors were introduced into the system. The …

Graphical Deep Knowledge Representation In Vodak/Vml Object-Oriented Database, Jue Wang

Theses

Applying Object-oriented concepts to the design of complex graphical interface has received great attention in the database and knowledge representation disciplines. Traditional CAD systems can not support efficient environments for design processes because they store information about all the objects for display purposes but do not store any knowledge for reasoning purposes. They are called "knowledge poor". "Graphical Deep Knowledge" in Artificial Intelligence has been proven successful to represent knowledge about objects for display purposes as well as reasoning purposes. We introduwd the theory of "Graphical Deep Knowledge" into the object-oriented database s stem VML to design a "Knowledge rich" …

Bayesian Methods In Preoperative Risk Assessment For Cardiac Surgery, Huey-Chung Teng

Theses

Many strides have been made in the last decade to improve the accuracy of preoperative risk estimation, particular for cardiovascular surgery. It is our goal to estimate the preoperative risk associated with cardiac bypass surgery for patients in different risk categories. These risk categories are determined by the Parsonett model.

The Parsonett model assigns a risk value to a range of risk factors consisting of patient attributes and disease parameters. Logistic modeling is applied to generate a comprehensive risk function. The database being utilized contains over 3,000 patients who have had cardiovascular surgery within the last 5 years.

This thesis …

Techniques Of Petri Net Reduction, Sreeranga Kalavapalli

Theses

Petri Nets have the capability to analyze large and complex concurrent systems. However, there is one constraint. The number of reachability states of the concurrent systems outweighs the capability of Petri Nets. Previous Petri Net reduction techniques focussed on reducing a subnet to a single transition and hence not powerful enough to reduce a Petri Net. This paper presents six reduction rules and discusses their drawbacks. A new reduction technique called Knitting Technique to delete paths of a Petri Net while retaining all the properties of the original net is presented. Further Structural matrix which facilitates reduction is presented.

Implementation Of An Object-Oriented University Database Using Vodak/Vml Prototype-2/C++, Bheeman Lingan, Madhumathi Tulasiram

Theses

Object-oriented database (OODB) technology has become very popular and successful in recent years. Currently, there are many commercial object-oriented database systems available that are used for developing large and complex real world applications. In addition, there are many research prototypes of object-oriented databases available. In a joint research project of the CIS Dept at NJIT and GMD-IPSI an object-oriented data model called the Dual Model was developed. Using this Dual Model a university environment database schema was designed. This univesity database schema was implemented using the VODAK/VML OODB prototype - 1. The university database was then reimplemented using the C++ …

Mixed Culture Biodegradation Of Pentachlorophenol, Hexachlorobenzene, And Tetrachloromethane Under Anaerobic Conditions, Jesse Zahn

Theses

Three chlorinated compounds, namely, Pentachlorophenol(PCP), Hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and Carbon tetrachloride were biodegraded under anaerobic conditions using a (CCl₄)mixed culture obtained from an anaerobic sewage sludge digestor in Linden, NJ.

Three sets of cultures capable of degrading each of the target compounds were established. Primary Enrichment Cultures (PECs) from the anaerobic sludge were exposed to each one of the target compounds. The cultures were able to degrade each target compound as follows: HCB, 0 to 1.2 ppm; PCP from 0 to 3-4 PPM; CCl₄, 0.5 to 15.5 PPM

One culture from each PEC group (CCl₄, …

Classification Of Patterns In Eeg Recordings : A Comparison Of Back-Propagation Networks Vs. Predictive Autoencoder Networks, Brian Armieri

Theses

Recent research exploring the use of neural networks for electro-encephalogram (EEG) pattern classification has found that a three-layer back-propagation network could be successfully trained to identify high voltage spike-and-wave spindle (HVS) patterns caused by epileptic seizures (Jando et. al., in press). However, there is no reason to predict that back-propagation is the best possible network architecture for EEG classification. A back-propagation neural network and a predictive autoencoder neural network were compared to determine which network was better at correct classifying both HVS and non-HVS patterns.

Both networks were able to classify 88%-89% of all patterns using a limited set of …

Implementing A Tool For Designing Portable Parallel Programs, Geetha Chitti

Theses

The Implementation aspects of a novel parallel programming model called Cluster-M is presented in this thesis. This model provides an environment for efficiently designing highly parallel portable software. The two main components of this model are Cluster-M Specifications and Cluster-M Representations. A Cluster-M Specification consists of a number of clustering levels emphasizing computation and communication requirements of a parallel solution to a given problem. A Cluster-M Representation on the other hand, represents a multi-layered partitioning of a system graph corresponding to the topology of the target architecture. A set of basic constructs essential for writing Cluster-M Specifications using PCN are …

An Elementary Reaction Model For Thermal Decomposition Of Cf2cl2 In A H2 Atmosphere And Experimental Studies On Oxidation Of Ch3oh Plus Ch4 Under Fuel Rich, Stoichiometric And Fuel Lean Conditions, Cheng Guo

Theses

Pyrolysis of CF₂CL₂ in an atmosphere of H₂, has been studied in a tubular flow reactor, 723 to 873 K. Overall eaction conversion proceeds via loss of Cl with CHF₂CL formation, then loss of the second Cl atom and CH₂F₂ product. Initiation occurs by unimolecular Cl atom loss. Subsequent chain propagation steps rapidly generate active H atoms which abstract Cl atoms, but abstraction of fluo-rine atoms by atomic hydrogen is slow at the temperatures of this study.

A small mechanism, about 35 elementary reaction steps, and a thermodynamic data base …

Non-Contact Measurement For Thermal Conductivity Of Diamond-Like And Hard Carbon Thin Films, Ganming Qin

Theses

In this research work, non-contact temperature measurement was applied to determine the thermal conductivity of diamond-like and hard carbon thin films. Dielectric materials widely used as thin films in device manufacturing are SiO₂, Si₃N₄, polymer, and etc. However, their heat dissipating capacity is not good for power devices. It is necessary to develop a new material for this purpose. Diamond crystal is a high quality dielectric material. It has the highest room-temperature thermal conductivity [k=20W (cm · K) at 20°C] among all materials. In addition, it has high electrical resistivity ( >10¹⁶ Ω …

Recursive Soft Morphological Filters, Padmaja Puttagunta

Theses

Mathematical morphology which is based on set-theoretic concept, extracts object features by choosing a suitable structuring shape as a probe. Morphological filters are set operations that transform an image into a quantitative description of its geometrical structure: Appropriately used, they can eliminate noises or irrelevancies while preserv¬ing the details of the original image. The applications of morphological filters in image processing and analysis are numerous, which include shape recognition, industrial parts inspection, nonlinear filtering, and biomedical image processing.

Soft morphological filters are used for smoothing signals with the advantage of being less sensitive to additive noises and to small variations …

A Thermal Desorption Modulator For Continuous Monitoring Of Volatile Organic Compounds, Yun Chen

Theses

A thermal desorption modulator is made from a short segment of thin tubing containing an adsorbent or a chromatographic stationary phase. A carrier gas containing the analyte is introduced into the analytical column through the modulator which acts as a sample trap. Rapid electrical heating of the modulator releases a "concentration pulse" of the analyte and this serves as an injection similar to that from an injection valve. The modulator also acts as a sample preconcentrator and can be used to make repetitive injections every few seconds. In this research, the mechanism of thermal desorption modulator was studied and was …

An Enhancement And Improvement Of A Prototype Distributed System Based On Elements Of An Integration Architecture, Kunal R. Shah

Theses

The concepts and results presented in this thesis are related to Integrated System Development. It provides introduction to Generic System Integration Framework (GenSIF). And hence its three principal components, Domain Analysis, Integration Architectures and Enabling Technology. It addresses certain issues of distributed processing relating to systems integration.

The primary objective of this thesis is to develop/improve a prototype by applying concepts and ideas presented in GenSIF, with an example channel based building block integration architecture as an example. This prototype was developed with the objective of studying the effect of system intregration framework in mind while working on an application. …

A Comparison Of Integration Architectures, Amar Mahidadia

Theses

This paper presents GenSIF, a Generic Systems Integration Framework. GenSIF features a pre-planned development process on a domain-wide basis and facilitates system integration and project coordination for very large, complex and distributed systems. Domain analysis, integration architecture design and infrastructure design are identified as the three main components of GenSIF. In the next step we map Beilcore's OSCA interoperability architecture, ANSA, IBM's SAA and Bull's DCM into GenSIF. Using the GenSIF concepts we compare each of these architectures.

GenSIF serves as a general framework to evaluate and position specific architecture. The OSCA architecture is used to discuss the impact of …

Systems Integration In Pharmaceutical Industry Using Object-Oriented Expert System Technology, Korrapolu Reddy

Theses

SPHINX is an object-oriented expert system addressed to solve the burning problems of pharmaceutical industry. SPHINX stands for Systems integration in PHarmaceutical INdustry using object-oriented eXpert system technology.

Various problems that American pharmaceutical industries are facing have been explained. Using the revolutionary object-oriented concepts and the powerful expert systems technology, it has been shown how a prescription can be written to solve all the problems of pharmaceutical industries. A problem "Minimizing the wastage of Interferon" has been taken to demonstrate the power of Object-oriented Expert System technology.

A Petri Net Toolkit For Parallel Program Debugging, Potla Kishore Reddy

Theses

An effective debugger must support the language and operating system resource abstractions that are available to the programmer. Earlier debuggers worked at the machine architecture level: they dealt with machine instructions and registers. Current debuggers, designed for single process debugging, permit access to program variables and breakpoints and single-stepping at the level of high-level language statements. Eventhough the current debuggers, are already implemented to be a powerful tool, they still cannot do a job of parallel debugger.

In this thesis, a computer simulation system has been established by Petri Nets execution providing a convenient and friendly interface as it allows …

Application Of Organophilic Clay, Koshy Koshy

Theses

The overall goal of this project is to asses the feasibility of using clay to filter water contaminated with organic contaminants. The clays that were used were provided by the Union Carbide Corporation and the Industrial Mineral Ventures (IMV), a division of Floridin company. The organic contaminants that this project concentrated on were, naphthalene, 1,4-dioxane, and phenol. The feasibility studies were done by batch isotherm studies. The protocol for the batch studies were the same as the ones used previously for granular activated carbon. This project looked at a total of six Union Carbide clays and five IMV Floridin clays. …

The Flow Approach To Swept Volume, Haitao Jiang

Theses

In this thesis, a method for representing swept volume based on the sweep differential equation and sweep vector field flow is developed. This method can be used to determine the boundary representation of a swept volume generated by any polygonal object undergoing a general smooth 2-D sweep. For any given sweep and object, a. set of candidate boundary points is computed using a selection criterion based on vector field behavior. The set of candidate boundary points is then trimmed in order to obtain the true boundary of the swept volume. This trimming procedure is based on some simple topological principles …

Protocol Conformance Test Generation Using Circular Uio With Overlapping, Sesharao Patchipala

Theses

The purpose of the protocol conformance testing is to ensure that protocol implementations are consistent with their specifications. After the U-method was introduced, several test methods based on the Unique Input/Output (UI0) sequences which were the main concept in the U-method have been proposed, namely, the RCP-method, MUIO-method, MUIO with overlapping method, B-method, C-method. A good test sequence must be short and have wide fault coverage. By comparing the test sequences generated by the above test methods based on experimental results, reveals that the test sequences by the MUIO with overlapping method are the worst in quality but their lengths …

Computer Implementation Of Mason's Rule And Software Development Of Stochastic Petri Nets, Xiaoyong Zhao

Theses

A symbolic performance analysis approach for discrete event systems can be formulated based on the integration of Petri nets and Moment Generating Function concepts [1-3]. The key steps in the method include modeling a system with arbitrary stochastic Petri nets (ASPN), generation of state machine Petri nets with transfer functions, derivation of equivalent transfer functions, and symbolic derivation of transfer functions to obtain the performance measures. Since Mason's rule can be used to effectively derive the closed-form transfer function, its computer implementation plays a very important role in automating the above procedure. This thesis develops the computer implementation of Mason's …