Engineering Commons^™

Mechanical Characterization Of Spherical Hydrogels: Contact Diameter Measurement, Joshua Bunch

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

In an effort to develop new ophthalmic treatments revolving around the ocular lens, the mechanical characteristics of natural ocular lenses and synthetic models must be determined and compared. One mechanical characteristic that is necessary when making comparisons is the variation of contact circle diameter or contact area with varying strains. A method was used in this experiment to measure the varying contact circle diameter of spherical hydrogels at strains up to 15%. This method could be used to estimate the varying contact diameter of other similar materials such as natural ocular lenses if the precision of the method is improved. …

Nanoparticles For Enhanced Delivery Of Chemotherapeutics, Emily J. Bahram-Ahi

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

Delivery of the anticancer drug paclitaxel (commercially known as Taxol®) is difficult due to its limited solubility in aqueous media. This study proposes a novel bubble bursting technique to generate nanoparticles of the chemotherapeutic in an effort to decrease potential side effects and improve the bioavailability of hydrophobic drugs. The bubble bursting apparatus will be used to produce nanoparticles of a biodegradable polymer, poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA), as carriers for paclitaxel. The dissolved paclitaxel in this biodegradable polymer matrix will be released at a controlled rate for a more efficient delivery of the drug throughout the body.

Automation Of Process Data Management, Stephen C. Chadwick

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The project goal is to create an automated system for managing data that describes a chemical process. The data is both graphical, such as piping and instrumentation diagrams, and numerical, such as pipe schedule and diameter. AutoLisp and C++ programs were developed and tested to simplify the creation of the automated system.

The Affects Of Butyl Acetate And Acetone On Plexiglass, Tracy E. Downs

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The actions that solvents take on polymers was the focus of the summer 1993 research. There were two goals: one was to measure the distances between the cracks that formed in the plexiglass and two was to determine the time of arrival of the cracks. Two solvents, butyl acetate and acetone were used to generate data on polymethyl methacrylate (PMNA/Plexiglass).

The measurement of the time of arrival of a crack was another goal. This quantity is related to the growth of the fractures. This was difficult since only a localized portion of the plexiglass sample could be viewed.

Solvent Recovery For An Extraction Process, Denise C. Ratcliff

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The solvent recovery project involves the recovery of a valuable solute, acetic acid, from a spend solvent stream generated in a laboratory extraction experiment. The majority of this project’s efforts center on the simulation of a ten-stage distillation column that will recover the acid. These simulation results will then be used to specify the ancillary process equipment needed for this distillation process.

The Development Of Equipment Specification Form From The Pdxi Data Models, Justin M. Juengel

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The project has culminated in the development of a simplistic working model, based upon the existing data model created by the Process Data Exchange Institute (PDXI). This data model is depicted in Volume 1 of the deliverables for the PDXI Data File Interchange Format Project. The working model, based in part on the Planning Level Model and the Heat Transfer Model [1] of the overall data model, was then used to create an equipment specification form (Fig 1) for a heat exchanger, partially utilizing the standards set forth by the Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association (TEMA).

An Extension Of Pdxi Data Models To Include Process Control Data, Joseph D. Graber

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The results described herein have culminated into the creation of an object model which extends an existing engineering data model to include process control data. The existing data model is described in Volume I of the deliverables for the Process Data Exchange Institute (PDXI) Data File Interchange Format Project. This object model was created using the OMTooP software package on Sun Stations in the Intelligent Systems Center(ISC) of the University of Missouri--Rolla (UMR). It expands on the classes of signal port, control element, and control system.

Skin Effects Due To Perforations -- A Study Of Analysis Techniques, Jon Michael Gibbs

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

Until 1991, two methods could be used to evaluate the skin effect due to perforations, the Brons and Marting Method and the Harris Method. Due to the simplicity of the technique, the Brons and Marting Method has been the preferred method of use in the petroleum industry. However, with the recent development of a third technique to evaluate the skin effect due to perforations, the need has arisen to evaluate each of these techniques to determine which method is the most accurate under given conditions. This paper reviews and compares each of the three methods for evaluating the perforations skin. …

Fixed Site Facilitated Transport Of Oxygen And Nitrogen Through Plasma Polymer Films, Chad Dunnegan

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

A method of preparing plasma polymer films, in which metal chelate molecules are incorporated, is briefly outlined. The chemical reactivity of metal chelate molecules is preserved so that they may ”facilitate” the transport of oxygen molecules through the membrane. The method for testing permeability of the films is presented and results are analyzed with respect to the dual mode sorption model, applied to fixed site facilitated transport.

Forced Convective Diffusion And Interphase Heat And Mass Transfer: Computations Of Radial Functions, Temperature And Concentration Fields, And Presentation Of Local And Average Nusselt And Sherwood Numbers, Stephen Myers, X B. Reed Jr., N. Y. Shah, A. E. Penn

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

Theoretical calculations have been carried out for forced convective transport for uniform streaming and uniaxial and biaxial extensional axisymmetric flows past single spheres. Homogeneous and heterogeneous chemical reactions, both of first and of second order have also been or are presently being treated. Orthogonality and other properties of Legendre functions have been used, together with introduction of an eigenfunction expansion, to reduce the mathematical description from a partial differential equation with variable coefficients, which is nonlinear for homogeneous second order chemical reactions, to a system of coupled ordinary differential equations for the radial modes. The numerical solutions of the latter …

Sporomorphs And Palynological Interpretations Of Lower Oligocene Strata From The Eastern Gulf Coast, U.S.A., Lisa M. Reeves

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The Vicksburg Group in the eastern Gulf Coast of the United States belongs to one of the most complete and continuous Paleogene strata in the world. Previous studies in this region have neglected the rich palynomorph assemblages of the Lower Oligocene units of the Vicksburg Group. Four samples from Wayne County Mississippi were analyzed for palynological information on the Vicksburg Group. The initial objective of the study was to understand the principles of palynology and the basis for sporomorph identification. A minimum of 300 specimens were counted per slide to determine the distribution of sporomorphs in the sediments. Two hundred …

High-Pressure Wateijet Technology: A Review And Design Of High-Pressure Hybrid Drillbits, Azmi Zainal Adnan

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The petroleum industry has seen many technological advances since oil was first discovered in the 19th century. Some of the current technological advances in the industry include cuttings transport, drillbit design, logging, and horizontal and directional drilling. Currently, research projects are being done at UMR to find ways to further reduce drilling costs and develop new technology that could improve the drilling effectiveness. One such project is the development of high- pressure waterjet / hybrid bits to replace the conventional mechanical drillbits. In this design, the advantages of waterjet penetration are combined with those of mechanical teeth cutting action..

At …

Interactive Multimedia Applications For The Correlations Of Petroleum Fluids Properties, Herman Smith Iii

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

Interactive Multimedia Applications for the Correlations of Petroleum Fluids Properties is a truly interactive and multimedia computer application designed to better help students taking the class "The Properties of Petroleum Fluids", Petroleum Engineering 141. This computer program incorporates error and information voice messages, control over three different computer applications (HyperCard 2.2, Mathcad V3.1, and DeskPaint™ V3.2), three-dimensional multi-coloration, pop-up graphics, directional buttons, object/label-oriented programming, and floating palettes. This creates one computer application to calculate petroleum properties versus the use of multiple, often crowded graphs.

Development Of A Bill Of Materials From The Pdxi Data Models, Bryan A. Stanford

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The research on the development of a bill of materials has resulted in the construction of a portion of the working data model, as designed in theory by the Process Data Exchange Institute (PDXI). The theoretical object model can be found in The PDXI Data Models [1]. It was necessary to develop this working data model in order to be able to produce the bill of materials. The bill of materials was created with the help of the software package Paradox for Windows (version 4.0).

Behavior Of Bubble Columns, Clint Davison

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

In the research program I studied different methods used in mixing gas and liquid in industrial reactors. I was introduced to the bubble column, the airlift reactor, and the bubbling stir tank through text reading, experimentation, and designing. From readings coming from the instrument and observation with my own eyes, I was able to learn much about the flow of particles in tanks such these.

The bubble column and the airlift reactor contain two sections of water flow (riser and downcomer). The riser area has a lower bulk density of fluid because of the rising air bubbles. The downcomer area …

Two-Phase Flow Measurement, Glenn Brenneke

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

Liquid fuel engines have many applications in today's world. Diesel, spark-ignition, and gas turbine engines, and furnaces are just a few of the many applications of liquid fuel sprays. With the rising cost of fuel and need for energy conservation it is imperative that more efficient engines be developed. Analyzing liquid fuel spray characteristics non-intrusively could unlock the door to powerful highly efficient engines in the future.

The vaporization of fuel is mandatory in liquid fuel combustion. Vaporization and the fuel to air ratio are important characteristics of the spark-ignition engine. Compression ignition is controlled by the parameters of the …

Model Calculational Approach To The Conformation Of Adsorbed Polypeptide Fragments, Timothy J. Mckeon

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The focus of the paper is to examine possible conformational changes of peptides when placed in the presence of a poly-synthetic material. A major concern in the pharmaceutical industry is the loss of potency of polypeptide drug products during processing, packaging and storage. An example of this is polymer syringes being used in place of glass ones. The effect is that some protien-derived products experience structural changes due to contact with the polymer. This is otherwise known as surface denaturation. In order to understand the energetics of interfacial polypeptide systems, a calculational approach was used via the program Alchemy. The …

Establishment Of A Phase/Doppler Particle Analyzer For Two-Phase Flow Experiments, J. L. Burget

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The accurate measurement of liquid spray drop size and velocity is important in a variety of applications. These applications include agricultural sprays, furnaces, spark ignition and compression ignition engines, gas turbines, and a variety of industrial processes. Because of the need to improve combustion efficiency and minimize soot and other harmful emissions, one of the most active areas of research is fuel spray combustion. Quantitative measurements of the vapor phase in fuel sprays is vital to the understanding of spray dynamics and the operation of combustion devices.

There are various measurement techniques available to measure vapor phase characteristics in a …