Engineering Commons^™

Lead Bioaccessibility And Commonly Measured Soil Characteristics (Detroit, Mi, Usa) – Phase 1, Sabrina R. Good, Allison R. Harris, Patrick Crouch, Conor T. Gowan, William D. Shuster, Shawn P. Mcelmurry

Open Data at Wayne State

Contaminated urban soil is one of the major contributors to child Pb exposure. To gain a better understanding of Pb risk in urban areas, composite samples were collected from 142 residential, privately owned, parcels in Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park, Michigan, with approval from the property owners. The proximity of soil sampling and former smelter locations were also reported. Sample were collected from areas covered with turf grass. Four samples were collected, one from each cardinal direction (north, south, east, and west), 20 cm from an aluminum tent stake driven into the center of the sampling site. Soils were collected …

Assessing Boil Water Notices As Health-Risk Communication: Risk Perceptions, Efficacy, And Compliance During Winter Storm Uri, Ashleigh M. Day, Sydney O'Shay, Khairul Islam, Matthew W. Seeger, Shawn P. Mcelmurry

Open Data at Wayne State

Winter Storm Uri was an extreme disaster that impacted much of the United States during February of 2021. Texas and Oklahoma were generally not prepared for such an event and experienced massive power grid failures. This led to cascading risks including water system disruptions and many boil water notices (BWNs). The breakdown of some communication channels and the inability to enact protective actions due to power outages, as well as travel limitations on public roads, complicated both dissemination and implementation. Under these conditions, a non-representative, cross-sectional, survey was collected to assess individuals experience BWNs and how perceived efficacy impacts compliance. …

Novel Design And Facile Synthesis Of Functional Nanostructures For Energy And Environmental Application, Zhuojun Wang

Wayne State University Theses

Environmental pollution and energy crisis are two of the major obstacles in the development of a more sustainable society. It is an interesting but technically challenging task to design novel methods for the facile and scalable synthesis of multifunctional materials for applications in both energy storage and environmental remediation. In this thesis, I tried to design and synthesize novel nanostructured materials for energy and environmental applications, achieved highly promising results. I developed a facile electrochemical approach to synthesize the zinc oxide with the zinc element for photocatalytic reactions. It demonstrated dramatically improved performances in degradation of organic pollutant in water, …

Ac Conductivity Studies Of Polyethylene-Oxide-Garnet Type Li7la3zr2o12 Hybrid Composite Solid Polymer Electrolyte For Li-Ion Battery, Parisa Bashiri

Wayne State University Dissertations

Solid electrolytes including ceramics and polymers are considered to be the ultimate substitute for organic liquid electrolytes currently used in commercialized lithium ion batteries to address the safety concerns due to Li dendrite growth and internal short circuiting. However, low ionic conductivity due to high grain boundary resistance in ceramics and semi-crystalline nature of polymers has held back the solid electrolytes from being used in Li-ion batteries. Polyethylene oxide (PEO), complexed with a Li-salt, is a well-studied polymer electrolyte showing ionic conductivity properties at room temperature. However, the coexistence of amorphous and crystalline regions at room temperature (< Tm, the melting temperature) has

-8 -6 …

Characterization, Modeling, And Thermal Management Of High-Performance Lithium Batteries, Minjun Bae

Wayne State University Theses

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, as one of the most advanced commercial rechargeable batteries, play a crucial role in modern society as they are extensively used in portable electronic devices. Nevertheless, the limited electrochemical performance and poor thermal management systems of Li-ion batteries have hindered the expansion of their future applications. In search of alternative electrode materials to develop a battery with higher electrochemical performance, lithium (Li) metal has attracted much attention as an ideal alternative anode material due to its high specific capacity and lowest redox potential. However, needle-like Li dendritic growth causes severe safety concerns and thus prohibits practical applications …

Programming Of Collaborative Robot (Cobot) To Selectively Disassemble Products To Obtain Critical Materials, Brittany Felder

Research Opportunities for Engineering Undergraduates (ROEU) Program 2018-19

End-of-life products that contain critical materials, such as rare earth magnets, are often discarded even though there is remaining value that can be fed back into a remanufacturing process. This research aims to develop high throughput and economic value recovery from electric machines using collaborative robotics.

Fundamental Insights On The Electrolysis Of Co2 Using Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells, Juliana Silva Alves Carneiro

Wayne State University Dissertations

The work reported in this thesis focused on providing a fundamental understanding, at the molecular level, required to guide the effective design of electrocatalysts towards a superior reaction kinetics on the electrode of solid oxide electrolysis cells SOECs devices (SOECs) during the CO2 electrolysis. High temperature SOECs are electrochemical energy conversion technologies, that have emerged as promising alternatives to mitigate environmental issues associated with combustion-based technologies, such as the rising atmospheric CO2 levels. The conversion of excess CO2 into high-energy molecules, such as CO can be efficiently achieved through the use of SOEC – which facilitates the electrochemical reduction of …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Biochar For Treating Wsu Parking Lot Runoff, Alan-Christian Thomas

Research Opportunities for Engineering Undergraduates (ROEU) Program 2017-18

Various pollutants including pesticides, herbicides, automotive fluids, and excess nutrients from fertilizers are found in high concentrations in urban runoff. There are many technologies that can be used to control and redirect the water flow such as retention basins, constructed wetlands, and rain gardens; however, these methods are specifically focused on controlling water and not necessarily the nutrients and contaminants in the water. There has recently been an increased interest in the potential for using additional materials (e.g., compost, charcoal) to enhance the pollution treatment ability by either adding them to the soil or by engineering prefilters to remove pollutants …

Integrated Strategies For Sustainable Wastewater-Based Algal Biofuel Production And Environmental Mitigation In The Us, Javad Roostaei

Wayne State University Dissertations

Integration of algae cultivation with wastewater treatment has received increasing interest as a cost-effective strategy for biofuel production. However, there has been no full assessment of algal biofuel production with wastewater on macro-scale by taking into account wastewater resources, land availability, CO2 emission resources, and geographic variation. This research addressed and evaluated the use of wastewater for algae cultivation, in terms of modeling and laboratory experiments. The first goal of this research was to develop a spatially explicit lifecycle model, by integrating life cycle assessment (LCA), and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis, for the evaluation of the environmental and economic …

Study Of Periodical Flow Heat Transfer In An Internal Combustion Engine, Xi Luo

Wayne State University Dissertations

In-cylinder heat transfer is one of the most critical physical behaviors which has a direct influence on engine out emission and thermal efficiency for IC engine. In-cylinder wall temperature has to be precisely controlled to achieve high efficiency and low emission. However, this cannot be done without knowing gas-to-wall heat flux. This study reports on the development of a technique suitable for engine in-cylinder surface temperature measurement, as the traditional method is “hard to reach.” A laser induced phosphorescence technique was used to study in-cylinder wall temperature effects on engine out unburned hydrocarbons during the engine transitional period (warm up). …

Novel Design And Synthesis Of Transition Metal Hydroxides And Oxides For Energy Storage Device Applications, Peifeng Li

Wayne State University Theses

Supercapacitors (SCs) and Li-ion batteries (LIBs) are two types of important electrical energy storage devices with high power density and high energy density respectively. However, to satisfy the increasing demand of high-performance energy storage devices, the energy density of SCs and power/energy densities of LIBs have to be further improved. The exploration, research, and development of electrode materials with high-performance for applications in SCs and LIBs are still needed to meet the ever-increasing demand on energy and power densities. Herein, the amorphous Ni-Co-Mo ternary hydroxides nanoflakes for SCs and oxides nanoflakes for LIBs with ultrathin stature, abundant open spaces, and …

Enhanced Pump Schedule Optimization For Large Water Distribution Networks To Maximize Environmental And Economic Benefits, Seyed Mohsen Sadatiyan Abkenar

Wayne State University Dissertations

For more than four decades researchers tried to develop optimization method and tools to reduce electricity consumption of pump stations of water distribution systems. Based on this ongoing research trend, about a decade ago, some commercial pump operation optimization software introduced to the market. Using metaheuristic and evolutionary techniques (e.g. Genetic Algorithm) make some commercial and research tools able to optimize the electricity cost of small water distribution systems (WDS). Still reducing the environmental footprint of these systems and dealing with large and complicated water distribution system is a challenge.

In this study, we aimed to develop a multiobjective optimization …

Nano-Structured Electrocatalysts For High Performance Lithium Sulfur Batteries, Negar Mosavati

Wayne State University Dissertations

Ni nanoparticles has been investigated as a carbon-free cathode material for dissolved polysulfide Li-S battery. A series of Ni nanoparticles with nominal particle size of 20, 40, and 100 nm have been used as electrocatalysts, and the effect of particle size on Li-S battery performance has been investigated. In addition, graphene has been chosen as a support to anchor the Ni nanoparticles, and the synergetic effect of carbon material and Ni nanoparticles on Li-S battery electrochemical performance has been studied. The results indicated there is a strong particle size effect. Ni/graphene electrode exhibits a capacity of 753 mAh g-1 sulfur …

New Approaches To Chalcogenide Materials For Thermoelectrics: Lead Telluride-Based Nanostructures And Facile Synthesis Of Tetrahedrite And Doped Derivatives, Derak Justin James

Wayne State University Dissertations

The overall purpose of this work is to address several of the roadblocks to use of thermoelectric materials for generation of electricity, namely inefficient processing of materials and low performance, commonly rated by the figure of merit, ZT=T2/tot. The ZT includes  as the Seebeck coefficient,  as electrical resistivity, T as the average temperature, and tot as total thermal conductivity. tot is the sum of electronic charge carrier (C) and lattice (L) contributions to thermal conductivity. Attempts to increase ZT in the literature to values >1 have focused on decreasing the thermal conductivity via nanostructuring or optimizing the electrical …

Novel Design And Synthesis Of Structured Iron Oxides For Battery Applications, Jian Zhu

Wayne State University Dissertations

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are currently the dominant powder source for personal computers and portable electronics. LIBs also play important roles in larger-scale applications, including electric drive vehicles (EVs, HEVs) and grid-energy storage. To meet the increasing demand for energy storage, it is very urgent and crucial to develop next-generation LIBs using alternative electrode materials. For example, carbon is still exclusively used as anode materials in current LIBs. However, the theoretical capacity of graphite (372 mA h g–1 based on LiC6) has almost been achieved, and it becomes one of the bottlenecks to further increase the energy density of LIBs based …

A Decision Modeling For Phasor Measurement Unit Location Selection In Smart Grid Systems, Seung Yup Lee

Wayne State University Theses

As a key technology for enhancing the smart grid system, Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) provides synchronized phasor measurements of voltages and currents of wide-area electric power grid. With various benefits from its application, one of the critical issues in utilizing PMUs is the optimal site selection of units.

The main aim of this research is to develop a decision support system, which can be used in resource allocation task for smart grid system analysis. As an effort to suggest a robust decision model and standardize the decision modeling process, a harmonized modeling framework, which considers operational circumstances of component, is …

The Energy Trilogy: An Integrated Sustainability Model To Bridge Wastewater Treatment Plant Energy And Emissions Gaps, A. Adhim A. Altalibi

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

An estimated 4% of national energy consumption is used for drinking water and wastewater services. Despite the awareness and optimization initiatives for energy conservation, energy consumption is on the rise owing to population and urbanization expansion and to commercial and industrial business advancement. The principal concern is since energy consumption grows, the higher will be the energy production demand, leading to an increase in CO2 footprints and the contribution to global warming potential.

This research is in the area of energy-water nexus, focusing on wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) energy trilogy - the group of three related entities, which includes …

Development Of Silicon-Based Anodes And In-Situ Characterization Techniques For Lithium Ion Batteries, Jinho Yang

Wayne State University Dissertations

Development of lithium ion batteries (LIBs) with higher capacity has been booming worldwide, as growing concerns about environmental issues and increasing petroleum costs. The demands for the LIBs include high energy and power densities, and better cyclic stability in order to meet a wide range of applications, such as portable devices and electric vehicles. Silicon has recently been explored as a promising anode material due to its low discharge potential (<0.4 V) and high specific capacity (4200 mAh g^-1). The capacity of silicon potentially exceeds more than 10 times of the conventional graphite anode (372 mAh g^-1). However, the silicon anode experiences huge volume …

Study Of Tin-Based Electrodes And Ionic Liquid Electrolytes For Energy Storage Materials, Mahbuba Ara

Wayne State University Dissertations

Due to rapid increase in energy demand, modern society necessitates to develop high power, light-weight, and more economical energy storage systems. Rechargeable Li-ion batteries and Li-oxygen batteries have become the most promising energy devices in terms of energy and power densities. Diverse research on these battery components is being carried out by researchers worldwide to improve power density to meet the future requirements. The possible routes to improving power density of Li-ion as well as Li-oxygen batteries is to use nanostructured, hybrid electrode materials since they can significantly enhance kinetics of electrochemical reactions; and ion-conducting, low volatile electrolytes since they …

Coupled Sediment Yield And Sediment Transport Model To Support Navigation Planning In Northeast Brazil, Calvin Trebor Creech

Wayne State University Dissertations

Deposition of sediment (shoaling) in commercial waterways is a major obstacle to maintaining sustainable riverine transportation of bulk goods (primarily agricultural and mining commodities). The rate of aggradation of sediment in a waterway is directly related to both the rate of sediment erosion from upland and river bank sources (sediment yield) and the energy in the river to effectively transport the sediment through the waterway system (sediment transport). Historically, methods used for waterway development have included trial and error or rules of thumb associated with river training structures and chute cut-off canals or engineering of navigation locks and dams. More …

Mission Aware Energy Saving Strategies For Army Ground Vehicles, Macam Dattathreya

Wayne State University Dissertations

Fuel energy is a basic necessity for this planet and the modern technology to perform many activities on earth. On the other hand, quadrupled automotive vehicle usage by the commercial industry and military has increased fuel consumption. Military readiness of Army ground vehicles is very important for a country to protect its people and resources. Fuel energy is a major requirement for Army ground vehicles. According to a report, a department of defense has spent nearly $13.6 billion on fuel and electricity to conduct ground missions. On the contrary, energy availability on this plant is slowly decreasing. Therefore, saving energy …

Ionization In Diesel Combustion For On-Board Diagnostics And Engine Control, Tamer Hassan Badawy

Wayne State University Dissertations

Diesel engines have been known for their high thermal efficiency and specific power output, but there is concern about engine-out NOx and particulate matter emissions. To meet the current emission standards, advanced diesel engines are fitted with electronically controlled fuel injection systems and sophisticated and expensive after-treatment devices. Further improvements are still needed to meet future goals in better fuel economy and the more stringent emission standards. In order to meet these goals, there is a need for the control of the combustion process to reduce engine-out emissions in real-time and reduce the demand on the after-treatment devices. This requires …

Green Diesel Production Via Catalytic Hydrogenation/Decarboxylation Of Triglycerides And Fatty Acids Of Vegetable Oil And Brown Grease, Elvan Sari

Wayne State University Dissertations

Increase in the petroleum prices, projected increases in the world’s energy demand and environmental awareness have shifted the research interest to the alternative fuel technologies. In particular, green diesel, vegetable oil/animal fat/waste oil and grease derived hydrocarbons in diesel boiling range, has become an attractive alternative to biodiesel— a mixture of fatty acid methyl esters, particularly due to its superior fuel properties that are similar to petroleum diesel. Hence, green diesel can be used as a drop-in fuel in the current diesel engines. The current technology for production of green diesel– hydrodeoxygenation of triglycerides and fatty acids over conventional hydrotreating …

Optimization Of Strategic Planning Processes For Configurable Products: Considerations For Global Supply, Demand, And Sustainability Issues, Edward Lawrence Umpfenbach

Wayne State University Dissertations

The assortment planning problem is to decide on the set of products that a retailer or manufacturer will offer to its customers to maximize profitability. While assortment planning research has been expanding in recent years, the current models are inadequate for the needs of a configurable product manufacturer. In particular, we address assortment planning for an automobile manufacturer. We develop models to integrate assortment planning and supply chain management, designed for use by a large automaker in its strategic planning phase. Our model utilizes a multinomial logit model transformed into a mixed integer linear program through the Charnes-Cooper transformation. It …

Nano-Silicon/Graphene Composite Anodes For Enhanced Performance Lithium Ion Batteries, Rhet Joseph Caballes De Guzman

Wayne State University Dissertations

The ever evolving technological applications such as with portable electronics and electric vehicles have led to increasing energy demands that have proven the existing commercial LIB capacity insufficient. Recently, the most promising anode material to substitute the traditional graphite is Si. As an anode Si has low discharge potential and theoretical the highest known theoretical capacity (>10 fold of graphite). However, due to the increased accommodated Li+ during charge-discharge reactions, silicon's volume varies up to 400%, causing pulverization and loss of electrical contact.

This dissertation focuses on a systematic approach in developing effective means to utilize Si for improved …

Catalytic Effects Of Period Iv Transition Metal In The Oxidation Of Biodiesel, Bradley Clark

Wayne State University Theses

CATALYTIC EFFECTS OF PERIOD IV TRANSITION METALS IN THE OXIDATION OF BIODIESEL

BRADLEY R CLARK

December 2011

Advisors: Dr. Steve Salley, Dr. Simon Ng, Dr. Naiem Henien

Major: Alternative Energy Technology

Degree: Masters of Science

Transition metals have the ability to catalyze free radical autoxidation of unsaturated fatty acid methyl esters (i.e., biodiesel). The catalytic effects of the eight period IV transition metals: V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co Ni, Cu and Zn in soybean oil and cottonseed oil-based biodiesel are investigated. All metals produced a reduction of the induction period of biodiesel, although there are considerable differences in their catalytic …

Multi-Component Ab2 Metal Hydride Alloys For Nickel Metal Hydride Battery Applications, Jean Nei

Wayne State University Dissertations

Compared to the mish metal-based AB₅ MH alloy commonly used in Ni/MH batteries, the transition metal-based AB₂ MH alloy not only reduces the rare earth dependency, it also has higher specific energy. In order to further improve the performance of AB₂ MH alloy, it's crucial to full understand its multi-phase nature, which includes the main C14/C15 Laves phases and the secondary non-Laves phases.

In order to optimize the gaseous phase and electrochemical advantages of both the C14 and C15 Laves phases, a study was established to recognize the factors that affect the C14/C15 phase abundance. Average electron …

Timing Of Residential Electric Loads To Reduce Air Emissions From Power Generation, Michelle Marinich Rogers

Wayne State University Theses

Over the course of a day, power utilities must respond to changing demand by dispatching or shedding output from different generators. Each generator is associated with a unique profile of air emissions, based on the type of fuel consumed, installed pollution controls, and the generator's efficiency. The aim of this study is to determine whether shifting electric demand to times when cleaner generation sources are available would result in overall emissions reduction.

Dynamic wholesale pricing in the electric power market, specifically the Locational Marginal Price (LMP), provides a means to estimate the marginal generator fuel type. This knowledge was used …

Sustainable Design Of Complex Industrial And Energy Systems Under Uncertainty, Zheng Liu

Wayne State University Dissertations

Depletion of natural resources, environmental pressure, economic globalization, etc., demand seriously industrial organizations to ensure that their manufacturing be sustainable. On the other hand, the efforts of pursing sustainability also give raise to potential opportunities for improvements and collaborations among various types of industries.

Owing to inherent complexity and uncertainty, however, sustainability problems of industrial and energy systems are always very difficult to deal with, which has made industrial practice mostly experience based. For existing research efforts on the study of industrial sustainability, although systems approaches have been applied in dealing with the challenge of system complexity, most of them …

Linear And Non-Linear Deformations Of A Wind Turbine Blade Considering Warping And All Aeroelastic Load Couplings, Fouad Mohammad Mohammad

Wayne State University Dissertations

The structural dynamics behavior of the blade of a horizontal axis wind turbine that reacts to the different components of the aerodynamic loading were studied by many researchers using different approaches and assumptions. In the present research, the author considered all the extensional, torsional and flexural loadings acting on the blade with their couplings, variable airfoil cross sections with warping effects, shear deflection, rotary inertia and with or without blade's pretwist for both the linear small deformation case and the nonlinear large deformation case. To the best knowledge of the author the simultaneous inclusion of all these factors has not …