Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Engineering Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Mechanical Engineering

Selected Works

Renewable energy

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

The Effects Of Scale On Granular Mixing In A Double Screw Pyrolyzer, Breanna L. Marmur Apr 2019

The Effects Of Scale On Granular Mixing In A Double Screw Pyrolyzer, Breanna L. Marmur

Breanna L. Marmur

Granular mixing processes are important to many industries including the pharmaceutical, agricultural, and biotechnology industries. These processes often require both a high degree of homogeneity and a high degree of customizability. As granular mixing processes are so widely employed, a thorough understanding of the mixing dynamics is necessary to understand and control the resulting products. Research into granular mixing processes has been, thus far, largely focused on laboratory scale mixers with simple geometries, while actual industrial processes often require large mixers with complex geometries. Moreover, granular mixing processes are often very sensitive to changes in operating conditions and any solutions …

Go to article

High Tech High Touch: Lessons Learned From Project Haiti 2011, Yan Tang, Marc Compere, Yung Lun Wong, Jared Anthony Coleman, Matthew Charles Selkirk Sep 2016

High Tech High Touch: Lessons Learned From Project Haiti 2011, Yan Tang, Marc Compere, Yung Lun Wong, Jared Anthony Coleman, Matthew Charles Selkirk

Marc Compere

In this paper, we will share our experiences and lessons learned from a design project for providing clean water to a Haitian orphanage (Project Haiti 2011). Supported by funds from a renewable energy company and the university president’s office, five engineering students and two faculty members from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University successfully designed and installed a solar powered water purification system for an orphanage located in Chambellan, Haiti. This paper discusses the unique educational experiences gained from unusual design constraints, such as ambiguity of existing facilities due to limited communication, logistics of international construction at a remote village location, and cross-cultural …

Go to article

An Entrochemical Water Heater, Sanza Kazadi, Sabrina Lin, Kelvin Ye May 2016

An Entrochemical Water Heater, Sanza Kazadi, Sabrina Lin, Kelvin Ye

Sanza Kazadi

Entrochemical systems are systems capable of generating internal thermal gradients through internal
water movements which simultaneously transfer get of vaporization between internal water reservoirs. These systems move to a chemical equilibrium state that generates and maintains a thermal gradient. Entrochemical thermal batteries (ETB) can be constructed which extend the thermal gradient of a single cell through an additive process. Such systems can deliver useful work. Additionally solutions used therein may be recharged passively using environmental heat.

We describe the design and function of a bench-scale water heater capable of heating a small water
reservoir. The system is powered by an …

Go to article

Compact Single Multistage Distillation, Sanza Kazadi, Brent Usui, Ashley An, Robin B. Zhao May 2016

Compact Single Multistage Distillation, Sanza Kazadi, Brent Usui, Ashley An, Robin B. Zhao

Sanza Kazadi

We report the design and function of a distillation apparatus which uses salt concentration gradients to
drive distillation and desalination of simulated sea water. Utilizing the entrochemical effect, the system
generates an internal thermal gradient. An internal distiller is arranged with the condenser in the cold end of the
entrochemical system and a seawater reservoir in the warm end of the entrochemical system. The heat of
vaporization is recaptured in the cold side of the entrochemical system and re-used. The spent solution in the
entrochemical system can be recharged using evaporation, making the surrounding thermal energy the source
of energy …

Go to article

Low Cost Solar Chimney Performance-Improving Enhancement, Sanza Kazadi, Meishan Liang, Aaron Togelang, Daniel Chan Sep 2015

Low Cost Solar Chimney Performance-Improving Enhancement, Sanza Kazadi, Meishan Liang, Aaron Togelang, Daniel Chan

Sanza Kazadi

Solar chimneys are potentially important components in energy-providing systems. These are
passive solar systems which transduce solar irradiance to airflow. The airflow, in turn, can be transformed
into electricity. While the ability of the solar chimney to create airflow has been examined in a number of
different studies, little attention has been focused on improving the performance of the solar collector. In
principle, increasing the thermal lift of the chimney would improve the chimney's overall airflow
production and extend the upper limit of energy production.
We examine an improvement to the solar collector design for the simple solar chimney capable …

Go to article