Engineering Commons^™

'Bici-Bomba' Pedal Powered Well Purification System, Matthew Kamimura, Devan Hollar, Ally Belica, Liam Scobey

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

This senior design project consists of designing and building a bike powered well pump that purifies water. The Guatemalan NGO Maya Pedal is the critical customer that requested this project, and will help facilitate implementing it in the San Andres community. The project addresses these main needs: providing an easier, faster way to retrieve water and to clean water to safe drinking levels. In addition to these primary needs, a major goal is having the project be scalable within the San Andres community. This means that all of the components are available in Guatemala at reasonable prices, it is durable …

Sunny-Side Solutions: A Solar Powered Water Heating And Shower System, Adrienne Lee, Malonda Mcelwee, Jada Paddock, Jesus Reyes

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

Sunny-Side Solutions is a solar water heating and shower system designed for Naretu Academy in Narok, Kenya, to provide the academy's teachers a simple, reliable, and frugal method of receiving hot water for daily showers. After thorough research and testing, the final system's main components are ½ diameter, 54.9 m long irrigation piping solar collector, a 100 L insulated hot water tank, and a 67 W circulation pump. These components ensure that all water that enters the system will be able to achieve a final temperature of 38 °C and maintain this temperature until the teachers shower and drain the …

Atmospheric Water Harvester, Adam C. Goldstein, Scott Seno, Kristen E. Dentici

Mechanical Engineering

Access to potable water is a global issue that has yet to be adequately solved. In regions with limited access to electricity and ground or surface water, it is not always possible to provide clean water requiring external power or extensive infrastructure to implement. This Final Design Report document will outline the background, design and manufacturing plan involved in the development of a passive atmospheric water harvester. This report builds on the earlier Preliminary Design Review and Critical Design Review documents to reflect further research, analysis, comments from reviewers, and detailed design documentation. While a final design was decided on …

Insulated Solar Electric Cooker, Paige Camacho, Ahmed Gouda, Caroline Hodes, Wyatt Johnson

General Engineering

The purpose of this Final Project Report is to highlight the work completed by the interdisciplinary engineering capstone project for the Insulated Solar Electric Cooker (ISEC) at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo under the supervision of Professor Jim Widmann (Mechanical Engineering) and Dr. Peter Schwartz (Physics). Dr. Schwartz, better known as Pete, has been working on the project with a team of students for the past five years and is working to integrate the ISEC in Ghanaian communities. This project focuses on making the ISEC mass-manufacturable and making the transition from biomass cooking to solar cooking as familiar …

A History And Status Of Wind Energy Potential In Arkansas, Pre And Post Covid-19, Will Blasingame

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Historically, wind-generated electricity has been the largest renewable energy sources in the United States. Wind-rich regions like Oklahoma and Texas have fueled growth and sold that electricity to electric utilities located in wind-poor states like Arkansas in the form of Power Purchase Agreements. Future technologies such as Vertical Axis Wind Turbines, small wind turbines, and Tesla turbines designed to generate electricity from wind show promise in unlocking more expensive wind resources in regions like Northwest Arkansas by mitigating concerns about low wind speeds and noise. However, more factors than just feasibility influence the growth of wind power. Governmental policies such …

An Assessment Of Renewable Energy Technology Implementation In Storrs, Connecticut: Emissions Reduction And Feasibility Of A Microgrid System At Uconn, Sophie Macdonald

Honors Scholar Theses

The purpose of this project is to design a clean energy-sourced microgrid for UConn’s main campus that would reduce the university’s energy emissions while remaining within the geographic boundaries of viable UConn-owned land. Economic cost was not considered in this analysis; instead, emissions and space constraints were the optimized measures of value and feasibility. Sources of energy that were considered include photovoltaics (PV), wind turbines, hydrokinetic systems, and fuel cells. Energy storage capacity was included in the analysis as well. The overall system was optimized first by ignoring space constraints and for a minimum of 10% reduction from the current …

Urban Cargo Transport Uav Final Design Review, Niko Giannakakos, Rafael Barreto Gutierrez, Tejas Bhavsar

Senior Design Project For Engineers

Delivery of goods to homes and offices over the last decades has seen a significant increase as more people and businesses need or want items sent directly to them. With the increase in demand, technology has also experienced a rapid growth, specifically in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Many major companies are currently researching UAVs as the future of their delivery operations. With this ever-growing demand, NASA has issued a design competition of a UAV developed for urban deliveries. This unmanned aircraft system (UAS) would need to be able to deliver small packages, in a timely manner, within …

Design Of A Greywater-Fed Hydroponics System, Alex Estrada, Katya Fairchok, Andrew Feldmeth, Andrew Jezak

Interdisciplinary Design Senior Theses

To combat issues of local water insecurity, a hydroponics system was designed in partnership with LEAP 5 High School in Jane Furse, South Africa. Climate change, increasing human population, and continued environmental degradation all threaten access to clean drinking water. Approximately seventy percent of all freshwater is used for agriculture globally, thus threatening food security especially in developing countries where access to water is potentially volatile. The hydroponics garden system utilizes sustainable materials, a self-monitoring temperature controls system, and greywater input, to act as an educational tool for students and significantly reduce freshwater use compared to traditional, in-ground agriculture. An …

An Examination To Pathways Powering Car Using Clean Energy, Marina Miranda

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Traditional vehicles powered by internal combustion engines contribute significantly to increasing emissions of greenhouses gasses (GHG). There has been increasing interest in powering vehicles using green energy include using electricity produced by wind turbine and solar panel. The green electricity can be used to directly charge the Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV), or producing hydrogen as fuel for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV) by converting electrical energy to hydrogen (H₂) through water electrolysis. The low energy density H₂ produced can be stored on board as either compressed H₂ or liquefied H₂.

This research examines the …

Internet Of Things In Sustainable Energy Systems, Abdul Salam

Computer Information Technology Faculty Publications

Our planet has abundant renewable and conventional energy resources but technological capability and capacity gaps coupled with water-energy needs limit the benefits of these resources to citizens. Through IoT technology solutions and state-of-the-art IoT sensing and communications approaches, the sustainable energy-related research and innovation can bring a revolution in this area. Moreover, by the leveraging current infrastructure, including renewable energy technologies, microgrids, and power-to-gas (P2G) hydrogen systems, the Internet of Things in sustainable energy systems can address challenges in energy security to the community, with a minimal trade-off to environment and culture. In this chapter, the IoT in sustainable energy …

Increasing Access To Pv Technology Through Sustainable Racking: A Review Of Existing Literature And Ground Mounted Fixed Tilt Designs, And What Can Be Done Next, Parijata Prabhakara

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

There is a lack of literature on the structural balance of systems (BOS), also called racking, for ground mount, fixed-tilt solar PV systems. Literature that exists discusses mostly rooftop racking and installations, additional wind loading, and weight considerations imposed on roofs, and little guidance is provided in building codes. The lack of peer-reviewed guidance on design requirements for domestic and large-scale application solar PV racking systems leaves most consumers relying on expensive, patented, off-the-shelf hardware. As PV cell technology and module costs have improved, we can start to focus on PV BOS improvements (particularly racking) and move towards sustainable designs …

การประมาณปริมาตรของมันสำปะหลังโดยใช้กล้อง Rgb-D, ชนิกานต์ บัญชาจารุรัตน์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

มันสำปะหลังเป็นพืชที่ปลูกง่ายและปลูกเป็นจำนวนมากในประเทศไทย เครื่องมือที่เกี่ยวข้องในการตรวจวัดคุณภาพมันสำปะหลังหลังการเก็บเกี่ยวจนไปถึงก่อนแปรรูปที่ใช้ในปัจจุบันเป็นเครื่องมือที่ใช้หลักการวัดทางกลพื้นฐานและใช้ความรู้สึกของผู้ประเมินร่วมด้วย ทำให้มีโอกาสที่จะได้ผลประเมินที่ไม่เป็นความจริง วิทยานิพนธ์นี้เสนอแนวทางการตรวจวัดคุณภาพมันสำปะหลังในห่วงโซ่อุปทานโดยใช้กล้อง Kinect ซึ่งเป็นกล้อง RGB-D ถ่ายรูปภาพของหัวมันสำปะหลังเพื่อหาปริมาตรของมันสำปะหลัง การศึกษาทำโดยถ่ายภาพมันสำปะหลังพันธุ์เกษตรศาสตร์ 50 จำนวน 90 ตัวอย่างแล้วนำมาวิเคราะห์หาปริมาตรด้วยโปรแกรม MATLAB และใช้วิธีการประมาณปริมาตรมันสำปะหลัง 2 วิธีได้แก่ การประมาณปริมาตรโดยใช้ Depth image และการประมาณปริมาตรโดยใช้ Point Cloud image ทั้งสองวิธีการนี้มีพื้นฐานมาจากการหาปริมาตรของรูปทรงเรขาคณิต ผลการหาปริมาตรของมันสำปะหลังจากการประมาณด้วยวิธีการ depth image และวิธีการ point cloud image เมื่อนำมาพล็อตกับปริมาตรของมันสำปะหลังที่ได้จากวิธีการแทนที่น้ำให้ค่าความคลาดเคลื่อน RMSE เท่ากับ 66.94 มิลลิลิตรและ 41.4 มิลลิลิตร หรือคิดเป็นร้อยละ 21.12 และ 13.06 ตามลำดับเมื่อเทียบกับค่าเฉลี่ยของปริมาตรของหัวมันสำปะหลังจากวิธีการแทนที่น้ำ และค่า R-squared ที่ได้จากการประมาณทั้งสองวิธีมีค่า 0.9561 และ 0.9626 ดังนั้นจึงสรุปได้ว่าการประมาณปริมาตรหัวมันสำปะหลังด้วยวิธีการใช้รูป point cloud จะดีกว่าจากค่า R-squared ที่มากกว่าและค่า RMSE ที่น้อยกว่า ปริมาตรของมันสำปะหลังที่ประมาณด้วยรูปถ่ายนี้สามารถนำไปประยุกต์หาเปอร์เซ็นต์แป้งมันสำปะหลังได้

How Quality Management Has Been Impacted In The Face Of Covid-19, Eldina Siljkovic

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The Coronavirus pandemic has impacted many facets of the United States. This study focuses on its magnitude in comparison to prior pandemics such as Anthrax, SARS, and Ebola. In addition to this comparison its impact on Quality Management within the agricultural sector and food supply chain was also assessed. The results of these studies showcase that COVID-19 has grown exponentially in comparison to prior pandemics and will continue to do so as we enter the winter season. Agricultural equipment manufacturing companies saw a drastic decline in quarterly revenues within 2020 in comparison to 2019. Millions in net sales were lost …

The Potentials Of Faecal Sludge Treatment Using Local Conditioners In Tanzania: A Review, Doglas Benjamin1

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Worldwide, every day human beings generate millions of tons of Faecal Sludge (FS), which is rich in water, nutrients, energy, and organic compounds. Yet FS is not being managed in a way that permits us to derive value from its reuse, while at the same time, millions of farmers struggle with depleted soils and lack of water. In most of the developing countries, energy for cooking is mainly derived from cutting of trees, either as wood or charcoal. Resource recovery and reuse from FS can create livelihoods, enhance food security, support green economies, reduce waste and contribute to cost recovery …

The Mechanical Development For An Autonomous Forest Service Robot, James P. Walker

Honors College Theses

Georgia’s forests are under threat from numerous invasive species of plant, both herbaceous and woody. A primary factor in the invasive potential of any given non-native plant is the lack of natural predators and rapid reseed and regrowth cycles. To combat invasive plants, this thesis proposes an artificial, robotic predator to provide a means of controlling invasive species. Although autonomous robots are currently being developed for similar agricultural purposes, none have emerged for forestry related tasks, such as proposed in this work. The chassis, inspired by rocker bogie and similar suspension systems, has been redesigned to have eight wheels, to …

Exploring Convergence Of Snake Skin-Inspired Texture Designs And Additive Manufacturing For Mechanical Traction, Catherine Sue Tiner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on the understanding, development, and additive manufacture of a 3D printed snake skin-inspired texture pattern. The design functionalities of snake skin were determined through the study of the snake species Python Regius otherwise known as the ball python. Each scale of a snake has hierarchical texture with hexagonal macro-patterns aligned on the ventral surface of the skin with overriding anisotropic micro textured patterns such as denticulations and fibrils. Using a laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF) process, 420 stainless steel samples were 3D printed which closely resemble the above described directional texture of natural snake skin. This printed surface …

Sustainable Aviation Fuels Approval Streamlining: Auxiliary Power Unit Lean Blowout Testing, Erin E. Peiffer, Joshua S. Heyne, Meredith Colket

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

An underpinning hindrance in the market penetration of sustainable aviation fuel is the approval process for alternative jet fuels. One solution to this is to develop low-cost screening tools that can be implemented earlier in the approval process. Auxiliary power unit combustors historically show the most sensitivity to physical and volatile fuel properties, making it a useful tool in assessing potential alternative jet fuel effects at test conditions representative of operability stability limits. It is hypothesized that these observations can be explained via timescale analysis considering fuel droplet breakup and evaporation, combustor mixing, and chemical reactivity timescales on the progression …

Bridging The Gap Between Automated Manufacturing Of Fuel Cell Components And Robotic Assembly Of Fuel Cell Stacks, Devin C. Fowler, Vladimir Gurau, Daniel Cox

Manufacturing Engineering: Faculty Publications (2015-2023)

Recently demonstrated robotic assembling technologies for fuel cell stacks used fuel cell components manually pre-arranged in stacks (presenters). Identifying the original orientation of fuel cell components and loading them in presenters for a subsequent automated assembly process is a difficult, repetitive work cycle which if done manually, deceives the advantages offered by either the automated fabrication technologies for fuel cell components or by the robotic assembly processes. We present for the first time a robotic technology which enables the integration of automated fabrication processes for fuel cell components with a robotic assembly process of fuel cell stacks into a fully …

All Season Heat Pipe System., Adrienne Marie Parsons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Our energy choices impact the earth’s natural systems and climate. As this becomes increasingly important, the need for decreasing our energy usage is essential. Conventional passive solar systems can significantly reduce the heating load. Similarly, passive ambient energy systems, such as ventilation and sky radiation, can reduce cooling loads. However, the integration of passive heating and cooling systems in the same building and the benefits of actively controlling these otherwise passive systems to maximize annual energy savings has largely been unexplored. This study first evaluates the building cooling capacity of sky radiation, which was previously identified to have the greatest …

Potential Use Of High Rate Algae Ponds For Resource Recovery In The Water-Food-Energy Nexus For Tanzania: A Review, Mary Kayombo

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

The use of High Rate Algal Ponds (HRAPs) for the treatment of wastewater and resource recovery has raised interest in recent years. Treatment of wastewater through this technology has proved to have high efficiency in reducing the level of pollution, nutrients, dissolved solids as well as pathogens. HRAPs are more efficient than conventional Wastewater Stabilization Ponds (WSPs) due to their design approach that provides room for high rate bio-chemical processes, which increase the mechanisms of nutrients and pathogens removal as well as the rate of micro-algae production for purposes of resource recovery. This paper reviews the upgrading potential of existing …

Pedal 4 Purification, Cory Yamagata, Coleton Rodd, Jonathan Keyes, Matthew Lograsso

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

The lack of access to clean drinking water remains one of the largest issues still facing humanity. The Pedal 4 Purification is a product that addresses this need by utilizing pre-existing bicycle infrastructure and local freshwater sources to allow people to purify their own drinking water on a daily basis. Attachable to any standard bicycle, the Pedal 4 Purification product consists of pump, purification, cart and adjustable kickstand subsystems that allow the operator to pump, purify and transport 40L of potable water. Pedaling at the reasonable rate of 60 rpm will provide the optimal flow rate of 1.54L/min through the …

Design Of An Urban Garden Aquaponics System, Riley Albright-Borden, James Wang, Sydney Thompson

Interdisciplinary Design Senior Theses

The project objective is to create a durable, off-the-grid, large-scale aquaponics system consisting of over 90 sq. ft of growing space, a 650-gallon fishpond, and four types of sensors to transmit water quality data to the internet for remote water quality monitoring. The end goal of the project is to supplement produce grown in the garden to further increase fresh, nutritional options available in meals cooked and distributed by Loaves and Fishes Family Kitchen to combat food insecurity in San Jose. This report presents the need for a system, details the various subsystems, and the rationale for the designs. It …

Insulated Solar Electric Cooker Immersion Heater, Emily Burnside, Kaeley Dicks, Joshua R. Stevens, Brady Banks

Mechanical Engineering

This report is the final design review (FDR) report for our team completing the Insulated Solar Electric Cooker (ISEC) Immersion Heater mechanical engineering senior project. The goal of this project is to standardize and perform analysis on a preexisting, inexpensive solar-powered immersion heater for cooking use in developing countries, reducing the adverse effects presented by traditional biomass cooking fires. We also designed a manufacturing process to improve repeatability and to reduce labor investment of heater production. The ISEC research team from the California Polytechnic State University Physics Department have been working on the development of this immersion heater and have …

Reduce, Reuse, Reengineer, Neil Ryan Robertson, Anthony James Beers

Architectural Engineering

Our senior project is a research exploration of renewable energy. We recognized there is a major need in the world for the advancement of green power sources. For our project, we wanted to go beyond what we have learned in our Cal Poly architectural engineering classes and to use some of our own creativity to investigate the possibilities of renewable energy from a structural perspective. The guiding question we asked ourselves was, “as architectural engineering students, how could we shift our world to use more renewable energy?” To start our journey off, was the original inspiration from the work of …

Recovery Of Carbonaceous Solid Residue (Char) From Coal Ash To Use As Possible Substitute Graphite-Based Materials In Green Energy Applications, Ana C. Santos, Charlotte J. Badenhorst, Barbara Białecka, Joanna Całus-Moszko

World of Coal Ash Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Repurposing Plastic Waste In El Cercado, Joseph Dooling, Kirby Townsend, Brendan Smith

Honors Thesis

This project aims to assist the community of El Cercado in the Dominican Republic in turning their plastic waste into useful products. The design team developed a first iteration shredder, injector, and aluminum mold which future design teams could further iterate in order to make products out of waste plastic. Different products were researched to ensure that they can be sold or used in the community. The goal of producing these items is to stimulate economic activity in the community by creating economic opportunity. The design shall also be sustainable in three ways. It shall reuse plastic waste while also …

Ole Miss Engineer 2019

Ole Miss Engineer

No abstract provided.

Insulated Solar Electric Cooker With Phase Change Thermal Storage Medium, Justin Brett Unger, Nathan Robert Christler, Matthew Weeman, Marcus Edward Strutz

Mechanical Engineering

This final design review document outlines the senior design project carried out by a team of four mechanical engineering students at the California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo under the sponsorship of Dr. Peter Schwartz of the Cal Poly Physics department. The aim of this project was to improve upon the design of previously developed Insulated Solar Electric Cookers (ISECs) by adding a thermal storage system to allow for quicker cook times and the ability to cook food at non-peak solar hours. The team’s goal was to develop a working prototype utilizing a phase change medium as the …

Vaccine Cooler For The Global Poor, Benjamin J. Larson, Cooper E. Gibson, Eilbron Younan, Cody R. Volk

Mechanical Engineering

Cal Poly physics professors Peter Schwartz and Nathan Heston approached the Solar Freeze team with the problem that remote communities in Africa have limited access to modern-day medicine or vaccines. They suggested that we try and design a cooling device that can keep vaccines cold for multiple days at a time while the medicine is transported to remote villages. Currently, there are vaccine cooler products on the market, but most of them are very expensive or lack portability. Peter and Nate have tasked the Solar Freeze team to come up with a less expensive solution that is also portable and …

Dynamic Behavior And Performance Of Different Types Of Multi-Effect Desalination Plants, Mohamed Abdelkareem

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Water and energy are two of the most vital resources for the socio-economic development and sustenance of humanity on earth. Desalination of seawater has been practiced for some decades and is a well-established means of water supply. However, this process consumes large amounts of energy and the global energy supply is also faced with some challenges. In this research, multi-effect desalination (MED) has been selected due to lower cost, lower operating temperature and efficient in terms of primary energy and electricity consumption compared to other thermal desalination systems. The motivation for this research is to address thermo-economics and dynamic behavior …