Engineering Commons^™

Windmill Documentary, Timothy David Stoltenburg

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

2006 Fall Engr333 Project Final Report, 2006 Fall Engr333

ENGR 333

The objective of this project was to demonstrate Calvin’s interest in alternative energy. The development of a short-term plan to implement a demonstration wind turbine and a long-term plan to determine the feasibility of a larger turbine for the future demonstrates this interest. The class was divided into five teams: management, external relations, long-term technology, short-term technology, and campus infrastructure. While each team had its own objectives, everyone worked together to share information and accomplish the overall project goals. This management technique provided necessary structure and simulated an environment typically found in a career environment.

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Fall 2006, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Part of every UNLV engineering student’s academic experience, the senior design project stimulates engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Each student in their senior year chooses, plans, designs and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. A capstone to the student’s educational career, the senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real world solution to an engineering challenge.

The senior design competition helps to focus the senior students in increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects. Judges from local industry evaluate the projects …

Correlation Of Numerical Ability And Quality Technician Best Performers In Manufacturing Quality Control Applications, Charles Wesley Shelton

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The occupation of Quality Technician has many duties requiring numerical operations. Business and industry place considerable emphasis on numerical ability when evaluating the performance of a Quality Technician. In this study, the numerical ability and performance classification of Quality Technicians were analyzed using a correlation analysis. lll A single case study was used to investigate this relationship. A modified Delphi Method was used to determine characteristics of a Quality Technician. Quality Technicians were evaluated by their direct supervisor and completed a standardized numerical ability test. The evaluations by the supervisor were used to classify each technician based on their performance. …

Gridfields: Model-Driven Data Transformation In The Physical Sciences, Bill Howe

Dissertations and Theses

Scientists' ability to generate and store simulation results is outpacing their ability to analyze them via ad hoc programs. We observe that these programs exhibit an algebraic structure that can be used to facilitate reasoning and improve performance. In this dissertation, we present a formal data model that exposes this algebraic structure, then implement the model, evaluate it, and use it to express, optimize, and reason about data transformations in a variety of scientific domains.

Simulation results are defined over a logical grid structure that allows a continuous domain to be represented discretely in the computer. Existing approaches for manipulating …

Supply Chain Information Sharing In A Macro Prediction Market, Zhiling Guo, Fang Fang, Andrew B. Whinston

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper aims to address supply chain partners' incentives for information sharing from an information systems design perspective. Specifically, we consider a supply chain characterized by N geographically distributed retailers who order a homogeneous product from one manufacturer. Each retailer's demand risk consists of two parts: a systematic risk part that affects all retailers and an idiosyncratic risk part that only has a local effect. We propose a macro prediction market to effectively elicit and aggregate useful information about systematic demand risk. We show that such information can be used to achieve accurate demand forecast sharing and better channel coordination …

A Fuzzy Logic Controller For Autonomous Wheeled Vehicles, Mohamed Trabia, Linda Z. Shi, Neil Eugene Hodge

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

Autonomous vehicles have potential applications in many fields, such as replacing humans in hazardous environments, conducting military missions, and performing routine tasks for industry. Driving ground vehicles is an area where human performance has proven to be reliable. Drivers typically respond quickly to sudden changes in their environment. While other control techniques may be used to control a vehicle, fuzzy logic has certain advantages in this area; one of them is its ability to incorporate human knowledge and experience, via language, into relationships among the given quantities. Fuzzy logic controllers for autonomous vehicles have been successfully applied to address various …

Dynamic Multi-Linked Negotiations In Multi-Echelon Production Scheduling Networks, Hoong Chuin Lau, Guan Li Soh, Wee Chong Wan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we are concerned with scheduling resources in a multi-tier production/logistics system for multi-indenture goods. Unlike classical production scheduling problems, the problem we study is concerned with local utilities which are private. We present an agent model and investigate an efficient scheme for handling multi-linked agent negotiations. With this scheme we attempt to overcome the drawbacks of sequential negotiations and negotiation parameter settings. Our approach is based on embedding a credit-based negotiation protocol within a local search scheduling algorithm. We demonstrate the computational efficiency and effectiveness of the approach in solving a real-life dynamic production scheduling problem which …

Finding A Length-Constrained Maximum-Sum Or Maximum-Density Subtree And Its Application To Logistics, Hoong Chuin Lau, Trung Hieu Ngo, Bao Nguyen Nguyen

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We study the problem of finding a length-constrained maximum-density path in a tree with weight and length on each edge. This problem was proposed in [R.R. Lin, W.H. Kuo, K.M. Chao, Finding a length-constrained maximum-density path in a tree, Journal of Combinatorial Optimization 9 (2005) 147–156] and solved in O(nU) time when the edge lengths are positive integers, where n is the number of nodes in the tree and U is the length upper bound of the path. We present an algorithm that runs in O(nlog2n) time for the generalized case when the edge lengths are positive real numbers, which …

Development And Implementation Of Optimized Energy-Delay Sub-Network Routing Protocol For Wireless Sensor Networks, James W. Fonda, Maciej Zawodniok, S. Jagannathan, Steve E. Watkins

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The development and implementation of the optimized energy-delay sub-network routing (OEDSR) protocol for wireless sensor networks (WSN) is presented. This on demand routing protocol minimizes a novel link cost factor which is defined using available energy, end-to-end (E2E) delay and distance from a node to the base station (BS), along with clustering, to effectively route information to the BS. Initially, the nodes are either in idle or sleep mode, but once an event is detected, the nodes near the event become active and start forming sub-networks. Formation of the inactive network into a sub-network saves energy because only a portion …

Cosign: A Parallel Algorithm For Coordinated Traffic Signal Control, Shih-Fen Cheng, Marina A. Epelman, Robert L. Smith

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The problem of finding optimal coordinated signal timing plans for a large number of traffic signals is a challenging problem because of the exponential growth in the number of joint timing plans that need to be explored as the network size grows. In this paper, the game-theoretic paradigm of fictitious play to iteratively search for a coordinated signal timing plan is employed, which improves a system-wide performance criterion for a traffic network. The algorithm is robustly scalable to realistic-size networks modeled with high-fidelity simulations. Results of a case study for the city of Troy, MI, where there are 75 signalized …

2006 Fall Engr333 Project Posters, 2006 Fall Engr333

ENGR 333

To demonstrate Calvin’s interest in alternative energy by developing a short-term plan to implement a demonstration wind turbine and a long-term plan to determine the feasibility of a larger turbine for the future.

Synergistic Functions Of Trimethl Phosphate And Vinylene Carbonate As Additives For The Li-Ion Batteries, Zhi-Yuan Tang, Yan-Bing He, Quan-Sheng Song, Yu-Hong Chen, Yuan-Gang Liu, Qiang Liu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The cooperative effects of trimethl phosphate and vinylene carbonate as additives for Li-ion batteries are investigated by using the cyclic voltammetry,electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and scanning electronic micro-photographs.The results show that the combination application of TMP and VC as additives for Li-ion batteries not only enhances safety of the batteries,but also improves their cycling performance.The reason may be ascribed to firstly VC being reduced and the reduction product polymerized to form excellent solid electrolyte interface(SEI) layer on the surface of graphite electrode during the first charge and discharge process,which prevents effectively the decomposition of TMP on the surface of the graphite …

Facilitated Effect Of Ag To Oxygen Transportation In Pem Fuel Cell Air Cathodes, Hong-Feng Xu, Jian-Hua Dong, Xiang-Li Hou

Journal of Electrochemistry

Silver(Ag) was deposited in the pores of Nafion membrane by ion exchange and succedent hydrogen reduction;the structures of Nafion-Ag membrane were measured by TEM and XRD,the diffusion coefficients of oxygen in Nafion-Ag was determined by electrochemical limited current method.The results showed that after deposited silver,the pores in the Nafion were enlarged by silver grains;the oxygen diffusion coefficient was increased about four times.By introducing silver in the thin Nafion film around the cathode catalyst,the performance of PEM fuel cell have a evident increasing in high current density, which shows the facilitated effects of silver to oxygen transportation in PEM fuel cell.

Preparation And Electrochemical Property Of Bam Boo-Shaped Silicon Nanotubes, Zeng-Tao Liu, Yan-Peng Fu, Chen Li, Yong Yang

Journal of Electrochemistry

A novel 1D bamboo-shaped silicon nanotubes was synthesized by chemical vapor deposition with Au catalyst and their electrochemical properties were primarily studied.The results showed that these silicon nanotubes were amorphous with the length about tens micrometer and the diameter about one hundred nanometer.Cyclic voltammetry studies showed that Li ions could intercalate into such silicon nanotubes at two location,i.e.,from the conjoint location and the wall of the hole.Meanwhile,the bamboo-shaped structure could help release the expansion of volume,which is usually serious in the lithium batteries.

Electrochemical Characterization Of Positive Electrode Material Lini1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 In Different Electrolytes, Jing-Jing Liu, Wei-Hua Qiu, Ling-Yan Yu, Hai-Lei Zhao, Tao Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

Cathode materials LiNi_1/3Co_1/3Mn_1/3O₂ were prepared by low-heating solid-state reaction.The micro-structure and morphology of as-synthesized materials have been investigated by using XRD and SEM. The compatibilities of LiNi_1/3Co_1/3Mn_1/3O₂ with purchased LiPF₆/ EC+DMC+DEC electrolyte and prepared LiBOB/EC+DEC+EMC electrolyte have also been studied. The Li/LiNi_1/3Co_1/3Mn_1/3O₂ batteries showed excellent electrochemical properties in the LiPF₆/EC+DMC+DEC electrolyte. Reversible discharge capacities of 167, 163, 163, 157, 147mAh/g at 0.5C, 1C, 1.5C, 2C, 3C rate between 2.7~4.35 V, with stable cycling performances have …

Electrochemical Behavior Of Buprofezin On Glass-Carbon Electrode, Qi Wang, Chang-Guo Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

Electrochemical behavior of Bup has been investigated by means of cyclic voltammetry,linear sweep voltammetry,differential pulse voltammetry and square wave voltammetry.The results indicate that the electrochemical behavior of Bup on the surface of glassy carbon electrode is corresponding to a irreversible two-protons and two-electrons process with absrption.The square wave voltammetry for determination of Bup in actual samples has been established.

Fabrication And Characterization Of Gadolinium Hexacyanoferrate Modified Electrode, Yan-Mao Shi, Pan Du, Ping Wu, Yao-Ming Zhou, Chen-Xin Cai

Journal of Electrochemistry

A new electroactive polynuclear inorganic compound of rare earth metal hexacyanoferrate,gadolinium hexacyanoferrate(GdCHF),was prepared by electrochemically deposition on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode with a potential cycling procedure.The result of SEM indicated that the GdHCF was in the form of particles adhered on the surface of electrode.There were two different shapes and sizes of GdHCF forming on the surface of electrode.FTIR spectrum of GdHCF showed a very strong and sharp peak,which located at 2062.5 cm^-1 and corresponded to the stretching vibration of the C≡N group in the GdHCF.The cyclic voltammetric results indicated that the GdHCF/GC electrode exhibited two …

Synthesis Of Monolithic Carbon/Nickel Oxide Composite Electrode Material And Cyclic Voltammetry Characteristics, Tian-Ying Guo, Jing-Wei Zhu, Mou-Dao Song, Bang-Hua Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Monolithic carbon/nickel oxide composite materials were synthesized by carbonization of phenol formaldehyde gels that were ion-exchanged with Ni²⁺.Atomic absorption spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction technique were used to characterize the chemical composition and physical structure of the materials.The nickel dope amount for this method can reach 5.9 %(by mass).Subsequent cyclic voltammetry experiments indicate that the materials exhibit best capacitive performance at the nickel content of 4.4 %.

Fabrication Of Gold Electrode Array Based On Co2 Laser Ablation, Wei Zhang, Jiang-Qun Xiao, Yong-Liang Zhou

Journal of Electrochemistry

A rapid process is described to produce single or multiple electrodes of any shape based on CO₂ laser ablation for microfluidic chip.The method is as follow: coating a kind of material as sacrifice layer on a piece of glass with sputtered Cr and Au;designing the needed pattern on a computer;selecting proper parameters and ablating with CO₂ laser;wiping of Au/Cr and sacrifice layer,and obtain electrodes at last.The microfluidic chip was gotten by reversely bonding with a piece of PDMS,and sealing around with PDMS prepolymer.The mask' effect is the main factor that influencing electrode quality.The width of electrodes could be …

Preparation And Electrochemical Characterization Of Anatase Tio2 Nanotubes, Bin Cao, Jin-Wei Xu, Ling-Hong Ding, Wei-Feng Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Titanium oxide nanotubes were prepared by hydrothermal treatment of anatase-type TiO₂ powders and NaOH solution in an autoclave.Transmission Electron Microscopy and X-ray Diffraction showed that the product is anatase-type TiO₂ nanotubes.The constant charge-discharge current and cyclic voltammetry exhibited the TiO₂ nanotubes have a large initial lithium insertion capacity of 260 mA·h/g and good reversibility.This study indicates that TiO₂ nanotubes might be a good negative electrode materical for second lithium battery in the future.

Novel Electrochemical Method For Synthesis Of Nanostructured Materials Of Noble Metals Based On Poly(N-Vinylpyrrolidone) (Pvp), Wei Pan, Xiao-Kai Zhang, Ming-Hu Huang, Shao-Xin Huang, Xing-Li Feng, Hou-Yi Ma

Journal of Electrochemistry

Gold nanocrystals with controllable size were synthesized through a simple electroreduction method using poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone)(PVP) of different polymerization degree as both stabilizer and shape-controller for gold nanoclusters.Individual gold nanoparticles spontaneously assembled into the wire-and ring-shaped nanoparticle aggregates depending on the PVP's dynamic stretching and curling,and precursor nanoparticles grew into flat,single-crystalline nanoprisms with thickness of dozens of nanometers based on the oriented aggregation between particles.Besides,core-shell Au/Ag nanoparticles were conveniently synthesized through two-step electroreduction of noble metal ions in the presence of PVPK30.The electrochemical synthetic method based on PVP provides a new path for preparation of noble metal nanostructured materials with different shape …

Phase-Transfer Technique For Polymer-Protected Noble Metal Nanoparticles, Xing-Li Feng, Ming-Hui Huang, Xiao-Kai Zhang, Shao-Xin Huang, Wei Pan, Hou-Yi Ma

Journal of Electrochemistry

A novel phase-transfer method was developed based on the decrease of PVP's solubility in water with increasing temperature,by means of which PVP-protected gold,silver and platinum nanoparticles can be conveniently transferred from aqueous phase to 1-butanol phase.Monodispersed metal nanoparticles were electrochemically synthesized at first in the aqueous,and then 1-butanol of appropriate volume was added to the aqueous phase.Heating the oil-water mixture to 80 ℃ under vigorous stirring would make metal nanoparticles leave the aqueous phase and enter into the 1-butanol phase,with high phasetransfer efficiency and without aggregation between nanoparticles.An electrochemical method to synthesize metal nanoparticles in the oil-water mixtures was further …

Study Of The Electrooxidation Of Glycerol On Oxide And Pd/C Composite Catalysts, Zhi-Yuan Yan, Chang-Wei Xu, Pei-Kang Shen

Journal of Electrochemistry

Oxide and Pd on carbon composite catalysts have been prepared by intermittent microwave heating(IMH) method.The performance of the catalysts for glycerol oxidation in alkaline solution is studied by electrochemical techniques.It is shown that the Pd/C catalyst is active for glycerol electrooxidation.However,the oxide-Pd/C catalysts are even better in terms of the onset potential that is more negative and peak current density.The ratio of oxide to Pd is optimized according to the electrochemical measurement.The results reveal that the addition of oxide into the Pd/C induces the synergistic effect for glycerol electrooxidation.

Deep Treatment Of Pulping Wastewater Using Three Phase Fluidized Bed Electrode Reactor, Dan Wu, Qi-Cai Shi, Ji-Ti Zhou, Bao-Jun Jia

Journal of Electrochemistry

Treatment of pulping wastewater by using a novel electrochemical reactor,i.e.the three phase fluidized bed electrode,reactor were invesigated.The effects of air flow rate,applied voltage,pH value and FeSO₄ concentration on electrolysis efficiency were investigated.It was clearly shown that the 20 V of voltage,0.3 m³·h^-1 of air flow rate,1000 mg L^-1 of FeSO₄ concentration and pH≈2.5 were its best conditions.COD removal could be 70.1% under these conditions.

Electrochemical Properties Of The Modified Carbon Nanotubes, Chun-An Ma

Journal of Electrochemistry

Powder micro-electrodes were prepared from raw carbon nanotubes and carbon nanotubes modified by carboxyl.The electro-reduction properties of both the raw and open-ended carbon nanotubes in p-Nitrophenol solution were investigated.The FTIR spectrum result indicated that the functional groups are successfully fixed on the surface of the carbon nanotubes after nitric acid treatment.The cyclic voltammetry results show that the electrochemical activity of carboxyl-modified carbon nanotubes was improved.The mechanism of electro-(reduction) for the carbon nanotubes after acid treatment was discussed.

Stm Tip-Induced Nanostructuring-Replacement Method To Construct Pt Surface Nanostructures, Jin-Gang Wang, Jing Tang, Zhao-Bin Chen, Bing-Wei Mao

Journal of Electrochemistry

STM tip-induced surface nanostructuring based on "Jump-to-contact" mechanism is a nanostructuring technique that has the highest resolution in aqueous solutions.However,for metals that have high cohesive energy,atoms would transfer from surface to tip instead,which limits the wide application of this technique.In this paper,we present a two-step Nanostructuring-Replacement method to construct metal nanoclusters that cannot be obtained directly via the "Jump-to-contact" mechanism.The method is demonstrated to construct Pt nanoclusters that are of great interest in catalysis and electrocatalysis but cannot be constructed via the "Jump-to-contact" mechanism.Since Cu is the most intensively studied and successful system in the tip-induced nanostructuring,it is utilized as …

Reaction Mechanism Of V(Ⅳ)/V(Ⅴ) Redox Couple At Graphite Felt Composite Electrode Bonded With Conductive Carbon Plastic, Xiao-Gang Li, Ke-Long Huang, Su-Qin Liu, Ning Tan, Li-Quan Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

The rate-determining step of V(Ⅳ) /V(Ⅴ) redoxreaction was investigated at graphite felt(GF)composite electrode by various techniques: cyclic voltammetry,polarization curve and impedance spectroscopy.Cyclic voltammetry analysis indicated that V(Ⅳ) /V(Ⅴ) redox reaction at GF electrode is quasi reversible.Acertain chemical reaction step is suspected to follow the electron transfer step of this reaction.The Tafel slopevalue(0.124) obtained from the polarization curve agrees well with theoretical value(0.12),which supposingthe electron transfer step was the rate-determining step.Impedance Spectroscopies at various potentials werestudied and simulated by equivalentcircuits.The impedance value of the electron transfer step modified is greatlyhigher than the others,which shows that the electron transfer step is the …

The Synthesis, Structure And Electrochemical Performances Of Lithium Iron Phosphate, Hui Xie, Zhen-Tao Zhou

Journal of Electrochemistry

The lithium iron phosphate cathode materials were synthesized by solid-state reaction combined high-rate ball milling under the temperature ranging from 400 ℃ to 700 ℃.The crystalline structure, morphology of particles, and electrochemical performance of the sample were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and charge-discharge test. The results showed that the sintering temperature had great influences on the crystal structure, morphology and electrochemical performances of LiFePO₄. The sample synthesized under 600℃ showed the best charge-discharge performances with the first specific discharge capacity of(128.8) mAh/g and the 15^th specific discharge capacity of 129.1 mAh/g at 0.1C rate, …

Structure And Electrochemical Characteristics Of Lifepo4 Prepared By The Polyacrylates-Pyrolysis-Reduction Method For Li-Ion Batteries, Li-Hong Yu, Yu-Liang Cao, Xiao-Fei Zhang, Han-Xi Yang, Xin-Ping Ai

Journal of Electrochemistry

The cathode material of olivine LiFePO₄ was prepared by a novel method of polyacrylate-pyrolysis-reduction.XRD demonstrates that the material have the olivine structure.SEM photo shows an average particle-size of about 100 nm with a well distribution.Electrochemical test of cycling at a constant current reveals the discharge capacity of 138 mAh/g and a good cycling stability.It is a novel practicable technology to prepare LiFePO₄ by using polyacrylate-pyrolysis-reduction method.