Engineering Commons^™

Asphaltene Thermodynamic Flocculation During Immiscible Nitrogen Gas Injection, Mukhtar Elturki, Abdulmohsin Imqam

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Gas-enhanced oil recovery is one of the most advantageous enhanced oil recovery methods. Nitrogen is one of the most investigated gases because of its beneficial properties. However, during its interaction with crude oil, nitrogen can induce asphaltene deposition, which may result in severe formation damage and pore plugging. Few works have investigated the impact of nitrogen on asphaltene instability. This research studied the immiscibility conditions for nitrogen in nanopores and the impact of nitrogen on asphaltene precipitations, which could lead to plugging pores and oil recovery reduction. A slimtube was used to determine the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) of nitrogen …

Common Ground Newsletter Fall 2021, Missouri University Of Science And Technology

Common Ground

-Lighting the way with solar panel inspections
-CArEE Miner athletes score recognition
-Celebrating 150 years of civil engineering at S&T

The Behaviour Of Rare Earth Elements From South African Coal Fly Ash During Enrichment Processes: Wet, Magnetic Separation And Zeolitisation, Mero Lee Ursula Cornelius, Alechine Emmanuel Ameh, Chuks Paul Eze, Olanrewaju Fatoba, Asel Sartbaeva, Leslie Felicia Petrik

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Rare earth elements (REEs) are essential raw materials in a variety of industries including clean energy technologies such as electric vehicles and wind turbines. This places an ever-increasing demand on global rare earth element production. Coal fly ash (CFA) possesses appreciable levels of REEs. CFA, a waste by-product of coal combustion, is therefore a readily available source of REEs that does not require mining. CFA valorization to zeolites has been achieved via various synthesis pathways. This study aimed to evaluate one such pathway by monitoring how REEs partition during CFA processing by the wet, magnetic separation process and zeolitisation. South …

Aircraft Measurements Of Aerosol And Trace Gas Chemistry In The Eastern North Atlantic, Maria A. Zawadowicz, Kaitlyn Suski, Jiumeng Liu, Mikhail Pekour, Jerome Fast, Fan Mei, Arthur J. Sedlacek, Stephen Springston, Yang Wang, For Full List Of Authors, See Publisher's Website.

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Aerosol and Cloud Experiment in the Eastern North Atlantic (ACE-ENA) investigated properties of aerosols and subtropical marine boundary layer (MBL) clouds. Low subtropical marine clouds can have a large effect on Earth s radiative budget, but they are poorly represented in global climate models. In order to understand their radiative effects, it is imperative to understand the composition and sources of the MBL cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). The campaign consisted of two intensive operation periods (IOPs) (June-July 2017 and January-February 2018) during which an instrumented G-1 aircraft was deployed from Lajes Field on Terceira Island in the Azores, Portugal. …

Removal Of Pharmaceutical Residues From Water And Wastewater Using Dielectric Barrier Discharge Methods—A Review, Emile S. Massima Mouele, Jimoh O. Tijani, Kassim O. Badmus, Omoniyi Pereao, Omotola Babajide, Cheng Zhang, Tao Shao, Eduard Sosnin, Victor Tarasenko, Ojo O. Fatoba, Katri Laatikainen, Leslie F. Petrik

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Persistent pharmaceutical pollutants (PPPs) have been identified as potential endocrine disruptors that mimic growth hormones when consumed at nanogram per liter to microgram per liter concentrations. Their occurrence in potable water remains a great threat to human health. Different conventional technologies developed for their removal from wastewater have failed to achieve complete mineralization. Advanced oxidation technologies such as dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) based on free radical mechanisms have been identified to completely decompose PPPs. Due to the existence of pharmaceuticals as mixtures in wastewater and the recalcitrance of their degradation intermediate by-products, no single advanced oxidation technology has been able …

The Bridge Newsletter Spring 2021, Missouri University Of Science And Technology

The Bridge Newsletter

-Researchers investigate improved bridge repair after collisions
-White initiated as 132^nd honor member of Chi Epsilon
-Bereyso named New Face of Civil Engineering by ASCE
-150-year Celebration of Civil Engineering

Gis And Remote Sensing Groundwater Potentiality Investigation Of Gulu District, Uganda Using Synthetic Aperture Radar And Magnetic Geophysics, Rachel Ann Jones

Doctoral Dissertations

“Developing countries have few resources for ground-based hydrological investigations to determine optimal placement of boreholes for community water access. Remote sensing data are available at a variety of resolutions and sense different parameters, and are useful inputs for hydrologic models, but these data are rarely obtainable in developing countries with the parameters or resolutions necessary for hydrologic applications. This research seeks to use and improve existing remote sensing and GIS techniques to identify areas of optimal water supply in locations with limited geologic or hydrologic information, such as Gulu District, Uganda. Fusing different remotely sensed data sets can produce higher …

Studies On Protein Solubility, Ke Li

Doctoral Dissertations

"Solubility is a critical factor of protein-based drugs during processing and patient administration. This study focused on two aspects of solubility: one was the poly (ethylene) glycol (PEG) precipitation of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and another was crystallins aggregation that is associated with cataracts. Protein precipitation by PEG is a common technique for downstream processing. The effects of pH, ionic strength and the exclude volume effect on the protein precipitation by PEG were extensively studied, but the effects of glycosylation on protein precipitation by PEG has not been examined. Protein aggregation is not only a problem in downstream processing, but it …

The Bridge Newsletter Winter 2020, Missouri University Of Science And Technology

The Bridge Newsletter

-Kummers give largest single gift in the history of Missouri higher education
-$1M gift from the Sunderland Foundation completes ACML lab
-Miner alumni step up
-Academy of Civil Engineers inducts 11 new members

Experimental Evaluation Of Square Ferrocement Panels Using Polypropylene Wire Mesh, N. Khurram, U. Akmal, M. Raza, A. Hameed, M. Irfan Ul Hassan

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Ferrocement panels are thin section comprised of hydraulic mortar reinforced with steel wire mesh and are susceptible to micro cracks at service conditions. The moisture and rainwater may infiltrate through these cracks and cause the reduction in capacity due to the corrosion of steel wire mesh. In the present study, a polypropylene (PP) wire mesh has been used to overcome this problem. The main objective of the study is to investigate the punching shear and bending capacity of the ferrocement panels using PP wire mesh. Experimental tests conducted on 32 simply supported square slabs panels of 450x450 mm subjected to …

Effect Of Calcination Time On The Physicochemical Properties And Photocatalytic Performance Of Carbon And Nitrogen Co-Doped Tio2 Nanoparticles, Emile Salomon Massima Mouele, Mihaela Dinu, Franscious Cummings, Ojo O. Fatoba, Myo Tay Zar Myint, Htet Htet Kyaw, Anca C. Parau, Alina Vladescu, M. Grazia Francesconi, Sara Pescetelli, Aldo Di Carlo, Antonio Agresti, Mohammed Al-Abri, Sergey Dobretsov, Mariana Braic, Leslie F. Petrik

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The application of highly active nano catalysts in advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) improves the production of non-selective hydroxyl radicals and co-oxidants for complete remediation of polluted water. This study focused on the synthesis and characterization of a highly active visible light C–N-co-doped TiO2 nano catalyst that we prepared via the sol-gel method and pyrolyzed at 350 °C for 105 min in an inert atmosphere to prevent combustion of carbon moieties. Then we prolonged the pyrolysis holding time to 120 and 135 min and studied the effect of these changes on the crystal structure, particle size and morphology, electronic properties and …

Spectroscopic Measurements Of Dissolved O3, H2o2 And Oh Radicals In Double Cylindrical Dielectric Barrier Discharge Technology: Treatment Of Methylene Blue Dye Simulated Wastewater, Emile Salomon Massima Mouele, Jimoh O. Tijani, Milua Masikini, Ojo O. Fatoba, Chuks P. Eze, Chionydua T. Onwordi, Myo Tay Zar Myint, Htet Htet Kyaw, Jamal Al-Sabahi, Mohammed Al-Abri, Sergey Dobretsov, Katri Laatikainen, Leslie F. Petrik

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Advanced oxidation technologies (AOTs) focusing on nonthermal plasma induced by dielectric barrier discharge are adequate sources of diverse reactive oxygen species (ROS) beneficial for water and wastewater treatment. In this study, indigo, peroxytitanyl sulphate and terephthalic acid methods were used to approximate the concentrations of O₃, H₂O₂ and OH produced in a double cylindrical dielectric barrier discharge (DCDBD) plasma configuration. The effect of pH and scavengers as well as the amount of chemical probes on the generation of oxidants was investigated. The efficiency of the DCDBD reactor was further evaluated using methylene blue (MB) as …

Deep Learning For Digitized Histology Image Analysis, Sudhir Sornapudi

Doctoral Dissertations

“Cervical cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer that affects women worldwide. Assessment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) through histopathology remains as the standard for absolute determination of cancer. The examination of tissue samples under a microscope requires considerable time and effort from expert pathologists. There is a need to design an automated tool to assist pathologists for digitized histology slide analysis. Pre-cervical cancer is generally determined by examining the CIN which is the growth of atypical cells from the basement membrane (bottom) to the top of the epithelium. It has four grades, including: Normal, CIN1, CIN2, and CIN3. In …

Role Of Ergonomics In The Selection Of Stemming Plugs For Surface Mining Operations, Atta Ur Rehman, Muhammad Zaka Emad, Muhammad Usman Khan

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Stemming plugs are one of the widely used accessories in surface mining operations. Stemming plugs assist conventional stemming material in gas retention and help in better fragmentation and explosive utilization. Effective use of the stemming plugs results in economic benefits and enhance the efficacy of the project. Economic and productive viability of stemming plugs have been conducted in depth by different researchers. Addition of stemming plugs to a new system requires ergonomic challenges for operators conducting drilling and blasting operation. Induction of a newer product in already established system is subject to overall positive feedback. This work investigates ergonomics of …

Modeling And Optimization Of Froth Flotation Of Low-Grade Phosphate Ores: Experiments And Machine Learning, Ashraf Alsafasfeh

Doctoral Dissertations

”In this research work, bench-scale and micro-scale flotation tests were conducted to separate “minerals from silicate minerals using direct and reverse flotation approaches, respectively. Experiments were conducted at different flotation conditions including reagents’ type, reagents’ dosages, pulp’s pH, and flotation time.

In the direct flotation process, two polymers were selected to promote the depression of silicates: hybrid polyacrylamide-based polymers (Hy-PAM) and chitosan. Results indicated that the highest recovery of P₂O₅ (86.82%) was obtained when the Hy-PAM polymer was used compared with 66.7% and 40% when chitosan and commercial inorganic depressant were used, respectively. The experimental datasets obtained …

Application Of Geophysics And Remote Sensing Techniques For Economic Mineral Exploitation In Libya, Awad Abdussalam Henish Lemnifi

Doctoral Dissertations

“This study investigates crustal thickness and properties within the north central Africa region. Results obtained from 15 seismic stations belonging to the Libyan Center for Remote Sensing and Space Science are reported, in addition to 3 seismic stations publically available, using receiver functions, the first P-to-S receiver function investigation of the 410 km and 660 km depth discontinuities bounding the mantle transition zone (MTZ), and P wave tomography methods. The results from the first method show crustal thicknesses ranging from 24 km to 36 km (with uncertainties ranging between ±0.10 km and ±0.90 km). More specifically, crustal thickness ranges from …

Shock Wave Propagation Behavior At Corners And Crosscuts In Five Small-Scale Tunnel Scenarios, David Pierre Doucet

Masters Theses

"Shock wave propagation in tunnels and other enclosed environments is substantially more complicated than in an open-air or even a surface detonation. There is still much to learn about how shock wave properties change as a wave propagates in an enclosed space, such as a mine tunnel, inside of a building, or city street. The geometry of the enclosure will have a large role in the propagation of the shock wave. This means that many different tunnel designs must be studied. This work tested five different designs using a modular small-scale model. The scenarios tested were Straight-line, Single Turn, Around …

Integrating Resilience Into Military Infrastructure Mission Assurance Assessments And Decision Making, John Richards

Doctoral Dissertations

“This research created the Mission Assurance Resilience Matrix, a decision framework that integrates existing infrastructure assessment methods with emerging resilience research to model resilience under uncertainty as part of a detailed infrastructure management system. This framework enables military decision makers to easily visualize deficiencies in infrastructure resilience and assess where to most efficiently allocate resources. This research further extends results by including modules on training and education as a component of the scope of work.

There are three significant contributions of this research. The first identifies the gaps of how and where modeling under uncertainty, infrastructure systems management, and resilient …

Geophysical Characteristics Of Nickel And Copper Deposits In Wadi Al Khadra Prospect, Southwestern Of Saudi Arabia, Abdulrahman Ahmed Aljabbab

Doctoral Dissertations

“Three geophysical datasets (self-potential, magnetics, and time - domain electromagnetics) were acquired at Wadi Al Khadra Ni-Cu prospect in southwest Saudi Arabia, and were processed and interpreted for the Saudi Geological Survey. The primary objectives were to map the distribution of metallic mineralization, map structures, verify the integration of the geophysical interpretations and its signatures in conjunction with boreholes information, distinguish the similarities and differences in the integrated interpretation of geophysical data, and design optimal processing and interpretation data parameters. The self-potential tool was used to map the variation in natural surface potential differences to map lateral variations in the …

Applications Of Polynomial Chaos-Based Cokriging To Aerodynamic Design Optimization Benchmark Problems, Jethro Nagawkar, Leifur Leifsson, Xiaosong Du

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this work, the polynomial chaos-based Cokriging (PC-Cokriging) is applied to a benchmark aerodynamic design optimization problem. The aim is to perform fast design optimization using this multifidelity metamodel. Multifidelity metamodels use information at multiple levels of fidelity to make accurate and fast predictions. Higher amount of lower fidelity data can provide important information on the trends to a limited amount of high-fidelity (HF) data. The PC-Cokriging metamodel is a multivariate version of the polynomial chaos-based Kriging (PC-Kriging) metamodel and its construction is similar to Cokriging. It combines the advantages of the interpolation-based Kriging metamodel and the regression-based polynomial chaos …

Microwave Assisted Synthesis Of Binary Metallic Oxides For Catalysis Applications, Abdelrahman Mostafa Kamal, Sherif Bahgat, Mohamed Hammam, M. A. Radwan, M. A. Sadek, Hany A. Elazab

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Herein, versatile, and reproducible method to prepare binary metal oxides via microwave assisted synthesis. Catalysts are substances that basically speeds up chemical reactions. Ideally, bonds are formed between the catalysts and the reactants. Also, catalysts permit formation of products from the reactants. These formed products, splits off the catalyst without affecting or changing it. Catalytic kinetics studies the correlate chemical reaction rate with some properties of reactants and/or products for instance, temperature, concentration and pressure. The aim of the project is to prepare pure and bi-metal iron-based catalyst by co-precipitation method and to characterize the prepared sample using X-ray diffraction. …

Opportunities And Challenges For Rural Broadband Infrastructure Investment, Casey I. Canfield, Ona Egbue, Jacob Hale, Suzanna Long

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Insufficient internet access is holding back local economies, reducing educational outcomes, and creating health disparities in rural areas of the U.S. At present, federal and state funding is available for rural broadband infrastructure deployment, but existing efforts have not invested in analytical work to maximize efficiency and minimize cost. In this study, we use a state-of-the-art matrix (SAM) to identify key challenges and opportunities facing rural broadband infrastructure from previous research and government reports. We focus on six themes: (1) technology, (2) hardware costs, (3) financing, (4) adoption, (5) regulatory/legal, and (6) management. We highlight key issues to be addressed …

9th International Conference On Structural Health Monitoring Of Intelligent Infrastructure (Smhii-9) Conference Program, Smhii-9

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

No abstract provided.

Random Subspace Projection For Predicting Biogeographical Ancestry, Tanjin Toma, Tayo Olufemi-Ajayi, Jeremy Dawson, Donald Adjeroh

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Human biogeographical ancestry estimation using genomic information is an important problem with applications in population stratification, admixture mapping, forensic ancestry inference, and in healthcare. Various studies have proposed panels of ancestry informative single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for distinguishing between widely separated continental populations. There has been limited investigation on identifying SNP panels for sub-continental ancestry prediction, especially given the difficult challenge of identifying SNP markers to distinguish closely associated sub-populations, for instance, within a continent. In this study, we propose an ancestry informative SNP selection algorithm exploiting the concept of random subspace projection using supervised learning. The proposed approach identifies …

Review And Data Analysis Of Low Salinity Water Effect Through Induced Fine Migration, Dawei Xu

Masters Theses

"Low salinity water flooding (LSWF) is well proved to be an effective EOR technology both in laboratory and field tests, however, the conditions for LSWF to work and EOR mechanism is still debatable. Up till now, many mechanisms have been proposed to explain the incremental oil recovery in sandstone by LSWF, for instance, fine migration, ionic exchange, wettability alteration and pH increase.

In this study, we only focus on low salinity water flooding effect through induced fine migration mechanism. The objective of this study is to conduct a comprehensive analysis using statistical analysis methods and explaining the mechanism of fine …

Using The Ert Method To Differentiate Resistivity Anomalies Attributed To Natural And Man-Made Activities, Ibrahim Faisal Alshareef

Masters Theses

"Karst terrain is considered to be a very complex topography compared with most other geological environments. Many features can be observed such as sinkholes, air-filled cavities, losing streams, and solution widened joints. These karst features can cause subsidence and damage infrastructure such as buildings and roads thus causing economic hardship and disruption of life. The typical geological and hydrological studies are not enough to understand the karst processes.

For this reason, two geophysical methods were involved in investigating the subsurface in the study area. In this research, the electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and multichannel analysis of surface wave (MASW) data …

Column Flotation Performance Prediction: Pca, Ann And Image Analysis-Based Approaches, Fardis Nakhaei, Mehdi Irannajad, Sima Mohammadnejad

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The flotation froth surface appearance includes remarkable information, which can be employed as a helpful index for the qualitative evaluation of the process efficiency. Image analysis is a practical technology for the sake of achieving process related information that can be employed in expert controllers in order to amend flotation performance. In this paper, the intelligent modelling of relationship between froth characteristics and the metallurgical performance in a pilot column flotation of iron ore was established. Column flotation tests were carried out at a wide range of operating conditions and the froth features along with the metallurgical performances were specified …

Improving Base Metal Electrowinning, Charles Ebenezer Abbey

Doctoral Dissertations

"In zinc electrowinning, Mn oxidizes to form MnO₂ on Pb-Ag anodes, cell walls and pipes. MnO₂ reduces anode corrosion but also leads to short circuits and maintenance issues. MnO₂ is thought to interact with chloride ions and produce oxidized chlorine species. The interactions between Mn and Cl are not well understood. Bench scale experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of the manganese to chloride ratio on anode corrosion rate and electrolyte chemistry using rolled Pb-Ag anodes. Increasing the average Mn/Cl^- ratio from ~7:1 to ~11:1 reduced the anode corrosion rate. Anode scales produced with Mn/Cl …

Plenum-To-Plenum Heat Transfer Characteristics Under Natural Circulation In A Scaled-Down Prismatic Modular Reactor, Salman Mohammed Alshehri

Doctoral Dissertations

“Gas-cooled reactor (GCR) is being developed under the Next Generation Nuclear Plant Program (NGNP) in nuclear engineering studies. As the world searches for an energy source with high energy density, clean, abundant, and storable nature to avoid global warming issues, GCR seems to be a promising solution, particularly the possibility of producing hydrogen. Studying and developing the safety analysis and GCR technologies are required for the optimum design and safety of GCR system. Multiphase Reactors Engineering and Applications Laboratory (mReal) at Missouri University of Science and Technology (S&T) has developed a natural convection heat transfer test facility with one riser …

Elm-Som: A Continuous Self-Organizing Map For Visualization, Renjie Hu, Venous Roshdibenam, Hans J. Johnson, Emil Eirola, Anton Akusok, Yoan Miche, Kaj Mikael Björk, Amaury Lendasse

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This Paper Presents a Novel Dimensionality Reduction Technique: Elm-Som. This Technique Preserves the Intrinsic Quality of Self-Organizing Maps (Som): It is Nonlinear and Suitable for Big Data. It Also Brings Continuity to the Projection using Two Extreme Learning Machine (Elm) Models, the First One to Perform the Dimensionality Reduction and the Second One to Perform the Reconstruction. Elm-Som is Tested Successfully on Six Diverse Datasets. Regarding Reconstruction Error, Elm-Som is Comparable to Som While Bringing Continuity.