Engineering Commons^™

Design Of A Bit-Slice Processor, Kenneth Earl Green

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

A microprogrammed computer processor unit is designed using bit-slice technology. This processor executes the PDP-11/45 instruction set. The performance is evaluated and compared to other existing processors.

Use Of Thermal Storage For Load Management In A Solar-Augmented Heat Pump System, James Thomas Schmitz

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

Electric utilities are today faced with the dilemma of satisfying increasing demands for electrical energy while their ability to build new power plants is being severely curtailed primarily due to environmental concerns. By redistributing the power demand of individual customers (and thus the utility) with respect to time, greater overall electricity consumption can be met without increasing the generating capacity of the utility. This redistribution can be accomplished using thermal energy storage at the customer’s location. For heating and cooling of buildings, thermal storage, combined with off-peak period operation of the mechanical system's major electricity consuming equipment, can lower peak …

State Estimation Using Parallel Extended Kalman Filters Of Nonlinear Measurements, Thomas Carlyle Sheives

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

The extended Kalman filter applied to state estimation using nonlinear measurements has demonstrated divergence in many applications involving large initial uncertainties because of "invalid" linearizations performed by the filter on the nonlinear measurement functions. No quantitative results can be found as to how invalid these linearizations must be before divergence occurs. This report attempts to fill this void by deriving the extended Kalman filter as an approximate nonlinear least squares estimator, through the minimization of a measurement squared error function. The convergence of the extended Kalman filter is then determined by examining the squared error function and verifying the usefulness …

The Compatibility Of Mild Carbon Steel And Water In A Heat Pipe Application, David D. Kenney

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

The phenomena that govern the performance and affect the lifetime of heat pipes are reviewed. The phenomena include the corrosion of metals by aqueous solutions, the diffusion of gases through metals, and the effects of hydrogen on metals. Heat pipes of 1015 C.D. carbon steel were fabricated and operated with a control group of 304 stainless steel heat pipes over the temperature range from 140° to 300° C. Results indicate that carbon steel/water heat pipes perform as well or better than 304 stainless steel/water heat pipes over the temperature range covered in this test.

Separations Of Dilute Solutions By The Smooth Deposit Approach Of The In-Situ Indirect Freezing Process, Jeng-Hung Lue

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

The main objective of the present study is to demonstrate experimentally the feasibility of applying the smooth deposit ap­proach of the in-situ indirect freezing process to the separations of both dilute organic mixtures and aqueous mixtures. The in-situ indirect freezing process with in-situ washing and melting opera­tions was first introduced by C. Y. Cheng and S. W. Cheng [1].

Lee's Moment Method Applied To Binary Flow In Jet And Channel Devices Used For The Aerodynamic Separation Of Uranium Isotopes, Edward Eugene Holcomb

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

Lees' moment method is applied to the problem of compressible, binary flow of uranium hexafluoride gas through a parallel plate chan­nel. The time-dependent numerical problem is solved to yield the steady state solution. The results obtained are preliminary to the solution of the flow field for the curved nozzle and colliding jet devices used in the aerodynamic separation of uranium isotopes. Lees' concept of two-sidedness of the distribution function doubles the number of variables required to describe the system, and the resulting set of moment equations is not easily solved. The assumptions of isothermal, hydrodynamically fully developed flow are made …

Calculation Of The Singularity Expanision Method Parameters From The Transient Response Of A Thin Wire, Kah-Song Cho

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

The problem of determining the singularity expansion method (SEM) parameters from transient thin-wire data is exam­ined. A computer code is used to generate response data. The SEM parameters are computed from these data. For noisy data, it is shown that the parameter values can be improved by signal averaging.

Assessment Of Corrosion And Scaling In A Low Temperature Geothermal System, David Bruce Orrell

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

The feasibility of a low temperature geothermal system to be located in the area immediately surrounding Albuquerque, New Mexico, was assessed with respect to corrosion and scaling. Theories of corrosion and scaling were explored and an extensive literature survey was performed to predict trends and apply design criteria and guidelines regarding corrosion and scaling from other geothermal environments to the proposed geothermal installation in Albuquerque. A recirculating corrosion test loop was built, and fifteen metals were tested for general corrosion resistance in seawater at 190° F and 3 ft/sec flow velocity. Results show this test procedure to be viable and …

A Survey Of Structural Identification Techniques, Doris Evelyn Miller

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

This work is a collection and survey of system identification methods in the open literature. The motivation for the work was to find suitable methods of system identification for use in structural diagnosis. Methods surveyed include those which identify the system in terms of modal parameters, and those which identify the system either nonparametrically or in terms of arbitrary parameters. Both deterministic and stochastic methods are reviewed. Particular emphasis is placed on determining damping coefficients, and on a formulation known as modal synthesis. It is concluded that stochastic methods are better suited to the problem of structural diagnosis, and that …

Development Of High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography Techniques For The Analysis Of Wastewater Effluent, Glenn Douglas Pierce

Civil Engineering ETDs

This investigation characterized a biological secondary wastewater effluent by conventional wastewater analysis parameters, evaluated the capabilities of activated carbon and macroreticular resin for recover­ing residual organics from the effluent, correlated conventional para­meters with carbon recoveries, developed high-pressure liquid chroma­tographic techniques for separation of organics in the recovered mixtures and identified a selected extract fraction. The Organics-Carbon Adsorbable Standard Method was adapted for use with a low turbidity effluent and a mass balance based on non-volatile total organic carbon was developed, demonstrating that the sorptive capacity of the system was not exceeded by a 60-1 sample. Ten individual carbon chloroform extracts …

A Tv-Calculator Teaching Aid System, Robert A. Pezzano

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

A system is described in which calculations performed on an electronic calculator are displayed as an algebraic expression on a television or video monitor. A video module generates the timing signal for the video monitor and allows 16 lines of 16 characters to be displayed. The calculator module provides interfacing between the keyboard and display of a TI-59 calculator and the system. A computer module, containing a Z-80 microprocessor, interprets the calculator signals, simulates the calculator logic, and provides the video module with the information to be displayed.

A Numerical Investigation Of Nonlinear Resistance In Second-Order Autonomous Dynamic Networks, John Jerome Bornholdt

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Most approaches to the analysis of autonomous nonlinear networks fall under one or more of three categories: topological techniques, stability analysis, and approximate methods. The first method is universal, linear or nonlinear. The application of computer techniques has given strong emphasis to the latter. Approximate methods can give results on estimations of how net­work components affect stability.

This paper is an investigation of the stability of nonlinear resistance in autonomous dynamic networks through approximate methods.

A system that is both unforced and time-invariant is called autonomous. Linear autonomous networks lend themselves to general analytic solutions. With nonlinear autonomous networks, however, …