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LSU Master's Theses

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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Biomass Catalytic Upconversion With A Metallic Catalyst Bed Under Radio Frequency Induction Heating, Mohammad Abu-Laban Jan 2016

Biomass Catalytic Upconversion With A Metallic Catalyst Bed Under Radio Frequency Induction Heating, Mohammad Abu-Laban

LSU Master's Theses

This study investigated the thermal performances of platinum particles when coupled on a steel support, under the application of a radio frequency (RF) field. Platinum nanoparticles were reduced on the surfaces of type-316 stainless steel balls, based on published methods of Pt reduction from chloroplatinic acid. Alternatively, 1wt. % Pt/Al2O3 commercial catalyst pellets were mixed with stainless steel balls and investigated for hydro-deoxygenation of pyrolysis oil from pine sawdust biomass. The catalysts were placed inside an electric insulator tube suspended within a looping copper coil connected to the induction heater, and heated at different power levels. An infrared camera was …


Modeling Churn And Annular Flow Regimes In Vertical And Near-Vertical Pipes With Small And Large Diameters, Erika Viana Pagan Jan 2016

Modeling Churn And Annular Flow Regimes In Vertical And Near-Vertical Pipes With Small And Large Diameters, Erika Viana Pagan

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis presents an improved model for gas-liquid two-phase flow in churn and annular flow regimes for small- and large-diameter in vertical and near-vertical pipes. This new model assumes that a net liquid film moves upward along the pipe wall and gas phase moves upward, occupying the majority of the central part of the pipes, and forming a gas core, in both flow regimes. The model is validated using field and laboratory experimental data from several different studies from the literature, in terms of pressure along the wellbore or bottomhole pressure for field conditions (for high-pressure flows in long pipes, …


The Supercritical Pyrolysis Of 1-Octene, Elizabeth Anne Hurst Jan 2016

The Supercritical Pyrolysis Of 1-Octene, Elizabeth Anne Hurst

LSU Master's Theses

In the pre-combustion environment, fuels for future high-speed aircrafts are predicted to take on increasing heat loads in their role as the primary coolant in order to remove excess heat from engine subsystems. While acting in this role, these fuels are expected to experience temperatures and pressures up to 700 °C and 130 atm, conditions which are supercritical for jet fuels and most hydrocarbons. Such extreme conditions can cause fuel decomposition and subsequent pyrolytic reactions, which can lead to the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). PAH are precursors to solids deposits that clog fuel-delivery lines, causing reduced engine performance …


Quantitative Analysis Of Marine Transportation Systems Resiliency, Nafiseh Farhadi Jan 2016

Quantitative Analysis Of Marine Transportation Systems Resiliency, Nafiseh Farhadi

LSU Master's Theses

The United States Marine Transportation System (MTS) makes large contributions to the nation’s economy, security, safety, and quality of life. Strategic investment, planning, administrative and operational decisions by government at all levels are necessary to maintain the marine transportation system performance at all times, which in turn requires a technical approach and professional leadership based on research. This study describes the approach and results of an ongoing research effort to assess the resiliency of port operations following major disasters and other disruptive events. The work presented in this research uses a set of archival data from the United States Coast …


Microfluidic Device For Motility And Osmolality Analysis Of Zebrafish Sperm, Jacob Ethan Beckham Jan 2016

Microfluidic Device For Motility And Osmolality Analysis Of Zebrafish Sperm, Jacob Ethan Beckham

LSU Master's Theses

An increasing number of laboratories are evaluating sample quality via motility analysis by means of computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) after sperm activation by manual dilution and mixing. Even with the use of CASA, due to user variation, there is a lack of control over the activation process, resulting in inconsistent motility analysis. Low sample volume (~1-2µL), and a short motility duration (burst motility of less than 15s) add to the complexity of these difficulties. The objectives of this study were to develop a microfluidic device with the capabilities to (1) standardize the method of activation for zebrafish sperm so that …


Hybrid Ant Colony Optimization For Fuzzy Unrelated Parallel Machine Scheduling Problems, Po An Su Jan 2016

Hybrid Ant Colony Optimization For Fuzzy Unrelated Parallel Machine Scheduling Problems, Po An Su

LSU Master's Theses

This study extends the best hybrid ant colony optimization variant developed by Liao et al. (2014) for crisp unrelated parallel machine scheduling problems to solve fuzzy unrelated parallel machine scheduling problems in consideration of trapezoidal fuzzy processing times, trapezoidal fuzzy sequencing dependent setup times and trapezoidal fuzzy release times. The objective is to find the best schedule taking minimum fuzzy makespan in completing all jobs. In this study, fuzzy arithmetic is used to determine fuzzy completion times of jobs and defuzzification function is used to convert fuzzy numbers back to crisp numbers for ranking. Eight fuzzy ranking methods are tested …


Extensive Sensitivity Analysis And Parallel Stochastic Global Optimization Using Radial Basis Functions Of Integrated Biorefineries Under Operational Level Uncertainties, Santiago David Salas Ortiz Jan 2016

Extensive Sensitivity Analysis And Parallel Stochastic Global Optimization Using Radial Basis Functions Of Integrated Biorefineries Under Operational Level Uncertainties, Santiago David Salas Ortiz

LSU Master's Theses

This work presents a decision-making framework for global optimization of detailed renewable energy processes considering technological uncertainty. The critical uncertain sources are identified with an efficient computational method for global sensitivity analysis, and are obtained in two different ways, simultaneously and independently per product pathway respect to the objective function. For global optimization, the parallel stochastic response surface method developed by Regis & Shoemaker (2009) is employed. This algorithm is based on the multi-start local metric stochastic response surface method explored by the same authors (2007a). The aforementioned algorithm uses as response surface model a radial basis function (RBF) for …


Flood Damage And Shutdown Times For Industrial Process Facilities, Matthew Lane Flynn Jan 2016

Flood Damage And Shutdown Times For Industrial Process Facilities, Matthew Lane Flynn

LSU Master's Theses

The vulnerability of the Gulf Coast to inundation poses a real threat to both national security and the regional economy due to the concentration of the nation’s energy infrastructure throughout the waterways of the southeastern United States’ waterways. Mitigation efforts thus far have been qualitative and fail to provide raw, quantitative data to aid in the successful management of flooding liabilities. This paper proposes a novel approach to analyzing infrastructure susceptibility by means of a component-based approach to consequences posed by water-borne incursions. Systems are simplified to collections of components, each with a lowest-member elevation, thereby identifying the benchmark for …


A Numerical Investigation Of Wellbore Stability Problems Using An Elastoplastic Model, Chang Huang Jan 2016

A Numerical Investigation Of Wellbore Stability Problems Using An Elastoplastic Model, Chang Huang

LSU Master's Theses

Wellbore stability analysis acts an important role in the drilling design to avoid pipe-stuck, lost circulation and the other instability-induced problems. However, the conventional linear elastic model used by the industry is too conservative in predicting the mud weight window. This project is aimed at improving the accuracy of wellbore stability analysis. An elastoplastic model with Drucker-Prager yield criterion featured by strain hardening is proposed to characterize the rock behavior. Object-oriented finite element analysis simulator, NSMOOM, is programmed in MATLAB. The simulator is verified with the analytical solution in the elastic domain and with the commercial software ABAQUS in the …


Calibration Of Resistance Factors Needed In The Lrfd Design Of Drilled Shafts, Alicia Rae Fortier Jan 2016

Calibration Of Resistance Factors Needed In The Lrfd Design Of Drilled Shafts, Alicia Rae Fortier

LSU Master's Theses

This report presents the reliability-based analysis of the calibration of resistance factors for the Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) of axially loaded drilled shafts. AASHTO’s 2012 LRFD Bridge Design Specifications recommends various resistance factors for the design of deep foundations; however, since these values are not specific to any one region, they are very conservative. For Louisiana or Mississippi, the adoption of such recommended resistance factors could substantially increase foundation sizes. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a database of drilled shaft load tests performed in the regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and surrounding states with similar soil conditions. Sixty-nine …


Integration Of Naturalistic Driving Characteristics Into Crash Forecasting Models, Nicholas Hart Jan 2016

Integration Of Naturalistic Driving Characteristics Into Crash Forecasting Models, Nicholas Hart

LSU Master's Theses

While highway safety has steadily improved throughout the United States, highway crashes and the resulting losses continue to be a significant concern in Louisiana. Louisiana consistently lags behind the country in many key areas of highway safety. To improve the conditions of roads in Louisiana, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) has begun to implement the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) to evaluate existing and expected safety conditions and how to allocate limited improvement funds. However, as the HSM was developed using aggregated national statistics, it is not always able to reflect the conditions present on specific Louisiana roadways. …


Aerodynamic Mitigation Of Roof Suction Using Solar Panels, Laura M. Iverson Jan 2016

Aerodynamic Mitigation Of Roof Suction Using Solar Panels, Laura M. Iverson

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis aims to evaluate the feasibility of solar panels to be used as aerodynamic mitigation devices to reduce roof suction caused by high-speed winds on flat-roof, low-rise buildings. Roof suction is caused by negative pressures resulting in uplift on the roof, due to the wind passing over the sharp edges of the roof. Suction is a common cause of failure for these types of flat-roof, low-rise buildings during extreme wind events such as hurricanes, as the uplift force can cause the roof to separate from the building. A variety of mitigation devices have been proposed in the literature to …


The Design, Fabrication, And Validation Of A Film Cooled Rotating Turbine Cascade With An Actively Cooled Shroud In A Closed Loop Wind Tunnel, Christopher Michael Drewes Jan 2016

The Design, Fabrication, And Validation Of A Film Cooled Rotating Turbine Cascade With An Actively Cooled Shroud In A Closed Loop Wind Tunnel, Christopher Michael Drewes

LSU Master's Theses

To test shroud and blade cooling effectiveness, a closed loop, heated wind tunnel housing a film cooled rotating turbine cascade with prescribed blade and vane geometry surrounded by a fully cooled shroud with a leading edge gap were designed and assembled on Louisiana State University’s campus. Heat transfer coefficients and film cooling effectiveness results were computed using a 1-D semi-infinite solid conduction analysis of material temperatures obtained with liquid crystal thermography. Proper analysis required a step change in air temperature; so a bypass loop provided mainstream air heating while maintaining the shroud and blades at ambient temperature. Also, analysis required …


Fabrication And Characterization Of Thiol-Acrylate Based Polymer For Bone Tissue Engineering Application, Anoosha Forghani Jan 2016

Fabrication And Characterization Of Thiol-Acrylate Based Polymer For Bone Tissue Engineering Application, Anoosha Forghani

LSU Master's Theses

Thiol-acrylate materials have been demonstrated to have therapeutic potential as biocompatible scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration due to their osteoconductivity, biodegradability, and well-suited mechanical properties. This study connects the mechanical properties and stability of thiol-acrylate polymer with cell adhesion and proliferation of human adipose derived stromal cells. The polymer presented in this study, trimethylolpropane ethoxylate triacrylate-co-trimethylolpropane tris (3-mercaptopropionate) (TMPeTA-co-TMPTMP), was synthesized by an amine-catalyzed Michael addition reaction. Physical, mechanical, and chemical characterizations were performed on the polymeric scaffold, followed by preliminary in vitro cytocompatibility tests. Live/dead staining assays showed significant differences in cell adhesion for TMPeTA (692 and 912 MW). …


Evaluation Of Self-Healing Of Asphalt Concrete Through Induction Heating And Metallic Fibers, Yashwanth Pamulapati Jan 2016

Evaluation Of Self-Healing Of Asphalt Concrete Through Induction Heating And Metallic Fibers, Yashwanth Pamulapati

LSU Master's Theses

Healing by means of induction heating is promising, however the effectiveness of this technology is yet to be demonstrated due to limited studies on cracking damage and fracture resistance property recoveries after healing. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that a new generation of asphaltic materials could be artificially healed while in-service by embedding metallic fibers in the mix and by applying a magnetic field at the surface. To achieve this objective, an open-graded friction course (OGFC) was successfully designed and prepared to incorporate up to 5% steel and aluminum fibers by weight of the mix. …


A Model Compound Study In Syngas Tar Reforming, Jaren Lee Jan 2016

A Model Compound Study In Syngas Tar Reforming, Jaren Lee

LSU Master's Theses

Biomass or coal gasification are promising processes for renewable energy. However, a major operating problem in gasification is what to do with syngas byproducts such as H2S and tars (heavy hydrocarbons) that cause catalyst deactivation downstream. Studies have shown that rare earth oxides (REOs) doped with transition metals are promising catalysts for tar reforming in the presence of sulfur.(R. Li, Roy, Bridges, & Dooley, 2014) In Chapter 1, propane is studied as a model compound for tar reforming with transition metal-doped (e.g., Mn, Fe) REOs. These are compared to a typical commercial Ni/Al2O3 catalyst. The results showed that REO/TM catalysts …


Characterization Of Thermoplastic Fusion Bonding Of Microchannels Using Pressure Assisted Boiling Point Control System, Kavya Dathathreya Jan 2016

Characterization Of Thermoplastic Fusion Bonding Of Microchannels Using Pressure Assisted Boiling Point Control System, Kavya Dathathreya

LSU Master's Theses

An innovative method of thermoplastic fusion bonding using a pressure assisted boiling point control (PABP) system was characterized to determine the optimum parameters for bonding polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) components containing microchannels and thin, 250 µm cover sheets. The PABP system enables precise control of the temperature boundary condition and the applied pressure by immersing the components being bonded in boiling water and varying the vapor pressure. Test structure geometries containing microchannels of two depths and four different aspect ratios were designed: 1:10 (Depth: 10µm, Width: 100 µm and Depth: 5µm, Width: 50 µm), 1:50 (Depth: 10µm, Width: 500µm and Depth: …


Optimal Configuration Of Inspection And Rework Stations In A Multistage Flexible Flowline, Md. Shahriar Jahan Hossain Jan 2016

Optimal Configuration Of Inspection And Rework Stations In A Multistage Flexible Flowline, Md. Shahriar Jahan Hossain

LSU Master's Theses

Inspection and rework are two important issues of quality control. In this research, an N-stage flowline is considered to make decisions on these two issues. When defective items are detected at the inspection station the items are either scrapped or reworked. A reworkable item may be repaired at the regular defect-creating workstation or at a dedicated off-line rework station. Two problems (end-of-line and multistage inspections) are considered here to deal with this situation. The end-of-line inspection (ELI) problem considers an inspection station located at the end of the line while the multistage inspection (MSI) problem deals with multiple in-line inspection …


A Study Of Fpga Resource Utilization For Pipelined Windowed Image Computations, Aswin Vijaya Varma Jan 2016

A Study Of Fpga Resource Utilization For Pipelined Windowed Image Computations, Aswin Vijaya Varma

LSU Master's Theses

In image processing operations, each pixel is often treated independently and operated upon by using values of other pixels in the neighborhood. These operations are often called windowed image computations (or neighborhood operations). In this thesis, we examine the implementation of a windowed computation pipeline in an FPGA-based environment. Typically, the image is generated outside the FPGA environment (such as through a camera) and the result of the windowed computation is consumed outside the FPGA environment (for example, in a screen for display or an engine for higher level analysis). The image is typically large (over a million pixels 1000×1000 …


The Effects Of Carbon Nanotubes On Cells In A Synthetic Oxygen Carrier Enriched Alginate Scaffold, Joshua Paul Tate Jan 2016

The Effects Of Carbon Nanotubes On Cells In A Synthetic Oxygen Carrier Enriched Alginate Scaffold, Joshua Paul Tate

LSU Master's Theses

Abstract Huge progress has been made in the development of three dimensionally printed tissue structures. With the use of cells, three dimensional printers, and CAD drawing software, donor identical structures can be fabricated. However, cell scaffolds currently lack significant mechanical integrity which can result in reduced cellular survival, attachment, and nutrient delivery. For this reason, multiple strategies have been developed to increase and improve mechanical stability within engineered constructs without having to sacrifice cell viability. The hypothesis of this paper was that incorporating Perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA), a greenhouse gas, with single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT), a allotrope of carbon with a …


Rapid Cooling Of Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea Virginica) Using An On-Board Icing Unit To Slow The Growth Of Vibrio Vulnificus And Vibrio Parahaemolyticus, Melody Amber Thomas Jan 2016

Rapid Cooling Of Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea Virginica) Using An On-Board Icing Unit To Slow The Growth Of Vibrio Vulnificus And Vibrio Parahaemolyticus, Melody Amber Thomas

LSU Master's Theses

Oyster harvesting is a major industry along the Eastern and Gulf coasts of the United States. Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) spawn when the waters start to warm between May and October in the Gulf of Mexico. The warmer temperature creates a problem with an increase of bacteria. The two major bacteria affecting the oyster industry are Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. These bacteria are the leading causes of seafood-borne illnesses in the United States. This increase of V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus has led to stricter time/temperature requirements for harvesting oysters. The regulations are not plausible for smaller vessels too …


Optimization Of Operational Costs In Data Centers, Shaoming Chen Apr 2015

Optimization Of Operational Costs In Data Centers, Shaoming Chen

LSU Master's Theses

The electricity cost of cloud computing data centers dominated by server power and cooling power is growing rapidly. To tackle this problem, inlet air with moderate temperature and server consolidation are widely adopted. However, the benefit of these two methods is limited due to conventional air cooling systems ineffectiveness caused by re-circulation and low heat capacity. To address this problem, hybrid air and liquid cooling, as a practical and inexpensive approach, has been introduced. In this work, we quantitatively analyze the impact of server consolidation and temperature of cooling water on the total electricity and server maintenance costs in hybrid …


Heat Transfer Study Of Porous Media With A Temperature Jump Condition, Pravin Kumar Jan 2015

Heat Transfer Study Of Porous Media With A Temperature Jump Condition, Pravin Kumar

LSU Master's Theses

Conjugate heat transfer in a porous media is investigated with a temperature jump condition obtained from kinetic gas theory. The temperature jump appears alongside flow boundary condition when the pressure is low, and considered to be in non-continuum regime. This investigation focuses on both one-dimensional and two-dimensional porous media models. The length scale of the pores is 100 microns. The temperature is ambient, and the pressure is low enough to reach the slip-flow regime. The thermal behavior of porous media is investigated using a slot model with a gas trapped between two solid blocks. Aluminum oxide and air are considered …


Identifying High Crash Risk Roadways Through Jerk-Cluster Analysis, Seyedeh Maryam Mousavi Jan 2015

Identifying High Crash Risk Roadways Through Jerk-Cluster Analysis, Seyedeh Maryam Mousavi

LSU Master's Theses

The state-of-the-practice for most municipal traffic agencies seeking to identify high-risk road segments has been to use prior crash history. While historic traffic crash data is recognized to be valuable in improving roadway safety, it relies on prior observation rather than future crash likelihood. Recently, however, researchers are developing predictive crash methods based on “abnormal driving events.” These include abrupt and atypical vehicle movements thought to be indicative of crash avoidance maneuvers and/or near-crashes. Because these types of near-crash events occur far more frequently than actual crashes, it is hypothesized that they can be used as an indicator of high-risk …


Modeling The Crude Oil Scheduling Problem With Integration With Lower Level Production Optimization And Uncertainty, Jorge Asis Charbel Chebeir Jan 2015

Modeling The Crude Oil Scheduling Problem With Integration With Lower Level Production Optimization And Uncertainty, Jorge Asis Charbel Chebeir

LSU Master's Theses

This research is focused on the modeling and optimization of the crude oil scheduling problem in order to generate the most appropriate schedule for the unloading, charging, blending, and movement of crude oil in a refinery, which means obtaining the schedule that generates the lowest costs. Uncertainty, which is often present in these types of optimization problems, is also analyzed and taken into account for the resolution of crude oil scheduling problem. A comprehensive novel model is proposed to describe the upper level crude oil scheduling problem, generate an optimal solution for the mentioned problem, and allow integration with the …


Effect Of Heavy Vehicle On Conventional And Joint Work Zone Merges, James Joseph Dillard Jan 2015

Effect Of Heavy Vehicle On Conventional And Joint Work Zone Merges, James Joseph Dillard

LSU Master's Theses

Lane merges in construction work zones are guided by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). The MUTCD typical lane closure guides merging vehicles from one lane into another; from the closed lane, where the construction work is taking place into the open lane. The conventional lane merge often creates conflicts for motorists because queues typically form in the open lane and aggressive drivers use this opportunity to drive in the closed lane as far as they can until forced to merge in the open lane. As a result, the conventional lane merge can create differential speeds and queue …


Wireless Localization In The Absence Of Gps, Hyundeok Kang Jan 2015

Wireless Localization In The Absence Of Gps, Hyundeok Kang

LSU Master's Theses

In this thesis, wireless localization is investigated based on multiple noisy estimates of the time-difference of arrival (TDOA) at each pair of the n >= 4 sensors with different but known locations using WiFi opportunistic signals. Our work is comprehensive and includes channel estimation, symbol detection, TDOA estimation, and location estimation. To mitigate the multipath issue induced by wideband signals, such as WiFi, frequency-division is employed to decompose the wideband RF signal into multiple non-overlapping narrowband signals. To minimize the adverse effects of the clock drift, time-division is proposed to divide the signal into multiple non-overlapping signals in the time …


Post-Treatment Assessment Of Hydraulic Fracturing With Integrated Modeling Of Natural Fracture Distribution, Ping Puyang Jan 2015

Post-Treatment Assessment Of Hydraulic Fracturing With Integrated Modeling Of Natural Fracture Distribution, Ping Puyang

LSU Master's Theses

Hydraulic fracturing has been serving as the principal reservoir stimulation technique for decades to improve production capacities of low permeability formations. On the other hand, through core and outcrop studies, advanced logging tools, microseismic fracture mapping and well testing analysis, it has been further revealed that many of the shale gas formations are naturally fractured. The presence of natural fractures and their interactions with hydraulic fractures must be taken into consideration while designing fracturing treatment. Although most natural fractures are cemented by precipitations during diagenesis, they may be reactivated during hydraulic fracturing and serve as weak paths for fluid flow …


Poly (Lactic Co-Glycolic) Acid Nanoparticles: Synthesis Using Millifluidic Chip And Interaction With Red Blood Cells, Sumit Libi Jan 2015

Poly (Lactic Co-Glycolic) Acid Nanoparticles: Synthesis Using Millifluidic Chip And Interaction With Red Blood Cells, Sumit Libi

LSU Master's Theses

Nanoparticles (NPs) have recently been developed for application as drug carriers in different fields, including biomedical engineering. This study was focused on the use of a millifluidic chip for synthesis of polymeric poly (lactic co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) NPs and the understanding of PLGA NPs interaction and effect on red blood cells (RBCs). A method for NPs synthesis on a millifluidic chip was developed, exploiting the precise flow control offered by this device. PLGA NPs ranging from 230nm to 350nm in diameter were produced. Smaller NPs of lower polydispersity were synthesized at higher flow rates of the aqueous phase; increase in …


Evaluation Of Louisiana Friction Rating Table By Field Measurements, Yogendra Prasad Subedi Jan 2015

Evaluation Of Louisiana Friction Rating Table By Field Measurements, Yogendra Prasad Subedi

LSU Master's Theses

This study aims to evaluate the current Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) friction rating table by field measurements and provide recommendations for the frictional mix design guidelines. The current friction rating table is based on the Polished Stone Value (PSV) of coarse aggregate as the only surface friction guideline in a wearing course mixture design, which is only one of many factors that affect the pavement surface friction. To achieve the objective, the pavement surface friction and texture properties were measured using Lock-Wheel Skid Trailer (LWST), Dynamic Friction Tester (DFT) and Circular Track Meter (CTM). Twenty two different …