Engineering Commons^™

Steady-State Modeling Of A Parallel-Plate Electrochemical Fluorination Reactor, Kamal Jha, Gerald L. Bauer, John W. Weidner

Faculty Publications

A steady-state mathematical model of a parallel-plate reactor was developed for studying the electrochemical fluorination of organic compounds dissolved in anhydrous hydrogen fluoride. The model incorporates two-phase flow with differential material, energy, and pressure balances. Profiles of temperature, pressure, vapor volume fraction, and current density in the reactor are presented at two inlet temperatures to provide insight into the operation of the reactor. The effects of the inlet temperature, feed flow rate, and cell current on the cell pack voltage and current efficiency of the reactor are presented to determine problematic operating regions for the reactor. Optimum operating currents based …

The Effect Of Particle Size On The Discharge Performance Of A Nickel-Metal Hydride Cell, Jussi M. Heikonen, Harry J. Ploehn, Ralph E. White

Faculty Publications

We investigate the effect of particle size on the discharge performance of a nickel-metal hydride cell with a mathematical model. Electrodes with uniform as well as with nonuniform particle sizes are studied. With uniform particle size, the dependence of the particle-to-particle resistance on the particle size is taken into account. The optimal particle size depends on the discharge rate. Moreover, we show that under certain conditions it is advantageous to use a nonuniform particle size. In general, the higher the discharge current density, the more the particle size affects the electrode performance.

Measurement Of Thin Liquid Film Drainage Using A Novel High-Speed Impedance Analyzer, Kevin O. Hool, Robert C. Saunders, Harry J. Ploehn

Faculty Publications

This work describes the design and implementation of a new instrument, called the thin film impedance analyzer, which measures the rate of drainage of thin oil films. The instrument forms an oil film by elevating a planar oil–water interface into a water drop hanging from a stainless steel capillary tube immersed in the oil. The instrument measures the magnitude of the impedance of the matter between the capillary tube and a screen electrode immersed in the lower water phase. Under appropriate conditions, the capacitance of the oil film dominates the impedance. The instrument records the increase in the magnitude of …

Agent Jurisprudence, Michael N. Huhns, Munindar P. Singh

Faculty Publications

The agent metaphor comes packaged with a number of powerful abstractions. Some of these are psychological, such as beliefs, knowledge, and intentions-abstractions that were traditionally studied in AI. However, there are a number of other abstractions that the agent metaphor brings to the fore. Of these, one has been emphasizing the social abstractions. Close cousins of the social abstractions are the ethical and legal abstractions. These too are being recognized as increasingly important in developing agents that are not only sociable, but also well behaved.

Relationships Among Grain Sorghum Quality Factors, Roberto A. Buffo, Curtis L. Weller, Anne M. Parkhurst

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Correlations among grain sorghum quality factors (proximate composition, physical properties, and water absorption properties) were evaluated. Samples of 46 commercial hybrids (24 and 22 from crop years 1993 and 1994) were analyzed for starch, protein, crude free fat, test weight, absolute density, 1,000 kernel weight, percent kernel abraded, water absorption index, initial water absorption rate, and moisture saturation point. Test weight, absolute density, and percent kernel abraded were positively correlated among themselves (r > 0.5). Protein was negatively correlated with both test weight and absolute density (r < -0.5), while moisture saturation point showed negative correlations with test weight, absolute density, 1,000 kernel weight, and percent kernel abraded (r < -0.4). Principal component factor analysis through the covariance matrix explained 95% of the total variation of quality factors among hybrids (two factors), and, through the correlation matrix, 85% of the total variation (five factors). Water absorption rate decreased with increasing starch content of grain sorghum kernels as water absorption rate increased and amount of water for saturation decreased with softening of kernels.

Opto-Electronic Sensor System For Rapid Evaluation Of Planter Seed Spacing Uniformity, Michael F. Kocher, Yubin Lan, Changhe Chen, John A. Smith

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

An opto-electronic seed spacing evaluation system that measured time intervals between seeds and detected front-to-back location of seed drop events relative to the planter was used to rapidly determine planter seed spacing uniformity in the laboratory. The seed detection sensor for the opto-electronic system consisted of a rectangular photogate with 24 phototransistors receiving light beams from 24 LEDs opposite to them. The system also included circuitry to interface the photogate with a digital I/O board in a personal computer. The opto-electronic system was tested with three planter configurations. During the tests, the photogate was positioned beneath the seed drop tube …

Data Logging Multiple Aviation Sensors Using A Motorala [Sic] Hc11 Microcontroller, Andrew James Wooding

Theses : Honours

This project is part of the research and development of a microprocessor based integrated instrumentation system for light aircraft. It involves interfacing a Motorola HC 11 microcontroller with several sensor inputs. The project system is designed to data log battery voltage, cylinder head temperature, ambient temperature and engine RPM.

Digital Receivers, George Rofa

Theses : Honours

No abstract provided.

Passive Circuit Modeling Using Ipa510, Hassan Hiwaidi Al-Sheikhly

Dissertations and Theses

Characterizing the high speed interconnect performance of circuit board, integrated circuit packages and multichip module become very important when the clock frequencies in digital and RF systems become larger than 200 MHz. At time scales less than 2 ns distributed approach must be used to measure package parasitics (stray inductance and capacitance) and transmission line effects.

A practical way to measure and model the package parasitics is by utilizing Interconnect Parameter Analyzer (IP A510). The IP A510 uses Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) technique. The TDR technique is based on sending a waveform to a device under test (DUT) and capturing …

An Approach To Exact Modeling Of The Pwm Switch, Anas N. Al-Rabadi

Dissertations and Theses

Large number of small-signal models of de-to-de power converters exists already. These models usually use two techniques. The first is the averaging technique, such as: volt-second and current-second balance, state space averaging, and the averaged modeling approach. The other technique focuses on the exact modeling approach, such as: the application of time varying systems theory to linearize networks. One of the methodologies to apply the above techniques, is to view the three-terminal systems as a two-port network.

The aim of the work presented in this thesis is to develop a new approach, by the application of the two-port network methodology …

Communicating Conceptual Design Of Mechatronic Systems, Muir Lee Harding

Dissertations and Theses

Today's engineering designers must adapt to a changing model of product development. In the past, a single engineer could design, develop and deploy competitive systems --this is often no longer the case. Designing a mechanical system with integrated microprocessor control requires the collaboration of a cross-disciplinary team of engineers and, in many cases, no single member of the team understands the workings of the entire system. Consequently, as systems become increasingly complex, the ability to collaborate and reliably communicate design information becomes more and more crucial. Effective communication 1s particularly critical in conceptual design, where a poor decision has the …

Oil Consumption Measurements Of A Production Engine Using The Sulfur-Trace Method, Verlyn Royal Benson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Controlling the oil consumption of diesel engines is important for customer satisfaction. Existing oil consumption measurement methods are adequate; however, improved methods offer the possibility of faster and more comprehensive results. The sulfur-trace method is an example.

Major objectives of this investigation were to adopt a sulfur-trace analyzer for oil consumption measurements, to improve the oil consumption measurement process, and to demonstrate application of the sulfur-trace instrument to individual cylinder sampling. To achieve these objectives, four research questions were applied:

1. What procedures and attention to detail are required?
2. How can results be reported to maximize data interpretation?
3. How do the …

An Evaluation Of The Aws Entry Level Welder Training Program, John R. Rice

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a training program for Entry Level Welders and to provide this information to the American Welding Society (AWS), industry, and educators. The problem of this study was to evaluate the AWS Entry Level Welder Training Program (ELWTP) by obtaining the opinions of faculty members who taught the program and welders who had completed the program.

Two groups comprised the research population for this study. The first group consisted of faculty members who were actually involved in teaching the course at institutions accredited by the AWS to offer the curriculum. …

Nitrogen Transformations In Coal During Pyrolysis, Simon R. Kelemen, Martin L. Gorbaty, P J. Kwiatek, Thomas H. Fletcher, Mathew Watt, Mark S. Solum, Ronald J. Pugmire

Faculty Publications

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to identify and quantify the changes in organically bound nitrogen forms present in the tars and chars of coals after pyrolysis. For fresh coal, pyrrolic nitrogen is the most abundant form of organically bound nitrogen, followed by pyridinic, quaternary, and amino types. Some of the quaternary nitrogen species initially present in coal are lost upon mild pyrolysis, prior to hydrocarbon devolatilization. These quaternary species are attributed to pyridinic or basic nitrogen species associated with hydroxyl groups from carboxylic acids or phenols. A portion of the quaternary nitrogen species is lost at the very earliest …

Laser Welding Of Sheet Metals, Jian Xie

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Laser welding of sheet metals is an important application of high power lasers, and has many advantages over conventional welding techniques. Laser welding has a great potential to replace other welding technique in the car-body manufacturing because of high laser weld quality and relatively low manufacturing cost associated with the laser technique. However, a few problems related to the laser welding of sheet metals limit its applications in industries. To have a better understanding of the welding process, laser welding experimental studies and theoretical analysis are necessary.

Temperature-dependent absorptivities of various metals are obtained theoretically for CO2, COIL (Chemical Oxygen-Iodine …

Numerical, Image, And Signal Processing Algorithms Applied To Radar Rainfall Estimation, John Eugene Lane

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Since the advent of radar in the 1940s, it has been well known that water drops composing precipitation scatter microwaves in a predictable manner. This characteristic of early. radar has lead to the present day Weather Surveillance Radar (WSR-88D) or NEXRAD systems, operated by the National Weather Service (NWS). In parallel to the evolution of weather radar for measuring precipitation over large areas, remote networks of rain gauges have been deployed and managed by agencies such as the Florida Water Management Districts. Since the recent deployment of the NWS network of WSR-88D, as well as the recent launch of the …

A Study Of Transconductance Degradation In Hemt Using A Self-Consistent Boltzmann-Poisson-Schrodinger Solver, Rahim Khoie

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

A self-consistent Boltzmann-Poisson-Schrödinger Solver is used to study the transconductance degradation in high electron mobility transistor (HEMT), which has extensively been reported by both experimental [1]-[8] and computational [9]-[ 13] researchers. As the gate voltage of a HEMT device is increased, its transconductance increases until it reaches a peak value, beyond which, the transconductance is degraded rather sharply with further increase in applied gate bias. We previously reported a two-subband self-consistent Boltzmann-Poisson- Schrödinger Solver for HEMT. [14] We further incorporated an additional self-consistency by calculating field-dependent, energy-dependent intersubband and intrasubband scattering rates due to ionized impurities and polar optical phonons.[15] …

Measuring Fine Aggregate Shape By Digital Imaging, Larry David Klotz

Theses and Dissertations

Fine aggregate shape has been identified as a factor in determining asphalt pavement rutting susceptibility. In an effort to improve test methods for measuring aggregate shape characteristics, a video-based, computer-controlled imaging system was developed. Individual aggregate particles were characterized by shape attributes. A neural network classifier used these attributes to calculate a single number classification index that relates to expected performance in asphalt concrete based on angularity. Expert judges were used to train the neural network classifier by scoring a set of particle outlines. Discrepancies in the expert's scores indicate that considerable uncertainties still exist in the concept of 'angularity'. …

Disaggregation Procedures For Stochastic Hydrology Based On Nonparametric Density Estimation, David G. Tarboton, Ashish Sharma, Upmanu L. Lall

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Synthetic simulation of streamflow sequences is important for the analysis of water supply reliability. Disaggregation models are an important component of the stochastic streamflow generation methodology. They provide the ability to simulate multiseason and multisite streamflow sequences that preserve statistical properties at multiple timescales or space scales. In recent papers we have suggested the use of nonparametric methods for streamflow simulation. These methods provide the capability to model time series dependence without a priori assumptions as to the probability distribution of streamflow. They remain faithful to the data and can approximate linear or nonlinear dependence. In this paper we extend …

Controlled Environment Potentiostat To Study Solid-Aqueous Systems, R A. Petrie, P. R. Grossl, Ronald C. Sims

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

We designed a redox apparatus that controls electropotenial (Eh), pH, and temperature. The apparatus is fully automated and can be assembled from equipment found in most soil analytical laboratories. The reactor can maintain environmental conditions used to evaluate the chemical fate of contaminants under natural conditions (natural attenuation) or adjust them to a new steady state to evaluate the effect of engineered remediation on a subsurface system. It can operate within a wide range of redox potential values (−400 to 400 mV) and at any pH value. The stability and accuracy of the instrument was tested by performing Eh-pH titrations …

Hazardous Waste Determination And Government Enforcement Actions In The Resource Conservation And Recovery Act And The Law No. 24051: Comparison Between The United States And Argentina, Eduardo Jose Conghos

LLM Theses and Essays

The incremental generation and disposal of hazardous waste, causing severe environmental pollution, has become one the world’s most important ecological problems starting with the Stockholm Conference in 1972. This paper examines two legislative reactions to pollution caused by hazardous wastes in the United States, under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 1976 (RCRA), and Argentina, in Law No. 24051. This paper makes a comparative analysis of the material provisions of both the RCRA and the Law with emphasis on the tools and actions provided for the enforcement of the RCRA and the Law. The paper concludes that the RCRA and …

A New Regulatory Environment For The Telecommunication Industry, Jerome Lavigne Delville

LLM Theses and Essays

The idea of information superhighways has been spurred by consumer demand, technological development and political institutions. These advancements and interests require a regulatory framework to control the operation of, and competition within the telecommunications industry. This paper focuses on government regulation of telecommunication carriers, information services (internet), video-programming and wireless telecommunication (spectrum). This paper also highlights the roles of the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) under the Telecommunications Act of 1996 as compared to previous laws prior to the 1996 Act.

Copyright Protection Of Software, Severine Desimpelaere

LLM Theses and Essays

Computer technology has developed within the last decades with many advancements which require intellectual property protections. This thesis addresses the need for the legal protection of software by the vast body of copyright laws. This thesis examines the history, nature, textual and practical compositions of copyright laws and their adaptability to computer technology. The thesis further analyses the scope of copyright protection with emphasis on the Computer Software Copyright Act of 1980 (CSCA), the regime of international conventions for the protection of software as well as other statutory protections for the owners and users of the software. The thesis concludes …

Study Of Electronic Cash: Its Impact On The Economy And Society, And Its Future, Sanjana Prasad

LLM Theses and Essays

Technological advancement has introduced an electronic method for the payment for goods and services. With these advancements and the growth of the internet, the market-place of the world has become one universe without borders. This paper examines the various methods of electronic payment for goods and services and the domestic and international laws that govern their operations. The paper explores concerns about money laundering, counterfeiting, internet security, cyber scams in electronic cash as well as proffered security solutions to these problems. The paper concludes with the proposition that electronic cash in the form of cards (ATM) are more accessible to …

Total Quality Management And Corporate Financial Performance: An Analysis Of The Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award Criteria, Alice Brigid Beechner

Doctoral Dissertations

"The impact of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) Performance Excellence Criteria on corporate financial performance is examined. Three independent studies were performed to assess this relationship. The first included Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) winners. The second study involved 69 firms identified as Total Quality Management (TQM) firms and for the final study a sample of large American corporations who completed surveys which provided an estimate of the score the companies would have received on a MBNQA assessment were examined. The method for assessing the financial strength for all three studies was the metric Market Value Added …

Few-Cycle Pulses In Two-Level Media, Lee W. Casperson

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Techniques for producing, measuring, and applying ever shorter electromagnetic pulses are being developed for incorporation in a variety of modern high-speed systems. In many cases these pulses are at most a few cycles in length, and so-called half-cycle electromagnetic pulses are also widely employed. The interaction of such pulses with two-level media is considered here in detail, and these media are basic to many of the absorbing and amplifying configurations of optics and laser studies. Significant delays and distortion of the resulting polarization and population pulses can occur, and nonlinear optical effects are also revealed. The limitations of the parity, …

Exact Graph Coloring For Functional Decomposition: Do We Need It?, Marek Perkowski, Rahul Malvi, Lech Jozwiak

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Finding column multiplicity index is one of important component processes in functional decomposition of discrete functions for circuit design and especially Data Mining applications. How important it is to solve this problem exactly from the point of view of the minimum complexity of decomposition, and related to it error in Machine Learning type of applications? In order to investigate this problem we wrote two graph coloring programs: exact program EXOC and approximate program DOM (DOM cab give provably exact results on some types of graphs). These programs were next incorporated into the multi-valued decomposer of functions and relations NVGUD. Extensive …

Multi-Level Programmable Arrays For Sub-Micron Technology Based On Symmetries, Marek Perkowski, Malgorzata Chrzanowska-Jeske, Yang Xu

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Regular layout is a fundamental concept in VLSI design which can have application in custom design for submicron technologies, designing new architectures for fine-grain Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and Electrically Programmable logic Devices (EPLDs), and minimization of logic functions for existing FPGAs. PLAs are well known examples of regular layouts. Lattice diagrams are another type of regular layouts that have been recently introduced for layout-driven logic synthesis. In this paper we extend and combine theses two ideas, by introducing the multi-level PLA-like structures, composed from multi-output (pseudo) symmetrical lattice planes and other planes (multi-input, multi-output regular blocks). The main …

Rtl Power Estimation Of Sequential Circuits, Sridhar Muthrasanallur

Dissertations and Theses

Power consumption has become a major concern in the electronic industry in recent years because of the increased demand for portable electronic devices. Part of the problem in power conscious design is accurate power estimation. Power estimation at low-levels of design abstraction is slow since the units of low-levels of design abstraction are transistors or gates. But designers need reliable power estimates early in the design process. Therefore designers need to have tools for fast and accurate power estimation at higher levels of design abstraction such as the Register Transfer Level (RTL).

This thesis introduces a new method for RTL …

The Design Of Cube Calculus Machine Using Sram-Based Fpga Reconfigurable Hardware Dec’S Perle-1 Board, Qihong Chen

Dissertations and Theses

Presented in this thesis are new approaches to column compatibility checking and column-based input/output encoding for Curtis decompositions of switching functions. These approaches can be used in Curtis-type functional decomposition programs for applications in several scientific disciplines. Examples of applications are: minimization of combinational and sequential logic) mapping of logic functions to programmable logic devices such as CPLDs, MPGAs, and FPGAs, data encryption, data compression, pattern recognition) and image refinement. Presently, Curtis-type functional decomposition programs are used primarily for experimental purposes due to performance, quality, and compatibility issues. However) in the past few years a renewal of interest in the …