Engineering Commons^™

Designing And Development Of A Photobioreactor For Optimizing The Growth Of Micro Algae And Studying Its Growth Parameters, Sarmila Katuwal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the estimated value of materials required to grow 1g of biomass and the analysis of the light intensity with respect to flow path and flow rate. This thesis aims to design the sparger for a flat plate Photobioreactor, study the flow patterns at different flow rate of air flow and check the performance of flat plate PBR by growing the cyanobacteria. The estimated value to produce 1g of biomass (C_44.6H₇O₂₅N_7.68P_0.9S_0.3) was 0.099g of N, 0.493g of C, 0.160 g of Na, 0.026 g of P, …

Assessing The Near-Wall Hemodynamics In The Left Coronary Artery Using Cfd, John Junior Asiruwa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis is to computationally investigate the flow mechanics and the near-wall hemodynamics associated with the different take-off angles in the left coronary artery of the human heart. From this study, we will be able to evaluate if the increase in the take-off angles of the left coronary artery will significantly increases or decrease the likelihood of plaque (atherosclerosis) buildup in the left coronary artery bifurcations. This study quantifies the effects of the varying take-off angles on the branches along the left anterior descending (LAD) of the left coronary artery using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The …

Evaluating Filter Materials For E. Coli Removal From Stormwater, Ghaem Hooshyari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Stormwater runoff from agricultural and urban areas carries a wide range of pollutants and pathogens that can negatively affect surface water bodies and cause significant risks to the ecosystem and public health. Bacteria is one of the pollutants carried by stormwater, and Escherichia coli (E. coli) is commonly used as a microbial pollution indicator of surface water. The aim of this research was to investigate the removal of E. coli from stormwater using low-cost filter materials. Two industrial byproducts (steel slag and steel chips) and two natural minerals (zeolite and limestone) with three different sizes (0.5-1 mm, 1-2 mm, and …

Exploring The Relationship Between Immediacy Behaviors And Student Motivation In Engineering Classrooms: Immediacy As A Cause Of Motivation, Andrea N. Barahona Guerrero

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Instructor immediacy is an essential characteristic of effective instructors. Although instructional communication has done extensive research on the impact of immediacy behaviors on students, there is little available research observing immediacy behaviors as predictors of motivation on engineering students. As a result, this study examined the impact of engineering instructors’ use of immediacy behaviors on engineering students’ motivation. The results indicated that verbal immediacy predicted engineering student motivation. The thematic analysis revealed that when students perceived their instructors as helpful, students’ motivation to learn and ask more questions increased. The thematic analysis also observed that when instructors seemed unapproachable, students …

The Synthetic Biology Of N2-Fixing Cyanobacteria For Photosynthetic Terpenoid Production, Charles T. Halfmann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the last few decades, concerns over global climate change, energy security, and environmental pollution have been rising. To overcome these challenges, the concept of “-n^th generation” biofuels has emerged as a strategy to convert solar radiation into fuels and bulk industrial chemicals for societal use, while decreasing our consumption of nonrenewable energy sources. Nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria hold a distinct advantage in biofuel production over plants, given their ability to convert sunlight, air (CO₂ and N₂), and mineralized water to energy-dense carbon molecules, as well as fix atmospheric nitrogen gas into ammonia for metabolism. Engineered cyanobacteria with …

Development Of Heterogeneous Catalysts For Upgrading Biomass Pyrolysis Bio-Oils Into Advanced Biofuels, Shouyun Cheng

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The massive consumption of fossil fuels and associated environmental issues result in an increased interest in alternative resources such as biofuels. The renewable biofuels can be upgraded from bio-oils that are derived from biomass pyrolysis. Catalytic cracking and hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) are two most promising bio-oil upgrading techniques for biofuel production. Heterogeneous catalysts are essential for upgrading bio-oil into hydrocarbon biofuel. Although some progresses have been made, the cost and effectiveness of catalysts still remain challenges. The main objective of this study was to develop efficient heterogeneous catalysts for upgrading bio-oils into advanced hydrocarbon biofuel with low costs. In catalytic cracking, …

Bacterial Foraging Optimized Statcom For Stability Assessment In Power System, Shiba Paital, Prakash Ray, Asit Mohanty, Sandipan Patra, Harishchandra Dubey

Conference papers

This paper presents a study of improvement in stability in a single machine connected to infinite bus (SMIB) power system by using static compensator (STATCOM). The gains of Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller in STATCOM are being optimized by heuristic technique based on Particle swarm optimization (PSO). Further, Bacterial Foraging Optimization (BFO) as an alternative heuristic method is also applied to select optimal gains of PID controller. The performance of STATCOM with the above soft-computing techniques are studied and compared with the conventional PID controller under various scenarios. The simulation results are accompanied with performance indices based quantitative analysis. The analysis clearly …

Design Of An Underwater Cable Fault Location Device To Precisely Locate Submarine Cable Faults, Glenn O'Reilly, Joseph Kearney, John Lawler, Tom Looby

Conference papers

The objective of the paper is to develop a robust and reliable method to pinpoint submarine cable faults. Submarine cables have existed for over 100 years but there is still no single method used to determine the precise location of a submarine cable fault. The various methods used to pinpoint cable faults, both submarine and non-submarine were researched and investigated to produce a method which would accurately pinpoint submarine cable faults. From this, the idea of a hydrophone string was derived from a non-submarine pinpointing method currently used. The hydrophone string was tested and it accurately pinpointed the location of …

Simultaneous Measurement Of Both Magnetic Field Strength And Temperature With A Microfiber Coupler Based Fiber Laser Sensor, Fangfang Wei, Dejun Liu, Yuliya Semenova, Gerald Farrell, Arun Mallik

Conference papers

In this paper we propose and investigate a novel magnetic field sensor based of a ring erbium-doped fiber laser combined with a fiber Bragg grating and a Sagnac loop containing a microfiber coupler and magnetic fluid. In addition to the magnetic field sensing capability, the proposed structure can simultaneously provide temperature information. Thanks to the dual-ring structure of the MFC-Sagnac loop and the FBG-assisted resonant cavity, the output has two distinct laser peaks. Experimentally demonstrated magnetic field sensitivity of one of the laser peaks is 15 pm/mT in the magnetic field range from 0 to 100 mT. The spectral position …

Professional Roles And Employability Of Future Engineers, Kevin Gaughan, S. Craps, M. Pinxten, G. Saunders, M. Leandro-Cruz

Conference papers

Although there is high degree of agreement on the importance of transversal skills for engineers, employers observe a significant gap between expectations and reality. This paper discusses the need for the development of a framework of professional roles for future engineers and the implementation of dedicated skills education in engineering curricula to train students for this role. Based on an extensive literature study, an overview is given of previous research on this topic. The paper also outlines the next steps that will be taken by the authors as part of a European project PREFER to develop and implement these roles …

The Rock 2017, School Of Engineering And Computer Science

The Rock

No abstract provided.

Chalcogenide Nanocrystal Assembly: Controlling Heterogeneity And Modulating Heterointerfaces, Jessica Davis Davis

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation work is focused on developing methods to facilitate charge transport in heterostructured materials that comprise a nanoscale component. Multicomponent semiconductor materials were prepared by (1) spin coating of discrete nanomaterials onto porous silicon (pSi) or (2) self-assembly. Spin-coating of colloidal quantum dot (QD) PbS solutions was employed to create prototype PbS QD based radiation detection devices using porous silicon (pSi) as an n-type support and charge transport material. These devices were initially tested as a photodetector to ascertain the possibility of their use in high energy radiation detection. Short chain thiolate ligands (4-fluorothiophenolate) and anion passivation at the …

The New Designing Of The Nano-Indentation Method To Applying On The Aisi D-2 Steel, Tangyue Wu

Wayne State University Theses

In this thesis, it is mainly to describe the new designed nano-indenataion. This kind of nano-indentation apparatus is much more inexpensive and almost has the same function to compare with the commercial one. The nano-indentation system can get the force-displacement wave, which is the way to determine the elastic and plastic properties for the particle materials. In the structure, it would describe the designing of the nano-indentation apparatus for a big partial of the thesis. This part is divided into 3 sub-part: hardware designing, software designing and data processing. The material, D2, is chosen to do the force-displacement wave, which …

Engineering Of Organic Nanocrystals By Electrocrystallization, Mohamed Kilani

Wayne State University Theses

This work discusses the experimental and theoretical methods used to control the morphology of nanocrystals. The hypothesis of the thermodynamic/kinetic control of the morphology was verified. We applied the electrocrystallization to make K(def)TCP nanocrystals and we tuned the electrochemical parameters to determine their influence on the nanocrystals morphologies. The characterization was mainly performed with AFM and FE-SEM. We presented in this work the possibility to control the morphology of K(def)TCP using the electrochemical parameters. The obtained shapes ranged from nanorods to rhombohedral shape, which is reported for the first time. The observed growth behavior was modeled and simulated with a …

Benchmarking Of A Personal Air-Sampling Device, Russell Charles

Research Opportunities for Engineering Undergraduates (ROEU) Program 2016-17

Long term exposure to low concentrations of environmental pollutants can lead to a negative impact on our health. Accurate and precise measurements of these pollutants is needed to quantify and better understand their effects. The goal of this project is to analyze and benchmark custom-built personal air monitoring devices.

Condition Assessment Of End-Of-Use Products For Remanufacturing, Jovan Morgan

Research Opportunities for Engineering Undergraduates (ROEU) Program 2016-17

The goal of the project is to use the automated 3-D laser scanner using a Capnut as a test object to detect surface defects, corrosion and calculation error through offline quality inspection. potentially reducing labor time and cost for both consumers and manufacturers.

Forecasting Peak-Day Consumption For Year-Ahead Management Of Natural Gas Networks, Ronan Oliver, Aidan Duffy, Bernard Enright, Rodger O'Connor

Articles

Security of supply is at the forefront of energy policy in the EU and elsewhere. This paper develops a methodology to forecast peak-day gas consumption for the consideration of gas transmission system operators. It is developed for the domestic and small-to-medium enterprise (SME) gas market, based on a review of current practice. From this assessment, a climate-adjusted network degree day (NDDCA) variable is developed to estimate the weather-dependent gas consumption of such markets. We show that solar radiation significantly affects gas consumption and should be considered in consumption models. The study also quantifies the difference in capacity required under alternative …

Optimising The Performance Of Cement-Based Batteries, Aimee Byrne, Shane Barry, Niall Holmes Dr., Brian Norton

Articles

The development of a battery using different cement-based electrolytes to provide a low but potentially sustainable source of electricity is described. The current, voltage, and lifespan of batteries produced using different electrolyte additives, copper plate cathodes, and (usually) aluminium plate anodes were compared to identify the optimum design, components, and proportions to increase power output and longevity. Parameters examined include water/cement ratio, anode to cathode surface area ratio, electrode material, electrode spacing, and the effect of sand, aggregate, salts, carbon black, silica fume, and sodium silicate on the electrolyte. The results indicate that the greatest and longest lasting power can …

The Compartmented Alginate Fibres Optimisation For Bitumen Rejuvenator Encapsulation, Amir Tabakovic, Dirk Braak, Mark Van Gerwen, Oguzhan Copuroglu, Wouter Post, Santiago J. Garcia, Erik Schlangen

Research and Innovation - Articles

This article presents development of a novel self-healing technology for asphalt pavements, where asphalt binder rejuvenator is encapsulated within the compartmented alginate fibres. The key objective of the study was to optimise the compartmented alginate fibre design, i.e., maximising amount of rejuvenator encapsulated within the fibre. The results demonstrate that optimum rejuvenator content in the alginate fibre is of 70:30 rejuvenator/alginate ratio. The fibres are of sufficient thermal and mechanical strength to survive harsh asphalt mixing and compaction processes. Furthermore, results illustrate that zeer open asfalt beton (ZOAB) asphalt mix containing 5% of 70:30 rejuvenator/alginate ratio compartmented alginate fibres has …

A Transfer Matrix Approach To Aid In The Design And Optimization Of Hybrid Advanced Passive Structures For Enhancing Photovoltaic Efficiency, James Walshe, Sarah Mccormack, Hind Ahmed, John Doran

Conference Papers

The addition of a luminescent down-shifting (LDS) layer directly onto a photovoltaic (PV) cell introduces additional loss mechanisms within the system. The combination of non-ideal photo-luminescent materials encapsulated within a limited range of viable host materials, with the increased reflection losses arising from the newly created interface represent losses which must be overcome for LDS to offer an enhancement to the underlying cells efficiency. Exploiting the interaction between the highly enhanced electric fields established close to a metal nanoparticles (MNP’s) surface is one route aimed at mitigating the poor optical properties of the luminophore-host combinations available. Alternative approaches, aimed at …

Linking Geospatial Engineering Into Collaborative Multidisciplinary Bim Projects - An Educational Perspective, Avril Behan, Helen Murray, Jonathan Argue, Ronan Hogan, Audrey Martin, Pat O'Sullivan, Robert Moore, Malachy Mathews

Conference papers

This paper describes the background to and execution of a postgraduate project undertaken by students on DIT's MSc in Geospatial Engineering (GeoEng) in support of a project on level 2 BIM being undertaken by students on the MSc in applied Building Information Modelling & Management (aBIMM) around the retrofit of and new build extension to the Grangegorman Clock Tower Building. In support of this requirement, an external and internal survey of the existing structure and its surrounding topography was required. The aBIMM students and staff acted as the Design Team who subcontracted the Geo Eng group who were organised into …

Enzyme-Catalyzed Reactions Using Enzymes Immobilized On Non-Spherical Particles, Alexander D. Redfearn

Honors Theses and Capstones

Modern and industrial chemical reactions often utilize enzyme-catalyzed reactions to increase product yields. Given the high cost of enzymes it is desirable to preserve the activity of the enzymes and reuse them several times. In this study, I explored the possibility of immobilizing enzymes on custom-made non-spherical SU-8 microparticles to conduct enzyme-catalyzed reactions in flow reactors. The decomposition of hydrogen peroxide using bovine liver catalase was studied due to its well-understood enzyme kinetics. Soft lithography techniques were used to synthesize prismatic SU-8 microparticles. I will discuss the progress that has been made in immobilizing the enzyme on the particle surface …

Photocatalytic Decomposition Of Phenol Under Visible And Uv Light Utilizing Titanium Dioxide Based Catalysts, Marjorie G. Steiner

Honors Theses and Capstones

Pollution in wastewater effluvia from phenol and phenolic compounds is a common occurrence in many industrial manufacturing plants. Phenol is toxic to human beings as well as a contaminant to the environment, meanwhile, it is difficult to remove from wastewater due to its non-biodegradable nature. To boost the rate of decomposition, various catalytic approaches have been developed. With the interest of decreasing operation cost, titanium dioxide (TiO₂) based catalysts have emerged as good candidates for the photocatalytic process.

In this honors project, a series of TiO₂ based catalysts, including TiO₂, N-TiO₂, Cu-TiO_{2 …}

Passive Photonic Integrated Ratiometric Wavelength Monitor With Resolution Better Than 15pm, Pengfei Wang, Agus Muhamad Hatta, Haoyu Zhao, Wenlei Yang, Jing Ren, Yaxian Fan, Gerald Farrell, Gilberto Bramilla

Articles

This paper presents a compact and low-loss photonic integrated device consisting of a Y-branch and a pair of multimode interferometers (MMI) for a ratiometric wavelength monitoring around 1550 nm on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technique. Two MMIs are designed in terms of width and length to achieve overlapping but opposite slope spectral responses used as two edge filters over a wavelength measurement range from 1500 nm to 1600 nm. The developed integrated photonic ratiometric structure demonstrates a suitable discrimination range for a high-speed passive wavelength measurement, with a high resolution better than 15 pm over a 100 nm wavelength range.

Classification Of Radar Jammer Fm Signals Using A Neural Network Approach, Ariadna Estefania Mendoza

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A Neural Network (NN) used to classify radar signals is proposed for the purpose of military survivability and lethality analysis. The goal of the NN is to correctly differentiate Frequency-Modulated (FM) signals from Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) using limited signal pre-processing. The FM signals used to test the NN approach are the linear or chirp FM and the power-law FM. Preliminary simulations using the moments of the signals in the time and frequency domain yielded better results in the frequency domain, suggesting that time domain training would not be as effective frequency domain training. To test this hypoThesis, we …

On-Orbit Autonomous Repair: Systems Design And Project Management Of The Orbital Factory Ii Cube-Satellite, Mike Louis Everett

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In 2016, a group of faculty, staff and students from the University of Texas at El Paso submitted a formal entry to the ULA CubeCorp competition to launch a 1U Cube Satellite into Orbit. In September of 2016, the team was awarded a launch opportunity to a prestigious GTO orbit to test and validate electrically conductive printing on within the Van Allen Radiation belts. This Dissertation is focused upon the management plan and specific decision that were implemented to accomplish this goal within a one year time frame and on a conservative budget.

In 2018 this satellite will launch aboard …

A Data Centre Air Flow Model For Predicting Computer Server Inlet Temperatures, Raymond Lloyd, Jer Hayes, Marek Rebow, Brian Norton

Conference Papers

Data centres account for approx. 1.3% of the world's electricity consumption, of which up to 50% of that power is dedicated to keeping the actual equipment cool. This represents a huge opportunity to reduce data centre energy consumption by tackling the cooling system operations with a focus on thermal management. This work presents a novel Data Centre Air Flow Model (DCAM) for temperature prediction of server inlet temperatures. The model is a physics-based model under-pinned by turbulent jet theory allowing a reduction in the solution domain size by using only local boundary conditions in front of the servers. Current physics-based …

An Overview Of Dissolved Organic Carbon In Groundwater And Implications For Drinking Water Safety, S. Regan, Paul Hynds, R. Flynn

Articles

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is composed of a diverse array of compounds, predominantly humic substances, and is a near ubiquitous component of natural groundwater, notwithstanding climatic extremes such as arid and hyper-arid settings. Despite being a frequently measured parameter of groundwater quality, the complexity of DOC composition and reaction behaviour means that links between concentration and human health risk are difficult to quantify and few examples are reported in the literature. Measured concentrations from natural/unpolluted groundwater are typically below 4 mg C/l, whilst concentrations above these levels generally indicate anthropogenic influences and/or contamination issues and can potentially compromise water safety. …

Geospatial Drivers Of The Groundwater Δ18o Isoscape In A Temperate Maritime Climate (Republic Of Ireland), S. Regan, R. Goodhue, O. Naughton, Paul Hynds

Articles

In recent years, the concept of “isoscapes” has been used to describe spatiotemporal stable isotope distributions within natural environments including groundwater systems at multiple scales. This study presents an updated groundwater δ18O isoscape for the Republic of Ireland and describes the climatic and geological drivers influencing 18O composition. In all, 142 geographically and geologically representative groundwater installations were sampled and analysed, in addition to 35 samples from six nested boreholes. Geospatially, Irish groundwater exhibits high δ18O values in southern and western coastal regions, becoming progressively depleted inland before reaching lowest measured values along the eastern coast, equating to a national …

Application Of Phase Shifting Electronic Speckle Pattern Interferometry In Studies Of Photoinduced Shrinkage Of Photopolymer Layers, Mohesh Moothanchery, Viswanath Bavigadda, Manojit Pramanik, Vincent Toal, Izabela Naydenova

Articles

Photoinduced shrinkage occurring in photopolymer layers during holographic recording was determined by Phase Shifting Electronic Speckle Pattern Interferometry. Phase maps were calculated from the changes in intensity at each pixel due to the phase differences introduced between object and reference beams. Shrinkage was then obtained from the changes in phase as recording proceeded. The technique allows for whole field measurement of the dimensional changes in photopolymers during holographic recording.