Engineering Commons^™

Ignition Of A Plasma Discharge Inside An Electrodeless Chamber: Methods And Characteristics, Mounir Laroussi

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

In this paper the generation and diagnostics of a reduced pressure (300 mTorr to 3 Torr) plasma generated inside an electrodeless containment vessel/chamber are presented. The plasma is ignited by a guided ionization wave emitted by a low temperature pulsed plasma jet. The diagnostics techniques include Intensified Charge Coupled Device (ICCD) imaging, emission spectroscopy, and Langmuir probe. The reduced-pressure discharge parameters measured are the magnitude of the electric field, the plasma electron number density and temperature, and discharge expansion speed.

Maximizing Performance Under A Power Constraint On Modern Multicore Systems, Vaibhav Sundriyal, Masha Sosonkina, Bryce Westheimer, Mark S. Gordon

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Energy efficiency and energy-proportional computing have become a central focus in modern supercomputers. These supercomputers should provide high throughput per unit of power to be sustainable in terms of operating cost and failure rates. In this paper, a power-bounded strategy is proposed that maximizes parallel application performance under a given power constraint. The strategy dynamically allocates power to core, uncore, and memory power domains within a node to maximize performance under a given power budget. Experiments on a 20-core Haswell-EP platform for a real-world parallel application GAMESS demonstrate that the proposed strategy delivers performance within 4% of the best possible …

A Review: Thermal Stability Of Methylammonium Lead Halide Based Perovskite Solar Cells, Tanzila Tasnim Ava, Abdullah Al Mamun, Sylvain Marsillac, Gon Namkoong

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Perovskite solar cells have achieved photo-conversion efficiencies greater than 20%, making them a promising candidate as an emerging solar cell technology. While perovskite solar cells are expected to eventually compete with existing silicon-based solar cells on the market, their long-term stability has become a major bottleneck. In particular, perovskite films are found to be very sensitive to external factors such as air, UV light, light soaking, thermal stress and others. Among these stressors, light, oxygen and moisture-induced degradation can be slowed by integrating barrier or interface layers within the device architecture. However, the most representative perovskite absorber material, CH_{3 …}

On Board Georeferencing Using Fpga-Based Optimized Second Order Polynomial Equation, Dequan Liu, Guoqing Zhou, Jingjin Huang, Rongting Zhang, Lei Shu, Xiang Zhou, Chun Sheng Xin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

For real-time monitoring of natural disasters, such as fire, volcano, flood, landslide, and coastal inundation, highly-accurate georeferenced remotely sensed imagery is needed. Georeferenced imagery can be fused with geographic spatial data sets to provide geographic coordinates and positing for regions of interest. This paper proposes an on-board georeferencing method for remotely sensed imagery, which contains five modules: input data, coordinate transformation, bilinear interpolation, and output data. The experimental results demonstrate multiple benefits of the proposed method: (1) the computation speed using the proposed algorithm is 8 times faster than that using PC computer; (2) the resources of the field programmable …

Microstructural Evaluation Of Aluminium Alloy A365 T6 In Machining Operation, Bankole I. Oladapo, S. Abolfazl Zahedi, Francis T. Omigbodun, Edwin A. Oshin, Victor A. Adebiyi, Olaoluwa B. Malachi

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The optimum cutting parameters such as cutting depth, feed rate, cutting speed and magnitude of the cutting force for A356 T6 was determined concerning the microstructural detail of the material. Novel test analyses were carried out, which include mechanical evaluation of the materials for density, glass transition temperature, tensile and compression stress, frequency analysis and optimisation as well as the functional analytic behaviour of the samples. The further analytical structure of the particle was performed, evaluating the surface luminance structure and the profile structure. The cross-sectional filter profile of the sample was extracted, and analyses of Firestone curve for the …

The Effect Of Tube Geometry On The Chiral Plasma, S. Jin, D. Zou, X. Lu, Mounir Laroussi

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

A chiral plasma plume has recently been reported inside a circular quartz tube without the use of an external magnetic field. It is believed that the quartz tube plays an important role in the formation of the chiral plasma plume. In this paper, to better understand how this interesting structure is generated, the effect of the tube geometry on the chiral plasma is investigated. First, the effect of the thickness of the tube wall on the chiral plasma is investigated. It is interesting to find that a too thin or too thick tube wall is not favorable for generating the …

Ultrafast Time-Resolved Structural Changes Of Thin-Film Ferromagnetic Metal Heated With Femtosecond Optical Pulses, Runze Li, Hani Elsayed-Ali, Jie Chen, Dinesh Dhankhar, Arjun Krishnamoorthi, Peter M. Rentzepis

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

As a classic ferromagnetic material, nickel has been an important research candidate used to study dynamics and interactions of electron, spin, and lattice degrees of freedom. In this study, we specifically chose a thick, 150 nm ferromagnetic nickel (111) single crystal rather than 10–20 nm thin crystals that are typically used in ultrafast studies, and we revealed both the ultrafast heating within the skin depth and the heat transfer from the surface (skin) layer to the bulk of the crystal. The lattice deformation after femtosecond laser excitation was investigated by means of 8.04 keV subpicosecond x-ray pulses, generated from a …

Feature-Guided Deep Radiomics For Glioblastoma Patient Survival Prediction, Zeina A. Shboul, Mahbubul Alam, Lasitha Vidyaratne, Linmin Pei, Mohamed I. Elbakary, Khan M. Iftekharuddin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Glioblastoma is recognized as World Health Organization (WHO) grade IV glioma with an aggressive growth pattern. The current clinical practice in diagnosis and prognosis of Glioblastoma using MRI involves multiple steps including manual tumor sizing. Accurate identification and segmentation of multiple abnormal tissues within tumor volume in MRI is essential for precise survival prediction. Manual tumor and abnormal tissue detection and sizing are tedious, and subject to inter-observer variability. Consequently, this work proposes a fully automated MRI-based glioblastoma and abnormal tissue segmentation, and survival prediction framework. The framework includes radiomics feature-guided deep neural network methods for tumor tissue segmentation; followed …

Computational Modeling Of Trust Factors Using Reinforcement Learning, C. M. Kuzio, A. Dinh, C. Stone, L. Vidyaratne, K. M. Iftekharuddin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

As machine-learning algorithms continue to expand their scope and approach more ambiguous goals, they may be required to make decisions based on data that is often incomplete, imprecise, and uncertain. The capabilities of these models must, in turn, evolve to meet the increasingly complex challenges associated with the deployment and integration of intelligent systems into modern society. Historical variability in the performance of traditional machine-learning models in dynamic environments leads to ambiguity of trust in decisions made by such algorithms. Consequently, the objective of this work is to develop a novel computational model that effectively quantifies the reliability of autonomous …

Transfer Learning Approach To Multiclass Classification Of Child Facial Expressions, Megan A. Witherow, Manar D. Samad, Khan M. Iftekharuddin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The classification of facial expression has been extensively studied using adult facial images which are not appropriate ground truths for classifying facial expressions in children. The state-of-the-art deep learning approaches have been successful in the classification of facial expressions in adults. A deep learning model may be better able to learn the subtle but important features underlying child facial expressions and improve upon the performance of traditional machine learning and feature extraction methods. However, unlike adult data, only a limited number of ground truth images exist for training and validating models for child facial expression classification and there is a …

Compact -300 Kv Dc Inverted Insulator Photogun With Biased Anode And Alkali-Antimonide Photocathode, C. Hernandez-Garcia, P. Adderley, B. Bullard, J. Benesch, J. Grames, J. Gubeli, F. Hannon, J. Hansknecht, J. Jordan, R. Kazimi, G. A. Krafft, M. A. Mamun, M. Poelker, M. L. Stutzman, R. Suleiman, M. Tiefenback, Y. Wang, S. Zhang, H. Baumgart, G. Palacios-Serrano, S. Wijethunga, J. Yoskowitz, C. A. Valerio Lizarraga, R. Montoya Soto, A. Canales Ramos

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This contribution describes the latest milestones of a multiyear program to build and operate a compact −300  kV dc high voltage photogun with inverted insulator geometry and alkali-antimonide photocathodes. Photocathode thermal emittance measurements and quantum efficiency charge lifetime measurements at average current up to 4.5 mA are presented, as well as an innovative implementation of ion generation and tracking simulations to explain the benefits of a biased anode to repel beam line ions from the anode-cathode gap, to dramatically improve the operating lifetime of the photogun and eliminate the occurrence of micro-arc discharges.

Airfield Infrastructure Management Using Network-Level Optimization And Stochastic Duration Modeling, Mohamadhossein Noruzoliaee, Bo Zou

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper proposes a facility-specific modeling approach to plan maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) activities on a network of airport runway pavement facilities. The objective of the modeling approach is to minimize system M&R cost while recommending M&R activities for each runway pavement facility over a planning horizon. To do so, pavement condition forecast is derived from estimating stochastic duration models which capture the inherent uncertainty and dynamics in pavement deterioration and impacts of exogenous factors. Building on the pavement condition forecast, a network optimization-based M&R planning framework is developed which accounts for the interdependence of M&R activities among facilities as …

Inception: Virtual Space In Memory Space In Real Space, Peter Casey, Rebecca Lindsay-Decusati, Ibrahim Baggili, Frank Breitinger

Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

Virtual Reality (VR) has become a reality. With the technology's increased use cases, comes its misuse. Malware affecting the Virtual Environment (VE) may prevent an investigator from ascertaining virtual information from a physical scene, or from traditional “dead” analysis. Following the trend of antiforensics, evidence of an attack may only be found in memory, along with many other volatile data points. Our work provides the primary account for the memory forensics of Immersive VR systems, and in specific the HTC Vive. Our approach is capable of reconstituting artifacts from memory that are relevant to the VE, and is also capable …

Scanning Probe Microscopy Measurements On 2d Materials And Iridates, Armin Ansary

Theses and Dissertations--Physics and Astronomy

In the past two decades, there has been a quest to understand and utilize novel materials such as iridates and two-dimensional (2D) materials. These classes of materials show a lot of interesting properties both in theoretical predictions as well as experimental results. Physical properties of some of these materials have been investigated using scanning probe measurements, along with other techniques.

One-dimensional (1D) catalytic etching was investigated in few-layer hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) films. Etching of hBN was shown to share several similarities with that of graphitic films. As in graphitic films, etch tracks in hBN commenced at film edges and …

Ethanol Dehydration Over Wo3/Tio2 Catalysts Using Titania Derived From Sol-Gel And Solvothermal Methods With Palladium Modification, Anchale Tresatayawed

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

In this research, the characteristics and catalytic activity of WO3/TiO2 prepared by sol-gel and solvothermal and their metal modified were investigated. The research was divided into two parts. In the first part, the catalyst performance of WO3/TiO2 catalysts using titania derived from sol-gel and solvothermal methods over ethanol dehydration reaction was examined. The results showed that the different preparation methods essentially altered the physicochemical properties of TiO2 supports. It revealed that the titania derived from solvothermal method denoted as TiO2-SV exhibited higher surface area and pore volume, and larger amounts acid sites than the one obtained from sol-gel method (TiO2-SG). …

Development Of Bioplastic Blown Films To Be Used As A Packaging For Dried Banana, Apinya Wongthanaroj

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This research aimed to study effects of poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) contents on properties of polylactic acid / poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) / poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PLA/PHBV/PBAT) blends to be used as a packaging for solar-dried bananas. The blend of PLA and PHBV (PLA/PHBV) was fixed at weight ratio of 80/20 while the PBAT content was varied from 0-30 wt%. The films were prepared by melt compounding and blown film extrusion. It was found that the addition of PBAT decreased barrier properties of PLA/PHBV film. Gas barrier which is oxygen transmission rate (OTR) and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) increased with increasing of PBAT …

Production Of Activated Carbonaceous Catalyst For Their Application In Bio Jet-Fuel Synthesis, Araya Smuthkochorn

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Recently, research and development in alternative aviation fuel to replace fossil-based fuel has been of interest for many research works. Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) is one of the most efficient processes to produce clean fuel. This study involves the synthesis of activated carbon (AC) from heavy fuel oil (HFO) via the carbonization-chemical activation process for utilization as catalyst support. AC with a high surface area of 1527.4 m2/g was obtained from KOH-activation in the ratio of 1:1 and carbonization temperature of 700°C. The molybdenum phosphide (MoP) catalyst impregnated on AC was prepared via the wet impregnation process. The microscopic analysis revealed the …

Solar Energy Management System For Stand-Alone Application : Analysis Of Power Management Strategies Under Different Solar Irradiance Profiles, Chacrit Lerdwithayaprasit

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Clean power generation from various renewable energy sources has been gaining much attention due to sustainable and environmental reasons. As renewable energy sources and power demand vary, a hybrid power system and proper energy management are required. This study is focused on the development of an energy management system (EMS) in the hybrid renewable energy system consisting of photovoltaic cell (PV), proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), and proton exchange membrane electrolysis cell (PEMEC). A vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) as energy storage for long-term operation is integrated into such a hybrid system. The models of each subsystem are developed …

Co-Electrodeposition Of Gold Nanoparticle And Reduced-Graphene Oxide In Application Of Achetylcholinesterase Biosensor, Chiranthanin Mahayotheecharak

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

A rapid pesticide detection technique is highly desirable due to the widespread usage of many pesticides in the agricultural industry. An emerging technique that shows promising potential is an electrochemical biosensor. The technique allows sensitive and rapid quantification of an analyte. Due to its simplicity, it could be a potential alternative to traditional method. In this work, we utilised a composite materials consist of partially reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and gold nanoparticle (AuNPs) to fabricate a disposable AChE biosensor on a Screen-Print Carbon electrode. The composite rGO and AuNPs possess high electron conductivity while AuNPs also exhibit desirable biocompatibility. The …

Mechanism And Reaction Pathways Of Co2 And Hco3-Photoreduction To Hydrocarbons, Duangthip Sattayamuk

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

CO2/HCO3- photocatalytic reductions in water, using P25 Titanium dioxide, produce gas products at the order of the following rate: CO>H2>CH4, using bicarbonate as a substrate, reduction rates are ca. 5 times faster than using CO2 due to the adsorption constant of CO2 on the TiO2 surface is smaller than the bicarbonate. Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model was used to describe the mechanism; therefore, adsorption constant (K) and the rate of maximum substrate coverage (k) at different charges of P25-surface were readily obtained. The K constant of TiO2-adduct formation favors no charge surface but k constant favors positive charge surface. Most …

Modeling Aromatics Production From Mixtures Of Butanes And Butenes With Chemical Equilibria, Hataipat Sangwattanakul

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Aromatics production from C4 hydrocarbons is an interesting way to increase economic values and mixed C4 usage alternatives. This study was to model aromatics production from mixtures of butanes and butenes, enabling industrial work to be more developed and actualized by reducing laboratory cost and experimental time. The model was regarded as an equilibrium state in which the forward reaction rate and the reverse reaction rate are equivalent. The catalysts would be Zn loaded on ZSM-5/ZSM-11 under 480 ⁰C and 0.4 MPa and MoC loaded on HZSM-5 under 500 ⁰C and 1 atm. The reactions in the models were from …

Preparation Of Natural Rubber Powder Modified With Bis(Triethoxysilylpropyl)Tetrasulfide Treated Silica By Spray Drying Process, Intira Boonvisood

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

In polymer industry, Natural rubber powder (NRP) is broadly used because of its stability and useability. Although, NRP is difficult to be produced due to the rubber adhered together. Consequently, silica was used to encapsulated the rubber particle to avoid adhesion of rubber. However, there is a polarity difference between silica and rubber. Silica can be made hydrophobic via surface modification with silane coupling agent, bis[3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl]tetrasulfide (TESPT). This research study aimed to prepare uniform silica-coated NRP via a combination of silane modification and spray drying technique. The effect of the mass ratio of TESPT and silica is 1%, 5%, 8%, …

Iodine Encapsulation Using Anionic Polyelectrolytes For Rechargeable Zinc-Iodine Batteries, Jirapha Pimoei

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Rechargeable zinc-iodine batteries are attractive as promising candidates for electrical energy storage due to their abundant resources, low cost, and high safety. However, these batteries still have some problems, such as poor cycling stability and high self-discharge due to the leakage of iodine species from the positive electrode. Anionic polyelectrolytes can be applied as supportive binders to alleviate this issue because these polyelectrolytes can encapsulate iodine species and facilitate the transfer of other active species. In this study, different types of anionic polyelectrolytes, including sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (Na-CMC), sodium alginate (Na-Alg), and sodium polystyrene sulfonate (Na-PSS), were investigated. The batteries …

Single-Step Conversion Of Xylose To Furfural And Furfuryl Alcohol On Zeolite-Based Catalyst, Jirapat Chatkaweekoon

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Furfural possesses the potential to be utilized as a platform compound for the synthesis of a wide variety of chemicals, especially furfuryl alcohol, which is an important intermediate used to produce high-value chemicals. In this research, several types of zeolite catalysts in hydrogen form are used as catalysts for conversion of xylose to produce furfural and furfuryl alcohol in one step. The reaction is carried out under 130°C, 30 bar hydrogen pressure, and 2 h reaction time. Acid site types (Lewis and Bronsted) are important for the catalysis and distribution of the product. Bronsted acid sites promote xylose dehydration to …

Catalytic Dehydration Of Ethanol With Different Loading Of Wo3 Supported On Activated Carbon And Clay Catalysts, Jirayu Liewchalermwong

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The catalytic ethanol dehydration is a reaction, which increases the value of ethanol by producing diethyl ether (DEE) or ethylene. The catalysts which have been used for this reaction were tungsten catalysts supported on activated carbon and montmorillonite catalysts, by varying W loading between 2-13.5 wt.%. The catalysts were tested in a fixed bed microreactor under atmospheric pressure and temperature range of 200 to 400˚C. The results showed that Low tungsten on catalyst decreased the total surface acidity. Besides, additional tungsten loading increased the total surface acidity. Low tungsten loading enhanced ethanol dehydrogenation to acetaldehyde. The high content of tungsten …

Effects Of Cuo/Zno/Al2o3 Catalyst Modification Using Zr, Mn And Si For Methanol Synthesis Via Co2 Hydrogenation, Kamonlak Pongpanumaporn

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Currently, the estimated CO2 amount has tended to increase interesting of population. One of the most effective utilization ways of CO2 is to convert CO2 to higher valued chemicals. Thus, methanol was chosen to produce via CO2 hydrogenation by using CuO/ZnO/Al2O3 (CZA) catalyst. In the first part, CZA was prepared by co-impregnation method under different pH (7, 8 and 9) during co-precipitation. It was found that the suitable pH was 8 (CZA-PH8) due to high surface area, high basicity, and reducibility. The CO2 conversion and methanol selectivity were 2.6% and 10%, respectively at 250oC under atmospheric pressure. However, it should …

Deactivation Of Ti-Based And Γ-Al2o3 Catalysts In Liquid-Phase Methyl Oleate Epoxidation Reaction, Kanokpon Maungthong

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

To eliminate some drawback of heterogeneous catalysts as a low stability, the deactivation scheme and surface regeneration of TiO2 (P25), TS-1 and γ-Al2O3 catalysts was investigated on the liquid-phase methyl oleate epoxidation reaction at 50 ºC. Based on the results, there are two deactivation effects illustrated on the surface after the reaction: (1) the fouling effects are found the main deactivation on this reaction. There are three types which type 1 is found in P25 and γ-Al2O3, type 2 is uncovered in TS–1 and γ-Al2O3, and type 3 is appeared in γ-Al2O3 only. The FT-IR reveals that are alkane (C–H) …

Development Of Stack Model For Tri-Electrode Rechargeable Zinc-Air Cylindrical Flow Battery, Kanya Bumroongsil

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Nowadays, the demand for renewable energy is continuously increasing. Therefore, an efficient energy storage system is essential. Zinc-air batteries have received extensive attention because they use low-cost material but offer great safety benefits. This research, therefore, develops a stack model for a tri-electrode tubular designed rechargeable zinc-air flow battery for using in a large scale system. The connection of battery cells in series and parallel is studied. The connection of battery cell with common flowing electrolyte creates a shunt current. A mathematical model is developed and validated against experimental data, which measured both full cell and half cell potentials. The …

A Study On The Deactivation Of Nickel-Based Catalyst For The Dry Reforming Of Methane Via Density Functional Theory, Mongkol Lerdpongsiripaisarn

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

In this work, the stability assessment of catalyst for the dry reforming reaction was investigated through the coke resistance performance and the ability of coke removal. The coke resistance performance was considered via the coke adsorption energy. For surface 100 and 211, NiCo bimetallic catalyst and Ni exhibit weaker bonding between coke and catalyst surface. For surface 111, both catalysts exhibited similar adsorption energy value. NiCo bimetallic catalyst also showed higher adsorption energy for surface 111 and 211 than the noble metal catalyst such as Rh and Pd catalyst which means NiCo catalysts can show the coke resistance performance that …

Study Of Thermal And Mechanical Properties Of Tertiary Blend Of Poly(Lactic Acid), Poly(Hydroxybutyrate-Co-Hydroxyvalerate) And Thermoplastic Starch, Naphat Yampry

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Nowadays, single-use plastics such as straws, plastic bags cause plastic waste problems because the majority of these plastics which are petroleum-based plastics are not compostable and difficult to recycle. As a result, biodegradable plastic is a proper option to replace traditional plastic. The objective of this work was to study the morphology as well as the thermal and mechanical properties of tertiary blend of poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and thermoplastic starch (TPS). PLA/PHBV at weight ratios of 80/20, 70/30, and 60/40 were prepared to find the optimal ratio. Then the PLA/PHBV at weight ratio of 80/20 was added by …