Engineering Commons^™

Comparison Of Pyrolysis Of Live Wildland Fuels Heated By Radiation Vs. Convection, Mohammad-Saeed Safdari, Elham Amini, David R. Weise, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

During wildland fires, which include both planned (prescribed fire) and unplanned (wildfire) fires, live and dead plants may be subject to both radiative and convective heat transfer mechanisms. In this study, the pyrolysis of 14 live plant species native to the forests of the southern United States was investigated using a flat-flame burner (FFB) apparatus under three heating modes in order to mimic pyrolysis of plants during wildland fires. The heating modes were: (1) radiation-only, where the plants were pyrolyzed under a moderate heating rate of 4 °C s−1 (radiative flux of 50 kW m−2); (2) convection-only, where the FFB …

Evaluation Of Nox‑Reduction Measures For Iron-Ore Rotary Kilns, Rikard Ekland, Thomas Allguren, Christian Fredriksson, Denver Haycock, Colson Johnson, Jacob Fransen, Thomas H. Fletcher, Klas Andersson

Faculty Publications

The grate-kiln process is employed for sintering and oxidation of iron-ore pellets. In this process, a fuel (typically coal) is combusted with a large amount of excess air in a rotary kiln, and the high air-to-fuel ratio leads to significant NOx formation. The current Article is an assessment of NOx reduction measures that have been tested in pilot-scale and in full-scale by the Swedish iron-ore company Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag (LKAB). The results show that the scaling between the full-scale kiln and the pilot-scale kiln is crucial, and several primary measures that reduce NOx significantly in pilot-scale achieve negligible reduction in full-scale. …

Enhanced Label Free Normal And Cancer Cells Classification Using Combined Parametric Modeling And Optical Techniques, Ayshathul Fouzia Abdul Gani

Dissertations

The development of label-free methods for cell classifications has been driven by the importance of early detection and identification of cancer disease. The future point-of-care (POC) treatment methods require rapid and real-time cancer screening techniques. As the labelled methods of cell classification are time-consuming processes and require a large amount of sample preparation along with skilled persons, they do not appear to be suitable for POC treatment methods. This necessitates the importance of such development. The label-free methods incorporate the biophysical properties of cells instead of biomarkers. The optical properties of cells have been frequently utilized for cell classification. This …

Titanium Nitride Nanotube Electrodes Used In Neural Signal Recording Application And Neurotransmitter Detection, Gui Chen

Wayne State University Dissertations

Electrode probes are devices widely used for stimulating and recording neural cell signals in the neuroscience field, which can convert the ion potential generated by electrochemical activities into an electronic potential that can be measured by the external instrument systems. A stable neural interface that effectively communicates with the nervous system via electrode is much important for the robust recording and the long-term monitoring of the activity of the neural signals. These probes are designed to minimize tissue damage for superior signal quality. Each probe’s mechanical, geometric, and electrical characteristics are precise and highly reproducible for consistent, high-quality results. There …

Design Thinking & Strategic Product Planning For Highly Engineered Products, Shannon Dare Wayne

Wayne State University Dissertations

This paper offers an integrated framework to systematically address routine challenges plaguing early product development for highly engineered and complex products, such as automobiles. The framework includes up-front strategic product planning leveraging ‘design thinking’ and ‘design execution’ through a structured process to enable adaptation under uncertainties in the product development lifecycle for customer delight and program success. Included is product planning, from fuzzy front-end until product launch, and prioritizing aligned strategic initiatives while integrating design thinking throughout the process. We also discuss two real-world case studies to emphasize the efficacy of the framework and to demonstrate practical examples of how …

A Field Study Of Bioaccessible Lead In Detroit Soils: Insight Into The Effectiveness Of Phosphate-Based Lead Sequestration, Sabrina R. Good

Wayne State University Theses

Historical and contemporary use of lead (Pb) in gasoline, paints, and industry have caused lead to be ubiquitous in the urban soil environment, disproportionately affecting low-income minority children. As soil is a major exposure pathway for children, an effective remediation technique for lead-contaminated soil is urgently needed. Common remediation techniques, such as excavation or soil capping, are expensive and environmentally destructive, especially on a city-wide residential basis. Decreasing the bioavailability of lead, or the fraction which is retained by the human body, may be a more economically and environmentally conscious option for remediating lead in urban environments.

Research has demonstrated …

Heterogeneous Integrated Photonics For Nonlinear Frequency Conversion And Polarization Diversity, Tracy Sjaardema

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Silicon has proven to be one of the materials of choice for many integrated photonic applications. However, silicon photonics is limited by certain material shortcomings. Two shortcomings addressed in this work are zero second-order optical nonlinearity, and the lack of methods available to achieve broadband polarization diversity. Heterogeneous integrated solutions for these shortcomings of silicon photonics are presented in this work. First, nonlinear frequency conversion is demonstrated with thin-film lithium niobate on silicon substrates. The method for reaching the highest-achieved second-harmonic generation conversion efficiency, using active monitoring during periodic poling, is discussed. Additionally, a cascaded approach for generating higher-order harmonics …

Integrating Graphene Into Polymer Derived Ceramics Towards The Development Of New Thermoelectric Materials, Elizabeth Barrios

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) have been an enabling technology for the exploration of deep space since the dawn of the Space Age. Since its first deployment in a meteorological satellite in the late 1960's, RTGs have been used to provide solid-state, maintenance-free power to 27 American spacecraft and scientific instruments. While showing great success in the past, the future usage of thermoelectric devices is limited by the low operating efficiencies and the use of hazardous or expensive materials, limiting the use of thermoelectric technologies to niche applications such as space exploration. Current research efforts that address these disadvantages have focused …

Experimental Investigation Of The Laminar Burning Velocities Of High-Performance Co-Optima Biofuels, Gihun Kim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines (Co-Optima) initiative of the U.S Department of Energy (DOE) started research on biofuel and biodiesel to replace the gasoline (petrol) and diesel for over the road internal combustion engines. From an initial list of thousands of fuels, selected bio-fuels and biodiesels were investigated for further combustion studies following the implementation of screening, which consisted of biodegrading, toxicity, flash point, research octane number, motor octane numbers, cetane number, and economic effect, etc. Experimental measurements of laminar burning velocity (LBV) are key parameters to understand fuel performance and applicability in engines. Furthermore, knowledge of LBV is required …

Water Reclamation Using Functionalized Forward Osmosis Membrane, Fnu Joshua

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study investigated water reclamation from an impaired-quality water using forward osmosis (FO) membrane functionalized by nano zero valent iron (nZVI) loaded polyelectrolyte multilayer films. Stormwater runoff was selected as the impaired-quality water, which served as a feed solution (FS) and a NaCl salt solution at a concentration representing reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate was used a draw solution (DS). RO concentrate is another impaired-quality water that is discharged to the environmental with little or no treatment. A commercial cellulose triacetate (CTA) FO membrane was modified using poly allylamine hydrochloride (PAH) (a polycation) and poly acrylic acid (PAA) (a polyanion) following …

Development Of 3d Porous Chitosan-Based Platform For In Vitro Culture, Kailei Xu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures have been widely used in biological research since two-dimensional (2D) cultures have many limitations including alteration of cell morphology, metabolic pathways and gene expression. Therefore, the application of 2D cell cultures in pharmaceutical companies for drug screening causes reproducibility issues in animal studies, which strongly influences the efficiency of drug development. The aim of my studies is to develop 3D cell culture models to better mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM) in tumor microenvironment, not only for deeper understanding of interaction between cells and ECM, but also for the application in drug screening. Three different compositions of …

Iot Devices In The Public Health Sector, Cayla Young

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

In this research, proper attention is drawn to privacy and security concerns with the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) devices in the public health sector. Often, not much attention is given to IoT devices and its vulnerabilities concerning the medical industry. Effects of COVID-19 contact tracing applications are explored through research of various source types. Mitigation techniques for these privacy and security issues is given. Focus is brought to topics outlining the risks associated with genetic testing companies and the vulnerabilities of data collection and data storage. Recommendations are provided to help consumers avoid these risks. Lastly, a comprehensive …

Simulation And Modeling Of Cold-Wall Hypersonic Turbulent Boundary Layers On Flat Plate, Junji Huang, Gary L. Nicholson, Lian Duan, Meelan M. Choudhari, Rodney D.W. Bowersox

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of flat-plate, zero-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layers are presented for nominal freestream Mach numbers of 11 and 14 and a highly cooled wall (wall-to-recovery temperature of approximately 0.2). The flow conditions of the DNS are representative of the experimental data for a Mach 11.1 turbulent boundary layer on a flat plate that was tested at Calspan–University of Buffalo Research Center (CUBRC) and the operational conditions of the AEDC Hypervelocity Tunnel No. 9 at Mach 14. The wall shear stress and turbulent heat flux predicted by DNS show good comparisons with those measured at CUBRC and those modeled …

Erratum: Minimization Of The Kullback-Leibler Divergence For Nonlinear Estimation (Journal Of Guidance, Control, And Dynamics, (2017), 10.2514/1.G002282), Jacob E. Darling, Kyle J. Demars

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Erratum Notice In the original article [https://doi.org/10.2514/1.G002282], Eqs. (16b) and (18b) were typeset as (Formula Presented) which incorrectly show that the posterior covariance at time tk, denoted by Pk, is calculated about the prior mean, m−k. The correct forms of these equations are given by (Formula Presented) which show that Pk is calculated about the posterior mean, mk. All resulting analyses and simulations reported in the article were performed using the correct forms of the equations.

Information-Based Particle Flow For High Uncertainty Estimation, Kari C. Ward, Kyle J. Demars

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This work presents a new formulation of the Gaussian particle flow filter derived using an information theoretic approach. The developed information flow addresses two problems with Gaussian particle flow: the lack of inherent meaning in the flow parameters and the inability to easily include modifications for a non-Bayesian update. Equivalency between Gaussian particle flow and information flow is established using a linear, Gaussian example. An orbit determination simulation with high initial uncertainty is used to demonstrate the consistent, robust performance of the information flow filter in situations where the extended Kalman filter fails.

Geotechnical Engineering: Particle Size Distribution Of Layered Glacial Lake Columbia And Ice Age Flood Deposits In Latah Valley, Spokane, Wa, Aaron Cleveland, Kassie Allen

2020 Symposium Posters

We collected samples from the Latah Valley in Spokane, WA, of Missoula Flood deposits interbedded with Glacial Lake Columbia Sediments. We conducted tests on these soils according to ASTM standards. We performed Specific Gravity tests according to ASTM D854, and determined particle size distribution for these soils by conducting sieve and hydrometer analyses according to ASTM D422. We then plotted these data to create particle size distribution curves. Specific Gravities for the all of the samples collected range from 2.36 to 2.67. The flood deposits are dominated by coarse sand and gravel and the Glacial Lake Columbia deposits are dominated …

Present Mechanization Of Regional Tea Processing And Grading System In Bangladesh, Md Towfiqur Rahman, Marwa Rahman, Kaswar Hamid, Sabiha Ferdous, Muhammad Rashed Al Mamun

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Nowadays tea is the most popular beverage crop of Bangladesh which contributes to our national GDP. There are 166 tea gardens in the various region in Bangladesh are producing tea. Some best quality tea is exporting from our country but this amount is negligible due to improper handling and processing systems. Quality tea production from processing houses is beyond control and mostly depends on the processing method. Improper handling and insufficient technology results in lower grade tea, as well as foreign contaminates, are found in made tea. This research focused on the problems of the present of tea processing and …

Observing P300 Amplitudes In Multiple Sensory Channels Using Cognitive Probing, Cody Lee Wintermute

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

High cognitive workload occurs when excessive working memory resources have been deployed to resolve sensory and cognitive processing, resulting in decremented task performance. The P300 event-related potential (ERP) component has shown sensitivity to cognitive load, and it was hypothesized that an attenuated P300 amplitude could be indicative of high cognitive load. We tested this hypothesis by having eight participants complete two continual performance tasks at increasing workload levels while simultaneously performing an oddball task, evoking P300 ERPs in either the auditory or tactile sensory channel. In our experiment, electroencephalographic recordings were collected over the parietal region to observe the P300 …

Improving Pain Management In Patients With Sickle Cell Disease Using Machine Learning Techniques, Fan Yang

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited red blood cell disorder that can cause a multitude of complications throughout a patient's life. Pain is the most common complication and a significant cause of morbidity. Since pain is a highly subjective experience, both medical providers and patients express difficulty in determining ideal treatment and management strategies for pain. Therefore, the development of objective pain assessment and pain forecasting methods is critical to pain management in SCD. On the other hand, the rapidly increasing use of mobile health (mHealth) technology and wearable devices gives the ability to build a remote health intervention …

Enabling Static Program Analysis Using A Graph Database, Jialun Liu

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the design, the implementation, and the evaluation of a database-oriented static program analysis engine for the PHP programming language. This engine analyzes PHP programs by representing their semantics using a graph-based data structure, which will be subsequently stored into a graph database. Such scheme will fundamentally facilitate various program analysis tasks such as static taint analysis, visualization, and data mining. Specifically, these complex program analysis tasks can now be translated into built-in declarative graph database operations with rich features. Our engine fundamentally differs from other existing static program analysis systems that mainly leverage intermediate representation (IRs) to …

Renca Macrobeads Inhibit Tumor Cell Growth Via Egfr Activation And Regulation Of Mef2 Isoform Expression, Prithy Caroline Martis

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Tumors are heterogeneous systems, whose growth is influenced by intrinsic properties of malignant cells, external systemic factors (i.e. immune, neural, endocrine, etc.), and the dynamic interactions between tumor cells and their microenvironment. Given the inherent complexity of cancers, combined with the continual evolution of tumors and the development of treatment resistance, a precision medicine approach may not provide an optimal clinical response. Exploring a new paradigm that focuses on regulating cancer as a system may not only control tumor progression but also address the extraordinary challenges of tumor heterogeneity and disease recurrence in order to improve clinical outcomes. As a …

The Effect Of Thermal History On The Atomic Structure Andmechanical Properties Of Amorphous Alloys, Nikolai V. Priezjev

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

The influence of thermal processing on the potential energy, atomic structure, and mechanical properties of metallic glasses is examined using molecular dynamics simulations. We study the three-dimensional binary mixture, which was first relaxed near the glass transition temperature and zero pressure, and then rapidly cooled deep into the glass phase. It was found that glasses annealed at higher temperatures are relocated to higher energy states and their average glass structure remains more disordered, as reflected in the height of the first two peaks in the pair distribution function. The results of mechanical testing demonstrate that both the shear modulus and …

Joint Estimation Of Multiple Granger Graphical Models Using Non-Convex Penalty Functions, Parinthorn Manomaisaowapak

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This thesis considers joint learning of multiple sparse Granger graphical models to dis-cover underlying common and differential Granger causality (GC) structures across multiple time series. The proposed learning technique can be used in fMRI data analysis to infer a group-level brain network from a group of subjects or to uncover brain network differences among individuals with different brain conditions. By recognizing that the GC of a single mul-tivariate time series can be characterized by common zeros of vector autoregressive (VAR) lag coefficients, a group norm penalty is included in joint regularized least-squares estimations of multiple VAR models. Group-norm regularizations based …

Forecasting Model For The Transfer Line Exchanger Outlet Temperature Of A Cracking Furnace, Apisara Aungsutarn

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This research aims to use an application of a data analytic approach to improve the cracking furnace operation since the current process is operated based on past experience without data consideration leading to an inefficient operation. To improve the process, relationships between process input variables to the transfer line exchanger outlet temperature (TLExOT) were studied and the forecasting models for TLExOT were developed as TLExOT is a key parameter which can represent the process conditions. The models were developed to forecast TLExOT for the same day, 1, 3, and 7 days ahead for short and long term analysis. The significant …

Effect Of Hydrochloric Acid Modification On Different Clay Catalystsfor Esterification Of Ethanol And Acetic Acid, Kwanchanok Netcharoen

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This research aims to investigate the catalytic performance and characteristics of different clays with 0.5 M hydrochloric acid modification such as montmorillonite (HA-MMT), montmorillonite modified with Al (HA/Al-MMT), and kaolinite (HA-K) as a solid catalysts for esterification of ethanol and acetic acid. The reaction was performed in a batch reactor at 80oC, molar ratio of ethanol/acetic acid at 1.5, atmospheric pressure, and catalyst 10%wt of acetic acid for 1 hour. It revealed that hydrochloric acid-activated did not affect to the main structure and functional group of clays. All catalysts were tested for the catalytic performance in esterification of ethanol and …

Development Of Graft Copolymers Of Ultrafine Fully Vulcanized Powdered Natural Rubber With Styrene Or Acrylonitrile Monomers, Niratchaporn Rimdusit

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Ultrafine fully vulcanized powdered natural rubber (UFPNRs) were prepared by electron beam irradiation of graft copolymers, i.e. DPNR-graft-polystyrene (DPNR-g-PS) and DPNR-graft-polyacrylonitrile (DPNR-g-PAN), followed by spray drying process. The graft copolymers were prepared by grafting with styrene or acrylonitrile monomer onto deproteinized natural rubber (DPNR) via emulsion polymerization. The effects of monomer contents and radiation doses on thermal properties, chemical structure, swelling behaviors, and morphology of UFPNRs, i.e. UFPNR-GST and UFPNR-GAN were investigated. The results found that the highest grafting efficiency of the DPNR-g-PS and the DPNR-g-PAN were obtained at 15 phr of styrene or acrylonitrile content which provided the highest …

Development Of High Performance Ballistic Hard Armor Based On Fibers Reinforced Polybenzoxazine Alloy Filled With Nanoparticles, Phattarin Mora

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The multilayered armor based on fabric reinforced polybenzoxazine (poly(BA-a)) nanocomposites was developed in this research. The effect of nano-SiO2 contents on mechanical property and ballistic impact response of poly(BA-a) nanocomposites is determined for using as strike panel. Essential properties of aramid fabric reinforced polybenzoxazine/urethane (poly(BA-a/PU)) composites influenced by multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) contents is also investigated for using as support panel. From the results, the mechanical property of the nanocomposite was improved with the addition of nanoparticles. The experimental energy absorption (EAbs) and ballistic limit velocity (Vbl) of the nanocomposites were subjected by 7.62×51 mm projectile at velocity of 847 …

Computational Fluid Dynamics Of Thermally Double Couple Reactor For Hydrogen Production Through Glycerol Reforming Using Heat From Methanol Production From Carbon Dioxide, Sasinun Thirabunjongcharoen

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Thermally double coupled reactor (TDCR) consisted of two concentric channels: 1) an inner tube to which CO₂ and H2 were fed as reactants for exothermic MS with Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 at 220°C and 50 bar, and 2) an outer annulus channel through which glycerol and steam were supplied for endothermic APGR with Pt/Al2O3 at 220˚C and 20 bar. The TDCR could operate without external heat supply when two reactions were coupled. A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model was established to study this TDCR. Heat transfer from the exothermic channel to the endothermic channel helped increasing glycerol conversion when compared with a single …

The Potential Of Gold Mine Development Project : A Case Study Of Chifunde District In Mozambique, Sara Mario Mabecuane

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This research presents the results of the gold exploration activities developed in the district of Chifunde, Province of Tete in Mozambique. The works showed that in the study area there are two types of deposits which are primary and secondary deposits. There was clear evidence that they have undergone high-grade metamorphism of greenschist due to the grenade occurrences in hornblende in the form of porphyroblast which indicated a high probability of gold occurrence inside amphibolic schist. The results of the SGS laboratory revealed that all samples collected in the area contained gold ranging from 1 to 2,500 ppb, whereas in …

Development Of Efficient Waste Management System For Guwahati City, Prantar Jyoti Talukdar

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

As on today, in view of the exponential increase of population, fast urbanisation, technical advancements etc., globally, the waste management is becoming a subject of great concern. Apart from dealing with waste only, any waste management system has to encompass many other variants, including - environments, pollution, public health & hygiene, local eco-system etc. So, it is difficult to frame a common global policy or a country’s specific policy to meet all the requirements of the local service providers and customers. Preferentially, any waste management system need to be developed as per the requirements of the local endeavours. In this …