Engineering Commons^™

Chemical-Free Biologically Enhanced Primary Treatment Of Raw Wastewater For Improved Capture Carbon, Muhammad Rizwan Azhar, Paul Nolan, Keith Cadee, Mehdi Khiadani

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Conventional wastewater treatment processes require extensive energy inputs for their operations. Biologically enhanced primary treatment (BEPT) is a promising technology to capture incoming organics that may be utilized to produce biogas and potentially hydrogen with further downstream processing. This study involved a biologically enhanced primary treatment (BEPT) of raw wastewater at bench and pilot-scale using activated sludge (AS) addition and dissolved air flotation (DAF) using raw wastewater at a municipal wastewater facility in Western Australia with average chemical oxygen demand of ~ 800 mg/L. The results of pilot-scale testing showed an improved removal performance for total chemical oxygen demand (COD-T), …

Materials Discovery Of Ion-Selective Membranes Using Artificial Intelligence, Reza Maleki, Seyed Mohammadreza Shams, Yasin Mehdizadeh Chellehbari, Sima Rezvantalab, Ahmad Miri Jahromi, Mohsen Asadnia, Rouzbeh Abbassi, Tejraj Aminabhavi, Amir Razmjou

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Significant attempts have been made to improve the production of ion-selective membranes (ISMs) with higher efficiency and lower prices, while the traditional methods have drawbacks of limitations, high cost of experiments, and time-consuming computations. One of the best approaches to remove the experimental limitations is artificial intelligence (AI). This review discusses the role of AI in materials discovery and ISMs engineering. The AI can minimize the need for experimental tests by data analysis to accelerate computational methods based on models using the results of ISMs simulations. The coupling with computational chemistry makes it possible for the AI to consider atomic …

Deicer Salt-Scaling Resistance Of Concrete Using Recycled Concrete Aggregates Pretreated By Silica Fume Slurry, Hossein Sasanipour, Farhad Aslani, Javad Taherinezhad

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Highlights: - Salt-scaling resistance in the presence of recycled concrete aggregates, - A strong bond between RCAs and new mortar was obtained after a freeze-thaw test, - Pulse velocity after exposure to freezing-thawing cycles negligibly decreased, - The scaling rate increased with the increase in the water–cement ratio, - The electrical resistivity of concrete after exposure to cycles has been investigated. Concrete wastes such as recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) make up a significant part of construction and demolition waste (C&DW) which can be used to minimize usage of natural aggregates and reduce carbon footprint. This paper studies the salt-scaling resistance …

Effect Of Raster Angle And Infill Pattern On The In-Plane And Edgewise Flexural Properties Of Fused Filament Fabricated Acrylonitrile–Butadiene–Styrene, Hamza Qayyum, Ghulam Hussain, Muhammad Sulaiman, Malik Hassan, Aaqib Ali, Riaz Muhammad, Hongyu Wei, Tauheed Shehbaz, Muhammad Aamir, Khurram Altaf

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is a popular additive manufacturing process to produce printed polymer components, whereby their strength is highly dependent on the process parameters. The raster angle and infill pattern are two key process parameters and their effects on flexural properties need further research. Therefore, the present study aimed to print test specimens with varying raster angles and infill patterns to learn their influence on the in-plane and edgewise flexural properties of acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) material. The results revealed that the highest in-plane and edgewise flexural moduli were obtained when printing was performed at 0 ° raster angle. In comparison, …

Improving Tc Drill Bit's Efficiency And Resistance To Wear By Graphene Coating, Reza Taheri, Mohsen Jalali, Ahmed Al-Yaseri, George Yabesh

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Displaying a two-dimensional pure crystal carbon structure, Graphene is the strongest, yet thinnest substance discovered by scientists. Coating tungsten carbide (TC) drill bits with graphene to evaluate the effect of graphene on the wear, as well as the rate of penetration of the drilling bit was examined in this research. Two evaluation approaches were employed: one with employing ANSYS Software and the second by employing atomic pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD synthesis) in the laboratory to produce a monolayer graphene coating. The simultaneous software-based and lab-based testing were performed to increase the credibility of the results and minimize the potential …

Study Of Sustainable Development In Paper, Printing And Packaging Material Applications To Support Circular Economy, Prashant Ramesh Kotkar

Dissertations

To support circular economy and sustainability, the use of suitable material in paper, printing, and packaging industries, for several types of industrial printing material and printed product applications, plays a significant role for end user applications. Several types of packaging printing materials, specifically those finished with different printing technologies and exposed to different environmental conditions are targeted.

The purpose of this research study is to improve design and evaluation for paper, printing, and packaging material sustainability in end-user applications, to deal with the addressed sustainability issues brought by the paper, printing and packaging products end user groups. As the impacts …

Developing A Hands-On Class Exercise For Modular Construction, 3d Design, And 4d Schedule, Kyle A. Kithas

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Modular construction shows promise as a viable alternative to stick-built construction. A major challenge with the widespread adoption of modular construction is the construction industry’s focus on minimizing risk and defaulting to the comfort and familiarity of stick-built construction. This pattern can be broken through an educational paradigm shift in the way architecture, engineering, and construction are taught in school. Integrating modular construction education into higher education is presented to increase the future adoption of modular construction and expand the comfort zones of future industry leaders. This thesis proposes that current curriculum be augmented to teach the modular approach in …

Automated Approach For The Enhancement Of Scaffolding Structure Monitoring With Strain Sensor Data, Sayan Sakhakarmi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Construction researchers have made a significant effort to improve the safety of scaffolding structures, as a large proportion of workers are involved in construction activities requiring scaffolds. However, most past studies focused on design and planning aspects of scaffolds. While limited studies investigated scaffolding safety during construction, they are limited to simple cases only with limited failure modes and simple scaffolds. In response to this limitation, this study aims to develop an automated scaffold monitoring approach capable of monitoring large scaffolds. Accordingly, this study developed an automated scaffold safety monitoring framework that leverages sensor data collected from a scaffold, scaffold …

Lifting-Line Predictions For Life And Twist Distributions To Minimize Induced Drag In Ground Effect, Kyler Church

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The elliptic lift distribution produces the minimum induced drag for a given wingspan and desired lift outside of ground effect. This distribution can be generated on any wing by using geometric and/or aerodynamic twist. However, in ground effect, the elliptic lift distribution is not necessarily that which minimizes induced drag. The present work uses a modern numerical lifting-line algorithm to evaluate how the optimum lift distribution varies as a function of height above ground. The algorithm is also used to obtain the twist distributions that should be applied to wings of varying aspect ratios and taper ratios to produce the …

A Theoretical Trade-Off Between Wave Drag And Sonic Boom Loudness Due To Equivalent Area Changes On A Supersonic Body, Nolan L. Dixon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The NASA University Leadership Initiative (ULI) titled ”Adaptive Aerostructures for Revolutionary Civil Supersonic Transportation” consists of a team of university and industry partners studying the feasibility of reducing the perceived loudness of the sonic boom by introducing an adaptive geometry at localized regions of an aircraft’s outer-mold line. The Utah State University AeroLab is a member of this ULI team and has produced low-fidelity tools to predict the aerodynamic and boom loudness effects from localized changes to the geometry.

Such changes to the geometry affect both the sonic boom loudness and wave drag; however, the precise relationship between boom loudness …

Multi-Fidelity Predictions For Control Allocation On The Nasa Ikhana Research Aircraft To Minimize Drag, Justice T. Schoenfeld

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Optimal control settings (camber scheduling) can be used by aircraft to minimize drag at various operating conditions during flight. In this work, camber schedules for minimum drag on the NASA Ikhana are obtained over a range of lift coefficients. A modern numerical lifting-line algorithm is used to predict the lift and drag of the aircraft as a function of operating condition and wing section shape (airfoil camber). The SLSQP optimization algorithm is used to solve for the camber schedule that minimizes drag for a given operating condition. The process is repeated, varying the number of control sections to evaluate the …

Characterizing Karst Mountain Watersheds Through Streamflow Response To Snowmelt, Daniel Meade Thurber

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The climate in many parts of the Western US is characterized by cold, wet winters preceding long, dry summers. In the absence of precipitation, water supplies in these regions are sustained by melting snow and mountain groundwater. Changes in regional climate can reduce snow accumulation, accelerate melt, and prolong dry periods, all increasing the importance of groundwater on summertime water availability. In mountainous regions with limestone and dolomite geology, bedrock formations can host significant karst aquifers comprising dissolution-enhanced karst conduits which play an outsized and variable role in how precipitation is translated into streamflow. In this study, we considered an …

Developing A Methane Detector For Aerospace Applications, Michael A. Kirk

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere are raising the global temperature and causing adverse side effects. Of these greenhouse gasses, methane is one of the most impactful, second only to carbon dioxide. One of the methods for determining the concentration of methane in the atmosphere is taking images of the earth from space. The purpose of this project is to further a new imaging technology for detecting methane leaks called FINIS (Filter Incidence Narrow-band Infrared Spectrometer), thus improving our capability to detect and locate methane leaks and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. FINIS has been developed in various stages since 2018 and …

Low Resource Assay For Tracking Sars-Cov-2 In Wastewater, Julissa Van Renselaar

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Wastewater based epidemiology (WBE) allows for the tracking of nucleic acid of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater which gives the opportunity for the public and government officials to be informed about the infectivity of the virus in a community. Advances have been made in WBE that have allowed for higher performance, lower resource use, and faster turnaround time. An adapted concentration method of spin column direct extraction has yielded a proxy virus recovery of 83%, consumable cost of $2.01 per sample, and a turnaround time of 0.33 hour/sample. Other concentration methods have lower proxy virus recoveries, comparable cost, and comparable turnaround time. …

Numerical Modeling And Simulating Thermal Performance Of Printed Circuit Boards, Paul R. Ziegenfelder

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research investigates how heat transfer theory can be applied to evaluate the thermal performance of printed circuit board (PCB) designs. A model was developed for correlating theory to the physical parameters relating to the construction of the PCB and a computer application was developed to perform the thermal analysis. The application allows the importation of common PCB design files for a straightforward and quick analysis of a PCB design’s thermal performance. The application is open-source to allows for further development and free access from the public.

Event-Based Obstacle Detection With Commercial Lidar, Chaz Cornwall

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Computerized obstacle detection for moving vehicles is becoming more important as vehicle manufacturers make their systems more autonomous and safe. However, obstacle detection must operate quickly in dynamic environments such as driving at highway speeds. A unique obstacle detection system using 3D changes in the environment is proposed. Furthermore, these 3D changes are shown to contain sufficient information for avoiding obstacles. To make the system easy to integrate onto a vehicle, additional processing is implemented to remove unnecessary dependencies. This system provides a method for obstacle detection that breaks away from typical systems to be more efficient.

Modeling And Control Of Battery Management Systems With High-Frequency Ac Link Coupled Multiport Series Resonant Converters For 2nd Life Battery Applications, Brooks Jace Maughan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

While the use and production of Electric Vehicles becomes more prevalent, it is also important to make this economical and ensure the reduction of a carbon footprint. Second-life batteries can satisfy both problems as batteries can be used in a second-life application for lower power purposes such as supplementing the grid so the infrastructure needed to charge the expanding fleet of Electric Vehicles can be easily supplied. This thesis goes through the process of Active Cell Balancing which will produce equal capacities, or similar batteries, that can be more efficiently used in these and other types of second-life applications. The …

Path Planning For Aircraft Under Threat Of Detection From Ground-Based Radar With Uncertainty In Aircraft And Radar States, Austin D. Costley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mission planners for manned and unmanned aircraft operating within the detection range of ground-based radar systems are often concerned with the probability of detection. Several factors influence the probability of detection, including aircraft position and orientation, radar position, and radar performance parameters. Current path planning algorithms assume that these factors are known with certainty, but in practice, these factors are estimated and have some uncertainty.

This dissertation explores methods to consider the uncertainty in the detection factors for an aircraft path planner. First, the detection model is extended to include uncertainty in the aircraft position and orientation, radar position, and …

Design Of Environment Aware Planning Heuristics For Complex Navigation Objectives, Carter D. Bailey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A heuristic is the simplified approximations that helps guide a planner in deducing the best way to move forward. Heuristics are valued in many modern AI algorithms and decision-making architectures due to their ability to drastically reduce computation time. Particularly in robotics, path planning heuristics are widely leveraged to aid in navigation and exploration. As the robotic platform explores and navigates, information about the world can and should be used to augment and update the heuristic to guide solutions. Complex heuristics that can account for environmental factors, robot capabilities, and desired actions provide optimal results with little wasted exploration, but …

Optimization And Enhancement Of Co2 Sequestration In Industrial Wastes For Environmental Applications, Maisa El Gamal, Ameera F. Mohammad

All Works

This paper explores carbon capture and storage (CCS) through carbide lime waste (CLW), a by-product of acetylene production, under different conditions. This process is specifically designed to provide an onsite waste management solution for several industries that can easily be integrated into existing systems. In addition, the effect of the carbonation process on collected solids morphology and average particle size was studied. The structural and chemical characteristics of the carbonated carbide lime samples were investigated using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, TGA analysis, and Raman spectroscopy. The effect of carbonation conditions on the total dissolved solids and change in pH …

Instance Segmentation-Based Depth Completion Using Sensor Fusion And Adaptive Clustering For Autonomous Vehicle Perception, Mohammad Z. El-Yabroudi

Dissertations

Depth sensing is critical for safe and accurate maneuvering in robotics and self-driving car (SDC) applications. Most recent LiDAR sensors, such as Ouster and Velodyne, offer 360 degrees of scanning at the rate of ten frames per second, making them very appropriate for autonomous driving applications. However, LiDAR point cloud data show many shortcomings, especially its data sparsity and unassigned nature, making it very challenging to utilize in applications such as perception, 3D object detection, 3D scene reconstruction, and simultaneous localization and mapping.

In this study, a novel framework using instance image segmentation and the raw LiDAR data for the …

Gate-Controlled Quantum Dots In Two-Dimensional Tungsten Diselenide And One-Dimensional Tellurium Nanowires, Shiva Davari Dolatabadi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work focuses on the investigation of gate-defined quantum dots in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide tungsten diselenide (WSe2) as a means to unravel mesoscopic physical phenomena such as valley-contrasting physics in WSe2 flakes and its potential application as qubit, as well as realizing gate-controlled quantum dots based on elementaltellurium nanostructures which may unlock the topological nature of the host material carriers such as Weyl states in tellurium nanowires.The fabrication and characterization of gate-defined hole quantum dots in monolayer and bilayer WSe2 are reported. The gate electrodes in the device design are located above and below the WSe2 nanoflakes to accumulate …

Data-Driven Deep Learning-Based Analysis On Thz Imaging, Haoyan Liu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Breast cancer affects about 12.5% of women population in the United States. Surgical operations are often needed post diagnosis. Breast conserving surgery can help remove malignant tumors while maximizing the remaining healthy tissues. Due to lacking effective real-time tumor analysis tools and a unified operation standard, re-excision rate could be higher than 30% among breast conserving surgery patients. This results in significant physical, physiological, and financial burdens to those patients. This work designs deep learning-based segmentation algorithms that detect tissue type in excised tissues using pulsed THz technology. This work evaluates the algorithms for tissue type classification task among freshly …

Ultrasound Mediated Tissue Growth In Bioinspired Scaffolds, Marco Fielder

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Porous scaffolds mechanically stimulated with ultrasound are used for the treatment of bone conditions such as osteoporosis or traumatic bone injury. However, one current issue in these treatment techniques is designing a scaffold structure with a high structural integrity that also does not impede tissue growth. A larger ultrasound wave transmission would also allow more of a scaffold to receive mechanical stimulation from ultrasound. Controlling mesenchymal stem cell seeding of tissue scaffolds also has potential for developing optimal seeding patterns to maximize or control tissue growth in the scaffold based on an individual’s physiology. There is also a need for …

Hierarchical Structure And Material Integration For Electrocatalytic Co2 Reduction, Hamed Mehrabi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

CO2 released by the combustion of fossil fuels is driving significant changes to the earth’sclimate. The natural cycle for removing CO2 from the atmosphere, namely photosynthesis, cannot keep up with the rate at which it is being added. Developing engineering approaches to remove CO2 from the atmosphere is becoming essential to reduce these effects. Removal leads to further issues of carbon sequestration and favorable CO2 reuse strategies, including the electrochemical transformation of recovered CO2 to useful products such as fuels and materials. Copper is an important electrocatalyst for the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) because of its unique capability for producing …

Electrical Modeling For Dynamic Performance Prediction And Optimization Of Mcpms Layout, Quang Minh Le

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, the fast development of Multichip Power Modules (MCPM) packaging and Wide Bandgap (WBG) technology has enabled higher voltage and current ratings, better thermal performance, lower parasitic parameters, and higher mechanical reliability. However, the design of the MCPM layout is a multidisciplinary problem leading to many time-consuming analyses and tedious design processes. Because of these challenges, the design automation tool for MCPM layout has become an emerging research area and gained much attention from the power electronics community. The two critical objectives of a design automation tool for MCPM layout are fast and accurate models for design insights …

Fiber-Based Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting As A Method For Investigating Metabolism During Tetanic Contraction Of Skeletal Muscle, Kathryn Miller Priest

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is a cofactor that serves to shuttle electrons during metabolic processes such as glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) [1-5]. The reduced form of NAD, NADH, is autofluorescent, making it a measurable characteristic in the investigation of metabolic changes. The fluorescence lifetime of NADH is dependent on the state of protein binding, specifically free or bound NADH, allowing for detection of metabolic shifts between glycolysis (free NADH) and OXPHOS (bound NADH) [6-16]. Fiber-coupled time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) equipped with an implantable needle probe can be used to measure NADH lifetime in vivo …

Reliability Enhancing Control Algorithms For Two-Stage Grid-Tied Inverters, Yuheng Wu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the photovoltaic (PV) generation system, two types of grid-tied inverter systems are usually deployed: the single-stage grid-tied inverter system and the two-stage grid-tied inverter system. In the single-stage grid-tied inverter system, the input of the inverter is directly connected to the PV arrays, while an additional dc-dc stage is inserted between the PV arrays and the dc-ac inverter in the two-stage design. The additional dc-dc stage could provide a stable dc-link voltage to the inverter, which also enables new design possibilities, including the multi-MPPT operation and solar-plus-storage application. Thus, the two-stage grid-tied inverter has been widely used in the …

Using Copper Oxide And Zwitterions To Prevent Membrane Fouling And Optimizing Ultrafiltration Membrane Fabrication With Green Solvents, Cannon Hackett

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Membrane fouling and sustainable production of membranes are two of the most important challenges in membrane science. Chapter 1 of this dissertation introduces these challenges and covers previous research that has been done in those areas. Additionally, the objectives of this dissertation are stated. In chapter 2, a study was done in which polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membranes were functionalized with copper oxide nanoparticles and zwitterions for the purpose of reducing fouling on the membrane surface. Characterization confirmed the attachment of each component to the membranes. Dead-end filtration was performed with water and bovine serum albumin solution and showed that the functionalization …

Precision Weed Management Based On Uas Image Streams, Machine Learning, And Pwm Sprayers, Jason Allen Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Weed populations in agricultural production fields are often scattered and unevenly distributed; however, herbicides are broadcast across fields evenly. Although effective, in the case of post-emergent herbicides, exceedingly more pesticides are used than necessary. A novel weed detection and control workflow was evaluated targeting Palmer amaranth in soybean (Glycine max) fields. High spatial resolution (0.4 cm) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) image streams were collected, annotated, and used to train 16 object detection convolutional neural networks (CNNs; RetinaNet, Faster R-CNN, Single Shot Detector, and YOLO v3) each trained on imagery with 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.2 cm spatial resolutions. Models were …