Engineering Commons^™

Gas Detection System For Biomass Cookstove Emissions, Jeffery Smith, Cyera Bishop, Matthew Jones

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this research project was to explore Peruvian social and cultural behaviors that typically prevent successful improved cookstove adoption in resource-limited settings as well as suggest ways to educate locals about the benefits of improved cookstoves. This will be done by a BYU Global Engineering Outreach (GEO) team, including ORCA recipients Cyera Bishop and Jeffery Smith, constructing a cost-effective, easy-to-use gas detection sensor system capable of measuring concentrations of harmful gases released from biomass cookstoves typically found in Peruvian communities.

Algal Remediation Of Wastewater Produced From Hydrothermally Treated Septage, Kyle Mcgaughy, Ahmad Abu Hajer, Edward Drabold, David J. Bayless, M. Toufiq Reza

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is a promising technology to convert wet wastes like septic tank wastes, or septage, to valuable platform chemical, fuels, and materials. However, the byproduct of HTC, process liquid, often contains large amount of nitrogen species (up to 2 g/L of nitrogen), phosphorus, and a variety of organic carbon containing compounds. Therefore, the HTC process liquid is not often treated at wastewater treatment plant. In this study, HTC process liquid was treated with algae as an alternative to commercial wastewater treatment. The HTC process liquid was first diluted and then used to grow Chlorella sp. over a short …

Sorption Of Benzene, Tolueneand Ethylbenzeneby Plasticized Pema And Pema/Pmma Sensing Films Using Aquartz Crystal Microbalance (Qcm) At 298.15k, Deekshitha Adapa

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Detection of volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) in the environment is important for human health and wellness. Long term exposure of certain VOC’s like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) has a severe effect on human health. There are techniques such as gas chromatography, photo ionization, and mass spectroscopy that are time consuming, require gas sampling and are ineffective in real time sensing in air. Acoustic wave devices such as surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices can be used for sensing BTEX compounds in both vapor and liquid phase. The quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) is a low-frequency acoustic wave device, which can …

Improving Power Network Resilience Against Threats, Hamzeh Davarikia

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The work reported in this dissertation aims at developing a practical tool for utility transmission planners to improve the power network resilience against high-impact, low-frequency events (HILF). Such events rarely happen, but when occurred are catastrophic. In this dissertation, we studied the impact of HILF from the static and dynamic point of view and proposed the planning strategy to lower the devastating effect of the HILF.

In the static analysis, we consider the steady-state situation of the power grids and plan to protect the grid’s components, i.e., generators, buses, and transmission lines, to maximize preserving demand in a disastrous situation. …

A Race Re-Imaged, Intersectional Approach To Academic Mentoring: Exploring The Perspectives And Responses Of Womxn In Science And Engineering Research, Idalis Villanueva, Marialuisa Di Stefano, Laura Gelles, Paul Vicioso Osoria, Sheree Benson

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

In academic mentoring research, there is a need to include empirical designs that consider more sociocultural perspectives. The purpose of this exploratory study was to race re-image academic mentoring by considering its sociocultural perspectives (i.e., intersectionality, tokenism, and awareness).

For this, a qualitative-dominant, convergent mixed-methods approach was used to explore the perspectives and responses of twelve womxn graduate students and faculty involved in science and engineering research. Using multi-modal approaches that included two structured interviews and electrodermal activity (EDA) sensors, participants were asked to respond to case studies of achievement-, race-, and gender-equity through an academic mentoring lens.

Our qualitative …

Product Design For Children With Limb Defects, Cecilee Petersen, Richard Fry

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Congenital Limb Deficiency (CLD) occurs when a fetus’s upper or lower limbs do not form completely during pregnancy. This project analyzes how girls aged seven to thirteen years with upper-limb CLD adjust to daily tasks and supports the design of a mechanism to help them perform a specific activity independently. Early research became the foundation for a case study of an eight-year old girl named Ava. Ava was born with only one elbow-length cleft hand on her right side and one finger connected to her left shoulder joint . She learns to use her “nubs” effectively for most tasks, such …

Multichannel Ubm Conduit For Peripheral Nerve Repair, Elizabeth Mahoney, Alonzo Cook

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Neuropathy, disease, and trauma to the peripheral nervous system cause devastating effects. These effects can include both a loss of sensation and a loss of motor control. Due to the newness of the field of regenerative medicine, scientists are only beginning to understand how nerves regenerate. It is known that when damage occurs to the nerves, the body triggers a regeneration process. Unfortunately, this process is slow and the level of sensation that returns and motor control varies from person to person. Some options involving autografts and allografts have been employed to help the nerve endings regenerate to all distal …

High Level Gesture Control For Uavs, John Akagi, Brady Moon, Jared Paxton, Dr. Cammy Peterson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The usage and application of small unmanned aircraft has grown in recent years, but training, and constant attention is often required for controlling an aircraft in even the simplest of tasks. Our research seeks to reduce the complexity in controlling drones by sending high level commands to them using unique hand gestures captured by a glove with an inertial measurement unit (IMU). This would allow the aircraft operators to maintain focus on a primary task while easily supplementing decisions and actions with aircraft data. In contrast to low level commands, such as directing drone velocities and control surfaces, high level …

Does Hypochlorous Acid Accelerate The Degradation Of Absorbable Sutures, Stephen Pinnock, Anton Bowden

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Patients who undergo surgery may experience infection in the surgical site due to bacteria with a biofilm phenotype. This biofilm can render the bacteria resilient to standard antibiotics and the wound must be disinfected with an antimicrobial solution. Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) is a commonly used surgical antimicrobial used to disinfect these surgical sites. However, there is uncertainty as to whether the HOCl affects the stiffness and strength of the remaining sutures. These sutures are typically absorbable and need to maintain their integrity for the wound to heal properly. The purpose of this mentored research was to determine the effects of …

Low-Cost Applications Of Composite Pressure Vessels In Solid Rocket Motor Design, Riley Meik, Andy George

Journal of Undergraduate Research

For years, the delivery of payloads into space was unavailable to universities and small spacecraft companies. With growth in the space industry and advancements in rocket technology, space payload deployment became an option but was still cost-prohibitive for most. Sounding rockets, small rockets designed for low-cost, flexible access to space, were the solution. Although sounding rockets make access to space noticeably less expensive, the cost is still out of reach for low-budget space experiments. The great challenge of today is making these launch vehicles more efficient and affordable.

Towards On-Demand E. Coli-Based Cell-Free Protein Synthesis Of Tissue Plasminogen Activator, Seung-Ook Yang, Gregory H. Nielsen, Kristen M. Wilding, Merideth A. Cooper, David W. Wood, Bradley Charles Bundy

Faculty Publications

Stroke is the leading cause of death with over 5 million deaths worldwide each year. About 80% of strokes are ischemic strokes caused by blood clots. Tissue plasminogen activator (tPa) is the only FDA-approved drug to treat ischemic stroke with a wholesale price over $6000. tPa is now off patent although no biosimilar has been developed. The production of tPa is complicated by the 17 disulfide bonds that exist in correctly folded tPA. Here, we present an Escherichia coli-based cell-free protein synthesis platform for tPa expression and report conditions which resulted in the production of active tPa. While the activity …

Water In South Dakota Stakeholder Guided Strategies For Moving Forward, Rachel Mcdaniel, John Mcmaine, David Kringen

SDWRI Publications and Reports

The 2017 Eastern South Dakota Water Conference included a stakeholder working session that resulted in over 350 comments. This paper reflects the challenges, goals and action items pertaining to South Dakota’s water resources as identified by the state’s diverse stakeholders.

Anaerobic Digestion Of The Aqueous Pyrolysis Condensate, Franco Berruti, Cesar Miguel Moreira Valenzuela, Lars Rehmann, Connie Wen

Pyroliq 2019: Pyrolysis and Liquefaction of Biomass and Wastes

Fractional condensation of biomass pyrolysis vapors allows the segregation of different pyrolysis fractions and a separation of an aqueous pyrolysis condensate from an organic rich dry bio-oil fraction. Aqueous pyrolysis condensate is often referred at as “wood vinegar” or “pyroligneous acid” since it contains 70-80% water together with 10-20% acetic acid, and smaller quantities of acetone and methanol mixed with hundreds of other chemicals in small concentrations. Such aqueous pyrolysis condensate cannot be easily disposed of, and it may represent a valuable resource. For example, the significant percentage of acetic acid offers the opportunity to attempt its conversion into methane …

Hydrothermal Conversion Of Micro-Algae As New Biomaterials For Pavement, Clemence Queffelec, Emmanuel Chailleux, Ilef Borghol, Bruno Bujoli, Dorothée Laurenti, Christophe Geantet, Nolven Guilhaume, Christophe Lombard

Pyroliq 2019: Pyrolysis and Liquefaction of Biomass and Wastes

Bitumen is a non-renewable petroleum-derived product whose market is under pressure due to the fossil fuel depletion and the environmental pollution concerns. It is therefore important to anticipate the replacement of this material, heavy fraction of petroleum distillation, used mostly in road construction as a matrix of an aggregate composite material. In that context, it is necessary to look for alternatives or substitution products and find processes that can valorize new renewable biomasses.

Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract.

The Application Of Pyrolysis Biochar For Wastewater Treatment, Serge Kaliaguine, Raoof Bardestani

Pyroliq 2019: Pyrolysis and Liquefaction of Biomass and Wastes

Pyrolysis as a common method of biocrude oil and biochar productions, is the thermal conversion of biomass under limited concentration of oxygen. Biochar, the solid product of pyrolysis process, is largely used in the applications connected with surface density of acidic functional groups (FGs) and biochar specific surface area (SSA), such as adsorption, catalysis, and soil amendment. In this work, the application of pyrolysis biochar in the adsorption of lead cations from aqueous solutions was investigated. Biochar was provided by Pyrovac Inc. (Québec, Canada) from shredded wood comprising 20% volume of spruce/fir and 80% pine (stem of Pinus strobus without …

Passive Cubesat Probes For Affordable, Low-Risk Inspection Of Space Vehicles, Josh Cannon, Brian Iverson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Effective fault detection is vital for safe and reliable spacecraft performance. Traditionally, developers have relied almost exclusively on on-board instrumentation to detect faults in spacecraft performance. Remote inspection can provide a holistic complement to on-board instrumentation, but it is seldom incorporated into spacecraft missions due to its cost and risk. As a result, multiple spacecraft have been lost due to unchecked faults in areas without instrumentation.

Cubesat Constellation Design For Intersatellite Linking, Michael T. White

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the concept of controlling a CubeSat constellation in low-Earth orbit. Low-Earth orbits are considered because the torque used for satellite control is supplied with magnetorquers, and the closer the satellite is to Earth’s magnetic field the more control gain can be supplied. Also, this is the expected orbit altitude of future CubeSat constellations to enable communications.

Controlling a CubeSat relies on attitude determination. This means being able to estimate its attitude relative to a given reference frame. To determine the attitude, we propose to use a star tracker and a Kalman filter. A star tracker scans the …

Slow Pyrolysis Of Lignin Rich Residue From Lignocellulosic Biorefining Operations, Paola Giudicianni, Corinna Maria Grottola, Raffaele Ragucci

Pyroliq 2019: Pyrolysis and Liquefaction of Biomass and Wastes

Europe is committed to have a bio-based economy in 2030. It follows that a huge contribution of biorefinery products on the European demand for chemicals, energy, materials and fibers is expected in the near future. To be environmentally and economically sustainable, biorefinery will need to be flexible, versatile, energy and cost efficient [1]. In a lignocellulose based biorefinery, the sugar platform that leads to bioethanol and added-value products through biochemical processes represents a challenging option. After ethanol distillation a lignin reach residue (LRR) is produced and used as energy source. However, it is currently underutilized with about 60% more lignin …

Evaluation Of The Antifungal Activity Of Cattle Manure Bio-Oil, Matheus Pinheiro Carvalho, Alberto Wisnievski Junior, Ingred Suellen Carvalho Carregosa, Wyllian Winckler Sartori, Maria Lucileide Nogueira Santos Ramos

Pyroliq 2019: Pyrolysis and Liquefaction of Biomass and Wastes

Plant diseases are a threat to the health and functionality of both natural and man-made ecosystems. Diverse methods and strategies are being employed to prevent, ameliorate or control plant diseases. Unsustainable practices such as use and misuse of synthetic fungicides have caused severe harm to human health, wildlife and the environment (1). Fungal cause the most destructive plant diseases and impose major losses to both natural and production systems, and one of it is the fungi. Botanical fungicides are particularly sought after because they are abundant, selective, readily degraded, and are not toxic to mammals (2).

Bio-oils produced by rotatory …

Sparse General Non-Negative Matrix Factorization Based On Left Semi-Tensor Product, Zigang Chen, Lixiang Li, Haipeng Peng, Yuhong Liu, Haihua Zhu, Yixian Yang

Computer Science and Engineering

The dimension reduction of large scale high-dimensional data is a challenging task, especially the dimension reduction of face data and the accuracy increment of face recognition in the large scale face recognition system, which may cause large storage space and long recognition time. In order to further reduce the recognition time and the storage space in the large scale face recognition systems, on the basis of the general non-negative matrix factorization based on left semi-tensor (GNMFL) without dimension matching constraints proposed in our previous work, we propose a sparse GNMFL/L (SGNMFL/L) to decompose a large number of face data sets …

Quantifying The Friedreich Ataxia Rating Scale And The Functional Performance Measures, Chelsea Rene Davis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Friedreich Ataxia (FA) is a debilitating autosomal-recessive neurodegenerative disorder which is characterized by ataxia of all four limbs, difficulty walking, areflexia, and dysarthria. Further complications of FA include diabetes, scoliosis, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Approximately three-quarters of people with FA have onset before the age of 25 and in most instances, affected individuals will require the use of a wheelchair within ten years after symptoms emerge.

The current advancements in clinical trials have escalated the developmental demand for a scale which validates adjustments in FA. The Friedreich Ataxia Rating Scale (FARS) is a disease-specific semi-qualitative assessment which includes three subscales (functional …

Experimental Study Of Hybrid Strengthening Technique Using Carbon Fiber Laminates And Steel Plates For Reinforced Concrete Slabs, Xiaohong Zheng, Baolin Wan, Peiyan Huang, Jinlin Huang

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

External bonding (EB) technique has been used widely to strengthen reinforced concrete (RC) structures in civil engineering over several decades. Steel and fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) are the two most common materials used for strengthening RC structures. Although each material has its advantages for EB application, they also have their own weaknesses. Steel plates are heavy and poor in corrosion resistance, and the thickness of steel plates is also limited due to lack of shape flexibility for strengthening RC structures. The EB-FRP technique is restricted for broader applications because the bond interface is the weakest link in such retrofitted or …

Evaluation Of Novel Molten Salt Eutectics And Their Application In Novel Reactor Designs, Kraig Farrar, Matthew Memmott

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Molten salt reactors (MSR) are a relatively unexplored but promising technology for civilian nuclear power. Original experiments with this technology was performed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in the 1950s and 1960s. While this research was successful, it ultimately failed to receive additional funding and the program was cancelled as a result. Recently interest in MSR technology has resurged due to its promise of producing nuclear power at atmospheric pressure, high efficiency, and without the production of long lived waste. The purpose of this project is to determine the ideal material to use as both a fuel and coolant.

Impact Of Micro- And Nano-Structured Surfaces On Condensation Heat Transfer Effectiveness, D. Jacob Butterfield, Dr. Brian Iverson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This paper reports observations from condensation heat transfer tests performed on superhydrophobic (water-repelling) surfaces. Condensation is used in heat transfer applications ranging from industrial power generation to desalination. Superhydrophobic surfaces have been discovered to increase the effectiveness of this heat transfer process by increasing water droplet mobility. This project was concerned with quantifying the ability of superhydrophobic surfaces to increase the rate of heat transfer, thus making the processes condensation is used in potentially much more efficient.

Information Technology News, Georgia Southern University

Information Technology: News & Publications (2012-2023)

• US Secret Service Internship for Atlanta and Savannah

Providing A Piece Of The Puzzle: Insights Into The Aircraft Availability Conundrum, Jonathan D. Ritschel, Tamiko L. Ritschel, Nicole B. York

Faculty Publications

Aircraft availability (AA) is a key metric for assessing operational readiness. The declining trend in AA is a documented concern for senior Air Force leaders. This paper aims to investigate the components of non-available time and subsequently focuses on the largest and fastest growing category: not mission capable maintenance unscheduled (NMCMU). Then, utilization of aircraft platforms is examined to determine the readiness benefits of increasing available hours.

Smart Charging Strategies For Electric Vehicle Charging Stations, Zeinab Moghaddam

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Although the concept of transportation electrification holds enormous prospects in addressing the global environmental pollution problem, consumer concerns over the limited availability of charging stations and long charging/waiting times are major contributors to the slow uptake of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) in many countries. To address the consumer concerns, many countries have undertaken projects to deploy a network of both fast and slow charging stations, commonly known as electric vehicle charging networks.

While a large electric vehicle charging network will certainly be helpful in addressing PEV owners' concerns, the full potential of this network cannot be realised without the implementation …

Prioritizing Rehabilitation Of Sanitary Sewers In Pinellas County, Fl, Jesse T. Hillman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Following large rain events, extraneous freshwater contributions known as inflow and infiltration (I/I) bypass the storm sewer and enter the sanitary sewer system. In areas with a high water table, like Pinellas County and the surrounding Tampa Bay area, a majority of the wastewater infrastructure is submerged year round exacerbating the rate of groundwater infiltration. This excess flow overloads the existing wastewater infrastructure leading to sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs). These SSOs result in serious problems for municipalities and utilities across the country.

This study was performed in order to assist Pinellas County Utilities in rehabilitating their southern sewer system. To …

Design And Testing Of Experimental Langmuir Turbulence Facilities, Zongze Li

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Langmuir Circulation is a common phenomenon driven by wind in oceans and lakes and was first studied by Langmuir in 1927. According to various ocean observations, this kind of phenomenon plays an important role in many phenomena such as the aggregation of bubbles, the distribution of plankton as well as the mixing of spilled oil and sediment in the ocean. To study this, an experimental facility has been developed in the lab which creates a small scale version of Langmuir Circulation.

This thesis is about the design and testing of this tank and surrounding aluminum frame, as well as the …

Characterization Of Hydroprocessed Fast Pyrolysis Oil Fractions, Mariefel V. Olarte, Asanga B. Padmaperuma

Pyroliq 2019: Pyrolysis and Liquefaction of Biomass and Wastes

Production of renewable fuel from biomass has both environmental and national security implications. Considering that liquid transportation fuels massively affects the way we live, technology to produce fuels need to be both technologically-appropriate and economical. Fast pyrolysis remains as one of the most promising thermochemical processing technologies for converting solid biomass into a liquid that can be further upgraded into hydrocarbon fuels. The presence of various types of oxygen-containing functional groups confer pyrolysis oils with unwanted fuel properties such as acidity and low heating value. In order to remove these oxygen functionalities, catalytic hydrodeoxygenation or hydroprocessed is needed. This process …