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Articles 151 - 180 of 759

Full-Text Articles in Chemical Engineering

Automated 3d Reconstruction Using Optimized View-Planning Algorithms For Iterative Development Of Structure-From-Motion Models, Samuel Arce, Cory Vernon, Joshua Hammond, Valerie Newell, Joseph Janson, Kevin Franke, John Hedengren Jul 2020

Automated 3d Reconstruction Using Optimized View-Planning Algorithms For Iterative Development Of Structure-From-Motion Models, Samuel Arce, Cory Vernon, Joshua Hammond, Valerie Newell, Joseph Janson, Kevin Franke, John Hedengren

Faculty Publications

Unsupervised machine learning algorithms (clustering, genetic, and principal component analysis) automate Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) missions as well as the creation and refinement of iterative 3D photogrammetric models with a next best view (NBV) approach. The novel approach uses Structure-from-Motion (SfM) to achieve convergence to a specified orthomosaic resolution by identifying edges in the point cloud and planning cameras that “view” the holes identified by edges without requiring an initial model. This iterative UAV photogrammetric method successfully runs in various Microsoft AirSim environments. Simulated ground sampling distance (GSD) of models reaches as low as 3.4 cm per pixel, and generally, …


0.03 V Electrolysis Voltage Driven Hydrazine Assisted Hydrogen Generation On Nico Phosphide Nanowires Supported Nicohydroxide Nanosheets, Mujie Li, Zhongyi Zhang, Hailang Xiong, Linan Wang, Shuxian Zhuang, Morris D. Argyle, Yang Tang, Xiaojin Yang, Yongmei Chen, Pingyu Wan, Maohong Fan Jul 2020

0.03 V Electrolysis Voltage Driven Hydrazine Assisted Hydrogen Generation On Nico Phosphide Nanowires Supported Nicohydroxide Nanosheets, Mujie Li, Zhongyi Zhang, Hailang Xiong, Linan Wang, Shuxian Zhuang, Morris D. Argyle, Yang Tang, Xiaojin Yang, Yongmei Chen, Pingyu Wan, Maohong Fan

Faculty Publications

In order to decrease the electricity consumption of hydrogen generation, hydrazine-assisted water electrolysis is intensively investigated recently. Herein, hierarchical nanostructure of ultrathin NiCo(OH)x nanosheets (NSs) that in-situ grown on the NiCoP nanowires (NWs) was deposited on nickel foam (NF) to construct NiCo(OH)x@NiCoP/NF electrode. NiCoP NWs extend the surface area, spatial utilization of NF and enhance the electron conduction to the outmost NiCo(OH)x NSs. NiCo(OH)x NSs interlace to form regular mesoporous channels, which improve the structural stability and mass transfer rate. Moreover, NiCoP NWs enhance the adsorption of protons and the transfer of electrons, while NiCo(OH) …


Model Predictive Control And Estimation Of Managed Pressure Drilling Using A Real-Time High Fidelity Flow Model, Junho Park, Cameron Price, David Pixton, Manuel Aghito, Roar Nybø, Knut Bjørkevoll, John Hedengren May 2020

Model Predictive Control And Estimation Of Managed Pressure Drilling Using A Real-Time High Fidelity Flow Model, Junho Park, Cameron Price, David Pixton, Manuel Aghito, Roar Nybø, Knut Bjørkevoll, John Hedengren

Faculty Publications

When drilling an oil or gas well, well pressures may be controlled using a technology called managed pressure drilling. This technology often relies on model predictive control schemes; however, practical limitations have generally led to the use of simplified controller models that do not optimally handle certain perturbations in the physical system. The present work reports on the first implementation of a highly accurate system model that has been adapted for real-time use in a controller. This real-time high-fidelity model approximates the results of offline high-fidelity models without requiring operation by model experts. The effectiveness of the model is demonstrated …


Chemical And Thermal Sintering Of Supported Metals With Emphasis On Cobalt Catalysts During Fischer−Tropsch Synthesis, Mahmood Rahmati, Mohammad-Saeed Safdari, Thomas H. Fletcher, Morris D. Argyle, Calvin H. Bartholomew May 2020

Chemical And Thermal Sintering Of Supported Metals With Emphasis On Cobalt Catalysts During Fischer−Tropsch Synthesis, Mahmood Rahmati, Mohammad-Saeed Safdari, Thomas H. Fletcher, Morris D. Argyle, Calvin H. Bartholomew

Faculty Publications

This comprehensive critical review combines, for the first time, recent advances in nanoscale surface chemistry, surface science, DFT, adsorption calorimetry, and in situ XRD and TEM to provide new insights into catalyst sintering. This work provides qualitative and quantitative estimates of the extent and rate of sintering as functions of nanocrystal (NC) size, temperature, and atmosphere. This review is unique in that besides summarizing important, useful data from previous studies, it also advances the field through addition of (i) improved or new models, (ii) new data summarized in original tables and figures, and (iii) new fundamental perspectives into sintering of …


Turbulence Modulation In Particle-Laden Stationary Homogeneous Isotropic Turbulence Using One-Dimensional Turbulence, Marco Fistler, Alan Kerstein, David O. Lignell, Michael Oevermann Apr 2020

Turbulence Modulation In Particle-Laden Stationary Homogeneous Isotropic Turbulence Using One-Dimensional Turbulence, Marco Fistler, Alan Kerstein, David O. Lignell, Michael Oevermann

Faculty Publications

Turbulence modulation in particle-laden stationary homogeneous isotropic turbulence is investigated using one-dimensional turbulence (ODT), a low-dimensional stochastic flow simulation model. For this purpose, ODT is extended in two ways. First, a forcing scheme that maintains statistical stationarity is introduced. Unlike direct numerical simulation (DNS) of forced turbulence, the ODT framework accommodates forcing that is not directly coupled to the momentum equation. For given forcing the ODT energy dissipation rate is therefore the same in particle-laden cases as in the corresponding single-phase reference case. Second, previously implemented one-way-coupled particle phenomenology is extended to two-way coupling using the general ODT methodology for …


Gas-Solid Reaction Pathway For Chlorination Of Rare Earth And Actinide Metals Using Hydrogen And Chlorine Gas, Parker Okabe, Matthew Newton, Devin Rappleye, Michael F. Simpson Apr 2020

Gas-Solid Reaction Pathway For Chlorination Of Rare Earth And Actinide Metals Using Hydrogen And Chlorine Gas, Parker Okabe, Matthew Newton, Devin Rappleye, Michael F. Simpson

Faculty Publications

Hydriding and chlorination of buttons of metallic cerium have been tested as a head-end step to separating metal impurities from actinides. The objective was to achieve complete conversion to chlorides while maintaining high surface area via small particles and open porosity. Hydriding by reaction with 100% H2 gas at 573 K was successful at reducing cm-scale metal buttons into small particles/fragments. This step was followed by reaction with flowing 99.5% anhydrous Cl2 gas at temperatures ranging from 423 to 573 K for 60 min. In experiments reported here, up to 92% conversion to cerium chloride was achieved from reacting with …


Benchmark Temperature Microcontroller For Process Dynamics And Control, Junho Park, Ronald Abraham Martin, Jeffrey Kelly, John Hedengren Apr 2020

Benchmark Temperature Microcontroller For Process Dynamics And Control, Junho Park, Ronald Abraham Martin, Jeffrey Kelly, John Hedengren

Faculty Publications

Standard benchmarks are important repositories to establish comparisons between competing model and control methods, especially when a new method is proposed. This paper presents details of an Arduino micro-controller temperature control lab as a benchmark for modeling and control methods. As opposed to simulation studies, a physical benchmark considers real process characteristics such as the requirement to meet a cycle time, discrete sampling intervals, communication overhead with the process, and model mismatch. An example case study of the benchmark is quantifying an optimization approach for a PID controller with 5.4% improved performance. A multivariate example shows the quantified performance improvement …


Analysis Of Identification Method For Bacterial Species And Antibiotic Resistance Genes Using Optical Data From Dna Oligomers, Ryan L. Wood, Tanner Jensen, Cindi Wadsworth, Mark Clement, Prashant Nagpal, William G. Pitt Feb 2020

Analysis Of Identification Method For Bacterial Species And Antibiotic Resistance Genes Using Optical Data From Dna Oligomers, Ryan L. Wood, Tanner Jensen, Cindi Wadsworth, Mark Clement, Prashant Nagpal, William G. Pitt

Faculty Publications

Bacterial antibiotic resistance is becoming a significant health threat, and rapid identification of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is essential to save lives and reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance. This paper analyzes the ability of machine learning algorithms (MLAs) to process data from a novel spectroscopic diagnostic device to identify antibiotic-resistant genes and bacterial species by comparison to available bacterial DNA sequences. Simulation results show that the algorithms attain from 92% accuracy (for genes) up to 99% accuracy (for species). This novel approach identifies genes and species by optically reading the percentage of A, C, G, T bases in 1000s of short …


Analysis Of Identification Method For Bacterial Species And Antibiotic Resistance Genes Using Optical Data From Dna Oligomers, Ryan L. Wood, Tanner Jensen, Cindi Wadsworth, Mark Clement, Prashant Nagpal, William G. Pitt Feb 2020

Analysis Of Identification Method For Bacterial Species And Antibiotic Resistance Genes Using Optical Data From Dna Oligomers, Ryan L. Wood, Tanner Jensen, Cindi Wadsworth, Mark Clement, Prashant Nagpal, William G. Pitt

Faculty Publications

Bacterial antibiotic resistance is becoming a significant health threat, and rapid identification of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is essential to save lives and reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance. This paper analyzes the ability of machine learning algorithms (MLAs) to process data from a novel spectroscopic diagnostic device to identify antibiotic-resistant genes and bacterial species by comparison to available bacterial DNA sequences. Simulation results show that the algorithms attain from 92% accuracy (for genes) up to 99% accuracy (for species). This novel approach identifies genes and species by optically reading the percentage of A, C, G, T bases in 1000s of short …


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 Jan 2020

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. …


Modeling The Influence Of Changes In Aliphatic Structure On Char Surface Area During Coal Pyrolysis, He Yang, Thomas H. Fletcher, Yang Li, Lijun Jin, Sufen Li, Yan Shang, Haoquan Hu Jan 2020

Modeling The Influence Of Changes In Aliphatic Structure On Char Surface Area During Coal Pyrolysis, He Yang, Thomas H. Fletcher, Yang Li, Lijun Jin, Sufen Li, Yan Shang, Haoquan Hu

Faculty Publications

The influence of changes in aliphatic structure on char surface area during coal pyrolysis was modeled, and the effect was introduced to a previous char surface area model for lignite pyrolysis established based on the chemical percolation devolatilization (CPD) model. The modified model can predict not only the N2 and CO2 char surface area during rapid pyrolysis of three lignites but also the CO2 char surface area of two high-volatile bituminous coals; the agreement of the modified model with experiments is improved at high temperatures. The decrease in aliphatic chain length can reduce adsorption positions around aromatic core, and decrease …


Chemical And Thermal Sintering Of Supported Metals With Emphasis On Cobalt Catalysts During Fischer−Tropsch Synthesis, Mahmood Rahmati, Mohammad-Saeed Safdari, Thomas H. Fletcher, Morris D. Argyle, Calvin H. Bartholomew Jan 2020

Chemical And Thermal Sintering Of Supported Metals With Emphasis On Cobalt Catalysts During Fischer−Tropsch Synthesis, Mahmood Rahmati, Mohammad-Saeed Safdari, Thomas H. Fletcher, Morris D. Argyle, Calvin H. Bartholomew

Faculty Publications

This comprehensive critical review combines, for the first time, recent advances in nanoscale surface chemistry, surface science, DFT, adsorption calorimetry, and in situ XRD and TEM to provide new insights into catalyst sintering. This work provides qualitative and quantitative estimates of the extent and rate of sintering as functions of nanocrystal (NC) size, temperature, and atmosphere. This review is unique in that besides summarizing important, useful data from previous studies, it also advances the field through addition of (i) improved or new models, (ii) new data summarized in original tables and figures, and (iii) new fundamental perspectives into sintering of …


Comparison Of Pyrolysis Of Live Wildland Fuels Heated By Radiation Vs. Convection, Mohammad-Saeed Safdari, Elham Amini, David R. Weise, Thomas H. Fletcher Jan 2020

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 …


Co2 Hydrogenation To High-Value Products Via Heterogeneous Catalysis, Run-Ping Ye, Jie Ding, Weibo Gong, Morris D. Argyle, Qin Zhong, Yujun Wang, Christopher K. Russell, Zhenghe Xu, Armistead G. Russell, Qiaohong Li, Maohong Fan, Yuan-Gen Yao Dec 2019

Co2 Hydrogenation To High-Value Products Via Heterogeneous Catalysis, Run-Ping Ye, Jie Ding, Weibo Gong, Morris D. Argyle, Qin Zhong, Yujun Wang, Christopher K. Russell, Zhenghe Xu, Armistead G. Russell, Qiaohong Li, Maohong Fan, Yuan-Gen Yao

Faculty Publications

Recently, carbon dioxide capture and conversion, along with hydrogen from renewable resources, provide an alternative approach to synthesis of useful fuels and chemicals. People are increasingly interested in developing innovative carbon dioxide hydrogenation catalysts, and the pace of progress in this area is accelerating. Accordingly, this perspective presents current state of the art and outlook in synthesis of light olefins, dimethyl ether, liquid fuels, and alcohols through two leading hydrogenation mechanisms: methanol reaction and Fischer-Tropsch based carbon dioxide hydrogenation. The future research directions for developing new heterogeneous catalysts with transformational technologies, including 3D printing and artificial intelligence, are provided.


Proactive Energy Optimization In Residential Buildings With Weather And Market Forecasts, Cody Simmons, Joshua Arment, Kody M. Powell, John Hedengren Dec 2019

Proactive Energy Optimization In Residential Buildings With Weather And Market Forecasts, Cody Simmons, Joshua Arment, Kody M. Powell, John Hedengren

Faculty Publications

This work explores the development of a home energy management system (HEMS) that uses weather and market forecasts to optimize the usage of home appliances and to manage battery usage and solar power production. A Moving Horizon Estimation (MHE) application is used to find the unknown home model parameters. These parameters are then updated in a Model Predictive Controller (MPC) which optimizes and balances competing comfort and economic objectives. Combining MHE and MPC applications alleviates model complexity commonly seen in HEMS by using a lumped parameter model that is adapted to fit a high-fidelity model. Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning …


A Review Of 30 Years Of Research Using The Cpd Model, Thomas H. Fletcher Nov 2019

A Review Of 30 Years Of Research Using The Cpd Model, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

The chemical percolation devolatilization (CPD) model for coal pyrolysis was first published in 1989, and a completed version that included the vapor–liquid equilibrium model and cross-linking model was published in 1992. The CPD model was one of three pyrolysis models developed using a lattice model to account for the chemical structure of the coal and was directly based on solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements of the coal structure. A correlation of coal structure parameters measured by NMR spectroscopy was performed to permit use of the CPD model to determine pyrolysis rates and yields of tars and light …


Evaluation And Demonstration Of Take Home Laboratory Kit, J. A. Rossiter, S. A. Pope, B. Ll. Jones, John Hedengren Sep 2019

Evaluation And Demonstration Of Take Home Laboratory Kit, J. A. Rossiter, S. A. Pope, B. Ll. Jones, John Hedengren

Faculty Publications

This paper discusses some of the reasons for producing take home laboratory kits. This is then supplemented by detailed presentation of three different types of take home kit, alongside the motivations for their design and an evaluation of their efficacy with students.


Reduction Of A Detailed Soot Model For Simulations Of Pyrolysing Solid Fuels, Alexander J. Josephson, Emily M. Hopkins, David O. Lignell, Rod R. Linn Aug 2019

Reduction Of A Detailed Soot Model For Simulations Of Pyrolysing Solid Fuels, Alexander J. Josephson, Emily M. Hopkins, David O. Lignell, Rod R. Linn

Faculty Publications

This work presents a computationally inexpensive soot formation model for use in simulating large solid-complex fuel systems. The proposed model evaluates three variables: number density of tars, bulk mass density of soot particles, and particle number density. Each of these variables are influenced by soot formation phenomena, and this model evaluates the most common of these phenomena: soot nucleation, surface reactions, and coagulation. Two separate simulations were carried out using this model and results were compared against simulations using a more detailed and computationally expensive model. Results are promising and show a meaningful reduction in model complexity and computational cost …


Improving And Modeling Bacteria Recovery In Hollow Disk System, Clifton Anderson Aug 2019

Improving And Modeling Bacteria Recovery In Hollow Disk System, Clifton Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

Identifying antibiotic resistance in blood infections requires separating bacteria from whole blood. A hollow spinning disk rapidly removes suspended red blood cells by leveraging hydrodynamic differences between bacteria and whole blood components in a centrifugal field. Once the red cells are removed, the supernatant plasma which contains bacteria is collected for downstream antibiotic testing. This work improves upon previous work by modifying the disk design to maximize fractional plasma recovery and minimize fractional red cell recovery. V-shaped channels induce plasma flow and increase fractional plasma recovery. Additionally, diluting a blood sample spiked with bacteria prior to spinning it increased the …


Thermostable Lyoprotectant-Enhanced Cell-Free Protein Synthesis For On-Demand Endotoxin-Free Therapeutic Production, Kristen M. Wilding, Emily Long Zhao, Conner C. Earl, Bradley Charles Bundy Jul 2019

Thermostable Lyoprotectant-Enhanced Cell-Free Protein Synthesis For On-Demand Endotoxin-Free Therapeutic Production, Kristen M. Wilding, Emily Long Zhao, Conner C. Earl, Bradley Charles Bundy

Faculty Publications

Cell-free protein synthesis has emerged as a promising platform for the production of therapeutic proteins due to its inherently open reaction environment, flexible reaction conditions and rapid protein synthesis capabilities. In recent years, lyophilized cell-free systems have widened the application space of cell-free technology by improving reagent stability outside of cold-chain storage. Current embodiments of the system, however, demonstrate poor stability at elevated temperatures. Lyoprotectants have long been recognized for the ability to preserve the activity of biological molecules during drying processes, but the application of this technology to lyophilized cell-free systems has been limited and has failed to address …


Correlating Pressure, Fluidization Gas Velocities, Andsolids Mass Flowrates In A High-Pressurefluidized Bed Coal Feed System, Jacob Talailetalalelei Tuia Jul 2019

Correlating Pressure, Fluidization Gas Velocities, Andsolids Mass Flowrates In A High-Pressurefluidized Bed Coal Feed System, Jacob Talailetalalelei Tuia

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this thesis was to understand what parameters would be most impactful when delivering dry, pulverized coal in a dilute-phase, with a high-pressure feed-system to a pressurized oxy-combustion (POC) reactor. Many studies have conveyed materials in dense-phase plugs at high-pressure or in dilute-phase flows at atmospheric pressure. Very few studies have fluidized and conveyed materials in dilute-phase flows at high pressure, as we needed to. Additionally, studies which might have been applicable based upon system -pressure and -phase delivered findings that were empirically based and therefore not specifically applicable to non-similar systems. 220 different tests were ran using …


Development Of Automated Control Systems For Pilot-Scale Combustors In The New Byu Engineering Building Annex, Andrew Fry Jun 2019

Development Of Automated Control Systems For Pilot-Scale Combustors In The New Byu Engineering Building Annex, Andrew Fry

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this MEG grant was to train 3 undergraduate students from either Chemical or Mechanical Engineering on the use of OPTO 22 control system and then to direct them, along with the input from engineers at OPTO 22, as they build and install a control system and logic for the Burner Flow Reactor (BFR), Multi Fuel Reactor (MFR) and the Pressurized Oxy Coal (POC) reactors in the new Engineering Research Laboratory (ERL). This program is comprised of 6 tasks as follows:


A Combined Computational/Experimental Approach To Stabilize Proteins With Unnatural Amino Acid Modifications, Joshua Wilkerson, Dr. Thomas Knotts Jun 2019

A Combined Computational/Experimental Approach To Stabilize Proteins With Unnatural Amino Acid Modifications, Joshua Wilkerson, Dr. Thomas Knotts

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Proteins are versatile biological molecules that catalyze chemical reactions, provide cellular structure, and transport materials throughout the body. Proteins have been adapted for use in a wide variety of industries including food processing, medical diagnostics, and therapeutics. However, proteins must often be modified to enhance their utility in these operations. One method that can be used as an initial step in protein modification strategies is replacement of a naturally occurring amino acid with an unnatural amino acid (uAA). Previous research has suggested that it is very difficult to predict the stability of a uAA-modified protein based on any individual factor. …


Multichannel Ubm Conduit For Peripheral Nerve Repair, Elizabeth Mahoney, Alonzo Cook Jun 2019

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 …


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 Jun 2019

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 …


Evaluation Of Novel Molten Salt Eutectics And Their Application In Novel Reactor Designs, Kraig Farrar, Matthew Memmott Jun 2019

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.


Achieving Tiered Model Quality In 3d Structure From Motion Models Using A Multi-Scale View-Planning Algorithm For Automated Targeted Inspection, Trent Okeson, Benjamin Barrett, Samuel Arce, Cory Vernon, Kevin W. Franke, John Hedengren Jun 2019

Achieving Tiered Model Quality In 3d Structure From Motion Models Using A Multi-Scale View-Planning Algorithm For Automated Targeted Inspection, Trent Okeson, Benjamin Barrett, Samuel Arce, Cory Vernon, Kevin W. Franke, John Hedengren

Faculty Publications

This study presents a novel multi-scale view-planning algorithm for automated targeted inspection using unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). In industrial inspection, it is important to collect the most relevant data to keep processing demands, both human and computational, to a minimum. This study investigates the viability of automated targeted multi-scale image acquisition for Structure from Motion (SfM)-based infrastructure modeling. A traditional view-planning approach for SfM is extended to a multi-scale approach, planning for targeted regions of high, medium, and low priority. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can traverse the entire aerial space and facilitates collection of an optimized set of views, …


Sequential Earthquake Damage Assessment Incorporating Optimized Suav Remote Sensing At Pescara Del Tronto, Michael Freeman, Cory Vernon, Benjamin Barrett, Nicole Hastings, Jeff Derricott, Janessa Pace, Benjamin Horne, Joshua Hammond, Joseph Janson, Filiberto Chiabrando, John Hedengren, Kevin W. Franke Jun 2019

Sequential Earthquake Damage Assessment Incorporating Optimized Suav Remote Sensing At Pescara Del Tronto, Michael Freeman, Cory Vernon, Benjamin Barrett, Nicole Hastings, Jeff Derricott, Janessa Pace, Benjamin Horne, Joshua Hammond, Joseph Janson, Filiberto Chiabrando, John Hedengren, Kevin W. Franke

Faculty Publications

A sequence of large earthquakes in central Italy ranging in moment magnitudes (Mw) from 4.2 to 6.5 caused significant damage to many small towns in the area. After each earthquake in 2016 (24 August and 26 October), automated small unmanned aerial vehicles (sUAV) acquired valuable imagery data for post-hazard reconnaissance in the mountain village of Pescara del Tronto, and were applied to 3D reconstruction using Structure-from-Motion (SfM). In July 2018, the site was again monitored to obtain additional imagery data capturing changes since the last visit following the 30 October 2016 Earthquake. A genetic-based mission-planning algorithm that delivers optimal viewpoints …


The Development Of A Multi-Objective Optimization And Preference Tool To Improve The Design Process Of Nuclear Power Plant Systems, Paul Richard Wilding Jun 2019

The Development Of A Multi-Objective Optimization And Preference Tool To Improve The Design Process Of Nuclear Power Plant Systems, Paul Richard Wilding

Theses and Dissertations

The complete design process for a new nuclear power plant concept is costly, long, complicated, and the work is generally split between several specialized groups. These design groups separately do their best to design the portion of the reactor that falls in their expertise according to the design criteria before passing the design to the subsequent design group. Ultimately, the work of each design group is combined, with significant iteration between groups striving to facilitate the integration of each of the heavily interdependent systems. Such complex interaction between experts leads to three significant problems: (1) the issues associated with knowledge …


Replacement Rates Of Initially Hydrocarbon-Filled Microscopic Cavities With Water, Hans Christian Larson Jun 2019

Replacement Rates Of Initially Hydrocarbon-Filled Microscopic Cavities With Water, Hans Christian Larson

Theses and Dissertations

Wetting behaviors influence many aspects of life and industry from consumer product goods to oil recovery to cosmetics. While the traditional solid-liquid-vapor (SLV) system has been studied for many years now, wetting transitions in the solid-liquid-liquid (SLL) system has remained relatively unexplored. The purpose of this work is to bring light to the wetting transition of the solid-liquid-liquid system and to understand the replacement rates of initially hydrocarbon-filled microscopic cavities with water and the factors affecting these rates. Factors studied were viscosity, density, diffusion related properties, and surface related properties in both hydrocarbon-saturated and hydrocarbon-non-saturated conditions. Cylindrical microscopic cavities were …