Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Proposal To Build Nylon 6,6 Plant: A Grassroots Economic Analysis, Caleb M. Woodall

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This report analyzes the profitability of building a grass roots Nylon 6,6 plant in Calvert City, Kentucky. A rigorous process simulation was produced, equipment prices were estimated, utility usage was assessed, and a plan for the plant organization was developed. The calculations yielded values for fixed capital investment ($10.5 million), working capital ($101 million) and revenue ($114 million). The discounted cash flow rate of return was calculated to be 8.94%. The conclusion drawn from these calculated values is that the current plan for the plant would not be profitable on a 10 year project life basis. However, recommendations are presented …

Life Cycle Assessment Of Sweet Sorghum As Feedstock For Second-Generation Biofuel Production, Karla Morrissey

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

There exist few life cycle assessments (LCAs) in the literature that focus on the second-generation biofuel production from sweet sorghum, a non-food-source feedstock that offers several advantages in terms of farming requirements compared to corn or sugarcane. The objective of this LCA study was to evaluate biofuels produced from sweet sorghum to determine the potential environmental benefits of producing sweet sorghum biofuel compared to conventional fossil fuels. The biofuel production process used for this study differed from other LCAs in that, in parallel to stalk juice extraction and fermentation, residual bagasse and vinasse was pyrolyzed and upgraded to a diesel …

Feasibility Analysis Of Recycled-Paper Fueled Agricultural Desalination Process: Design Of Recycling And Desalination Processes, Sean M. Street

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

While recycled-paper-briquettes have lower BTU ratings than wood, and fresh water is typically a low cost to agricultural entities, situations exist where economic and/or environmental factors may allow a recycled-paper-fueled desalination process to be viable for some specific agricultural entities. This document begins with a discussion of how water is priced throughout India before analyzing trends in the Maize futures market. By tying the two together, an opportunity is created for solution which the remainder of the document presents. Paper waste in India makes-up 50% of its solid waste country-wide; however, only a quarter of that waste is recycled - …

Evaluation Of Phosphorous Removals By Biochar Supported Nano-Scale Zero-Valent Iron, Maria S. Rossetti

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study evaluated the effectiveness of biochar-supported nano-scale zero-valent iron (nZVI/BC) in removing phosphorus (P) from water. Samples of nZVI/BC were prepared using aqueous nanoparticles synthesis techniques, and were mixed with a stock phosphorus solution. To determine P reductions water samples were tested for P content using the ascorbic acid method. This procedure was repeated for samples of stock P solution, zero-valent iron (ZVI), biochar, and ZVI/BC. nZVI/BC reduced P content by 86% whereas ZVI, biochar, and ZVI/BC removed 6%, -23%, and 17% respectively. This suggests that nZVI/BC has the potential to be an effective method of stormwater remediation.

Hollow Fiber Membranes For Artificial Lung Applications, Lauren Reed

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Artificial lungs are in use, but difficult issues remain in the field of membrane development related to fouling issues. Currently there are external artificial lungs circulating blood outside the body, taking out the carbon dioxide, and inserting oxygenated blood back into the body. An example of this type of machine is the ExtraCorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine currently used in hospitals. The ECMO takes over the functions for both the lungs and the heart but is only available for short term use by patients with respiratory failure due to infections [1]. The fibers in the machine develop fouling due to …

Chlorpyrifos Removal For Wastewater Reuse, Indran Kamalanathan

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Approximately 1.2 billion people around the world live in areas of physical water scarcity. This could increase to half of the world’s population by 2030 and could displace 24 to 700 million people unless steps are taken to ensure adequate water supply.¹ Water scarcity is an escalating issue within the United States, specifically in Western inland states with arid climates. This scarcity is encouraging communities to investigate tertiary level municipal wastewater treatment, allowing for reuse of wastewater. Unfortunately, wastewater contains numerous contaminants that are not regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). …

Haul Truck Tires Recycling, Omkar Bhave

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The disposal of large Off-the-Road (OTR) tires is an increasingly important concern. These tires can weigh up to 8,450 pounds with an overall diameter and width of approximately 140.7 inches and 45.1 inches respectively. OTR tires are used for mining vehicles such as haul trucks, wheel loaders, backhoes, graders, and trenchers.[1] These new tires cost between $38,000 and $50,000 each, depending on multiple factors including oil prices and the cyclical nature of the industry. Haul trucks contain six tires per vehicle, and mines replace these tires around every 9-12 months.[2] Statistics regarding discarded OTR tires are not provided by the …

Plasmonic Pervaporation For Sustainable Mixture Separation, Ty Austin

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The U.S. Department of Energy suggests that ca. 40% of the total energy consumed in the chemical and refining industries is used for distillation.¹ One potentially energy efficient alternative is pervaporation, a membrane separation process that uses differences in solvent permeability and vaporization rates to encourage mixture separation. Pervaporation has become a valuable tool in the processes of producing biofuels, recovering water, and removing solvent.^2,3 However, implementation has been hindered by heating the feed to the membrane and cooling the unpermeated retentate to increase membrane throughput at a higher energy cost. Preliminary research has shown that locally heating …

Design, Construction, And Preliminary Testing Of A Square Cross-Sectional Mixing Chamber, Holly Holmes-Smith

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Throughout the US, large quantities of chlorine are produced and transported by rail. In the past, train accidents led to deadly accidental releases and the need for mass evacuation. However, moving people unnecessarily may cause pandemonium or danger to health for sensitive members of the public. In these past cases, the models used for evacuation distances did not accurately predict the impact of the chlorine release, but these models did not take into account the reactivity of chlorine. Because chlorine is a highly reactive gas, it is absorbed into the surrounding environment which reduced the amount of chlorine in the …

Haul Truck Tires Recycling, Jessica N. Lizarazu

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The disposal of large Off-the-Road (OTR) tires is an increasingly important concern. These tires can weigh up to 8,450 pounds with an overall diameter and width of approximately 140.7 inches and 45.1 inches respectively. OTR tires are used for mining vehicles such as haul trucks, wheel loaders, backhoes, graders, and trenchers. These new tires cost between $38,000 and $50,000 each, depending on multiple factors including oil prices and the cyclical nature of the industry. Haul trucks contain six tires per vehicle, and mines replace these tires around every 9-12 months. Statistics regarding discarded OTR tires are not provided by the …

Removal Of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds From Secondary Municipal Wastewater, Dustin R. Resz

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Approximately 1.2 billion people around the world live in areas of physical water scarcity. This could increase to half of the world’s population by 2030 and could displace 24 to 700 million people unless steps are taken to ensure adequate water supply.1 Water scarcity is an escalating issue within the United States, specifically in Western inland states with arid climates. This scarcity is encouraging communities to investigate tertiary level municipal wastewater treatment, allowing for reuse of wastewater. Unfortunately, wastewater contains numerous contaminants that are not regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Many …

Efficiency And Particulate Matter Emissions Testing Of Wood Burning Heating Units, Collin W. Michael

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The University of Arkansas StoveHOGS team developed a method for efficiency and particle emissions testing of wood fired heaters. The EPA currently regulates the particulate emissions of wood burning stoves, and the goal of this project was to develop a cheaper, easier method for small manufacturers to test the efficiency and particulate emissions of wood burning stoves without sending them to a testing facility. The team used EPA and CSA testing standards to design and test a method that could accomplish the same task in a simpler and more cost effective manner.

Rapid, Low-Cost Biosensor For Water-Borne Pathogens In Low-Resource Environments, Kimberly Cribbs

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

When testing water quality, “microbiological results typically require a minimum of 24 hours to complete” due to reliance on the traditional and inexpensive cultivation method. In 2000, an isothermal DNA amplification method termed loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) was invented allowing for microbiological assessments to be performed in less than one hour without the need for an expensive thermocycler. In 2013, the World Health Organization reported LAMP as an “attractive diagnostic platform for resource-poor settings: it is fast [15-40 min], isothermal [requiring only a heat block], robust to inhibitors and reaction conditions that usually adversely affect PCR methods, and it generates …

Targeted Drug Delivery Using Peptoid Based Nanospheres, Kaylee J. Smith

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

While medicine has improved greatly in the last couple of decades, there are negative side effects that accompany many drugs. Undesirable side effects could be greatly reduced if non-systemic drug delivery systems were used because the medicine would harm diseased cells at a much higher rate than it does healthy cells. One possible non-systemic drug delivery system is peptoid nanospheres. These nanospheres will then be linked to another peptoid that is engineered to attach almost exclusively to diseased cells.

This research project is focused on designing peptoids that will form nanospheres in solution. Four specific peptoids were synthesized and tested …

Efficiency And Particulate Matter Emissions Testing Of Wood Burning Heating Units, Andrew J. Casey

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

For the 2016 WERC/IEE competition, our project regarded the efficiency and particulate matter emissions testing of wood burning heating units. The purpose of the project was to develop a cheap and effective testing method for combustion units in order to decrease manufacturers’ research and development costs. This would ultimately lower the entry barrier to the market and increase the number of manufacturers on the market. This would lead to more efficient stoves being designed and the stoves would be cheaper as a result of the increased competitive market. This would have many benefits on society; the primary benefit being that …

Development Of A Simple Handheld Biosensor For Waterborne Pathogens, Bryce C. Jones

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Current methods of detecting waterborne pathogens involve testing strips which take 24-48 hours to yield results, or require expensive equipment in order to function. In minimalist environments, these two technologies are not always applicable to test water quality. With the emergence of a new method of PCR, named LAMP PCR, it is possible to quickly and accurately detect pathogen DNA in a water sample. In order to scale this technique into a simple device, the aspects of the reaction must be accommodated, and a visual detection method chosen. A handheld device which keeps the isothermal LAMP PCR stable for the …

Haul Truck Tires Recycling, Marina E. Lee

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Ball Hogs competed in Task 2 - Haul Truck Tires in the 2016 Waste-Management Education and Research Consortium (WERC) International Environmental Design Contest. This task required designing a solution to recycle discarded haul truck tires from mining sites. Our solution was to use the treads of these haul truck tires to construct liners for ball mills. Recycling haul truck tires in this manner would save the mining companies a substantial amount of money and would result in a decrease of carbon emissions.

Wastewater Reuse, Zachary J. Bare

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Approximately 1.2 billion people around the world live in areas of physical water scarcity. This could increase to half of the world’s population by 2030 and could displace 24 to 700 million people unless steps are taken to ensure adequate water supply. Water scarcity is an escalating issue within the United States, specifically in Western inland states with arid climates. This scarcity is encouraging communities to investigate tertiary level municipal wastewater treatment, allowing for reuse of wastewater. Unfortunately, wastewater contains numerous contaminants that are not regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Many …

Efficiency And Particulate Matter Emissions Testing Of Wood Burning Heating Units, Lindsey Mayo

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The performance and use of wood-burning stoves as a heating source is carefully regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA requires a rigorous and exhaustive testing protocol be conducted on each unit before it can be sold commercially in order to ensure that the stove in question will not have a detrimental effect on the surrounding environment. However, this testing routine is incredibly time intensive and costly, resulting in a 90% decrease in the number of stove manufacturers since 1988. This decreased competition has ultimately fostered an industry free from competition and motivation to produce clean and efficient …

Efficiency And Particulate Matter Emissions Testing Of Wood Burning Heating Units, Elisabeth E. Westcott

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is continually revising the regulations on wood-burning units to reduce the particulate matter emissions in the United States. These revisions have caused a large decline in wood-burning stove manufacturers as they bring the need for research and development on current units and small manufacturers cannot burden the large costs. The StoveHogs became aware of this manufacturer decline in the industry and saw an opportunity to help small manufacturers, backyard inventors, and the stove industry as a whole. In order to reduce the costs of research and development on stoves, the StoveHogs designed and tested a …

Investigating The Modulation Of Aggregating Amyloid Beta 40, Marlee J. Motes

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Amyloid beta protein has been linked to the formation of Alzheimer’s disease in patients.¹ Plaques form from amyloid beta fibrils. The formation of these plaques between neural connections in the brain are associated with Alzheimer’s disease.² The reduction of the formation of fibrils can be linked to utilizing protein mimics. The protocols that are used to reproduce the simulation of amyloid beta in the brain can be very important. Also, the structure of the protein mimic that is being used to inhibit the formation of fibrils can determine how the amyloid beta plaques are reduced.

The structure of sequence KLLFFLFFLLK …

Peptoid Morphology Studies And Its Performance In Inhibiting Islet Amyloid Polypeptide, Dongwon Park

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract 1

Proteins have various arrays of functions in human bodies. The bio-functions of proteins are depend on their amino acid sequences and folding processes that affect protein structure. While most of proteins fold in their own pathways, some of them misfold and aggregate due to mutations caused by various reasons. These aggregations are believed to be main causes of protein conformation disorders like Alzheimer's disease, Type II diabetes, Huntington's disease, and prion disease. An aggregated form of amyloid beta is considered as a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. Amyloid beta develops from oligomer into a fibril as the aggregation process …

Werc Task #1 - Efficiency And Particulate Matter Emissions Testing Of Wood Burning Heating Units, Jonathan A. Shumaker

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

A design of a method for calculating the efficiency and particulate matter emission rates was developed for use on wood stoves. The project was completed for the WERC competition which is an international design contest. The prevalence of wood burning as a form of heating, current EPA regulations, and current market conditions were major factors in forming the necessity of this testing method. Design was not limited to outlining the design specifications, the apparatus was built and run. Optimization of the method continued until completion of the project. If the method would continue to be improved then it would be …

Werc Task #1 - Open: Efficiency And Particulate Matter Emissions Testing Of Wood Burning Heating Units, Teni R. Butler

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Wood burning has significant environmental and health impacts. This research focused on creating low-cost, reliable test methods for identifying particulate matter emissions to the atmosphere, while obtaining essential data for efficiency calculations of wood combustion.

Evapoporometry: An Effective Analytical Technique For Membrane Pore Size Characterization Of Hollow Fiber Membranes, Alex J. Moix

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

A new analytical technique called evapoporometry has shown to be an effective and inexpensive method for membrane pore size characterization. This technique is based on the correlation between vapor pressure and pore size as described by the Kelvin equation. Evapoporometry has many advantages over tradition pore size characterization techniques. This technique allows for large sample sizes, uses minimal equipment, is capable of analyzing membranes within a wide range of pore sizes, and provides a highly descriptive representation of the pore distribution. This research looks at the application of evapoporometry as a technique for characterization of hollow fiber membranes. Using the …

Separation Of Oil From A Brackish Water Stream, Kayli A. Quinton

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the past 40 years, a variety of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods have been developed and applied to mature and mostly depleted oil reservoirs. Chemical and sonic stimulation are two enhanced oil recovery methods in which emulsions are created either as a primary or secondary effect. The resulting emulsion viscosity is considerably lower than that of dry crude thus increasing permeability of and recovery from pay zones. During Chemical enhanced oil recovery, caustic or preformed surfactants are injected into oil reservoirs, which results in flooding and periodic breakthrough of stable oil-water emulsions. The emulsions from chemical enhanced oil recovery …

Characterization And Development Of Tsi Three-Dimensional Laser Doppler Velocimetry System, John Andrew Dominick

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The study of dense gas dispersion at atmospheric conditions is critical to understand the safety concerns of industrial operations where large amounts of toxic or flammable materials are stored and generated. A large airborne release of these materials into the atmosphere could have catastrophic effects. The Chemical Hazards Research Center (CHRC) at the University of Arkansas performs important research on dense gas dispersion. The CHRC houses the world’s largest ultra-low speed wind tunnel, which is used to simulate dispersion at atmospheric conditions. Substantial amounts of data, including velocities, are recorded for modeling real life gas dispersion events. Before conducting experiments, …

Separation Of Emulsified Oil From A Brackish Water Stream Using Ultrafiltration And Coalescence, Casey W. Polk

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the past 40 years, a variety of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods have been developed and applied to mature, mostly depleted, and shale formation oil reservoirs. Chemical and sonic stimulation are two enhanced oil recovery methods in which emulsions are created either as a primary or secondary effect. The resulting viscosity of the oil in water emulsion is considerably lower than that of dry crude, thus increasing recovery from pay zones. During chemical enhanced oil recovery, caustic or surfactants are injected into oil reservoirs, which results in the creation of stable oil-water emulsions. The emulsions from chemical enhanced oil …

Effect Of Sodium Acetate On Butanol Production By Clostridium Saccharoperbutylacetonicum Via Abe Fermentation, Brigetta Super

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum is used in ABE fermentation which historically produces a solvent mixture of 3:6:1 parts acetone, butanol, and ethanol respectively. The fermentation process undergoes two phases, an acidogenesis phase which produces butyric acid, and a solventogenic phase which reutilizes the butyric acid, making butanol. For ABE fermentation to compete economically with butanol production from petroleum, the concentration of butanol in the solvent product must be increased dramatically. Unpublished research by Carver student Kayla Kimbrough in the summer of 2012 showed that the addition of salts (sodium acetate) to PYG fermentation media increased butanol production from Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum significantly. When …

Electrocoagulation For Sulfate Removal, Michael A. Layton

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the United States, one of the major rising issues is water shortage, especially in Western, inland states with arid climates. Not only do deficiencies exist for potable water, but for irrigation and agricultural purposes as well. Currently, the Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility in Alamogordo, New Mexico has four separate wells that are being used for experimentation. A major concern is that a considerable amount of this water is currently wasted by being sent to evaporation ponds without any sort of treatment for human consumption. The WERC-A-HOLICS have identified two possible methods to alleviate this problem. Electrocoagulation (EC) …