Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

The Science Of Cleaning Of Dairy Fouling Layers, R. Mercadé-Prieto,, W.R. Paterson, D.I. Wilson

Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning VII

The science underlying the removal of dairy fouling layers, and particularly the dissolution of proteinaceous deposits in alkaline solution, is relatively poorly understood even though this is a critical feature of many cleaning-in-place operations. We report key results from a series of investigations on heat-induced gels of β- lactoglobulin, the primary whey protein component in milk and whey foulant. These model systems were used to elucidate the reaction behaviour of gels and aggregates whereby the proteinaceous material is converted to a softer, swollen form that can then be removed by fluid shear or diffusion. We show that several features, such …

Study Of An Organic Crystallization Fouling Problem, Hirofumi Inokuchi, Mitsutaka Nakamura, Yoshio Koga

Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning VII

One of the aromatic compound plants in Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation has a heavy crystallization fouling problem. We have been studying the crystallization process using the shell and tube heat-exchanger. In order to solve our fouling problem of the heat exchanger, we developed the specified evaluation equipment (crystallization fouling simulator : CFS) which consists of a single tube heatexchanger (Tube size: ID=10.3mm Length=500mm). The result of the modeling for describing the crystallization fouling rate and the countermeasure of the fouling problem are discussed in this work. It can be possible to describe the fouling rate as one equation which has two …

Bacterial And Protein Adhesion On Ni-P-Ptfe Coated Surfaces, Q. Zhao, C. Liu, Y. Liu, S. Wang

Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning VII

The adhesion of bacteria and proteins on the surfaces of heat exchangers and food processing equipment has been recognized as a widespread problem. Biofouling not only reduces heat transfer performance significantly, but also causes considerable pressure drop, calling for higher pumping requirements. Biofouling also present a considerable hygiene risk in the food industry. It would be much more desirable if surfaces with an inherently lower stickability for biofouling could be developed. In this paper, stainless steel 304 plates were modified by electroless plating Ni-P and small amounts of PTFE. The experimental results showed that the surface free energy of the …

Evaluation Of Heat Transfer Boundary Conditions For Cfd Modeling Of A 3d Plate Heat Exchanger Geometry, T.M. Pääkkönen, M. Riihimäki, R. Ylönen, E. Muurinen, C.J. Simonson, R.L. Keiski

Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning VII

In this paper fluid flow and heat transfer are modeled in a corrugated 3D plate heat exchanger geometry with a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program, Fluent 6.1.22 (Fluent Inc., Lebanon), in order to find out the most realistic heat transfer boundary conditions for a plate heat exchanger. The built-in boundary conditions of Fluent available for this case are Heat flux, Convection and Constant wall temperature. The CFD models are verified with correlations and experimental data obtained by a flat plate test equipment of which parameters can be calculated analytically. Deficiencies are found in all the built-in heat transfer boundary …

Metallic Micro Heat Exchangers: Properties, Applications And Long Term Stability, J.J. Brandner, W. Benzinger, U. Schygulla, S. Zimmermann, K. Schubert

Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning VII

Micro heat exchangers, which until recently have been implemented only at laboratory scale, are now being available for industrial applications. They are well known for their superior heat transfer properties due to the large surface-to-volume ratio. But there are little data available on the long term stability of these devices. In this paper application several application examples for micro heat exchangers made of stainless steel are presented. The devices consist of stainless steel foils providing numerous micro channels generated by mechanical micromachining or wet chemical etching. A number of the foils are arranged in a specific way and bonded together. …

Fouling Monitoring And Cleaning Optimisation In A Heat Exchanger Network Of A Crude Distillation Unit, Andrea Heins, Ramón Veiga, Carlos Ruiz, Andrés Riera

Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning VII

Fouling in preheat networks of crude distillation units (CDU) plays an important role in energy consumption. In this work a procedure to monitor the performance of the heat exchanger network (HEN) and to optimize the cleaning strategies is presented. The procedure is based on a rigorous simulation of the HEN using Hysys (from Aspen Technology). The simulation is used to estimate the service overall heat transfer coefficient with real operational data acquired from the unit’s Plant Information System (PI). The clean overall heat transfer coefficient is calculated for each one of the individual heat exchangers with a rigorous simulation using …

Cfd And Neural Network-Based Expert System For The Supervision Of Boilers And Furnaces, Hugo Calisto, Nelson Martins, Naim Afgan

Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning VII

CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) tools were used to build a "virtual" furnace, validated with experimental data. This model was used to simulate both normal and “faulty” behaviours, regarding parameters such as energy conversion efficiency, steam leakage and fouling. A database was developed comprising normal situations and simulated fault sets, characterized by virtual sensor outputs used in the evaluation of diagnostic parameters patterns to be processed and recognized by the diagnostic system. The database was processed using Neural Networks, with satisfactory results even in their most simple form (backpropagation networks) trained using standard algorithms. Pattern recognition was thus performed, identifying root …

Reinforcement Learning Based Output-Feedback Control Of Nonlinear Nonstrict Feedback Discrete-Time Systems With Application To Engines, Peter Shih, Jonathan B. Vance, Brian C. Kaul, Jagannathan Sarangapani, J. A. Drallmeier

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A novel reinforcement-learning based output-adaptive neural network (NN) controller, also referred as the adaptive-critic NN controller, is developed to track a desired trajectory for a class of complex nonlinear discrete-time systems in the presence of bounded and unknown disturbances. The controller includes an observer for estimating states and the outputs, critic, and two action NNs for generating virtual, and actual control inputs. The critic approximates certain strategic utility function and the action NNs are used to minimize both the strategic utility function and their outputs. All NN weights adapt online towards minimization of a performance index, utilizing gradient-descent based rule. …

Online Reinforcement Learning-Based Neural Network Controller Design For Affine Nonlinear Discrete-Time Systems, Qinmin Yang, Jagannathan Sarangapani

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, a novel reinforcement learning neural network (NN)-based controller, referred to adaptive critic controller, is proposed for general multi-input and multi- output affine unknown nonlinear discrete-time systems in the presence of bounded disturbances. Adaptive critic designs consist of two entities, an action network that produces optimal solution and a critic that evaluates the performance of the action network. The critic is termed adaptive as it adapts itself to output the optimal cost-to-go function and the action network is adapted simultaneously based on the information from the critic. In our online learning method, one NN is designated as the …

Measurement, Analysis, And Comparison Of The Parcel Shipping Shock And Drop Environment Of The United States Postal Service With Commercial Carriers, J. A. Singh, S. P. Singh, G. Burgess, K. Saha

Industrial Technology and Packaging

The past decade has shown a great increase in the number of direct to consumer shipments of products and packages. As a result, parcel delivery companies like DHL, FedEx, UPS, and the USPS have strengthened their presence in air transport to deliver products faster and through larger distances. Using cargo planes, they route packages from various destinations to large airport hubs, where they sort millions of packages and ship them to their destinations. There is a continuous need to quantify what happens to these packages as they are handled both manually during collection and delivery and on large high-speed conveying …

Generating Job Schedules For Vessel Operations In A Container Terminal, Thin Yin Leong, Hoong Chuin Lau

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

No abstract provided.

Preliminary Estimates Of Building Cost And The Lowest Evaluated Tender, Harriet Eliufoo

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

The paper has investigated and established to what extent are preliminary estimates of building costs close to the lowest evaluated tender and how geographical proximity influences the variance between preliminary estimate and the lowest evaluated tender. A multiple case study constituting 43 building projects in Tanzania were statistically analysed covering a period from 1995- 1999. Findings reveal a significant variance exists between the quantity surveyor’s preliminary estimate figure and the lowest evaluated tender; and that the variance between the quantity surveyor’s figure and the bidder is small when the proposed building project is geographically closer to the quantity surveyor’s base. …

Encouraging Lifelong Learning For Engineering Management Undergraduates, Susan L. Murray, Stephen A. Raper

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The current ABET guidelines place an emphasis on life-long learning for our undergraduate students. What is life-long learning? How can we encourage students to consider global issues, current events, or even anything "that isn't going to be on the next test"? In this paper we present survey results evaluating habits of undergraduate students entering an engineering management program and seniors related to life-long learning including attending professional society meetings, reading trade publications, reading business related books, and other learning outside of the classroom activities. This paper also presents a two semester effort to increase life-long learning activities among undergraduate engineering …

Fabrication Of Net-Shape Functionally Graded Composites By Electrophoretic Deposition And Sintering: Modeling And Experimentation, E.A. Olevsky, X. Wang, A. Maximenko, M.A. Meyers

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

It is shown that electrophoretic deposition (EPD) sintering is a technological sequence that is capable of producing net-shape bulk functionally graded materials (FGM). By controlling the shape of the deposition electrode, components of complex shapes can be obtained. To enable sintering net-shape capabilities, a novel optimization algorithm and procedure for the fabrication of net-shape functionally graded composites by EPD and sintering has been developed. The initial shape of the green specimen produced by EPD is designed in such a way that the required final shape is achieved after sintering-imposed distortions. The optimization is based on a special innovative iteration procedure …

The Current Generation Of Integrated Engineering Curriculum, Michael A. Collura, Samuel Bogan Daniels, Jean Nocito-Gobel, David Harding

Engineering and Applied Science Education Faculty Publications

In September of 2004 our university adopted the Multidisciplinary Engineering Foundation Spiral Curriculum as the basis for disciplinary engineering programs in Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Mechanical and General Engineering. The curriculum includes a sequence of first and second year engineering courses, matched closely with the development of students’ mathematical sophistication and analytical capabilities and integrated with course work in the sciences. Students develop a conceptual understanding of engineering basics in this series of courses which stress practical applications of these principles. The new curriculum was designed to provide students with a multidisciplinary perspective while developing basic engineering skills and fostering an …

Civil And Mechanical Engineering Students Learning Mechanics In A Multidisciplinary Engineering Foundation Spiral, Jean Nocito-Gobel, Gregory Broderick, Samuel Bogan Daniels, Michael Collura, Richard Stanley

Engineering and Applied Science Education Faculty Publications

This paper describes how mechanical and civil engineering students are introduced to and develop an understanding of mechanics concepts through a sequence of integrated courses as part of a new curriculum taken during the freshman and sophomore years. The Multi- Disciplinary Engineering Foundation Spiral is a four-semester sequence of engineering courses, matched closely with the development of students’ mathematical sophistication and analytical capabilities and integrated with course work in the sciences. Students develop a conceptual understanding of engineering basics in this series of courses, which stress practical applications of these principles. Mechanics concepts are introduced in a pair of first …

An Analysis Of The Potential Of Hydroelectric Power In Kentucky, Terry White

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science at Morehead State University by Terry White on June 15, 2007.

Acuta Enews June 2007, Vol. 36, No. 6

ACUTA Newsletters

ln This lssue

From the President Carmine Piscopo, RCDD, ACUTA President

Board Report .............. Riny Ledgerwood, San Diego State Univ., ACUTA Sec./Treasurer

Tech Talk: Waiting for TechTalk 2.0, the New, lmproved Version................. Kevin Tanzillo, Dux PR

DC Update ... Jeanne Jansenius, Sewanee, The University of the South

Another Hit to the Cabling Budget: Electrician Shortage = Higher Cabling Costs............. Gary Audin

FYI: Useful lnformation from the Campus.................. Student Monitor

Web Tip: What's New at acuta.org?............. Aaron Fuehrer, ACUTA lnformation Technology Manager

Sign Up Today for Preconference Seminars

lnfo Links....................... Randy Hayes, Univ. of Northern lowa

ACUTA Web Seminar: lP Video …

Engineering Management And Industrial Engineering: Similarities And Differences, Cassandra C. Elrod, Ashley Rasnic, William Daughton

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

Engineering Management is a broad and diverse field of engineering, thereby making it difficult to define exactly what the degree encompasses. At the same time, the somewhat related degree of Industrial Engineering is better understood. Some universities offer a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Management with an emphasis in Industrial Engineering, while others offer a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering with an emphasis in Engineering Management. In today's world of competitive academia, many wonder if these degree fields are similar enough to be used interchangeably or if there is a distinct difference separating the two degrees, making …

Hyperspectral Imagery Target Detection Using Improved Anomaly Detection And Signature Matching Methods, Timothy E. Smetek

Theses and Dissertations

This research extends the field of hyperspectral target detection by developing autonomous anomaly detection and signature matching methodologies that reduce false alarms relative to existing benchmark detectors, and are practical for use in an operational environment. The proposed anomaly detection methodology adapts multivariate outlier detection algorithms for use with hyperspectral datasets containing tens of thousands of non-homogeneous, high-dimensional spectral signatures. In so doing, the limitations of existing, non-robust, anomaly detectors are identified, an autonomous clustering methodology is developed to divide an image into homogeneous background materials, and competing multivariate outlier detection methods are evaluated for their ability to uncover hyperspectral …

Optimizing Distribution Sensor Placement For Border Patrol Interdiction Using Microsoft Excel, Adrian C. Patrascu

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to develop an electronic sensor placement model for border security. A model was developed using Microsoft Excel, with some add-on capabilities, to optimize the placement of electronic sensors on a border network given a pre-determined budgetary constraint. The model is capable of handling multiple sensor types, which are placed together as packages, and allows for daytime, nighttime, or 24 hour operation of each sensor type. Additionally, each sensor can be assigned a specific range and detection probability curve within the given range. The model is capable of optimizing either average coverage, or minimum coverage, …

Analysis Of Army Transformation And The Effects On Customer Ordering Behavior, Joseph M. Colacicco

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Army began a major force transformation in 2003, which required a significant shift in logistics support constructs. This thesis provides an in-process review of the effects of the current transformation efforts on supply effectiveness and attempts to determine factors that influence customer ordering behavior. Specifically, the thesis sought to answer three subproblems addressing the effect of transformation on supply effectiveness, the correlation of supply effectiveness metrics to customer ordering behavior, and other potential sources of variance in ordering behavior. The subproblems were answered through an examination of the supply document histories of two Brigades, one legacy Brigade …

Designing An Experimental Gaming Platform For Trading Grid Resources, Danny Oh, Shih-Fen Cheng, Dan Ma, Ravi Bapna

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper describes our current work in designing an experimental gaming platform for simulating the trading of grid resources. The open platform allows researchers in grid economics to experiment with different market structures and pricing models. We would be using a design science approach in the implementation. Key design considerations and an overview of the functional design of the platform are presented and discussed.

Development Of Prediction Models To Measure Vendor Performance In Surveillance And Auditing Of Aircraft Maintenance, Nikhil Iyengar

All Dissertations

Elimination of aviation accidents is one of the primary goals of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the airline industry. A leading cause of aviation accidents is lack of oversight of various organizational issues, in particular, the organization's maintenance operation performance. The technologies used in the industry generate multiple risks, mostly from three domains: systems, hardware and people. Maintenance performance analyses identify the inherent risk in distributed, large-scale systems. Analysis of existing aviation maintenance data is a crucial step in meeting the aviation industry's need to improve aviation safety. Presently, we lack suitable tools to analyze large bodies of maintenance …

Acuta Enews May 2007, Vol. 36, No. 5

ACUTA Newsletters

ln This lssue

Nominees for ACUTA Board of Directors 07-08

From ACUTA Headquarters ....................... Jeri A. Semer, CAE, ACUTA Executive Director

Staff Changes at ACUTA Headquarters

Tech Talk: Med Center Keeps Legacy Equipment Alive in New Network............ Kevin Tanzillo, Dux PR

Overheard on the Listserv: Panic Button Quick Fix ...... Rob McCray, Delaware Tech.& Comm. College

Board Report ............ Riny Ledgerwood, San Diego State Univ. ACUTA Sec./Treasurer

DC Update.......... Jeanne Jansenius, Sewanee, The University of the South

ATlS Releases Standard on Surveillance

Dues Notices Mailed May 1

Technology Policies and User Expectations Focus of 2007 Strategic Leadership Forum

Web Tip: …

An Experimental Evaluation Of Performance Variance For Internally Threaded Geometry Related To Extended Tap Wear In Low Carbon Steel, Todd E. Alberts

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The development of internal threads in a manufactured part is in many cases one of the final operations in the production workflow. Quality issues in thread form development can destroy a part that has previously undergone expensive machining. The issue of tap wear is one of the multi-faceted elements that have a direct correlation on the quality of threaded components. The purpose of this research centers on resultant mechanical pull performance for the stripping of internally threaded geometry in low carbon steel as measured over various increments of the tap cutting life cycle.

New Equilibria For Noncooperative Games, Phantipa Insuwan

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

In this dissertation we present an alternative to the Nash Equilibrium (NE), which is regarded as the fundamental solution concept in game theory. An NE provides a solution in which no player can improve his payoff by unilaterally changing strategies. However, the NE has weaknesses as exemplified by the paradoxical Prisoner's Dilemma game, where the unique NE is dominated by another possible outcome. Moreover, an NE assumes all players select their strategies according to the same NE so equilibrium holds. For multiple NE's, no standard approach exists for selecting a single one, though various refinements such as perfect Nash equilibria …

Comparison Of Simulation-Based Schedule Generation Methodologies For Semiconductor Manufacturing, Wenfeng Li

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Although a number of approaches have been developed to schedule tasks or jobs in many different manufacturing environments, increasing manufacturing complexity continues to motivate the need for additional scheduling heuristic research and development. This is particularly true for semiconductor manufacturing operations, arguably the most complex manufacturing environment in existence. Simulation-based scheduling has shown recent promise as a means for developing schedules for dynamic, stochastic manufacturing environments. I investigate the potential advantages and drawbacks of using simulation-based scheduling in a complex job shop as motivated by a semiconductor wafer fab.

Models Of Semi-Systematic Visual Search, Sourav Das

All Dissertations

Visual search is an important aspect of many examination and monitoring tasks. As a result, visual search performance has been the topic of many empirical investigations. These investigations have reported that individual search performance depends on subject factors such as search behavior, which has motivated the development of models of visual search that incorporate this behavior. Search behavior ranges from random to strictly systematic; variation in behavior is commonly assumed to be caused by differences in memory retrieval and search strategy. Accordingly, a mathematical model of semi-systematic search is proposed here that can account for both memory retrieval and other …

Domination And Decomposition In Multiobjective Programming, Alexander Engau

All Dissertations

During the last few decades, multiobjective programming has received much attention for both its numerous theoretical advances as well as its continued success in modeling and solving real-life decision problems in business and engineering. In extension of the traditionally adopted concept of Pareto optimality, this research investigates the more general notion of domination and establishes various theoretical results that lead to new optimization methods and support decision making.
After a preparatory discussion of some preliminaries and a review of the relevant literature, several new findings are presented that characterize the nondominated set of a general vector optimization problem for which …