Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
Displaying 11 - 13 of 13
Description
This project is part of a larger project involving making membranes for the separation of potable water from urine solutions for applications in space travel. This project deals specifically with testing LTA nanozeolites that will be used in the membrane under a variety of acidic conditions, specifically in solutions of sulfuric acid, chromium trioxide, and potassium phosphate of pHs ranging from .5 to 5, in order to investigate the effects of pH, acid type, and time. They were analyzed using SEM, FTIR, and XRD, in order to analyze how much the zeolite was degraded under the conditions of each solution. It was determined that, for high pH values (4-5), potassium phosphate had the strongest effect, as it degraded the zeolite to the point of destroying the crystal structure completely. Because of the solubility limit of potassium phosphate in water, it could not be analyzed at low pH, so only sulfuric acid and chromium trioxide were analyzed at low pH (.5-3). They both had severe effects, sulfuric acid being slightly more severe, with both of them completely dissolving the zeolite at pH values of 1 and lower. Decreasing pH increased degradation for all of the acids, with pH values above 2 for sulfuric acid and chromium trioxide showing only minor degradation, and pH 5 potassium phosphate showing only minor degradation.
ContributorsWaller, Aaron Christopher (Author) / Lind, Mary Laura (Thesis director) / Dai, Lenore (Committee member) / Lin, Jerry (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
One of the grand challenges of engineering is to provide access to clean water because it is predicted that by 2025 more than two thirds of the world’s population will face severe water shortages. To combat this global issue, our lab focuses on creating a novel composite membrane to recover potable water from waste. For use as the water-selective component in this membrane design Linde Type A zeolites were synthesized for optimal size without the use of a template. Current template-free synthesis of zeolite LTA produces particles that are too large for our application therefore the particle size was reduced in this study to reduce fouling of the membrane while also investigating the nanoparticle synthesis mechanisms. The time and temperature of the reaction and the aging of the precursor gel were systematically modified and observed to determine the optimal conditions for producing the particles. Scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and energy dispersive x-ray analysis were used for characterization. Sub-micron sized particles were synthesized at 2 weeks aging time at -8°C with an average size of 0.6 micrometers, a size suitable for our membrane. There is a limit to the posterity and uniformity of particles produced from modifying the reaction time and temperature. All results follow general crystallization theory. Longer aging produced smaller particles, consistent with nucleation theory. Spinodal decomposition is predicted to affect nucleation clustering during aging due to the temperature scheme. Efforts will be made to shorten the effective aging time and these particles will eventually be incorporated into our mixed matrix osmosis membrane.
ContributorsKing, Julia Ann (Author) / Lind, Mary Laura (Thesis director) / Durgun, Pinar Cay (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Materials Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Hospital wastewater usually contains high concentrations of pharmaceuticals and other hazardous materials, depending on how waste is disposed of in a hospital. This poses potential health concerns for both the surrounding ecosystem and the contamination of drinking water. Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) are at the forefront of treating hospital wastewater due to their efficiency in dealing with high concentrations of pharmaceuticals and the relatively small size of the MBR system. Although MBRs are typically the best method of dealing with pharmaceutical-containing wastewater, an MBR is just one of many methods for treating wastewater. Engineers should be consulted to determine which water treatment systems are best for a hospital, depending on the total water usage, required size of the system, and the duration of operation for the system. Sustainable water practices can be implemented in hospitals to reduce the cost and consumption of water. Treating and reusing hospital wastewater with membrane bioreactors significantly reduces the concentration of pharmaceuticals, making hospital wastewater reusable in various parts of a hospital, which lowers the consumption of water. Furthermore, other practices can be used to minimize costs for both MBRs and total water usage within a hospital.
ContributorsSalazar, Steven Adam (Author) / Lind, Mary Laura (Thesis director) / Thomas, Elisabeth (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05