Matching Items (2)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: chemical engineering
Description
The accurate and fast determination of carbon dioxide (CO2) levels is critical for many health and environmental applications. For example, the analysis of CO2 levels in exhaled breath allows for the evaluation of systemic metabolism, perfusion, and ventilation, and provides the doctors and patients with a non-invasive and simple method to predict the presence and severity of asthma, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Similarly, the monitoring of CO2 levels in the atmosphere allows for assessment of indoor air quality (IAQ) as the indoor CO2 levels have been proved to be associated with increased prevalence of certain mucous membrane and respiratory sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms. A pocket-sized CO2 analyzer has been developed for real-time analysis of breath CO2 and environmental CO2. This CO2 analyzer is designed to comprise two key components including a fluidic system for efficient gas sample delivery and a colorimetric detection unit integrated into the fluidic system. The CO2 levels in the gas samples are determined by a disposable colorimetric sensor chip. The sensor chip is a novel composite based sensor that has been optimized to provide fast and reversible response to CO2 over a wide concentration range, covering the needs of both environmental and health applications. The sensor is immune to the presence of various interfering gases in ambient or expired air. The performance of the sensor in real-time breath-by-breath analysis has also been validated by a commercial CO2 detector. Furthermore, a 3D model was created to simulate fluid dynamics of breath and chemical reactions for CO2 assessment to achieve overall understanding of the breath CO2 detection process and further optimization of the device.
ContributorsZhao, Di (Author) / Forzani, Erica S (Thesis advisor) / Lin, Jerry Ys (Committee member) / Torres, Cesar (Committee member) / Tsow, Tsing (Committee member) / Xian, Xiaojun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
ABSTRACT Among the major applications of pervaporation membrane processes, organic separation from organic/water mixtures is becoming increasingly important. The polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is among the most interesting and promising membranes and has been extensively investigated. PDMS is an "organicelastomeric material, often referred to as "silicone rubber", exhibiting excellent film-forming ability, thermal stability, chemical and physiological inertness. In this thesis incorporation of nanosilicalite-1 particles into a PDMS matrix and effect of particle loading and temperature variation on membrane performance was studied. A strong influence of zeolite was found on the pervaporation of alcohol/water mixtures using filled PDMS membranes. The mixed matrix membrane showed high separation factor at higher zeolite loading and high flux at higher temperature.
ContributorsYadav, Amit Binodkumar (Author) / Lind, Mary L (Thesis advisor) / Lin, Jerry Ys (Committee member) / Nielsen, David R (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012