Matching Items (11)
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- All Subjects: Materials
- All Subjects: Water
- Creators: Chemical Engineering Program
Description
The impact of physical/chemical properties of gray water on microbial inactivation in gray water using chlorine was investigated through creating artificial gray water in lab, varying specific components, and then measuring microbial inactivation. Gray water was made through taking autoclaved nanopure water, and increasing the concentration of surfacants, the turbidity, the concentration of organic content, and spiking E. coli grown in tryptic soy broth (TSB); chlorine was introduced using Clorox Disinfecting Bleach2. Bacteria was detected using tryptic soy agar (TSA), and E. coli was specifically detected using the selective media, brilliance. The log inactivation of bacteria detected using TSA was shown to be inversely related to the turbidity of the solution. Complete inactivation of E. coli concentrations between 104-105 CFU/100 ml in gray water with turbidities between 10-100 NTU, 0.1-0.5 mg/L of humic acid, and 0.1 ml of Dawn Ultra, was shown to occur, as detected by brilliance, at chlorine concentrations of 1-2 mg/L within 30 seconds. These result in concentration time (CT) values between 0.5-1 mg/L·min. Under the same gray water conditions, and an E. coli concentration of 104 CFU/100 ml and a chlorine concentration of 0.01 mg/L, complete inactivation was shown to occur in all trials within two minutes. These result in CT values ranging from 0.005 to 0.02. The turbidity and humic acid concentration were shown to be inversely related to the log inactivation and directly related to the CT value. This study shows that chlorination is a valid method of treatment of gray water for certain irrigation reuses.
ContributorsGreenberg, Samuel Gabe (Author) / Abbaszadegan, Morteza (Thesis director) / Schoepf, Jared (Committee member) / Alum, Absar (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Solid oxide fuel cells have become a promising candidate in the development of high-density clean energy sources for the rapidly increasing demands in energy and global sustainability. In order to understand more about solid oxide fuel cells, the important step is to understand how to model heterogeneous materials. Heterogeneous materials are abundant in nature and also created in various processes. The diverse properties exhibited by these materials result from their complex microstructures, which also make it hard to model the material. Microstructure modeling and reconstruction on a meso-scale level is needed in order to produce heterogeneous models without having to shave and image every slice of the physical material, which is a destructive and irreversible process. Yeong and Torquato [1] introduced a stochastic optimization technique that enables the generation of a model of the material with the use of correlation functions. Spatial correlation functions of each of the various phases within the heterogeneous structure are collected from a two-dimensional micrograph representing a slice of a solid oxide fuel cell through computational means. The assumption is that two-dimensional images contain key structural information representative of the associated full three-dimensional microstructure. The collected spatial correlation functions, a combination of one-point and two-point correlation functions are then outputted and are representative of the material. In the reconstruction process, the characteristic two-point correlation functions is then inputted through a series of computational modeling codes and software to generate a three-dimensional visual model that is statistically similar to that of the original two-dimensional micrograph. Furthermore, parameters of temperature cooling stages and number of pixel exchanges per temperature stage are utilized and altered accordingly to observe which parameters has a higher impact on the reconstruction results. Stochastic optimization techniques to produce three-dimensional visual models from two-dimensional micrographs are therefore a statistically reliable method to understanding heterogeneous materials.
ContributorsPhan, Richard Dylan (Author) / Jiao, Yang (Thesis director) / Ren, Yi (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Within recent years, metal-organic frameworks, or MOF’s, have gained a lot of attention in the materials research community. These micro-porous materials are constructed of a metal oxide core and organic linkers, and have a wide-variety of applications due to their extensive material characteristic possibilities. The focus of this study is the MOF-5 material, specifically its chemical stability in air. The MOF-5 material has a large pore size of 8 Å, and aperture sizes of 15 and 12 Å. The pore size, pore functionality, and physically stable structure makes MOF-5 a desirable material. MOF-5 holds applications in gas/liquid separation, catalysis, and gas storage. The main problem with the MOF-5 material, however, is its instability in atmospheric air. This inherent instability is due to the water in air binding to the zinc-oxide core, effectively changing the material and its structure. Because of this material weakness, the MOF-5 material is difficult to be utilized in industrial applications. Through the research efforts proposed by this study, the stability of the MOF-5 powder and membrane were studied. MOF-5 powder and a MOF-5 membrane were synthesized and characterized using XRD analysis. In an attempt to improve the stability of MOF-5 in air, methyl groups were added to the organic linker in order to hinder the interaction of water with the Zn4O core. This was done by replacing the terepthalic acid organic linker with 2,5-dimethyl terephthalic acid in the powder and membrane synthesis steps. The methyl-modified MOF-5 powder was found to be stable after several days of exposure to air while the MOF-5 powder exhibited significant crystalline change. The methyl-modified membrane was found to be unstable when synthesized using the same procedure as the MOF-5 membrane.
ContributorsAnderson, Anthony David (Author) / Lin, Jerry Y.S. (Thesis director) / Ibrahim, Amr (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Based on theoretical calculations, a material that is highly transmissive below 3000 nm and opaque above 3000 nm is desired to replace glass covers for flat plate solar thermal systems. Additionally, a suitable replacement material needs to have a sufficiently high operating temperature in order to prevent the glazing from melting and warping in a solar system. Traditional solar thermal applications use conventional soda lime glass or low iron content glass to accomplish this; however, this project aims to investigate acrylic, polycarbonate, and FEP film as suitable alternatives for conventional solar glazings. While UV-Vis and FT-IR spectroscopy indicate that these polymer substitutes may not be ideal when used alone, when used in combination with coatings and additives, these materials may present an opportunity for a glazing replacement. A model representing a flat plate solar collector was developed to qualitatively analyze the various materials and their performance. Using gathered spectroscopy data, the model was developed for a multi-glazing system and it was found that polymer substitutes could perform better in certain system configurations. To complete the model, the model must be verified using empirical data and coatings and additives investigated for the purposes of achieving the desired materials optical specifications.
ContributorsBessant, Justin Zachary (Author) / Friesen, Cody (Thesis director) / Lorzel, Heath (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
In this research, construction of a model membrane system using Polyvinylidene Chloride-Co Acrylonitrile and Linde Type A zeolites is described. The systems aims to separate out flow through zeolite pores and flow through interfaces between zeolites and polymers through the use of pore filled and pore open zeolites. Permeation tests and salt rejection tests were performed, and the data analyzed to yield approximation of separated flow through zeolites and interfaces. This work concludes the more work is required to bring the model system into a functioning state. New polymer selections and new techniques to produce the membrane system are described for future work.
ContributorsShabilla, Andrew Daniel (Author) / Lind, Mary Laura (Thesis director) / Lin, Jerry (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This thesis aims to evaluate how in classroom demonstrations compare to regular education techniques, and how student learning styles affect interest in science and engineering as future fields of study. Science education varies between classrooms, but usually is geared towards lecture and preparation for standardized exams without concern for student interest or enjoyment.5 To discover the effectiveness of demonstrations in these concerns, an in classroom demonstration with a water filtration experiment was accompanied by several modules and followed by a short survey. Hypotheses tested included that students would enjoy the demonstration more than a typical class session, and that of these students, those with more visual or tactile learning styles would identify with science or engineering as a possible major in college. The survey results affirmed the first hypothesis, but disproved the second hypothesis; thus illustrating that demonstrations are enjoyable, and beneficial for sparking or maintaining student interest in science across all types of students.
ContributorsPiper, Jessica Marie (Author) / Lind, Mary Laura (Thesis director) / Montoya-Gonzales, Roxanna (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
A growing number of stylists \u2014 cosmetologists \u2014 are finding it harder to afford the basic necessities such as rent. However, the ever-increasing presence of smartphones and the increasing need for on-demand services like Uber and Uber Eats creates a unique opportunity for stylists \u2014 Clippr. Clippr is an application that aims to connect individual stylists directly to their customers. The application gives stylists a platform to create and display their own prices, services, and portfolio. Customers get the benefit of finding a stylist that suits them and booking instantly. This project outlines the backend for the Clippr application. It goes over the framework, REST API, and various functionalities of the application. Additionally, the project also covers the work that is still needed to successfully launch the application.
ContributorsKamath, Sanketh (Author) / Olsen, Christopher (Thesis director) / Sebold, Brent (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Fresh water is essential to the human population and is an integral component in global economics for its multiple uses, and population growth/development cause concern for the possible exhaustion of the limited supply of freshwater. A combined computational and experimental approach to observe and evaluate pervaporation membrane performance for brackish water recovery was done to assess its efficiency and practicality for real world application. Results from modeling conveyed accuracy to reported parameter values from literature as well as strong dependence of performance on input parameters such as temperature. Experimentation results showed improved performance in flux by 34%-42% with radiative effect and then additional performance improvement (9%-33%) with the photothermal effect from carbon black application. Future work will include improvements to the model to include scaling propensity and energy consumption as well as continued experimentation to assess quality of pervaporation in water recovery.
ContributorsDurbin, Mitchell (Co-author) / Rivers, Frederick (Co-author) / Lind Thomas, MaryLaura (Thesis director) / Durgan, Pinar Cay (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The problem of catastrophic damage purveys in any material application, and minimizing its occurrence is paramount for general health and safety. We have successfully synthesized, characterized, and applied dimeric 9-anthracene carboxylic acid (Di-AC)-based mechanophores particles to form stress sensing epoxy matrix composites. As Di-AC had never been previously applied as a mechanophore and thermosets are rarely studied in mechanochemistry, this created an alternative avenue for study in the field. Under an applied stress, the cyclooctane-rings in the Di-AC particles reverted back to their fluorescent anthracene form, which linearly enhanced the overall fluorescence of the composite in response to the applied strain. The fluorescent signal further allowed for stress sensing in the elastic region of the stress\u2014strain curve, which is considered to be a form of damage precursor detection. Overall, the incorporation of Di-AC to the epoxy matrix added much desired stress sensing and damage precursor detection capabilities with good retention of the material properties.
ContributorsWickham, Jason Alexander (Co-author) / Nofen, Elizabeth (Co-author, Committee member) / Koo, Bonsung (Co-author) / Chattopadhyay, Aditi (Co-author) / Dai, Lenore (Co-author, Thesis director) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The outlying cities of Phoenix's West Metropolitan experienced rapid growth in the past ten years. This trend is only going to continue with an average expected growth of 449-891% between 2000 and 2035 (ADOT, 2012). Phoenix is not new to growth and has consistently seen swaths of people added to its population. This raises the question of what happened to the people who lived in Phoenix's West Valley during this period of rapid change and growth in their communities? What are their stories and what do their stories reveal about the broader public history of change in Phoenix's West Valley? In consideration of these questions, the community oral histories of eight residents from the West Valley were collected to add historical nuance to the limited archival records available in the area. From this collection, the previous notion of "post-war boomtowns” describing Phoenix’s West Valley was revealed to be highly inaccurate and dismissive of the residents' experiences who lived and formed their lives there.
ContributorsGeiser, Samantha (Author) / Campanile, Isabella (Co-author) / Martinez Orozco, Rafael (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor)
Created2022-05