Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Simulation Of Magnetically Confined Inductively Coupled Plasma, Sina Javadpour

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this work, a new parallel coil design was presented to address the need for high density inductively coupled plasmas with enhanced properties and a more uniform and consistent distribution, suitable for large-area material processing. Fluid model simulations of 3D argon inductively coupled plasma (ICP) were performed in COMSOL for the proposed coil and a conventional single cylindrical coil with the same impedance to be used as reference, to compare and evaluate the performance of this new halftoroidal parallel coil design and study its effects on the main variables of the generated plasma. Through different comparisons of the simulations results, …

Deep Eutectic Solvents Synthesis, Characterization And Applications In Pretreatment Of Lignocellulosic Biomass, Ganesh Degam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There has been an increased interest in green solvents and biofuels with the growing environmental awareness across the globe. Conventional methods of biofuel production involve the use of large quantities of molecular solvents and ionic liquids (ILs), but they have the drawbacks of high vapor pressure (organic solvents), toxicity, and recyclability in terms of a sustainability point of view. Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have recently emerged as green alternatives to molecular solvents and ionic liquids (ILs). They are defined as eutectic mixtures formed between quaternary ammonium, phosphonium or sulfonium salts and hydrogen bond donors (HBDs) with the freezing temperature lower …

Charge Transport In Electronic-Ionic Composites, Long Zhang

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

The goal of this thesis is to generate fundamental understandings of charge transport behaviors of composites consisting of garnet structured Al substituted Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ (LLZO) electrolyte and LiCoO₂ electrode. In order to take full advantage of all-solid-state batteries, bulk type composite electrodes should be introduced to increase energy and power density. However, the charge utilization of bulk type composite electrodes is quite low. Understanding ionic conduction behavior is, therefore, important for improving the performance of all-solid-state batteries, because ion conduction within solids depends on effective pathways. Electronic conductivity can be easily compensated by …

Overview Of Co₂ Leakage Problems And Sealants For Co₂ Leakage Remediation, Shudai Peng

Masters Theses

"Excessive Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) emission has become a serious issue and caused lots of environmental problems. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) program has been developed to reduce the CO₂ content in the atmosphere. CO₂ storage has been targeted mainly on depleted oil or gas reservoirs and deep saline aquifers. However, leakage could occur through wellbores, cap rocks, formation faults, and fractures during and after CO₂ injection. To minimize the risk, different types of sealants have been investigated to prevent CO₂ leaks. The aim of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive review of the materials which could be used as …

Optimization Of Solvent Suppression Sequences For Nmr Analysis Of Aqueous Solutions, Annalise Rose Pfaff

Doctoral Dissertations

"When the use of deuterated solvents is precluded in the NMR analysis of biomolecules in their natural environment, pre-saturation solvent suppression pulse sequences are frequently employed to avoid interference from the overbearing solvent signal. However, these sequences generally require extensive re-adjustment of NMR parameters between samples. For this reason, the EXCEPT (EXponentially Converging Eradication Pulse Train) solvent suppression sequence was developed, which exhibits a tolerance of over an order of magnitude in sample T₁ variation. EXCEPT uses an innovative version of "inversion-recovery nulling" with frequency-selective, low-power adiabatic pulses and exponentially decreasing interpulse delays that effectively reduce solvent net magnetization by …

Agricultural Land Use, Watershed Characteristics, And Hydrological Forces Contributing To The Impairment Of A Shallow Lake In The Western Corn Belt Ecoregion, Lynn Schultz

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The Lake Titlow watershed (approximately 35,000 acres) in south-central Minnesota is part of the Minnesota River Basin. The lake is listed in the draft 2010 Clean Water Act Section 303d for nutrient pollution, eutrophication, and biological indicators for impairment of aquatic life and recreational use. Over 90 percent of pre-settlement wetlands are currently drained for agricultural land use. The Lake Titlow watershed is over 80 percent row crops and land use is implicated as a primary cause of impairment in the lake.

Water samples were collected from the Lake Titlow tributaries McLeod-Sibley Judicial Ditch Number 18 (JD18), Sibley County Ditch …

Selection Portfolio: Applying Modern Portfolio Theory To Personnel Selection, Eric Leingang

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) is a framework for building a portfolio of risky assets such that the ratio of risk to return is minimized. While this theory has been used in the field of financial economics for over sixty years, the method has not yet been applied to compensatory personnel selection. A common method for personnel selection is multiple regression to maximize the predicted performance of the selected group given a cut-off score on the predictor(s). Recognizing that maximizing the performance of the selected group is not the only consideration, and that, for many jobs and organizations, the outcomes of …

Photocatalytic Conversion Of Glycerol To Dihydroxyacetone, Trin Jedsukontorn

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This work was carried out to convert glycerol to value-added compounds in liquid phase over TiO₂-based photocatalyst. The investigated parameters were catalyst dosage (1-3 g/L), H₂O₂ concentration (0.3-1.5 mol/L), UV light intensity (1.1-4.7 mW/cm²), reaction time (4-8 h) and electron acceptor types (O₂ and H₂O₂). It was found that TiO₂ in anatase phase can achieved the glycerol conversion of around 71.42% at catalyst dosage of 3 g/L, H₂O₂ concentration of 1.5 mol/L, UV light intensity 4.7 mW/cm² and reaction time 8 h. The addition of monometallic (bismuth, platinum, palladium, and gold) and bimetallic (gold-bismuth, gold-platinum, and gold-palladium) on TiO₂ can …

Synthesis Of Thiofuranosides By Dehydrative Glycosylation In Micellar Media, Trichada Ratthachag

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Green and aqueous-based dehydrative glycosylation of thiofuranosides in micellar media was developed. The thiofuranosides are useful as precursors for carbohydrate synthesis, biological active molecules, and bio-surfactants. Dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (DBSA), a commercially available Brønsted acid-surfactant, was employed to increase solubility of substrates and enhance rate of the glycosylation. Herein, we report the dehydrative glycosylation of furanosides and pyranosides with aliphatic, aromatic, and heterocyclic thiols in aqueous media to afford the thiofuranosides. Microwave irradiation led to improved yields and shorter reaction times. Other reaction parameters such as temperature and the amount of acid used were also optimized. Aliphatic and aromatic thiofuranosides were …

Synthesis And Development Of Dipicolylamine Derivatives As New Fluorescent Chemosensors, Waroton Paisuwan

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Di-2-picolylamine (DPA) is a powerful chelator for many transition metal ions. In this thesis, new DPA fluorescent chemosensors consisting of a fluorophore such as either naphthalimide or quinoline are developed. The first part deals with the synthesis of 1,8-naphthalimide derivatives linked 2-, 3-, 4-((bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)amino)methyl)aniline, and 4-amino-2-((bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)amino)methyl)phenol. The metal ion sensing experiments showed N3D was selective toward Ag+ with fluorescent enhancement in aqueous emitting green fluorescence under blacklight. The complexation of [N3D+Ag+] is a 1:1 stoichiometric binding with a limit of detection (LOD) 0.67 µM. Second part is the synthesis of oxazolidinonyl DPA derivatives by using self-developed halo-induced cyclization followed by …

Automatic 3d Hair Model From Small Set Of Images, Nuttapon Vanakittistien

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

We present a system for creating hair model that matches a user's hairstyle from images. The model consists of guide hair strands and can be used in a real-time hair simulator. Our goal differs from most previous work which aims to create realistic high resolution hair for off-line applications or create mesh of the exterior of the hair volume for image manipulation. Our primary aim is for user to be able to put his/her hairstyle into game or other real-time applications. By taking photos in 8 views of the user's head using a smart phone camera and segmenting images with …

High Capacity Image Steganography Tolerating Image Compression, Eittipat Kraichingrith

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Nowadays, data privacy becomes more important. Most of the existing data protection schemes based on cryptography cannot hide the existence of secret data. Thus, a steganography approach plays an important role to handle this problem. Image steganography can be categorized into two methods which are baesd on spatial domain and transform domain. Methods using spatial domain have high embedding capacity but they are not robust to image compression. On the other hand, methods using transform domain usually work with image compression but have low embedding capacity. In recent image steganography research, many transform domain methods are based on JPEG format …

Anomalous Assemblage Detection Using Nearest Neighbor Distance, Kayyasit Singkarn

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The outlierness of an instance in this thesis is defined based on the distance between two instances. For some datasets, outliers may not be isolated and formed small clusters. C-anomalous assemblage is a group of associated outliers having the number of instances less than or equal to C percent of the total instances. This thesis presents the anomalous assemblage detection algorithm called CND using a nearest neighbor distance for an anomalous score. The algorithm computes the index k equal to floor function of C percent times the total number of instances and uses the k-nearest neighbor distance for representing an …

Measurement For Disordered Proteins Affecting Scale-Free Network, Satanat Kitsiranuwat

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Corrosion Inhibitors In Lubricant For Electronic Industry, Natclitta Maipul

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The selected functional polymers and fatty esters of poly)1-butene pyrrolidone) (PP) and propylene glycol monostearate (PG) were investigated and applied to use as the corrosion inhibitors for protecting material removal during read/write head lapping processes in hard disk drive (HDD) production. Potentiodynamic polarization measurement was used to study their corrosion behaviors against antiferromagnetic materials (IrMn) which are the most sensitive materials in the head structure. Corrosion rate of PP- and PG-modified lubricants were 0.086 and 0.084 Å/min, respectively, while standard lubricant was 0.111 Å/min. Moreover, the leaching out of metallic atoms was investigated by using inductively couple plasma mass spectroscopy …

Development Of Hydrogen Embrittlement Resisted Pd-Cu Alloy Membrane, Ratchaneekorn Chukiatthai

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The development of PdCu alloy membranes that can be used in hydrogen separation at low working temperature (<300°C) without hydrogen embrittlement problem is a very attractive topic for the petrochemical industry. Pd–Cu membranes have been prepared by electroless plating and electroplating method on stainless steel support. The compositions of the PdCu alloy membranes were related to both the metal deposition rates. The appropriate annealing temperature of Pd–Cu membranes was found at 500 °C in argon atmosphere for 24 hours to form a complete alloy material. After thermal annealing, the Cu atom was distributed in Pd alloy membrane. The surface morphology, compositions, and crystallinity of the PdCu alloy membranes were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The best Pd contents in PdCu alloy membrane were about 84 and 75 %at. The hydrogen flux through the PdCu alloy membrane was measured at temperature 150 to 300 °C and differential pressure 0.5 to 2.5 bar for membrane stability. The hydrogen flux increased with increasing temperature and pressure. Adding Cu atoms in Pd can reduce strain in Pd lattice structure. Both PdCu alloy membrane can be operated at the lower temperature than a critical temperature of pure Pd membrane without hydrogen embrittlement.

Enhancing H2s Sensing Response Of Calcium Copper Titanate Thin Films By Adding Ag Compounds, Aukrit Natkaeo

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Ag-doped CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) thin films with different doping concentrations were prepared by a sol-gel technique. Films were grown by depositing four layers of CCTO on alumina substrates followed by sputtering Au/Cr interdigitated electrodes to fabricate gas sensors. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). The films have predominantly the perovskite CCTO crystal phase with very small amount of TiO2 secondary phases. In this thesis, both undoped CCTO and Ag-doped CCTO thin films were tested for selective sensing to H2S gas relative …

On The Interaction Between Gravity Waves And Atmospheric Thermal Tides, Ryan Matthew Agner

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Gravity waves and thermal tides are two of the most important dynamical features of the atmosphere. They are both generated in the lower atmosphere and propagate upward transporting energy and momentum to the upper atmosphere. This dissertation focuses on the interaction of these waves in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere (MLT) region of the atmosphere using both observational data and Global Circulation Model (GCMs). The first part of this work focuses on observations of gravity wave interactions with the tides using both LIDAR data at the Star Fire Optical Range (SOR, 35_N, 106.5_W) and a meteor radar data at the …

Gravity Wave And Turbulence Transport In The Mesopause Region, Yafang Guo

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Vertical transport due to dissipating gravity waves and turbulence in the mesopause region (85-100 km) are analyzed with observational data obtained from a narrow-band sodium wind/temperature lidar located at Andes Lidar Observatory (ALO), Cerro Pach´on (30.25 S, 70.73 W), Chile. The Na lidar at ALO has been in regular operation since 2010. The upgrade of the lidar system in May 2014 resulted in great improvements of the signal levels, which enabled data acquisition of high temporal and vertical resolutions reaching 6 s and 25 m. Traditional data processing utilizes signals at lower resolutions, typically at 60 s and 500 m, …

Variable Structure Feedback Control With Application To Spacecraft With Small Thrust Propulsion Systems, Samuel J. Kitchen-Mckinley

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Small spacecrafts requiring small propulsion systems are becoming more popular for low Earth orbit. It is important for these research satellites to have accurate guidance and control systems. Small propulsion systems will also be beneficial for multiple small spacecrafts used future exploration expeditions beyond low Earth orbit. These small spacecrafts benefit from the simplicity of low thrust cold gas propulsion systems. Additionally, large spacecrafts using low thrust, high specific impulse propellants for main propulsion systems, such as ion engines, allow longer and more flexible missions, including Earth orbiting spacecraft and interplanetary spacecraft.

In order to extend the life of future …

Cyber-Physical Security Of A Chemical Plant, Prakash Rao Dunaka

Masters Theses

"The increasing number of cyber attacks on industries demands immediate attention for providing more secure mechanisms to safeguard industries and minimize risks. A supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system employing the distributed networks of sensors and actuators that interact with the physical environment is vulnerable to attacks that target the interface between the cyber and physical subsystems. These cyber attacks are typically malicious actions that cause undesired results in the cyber physical world, for example, the Stuxnet attack that targeted Iran's nuclear centrifuges. An attack that hijacks the sensors in an attempt to provide false readings to the controller …

Imaging In Karst Terrain Using The Electrical Resistivity And Multichannel Analyses Of Surface Wave Methods, Ragab W. Jaafar

Masters Theses

"Electrical resistivity tomography and multi-channel analyses of surface waves data were acquired at a study area in Phelps County in the south-central part of Missouri. The objectives of the investigation were fourfold: 1) to image the subsurface in the study area to a depth of 70 feet; 2) to compare the ERT images generated using both the dipole-dipole and Wenner-Schlumberger arrays; and 3) to assess how variations in the MASW array configuration affected MASW data quality; and 4) to compare the ERT-estimated depth to top-of-rock and the MASW-generated depth to top-of-rock.

The subsurface in the study area was imaged to …

Mining Asteroids For Volatile Resources: An Experimental Demonstration Of Extraction And Recovery, Egboche Christopher Unobe

Masters Theses

"Gaseous compounds trapped within carbonaceous asteroids may prove to be important targets for prospective space miners in the near-term. Volatile release is from hydrated, hydroxylated and carbonated phases present, making such bodies attractive as feedstock for the production of H₂O, CO₂ and simple organic compounds. A source of these species in orbit provides an opportunity to locally produce space-craft propellant and other life-support gases through the application of In-situ Resource Utilization (ISRU).

For this study, an experimental vacuum system was modified and used to test the technical validity of radiatively heating asteroid simulants to extract contained gaseous …

Study Of Surface Complexation And Mineral Dissolution During Water-Rock Interaction In High Salinity Waterflooding At Elevated Temperatures, Sameer Salasakar

Masters Theses

"High salinity waterflooding for carbonate reservoirs is efficient and cheap method used for improved oil recovery. Various mechanisms have been proposed including adsorption/desorption on rock surface, mineral dissolution and precipitation, multicomponent ion exchange, interfacial tension reduction, fine migration and double layer expansion. These all process alter the wettability which leads to improved oil recovery.

Objective of this study was to understand processes that occur during water-rock interaction when high salinity water is flooded into the reservoir. In this work, effect of temperature on water-rock interaction is studied along with effect of pH and specific surface areas of calcite at normal …

A Bounded Actor-Critic Algorithm For Reinforcement Learning, Ryan Jacob Lawhead

Masters Theses

"This thesis presents a new actor-critic algorithm from the domain of reinforcement learning to solve Markov and semi-Markov decision processes (or problems) in the field of airline revenue management (ARM). The ARM problem is one of control optimization in which a decision-maker must accept or reject a customer based on a requested fare. This thesis focuses on the so-called single-leg version of the ARM problem, which can be cast as a semi-Markov decision process (SMDP). Large-scale Markov decision processes (MDPs) and SMDPs suffer from the curses of dimensionality and modeling, making it difficult to create the transition probability matrices (TPMs) …

The Use Of Geophysical Methods For Dam Seepage Investigations And Dredged Oyster Deposit Characterization, Stanley Chinedu Nwokebuihe

Doctoral Dissertations

"The dissertation is made up of three papers, which discuss the utility of geophysical tools in earthfill dam investigations and dredged oyster bed characterization.

In the first paper, an earthfill dam in Warren County, Missouri was effectively investigated for seepage through the dam and its outlet works using an integration of the electrical resistivity tomography, induced polarization and spontaneous potential geophysical tools. Recommendations were subsequently made based on the results of the study on grout locations to prevent further seepage. In the second paper, a similar study of earthfill dam seepage was conducted on a different dam in Southern Missouri. …

Dissolution-Enlarged Fractures Imaging Using Electrical Resistivity Tomography (Ert), Elnaz Siami-Irdemoosa

Doctoral Dissertations

"In recent years the electrical imaging techniques have been largely applied to geotechnical and environmental investigations. These techniques have proven to be the best geophysical methods for site investigations in karst terrain, particularly when the overburden soil is clay-dominated. Karst is terrain with a special landscape and distinctive hydrological system developed by dissolution of rocks, particularly carbonate rocks such as limestone and dolomite, made by enlarging fractures into underground conduits that can enlarge into caverns, and in some cases collapse to form sinkholes.

Bedding planes, joints, and faults are the principal structural guides for underground flow and dissolution in almost …

Application Of Quantum Monte Carlo Methods To Molecular Potential Energy Surfaces, Andrew Douglas Powell

Doctoral Dissertations

"Various computational methods have been used to generate potential energy surfaces, which can help us simulate and interpret how atoms or molecules behave during a chemical reaction. For accurate work, ab initio wavefunction methods have traditionally been used, which have some disadvantages. For example, highly accurate methods scale poorly with system size (n⁷ or higher) and are mostly not well parallelized for calculations with multiple processors. One alternative method that has more favorable scaling with system size and is well parallelized is a computational technique called quantum Monte Carlo (QMC). QMC methods scale with the number of electrons as …

Bootstrap-Based Confidence Intervals In Partially Accelerated Life Testing, Ahmed Mohamed Eshebli

Doctoral Dissertations

"Accelerated life testing (ALT) is utilized to estimate the underlying failure distribution and related parameters of interest in situations where the components under study are designed for long life and therefore will not yield failure data within a reasonable test period. In ALT, life testing is carried out under two or more higher than normal stress levels, with the resulting acceleration of the failure process yielding a sufficient amount of un-censored life-span data within a practical test duration. Usually one (or more) parameters of the life distribution is linked to the stress level through a suitably selected model based on …

Efficient Algorithms For Analyzing Large Scale Network Dynamics: Centrality, Community And Predictability, Sima Das

Doctoral Dissertations

"Large scale networks are an indispensable part of our daily life; be it biological network, smart grids, academic collaboration networks, social networks, vehicular networks, or the networks as part of various smart environments, they are fast becoming ubiquitous. The successful realization of applications and services over them depend on efficient solution to their computational challenges that are compounded with network dynamics. The core challenges underlying large scale networks, for example: determining central (influential) nodes (and edges), interactions and contacts among nodes, are the basis behind the success of applications and services. Though at first glance these challenges seem to be …