Manufacturing process design (MPD) represents a design-oriented approach to manufacturing engineering. In this dissertation, Haynes 230 (H230), a solid solution-strengthened Ni-based superalloy, was chosen to meet the material requirements of a microchannel solar receiver (MSR) needed to increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of solar thermal power generation. An...
Microchannel high temperature recuperators have the advantage of higher heat transfer coefficients and lower size and weight than traditional high temperature recuperators. However, the industrial application of microchannel recuperators are restricted by the high cost of photochemical machining and diffusion bonding. The objective of this paper is to introduce a...
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems represent nearly half of building energy usage in the United States. Recent building regulations requiring increased air turnover within buildings will result in even greater air conditioning usage. To alleviate these concerns, membrane-based heat-and-moisture exchangers known as energy recovery ventilators have been developed to...
High temperature microchannel heat recuperators (HTμRs) offer an efficient means of improving reactor process thermal efficiency by offering smaller form factors due to increased heat transfer surface area density and volumetric heat transfer rate over traditional heat exchanger designs. To date, HTμRs face cost and reliability challenges. In this work,...
The objective of this paper is to demonstrate a method for mechanically characterizing a 25 μm thick elastoviscoplastic hemodialysis membrane and for quantifying the force required to use that membrane in compression sealing. First, methods are developed for mechanically characterizing the thin elastoviscoplastic membrane. Then, a finite element model is...
Worldwide, many organizations are pursuing higher energy efficiency by reducing power consumption of their processes, systems, and supporting infrastructure. The rapid growth of the information technology (IT) industry and the miniaturization of semiconductors have resulted in substantial increases in energy consumption and power density of IT equipment, and, subsequently, heat...
Almost 600,000 people in the United States were treated for End Stage Renal Disease in 2010. A majority of those people received hemodialysis from central medical facilities. It has been reported a better treatment option for these patients would be realized if the patients had more frequent hemodialysis treatments. A...
To improve the performance of solid oxide fuel cells, a secondary power cycle can be driven by the recuperation of exhaust gas heat. Microchannel recuperators are attractive for waste heat recuperation due to compact form factors which also minimize the mass of the expensive superalloys required. This paper introduces a...
The need for clean and renewable fuel such as hydrogen is driven by a growing worldwide population and increasing air pollution from fossil fuels. One of the major barriers for the use of hydrogen in automotive industry is the storage of hydrogen. Physisorption is the most promising storage technique due...
Microchannel process technology (MPT) components are chemical unit operations which exploit highly-parallel arrays of microchannels to process large fluid volumes for portable and distributed applications. Microchannel heat exchangers (MCHXs) have demonstrated 3 to 5 times higher heat fluxes when compared to conventional heat exchangers resulting in proportionate reductions in size...