This thesis discusses the design of several microchannel solar receiver devices for use in CSP (concentrated solar power) using CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulations. The goal is to demonstrate that, by taking advantage of the higher heat transfer coefficienct of microchannels, solar receivers can achieve higher efficiency than current receiver...
A PID controller was designed to control the performance of an oil-heated fractal-like branching microchannel desorber for use in an ammonia-absorption refrigeration system. Both the amount and concentration of ammonia refrigerant generated at the desorber can be controlled by choosing the rectified circulation ratio as the controlled variable in a...
Hot engine exhaust and industrial process exhaust represents a resource that is often rejected to the environment without further utilization. This resource is prevalent in the transportation and industrial process sectors, but stationary engine-generator systems also typically do not utilize this resource. Engine exhaust is considered high grade heat and...
This thesis describes a Truck Performance Simulation Model developed
for use in a United States Department of Transportation university
research project entitled "The Energy, Economic and Environmental
Consequences of Increased Vehicle Size and Weight." The performance
of the truck is found by specifying its engine, driveline and tire
characteristics and...
An experimental study was made of the average and turbulent
wind characteristics of the flow over a model of a coastal headland.
The scale of the model was 300:1, corresponding to a prototype size
of 500 m.
The data for validation of the model study was obtained from
instruments mounted...
The Oregon Department of Transportation is responsible for many steel deck truss bridges containing connection details that are fatigue prone. A typical bridge, the Winchester Bridge in Roseburg, Oregon, was analyzed to assess the loading conditions, stress levels, and fatigue life of the connection details. The analysis included linear-elastic beam...
The energy harvesting performance of oscillating airfoils is studied using a discrete vortex model (DVM) with a leading-edge separation criterion. The airfoil undergoes a combined sinusoidal heaving and pitching motion at reduced frequencies of k = 0.06 − 0.16, with heaving amplitude of h0 = 0.5c, and pitching amplitude of...