No description available.

No description available.

<p>Project Solaris is a student research project with the goal to build a solar powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. This study is one in a set of studies that make up the initial phase of project Solaris. The main objective of this report is to investigate earlier solar powered airplanes as well as evaluate (or explore) potential future niche markets where solar powered UAVs could excel.A presentation of earlier solar powered airplanes will give an overall understanding of how solar powered airplanes have evolved and also provide information about the goals and ambitions behind the projects.Potential applications such as power line inspection and algal bloom observation will be described and a list of specifications for each application will be presented.</p> / Solaris

Project Solaris is a student research project with the goal to build a solar powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. This study is one in a set of studies that make up the initial phase of project Solaris. The main objective of this report is to investigate earlier solar powered airplanes as well as evaluate (or explore) potential future niche markets where solar powered UAVs could excel.A presentation of earlier solar powered airplanes will give an overall understanding of how solar powered airplanes have evolved and also provide information about the goals and ambitions behind the projects.Potential applications such as power line inspection and algal bloom observation will be described and a list of specifications for each application will be presented. / Solaris

The Savannah River Site (SRS), a Department of Energy facility, generated non-hazardous petroleum and radiological co-contaminated soils that did not have a disposal pathway. The purpose of this project was to generate treatment data and test the hypothesis that an engineered biological process could safely and efficiently remove petroleum co-contamination from radiological contaminated soil. Demonstration of the treatment would allow the soils to be disposed as low-level radiological materials. Although radiation and radiological contamination may, depending on the type and level, impact microbial activity and growth, the impact of low levels of radiation were not expected to impact the biodegradation of petroleum contaminated soils. Important parameters identified for successful biological treatment included oxygen mass transfer, bioavailability, temperature, microbiological capabilities, nutrients, and moisture. System design was based on a bioventing approach to control the supply of oxygen (air) based on petroleum contamination levels and type of soil being treated. Before bioremediation began, a bioreactor system was permitted, designed, constructed, and tested. An operating permit was obtained from SCDHEC, as were approvals required by the SRS. The design was based on bioventing principles and used a modified prefabricated skid-pan, which was constructed by SRNL. System operation included formulating a test plan, developing and using system sampling and monitoring methods, loading the system, starting up operations, obtaining results, modifying operation, and final disposal of the soil after the bioremediation goal was achieved. The PRCS bioreactor operated for 22 months in various configurations treating the contaminated soil to a final TPH concentration of 45 mg/kg. During operation, degradation of over 20,000 mg/kg of waste was accounted for through monitoring of carbon dioxide levels in the effluent. System operation worked best when soil temperatures were above 15 ?nd the pumps were operated continuously. The low level radiological contaminated soil was disposed in an engineered trench at SRS that accepts this type of waste. The project demonstrated that co-contaminated soils could be treated biologically to remove petroleum contamination to levels below 100 mg/kg while protecting workers and the environment from radiological contamination.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--Central Connecticut State University, 2000. / Thesis advisor: John Larkin. " ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master's of Science program (plan C) [in Technology Education]." Includes bibliographical references.

Energy science is becoming an increasingly important multi-disciplinary area, for not only addressing the worldwide energy crisis, but also realizing desired power sources with advanced features for portable electronic devices and sensor networks. Very recently, based on triboelectric effect and electrostatic induction, a fundamentally new technology, triboelectric nanogenerator, has been demonstrated which shows unique merits. But so far, the main limitation for continuing optimizing their output performance is a lack of fundamental understanding of their core working mechanism. In this thesis research, we first unveil the fundamental theory and output characteristics of triboelectric nanogenerators. Then, we apply the developed theory to the TENG-based self-powered system design. We have developed the first genuine self-powered system to meet mW requirement of personal electronics. The system includes a multilayered TENG, a power management circuit with 60% total efficiency, and a low leakage energy storage device. Our power management circuit provides the total efficiency that is about two magnitudes higher than the traditional direct charging. And the total system performance is 330 times higher than the state-of-art designs. Driven by palm tapping, this power unit can provide a continuous DC electricity of 1.044 mW on average power in a regulated and managed manner that can be universally applied as a standard power source for continuously driving numerous conventional electronics, such as a thermometer, a heart rate monitor (electrocardiograph/ECG system), a pedometer, a wearable electronic watch, a scientific calculator, and a wireless radio-frequency communication system. Our study demonstrates the first power unit that utilizes widely accessible biomechanical energy source to sustainably drive a broad range of commercial mobile and wearable electronic devices. This self-charging unit is a paradigm shift towards infinite-lifetime energy sources that can never be achieved solely by batteries.

Unlike conventional propellers, flapping wings may generate large amplitude oscillating forces, which can make them difficult to incorporate into a craft design. This is particularly true for a single, vertically oscillating hydrofoil, as part of a surface water craft where the cyclic lift of the hydrofoil disrupts the craft stability. This thesis begins by reviewing the history of human-powered watercraft with a focus on those having flapping foil propellers. This review combined with a review of the literature provides a balanced overview on how flapping wing propellers are currently designed. Current literature shows that although the mean performance of an oscillating foil has been determined in terms of the Strouhal number and the angle of attack, relatively little describes performance directly in terms of the foil motion. Hence, predicting temporal hydrodynamic forces acting on an oscillating foil is difficult. This provides motivation for research investigating the temporal performance of an oscillating foil directly in terms of its motion. In this thesis, experimental equipment designed to measure the hydrodynamic forces on a heaving object is presented. Key features of the equipment are analysed to show how measurement accuracy is maintained. Experimental measurements of unsteady hydrodynamic forces acting on a heaving cylinder, flat plate, symmetrical foil, and an asymmetrical foil are analysed with respect to the heaving motion. Firstly, the object motion is limited to one degree of freedom; pure heaving with zero forward velocity, to investigate the start-up conditions of the oscillating hydrofoil propeller. Secondly, these results are expanded on by adding a steady forward velocity component to the object motion to investigate how the hydrodynamic forces on the object are affected by the cross-flow. Experimental temporal hydrodynamic force measurements presented in this thesis show how the relative composition of hydrodynamic drag and inertia forces change with oscillating frequency, and forward velocity, affecting the phase, magnitude, and profile of the force cycles. This composition is also influenced by the cross-section of the oscillating object and the presence of a free surface. Current marine engineering equations for unsteady hydrodynamic forces on an object in an oscillating flow are validated for a cylinder. However, they are found to contain significant error when predicting the unsteady hydrodynamic forces on an oscillating hydrofoil. Contributions of this thesis link oscillating foil propulsion research to common marine engineering equations with the intent of making flapping wing propeller design more accessible to the general engineering community.

Thesis. 1978. B.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Bibliography: leaves 61-62. / by Charles B. Fly. / B.S.