Updating Mechanical Engineering Measurements and Instrumentation—A Case Study

Measurement and instrumentation is a common course topic in many undergraduate mechanical engineering curricula. This paper summarizes changes to ME 370 – Engineering Measurements and Instrumentation at Iowa State University (ISU), which went through major course revisions from fall 2003 to spring 2005. Modifications to the course include the following: (i) incorporating virtual measurements and instrumentation into the lecture and laboratory, (ii) coupling the lecture and laboratory more closely through an on-line course manual, (iii) providing additional course resources through WebCT to enhance student learning, and (iv) updating and/or developing several new laboratory exercises to demonstrate key course learning objectives. An outline of the course before and after the course revisions will be presented, significant course changes will be summarized, the impact these changes have on mechanical engineering undergraduate education at ISU will be assessed, and lessons learned will be outlined

Gas Holdup in a Cocurrent Air-Water-Fiber Bubble Column

Effects of superficial liquid velocity (Ul ), superficial gas velocity (Ug ), and fiber mass fraction (C) on gas holdup (ε) and flow regime transition are studied experimentally in well-mixed water-cellulose fiber suspensions in a cocurrent bubble column. Experimental results show that the gas holdup decreases with increasing Ul when C and Ug are constant. The gas holdup is not significantly affected by C in the range of C \u3c 0.4%, but decreases with increasing C in the range of 0.4% ≤ C ≤ 1.5%. When C \u3e 1.5%, a significant amount of gas is trapped in the fiber network and recirculates with the water-fiber slurry in the system; as a result, the measured gas holdup is higher than that at C = 1.5%. The axial gas holdup distribution is shown to be a complex function of superficial gas and liquid velocities and fiber mass fraction. The drift-flux model is used to analyze the flow regime transitions at different conditions. Three distinct flow regimes are observed when C ≤ 0.4%, but only two are identified when 0.6% ≤ C ≤ 1.5%. The superficial gas velocities at which flow transition occurs from one regime to another are not significantly affected by Ul and slightly decrease with increasing C

Acoustic Field Effects on Minimum Fluidization Velocity in a 3D Fluidized Bed

Fluidized beds are used in a variety of process industries because they provide uniform temperature distributions, low pressure drops, and high heat/mass rates. Minimum fluidization velocity is an important factor in understanding the hydrodynamic behavior of fluidized beds, and this characteristic may be modified through high frequency (sound) vibrations. The effects caused by sound wave frequency on the minimum fluidization velocity in a 3D fluidized bed are investigated in this study. Experiments are carried out in a 10.2 cm ID cold flow fluidized bed filled with glass beads with material density of 2600 kg/m3, and particles sizes ranging between 212–600 μm. In this study, four different bed height-to-diameter ratios are examined: H/D = 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2. Moreover, the sound frequency of the loudspeaker used as the acoustic source ranges between 50–200 Hz, with a sound pressure level fixed at 110 dB. Results show that the minimum fluidization velocity is influenced by the frequency change. As the frequency increases, the minimum fluidization velocity decreases until a specific frequency is reached, beyond which the minimum fluidization velocity increases. Thus, acoustic fields provide an improvement in the ease of fluidization of these particles

Perfluorochemicals in wastewater treatment plants and sediments in Hong Kong

The study reported in this paper examined the concentrations of nineteen perfluorochemicals (PFCs), including perfluoroalkyl sulfonates, carboxylates, and sulfonamides in samples collected from Hong Kong wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and sediments. The study was the first to use an external isolator column to assist in the quantification of PFCs in environmental samples without having to make internal modifications to a liquid chromatography system. Perfluorooctanesulfonate was found to be the dominant PFC pollutant in Hong Kong, and the WWTP sludge was the major sink of PFCs discharged from the urban areas. Compared to discharge influenced by industrial activities, much less perfluorooctanoate was found in waste streams. The significantly lower level of perfluorodecanesulfonate in WWTP sludge reflects the important influence of consumer products on PFC distribution. The dominance of even-chain length perfluoroalkyl carboxylates in all of the WWTP sludge samples investigated further suggests the strong aerobic degradation of fluorotelomer alcohols in WWTPs. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.postprin

Gas Holdup Behavior in Nylon Fiber Suspensions

The gas holdup behavior in a nylon fiber suspension with various fiber lengths (L = 2, 3, and 6 mm) is investigated. Experiments are performed over a range of superficial gas velocities (Ug≤ 18 cm/s) and a range of fiber mass fractions (0 ≤ C ≤ 1.8%) in a 15.24-cm-diameter semibatch bubble column. Day-to-day variations in the gas holdup create difficulties in interpreting the effect of the fiber mass fraction. These variations are attributed primarily to nylon fiber surface additives leaching into the suspension water and loss of hydrophobicity in a prolonged water environment. As an alternative, the gas holdup in rayon fiber suspensions is highly reproducible

Gas Holdup in Opaque Cellulose Fiber Slurries

Three different cellulose fiber types are used to study their effect on gas holdup and flow regime transition in a 10.2 cm semi-batch bubble column. The three natural fiber types include bleached softwood chemical pulp (softwood), bleached hardwood chemical pulp (hardwood), and bleached softwood chemithermomechanical pulp (BCTMP). Gas holdup is recorded over a range of fiber mass fractions (0 ≤ C ≤ 1.6%) and superficial gas velocities (Ug ≤ 23 cm/s). Experimental results show that gas holdup decreases with increasing fiber mass fraction. Homogeneous, transitional, and heterogeneous flow is observed for all three fiber types at low fiber mass fractions. All three fiber types produce similar results in the homogeneous flow regime while significant differences are recorded in the heterogeneous flow regime; those being low mass fraction hardwood (softwood) fiber slurries produce the highest (lowest) gas holdup. At higher fiber mass fractions, only pure heterogeneous flow is observed and softwood fiber slurries still produce the lowest gas holdup, although the differences in gas holdup between fiber types are small. The Zuber-Findlay drift flux model is used to describe the gas holdup results in cellulose fiber slurries when the flow conditions are heterogeneous. The Zuber-Findlay drift flux model is also used to identify the superficial gas velocity at which homogeneous flow is no longer observed with some success. Generally, the superficial gas velocity at which the flow deviates from homogeneous flow decreases with increasing fiber mass fraction

Reputation and Competition among Information Intermediaries

Session 85: Topics in InformationThis paper investigates the e§ect of competition on the reputation mechanism in the market for information intermediaries, such as rating agencies. I use a dynamic model to endogenize the value of reputation so as to enable comparison of equilibria under di§erent market structures. In the model, behavior is determined by weighing the current rating fee against the future value the rating agency derives from having a higher reputation. I show that competition worsens the quality of ratings by reducing the value of high reputation but not the short-term gain of cheating.published_or_final_versio

A Review of X-Ray Flow Visualization With Applications to Multiphase Flows

Flow visualization and characterization of multiphase flows have been the quest of many fluid mechanicians. The process is fairly straight forward only when there is good optical access (i.e., the vessel is not opaque or there are appropriate viewing ports) and the flow is transparent, implying a very low volume fraction of the dispersed phase; however, when optical access is not good or the fluid is opaque, alternative methods must be developed. Several different noninvasive visualization tools have been developed to provide high-quality qualitative and quantitative data of various multiphase flow characteristics, and overviews of these methods have appeared in the literature. X-ray imaging is one family of noninvasive measurement techniques used extensively for product testing and evaluation of static objects with complex structures. X-rays can also be used to visualize and characterize multiphase flows. This paper provides a review of the current status of X-ray flow visualization and details various X-ray flow visualization methods that can provide qualitative and quantitative information about the characteristics of complex multiphase flows

Effects of Mixing Using Side Port Air Injection on a Biomass Fluidized Bed

Fluidized beds are being used in practice to gasify biomass to create producer gas, a flammable gas that can be used for process heating. However, recent literature has identified the need to better understand and characterize biomass fluidization hydrodynamics, and has motivated the combined experimental-numerical effort in this work. A cylindrical reactor is considered and a side port is introduced to inject air and promote mixing within the bed. Comparisons between the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations with experiments indicate that three-dimensional simulations are necessary to capture the fluidization behavior of the more complex geometry. This paper considers the effects of increasing side port air flow on the homogeneity of the bed material in a 10.2 cm diameter fluidized bed filled with 500-600 μmground walnut shell particles. The use of two air injection ports diametrically opposed to each other is also modeled using CFD to determine their effects on fluidization hydrodynamics. Whenever possible, the simulations are compared to experimental data of time-average local gas holdup obtained using X-ray computed tomography. This study will show that increasing the fluidization and side port air flows contribute to a more homogeneous bed. Furthermore, the introduction of two side ports results in a more symmetric gas-solid distribution

Visualizing Fluid Flows With X-Rays

There are several methods available to visualize fluid flows when one has optical access. However, when optical access is limited to near the boundaries or not available at all, alternative visualization methods are required. This paper will describe flow visualization using an X-ray system that is capable of digital X-ray radiography, digital X-ray stereography, and digital X-ray computed tomography (CT). The unique X-ray flow visualization facility will be briefly described, and then flow visualization of various systems will be shown. Radiographs provide a two-dimensional density map of a three dimensional process or object. Radiographic images of various multiphase flows will be presented. When two X-ray sources and detectors simultaneously acquire images of the same process or object from different orientations, stereographic imaging can be completed; this type of imaging will be demonstrated by trickling water through packed columns and by absorbing water in a porous medium. Finally, local time-averaged phase distributions can be determined from X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging, and this will be shown by comparing CT images from two different gas-liquid sparged columns