Browsing by Subject "integration"
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Item Process Design and Optimization of Biorefining Pathways(2012-07-16) Bao, BupingSynthesis and screening of technology alternatives is a key process-development activity in the process industries. Recently, this has become particularly important for the conceptual design of biorefineries. A structural representation (referred to as the chemical species/conversion operator) is introduced. It is used to track individual chemicals while allowing for the processing of multiple chemicals in processing technologies. The representation is used to embed potential configurations of interest. An optimization approach is developed to screen and determine optimum network configurations for various technology pathways using simple data. The design of separation systems is an essential component in the design of biorefineries and hydrocarbon processing facilities. This work introduces methodical techniques for the synthesis and selection of separation networks. A shortcut method is developed for the separation of intermediates and products in biorefineries. The optimal allocation of conversion technologies and recycle design is determined in conjunction with the selection of the separation systems. The work also investigates the selection of separation systems for gas-to-liquid (GTL) technologies using supercritical Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The task of the separation network is to exploit the pressure profile of the process, the availability of the solvent as a process product, and the techno-economic advantages of recovering and recycling the solvent. Case studies are solved to illustrate the effectiveness of the various techniques developed in this work. The result shows 1, the optimal pathway based on minimum payback period for cost efficiency is pathway through alcohol fermentation and oligomerized to gasoline as 11.7 years with 1620 tonne/day of feedstock. When the capacity is increased to 120,000 BPD of gasoline production, the payback period will be reduced to 3.4 years. 2, from the proposed separation configuration, the solvent is recovered 99% from the FT products, while not affecting the heavier components recovery and light gas recovery, and 99% of waster is recycled. The SCF-FT case is competitive with the traditional FT case with similar ROI 0.2. 3, The proposed process has comparable major parts cost with typical GTL process and the capital investment per BPD is within the range of existing GTL plant.Item Quantifying the Permeability Heterogeneity of Sandstone Reservoirs in Boonsville Field, Texas by Integrating Core, Well Log and 3D Seismic Data(2013-04-29) Song, QianIncreasing hydrocarbon reserves by finding new resources in frontier areas and improving recovery in the mature fields, to meet the high energy demands, is very challenging for the oil industry. Reservoir characterization and heterogeneity studies play an important role in better understanding reservoir performance to meet this industry goal. This study was conducted on the Boonsville Bend Conglomerate reservoir system located in the Fort Worth Basin in central-north Texas. The primary reservoir is characterized as highly heterogeneous conglomeratic sandstone. To find more potential and optimize the field exploitation, it?s critical to better understand the reservoir connectivity and heterogeneity. The goal of this multidisciplinary study was to quantify the permeability heterogeneity of the target reservoir by integrating core, well log and 3D seismic data. A set of permeability coefficients, variation coefficient, dart coefficient, and contrast coefficient, was defined in this study to quantitatively identify the reservoir heterogeneity levels, which can be used to characterize the intra-bed and inter-bed heterogeneity. Post-stack seismic inversion was conducted to produce the key attribute, acoustic impedance, for the calibration of log properties with seismic. The inverted acoustic impedance was then used to derive the porosity volume in Emerge (the module from Hampson Russell) by means of single and multiple attributes transforms and neural network. Establishment of the correlation between permeability and porosity is critical for the permeability conversion, which was achieved by using the porosity and permeability pairs measured from four cores. Permeability volume was then converted by applying this correlation. Finally, the three heterogeneity coefficients were applied to the permeability volume to quantitatively identify the target reservoir heterogeneity. It proves that the target interval is highly heterogeneous both vertically and laterally. The heterogeneity distribution was obtained, which can help optimize the field exploitation or infill drilling designs.Item Relationships between student achievement and levels of computer technology integration by Texas agriscience teachers(Texas A&M University, 2004-09-30) Peake, Jason BooneThe purpose of this study was to determine if agriscience teacher integration of instructional technology was related to student achievement. Knowledge of these correlations will assist teacher educators in offering more appropriate professional development opportunities for agriscience teachers. This information will also assist secondary schools in making decisions regarding technology purchases for agriscience departments. Instructional technology researchers have worked since the 1960s to gain a better understanding of the role that instructional technology plays in student achievement. Many researchers have found that instructional technology influences student learning. In the early 1980s Richard Clark published controversial findings that media has no influence on student learning. These conflicting findings led to the development of this study. A survey was developed to collect information on the level at which teachers integrate technology into their instruction. The instrument was pilot tested, and a reliability measure of .95 was found for the 42 items measuring the technology skills of teachers. Section three of the instrument had a reliability of .93 for the nine items that were used to measure teacher integration of technolo gy. Teachers' demographics, teachers' technology integration skill levels, teachers' administrative use of technology skill levels, and teachers' technology integration levels were collected from a random sample of 150 agriscience teachers in Texas. Student achievement was measured using the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test. Student data were collected on 10th grade students in classes taught by the 150 teachers selected to participate in the study. The Texas Education Agency provided all TAAS data in a single data file. The primary student variables used in the study to quantify math, reading, and writing achievement were the total number of multiple choice items correct for each of these three subject areas. A low positive correlation was found between student achievement in math and teacher instructional technology integration level (.14). Negligible positive correlations (r < .10) were found between teacher instructional technology integration level and student achievement on the writing portions and reading portions of the TAAS.Item Systems integration and analysis of advanced life support technologies(2009-06-02) Nworie, Grace A.Extended missions to space have long been a goal of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Accomplishment of NASA's goal requires the development of systems and tools for sustaining human life for periods of several months to several years. This is the primary objective of NASA's Advanced Life Support (ALS) program. This work contributes directly to NASA efforts for ALS, particularly food production. The objective of this work is to develop a systematic methodology for analyzing and improving or modifying ALS technologies to increase their acceptability for implementation in long-duration space missions. By focusing primarily on the food production systems, it is an aim of this work to refine the procedure for developing and analyzing the ALS technologies. As a result of these efforts, researchers will have at their disposal, a powerful tool for establishing protocols for each technology as well as for modifying each technology to meet the standards for practical applications. To automate the developed methodology and associated calculations, a computer-aided tool has been developed. The following systematic procedures are interrelated and automatically integrated into the computer-aided tool: ? Process configuration, with particular emphasis given to food production (e.g., syrup and flour from sweet potato, starch from sweet potato, breakfast cereal from sweet potato); ? Modeling and analysis for mass and energy tracking and budgeting; ? Mass and energy integration ? Metrics evaluation (e.g., Equivalent System Mass (ESM)). Modeling and analysis is achieved by developing material- and energy-budgeting models. Various forms of mass and energy are tracked through fundamental as well as semiempirical models. Various system alternatives are synthesized and screened using ESM and other metrics. The results of mass, energy and ESM analyses collectively revealed the major consumers of time, equivalent mass, and energy, namely evaporation, condensation, dehydration, drying and extrusion. The targeted processes were subsequently targeted for modifications. In conclusion, this work provides a systematic methodology for transforming non-conventional problems into traditional engineering design problems, a significant contribution to ALS studies.