Journal of Undergraduate Research

Philip D. Blood and Dr. William G. Pitt, Chemical Engineering A major limitation to the effectiveness of cancer chemotherapy is the toxic side effects it has on normal tissues. Thus, it would be highly advantageous to develop a form of treatment that allows higher doses of drugs to be delivered to tumors without increasing the […]

Mary Cragun and Dr. William Hecker, Chemical Engineering The treatment of wastewater or sewage is a multi-step process. One of the steps involves the treatment of the organic mass collected during the treatment process. There are several different methods of treating this organic mass or sludge. At the Springville Wastewater Treatment Facility, the sludge is […]

Nathan M. Cluff and Dr. Calvin Batholomew, Chemical Engineering Our daily lives are dependent upon petroleum. This is evident in the fact that 26.4% of the United States’ energy consumption is used directly for transportation in the form of liquid fuels.1 To prevent shortages in gasoline, jet fuel, home heating oil, and other petroleum products, […]

Aaron Nackos and Dr. Calvin H. Bartholomew, Chemical Engineering Nitric oxides (NO and NO2, or NOx for short) are significant contributors to photochemical smog and acid rain and are mainly produced from automobile emissions and from coal combustion used to generate electric power. Because of these issues, the EPA will require by the year 2004 […]

Kenneth G. Crowther and Dr. Larry Baxter, Chemical Engineering In the midst of industrial development we sometimes fail to foresee problems that may arise from current, seemingly economical, methods of production. One oversight in many industries ranging from Power to Caprolactam production is nitrogen oxide (NOX) emissions that damage our bodies and limit visibility. NOX […]

Jarom D. Webster and Dr. Thomas H. Fletcher, Chemical Engineering Introduction The black liquor recovery boiler is the largest and most expensive piece of equipment in a modern pulp mill. Inside this boiler, black liquor is burned to produce electricity for the mill and also to recover spent chemicals. Black liquor combustion occurs in three […]

Nicholas Stanonis and Dr. William Pitt, Chemical Engineering Current research in the field of polymers has led to the development of synthetic muscles that function similar to biological muscles. Scientists have engineered polymers to contract up to one thousand times their original volume when exposed to changes in light, temperature, voltage, or pH. The ability […]

Steven Gale Smith and Dr. Calvin Bartholomew, Chemical Engineering Catalysts are widely used throughout many industries to decrease reaction time and make processes economically favorable. In the synthetic fuels industry a catalyst is used to convert carbon monoxide gases (CO) to hydrocarbon liquids (CnH2n+2). In this process, the catalyst becomes coated with the heavier hydrocarbon […]

Phillip R. Smith and Dr. Calvin H. Bartholomew, Chemical Engineering Background Steam reforming catalysts play an essential role in the production of hydrogen, which is an essential fuel, feedstock, and reactant in the worldwide chemical industry. These steam reforming catalysts use a finely dispersed metal, supported on a porous ceramic material, to produce hydrogen from […]

Justin Scott and Dr. Larry Baxter, Chemical Engineering Introduction Understanding the devolatilization and combustion of biomass (sawdust, agricultural waste, etc.) will lead to better use of this renewable fuel source. The overall goal of the project is to write a computer model that can accurately predict what will occur during biomass combustion. The research conducted […]