Mechanical

ENGINEERING
THE
MAGAZINE
OF ASME

No.
09
139
Technology that moves the world

THE RISE OF
ELECTROFUELS
An alternative method for
storing renewable energy.

PROTECTING HOUSTON
PAGE 36

PERFECTING THE ARTIFICIAL HEART

PAGE 42

GLOBAL GAS TURBINE NEWS

49
PAGE

ASME.ORG SEPTEMBER 2017

HOSTILE WORK
ENVIRONMENTS DON’T
STAND A CHANCE.
As a Bioenvironmental Engineer in the U.S. Air Force,
you’ll provide essential information critical to
decision-making around the world. From weapons
of mass destruction to natural disasters, you’ll ensure
a safe and healthy workplace environment through
applied knowledge of engineering and sciences.
And as an Air Force officer, you’ll receive benefits that
include a generous tax-free housing allowance, excellent
healthcare and continuing education opportunities.

30
VACATION
WITH
PAY
YEARLY

DAYS

©2017 Paid for by the U.S. Air Force. All rights reserved.
WORK WITH
CUTTING-EDGE WORLDWIDE HUMANITARIAN MISSIONS
TECHNOLOGY
LOG ON ASME.ORG MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.01

For these
articles
and other
content, visit
asme.org.

The Droids We’re Looking for

in the Cancer Fight
RESEARCHERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON are
creating robots for the war within the body.
They’ve proven that tiny capsules can be
guided, with an MRI, through the bloodstream,
aligned at a target location, and then fired to
attack a cyst or a tumor.

Bioengineering a Key
weapon Against Cancer
IMMUNOTHERAPY, OR THE HARNESSING of the
human body’s natural immune system in order
to fight disease, is generating excitement in the

GAME-CHANGING continuing race to fight cancer.

TECHNOLOGY FOR a bathroom scale to

measure blood pressure
3-D-PRINTED METAL RESEARCHERS AND ENGINEERS AT FOUR
universities are collaborating on the
development of a system for measuring
blood pressure using a more convenient

I
F IT HADN’T BEEN FOR A BIT OF SERENDIPITY, Owen Hildreth may never have approach.
thought about solving a problem that has developed into a potentially
game-changing 3-D-printing method, promising to overcome a major
challenge in producing metal objects. Support material for metals has to be
machined or beveled off, a process involving laborious and costly machining NEXT MONTH ON ASME.ORG
techniques. Hildreth’s work enables 3-D printing of a metal object and then
selectively dissolving the support material after the object is printed with a
simple electrochemical etching technique. VIRTUAL REALITY ASSISTS
3-D PRINTING OF THE HEART
Take a tour of the human heart
using the latest in virtual reality technology
with Paul Iaizzo and his team at the Univer-
3-D Printing sity of Minnesota. See how this technology is
Scaffolds for Bone changing surgery by enabling the printing of
personalized 3-D models of any heart.
ENGINEERS AT WASHINGTON
STATE UNIVERSITY have GENERATIVE DESIGN IN BIOENGINEERING
created a 3-D printing Francis Bitonti, Studio Bitonti, talks
method to print structures about the ways advanced design
software has enabled generative
that can precisely imitate design to flourish in the field of bioengineer-
the internal architecture of ing in recent years.
nature-made materials.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

09139 36
WEATHERING
THE STORM
Engineers race to design a storm
surge defense before Houston faces
FEATURES its next large hurricane.
BY BRIDGET MINTZ TESTA

ON THE COVER
30 ELECTROFUELS
A new paradigm
for renewable energy.
BY F. TODD DAVIDSON, KAZUNORI
NAGASAWA, AND MICHAEL E. WEBBER

Cover Illustration
by Don Foley

22
PURIFYING WATER 18
WITHOUT ELECTRICITY
This month in Hot Labs, ONE-On-ONE
Onn--ONE
On-ONE
On
using nanotechnology to Amy Elliott tells us what
treat polluted water. makes engineering exciting.
BY ALAN S. BROWN BY CHITRA SETHI
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.03

49
GLOBAL GAS
TURBINE
NEWS
The latest in
engine designs
and highlights of
Turbo Expo 2017.

DEpartments
6 Editorial
8 Letters

42
THE QUEST FOR THE
10 Tech Buzz
16 Patent Watch
26 Vault
28 Trending

ARTIFICIAL HEART 48 Bookshelf

How inventor Billy Cohn re-engineered 61 Software

the most vital organ. 62 Positions Open
66 Ad Index
BY KAYT SUKEL
67 ASME News
68 Input Output

10
Automated
car parking
A robotic valet parking
system passes its first test.
BY MEREDITH NELSON
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.04

Editor-in-Chief and Publisher Central

John G. Falcioni Thomas McNulty
[email protected]
Managing Editor p. 847.842.9429 f. 847.842.9583 President: Charla K. Wise
Chitra Sethi P.O. Box 623; Barrington, IL 60011 President Nominee: Said Jahanmir
West and Southwest Past President: K. Keith Roe
Senior Editor Kristen Riley
Jeffrey Winters [email protected] Governors
p. 212-268-3344 Stuart W. Cameron, Bryan A. Erler,
Associate Editor Huson International Media
Alan S. Brown Caecilia Gotama, Robert E. Grimes,
1239 Broadway, Suite 1508
New York, NY 10001 Mahantesh S. Hiremath, Karen J. Ohland,
Art and Production Designer Mary Lynn Realff, Sriram Somasundaram,
UK/Europe
Frank Maiocco William J. Wepfer
Christian Hoelscher
[email protected]
Contributing Writers p. +49 89.9500.2778 f. 49 89.9500.2779 Executive Director Thomas G. Loughlin
Michael Abrams, Benedict Bahner, Huson International Media
Mark Crawford, Tom Gibson, Rob Goodier, Secretary and Treasurer James W. Coaker
Agilolfingerstrasse 2a, 85609
Lee Langston, Bridget Mintz Testa, Aschheim/Munich, Germany Assistant Secretary John Delli Venneri
Jeff O’Heir, Ronald A.L. Rorrer,
R.P. Siegel, James G. Skakoon, Kirk Teska, James Rhoades-Brown Assistant Treasurer William Garofalo
Jean Thilmany, Evan Thomas, [email protected]
Jack Thornton, Michael Webber, p. +44 (0) 1932.564999 f. +44 (0) 1932.564998 Senior Vice Presidents
Frank Wicks, Robert O. Woods Huson European Media Standards & Certification Samuel J. Korellis
Cambridge House, Gogmore Lane, Chertsey, Technical Events & Content Richard C. Marboe
Design Consultant Surrey, KT16 9AP, England
Public Affairs & Outreach Timothy Wei
Bates Creative Group Rachel Di Santo Student & Early Career Development
[email protected] Paul D. Stevenson
DIGITAL p. +44 1625.876622
Editor, ASME.org m. +44 7941 676014
David Walsh Huson European Media Mechanical Engineering Advisory Board
Cambridge House, Gogmore Lane, Chertsey, Harry Armen; Leroy S. Fletcher;
Senior Editor Surrey, KT16 9AP, England Richard J. Goldstein
John Kosowatz
Managing Director, Marketing
SALES Josh Heitsenrether ASME offices
Integrated Media Sales Manager Chief Operating Officer
HEADQUARTERS
Greg Valero Jeff Patterson
Two Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Integrated Media Services Manager p. 212.591.7722 f. 212.591.7674
Kara Dress Contact us WASHINGTON CENTER
1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 810, Washington, DC 20036-5104
Circulation Coordinator MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Marni Rice 202.785.3756
[email protected]
p. 212.591.7783 f. 212.591.7841 INT’L GAS TURBINE INSTITUTE – igti.asme.org
Advertising and Sponsorship Two Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Sales Representative INT’L PETROLEUM TECH. INSTITUTE – asme-ipti.org
James Pero For reprints contact Jill Kaletha 11757 Katy Freeway, Suite 380, Houston, TX 77079-1733
[email protected] p. 281.493.3491 f. 281.493.3493
Classified and Mailing List
219.878.6068 EUROPE OFFICE
212.591.7783
asme.org Avenue De Tervueren, 300, 1150 Brussels, Belgium
ADVERTISING SALES OFFICES on.fb.me/MEMAGAZINE p. +32.2.743.1543 f +32.2.743.1550
memagazineblog.org [email protected]
Mid-Atlantic
Michael Reier ASIA PACIFIC LLC
Published since 1880 by The American Society of Mechanical Unit 09A, EF Floor, East Tower of Twin Towers;
[email protected]
Engineers (ASME). Mechanical Engineering identifies emerging
p. 410.893.8003 f. 410.893.8004 technologies and trends and provides a perspective on the role
No. B12, JianGuo MenWai DaJie; ChaoYang District;
900-A South Main Street, Suite 103; of engineering and technology advances in the world and on Bejing, 100022 People's Republic of China
Bel Air, MD 21014 our lives. Opinions expressed in Mechanical Engineering do not p. +86.10.5109.6032 f. +86.10.5109.6039
necessarily reflect the views of ASME.
Southeast INDIA OFFICE
Bill Bell c/o Tecnova India Pvt.Ltd.; 335, Udyog Vihar, Phase IV;
[email protected] Gurgaon 122 015 (Haryana)
Give me the place to
p. (248) 626-0511 f. (312) 644-8718 p. +91.124.430.8413 f. +91.124.430.8207
stand, and I shall
116 W. Kinzie Street [email protected]
move the earth
Chicago, IL 60654-4655
—Archimedes CUSTOMER SERVICE
Northeast 150 Clove Road, 6th floor, Little Falls, NJ 07424-2139
Jonathan Sismey In U.S., Mexico & Canada toll-free
[email protected] 1-800-THE-ASME (1-800-843-2763) f. 973-882-5155
p. 845.987.8128 c. 646.220.2645 International 646-616-3100
Two Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016 e-mail: [email protected]

Mechanical Engineering (ISSN 0025-6501) is published monthly by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Two Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016-5990. Periodicals postage paid
at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Mechanical Engineering, c/o The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 150 Clove Road,
6th Floor, Little Falls, NJ 07424-2139. Return Canadian undeliverable addresses to P.O. BOX 1051, Fort Erie, On, L2A 6C7. PRICES: To members, annually $38 for initial membership
subscription, single copy $13; subscription price to nonmembers available upon request. COPYRIGHT © 2017 by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Canadian Goods & Services
Tax Registration #126148048. Printed in U.S.A. Authorization to photocopy material for internal or personal use under circumstances not falling within the fair use provisions of the Copyright
Act is granted by ASME to libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center Transactional Reporting Service, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers,MA 01923. Request for
special permission or bulk copying should be addressed to Reprints/Permissions Department. Mechanical Engineering is a registered trademark of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
FROM THE EDITOR
// FOLLOW @JOHNFALCIONI MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.06

ONE COUNTRY
TWO SYSTEMS
H
ong Kong is an international busi- But Hong Kong is no longer a manufac-
ness and technology center—and a turing center. Instead, many factories have
place like no other in the world. Un- migrated to China, and nearby Guangzhou
der the “one country, two systems” philoso- in particular. Still, many engineers have
phy, the city-state is a special administrative remained in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong
region of the People’s Republic of China, but Institution of Engineers has more than
Thomas Cheong with Editor-in-
Chief John G. Falcioni (right) on it has been mostly free to pursue its own 30,000 members. There are approximately
Lamma Island. economic course since Great Britain handed 3,500 mechanical, marine, and chemical
over the territory 20 years ago. engineers. They and other engineers design
Still, Hong Kong is caught between its or consult on mainland-made products that
past and its future. Not quite part of main- require sophisticated engineering.
land China, yet by no means independent. Hong Kong was one of the most stimulat-
For now it’s working, and while Hong Kong ing stops on my recent trip to Southeast Asia
remains a technology leader, its personality as part of an ASME delegation. Engineers,
crisis and complicated politics threaten to particularly those forming ASME’s Hong
derail one of the most important infrastruc- Kong Section, proved to be a tight group.
ture projects in years, an 85-mile express Thomas Cheong, ASME’s new Hong Kong
rail line connecting Hong Kong with the Section chair, and I became quick friends
cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou. after we met—such unexpected human con-
The rub is a plan to lease part of the new nections are priceless. Cheong is the site
Hong Kong terminal to mainland China and manager for the Lamma Power Station and
allow Chinese officers to enforce mainland a respected technology leader.
law there. When the former British colony Lamma Island is a half-hour ferry ride
returned to Chinese control, mainland China from Hong Kong Island but worlds apart
promised it a high degree of autonomy, from the bustle of the main island. Lamma
including the ability to keep its own legal, is peaceful; there are no automobiles and
political and economic systems. Hong the main drag, Sok Kwu Wan, which until a
FEEDBACK Kongers are modest but proud, and the an- few decades ago was a mecca for the plas-
How long can niversary of the handover on July 1 stirred tics industry, is now lined with casual sea-
two economic
up a lot of emotions about their big brother food restaurants, pubs, and small grocery
and legal systems
co-exist in one to the north, especially as is relates to the stores. The north side of the island, in Po
city-state? rail issue. Lo Tsui, houses the Lamma Power Station,
Email me. Despite the uncomfortable relations a coal and gas-fired power station built in
[email protected] with China, Hong Kong remains one of the 1982 for Hongkong Electric.
world’s leading financial hubs, rivaling New These dichotomies are just another
York and London. Its strong rule of law and example of Hong Kong’s contradictions:
support of property rights, combined with Both small city and cosmopolitan, both high
tight ties to China, has made it the most tech and rural, both Chinese and Western-
significant gateway for exports and imports influenced. As Cheong put it, “Hong Kong is
to and from China. Many rate Hong Kong as a great place with a wonderful history and
the single best place to do business in Asia, a future that should be bright. Engineers
and so it is not surprising that Hong Kong is will make sure that it remains a center of
the third largest recipient of direct foreign technology innovation in Asia, and ASME can
investment in the world. be part of that.” ME
LETTERS & COMMENTS
late those long-term costs, and psycholo-
JUNE 2017 gists are finding out that humans cannot
plan for long terms.
Reader Gonzalez
believes that environ-
From this standpoint, I have to agree
mental costs must be with this analysis, even if shortsighted.
considered. However, I find it hard to believe that our
children and grandchildren will agree.
One reader calls for more
long-term thinking, while two Esteban Gonzalez, Baltimore

more discuss the finer points of

evolutionary theory. LIKING THE ODDS
To the Editor: In his June 2017 rebuttal
of R.P. Siegel’s article (“Can 3-D Printing
Go Green?” October 2016) Matt Highstreet
account short-term environmental costs, offers the often-repeated teleological
LONG-TERM THINKING
including, for instance, those that would argument while demonstrating a mistaken
To the Editor: Lee S. Langston’s June not exist without present-day environ- view of evolution. For those not familiar,
2017 article (“Running in Place”) uses two mental regulation. the teleological argument states that
measures of cost to show us that “gas However, Langston's article disregards evidence for intentional design exists
turbines provide some of the cheapest long-term environmental costs, those in nature and proponents of the argu-
dispatchable power available” and they that extend beyond 50 years from now. ment attribute this to a divine creator. A
are a cost-effective backup for renewable This choice is perhaps necessary because thorough debunking of this argument is
power plants. Such measures take into economists cannot agree on how to calcu- outside the scope of this forum, though it

ROBOTIC END - EFFECTORS

Measure all six components of

force and torque in a compact,
rugged sensor.
Interface Structure—high-strength
alloy provides IP60, IP65, and IP68
environmental protection as needed

Low-noise Electronics—interfaces for

Ethernet, PCI, USB, EtherNet/IP, PROFINET,
CAN, EtherCAT, Wireless, and more

Sensing Beams and Flexures—designed

for high stiffness and overload protection

The F/T Sensor outperforms traditional load cells, instantly providing

all loading data in every axis. Engineered for high overload protection
and low noise, it’s the ultimate force/torque sensor. Only from ATI.

www.ati-ia.com/mes
919.772.0115
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.09

can be readily discovered online. often not, allied with a small amount of FEEDBACK Send us your letters and com-
Rather, I want to correct Highstreet’s random mutation to introduce novelty into ments via hard copy or e-mail [email protected]
misunderstanding of evolution, which has the population. (subject line "Letters and Comments"). Please
led him to advance the argument from in- Anyone with access to Excel can try include full name, address, and phone number.
credulity fallacy. Opponents of evolution- out the evolutionary feature of the Solver
We reserve the right to edit for clarity, style,
ary theory like to say that the process of optimizer and see for themselves how
and length. We regret that unpublished letters
evolution is entirely random and thus sta- quickly such methods find good solutions.
tistically improbable. However, evolution cannot be acknowledged or returned.
operates through the decidedly nonran- E.R. Jefferys, Berkhamsted, U.K.
dom process of natural selection, which
fixes random mutations in genes based on
environmental pressures: energy conser-
vation, reproduction, and so on.
Even calling mutations completely
random is not without controversy as we
continue to develop deeper understanding
of the mutation process and how it can be
constrained by DNA structural require-
ments, and the intrinsic conservation of
protein function. Suddenly, the odds be-
come much more favorable, particularly
when underscored by humanly incompre-
hensible time-frames.

Scott Rapoport, P.E., San Diego

EVOLUTIONARY APPROACHES
To the Editor: In his June 2017 letter,
Henry Huse suggests that the effects of
NOX emissions from aircraft have a major
and underappreciated effect on climate.
But NO and NO2, typically grouped
together as NOX, are not greenhouse
gases. They are transparent to infrared
radiation. It is nitrous oxide (N2O) that is a
potent greenhouse gas with 298 times the
warming effect of CO2. Nitrous oxide is
created by the breakdown of nitrogenous
STAINLESS IS STANDARD
fertilizer (amongst other routes) and not Our rings provide the same fit Electrical Coupler Gear Assembly
by combustion. and function as stamped rings,
In the same issue, Matt Highstreet but are easier to assemble and
asserts that evolution involves waiting remove with no special tools.
for eons until preposterously implausible Standard parts available in stainless
(302 & 316) and carbon steel.
events create optimized designs out of thin
air. This is not the case for natural evolu- Standard or custom, we’ll provide
tion (such as the ongoing and concerning you with the right ring, in the right
material, for your application.
development of antibiotic-resistant bacte-
ria), for the human-directed evolution that
has given us improved domestic animals FREE SAMPLES:
and crops, or for evolutionary approaches Call (866) 697-2050, or visit
to computational search and optimization. expert.smalley.com/ME/rings
All three are based on the selection of al-
ready successful solutions, their combina-
tion into new examples, sometimes better,
TECH BUZZ

The Stan system autonomously

transports cars from curbside
to long-term parking lots.
Image: Stanley Robotics

TAKING THE KEYS

AFTER TEST-DRIVE AT PARIS AIRPORT, SKY’S THE LIMIT FOR VALET PARKING ROBOT.

P
arking a car in a large surface lot when he founded Stanley Robotics with During the prototype testing, the
or multistory garage is a mind- two others in 2015. Using parking data team struggled through design failures.
numbing chore. Now, a Paris-based from de Gaulle, the company tested the One important adjustment involved the
robotics company looks to take the keys system using six cabins and about 30 platform that locks the wheels and lifts
from human drivers and put them in the parking spaces from February to July of the vehicle. It took a few iterations to
hands of an automated valet parking this year. discover the right height for sliding under
system. The system enables airport travelers the front of any car.
A successful six-month trial at Charles to drop off cars in a cabin near their The parking test at de Gaulle Airport
de Gaulle Airport has Stanley Robotics terminal, grab their luggage, punch in was mostly a test bed for the user
taking its system, called Stan, on the road their return flight info, and then take off. experience. The team at Stanley Robotics,
to the airport in Lyon, France’s second- Stan carries each car to a parking space which was named in homage to Stanley
largest city. and brings it back on the customer's Kubrick who created a homicidally
Clément Boussard was in charge of return through management software perfectionist computer in 2001: A Space
parking self-driving cars as a researcher based on the same concepts used in Odyssey, was shocked to discover that the
at Laboratory for Vehicle-Infrastructure- factory automation to move pallets leisure-loving French couldn’t care less
Driver Interactions at the French Institute around. (In spite of being a valet parking about the robot behind the curtain.
of Science and Technology in Transport, system, there’s actually no need to leave “We had videos, brochures, and
Development, and Networks in Paris behind the keys.) stickers to explain it, but in fact people
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.11

didn’t care,” Boussard said. “They were

just really happy to come back and see,
‘Wow, my car is here.’ “ It was the car
parking equivalent of an automatic coffee
CORN IS BETTER FOOD
machine, Boussard explained. “When you
ask for your coffee, you have a plastic cup
coming down, then you have coffee going
in, but you don’t know what is happening
THAN FUEL
C
inside the machine.” orn’s more useful on the cob than in a gas tank, according to a compre-
The technology is a win-win, for both hensive study of biofuel corn’s economic and environmental metrics.
travelers and airports. Since the system The efficacy of corn-based ethanol as a motor fuel has long been de-
knows each user’s itinerary, cars can be bated. To try to settle that question, University of Illinois researchers analyzed
double-parked until needed, increasing the agricultural production of corn as food versus fuel in monetary terms.
the lot’s capacity by 50 percent in an Part of a National Science Foundation project studying the environmental
already lucrative sector of the air travel impact of agriculture in the United States, the Illinois group focused on the
industry. permeable layer of the landscape near the surface that stretches from the top
A new version of the system will of the vegetation down to the groundwater, called the critical zone.
launch at Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport in The researchers assessed the energy required to prepare and maintain the
2018 with a plan to increase capacity to landscape for the agricultural production of corn and its conversion to biofuel,
handle 10,000 spaces with 100 cabins. calculated the environmental benefits and impacts on the critical zone as they
Building on $4 million (€3.6 million) in affect the atmosphere and water quality, and accounted for corn’s societal
value, both as food and fuel.
Analyzing the human energy available and expended and inventorying the
resources required for corn production and processing, researchers deter-
mined the economic and environmental impact of using these resources and
converted it to a cost in U.S. dollars.
The researchers found that the costs of using corn as an energy source far
outweigh the benefits.
Their results show that the net social and economic worth of food corn in
the United States is $1,492 per hectare, versus a $10 per hectare loss for
biofuel corn. ME

Stan's platforms were engineered to slide

under almost every sort of car.
Image: Stanley Robotics

venture capital it received last spring,

the company is raising more money
to expand into airports in Asia and the
United States.
While technologists predict that soon
cars will be able to drop off passengers
and park themselves automatically, Stan
will be able to handle the chore for cars
where the driver is still very human. ME Corn-based biofuel provides
a negative economic benefit,
according to a recent study.
MEREDITH NELSON is a writer based Image: Getty Images
in New York City.
TECH BUZZ MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.12

LIQUID METAL BATTERIES

MAY REVOLUTIONIZE ENERGY STORAGE
B
attery storage capacity is an
increasingly critical factor for An innovative
reliable and efficient energy battery design
separates
transmission and storage—from small
liquid metal
personal devices to systems as large as
electrodes with
power grids. a molten salt
This is especially true for aging power electrolyte.
grids that are overworked and have Image: Getty Images/
problems meeting peak energy demands. iStockphoto

Companies are scrambling to develop

scalable battery solutions that can
stabilize these grids by increasing energy
efficiency and storage capacity.
“The market opportunity for grid-
scale energy storage is large, growing,
and global,” said Phil Giudice, CEO and
president of Ambri, a startup company
in Massachusetts that is developing an
innovative battery system that relies on
molten metal for storing energy.
The battery is based on research
conducted by co-founder Donald
Sadoway at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. The system is different
from other storage options on the
market because it is the only battery
where all three active components are in
liquid form when the battery operates.
Two liquid electrodes (magnesium and causes magnesium ions to pass through website. “The all-liquid design also
antimony) are separated by a molten the salt and attach to the antimony avoids cycle-to-cycle capacity fade
salt electrolyte; the liquid layers float ions, forming a magnesium-antimony because the electrodes are reconstituted
on top of each other based on density alloy. When recharging, power from an with each charge.”
differences and immiscibility. The system external source pushes electrons in the Extensive laboratory testing on more
operates at an elevated temperature opposite direction, pulling magnesium than 2,500 cells with a cumulative test
maintained by self-heating during
charging and discharging, resulting
in a low-cost and long-lasting storage “THE MARKET OPPORTUNITY FOR GRID-SCALE ENERGY STORAGE IS LARGE,
system. GROWING, AND GLOBAL.”
When a liquid metal battery cell is at PHIL GIUDICE, CEO AND PRESIDENT OF AMBRI
operating temperature, potential energy
exists between the two electrodes, from the alloy and redepositing it back time of 600,000 hours and 100,000 cycles
creating a cell voltage. When discharging onto the top layer. shows that the all-liquid cell design
the battery, the cell voltage drives “Liquid electrodes offer a robust avoids the main failure mechanisms
electrons from the magnesium electrode alternative to solid electrodes, avoiding experienced by solid components
and delivers power to the external load, common failure mechanisms of in other battery technologies. “This
after which the electrons return back into conventional batteries, such as electrode enables our systems to have a projected
the antimony electrode. Internally, this particle cracking,” Ambri states on its continued on p.15 »
TECH BUZZ

REPAIRING ROADS WITH A SMARTPHONE APP

F
or those of us who don’t know
what it’s like to live at the end of
a poorly maintained dirt road in
rural Uganda, Kevin Lee has a simple
way to put it in perspective: “Imagine
knowing how long it will take to get to
work in the morning.”
Lee is one of the co-founders of
Mobilized Construction, a startup that
employs a mobile phone application to
help fix rural roads in developing countries,
some of the hardest to reach places.
When running on a smartphone
mounted to a vehicle, the app identifies
roads in need of repair. Once the
locations are known, local governments
can use the app to organize “micro
enterprises” of repair crews to fill in the
ruts, unclog the drainage ditches, and A smartphone app measures the jolts inflicted by broken roads on passing vehicles and
smooth over the roads. The crews are sends the data to local governments that can organize repairs. Image: Mobilized Construction
men with shovels and wheelbarrows, not
the traditional bulldozers and excavators In a former life Jensen worked overnight you would be creating 20,000
commonly deployed for road repair. on multimillion-dollar road repair to 25,000 jobs in Kenya,” Jensen said.
The upshot to this lean system is contracts in developing countries and That is more jobs than is provided
quicker road repair for less money, felt that they often excluded the out- by Safaricom, Kenya’s leading
said Johan Jensen, a co-founder of the of-the-way rural roads that can serve telecom.
startup. By organizing repair crews with the world’s most impoverished people. As the app’s developers add more
hand tools rather than heavy machinery, Much of the problem may be logistical, features over time, road crews may move
the cost of repair drops from $10,000 per and that’s what the app can fix. The beyond repair. They may be able to fortify
km to $1000 per km, according to the app is a means of scaling up rural road roads against potential damage.
startup team’s estimates. repair, Jensen said. In the future, the app could integrate
“What we did was make some “We’re trying to solve the scalability weather station data to predict which
software to let local people be involved in of the project so we can get to the next roads are vulnerable to damage during
the process,” Jensen said. level. That’s why it’s all tech-driven and downpours and floods. Road crews could
The app engages a phone’s has very little marginal cost in scaling then clear drainage ditches and buttress
accelerometer, GPS, and video camera to it. We only have the cost of running our the roads against inclement weather,
identify bumps in a road. Jensen calls it database, which is the same regardless Jensen said.
an “accelerator-driven IRI measurement of the size of the project,” Jensen said. All of that means more stability
system,” referring to the International Access to smooth roads could have and less isolation for the world’s
Roughness Index of roads. a profound effect on a community. underserved communities that live along
“Equip a car with a smartphone Commutes to work become shorter, rural roads. With quick road repair and
and just drive around collecting data,” as does emergency medical response even preemptive repair of roads that
Jensen said. “The smartphone is heavily times. Scheduling around hard-to- might become impassible in the future,
mounted in the car, so it basically follows navigate roads would be a thing of the the drive can take a back seat to the
the car’s every movements. If there’s a past. And, with all the new repairs that destination. ME
major bump in the road, that means the the app could prompt, it may also help
car will bump and the phone will bump. create jobs. ROB GOODIER is managing editor at Engineering
It will trigger the accelerometer and rate “We looked at the numbers and if you for Change. To read more about development
it on the index.” shift into this method of road creation engineering, go to Engineeringforchange.org.
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.15

“If Three Mile Island closes, we’d lose more

continued from page 12 » zero-carbon power than all of the state’s
renewable resources put together.”
batteries: Liquid Metal Former Pennsylvania environmental secretary
John Raymond Hanger, as quoted in The New York Times
life span of over 15 years with no on June 13, 2017.
degradation in performance,” states
Ambri.
The liquid-metal battery is a
promising approach to solving grid-
scale electricity storage problems. Its
capabilities allow improved integration
of renewable resources into the power New Version!
grid. In addition, the battery will
hopefully improve the overall reliability
of an aging grid and offset the need
to build additional transmission,
generation, and distribution assets.
This is, however, a competitive field.
Dozens of startups are targeting utility-
scale energy storage with innovative
systems that utilize compressed air, iron
flow batteries, saltwater batteries, and
other electrochemical processes.
Ambri continues to improve the

STARTUPS ARE TARGETING UTILITY-

SCALE ENERGY STORAGE THAT USE
COMPRESSED AIR, SALTWATER,
AND OTHER MEDIA.
performance and longevity of its
batteries—some of its test cells
have been running for almost four
years without showing any signs of
degradation. The company is also
exploring other elemental combinations,
including calcium, lithium, and lead.
Because of the simple design and easy-
to-source materials, manufacturing
the battery will cost far less than other
storage technologies for an equivalent Over 100 New Features & Apps in Origin 2017!
amount of storage. For a FREE 60-day
“Ultimately,” Ambri wrote on its
Over 500,000 registered users worldwide in: evaluation, go to
◾ 6,000+ Companies including 20+ Fortune Global 500 OriginLab.Com/demo
site, “we envision working with global ◾ 6,500+ Colleges & Universities and enter code: 6951
partners to build factories around the ◾ 3,000+ Government Agencies & Research Labs
world, creating partnerships to serve
regional markets.” ME
25+ years serving the scientific & engineering community
MARK CRAWFORD is an independent writer.
For more articles on battery storage
visit www.asme.org.
TECH BUZZ // PATENT WATCH BY KIRK TESKA

COMPUTER GAMES
ON THE GO
Pokémon Go wasn’t the first video game that
could lead you around.
home video game console patent was But, Microsoft may have been the first
licensed to Magnavox, which marketed to seek a patent for a location-based
the game as the Magnavox Odyssey. It multiplayer game in patent application
is considered to be the first home video no. 2011/0319148 filed in 2010. That ap-
game console. A close second is Atari plication is still pending.
patent no. 3,793,483 (1974) for a less The Pokémon Go patent was filed by

T
he strange sight of adults and complex, less expensive console. Google but is now owned by Niantic,
children walking slowly while staring An early handheld electronic game Inc., a Google spinout. Another patent
into their cell phones as they played is shown in patent no. 4,249,735 (1981) application is still pending. For Pokémon
the game Pokémon Go last year got me for a football game (pictured below). Go, Niantic reportedly teamed up with
thinking about the intellectual property sur- The inventor is Eric Bromley of Coleco Nintendo, which owns the Pokémon
rounding computer games. Industries, which had some success with product franchise.
The first reported electronic game video game consoles and later Cabbage Interestingly, computer games are
was displayed by Westinghouse at the Patch Dolls. a type of product often protected by
1939 World’s Fair in New York. Patent The Pokémon Go game appears to all three types of intellectual property:
no. 2,215,544 (1940) be disclosed patents for the novel technology of the
disclosed the ma- in patent no. game, copyrights for the computer
chine and circuitry 9,226,106 (2015), software underlying the game and for the
that enabled the which describes artwork involved, and trademarks for the
Nimatron to play the a location-based name of the game and/or its characters.
math strategy game game “requiring So, copying the Pokémon Go game could
Nim. players to travel infringe a variety of legal rights.
It wasn’t until to and/or inter- Finally, video game IP disputes (for
1973, however, that act with various example, between Atari and Nintendo)
the New Hampshire virtual elements helped define the boundaries of U.S. copy-
defense contractor and/or virtual right law applied to computer software.
Sanders Associates objects scattered With the smash success of Pokémon
patented the first at various virtual Go, however, it is inevitable that compa-
game-playing con- locations in the nies will try to copy it as far as the law
sole for the home virtual world. A allows—and beyond. Let the games—and
television. Patent player can travel to the copycats—begin.  ME
No. 3,728,480 (1973) these virtual loca-
names Ralph Baer tions by traveling KIRK TESKA is the author of Patent Project
as the sole inven- to the correspond- Management and Patent Savvy for Managers, is an
tor and discloses ing location of the adjunct law professor at Suffolk University Law
a “light gun” that virtual elements or School, and is the managing partner of Iandiorio
could be used in objects in the real Teska & Coleman, LLP, an intellectual property law
various games. That world.” firm in Waltham, Mass.
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.17

SENSOR IMPROVED WITH TINY HOLES

A
disposable, do-it-yourself device for detecting disease to detect the change in the concentration of ammonia, a
markers from breath or airborne environmental biomarker for kidney disease. In clinical settings, physicians
hazards is in the works thanks to researchers who currently use bulky, table-sized instruments to find and
found a simple solution to exposing sensors embedded in analyze biomarkers, but the hope is that a kidney function test
organic plastic. They realized they could puncture the plastic could be devised using inexpensive disposable sensor chips.
with minuscule holes. The next challenge is to fine-tune the composition of the
The thin organic plastic strip developed by Ying Diao, a sensor for other compounds. To that end the researchers
chemical and biomolecular engineering professor at the have created an ultrasensitive environmental monitor
University of Illinois, and her team detects danger at levels too for formaldehyde, a common indoor pollutant in new or
low to smell. refurbished buildings.
Scientists had used organic semiconductors before to sense Ultimately the group is working to make sensors with
gas, but the devices weren’t acute enough to detect disease multiple functions to produce a chemical “fingerprint” for a
markers in breath. Diao’s group discovered that the highly more complete picture of a patient’s health.
reactive sites were not on the surface of the plastic film, but “It’s useful because in disease conditions, multiple markers
buried inside it. By riddling the film with tiny pores printed will usually change concentration at once,” Diao said.
onto the surface, the team was able to increase the reactivity “By mapping out the chemical fingerprints and how they
by ten times and brought sensitivity to one part per billion. change, we can more accurately point to signs of potential
In its first demonstration, the device was engineered health issues.”  ME

STAR-CCM+: Discover
better designs, faster.
Improved Product Performance Through
Multidisciplinary Design Exploration.

Don’t just simulate, innovate! Use multidisciplinary design explo-

ration with STAR-CCM+ and HEEDS to improve the real world
performance of your product and account for all of the physics
that it is likely to experience during its operational life.

siemens.com/mdx
TECH BUZZ || ONE-ON-ONE

to make a product that someone uses. I can actually

make an impact and make someone’s life better, and
make our nation or world more prosperous.

ME: What obstacles did you face in your engineering

career?
A.E: I think the biggest obstacle that I faced in my
engineering career and in my engineering education

Q&A was just the fear of failure. I was not a risk-taker and
did not want to fail. But as I look back, I realize how

AMY ELLIOTT
important failure is, and failure happens all along
the way, we just don’t recognize it. Not being afraid
of it and actually embracing it can really make you a
powerful engineer. It can really empower you to do
A TINKERER AT HEART, mechanical engineer Amy amazing things.
Elliott graduated with a Ph.D. from the Virginia Tech
DREAMS Lab, where her studies focused on inkjet- ME: You are also the host of science shows on
TV and the Internet. What’s the purpose of these
based 3-D printing. After her graduation, she began
shows?
her career at Oak Ridge National Lab’s Manufacturing
A.E: The main goal of all of this TV presence and try-
Demonstration Facility, where she advises the industry ing to get kids excited about engineering is so that
on strategic application of 3-D printing. Elliott is also they want to pursue the careers in these fields. We
an on-camera expert for Science Channel’s Outra- have a major shortage of people that get into these
geous Acts of Science and the cohost for the web series fields, and there’s a reason, right? It’s hard. But if
we can help them see that it is so valuable and it’s
RoboNation TV. When not working on random inven-
so important and it’s actually really exciting and fun,
tions, she enjoys the outdoors and loves to snowboard, once you get past the course work, once you get past
kayak, hike, backpack, or anything that seems slightly math, it’s a really rewarding career. We need more
adventurous. kids to pursue those careers so that our nation can
continue to be innovative.

ME: You studied additive manufacturing when it wasn’t popular. How did ME: How can young students prepare themselves
you decide to pursue it as a career? for a career in engineering?
A.E: When I started grad school, I studied additive manufacturing, but this A.E: I think the best thing that a student can do to
was back in 2009. At that time, additive manufacturing and 3-D print- prepare themselves for a career in engineering is to
ing were not popular. So when I graduated, that’s when additive became do hands-on projects, build stuff, learn what it takes
really popular, and I scored this dream job at Oak Ridge National Lab, the to actually make something that works. It’s so differ-
world’s premier facility for additive manufacturing. And I really just lucked ent from just drawing or theorizing about a machine
out. It was in the right location, at the right time, and I have been really or a mechanism or a little robot, but actually putting
working with some amazing people and solving some really hard problems it together and making it work, that’s a whole other
in additive manufacturing for the past three years that I’ve been there. level. And once you do that, you see how critical
engineering is, and it also helps you appreciate your
ME: What do you enjoy the most about your work at ORNL? education. ME
A.E: What I enjoy most about my career is having an impact on the world. I
can invent an alloy or a technology that is used in a manufacturing process CHITRA SETHI
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.19

SWIMMING Microbots

MICROBOTS kill bacteria

with silver
nano-
SCOUR BACTERIA particles
opposite a

FROM WATER magnesium

layer.
Image: IBEC

A ccess to clean water is a global

challenge. The World Health
Organization reports that 663 million
people—one in 10 worldwide—do
not have clean water, and newborn
babies are especially susceptible to
waterborne illnesses.
A team from the Institute for
When You Need
Bioengineering of Catalonia in
Barcelona and the Max Planck
Institute for Intelligent Systems in
Stuttgart hopes to someday remove
contamination from dirty water using a
EXTRAORDINARY
flotilla of swimming microbots. Forest City Gear has the talent for producing amazing
Some strains of waterborne bacteria results. Together, we’ll make magic on your next gear
are now resistant to chlorine, a production project.
disinfectant that causes problems for
humans in any event. The researchers,
led by Samuel Sánchez, wanted to 815-623-2168
www.forestcitygear.com
replace the harsh chemical with
something more benign. They designed
self-motorized spherical particles Excellence Without Exception
which they dubbed Janus microbots
Booth #606
after the Roman god with two faces.
One side of the tiny round water-
cleaning robot is made of magnesium,
which reacts with water to produce
hydrogen bubbles that propel it. The
other face is made out of alternating
iron and gold layers sprinkled with
silver nanoparticles. Bacteria stick to
the gold and are killed by the silver
nanoparticles.
In lab tests, the microbots zoomed
around in water for 15 to 20 minutes
before exhausting the magnesium.
They trapped more than 80 percent
of E. coli in water spiked with a high
concentration of the bacteria. The iron
layer also holds the potential for remote
control of the microrobots via magnetic
fields. The iron coating enables users
to remove the robots from the water
supply after it has been disinfected—
just wave a magnet. ME
TECH BUZZ

HAND-IN-GLOVE RELIEF
FOR CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME
A
new soft robotic sleeve that gently Enter the wrist-assist, a soft robotic gineers estimate it would cost $76 to build
straightens the wrist could help sleeve that detects when its wearer flexes and foresee manufacturing an FDA-regu-
many of the six million Americans her wrist awkwardly, and responds by lated device that doctors would prescribe
with carpal tunnel syndrome heal faster, inflating a balloon actuator to nudge the for carpal tunnel rehabilitation, as well as
and keep them healthy, productive, and hand to remove the strain. a preventive device for all computer users
pain-free. “The idea was, How do you allow the that they’d sell through retail outlets and
One in 20 working Americans suffers hand to be mobile when needed and in a to computing centers as an ergonomic
from carpal tunnel syndrome, and for them neutral position while typing?” said Wade accessory to prevent damage.
pain-free hands are but a memory. Doctors Adams, an undergraduate engineer at Ari- If they succeed, a few years from now
often recommend a splint, which keeps zona State University’s Polytechnic School. you may be slipping on a pair of ergo-
people from using their hands normally, He and Mengjia Zhu, an engineering nomic gloves before you even check your
or, in severe cases, carpal tunnel surgery. master’s student, and Panagiotis Polygeri- e-mail.  ME
This surgery costs more than $5,000, and nos, a mechanical engineer and assistant
500,000 such procedures are performed professor at the university, set out to solve DAN FERBER is a science and technology writer.
each year in the United States, with an an- the problem by creating a device that was For more articles on biomedical engineering see
nual health care cost of $2.6 billion. washable, breathable, and easy to don and www.aabme.org
doff. They built a sleeve-like apparatus
that looks like a long, black, high-tech
fingerless glove. BIG NUMBER
Cutting Edge

836
The sleeve uses an inertial measure-

Adhesives for ment unit to measure the angle of the

wrist no matter how the user is holding
High Strength Bonding his arm in three-dimensional space. The
unit, which contains a magnetometer and
an accelerator, sits in the device on the top
Designed to meet of the hand.
Meanwhile, pressure sensors detect air
specific requirements MILLION METRIC TONS
pressure in the two balloon actuators.
All three sensors feed data into a
Thermal cycling resistant microcontroller, which decides whether World CRUDE steel
the wrist is bent more than 5 degrees out
of the plane—an angle awkward enough
production in the
Withstand chemicals to cause strain. At that point, the control-
ler signals a micro air pump to inflate two
first half of 2017
thermoplastic balloon actuators, one on THE HEALTH OF THE GLOBAL economy is
Mechanical shock resistant top of the wrist and one underneath, to an often mirrored in its steel production.
air pressure of 60 kPa. According to the World Steel Asso-
“We wanted to help people when typing ciation, an international trade group,
Serviceable at extreme to keep their wrist in a neutral position,” global crude steel production in the
temperatures Adams said. first six months of 2017 was 4.5 percent
The engineers tested their device by higher than it was in the first half of
showing it can straighten when a 250- 2016. Production in Asian nations grew
gram weight is attached, and they’re fastest—4.8 percent. By contrast, the
initiating tests on human subjects to get 6.7 million metric tons of steel pro-
+1.201.343.8983 • [email protected] feedback. But Adams himself has tried it. duced by the United States in June was
In March, the engineers obtained a down 1.7 percent from June 2016.
www.masterbond.com
provisional patent on their device. The en-
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.21

“If you’re looking for overall economic

well-being, the path to prosperity is
no longer factories.”
An aeroboat, waiting on a sandy flat, Lou Glazer, president of the nonpartisan think tank
can travel inland or across water. Michigan Future, as quoted in the Los Angeles Times
on June 12, 2017.

EVERY-TERRAIN
VEHICLE UNVEILED
A mphibious vehicles such as duck
boats can roll in and out of wa-
ter, but a new Indo-Russian joint ven-

smallmachine
ture has demonstrated an "aeroboat"
capable of traveling on land, water,
snow, and sand on a cushion of air.
IIAAT Holding, a joint venture be-

BIGRESULTS
tween the International Institute for
Advanced Aerospace Technologies
and Indian firm Millennium Aero-
dynamics, designed the aeroboat
to access difficult terrain, such as
flooded or marshy areas. In those
places, terrestrial vehicles bog down
but traditional boats can’t navigate THE TORMACH ®
shallow water, portage across dry PCNC 440®
spots, or plow through vegetation.
The vehicle is propelled by a giant
REAL CNC FOR
fan, much like the airboats plying the SHOPS OF ANY SIZE
bayous of the American South. But
instead of an airboat’s flat-bottomed
hull, the aeroboat rides on a dynamic
air cushion, enabling it to run out
of the water and even up steep
embankments, negating the need for
marine infrastructure. The 20-foot
vehicle has room for 10 passengers,
the developer says, and is designed
to travel as fast as 90 miles per hour.
IIAAT Holding reports having 25
orders for its aeroboat from buyers STARTING AT
in India, with an emphasis on uses in
disaster relief. $4950
"It's possible to use hovercrafts,
but they are very expensive to oper-
ate and also have speed limitations,”
IIAAT Holding’s Sukrit Sharan said.
“Our amphibious aeroboats can pro-
vide high-speed year-round naviga-
tion, even when bodies of water are TORMACH.COM
frozen like in Russia."  ME
TECH BUZZ || HOT LABS

RADOVAN/DREAMSTIME STOCK PHOTOS

FRESH WATER
WITHOUT ELECTRICITY
WITHIN EIGHT YEARS, one-quarter of Earth’s population will face water scarcity, according
to the United Nations. Water problems are especially acute in developing nations. This month,
we look at two labs with potentially revolutionary nanotechnologies that pull water from the air
and purify seawater—without using any electricity at all.

E
 
velyn Wang, a professor of mechanical engineering “MOFs are particularly attractive because they have very
at MIT, did not set out to remove fresh drinking water steep isotherms,” Wang explained. “They can adsorb water
from humid air. Her original goal was to build a ther- as air passes through, and it takes only a small amount of
mal battery to operate HVAC systems without running down
batteries in electric cars. WATER FROM THE AIR
Wang hoped to use water as a refrigerant and went
looking for a material that could adsorb and release water THE LAB Device Research Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
efficiently. That led her to Omar Yaghi of UC Berkeley, one of Evelyn Wang, director.
the world’s most cited chemists.
Yaghi had developed a class of crystals called metal- OBJECTIVE Apply heat transfer techniques to fresh water generation and
organic frameworks, or MOFs. They consist of Tinkertoy- thermal batteries.
like repeating units of metal hubs linked by organic rods.
DEVELOPMENT Off-grid technology that pulls fresh water from air with
These frameworks are so open, small molecules pass easily
humidity as low as 20 percent.
through them.
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.23

heat from a low-grade source like the sun to get them to They release water as vapor, which condenses on a lower
release the water.” plate held at ambient temperature.
Wang and Yaghi worked on the battery for four years, even- Just 1 kg of MOF collects about 3 liters of fresh water per
tually transferring the technology to Ford. Meanwhile, they day from 20 percent humid air (which is drier than the Sahara
discussed other ways to use the technology, including water. Desert). Wang believes the team can tweak MOF chemistry to
“It’s the same physics, just a different application,” Wang improve performance, and BASF has demonstrated it can pro-
said. duce industrial quantities of some MOFs at competitive prices.
Wang quickly began building a proof-of-concept prototype Wang is now focusing on automating water flow through
that consists of MOFs sandwiched between two plates. The the system and scaling up to larger prototypes. Her Device
MOFs snag water from the air. When she exposes the top Research Lab is also continuing to work further on thermal
layer, painted black to absorb sunlight, it heats the MOFs. batteries. ME

R
 
ice University's environmental engineering professor more economical nanoparticles. Halas had used gold-coated
Qilin Li was researching water purification when she silicon, but they settled on carbon black. While it did not
first read how Naomi Halas had produced steam absorb as much sunlight, it was commercially available and
in an ice bath. Li thought she might apply this behavior to inexpensive.
membrane distillation, and walked across the Rice campus to Halas originally suspended her nanoparticles in water. Li
meet Halas. needed to incorporate them into a coating she could apply to a
Unlike conventional distillation, which boils seawater and PVDF membrane.
condenses the vapor into pure water, membrane distillation “Any time you add a coating to a membrane, you decrease
applies only enough heat to the ability of the water to move
produce vapor. The vapor then through the membrane,” Li
moves through a polyvinylidene said.
fluoride (PVDF) membrane She solved the problem
which, like waterproof but by suspending carbon black
breathable fabrics, blocks liquid particles in a porous coating of
water from entering while polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), which
letting water vapor escape. readily absorbed water without
Although membrane impeding vapor transport.
distillers are smaller and less PVA coatings are often used to
A membrane
costly to build than multistage distillation prevent fouling, which makes
distillation towers, they use lots system. the system easier to clean.
of energy to heat water. That’s Photo: Rice Li is convinced the system
University
where Halas' nanoparticles will scale well. The embedded
came in. They absorbed nanoparticles keep heating
sunlight and reemitted it as OFF-GRID DESALINATION the seawater along the entire
heat. Suspended in icy water, length of the membrane, and
they produced enough localized THE LAB Center for Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT), a the slower the water flows, the
heating to vaporized nearby consortium of Rice University, Arizona State, University of Texas at El Paso, hotter it becomes. Li hopes
water molecules. and Yale. Pedro Alvarez, director. Qilin Li, associate director for research. to field test a prototype within
Li and Halas decided to see three months. A similar system
if those nanoparticles could OBJECTIVE Apply nanotechnology to low-energy desalination, fouling and for removing industrial and
power a membrane distillation scaling control, and catalysts and other materials. drilling waste from water will
system.
DEVELOPMENT Off-grid membrane distillation system that uses solar heat eventually follow. ME
It took two years to develop
to purify saltwater and industrial waste. ALAN S. BROWN
a prototype. First, they needed
 Precision TECH BUZZ

Components
Photo Etched Parts
• Components as thin as .0005"
• Eliminates cost of hard tooling
• Eliminates burring and stress
• Short lead times
• Prototype through production
• In-house forming, laminating,
and plating
See us at: Design2Part
Marlboro Electrical connections
on the minuscule
Design2Part MD&M
Portland Piccolissimo receive a
Minneapolis
touch-up.
Image: Univ. of Pennsylvania

WORLD’S SMALLEST DRONE

NEEDS JUST ONE ACTUATOR
Q
uadcopters and other drones mounted motor to generate gyroscopic
control their flight by balancing the forces. These offset the torque (or thrust)
thrust of several motors, based produced by stabilizing blades attached to
on feedback from accelerometers and the body, which act like another set of pro-
gyroscopes. The world’s smallest battery- pellers. Balancing these forces stabilizes
powered flying robot, the Piccolissimo, the vehicle so it can hover in place.
needs only one motor and no sensors to do The larger Piccolissimo’s motor is
something similar. mounted off-center. “Since the propeller
Piccolissimo is Italian for “tiny,” and a is mounted off-center on the vehicle body,
play on the name of inventor Matt Piccoli. the propeller’s center, and therefore, the
The “mini” Piccolissimo is slightly larger location of its thrust, also spins around 40
than a quarter (28 mm diameter), weighs times per second,” Piccoli said.
2.5 g, and carries three lithium-ion batter- Ordinarily, the constantly changing direc-
ies and a chip to control motor speed. A tion of the thrust would cancel itself out.
larger, more maneuverable version is 1 cm Instead, the motor uses changes in thrust
wider and 2 g heavier. to steer the tiny aircraft.
The secret to Piccolissimo’s aerial “If we increase the propeller speed every
success is passive stability, the subject of time the body is facing 6 o’clock and slow
ISO 9001 Piccoli’s thesis. He is a doctoral candidate down the propeller every time the body
AS9100C in Mark Yim’s Modular Robotics Lab at the faces 12 o’clock, the average torque tries to
REGISTERED
University of Pennsylvania. turn the body towards 12 o’clock,” he said.
Download our To minimize control actuation, Piccoli The larger device can fly for up to three
Capabilities Brochure builds stability into the device’s structure. minutes. Piccoli and Yim believe they
www.tech-etch.com Both versions of his Piccolissimo start with could use fleets of small, cheap drones
a single propeller that spins about 800 like the Piccolissimo to investigate ac-
times per second. Since every action has cident sites. The drones could carry small,
an opposite and equal reaction, the motor’s rotating sensors or line scan cameras
rotation spins both Piccolissimo bodies 40 and provide 360-degree panoramic views
TECH-ETCH, INC. times per second in the opposite direction. of a site.
[email protected] The location of the motor is the big- “It’s common practice to make a simple
Plymouth, MA • TEL 508-747-0300 gest difference between the two systems. sensor, then spin it around,” Piccoli said.
The smallest Piccolissimo uses a center- “We get this feature for free.”  ME
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.25

ADVANCED continued research, and 13 percent

obtained patents, a necessary first step in
commercializing new products
funding, including the free rein given
managers to scrap underperforming
projects. It urged other DOE offices to

ENERGY The report acknowledges that it may

take time to assess the full impact of
ARPA-E’s “tech-to-market” efforts,
adopt ARPA-E’s best practices.
The report’s main criticism of ARPA-E
amounts to a publicity problem—the

PROGRAMS because energy innovations often

take years or even decades to reach
commercial fruition. Yet the report
agency needs to do a better of job of
demonstrating its value to the public.
The report, An Assessment of ARPA-E,

TRANSFORMING generally lauds ARPA-E’s technical

progress and hands-on approach to
is available online at www.nap.edu/
catalog/24778.  ME

AMERICA
T
he Department of Energy’s
Advanced Research Projects
Agency-Energy is doing its
job by jump-starting research into
transformative energy technologies,
according to a recent report by the
National Academy of Sciences.
Congress modeled ARPA-E on DARPA,
the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency, which funded research that
made possible the Internet, GPS, stealth
aircraft, and drones. In 2009, Congress

THE REPORT LAUDS ARPA-E’S

TECHNICAL PROGRESS AND cylinders
HANDS-ON APPROACH TO FUNDING. escapements
allocated $400 million for ARPA-E to grippers
invest in high-risk, off-the-roadmap linear slides
technologies that otherwise might not rotary actuators
have attracted government or private
funding. Since then, its budgets have
clamps
averaged about $280 million. multi-motion actuators
Right from the start, the maverick switches and sensors
nature of ARPA-E’s mandate to back
transformative rather than incremental ‡/RZHVWFRVWRIRZQHUVKLS
research made some groups suspicious ‡GD\GHOLYHU\RQXQLTXHSURGXFWV
‡)UHHRQOLQHHQJLQHHUVXSSRUW
of its ability to address long-term
‡0$&'LVWULEXWLRQ1HWZRUN
energy problems. Others attacked it ‡:LGHVWUDQJHRIDFWXDWRUVLQWKHLQGXVWU\
for emphasizing renewable and clean ‡0RGXODUVROXWLRQV
energy at the expense of research into
oil, gas, coal, and other conventional To order a catalog and see
more solutions, visit
technologies.
SKGLQFFRPPH
The National Academies found that 
ARPA-E is on track to meet its mandate.
Half of all funded project teams published *°"°Ê œÝʙäÇäÊUÊœÀÌÊ7>ޘi]Ê Ê{Èn™™Ê1-

papers in peer-reviewed journals, one-
quarter received follow-on funding for
TECH BUZZ // VAULT SEPTEMBER 1987 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.26

LOOKING BACK

NO DISASSEMBLY Predicting part failure was as much

art as science when this article was
first published in September 1987.

REQUIRED
By STAMATIOS N. THANOS, PRESIDENT, ROCKLAND SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION
ROCKLEIGH, N.J.

The author argued that, by using digital

analyzers to listen to the frequencies of the noise INSIDE BASEBALL
coming off rotating machines, maintenance While Thanos’s article was being published, Major
schedules could be lengthened greatly. League Baseball was gearing up for a first of its kind
postseason. Baseball had been played in domed sta-
diums since the Houston Astrodome opened in 1965,

A
common sign of impending failure is abnormal vibrations. For but none of the teams playing indoors had captured a
this reason, many plants have instituted programs for monitoring pennant until the 1987 Minnesota Twins, who had be-
machine vibration, either continuously or periodically. In many cases, gun playing in the Metrodome in Minneapolis in 1982.
a monitoring program involves nothing more than determining whether the The fabric roof reflected the sound of the crowd so
overall machine vibration has exceeded a preset level. But since the relation- well that when the Twins reached the World Series
ship between overall vibration level and machine health is uncertain, ma- in October, their fans greeted the visiting St. Louis
chine monitoring as a rule can only indicate, at best, the possible existence Cardinals with a din that exceeded 110 decibels. The
of a problem and the advisability of further investigation. In some cases, raucous home field advantage helped Minnesota win
vibration may increase drastically but only at one or two discrete frequencies, its first World Series.
which fail to affect significantly the overall vibration level. The likelihood that
an impending failure will be overlooked in such a situation is the most serious
liability of this method.
Predictive maintenance, or machine diagnostics, is an attempt to anticipate
failure and determine its probable cause. Thus, it can suggest the magnitude
of a problem and give an indication of how much longer the machine can be
run before failure will occur. The technique involves the use of a real-time
fast Fourier transform (FFT) spectrum analyzer, which measures discrete vi-
bration frequencies to provide a picture of the machine’s vibration signature.
Studying this signature in the context of the machine’s design, and comparing
it with the machine’s operating history, can provide much of the information The sound-reflecting fabric roof of the now-
necessary for making an intelligent decision regarding maintenance. demolished Metrodome. Photo credit: Wikimedia
Diagnostics can be performed from a central location, but since transmis-
sions of hundreds, or even thousands, of vibration signals from multiple
machines are required, on-site diagnostics may be more economical. Today’s and power stations. The threat of inconvenience or
lightweight, portable spectrum analyzers (in some cases battery powered) danger from unexpected failure has also led to the
not only simplify data collection but also permit instant diagnosis at the ma- institution of prediction programs for aircraft (es-
chine itself. And since changes in vibration signals are often more significant pecially helicopter) engines and the drive systems
in diagnostics than absolute readings, it is an asset that past signatures can of ships, and at nuclear power plants.
usually be stored within the instrument. Vibration diagnostics are most commonly ap-
Although unexpected failure is never desirable, the cost of a regular plied to cases where motion is periodic, such as
program to predict machine failure usually can only be justified when a great in rotating machinery. Diagnostics have also been
deal of large, expensive machinery is constantly in use and when interruption effectively used to identify faults in shafts, bearings,
would cause significant financial loss. Facilities where this is the case include gears, and other rotating members in motors, fans,
chemical plants, refineries, pharmaceutical processing plants, paper mills, pumps, turbines, and power transmissions. ME
Join us for
this free WEBINAR SERIES
webinar
Mechanical Contact Modeling with
COMSOL Multiphysics®
Date: Sept. 28th, 2017, 2 pm EDT
Register today at: https://goo.gl/T4xUj7

If you are interested in mechanical contact

analysis, then tune into this webinar with
Dr. Nagi Elabbasi from Veryst Engineering.
In this webinar, Nagi will show how to set up
and solve a wide range of mechanical contact
problems using COMSOL Multiphysics®. He
will discuss structural-only contact analyses
involving friction, bolts, impact, adhesion
and mechanical wear. Nagi will also show
multiphysics contact analyses involving fluid
flow, heat transfer, and electric fields. There
will be a live demonstration of an example
involving multiphysics contact with fluid flow in a
heart valve.
You can ask questions at the end of the
webinar during the Q&A session.

Fluid-structure interaction of a heart valve, including contact modeling.

SPEAKERS: MODERATOR:
DR. NAGI ELABBASI VALERIO MARRA CHITRA SETHI
Principal Engineer Marketing Managing Editor
Veryst Engineering Director Mechanical
COMSOL Engineering

Register today at: https://goo.gl/T4xUj7

TECH BUZZ || TRENDING

BY THE NUMBERS:
KEEPING A LID
ON RESOURCE E
conomies that depend on resource
extraction are known for their wild swings.
As night follows day, the boom eventually
leads to a difficult bust.

PRICES Resource-rich countries around the world saw

a major run-up in commodity prices starting
around 2003, a consequence of China’s breakneck
industrialization. Unlike past booms that were
focused on a specific resource—such as the Texas

Automation affects more than oil boom of the 1970s—the global commodities
supercycle (as it has been called) was broad-

just manufacturing jobs. based, raising the prices not just of fuels such as
oil and coal, but also iron ore, copper, and other
economically important materials. That boom
Sales of energy and other survived the Great Recession, but eventually
crashed in 2015.
commodities are being held in Time for extraction economies to dust
themselves off and prepare for a new boom?
check by new technology. Not according to a report released earlier this

TECHNOLOGY COULD UNLOCK UP TO $400 BILLION

IN ANNUAL VALUE FOR RESOURCE PRODUCERS BY 2035
COST REDUCTION POTENTIAL IN 20351 POTENTIAL ANNUAL SAVINGS IN 2035
% $ billion, 2015

Oil2 21-28 170-220

Natural gas2 16-20 50-70

Coal 9-15 20-40 Moderate case

Technology
Iron Ore 24-38 20-30 acceleration case

Copper 20-29 20-30

TOTAL 290–390

1
Difference between total cost per output unit (tonne, barrel) in 2035 and 2015. 2Only upstream operations considered.
SOURCE: MCKINSEY GLOBAL INSTITUTE ANALYSIS Note: Numbers may not sum due to rounding.
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.29

ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY
IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
COULD INCREASE BY
40 TO 70%
IN 2035
IMAGE: NOPPARAT ANGCHAKAN/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

year by the McKinsey Global Institute. The become increasingly cost-competitive with fossil
supercycle years masked a number of important fuels, reducing the need for oil, gas, and coal
technological and economic trends, the report production.
says, and resource-dependent economies may Eventually, MGI sees resource companies taking
get squeezed in the coming decades. advantage of some of the same automation and
While the run-up in energy and metals prices data technologies that are driving down resource
during the supercycle boosted profits for resource consumption to increase their own productivity,
companies, costs of extraction were also rising. resulting in between $290 billion and $390 billion
According to MGI, the lifting cost for the major oil in annual production cost reductions.
companies jumped from $8 a barrel in 2004 to “As a result of lower energy intensity and
more than $28 in 2014, and mining productivity fell technological advances that improve efficiency,
30 percent over the same period. energy productivity in the global economy could
Meanwhile, the MGI report, “Beyond the increase by 40 to 70 percent in 2035,” the report
Supercycle: How technology is reshaping states.
resources,” says that technological advances That increase in economic output won’t be
will make economies less resource dependent distributed evenly. If MGI is right about the effects
than ever. Analytics and automation will optimize of new technology, the recent resource crash may
energy and material use in manufacturing, and leave extraction-based economies bent out of
the widespread adoption of hybrid and electric shape for a long time. ME
vehicles will reduce oil consumption. At the
same time, solar and wind power are expected to JEFFREY WINTERS
Electrofuels
One way to store excess renewable
electricity is to convert it to hydrogen, methane, or ammonia.

By F. Todd Davidson, Kazunori Nagasawa, and Michael E. Webber

n a 1961 speech to Congress, President John F. Kennedy famously dedicated the United

I States to putting a man on the moon within the decade. In a somewhat less famous
address to Congress, President George W. Bush proposed dedicating the nation to
perfecting a new fueling paradigm for American automobiles. “With a new national
commitment,” Bush declared, “our scientists and engineers will overcome obstacles to
taking these cars from laboratory to showroom, so that the first car driven by a child born
today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free.”
That child, born in January 2003, is 14 ½ years from natural gas or coal-fired power plants to
old and will soon be taking drivers ed. Unless she split water into oxygen and hydrogen. Add to that
has access to one of the rare fuel-cell powered the difficulty of storing hydrogen gas, and the
vehicles, her first car definitely will not be fueled enthusiasm for the hydrogen economy began to
by hydrogen. wane.
While the idea of a hydrogen- That doesn’t mean that hydrogen can’t be
based economy got a lot of attention the means to a cleaner economy,
during the first years of the
We can make fuels one based on renewable energy.
George W. Bush administration, some Hydrogen can be produced through
important details were left out. For one, from electricity in a electrolysis using electricity
even though hydrogen is the simplest way that addresses from wind turbines, solar cells,
and most common element, very little geothermal, or hydroelectricity,
of it is found in nature in the form of
the problem of eliminating carbon emissions entirely
hydrogen gas. Instead, hydrogen gas intermittency at the point of production. The
must be extracted from other molecules confronting hydrogen can be reacted with other
like water or produced through elements to produce synthetic fuels
processes that convert energy from a renewable power that can be more easily transported
different form to hydrogen fuel and on the electric grid. and stored. Because these fuels are, in
these have associated losses. essence, a way of storing the energy
At the same time, while hydrogen was content of electricity from renewable
touted as a clean fuel, since water vapor is its only sources, they are called electrofuels.
combustion product, critics and energy analysts These fuels have the potential to reshape the
complained that its production processes were not national energy landscape. We have enough
clean. Almost all the hydrogen produced at that renewable power to produce electrofuels at
time was made from fossil fuel, either directly as significant volumes, which would displace
a result of the combination of methane and steam, conventional carbon-emitting fuels from finite
or indirectly via electrolysis using electricity sources such as gasoline and diesel. What’s more,
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.31

RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY

making low-carbon, energy-dense fuels from

electricity can be done in a way that helps
address the problem of intermittency that
confronts efforts to increase the amount of
renewable power on the electric grid.
WATER
When it comes to powering vehicles, the
energy density of the fuel or battery is a
critical consideration. The perfect energy
storage medium would have high volumetric
energy density (require little storage space),
high gravimetric energy density (would not
weigh much), and produce no carbon dioxide
when used. By some measures, hydrogen is
fantastic: it produces no CO2 when burned,
and its gravimetric energy density, 120 MJ/
kg, is the highest of any liquid or gaseous fuel.
Unfortunately, hydrogen remains a gas under all
but the most extreme conditions, which means
it requires a lot of volume to store the fuel.
Compressing hydrogen to 69 MPa (10,000 psi)
or liquefying it at -253 °C (-424 °F) can improve CARBON DIOXIDE
its volumetric energy density, but at the cost of
complicating the handling of the fuel.
To improve volumetric energy density under
standard conditions, we need to look to heavier
chemical structures that have the advantage
of being liquid at standard room temperatures
and pressures. Gasoline’s chemical structure,
for instance, can be approximated with seven
carbon atoms and seventeen hydrogen atoms
(C7H17), yielding an energy-dense liquid. A
popular car like the Toyota Corolla can travel RENEWABLE METHANE
almost 400 miles on a single tank of gas; the
gasoline in that 13-gallon tank weighs only 82
pounds. That is why gasoline and diesel are so
 We can start with
attractive for transportation—and why they are renewable electricity—is renewable, carbon-
hard to replace with electricity or alternative fuels based on an old idea. The
such as ethanol. For the electric-powered Chevy production of hydrogen
free electricity
Bolt to travel the same distance as a fully fueled from electricity was from wind and
Corolla, it would need a fully charged battery pack first posited to a general solar installations
weighing nearly 2,000 pounds and occupying the audience by Jules
space of 150 gallons. Verne in his 1874 novel,
and produce an
Unfortunately, as more and more carbon atoms Mysterious Island. array of liquid and
are included in a chemical chain, the fuel gets Renewable hydrogen gaseous fuels.
heavier and fewer hydrogen atoms are available suffers from the same
to combust with oxygen per unit mass of fuel. volumetric energy
Instead, the oxygen combines with the carbon density and handling disadvantages as hydrogen
atoms, which not only releases much less energy made from fossil fuels. However, hydrogen
than burning hydrogen, but also produces carbon can be mixed directly into existing natural gas
dioxide. This dynamic can be observed by pipelines up to a concentration of 10 percent,
comparing the volumetric and gravimetric enabling renewable hydrogen to utilize existing
energy density, and infrastructure for transmission and distribution.
the subsequent carbon Even more conveniently, it can also be used
Hydrogen can be dioxide emissions of as a precursor for manufacturing other fuels.
mixed directly into combusting different Hydrogen and carbon dioxide can be fed into a
hydrocarbon fuels. reaction chamber where, through the Sabatier
existing natural (See chart on page 35.) process, a catalyst such as nickel can yield water
gas pipelines, Methane—with one and methane gas fuel. The source of carbon
enabling renewable carbon atom and four dioxide could either be from the ambient air or
hydrogen atoms—has from a concentrated source such as carbon capture
hydrogen to the highest gravimetric at the facility where the methane is eventually
utilize existing energy density and the burned. Either way, this electrofuel—essentially
lowest carbon dioxide renewable natural gas—produces virtually no net
infrastructure. carbon emissions, while being able to tap into the
emissions per unit of
energy released during existing natural gas infrastructure. This concept is
combustion, but it also has the lowest volumetric being piloted at industrial scale in Europe through
energy density due to its gaseous nature at a scheme marketed as “Power-to-Gas.”
standard conditions. As more carbon atoms are Another potential electrofuel is ammonia
attached to a hydrocarbon chain the volumetric produced using the Haber-Bosch process, an
energy density rises but the gravimetric energy exothermic reaction of hydrogen and atmospheric
density begins to decline and the carbon dioxide nitrogen using a metallic catalyst. The Haber-
emissions begin to rise. Bosch process is already widely used in industrial
While no perfect fuel exists, electrofuels made production of nitrogen-based fertilizers, but
from renewable electricity are a good compromise. typically reforms methane with steam to produce
They have the lowest emissions of the gaseous and sufficient hydrogen for the ammonia reaction.
liquid options, and have reasonable energy density. To make ammonia an electrofuel, the hydrogen
The simplest electrofuel—hydrogen made from required for the reaction could be produced via
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.33

RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY

solar- or wind-powered electrolysis, and the rest

of the process could be powered by renewable
energy sources, avoiding the need to extract
fossil reserves of methane. The production
of renewable ammonia provides an effective
energy carrier for transporting hydrogen—
ammonia can be liquefied at a temperature of
-33 °C (-28 °F), significantly warmer and easier
to achieve compared to the -253 °C (-423 °F)
required to liquefy hydrogen.
These simple chemical pathways allow us to
start with renewable, carbon-free electricity
WATER
from wind and solar installations and produce
an array of liquid and gaseous fuels that can be
used for future power generation, transportation
needs, or industrial processes.

o engineers, it’s not enough for a process

T to work. We must know that it can work at

scale. How much electrofuel—renewable
hydrogen, renewable methane, and
renewable ammonia—could the United States
produce in a year?
According to the U.S. Energy Information
Administration, the United States produced
609 billion kWh of renewable electricity in
2016. If instead of feeding that electricity to
the grid, it was directed to the production of NITROGEN
renewable fuels using electrolyzers performing
with 75 percent efficiency, then it could produce
12 billion kg of hydrogen. That renewable
hydrogen could in turn produce either 19 billion
kg of methane or 52 billion kg of ammonia. To
put those amounts in perspective, the United
States produced approximately 9 billion kg of
hydrogen, 600 billion kg of natural gas, and 9
billion kg of ammonia in 2016.
On the basis of energy, the production of 12
billion kg of hydrogen would be the equivalent RENEWABLE AMMONIA
of 11.5 billion gallons of gasoline, approximately
8 percent of annual gasoline consumption
in the United States, a nontrivial amount. As
COMPARISON OF FUEL CHEMICAL REACTION
Chemical reaction Energy required to form the fuels
Fuel to form electrofuels [kJ of energy per mole of fuel]
RENEWABLE Hydrogen can be produced using
HYDROGEN 2H20 + e- → 2H2+ O2 285.8 renewable electricity (denoted
as e-) as an input. Hydrogen is
RENEWABLE both a fuel and an input for the
METHANE CO2 +4H2 → CH4 + 2H20 + heat -164.0 exothermic, catalyst-induced
reactions to make methane and
RENEWABLE ammonia, hence all three are
AMMONIA N2 + 3H2 → 2NH3 + heat -45.8 rightly called electrofuels.

renewable power sources continue to grow, the The rise of wind and solar has helped reduce
technical potential for production of renewable emissions and wholesale electricity costs
fuels will continue to rise. from the power sector. But, because wind and
Challenges do exist for utilizing renewable sunshine change according to a mix of climatic,
electrofuels. Electrolysis on this scale would meteorological, and astronomical factors, they
require a sustainable supply of purified water. introduce a lot of variable supply into the grid.
This challenge can be technically overcome This variability is different than the conventional
with desalination, but the resulting integrated mindset of dispatchable power plants such as
desalination and electrolysis system will require those fueled by nuclear, coal, and natural gas,
additional capital and supply of renewable energy. and is a technical challenge for grid managers.
Ammonia also faces challenges with safely As additional renewable electricity is installed
storing, transporting, in coming years, countries might face increasing
and handling the fuel hurdles with integrating these intermittent energy
Storing excess due to its corrosive and supplies with the grid.
One way to solve the variability challenge
energy in chemical hazardous nature. If the is through grid-scale energy storage. Despite
challenges of ammonia
bonds in the form of are too significant, significant effort, electrochemical batteries still
hydrogen, methane, alternative synthetic fuels face technical and economic challenges to achieve
could be considered that grid-scale storage. Pumped hydro storage and
or ammonia is an provide similar hydrogen compressed air energy storage can provide long
effective way to carrier capability. duration, large capacity storage but deployment of
achieve long-term, While the potential to those systems are dependent on finding the right
displace conventional, geography or geology.
grid-scale storage. nonrenewable, carbon- Storing excess energy in chemical bonds in
emitting fuels is the form of hydrogen, methane, or ammonia is
appealing, the production of electrofuels could an effective way to achieve long-term, grid-scale
also help us manage the grid in the face of more storage. Instead of storing a surplus of electricity
variability. That gives us one more reason to in batteries to be used later, we can convert that
consider them a solution to several problems electricity into energy-dense liquids and gases.
simultaneously. Doing so has the potential to be simpler and
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.35

cheaper while also helping to decarbonize the should start to give electrofuels the attention
transportation sector. And that means fabricators they deserve. There are many tax credits or
of the electrofuels can get paid twice: once for subsidies for renewable or low-carbon sources of
stabilizing the electric grid, and again when they electricity such as wind, solar, geothermal, and
sell the fuels. nuclear, but electrofuels are not yet prominent in
the discussion. And, while states like California
he production of synthetic fuels is an have mandates for energy storage, stakeholders

T opportunity to make our energy system

cleaner and more reliable. This process
would solve several problems at once:
stabilizing intermittent electricity supply while
creating renewable fuels for use in power
often ignore the option of electrofuels despite
the potential for them to be a more useful and
affordable competitor to batteries.
It may be some time before it becomes common
for drivers to get behind the wheel of a hydrogen-
generation, transportation, and industry. powered car, as President Bush called for. But
The large-scale introduction of wind and solar electrofuels may provide a unique solution to a
power now makes the production of renewable number of challenges. And it’s time our markets
fuels at least technically feasible. Policymakers and policies recognize that possibility. ME

COMPARISON OF VOLUMETRIC AND GRAVIMETRIC ENERGY DENSITY OF FUELS

A comparison of the volumetric and

gravimetric energy density of various
fuels (using lower heating value).
Hydrocarbon fuels are shown in gray
tones corresponding to their carbon
emissions from combustion. Candidate
electrofuels are underlined. Compressed
gases and liquefied fuels are denoted
with a prefix of C and L; for instance,
compressed gaseous hydrogen is CGH2
and liquefied ammonia is LNH3.

F. TODD DAVIDSON is a research associate in the Energy Institute and the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas at Austin. He received
a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. KAZUNORI NAGASAWA is a doctoral student in the department of
mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, researching the optimization of integrated renewable and gaseous systems for
residential and grid applications. MICHAEL E. WEBBER is deputy director of the Energy Institute, co-director of the Clean Energy Incubator,
and professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. His book, Thirst for Power: Energy, Water and Human Survival, was
published by Yale University Press in 2016. Photographic images courtesy: Molgreen, Jenny Downing, Señor Codo, Iain Watson, Smaack, José Manuel
Suárez, Bildagentur Zoonar GmbH/Shutterstock.com, and Ben Ostrowsky.
Re-Engineering
HOUSTON
A city built for the last century
grapples with erecting
defenses against the biggest
storms of this one.

BY BRIDGET MINTZ TESTA

 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.37

The Bolivar Peninsula (shown above in a satel-

lite image) was virtually wiped clean by the
storm surge of Hurricane Ike in 2008 (inset
left). Engineers are now designing barriers
that would protect Houston and other cities on
Galveston Bay from future storms.
Image: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

T
he Bolivar Peninsula stretches across hurricane. The Bolivar Peninsula, taking
the mouth of Galveston Bay like a the brunt of the storm, was inundated with
forearm raised to ward off a blow. water between 12 and 16 feet high. Almost
Indeed, that is more or less its func- every structure on the Peninsula was de-
tion. The peninsula and Galveston Island to stroyed by the storm surge; aerial photos in
the south separate the bay and the low- the storm’s aftermath showed a landscape
lying land to the northwest from the warm stripped down to the sand.
waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the hurri- The City of Galveston’s south side, which
canes that periodically blow up there. faces the Gulf and has a 17-foot-high,
As storm barriers go, it leaves a bit to be 10-mile-long seawall, suffered minor
desired—the highest ground on the penin- damage. Yet water surged around the
sula rarely breaks 10 feet above sea level— seawall and flooded the north side, which
and in September 2008, it was tested. Hur- fronts on Galveston Bay and has no seawall
ricane Ike made its final landfall between or other protection.
Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula as The winds from Ike were strong enough to
a strong Category 2 storm, with a 15-foot- blow out the windows of high-rises in Hous-
high surge to the east of the hurricane’s ton, about 50 miles inland, but the Bolivar
center equal to that of a typical Category 3 Peninsula and Galveston Island blunted the
 the storm defenses, a far-ranging infrastructure
project that will ultimately cost billions of dol-
lars. Now, nine years later, they are still debating,
exactly, will be done and who, exactly, will pay
the bill.

Where to Draw the Line

Houston is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in
the United States and has an outsized impact on
The Port of
Houston is the 60 million to 90 million the U.S. economy. More than 90 percent of U.S.
offshore oil and gas production takes place in the
second-largest
Texas Gulf Coast area, and the Houston region
in the U.S.
and one piece gallons of crude oil contains the largest concentration of energy, pet-
of Houston's
rochemical, and refining industries in the United
nationally
important and/or hazardous States. Houston is home to 25 percent of the coun-
infrastructure. try’s petroleum refining capability, 40 percent of
Photo: Visit Houston
materials could be released. the nation’s capacity for downstream chemical
production, and the fastest-growing liquefied
—Jim Blackburn, natural gas industry in the nation.
Rice University The region is important beyond energy, too.
One-third of the United States seafood harvest is
taken from the Texas coast, and the NASA John-
son Space Center—the home of Space Station Mis-
storm surge enough to protect the city’s low-lying sion Control—is located there. The area includes
infrastructure. Experts caution that it wouldn’t the Port of Houston, which ranks second in the
have taken much in the way of bad luck—a some- nation, Beaumont’s port, which ranks fourth, and
what stronger storm or one that hit slightly further Texas City’s port, which ranks tenth.
to the west—to have inundated the 52-mile-long With so much activity in Houston—and with so
Houston Ship Channel (HSC) and several thou- much of that activity vulnerable to storm surg-
sand cylindrical storage tanks along the HSC and es—regional planners and government officials
at the Port of Houston. wanted to know exactly how much of an upgrade
Those tanks would be exposed to both lifting the region’s coastal defenses needed. That re-
forces that could float them off their bases, spilling quired advanced fluid dynamics models and time
whatever they contain, and horizontal crushing on state-of-the-art supercomputers.
forces that could split the tanks open. “The model utilizes the latitude, longitude, and
“If you leave the Houston Ship Channel unpro- the elevation of the ground, both above and below
tected, 60 million to 90 million gallons of crude the water,” said SSPEED Center project manager
oil and/or hazardous materials could be released,” Larry Dunbar. The model encompasses thousands
said Jim Blackburn, co-director of the Severe of square miles of the Gulf of Mexico, Dunbar
Storm Prediction, Education, and Evacuation from said, and “there are a couple of million points in
Disasters (SSPEED) Center, located at the Rice the model to represent all the ground.”
University. It could be the worst environmental The model can simulate normal tides based on
crisis in U.S. history, affecting Galveston Bay, other the phase of the moon and wind direction, show-
connecting bays in the area, and the Gulf. There’s ing how the water flows in and out of the complex
no telling how long recovery would take or if it geography of the bay, both above the surface and
would even be possible. below. But when the modelers want to run a storm
Ike showed Houston just how vulnerable it is surge scenario, they start by placing a hurricane-
to a large storm. Leaders of the city and the sur- force wind field in the model, along with a storm
rounding area realized they needed to re-engineer track, the air pressure in the storm’s eye, and the
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.39

hurricane’s overall size. “The model calculates that would protect more of the region. One would
how high the water gets as a result of a wall of place a barrier and gate across the middle of
water pushed by the wind and the movement of Galveston Bay—a mid-bay gate concept—and con-
the storm,” Dunbar said. nect to some existing levees. That would protect
It just takes a couple of hours to run SSPEED's the northwest part of the bay but still leave many
model on the supercomputer at the University of towns exposed. Another concept would build a
Texas in Austin, but because there’s a queue for floodgate across Bolivar Roads, the two-mile gap
supercomputer time, it takes about 24 hours to between Galveston and the Bolivar Peninsula,
get results back. Other groups studying Houston’s connecting coastal barriers facing the Gulf itself
vulnerability to storms are using other models on and protecting the lower bay. The mid-bay gate,
different supercomputers, and comparing calcula- like the upper-bay gate, would cost about $2.8
tion results with each other to ensure they get billion, whereas the lower-bay gate’s preliminary
the same answers from the same data from their cost estimate is about $7.6 billion.
respective models. “At Bolivar Roads, there is a 2-mile section of
For each set of starting parameters, the models open water between the Peninsula and Galveston
calculate how high the water gets in Galveston Island,” Dunbar said. “There we would have a nav-
Bay and other locations. When you know how igation gate that is about 850 feet wide—the width
high the water rises, then you know how high a of the Ship Channel—and about 60 feet deep that
barrier must be built to protect against it. The could close off the navigation channel. In addition,
so-called 100-year storm, which has a 1 percent there would be a series of vertical environmental
chance of occurring in any given year, would gates that can lift up out of the water. When a hur-
require barriers as high as 15 feet. Rarer storms ricane comes, you would close all of the gates.”
would overtop that, however, and expected sea SSPEED now leans toward a multiple barrier
level rise throughout this century would make system combining the mid-bay and lower-bay gate
storm surges relatively higher decades from now. concepts. The combination plan would provide
With those simulation results and the fresh some protection to the towns along Galveston
memories of Ike, as well as such storms as Katrina Bay’s coast, while providing additional protection
and Sandy, engineers and architects started plan- to the HSC and its critical infrastructure, as well
ning out what would be needed to protect the
Houston area from inundation.
The first proposal that attempted to address
storm surge, put forth in 2014 by the SSPEED
Center, was a levee system with a floodgate at the
If the storm surge gets into The storm
surge from
point where the Houston Ship Channel meets
Galveston Bay. This upper-bay gate concept was
Galveston Bay, you'Ll have Hurricane
Ike destroyed
designed with the sole intent of protecting the almost every
HSC, and it quickly became obvious to everyone winners and losers. structure on
the Bolivar
that while any town inside the project’s levees
Peninsula.
would be protected from storm surge when its —Bill Merrell,
Photo: Jocelyn
floodgate closed, anyone outside the gate would Texas A&M University at Galveston Augustino/FEMA

be utterly exposed.
That did not sit well in the many small towns
dotting the coast around Galveston Bay. The
SSPEED Center still considers the Upper-Bay
Gate concept to be feasible for protecting the
HSC, but it would be a hard project to build by
itself, considering the opposition to it. Estimates
of its cost are about $2.8 billion.
The SSPEED Center began expanding its storm
surge study and came up with other concepts
as to the heavily developed west side of the bay. similar extensive coastal barriers, Merrell calls his
That sort of staged defense system leaves a proposal the “Ike Dike.”
bad taste in some people’s mouths. “If the storm Another group, the sprawling Gulf Coast Com-
surge gets into Galveston Bay, you’ll have winners munity Protection and Recovery District, which
and losers,” said Bill Merrell, professor of marine grew out of a commission studying the aftermath
sciences at the Texas A&M University at Galves- of Hurricane Ike, released a report in June 2016
ton, director of the Center for Texas Beaches and recommending a coastal spine similar to the Ike
Shores, and chairman and principal scientist of Dike protecting Houston and the counties on
the Institute for Oceans and Coasts. either side of Galveston Bay, plus a new levee en-
Merrell has instead proposed a 60-mile barrier circling the city of Galveston. For counties further
system along the entire stretch of the Bolivar Pen- out, the GCCPRD endorsed building new conven-
insula and Galveston Island. This system would tional levees.
cost $6 billion to $10 billion. “We would rework the ends of the new levees
The beaches in the area could be used as foun- to seamlessly join the ends of existing levees,”
dations, and the barriers that make up the levee said GCCPRD’s Chris Sallese, who was formerly
system would have hard cores covered with beach Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
sand. The result would be a series of fortified sand in Galveston. “When you build a levee, you’re
dunes—a coastal spine 17-feet high—that keeps keeping water in, but then you have rain that falls
the storm surge out of Galveston Bay, protecting from the sky and can’t get out, so you have to have
not only the high-value infrastructure along the pump stations to pump that water out and keep
Houston Ship Channel but also the small towns the levees from flooding.” The costs, according to
along the bay shore. Sallese, would be about $111 million for the pump
The coastal spine would place a swing-type station, and around $816 million for the levees.
navigation gate across Bolivar Roads, and it would
also place environmental gates—smaller, vertical-
lift devices—at the smaller San Luis Pass (which How High is High Enough?
is at the southwest tip of Galveston Island). Both While it’s hoped that the federal government
the navigation gate and the environmental gates would help provide funds for Houston’s storm
would remain open most of the time to allow surge protection, much as it did for Louisiana after
water to flow throughout the bay, thus protecting Katrina, it’s also expected that local sales taxes
the bay’s delicate ecology. When all are closed, the would pay for much of the construction. “If you
gates would provide a continuous barrier against took storm surge protection construction from
storm surge getting into the bay. Merrell says that Houston down to Galveston, that could be five bil-
the barrier system could be built using existing, lion to eight billion dollars, and it could be funded
proven technology developed in the Netherlands. by a one-penny sales tax,” said Stephen Costello,
“It shortens and strengthens the coast, and it an expert in Houston’s need for storm surge
allows storm surge to be stopped at the coast,” protection. He works for the Houston Mayor’s
Merrell said. Office. “The only entities in Texas that can levy
As a nod toward the Dutch, who have built sales taxes are cities, towns, and the state,” Costello
said. “Houston’s sales tax is already spoken for. We
could let the voters decide—we can fund the work
with a one-cent state sales tax or let local cities
we can fund the work with a and towns increase their sales taxes by one cent,"
he added.
one-cent state sales tax. Other flood prevention methods put the onus
on individual property owners. For instance,
—Stephen Costello, buildings on or near the coast in the Houston-
Galveston area must be elevated to keep them safe
Houston Mayor’s Office
from flooding. No new construction can occur
near the coast that doesn’t include elevation.
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.41

In addition to its various floodgate concepts, the

SSPEED Center at Rice also has proposed a non-
structural alternative or supplement. The Texas
Coastal Exchange would involve restoring the na-
tive coastal prairie and marsh to withstand hurri-
cane storm surge. The rising water simply remains
in the prairie or marsh, and after the storm has
passed, the water flows back into Galveston Bay.
The economic concept behind the Exchange
is “ecological service,” which puts a dollar value
on the natural benefits of the land. “We would
restore the coastal prairie and develop income for
the land owners,” said SSPEED's co-director Jim
Blackburn. “We must provide enough income to
water surged around The maximum
storm surge
of Hurricane
landowners so they don’t build on the land.”
One concept being looked at is creating a the seawall and flooded Ike. Houston
and its critical
carbon market that would pay landowners for infrastructure
the carbon dioxide that a marsh pulls out of the
air and locks in the soil. “It’s a partial solution
the north side, which are at the top
left of the map.
A bigger storm
to climate change,” Blackburn said. “It’s also the
commodity most likely to generate significant
fronts on Galveston Bay. tracking a bit to
the west would
income for landowners. The projected value of have inundated
the Port of
carbon dioxide is $40 to $60 per ton.” Houston.
Up to three tons per acre can be removed by “The industrial complexes at the HSC are gener- Image: NOAA
landowners, integrating ecology and economy. ally protected to about 15 feet, which is equivalent
“We use ecosystems and economics instead of to a 100-year storm. But 200-year or 500-year
building technological systems for removing car- events are not protected by the 15-foot barrier.”
bon. The natural systems do it naturally,” Black- SSPEED’s mid-bay barrier would place a
burn said. 25-foot-high barrier and gate across Galveston
Using natural ecological systems that pay the Bay to protect against the 200-year or even
landowners addresses several issues: sea level rise, 500-year events.
carbon reduction, and climate change. “We would “It would be ludicrous to build a $10 billion bar-
not use regulations; instead, we’d use a market sys- rier and then have a Category 3 or 4 storm come
tem,” Blackburn said. “In many parts of the world, and destroy the HSC,” Dunbar said.
they use regulations. That won’t work in Texas. Figuring out which approach is the right one
The market system is a much better fit for Texas.” may not even be the right question to ask. “When
Of course, getting people to pay for soft defens- you include sea level rise, it gets more compli-
es rather than high walls may be difficult, too. The cated,” Dunbar said. “Think dual barrier system—
wall-builders don’t even agree among themselves multiple lines of defense.”
as to how high is high enough. That’s what the Netherlands does to protect
“The federal government will typically cost- itself from sea level rise and storm surge. Multiple
share up to the 100-year point,” Sallese said. “It lines of defense would work for Houston and
will cost-share for more than the 100-year storm, Galveston Bay, too. The hard part is reaching an
even up to the 500-year storm, but you have to agreement on where to draw those lines of de-
prove the benefits.” fense and then finding the money to build them.
That extra protection is worth it, others say, The clock is ticking. It’s been nine years since
given the critical infrastructure built along the Ike, and Houston could face another hurricane at
Houston Ship Channel. “We don’t want nuclear any time. ME
plants to flood, so they are designed to be pro-
tected from a one in a million event,” Dunbar said. BRIDGET MINTZ TESTA is a freelance writer based in Houston.
Billy Cohn
helps to break
ground on the
new Johnson &
Johnson Center
for Device
Innovation
Building at the
Texas Medical
Center in
Houston.
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.43

R E BHEART
EL
How Billy Cohn’s
lifelong obsession
with the artificial heart
spawned a prolific
career as a medical
device innovator.

n the video, a team of men in scrubs surround a

I young, caramel-colored calf as it walks tentatively

forward on a treadmill, its attention fixed on a
handful of greens just beyond its nose. The calf,
sinewy and fit, quickly ups his stride, stretching his
mouth toward the tempting treat.
“Just look at that,” said Billy Cohn, sketching out the
calf's musculature with his finger to emphasize the
beast’s health, acting more like a seasoned judge of 4-H
livestock competitions than the distinguished cardiac
surgeon and medical device inventor that he is.
“That’s a goddamn healthy looking cow,” he
said. “You’d never know that’s an animal with no
heartbeat, no pulse.”
Cohn’s right—it is a healthy looking animal. Shiny and
sleek, with warm, expressive eyes and a strong gait, you
might never know that it had its heart replaced with a
BiVACOR artificial heart three months earlier.
“Totally normal growth. His hair grew back really
fast. No problems whatsoever. And now his cardiac
output is 14 liters a minute,” Cohn explained. “It's just

BY KAYT SUKEL
 “I know it seems like developing a someone just seemed crazy,” he said. “I took that
article to school with me, I was so excited. I was
mechanical heart should be really doable. showing it to someone when the teacher caught
The heart is just a pump, after all. me and took it away. But when she saw what it
was, she asked me to get up and say something
Not much to it.”
about it to the class. Which, I, of course, did,”
Cohn said.
That began Cohn’s self-stated “obsession” with
a pristine animal, put on 72 pounds of lean the artificial heart. It is an invention that he has
muscle in the last few months. followed since childhood—and one he intends to
“It’s just beautiful.” have ready for patients within the next few years.
It would be easy to assume that Cohn is “I know it seems like developing a mechanical
ascribing such beauty to the calf, which does heart should be really doable,” he said. “The
indeed look like a serious blue ribbon contender. heart is just a pump, after all. Not much to it. But
But Cohn is actually referring to the BiVACOR we just hadn’t gotten there with the right design.
heart, which he calls the first “practical artificial I was convinced I was born in the wrong era.
heart on the planet.” A 56-year-old medical I figured it would be developed while I was in
doctor with dozens of patents for medical high school or college and I’d have nothing to do
devices under his name, Cohn has a fine with it.”
appreciation for an exquisite, well-designed As it turns out, he could not have been more
machine. wrong.
“Magnetically levitated, no mechanical One could argue that Cohn was destined to
friction or wear, it’s the best design we’ve seen,” play a part in the makings of the mechanical
he said, his voice exhilarated to a tone of boyish heart. When he moved to Houston as a toddler
wonder. “After decades of work on an artificial in the early 1960s, the sleepy Texas backwater
heart, we’re on the four-yard line and ready to was transforming itself into a place for progress
make that touchdown.” and innovation. In 1961, NASA selected the city
He pauses and takes a deep breath. “It’s about for its manned flight center. Four years later,
goddamn time.” the very first domed stadium constructed in the
United States, the Astrodome, opened to acclaim
MARCHING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT as the “eighth wonder of the world.” Houston
was also the domicile of the Texas Medical
Cohn distinctly remembers when he heard Center, the largest medical center in the world,
about the world’s first artificial heart. where Cooley and Michael DeBakey earned
It was 1969, and today’s preeminent cardiac their reputations as the finest cardiac specialists
surgeon was a precocious—and often unruly— in the world.
grade-schooler. His mother, always clipping “My Mom used to drive me down by the Medi-
articles to inspire him and his siblings, showed cal Center,” he said. “She’d tell me, ‘That’s where
him a write-up about the mechanical heart Dr. DeBakey and Dr. Cooley work.’ And it made a
that surgeon Denton Cooley had just placed huge impression on me. Between the astronauts,
inside Haskell Karp, a man waiting for a heart the Astrodome, and these heart surgeons, it re-
transplant. As he read the piece, Cohn was ally seemed like anything was possible.”
transfixed by the description of the bellows-like If anyone asked what he wanted to do when
device made of polyester and polyurethane. he grew up, Cohn would alternate between
“It absolutely fascinated me. I mean, the heart surgeon and astronaut—though he never
idea that you could put a mechanical heart in thought either was a “remote possibility.” Yet
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.45

he kept dreaming of artificial hearts, resolutely College. Cohn fell in love with the early punk Cohn may feel
incorporating drawings of pneumatic artificial rock vibe at Oberlin. It spoke to his rebel nature. most at home
in his garage
heart valves in the homemade cards he gave to Yet Space City and that telltale artificial heart workshop,
his mother over the years. continued to beckon. After two years and a where he glues,
Cohn also grew up a tinkerer. Egged on by his summer job as a hospital orderly, the possibility solders, bends,
older brother, John, now an IBM Fellow, the boys of becoming a heart surgeon didn’t seem quite and drills new
medical device
built homemade gadgets, rocket engines, and a as remote as before—especially when compared prototypes made
variety of incendiary devices in the garage. to trying to build a career as a professional from kitchen
“It’s amazing we still have our eyes and musician. implements and
fingers,” Cohn said, a wide smile breaking across “I loved music—I still love music—it’s great spare parts.
his face. “I just love tinkering. I love getting fun,” he said. “When I grew up, I didn’t think that
Super Glue all over me, the smell of burning just anybody could decide to be a heart surgeon
metal chips. There’s nothing like it.” and just do it.
Along with his appetite for tinkering, Cohn “But after being in school for a while and
also cultivated a passion for trombone and bass talking to doctors, I realized reaching a goal is
guitar. By the time he graduated high school, about following the steps and making the kind
despite the advances being made on the Jarvik of decisions that lead you closer to your goal
artificial heart—the greatest mechanical heart of instead of away from it. Eighty percent of life is
its time—he decided to study music at Oberlin showing up, right? I decided I wanted to show
 90 patents. This includes the 1997 Cohn Cardiac
Stabilizer, a device he invented that helps
surgeons perform coronary bypass surgeries
while a patient’s heart is still beating.
Twenty years ago, patients undergoing bypass
surgery needed to be hooked up to a heart-lung
machine that pumped blood so physicians could
still the heart for surgery. However, sometimes
the pump caused infections and blood clots.
Johns Hopkins researchers solved that
problem with a salad tongs-like device that
surgeons inserted into the chest through a small
incision. It enabled them to work on a slowed but
still beating heart, but Cohn found it challenging
to stitch the bypass grafts securely to the heart.
The BiVACOR up and become a surgeon,” he said. He thought he could do better, and bought out
heart is a Cohn switched majors, graduated with a the local supermarket’s stock of metal soup la-
rotary pump
bachelor’s degree in biology, and returned to dles. After twisting them into a variety of angles,
with a single
moving part that Houston to attend Baylor College of Medicine. surfaces, and openings, he created a device that
consists of two He was one of the few selected to join the allowed surgeons to press against the diseased
impellers on a institution’s famed heart surgery program, and artery and stitch the graft into place through a
magnetically
eventually was chosen as the last chief resident square cutout. Surgeons have used the stabilizer
suspended rotor.
of his childhood idol, Michael DeBakey. in more than 200,000 operations worldwide.
That was just one of Cohn’s many inventions.
TINKERING WITH PROTOTYPES Some were innovative gadgets designed to make
surgery easier. Others improved upon traditional
As Cohn progressed in his medical career, he surgical retractors, catheters, and suturing
never stopped tinkering. He was fast becoming devices. Many started as homemade prototypes
one of the finest heart surgeons in the country, and are now used today by surgeons all over
yet he spent his free time in his home workshop, the world. When he sees a need, he heads to his
prototyping medical devices to assist his workshop to try to answer it.
operations. Although he never took an official By the turn of the century, Cohn was working
engineering course, he describes himself as a at Harvard Medical School. Although he had
“frustrated mechanical engineer.” a growing reputation as a device innovator, he
“I get so much satisfaction from working with had not contributed anything to the design of a
tools and working with my hands,” he said. “I do mechanical heart. Then he began hearing about
see it as a form of play and self-entertainment. a local startup, AbioMed, which was preparing
Heading to Home Depot and picking up a bunch its AbioCor heart for human trials. The news
of stuff to build something I have in mind is fun. rekindled Cohn’s childhood obsession.
And if it doesn’t work, then figure out what I “It was a brilliant design,” he recalled. “It
overlooked and remake it, maybe more than a had this internal clockwork system that drove
few times. When I can make something that silicone oil from left to right and right to left,
improves what I use in surgery, that’s even better. compressing a flexible bladder that had in and
Because in doing so, I’m not just helping one out valves—entry valve, chamber, exit valve—all
patient, but lots of other patients down the line.” molded out of this water-insoluble material that
At current count, Cohn holds an astonishing would dump in the blood and then spin it so it
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.47

wouldn’t accumulate anywhere.” serve as an analog for a child. Earlier hearts were
O.H. “Bud” Frazier, a cardiac surgeon who had too large and powerful for children.
performed more than 1,000 heart transplants, Cohn’s excitement for this device is palpable—
led the work on AbioCor from the Texas Heart and human clinical trials are expected to begin
Institute in Houston. Cohn, in Boston, felt left on within 18 months. “This is the quest for the Holy
the sidelines. Grail—and we’re closer than we’ve ever been.”
Then serendipity stepped in. Frazier and It will take years to fully test and optimize the
Cohn met at several surgical meetings. Their heart. Meanwhile, Cohn, now BiVACOR’s chief
discussions inevitably turned to new ways to medical officer, continues to wear many hats.
improve upon AbioCor’s design. Ultimately, He is a professor of surgery at Baylor College of
Frazier invited Cohn to return to Houston to
work with him on a completely novel approach “But it’s also satisfying to take the path
to artificial heart design—continuous flow.
less traveled and integrate creativity into your
Conceptually, Cohn explained, it was the
difference between the first aspiring aviators, daily life. Because deep down,
who tried to mimic the flapping wings of birds, I’m an innovator—I like to create things.”
and the Wright Brothers, who figured out how to
achieve lift with much simpler fixed wings. The
AbioCor heart, Cohn said, was the “best heart Medicine, an adjunct professor of bioengineering
with flappy wings.” at Rice University and the University of Houston,
The heart he and Frazier set out to build would a surgeon at the Texas Heart Institute, and
replace those metaphorical flappy wings with director of Johnson & Johnson Center for Device
fixed ones. It would not beat. Instead, it would Innovation. He also serves on the boards of
use two gray metal turbines connected with several medical devices companies, including
white tubing and polyester cones sewn onto the several commercializing the inventions that he
heart’s atria to pulse blood through the body. created in his garage workshop.
The two designed, iterated, and then tested With so many accomplishments, many people
a prototype. And in 2011, they implanted their would slow down and take a break. Not Cohn.
Frazier-Cohn heart into a dying 55-year-old man He has too many ideas running around in his
named Craig Lewis. He lived for an additional mind, demanding to get out and get made.
five weeks following the surgery before dying of “There are a lot of people who train to be
liver and kidney failure. The heart continued to heart surgeons, who roll up their sleeves and
pump until it was unplugged. Their first patient do heart surgery for the rest of their life. And
taught them new ways to improve upon their it’s a very satisfying way to live your life. I love
first continuous flow prototype. surgery, I do,” he said.
Meanwhile, an Australian, Daniel Timms, was “But it’s also satisfying to take the path less
also working on a continuous flow heart. Half traveled and integrate creativity into your daily
the size of a soda can, his design used magnetic life. Because deep down, I’m an innovator—I like
levitation to suspend a small rotor with dual im- to create things. And building and iterating and
pellers as it spun 2,000 to 3,000 times per minute. testing and engineering and finding a cool way to
Cohn and Frazier loved the design and teamed solve a problem—that’s something that will end
with Timms. up helping a whole lot of people, whether they
Surgeons implanted Timms’ device in many ever come into my operating room or not.
large animals, including the treadmill-walking “What could be better?”  ME
calf. The device also provides the right amount of
blood flow for a sheep, an animal small enough to KAYT SUKEL is a science and technology writer based in Houston.
 BOOKSHELF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.48

FEATURED

2016 International Hydrogen

Conference: Material
Performance in Hydrogen
Environments
EDITED BY B.P. SOMERDAY AND P. SOFRONIS

ASME Press Books, Two Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016. 2017.

L
ast held in 2012, the International Hydrogen Conference
is the premier topical meeting on hydrogen effects in
materials, a critically important topic given the interest in
developing hydrogen as a fuel. The 2016 conference was
attended by more than 190 experts and looked at focus
areas ranging from basic science to technological impacts.
These topic areas included hydrogen-assisted fracture in
steels and other structural metals, hydrogen-assisted fatigue,
advanced methods for characterizing hydrogen-materials
interactions, and hydrogen dissolution, transport, and trapping.
The papers from that conference were collected by Brian
Somerday of the Southwest Research Institute and Petros
Sofronis of the University of Illinois, and provide a snapshot
of the state of materials science in combating hydrogen
interactions and the challenges remaining.

800 PAGES. $399; ASME MEMBERS, $319. ISBN: 978-0-7918-6138-7

LIFE 3.0: BEING HUMAN IN THE AGE OF GEOMECHANICS OF MARINE ANCHORS

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
By Charles Aubeny
By Max Tegmark CRC Press, 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW,
Alfred A. Knopf, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487. 2017.
10019. 2017. Anchoring the moorings of offshore floating structures
Tegmark, an MIT professor who has researched how to keep is a challenge often faced by engineers in the oil and
Artificial Intelligence beneficial, explores how the coming gas industry, but the potential for offshore wind power is
AI revolution will affect such human endeavors as war, employment, crime, and creating a demand for solutions in that field as well. Aubeny describes the major
justice—even our very sense of self. One question Tegmark digs into is what will types of anchors with respect to their basic design concept, advantages and
people do all day when AI-enabled robots are better employees than humans limitations, appropriate framework for analysis, and observed performance, and
could ever be? What sort of career advice should we give today’s kids—and does he examines the life cycle of the anchors from installation to their ability to hold
the very idea of a career make sense in the face of a deeply automated economy? up under difficult conditions. Several new anchor types have been developed
Rather than impose his views, Tegmark looks instead to open a discussion on the within the last decade, so this book also serves as a compendium of information
choices we face and the potential implications of what we decide on. that up to now existed mostly in journal papers and conference proceedings.

384 PAGES. $28. ISBN: 978-1-1019-4659-6 388 PAGES. $159.95. ISBN: 978-1-4987-2877-5
 In This Issue
50 ASME 2017 Turbo Expo in Charlotte

52 ASME Turbo Expo 2017 Highlights

54 As The Turbine Turns

56 Award Winners

57 Call For Papers

58 Technical Article

60 ASME 2018 Turbo Expo

Volume 57, No. 3 • September 2017

ASME Gas Turbine Segment | 11757 Katy Frwy., Ste. 380 | Houston, TX 77079 | go.asme.org/IGTI
ASME 2017 Turbo Expo Co-locates
With Power & Energy and ICOPE
ASME Turbo Expo 2017, in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, Markus Seibold, Mike Aller and Rob Gorham answered the
maintained its reputation as the world’s premier gathering questions from the audience via the ASME app. The day
of over 3,000 turbomachinery professionals. Throughout was followed by panels sessions featuring the following
the week, delegates shared practical experiences, topics: Processes & Materials for Additive Manufacturing;
knowledge and ideas on the latest turbine technology Design & Performance for Additive Manufacturing;
trends and challenges. Many expressed their appreciation Challenges and Opportunities in Using AM for Turbine
for the conference, noting that it was an amazing Cooling; and Combustor/Fuel Injector applications for
experience, particularly for receiving valuable feedback on Additive Manufacturing. The day ended with AM Posters
research from experts in the field. The moderated keynote in the exhibit hall.
panel session was, again, well received as the attendees
submitted their questions to the moderators via their The Technical Conference offered five days of almost
smartphones or personal electronic devices. 2,000 technical paper presentations, including the Scholar
Lecture by Dr. Ronald Bunker. After the technical sessions
The audience actively submitted questions, while the finished for the day, it was nice to wind down with
moderators collected and asked the panelists for their the evening events throughout the week. On Monday
insight. Bringing their expertise and experience, they made evening over 2,000 came out for the welcome reception
this format a worthwhile part of the conference. Led by at the NASCAR Hall of Fame where they enjoyed the
Paul Garbett of Siemens Power & Gas Division, and Mark car simulator. On Tuesday, Women in Engineering held a
Turner of University of Cincinnati, the opening session networking event featuring a talk from Diane Beagle of GE,
featured an exceptional keynote focused on “Disruptive sponsor of the event. On Wednesday many students and
Technologies & Accelerating the Pace of Innovation in Gas early career engineers got acquainted with one another at
Turbines”, with panelists Dag Calafell, Karen Florschuetz, the mixer sponsored by Dresser Rand. During the three-
and Kevin Murray, followed by the annual awards program day exposition, delegates met with representatives from
of prestigious ASME and IGTI awards. premier companies supplying quality turbomachinery
products and services. Special recognition during the
The plenary panel sessions were well attended with great Closing Ceremony went to MMP Technologies and
audience participation. Led by Mark Turner and Dirk Vectoflow, as exhibition visitors voted their displays the
Nuernberger, from Siemens, the Tuesday morning plenary best. Student Posters were presented on Tuesday and
session, Multidisciplinary Computations and Optimization Wednesday afternoon in the exhibition hall, with first
in Gas Turbine Design, answered questions about why place going to Ariane Emmanuelli, second place to Andrew
Computer-Aided Multi-Discipline Optimization (MDO) Boulanger, and the People’s Choice awarded to Eric Bach.
is important. Panelists Andrew Aggarwala, Ingrid Lepot,
Robert Nichols, and Eisaku Ito did a great job presenting If turbomachinery is part of your professional life, you
and responding. Additive Manufacturing Day, new at cannot afford to miss the annual ASME Turbo Expo! To
Turbo Expo, featured the Wednesday Plenary Session plan for 2018, see page 60 of this issue and keep informed
“Disruptive Technologies and Accelerating Innovation in throughout the year by visiting ASME Turbo Expo online
Gas Turbines: The Role of Additive Manufacturing”. The at https://www.asme.org/events/turbo-expo.
session, led by Karen Thole and Rich Dennis, showcased
the current activities and future potential on how this See the award winners on page 56
rapidly developing technology will impact the gas turbine
industry. Panelists Kurt Goodwin, Thomas W. Prete,

50 | September 2017
 ASME Turbo Expo 2017 Statistics
This year at Turbo Expo, attendees
represented 56 countries worldwide
participating in 333 conference sessions.
In these sessions, authors presented 1,098
final papers with 45 tutorial sessions and
24 panel sessions.

Thank you to our volunteers!

• Turbo Expo 2017 Conference Committee
• Turbo Expo 2017 Local Liaison Committee
• Point Contacts & Vanguard Chairs
• Session Chairs & Vice Chairs
• Reviewers
• Authors
• Speakers

Grand Opening: Keynote and Awards Ceremony

Dr. Alan Epstein, R. Tom Sawyer

Award Winner

Panel Discussion: Moderated, with Audience Q&A ASME 2017 PETE Highlights
continued on the next page...

Global Gas Turbine News | 51

1

4 5

6 7 8

52 | September 2017
 10 11

9 12

ASME 2017 Turbo Expo Conference Highlights

Subith Vasu - Dilip R. Ballal Early Career Congratulations to Vectoflow for being
1 Additive Manufacturing Plenary 6 11 selected as the People’s Choice for Best
Award Winner, with Piero Colonna, ASME
Gas Turbine Segment Leader Small Booth.

2 Scholar Lecture with Ron Bunker

Michael Dunn, Ohio State University - The Welcome Reception this year was
7 Aircraft Engine Technology Award Winner,
12 held in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Congratulations to the 2017 Turbo Expo pictured with Keith Boyer and Piero
3 Student Advisory Committee Travel Colonna, ASME Gas Turbine Segment Leader
Award Winners. Student Mixer sponsored by
Dr. Eisaku Ito, MHI - Industrial Gas Turbine 13
8 Dresser Rand
Technology Award Winner, pictured with Piero
Congratulations to the 2017 Young
4 Colonna, ASME Gas Turbine Segment Leader
Engineer Turbo Expo Participation
14 Women in Engineering Networking Event
Award Winners. The Exhibit Hall was a consistent attraction
9 sponsored by GE
and forum for companies to meet, network,
Dr. Robert J. Miller and Dr. Ho-On To, and present themselves to the industry.
5 University of Cambridge 2015 ASME
Gas Turbine Award Winers, pictured Congratulations to MMP Technologies for
10 being selected as the People’s Choice for Best
with Piero Colonna, ASME Gas Turbine
Segment Leader Large Booth.

13 14

Global Gas Turbine News | 53

 As the Gears Steer New Engine Designs
The coterie of geared turbofan jet engine companies is growing. Rolls-Royce

Turbine
is now developing a geared turbofan (GTF) for its future engines in the 25,000-
110,000 pound-thrust (lbt) range, slated for production in the next decade [1].
This major OEM will join Pratt & Whitney and Honeywell, who both have
been designing, developing and producing GTF engines for some years.

Turns...
Figure 1
#31 September 2017 Rolls-Royce Epicyclic
Planetary Gearbox
(4;1 gear ratio 31 inches
diameter)

GTF engines have a hub-mounted epicyclic gearbox that drives the front-
mounted fan at lower rotational speeds than the engine turbine section
that powers the fan. The turbine driving the fan is most efficient at high
rotational speeds. The fan operates most efficiently and creates less
noise at lower rpm. By lowering fan blade tip speeds by means of gearing,
Lee S. Langston, Professor Emeritus engineers can more easily satisfy fan blade and disk stress limits and
University of Connecticut avoid the onset of power-robbing supersonic fan blade flows.
Mechanical Engineering Dept.
The operating gear reduction ratio also permits increasing the engine’s
bypass ratio with larger fans. Bypass ratios - the mass of fan air bypassed
around the engine for every unit mass of air through the engine - can be
increased, which improves the propulsion efficiency of the turbofan engine.

The net result is a great reduction in fan generated noise and as much
as a double digit reduction in engine fuel consumption. Both of these
attributes are causing airlines to demand from airframe companies, new
commercial aircraft that mount the GTF engines.

Gear Lore
Gear trains are one of the oldest known machines and none is more closely
identified by the general public, with the profession of mechanical engineering.
Gears use the principle of the lever to alter the speed and torque carried by
shafts, and can be traced back as far as 3000 BC in use in China.

One of the most famous of ancient gear assemblies is the Antikythera

Mechanism [2], recovered in 1900 from a shipwreck off the coast of
Greece. Possibly constructed in Rhodes in 150-100 BC, the mechanism is
an astronomical analog calculator (or orrery) that was probably used as
one of the first analog computers to show celestial positions of the sun
and moon, the time of solar eclipses and the dates of Olympic and Pan-
Hellenic games. The Antikythera Mechanism has some 30 intermeshing
gears, which include an epicyclic gear train.

54 | September 2017
So here we are, two thousand years later using the same hp. The gear ratio is 3:1, yielding a bypass ratio of 12:1.
type of gear train to improve the performance of modern Even small inefficiencies in its double helical gear teeth
gas turbines. The name epicycle goes back to Greek and bearings could generate enough heat to “cook” gearbox
astronomy, where planets were believed to move in circular lubricating oil. Testing has shown that the P&W GTF
orbits, with the earth as center - a geocentric system. gearboxes must be at least 99.3% efficient to avoid that
Such orbits could not explain why at times, planets moved problem.
backward, relative to the earth-bound observer. Ptolemy (150
AD) explained such retrograde motion by superposing small
circles - epicycles - on the original assumed circular orbit. Future Directions
One of my colleagues, Kazem Kazerounian (currently our
Dean of Engineering at UConn) who is a gear systems
researcher and an early consultant for P&W on gears,
has some observations on possible future work on GTF
gearboxes:

1. The challenges of light-weight, high-powered epicyclic

gear systems include large deflections and vibration
induced in the relatively thin ring gears (as the planets/
Figure 2a. Planetary Gearbox Sketch. Figure 2b. Star Gearbox Sketch stars pass), and the possibilities of large displacement of
Currently, a geared fan epicyclic gearbox consists of a the center of the sun gear.
center sun gear, mounted on the driving turbine shaft.
The sun gear meshes with normatively, five equally- 2. New developments include using Herringbone bevel
sized surrounding pinion gears, which also mesh with an gears (bevel gears of opposite directions to cancel axial
encompassing annular ring gear. A circular carrier houses thrust) and using spiral bevel gears instead of straight
the five pinion gear shafts to support and position them. bevels. Additional advantages in smoothness and load
carrying capacity might be obtained by phasing the two
If the carrier is fixed to the engine casing, the ring gear bevel gears that constitute the Herringbones, so that teeth
drives the fan. The pinion gears, now fixed as they on both sides do not enter the mesh simultaneously.
transmit motion from sun to ring gear, are now called star
gears. If the ring gear is fixed the carrier rotates to drive 3. There is significant room for optimization if designers
the fan. The pinion gears now rotate about the sun gear, consider nonstandard, or even non-involute gearing. This
and are called planet gears. A planetary gearbox can have is uncharted territory in gear design, that might decide the
higher gear ratios than a star gearbox. future leaders in GTF design and manufacturing.

* * *
Current Production GTFs
New technologies evolve based on the chaotic and
Honeywell first started developing geared fans almost constant recombining of existing technologies [4]. The GTF
50 years ago [3]. In 1968, then as the Garrett Air Research combines existing jet engine technology with the well-
Phoenix Division, they developed their 3500 lbt TFE731 established mechanical engineering technology of gears.
business jet engine from an existing auxiliary power unit
(APU). Given the high rotational speed of the APU low
pressure turbine (about 20,000 rpm), to avoid excessive fan References
tip speeds, Garrett engineers developed a epicyclic gearbox
(about 8.5 inches in diameter and with a 1.8:1 gear ratio),
which allowed the TFE731 to have a 2.5:1 bypass ratio (high 1. Norris, Guy, 2017, “Power Plan” and “Shifting Gears”,
for 1972, when it was certified). Still in production, it has Aviation Week & Space Technology, April 17-30, pp. 58-61.
been one of the most successful small gas turbine aircraft
engines, with over 13,000 units produced. 2. Jones, Alexander, 2017, A Portable Cosmos, Oxford
University Press.
Pratt & Whitney is in production of their first generation of
GTF engines in the 18,000 - 30,000 lbt range, which power twin 3. Langston, Lee S., 2013, “Gears Galore!”, Global Gas
engine single-aisle, narrow body 70 - 200 passenger aircraft Turbine News, April, pp. 51,54.
[4]. As an example, their PW1100-JM is currently powering
the Airbus A320neo, with airlines reporting up to 20% in fuel 4. Langston, Lee S., 2013, “Not So Simple Machines”,
savings. The epicyclic gearbox (about 20 inches in diameter) Mechanical Engineering Magazine, January, pp. 46-51.
has journal bearings for its star gears rather than roller
element bearings, with transmitted power as high as 30,000

Global Gas Turbine News | 55

Recognizing Award Winners
at ASME 2017 Turbo Expo

Outgoing ASME IGTI Technical Committee Chairs

Congratulations to all
award recipients, COMBUSTION, FUELS & EMISSIONS IBRAHIM YIMER
CYCLE INNOVATIONS VASSILIOS PACHIDIS
and thank you to all ASME IGTI INDUSTRIAL & COGENERATION MUSTAPHA CHAKER
committee award representatives whose
MARINE DESIREE DESHMUKH
work assists the awards and honors
MICROTURBINES, TURBOCHARGERS & JEFFREY ARMSTRONG
chair and the reading committee in the
SMALL TURBOMACHINES
recognition of important gas turbine
technological achievements. OIL & GAS APPLICATIONS TIM ALLISON
ORC POWER SYSTEMS JOS VAN BUIJTENEN
IGTI Committees honored more than
STEAM TURBINE THOMAS THIEMANN
100 authors with Best Paper Awards for
SUPERCRITICAL CO2 KLAUS BRUN
papers presented. Thank you to Thomas
Sattelmayer for serving as the IGTI TURBOMACHINERY PAT CARGILL
Honors and Awards Committee Chair, WIND ENERGY KEN VAN TREUREN
John Gülen as Industrial Gas Turbine
Technology Award Committee Chair, and
Keith Boyer as the Industrial Gas Turbine
2017 Student Best Poster Winners
Technology Award Committee Chair. First Place: Indirect combustion noise in a stator row: 2D modelling
and CAA study - Ariane Emmanuelli
2017 ASME R. Tom Sawyer Award Second Place: Experimental Investigation of Sand Deposits on
Dr. Alan H. Epstein, Pratt & Whitney Hastelloy-X from 1000 °C to 1100 °C Using Particle Tracking - Andrew
Boulanger
2015 ASME Gas Turbine Award People’s Choice: Study of the Thermoacoustic Properties of an
Dr. Robert J. Miller, University of Cambridge Autoignition Stabilized Liquid Fuel Flame Using a Newly Designed
Dr. Ho-On To, University of Cambridge Atmospheric Reheat Combustion Test Rig – Eric Bach
2015 John P. Davis Award
Young Engineer ASME Turbo Expo Participation Award Winners
Rakesh Bhargava, Innovative
Turbomachinery Technologies Corp. Lisa Alessio Abrassi David Holst Aravin Daas Naidu
Branchini, Michele Bianchi, Andrea Depascale, Valeria Andreoli Seongpil Joo Stefano Puggelli
Valentina Orlandini, University of Bologna Myeonggeun Choi Julia Ling Janith Samarasinghe
Arifur Chowdhury Anandkumar Prashant Singh
2017 Dilip R. Ballal Early Career Award
Ward De Paepe Makwana Natalie R. Smith
Subith Vasu, University of Central Florida
Adam Feneley Georg Atta Mensah Adam Gabor Vermes
2017 Scholar Award Seyed M. Ghoreyshi Alom Mohammed Nur Sheng Wei
Dr. Ronald Bunker, Retired from GE Aviation
Student Advisory Committee Travel Award Winners
2017 Aircraft Engine Technology Award
Michael Dunn, Ohio State University Michael Branagan David Gonzalez Cuadrado Maria Rinaldi
James Braun Niclas Hanraths Deepanshu Singh
2017 Industrial Gas Turbine Technology Award Bogdan Cezar Cernat Shane Haydt Cori Watson
Dr. Eisaku Ito, MHI Theofilos Efstathiadis Alexander Heinrich Suo Yang
ASME Dedicated Service Award Masha Folk Thomas Jackowski Lv Ye
Dr.-Ing. Christoph Hirsch, Technical Chiara Gastaldi Salman Javed Lisa Zander
University of Munich Simone Giorgetti Nguyen LaTray

56 | September 2017
Call for Papers
ASME 2018 Turbo Expo in Lillestrøm, Norway (close to Oslo)

You are invited to offer a paper for Publication Schedule:

publication at the ASME 2018 Turbo Expo Submission of Abstract

August 28, 2017
Turbomachinery Technical Conference, Author Notification of
June 11-15, 2018 in Lillestrøm, Norway Abstract Acceptance
September 18, 2017

Prepare your abstract and submit it to the list of track topics for which Submission of Full-Length
ASME IGTI Technical Committees are seeking papers. Abstracts are due by Draft Paper for Review
August 28, 2017 and must be submitted online (plain text, 400 word limit) via October 30, 2017
the ASME Turbo Expo Conference Website at asme.org/events/turbo-expo. Notification of Paper
Acceptance
ASME IGTI Journals January 3, 2018
If warranted by review, papers may also be recommended for publication
Copyright Form Submission
in the Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power or the Journal of
Process Opens
Turbomachinery.
January 3, 2018

Indexing Submission of Revised Paper for

All ASME Conference Proceedings are submitted for indexing to Scopus, Review
Compendex, ISI Conference Proceedings Citation Index, and other major January 29, 2018
indexers. In addition, all ASME Conference papers are discoverable through Notification of Acceptance of
Google Scholar search and all other major search engines. Indexing publishers Revised Paper
are independent organizations and determine which and when conference February 12, 2018
proceedings are indexed.

ASME Turbo Expo 2017 Sponsors

PLATINUM BRONZE

SILVER ADDITIONAL SPONSORS

Global Gas Turbine News | 57

Using Splitters to Control
Secondary Flow
C.Clark and G.Pullan, Whittle Laboratory, University of Cambridge

A simple equation for the production of secondary flow

Aerodynamic Opportunity was proposed by Squire and Winter [1],
Turbine design involves many engineering disciplines.
The final product is a compromise between aerodynamic дU
performance and constraints arising from mechanical, wsec = -2ε
structural or material requirements. As turbine efficiency дz
increases, engineers must revisit the performance
This model predicts that the secondary vorticity (wsec ) at
penalties associated with these compromises and develop
row exit is a function of inlet velocity gradient ( дU
дz
) and row
new ideas to improve the design. In this article, we describe
turning only and thus, for a fixed inlet boundary layer profile
one such concept: splitter vanes.
and stator turning, the secondary vorticity will be constant.

An example of an aerodynamic challenge created by a

mechanical requirement is the use of turbine stators to
encase components that pass through the main gas path.
Secondary Losses
Although the secondary vorticity is of interest, the
These components could be part of the engine structure or
designer is principally concerned with the associated
pipes carrying oil or air. Engineers have used two approaches
aerodynamic loss. The primary loss contribution is the
to tackle this problem. In the first approach, an additional
dissipation of the secondary kinetic energy (SKE) as the
row of non-turning faired struts is added to house the
vortices mix out. The SKE of a vortex is proportional to
components. This increases machine length, weight and
the square of its circulation. In turn, the circulation is
wetted surface area, all reducing performance. In the second,
proportional to the width of the passage (the reciprocal
an existing stator row is adapted to accommodate the
of the stator count). Thus, summing the secondary kinetic
components. In this case the machine length remains almost
energy across every stator, we find an inverse dependence
constant. However, the modified stators are thick, have a low
with stator count. Therefore, when low stator counts
aspect ratio, and secondary flows dominate.
are used, as is common in current designs, SKE is a large
contributor to aerodynamic loss.
Secondary Flow The effect of increasing the number of stators is to produce
Secondary flow is defined as fluid with a velocity component
in a direction normal to the average flow. Secondary flow a higher number of smaller passage vortices and a net
is typically characterised by vortices such as those that dig reduction in secondary kinetic energy.
away at the riverbed upstream of a bridge buttress.

“Secondary flow vortices are formed by the rotation of

vorticity filaments, located in the endwall boundary layers,
as the filaments move through the passage. Around each
stator leading edge the inlet boundary layer rolls up into a (a) Uniform low aspect ratio vanes

vortex tube. A vortex “leg” enters the passage on each side

of the stator. The leg next to the pressure surface at the
leading edge (PS leg) sweeps across the passage, entraining
more vorticity as it does so, to produce the dominant flow
structure known as the “passage vortex”. The leg formed at
(b) Splitter concept (one splitter per low
the suction side (SS leg) remains close to the suction surface aspect ratio vane)
forming the counter vortex, a much smaller flow feature.
Fig1. Schematic showing both conventional (top) and splitter (bottom)
designs, both featuring streamlines due to secondary flows.

58 | September 2017
Splitter Vanes
The connection between the number of stators and the
secondary kinetic energy suggests that the only way to
significantly reduce the mixing loss is to increase the
number of blades in the row. However, the large thickness
needed to pass the structural or pipe components means
that the stator count is limited.

The solution requires challenging one of the most common

features of a turbomachine – that all blades in a row are
the same. Once the possibility of a “non-uniform” stator
row with thick blades shielding components and thinner
“splitter vanes” to reduce the secondary flow is considered,
the design space is greatly expanded.

It was found that both the stators and splitter vanes must
be designed simultaneously to achieve peak performance.
This increases not only the design possibilities but also the
complexity of any numerical simulations performed. The
designs evaluated in the current work were produced with
fast turn-around computational fluid dynamics (10 minutes
per solution) and automated optimization techniques.

The Horseshoe Vortex Jump

During the design process a critical flow feature, only found
in non-uniform blade rows, was identified. If the leg of the
horseshoe vortex of the thick stator passes upstream of the
splitter vane leading edge the vorticity that the designer
intended for the first passage is now diverted to the second. Fig2. Computational endwall streamlines
This results in a single large passage vortex rather than two demonstrating a horseshoe vortex jump caused by
slight design differences.
smaller ones. In this situation the primary benefit from
including splitter vanes is not achieved. Through careful
profile design, it was possible to avoid the horseshoe vortex
jump and hence successfully reduce the secondary flow
strength, improving stage performance.

Experimental tests showed that the underlying theory was

correct and that by increasing vane count the secondary
kinetic energy was reduced by up to 80%. This in turn lead
to increases in stage efficiency of almost 1%, representing a
significant fuel saving [2].

References
1. Squire, HB and Winter, KG, 1951 “The Secondary Flow in
a Cascade of Airfoils in a Nonuniform Stream”. Journal of
the Aeronautical Sciences, April 1951

2. “Secondary Flow Control in Low Aspect Ratio Vanes

Using Splitters, J. Turbomach 139 (Apr 11, 2017) (11 pages)
Paper No: TURBO-16-1304; doi: 10.1115/1.4036190”

Global Gas Turbine News | 59

60 | September 2017
 TOOLS//SOFTWARE MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.61

MULTIPHYSICS MODELING, SIMULATION

COMSOL, BURLINGTON, MASS.

C
OMSOL’s 5.3 version of its multiphysics and server
software was created to provide simulation
specialists with notable performance improve-
ments and powerful app design and deployment
capabilities through new modeling and develop-
ment tools, solvers, and user-driven features. In many
cases, the company promises, users will experience a
speedup of 10 times or more in software responsiveness,
such as in preprocessing tasks for handling models with
several thousand boundaries and domains. With version
5.3, the boundary element method (BEM) is available
for modeling electrostatics and corrosion effects so
users can easily combine boundary element and finite
element methods for greater flexibility in their multi-
physics simulations. The projected area is calculated to
estimate the clamping forces for molded parts.

3-D SCANNING, DATA PROCESSING other potentially costly construction errors. The variance input sources, across project teams and applications.
data and corrected model can be exported to Navisworks Navigator Web is a new web application that delivers
ARTEC 3D, PALO ALTO, CALIF. for as-built clash detection and further analysis. Verity high-performance streaming of very large reality
was developed to dramatically reduce the financial meshes through the browser to desktop or mobile
Artec Studio 12, intelligence-based software for impact of poorly constructed and out-of-tolerance work devices. For infrastructure project delivery, reality
professional 3-D scanning and data processing, by flagging problems early in the construction process modeling captures the actual context of infrastructure
follows in the footsteps of the next generation so they can be remedied or eliminated before they effect projects through photos and/or scans, creating
AI-based 3-D scanner, boasting enhanced speed, an schedules or future work. engineering-ready reality meshes for design modeling,
improved user interface, and automated features analytical modeling, and construction modeling.
that minimize the time needed for scanning and
processing. Tackling one of the most awkward steps REALITY MODELING
in post-processing, base removal, its Smart Base KEYNOTE MANAGEMENT
Removal tool distinguishes between a platform an
object is sitting on and the object being scanned, and CHALKLINE, PORTLAND, MAINE.
can even recognize and remove base surfaces, which
are not flat. At the same time, all data beneath this The company’s Keynote Manager integration tool
surface is also automatically removed. for VisiSpecs enables users to comprehensively
coordinate construction drawings and specifications.
Not only does it provide coordination and verification
CONSTRUCTION VERIFICATION but also saves hours on each project by eliminating
BENTLEY SYSTEMS, EXTON, PA. the need to manually filter master keynote lists to
CLEAREDGE3D, MANASSAS, VA. project-specific lists. Users can import their existing
ContextCapture for reality modeling increases joint master keynote list instead of creating a new list for
Verity 1.0 verifies the accuracy of new construction opportunities in surveying and engineering with each project, while having complete control over the
against design/fabrication models, giving general capabilities that include cloud-processing services, keynotes, including adding, deleting, editing, sorting,
contractors insight into their construction projects. The a mobile app, and photo planning for Bentley’s and commenting, with all modifications tracked by
software analyzes laser-scan-point cloud data of the applications. ContextShare extends Bentley’s date and user. With the click of a button, all keynotes
as-built construction against the design/fabrication ProjectWise connected data environment to securely linked to specification sections may be included, with
models, identifying variances, missing elements, or manage, share, and stream reality meshes, and their others filtered out. ME
 University of Illinois at Chicago

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Assistant/Associate/Full Professor
Mechanical Engineering
The School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University
of Pennsylvania is growing its faculty by 33% over a five year period. The Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the
As part of this, the Department of Mechanical Engineering and University of Illinois at Chicago invites applications for several tenure-track
faculty positions in various areas of Mechanical Engineering. Individuals
Applied Mechanics is engaged in an aggressive, multi-year hiring will also be considered at associate or full professor rank if they possess
effort for multiple tenure-track positions. outstanding qualifications commensurate with the rank. Successful
applicants are required to have an earned PhD in Mechanical Engineering
We seek applicants with exceptional research achievements or a related field, and are expected to develop and maintain an active,
and future promise, a commitment to excellence in education, and externally-funded research program as well as teach courses at both the
dedication to service and collegiality. Candidates should couple with undergraduate and graduate levels.
the department’s core strengths in mechanical systems, mechanics The Department offers BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Mechanical
of materials, fluid mechanics and thermal sciences. The specific Engineering, and Industrial Engineering and Operations Research; and
currently has an undergraduate enrollment of about 770 and a graduate
areas for this search, and a link to submit applications, can be found enrollment of about 500. More information about the Department can be
at: http://www.me.upenn.edu/faculty-staff/ found at http://www.mie.uic.edu. Applicants are required to send a letter
The Department has strong collaborations with all other engineering of application indicating their qualifications, an up-to-date CV including
the names and contact information of three references, and separate
departments as well as Penn’s other Schools and multiple research one-page statements outlining their future teaching and research plans.
centers. We seek candidates who can add to these relationships.
For fullest consideration, applications must be submitted online at
Successful candidates will conduct leading research benefiting from http://jobs.uic.edu/job-board/job-details?jobID=82503 by December 1, 2017.
Penn’s interdisciplinary tradition and new facilities such as the Singh Applications will be accepted until the positions are filled.
Center for Nanotechnology. We encourage applicants whose research Expected starting date is August 2018.
aligns with the School’s new strategic plan (http://www.seas.upenn. The University of Illinois at Chicago is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer,
edu/PennEngineering2020). Candidates who enrich Penn’s diversity dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse and pluralistic faculty and staff committed
to teaching and working in a multicultural
are strongly encouraged to apply. environment. We strongly encourage applications
from women, minorities, individuals with disabilities
The University of Pennsylvania is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. and covered veterans.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be
The University of Illinois conducts background checks
discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, on all job candidates upon acceptance of contingent
gender identity, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, disability, veteran offer of employment. Background checks will be
status, or any other characteristic protected by law. performed in compliance with the Fair Credit
Reporting Act.

FACULTY POSITION IN
MULTISCALE MODELING NEW FACULTY SEARCHES IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
OF MULTIPHASE FLOWS The Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering at The Pennsylvania
  State University is pleased to invite applications for tenure-track positions anticipated
The Department of Mechanical Engineering seeks to fill a tenure-track position in mechanical engineering at the Assistant or Associate Professor levels. The
at the Assistant Professor level in the area of computational multiscale modeling Department will consider all areas pertinent to the mechanical engineering discipline.
of multiphase flows and transport starting Fall 2018. Candidates with expertise in The Department is home to more than 60 faculty, 300 graduate students, and 1300
applications to porous media flows, energy recovery, and biological applications are undergraduate students. The faculty conduct in excess of $25M per year of funded
especially invited to apply. Mechanical Engineering is one of the four departments research across a broad spectrum of traditional and emerging areas. Penn State actively
in the College of Engineering at San Diego State University. It offers an EAC ABET- encourages and provides resources for interdisciplinary research collaboration through
university-level institutes primarily focused on materials, health, and energy. The
accredited B.S. degree program, as well as M.S. and joint Ph.D. programs. The
Department offers separate B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degree programs in both mechanical
department has internationally recognized programs in energy and thermofluids, engineering and nuclear engineering, including online graduate programs in mechanical
bioengineering, material science and processing, mechanics, MEMS, NEMS, sensors, engineering, nuclear engineering, and advanced manufacturing and design. Further
robotics, dynamic systems and control. It is anticipated that the person will develop information on the Department can be found at: http://www.mne.psu.edu/.
synergies with areas of existing research strength and exploit emerging areas of
Successful applicants will have demonstrated outstanding scholarly research and
research by developing a vigorous externally funded research program in the general will have expressed strong interests in engineering education. Qualifications for these
area of multiscale modeling of multiphase flows and transport. A demonstrated ability positions include a doctorate in engineering or a related field. The successful candidates
to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries is essential. The department shares with will be expected to teach courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels, to develop
the College of Engineering and the University a strong commitment to excellence in an internationally-recognized, externally-funded research program, and to contribute
undergraduate and graduate education. The successful hire is expected to supervise to the operation and promotion of the department, college, university, and profession
teams of undergraduate as well as graduate students. Applicants must have a through service.
demonstrated ability to teach undergraduate and graduate level classes in fluid and Nominations and applications will be considered until the positions are filled. Screening
thermal sciences, and other related areas of mechanical engineering.   of applicants will begin on October 1st, 2017. Applicants should submit a cover letter, a
statement on teaching and research, a curriculum vitae, and the names and addresses
For more information about the department, college and university, please visit: of four professional references who are academics at the rank of Professor. Please
http://mechanical.sdsu.edu, http://engineering.sdsu.edu, and http://www.sdsu.edu. submit these four items in one pdf file electronically to job 72158 at https://psu.jobs/
job/72158.
Applicants must have an earned Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering or
a closely related discipline. Applications must be received by November 1, CAMPUS SECURITY CRIME STATISTICS: For more about safety at Penn State, and to
2017 to receive full consideration; the position will remain open until filled. review the Annual Security Report which contains information about crime statistics
and other safety and security matters, please go to http://www.police.psu.edu/clery/,
Candidates must apply via Interfolio at http://apply.interfolio.com/42863.
which will also provide you with detail on how to request a hard copy of the Annual
Questions may be directed to the Search Committee Chair at MMMFsearch@
Security Report.
engineering.sdsu.edu.
Penn State is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, and is committed to providing
SDSU is a Title IX, equal opportunity employer. employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age,
sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.
 FACULTY POSITION IN
ENERGY STORAGE
 
The Department of Mechanical Engineering seeks to fill a tenure-track position
at the Assistant Professor level in the area of thermal and electrochemical energy MECHANICAL ENGINEERING FACULTY POSITION
storage starting Fall 2018. Candidates with expertise in hybrid storage systems MECHATRONICS
and system level integration are especially encouraged to apply, but demonstrated
strength in one or more core areas of mechanical engineering is essential. The Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of
Mechanical Engineering is one of the four departments in the College of Engineering British Columbia (Vancouver Campus) is accepting applications
at San Diego State University. It offers an EAC ABET-accredited B.S. degree program, for one tenure-track, Assistant Professor positions in mechatronics.
as well as M.S. and joint Ph.D. programs. The department has internationally Applicants should hold a Ph.D. degree or equivalent in Mechanical
recognized programs in energy and thermofluids, material science and processing, Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a closely related field. Candidates
bioengineering, mechanics, MEMS, NEMS, sensors, robotics, dynamic systems with research expertise in one or more areas including instrumentation,
and control. It is anticipated that the person will develop synergies with areas of optics, micro/nano-positioning, precision engineering, and sensors
existing research strength and exploit emerging areas of research by developing a
and actuators are especially encouraged to apply. Previous industrial
vigorous externally funded research program in the general area of energy storage.
A demonstrated ability to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries is essential. experience is an asset. The starting date will be July 2018, or as soon
The department shares with the College of Engineering and the University a strong as possible thereafter.
commitment to excellence in undergraduate and graduate education. He or she
The mission of the Department of Mechanical Engineering is to serve
is expected to supervise teams of undergraduate as well as graduate students.
Applicants must have a demonstrated ability to teach undergraduate and graduate society through innovation and excellence in teaching and research.
level classes in one or more core areas of mechanical engineering. Accordingly, candidates must demonstrate a commitment to students,
teaching and learning. All members of the Department are expected to
For more information about the department, college and university, please visit: provide service within the Department, at the University, and to both
http://mechanical.sdsu.edu, http://engineering.sdsu.edu, and http://www.sdsu.edu. the academic and broader community. The successful applicant will
Applicants must have an earned Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering or be expected to register as a Professional Engineer in British Columbia.
a closely related discipline. Applications must be received by November 1,
2017 to receive full consideration; the position will remain open until filled. The ideal candidate will be eager to join an engaged and welcoming
Candidates must apply via Interfolio at http://apply.interfolio.com/42865. academic community, and will complement our existing research
Questions may be directed to the Search Committee Chair at TEESsearch@ strengths. With the support of their colleagues, the successful candidate
engineering.sdsu.edu. is expected to develop an internationally-recognized, externally-funded
research program, and will be encouraged to seek collaborative
SDSU is a Title IX, equal opportunity employer.
research opportunities in diverse application areas.
The University of British Columbia consistently ranks among the top
twenty public universities in the world. Current strategic priorities include:
student learning, research excellence, international engagement,
sustainability, and creating an outstanding work environment. Please
see http://mech.ubc.ca for more information on the Department, and
http://apsc.ubc.ca/careers for more information on employment in the
Faculty of Applied Science.
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING FACULTY POSITIONS: 2017-2018
Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open
The Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME), University of Michigan (U-M),
Ann Arbor, seeks outstanding applicants for multiple full-time tenured or tenure-track and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been
faculty positions. The positions are open to candidates at all ranks, including junior- and underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from
senior-level appointments. Those who have strong backgrounds relevant to mechanical members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds
engineering are welcome to apply. Areas of special interest include: dynamics and enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual
dynamical systems, computational science, fluid mechanics, and solid mechanics and
materials. We are especially interested in individuals who can contribute to the excellence orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability,
and diversity of our academic community. Underrepresented minorities and women are political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a
strongly encouraged to apply. First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person All qualified candidates
The U-M Mechanical Engineering Department is a vibrant and collegial community. It is are encouraged to apply; however Canadians and permanent residents
home to 68 tenured/tenure-track faculty, 21 research faculty, over 450 graduate students of Canada will be given priority for the position. The position is subject
(including over 250 Ph.D. students), and 800 undergraduate students. We are well known
to final budgetary approval.
for our leadership in core mechanical engineering disciplines, as well as in interdisciplinary
and emerging areas. The Department is consistently ranked among the top mechanical
Applicants are asked to complete the following equity survey: https://
engineering programs nationally and internationally by the QS World Rankings, U.S. News
& World Report, National Research Council Ph.D. Program Assessments, and others. More survey.ubc.ca/s/MECH-Mechatronics/. The survey information will not
information about the Department can be found at: http://me.engin.umich.edu/. be used to determine eligibility for employment, but will be collated to
The University of Michigan has a long and distinguished history. It was founded in 1817, provide data that can assist us in understanding the diversity of our
20 years before the territory became a state, and was one of the first public universities applicant pool and identifying potential barriers to the employment of
in the nation. Throughout its 200-year history, U-M has maintained the highest levels of designated equity group members. Your participation in the survey
education, scholarship, and research. Ann Arbor is a very attractive city, regularly rated as
one of the best places to live in the nation. is voluntary and anonymous. This survey takes only a minute to
complete. You may self-identify in one or more of the designated
Applicants should have a Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering or an appropriate
field. We seek scholars who will provide inspiration, leadership, and impact in research, equity groups. You may also decline to identify in any or all of the
teaching, and service. To ensure full consideration, candidates are encouraged to apply questions by choosing “not disclosed”.
now and certainly before November 1, 2017, as applications will be reviewed immediately
upon receipt. Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, a statement of research
All applicants should submit, in PDF format: (1) a detailed resume, (2) a statement of interests and a research plan (4 pages or less), a statement of
research and teaching interests, (3) up to three representative publications, and (4) the teaching interests and accomplishments (1 page), and names and
names and contact information of at least three references. Applications must be submitted contact information for four referees. Applications are accepted only
electronically at http://me.engin.umich.edu/facultysearch.
through http://hr.ubc.ca/careers-postings/faculty.php, and must be
The University of Michigan is a non-discriminatory/affirmative action employer
submitted by October 15, 2017.
and is responsive to the needs of dual-career families.
 FACULTY POSITION IN
BIOMEDICAL SENSORS
AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
 
The Department of Mechanical Engineering seeks to fill a tenure-track position
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
at the Assistant or Associate Professor level in the area of biomedical sensors
SEASPAN CHAIR/PROFESSORSHIP and nanotechnology starting Fall 2018. Mechanical Engineering is one of the four
The Faculty of Applied Science at The University of British Columbia departments in the College of Engineering at San Diego State University. It offers an
(Vancouver campus) seeks an outstanding individual for a tenure-track or EAC ABET-accredited B.S. degree program in Mechanical Engineering, as well as
tenured position at the Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor level, who will M.S. and Ph.D. programs in Mechanical and Bioengineering. This faculty member
occupy a named position in association with Seaspan (https://www.seaspan. will work collaboratively on research projects with engineering, science, and
com/). The successful applicant will hold an appointment in one or more of rehabilitation faculty in the Smart Health (sHealth) Institute, a newly established
the following Departments: Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Area of Excellence at San Diego State University. The ideal candidate will have
and Civil Engineering. We welcome applications from individuals who strengths working with and building relationships with and collaborations among
have expertise in any of the following areas: marine systems engineering, engineering, science and biomedical research faculty. This faculty member would
mechatronics, design, additive manufacturing, clean energy, and autonomous spearhead and support translational research with biomedical sensor technologies.
vehicles. The starting date of the appointment will be July 2018, or as soon The research program would ideally focus on medical, biological and environmental
as possible thereafter. nanosensors or micro/nanofabrication technology. The department shares with the
College of Engineering and the University a strong commitment to excellence in
Candidates should be able to develop an outstanding research program, undergraduate and graduate education. He or she is expected to supervise teams
enhance further existing facilities, and lead a group of graduate students, of undergraduate as well as graduate students in our M.S. and Ph.D. programs.
technicians, and faculty members. Owing to the need for close cooperation Applicants must have a demonstrated ability to teach undergraduate and graduate
with industry and government, a track record of successful industry experience level classes in the department.  
would be an asset. The successful candidate will be expected to conduct
research in collaboration with the marine industry. Applicants must either have For more information about the department, college and university, please visit:
demonstrated, or show potential for, excellence in research, teaching, and http://mechanical.sdsu.edu, http://engineering.sdsu.edu, and http://www.sdsu.edu.
service. They will hold a Ph.D. degree or equivalent in Naval Architecture and/
or Marine Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Materials Applicants must have an earned Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering or
Engineering, or a closely related field, and will be expected to register as a closely related discipline. Applications must be received by November 1,
a Professional Engineer in British Columbia. Successful candidates will be 2017 to receive full consideration; the position will remain open until filled.
required to apply for Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Candidates must apply via Interfolio at http://apply.interfolio.com/42870.
(NSERC) grants in partnership with the marine industry. Questions may be directed to the Search Committee Chair at MESHsearch@
engineering.sdsu.edu.
The mission of the Faculty is to serve society through innovation and excel-
lence in teaching and research. Accordingly, candidates must demonstrate a SDSU is a Title IX, equal opportunity employer.
commitment to students, teaching and learning.
The ideal candidate will be eager to join an engaged and welcoming
academic community, and will complement our existing research strengths.
With the support of their colleagues, the successful candidate is expected to
develop an internationally-recognized, externally-funded research program, University of Illinois at Chicago
and will be encouraged to seek collaborative research opportunities in diverse
application areas. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
The University of British Columbia consistently ranks among the top twenty
public universities in the world. Current strategic priorities include: student Assistant/Associate/Full Professor
learning, research excellence, international engagement, sustainability, and Industrial Engineering
creating an outstanding work environment. Please see http://apsc.ubc.ca/
careers for more information on employment in the Faculty of Applied Science.
The Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the
Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) invites applications for a tenure-
community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented track faculty position in Industrial Engineering. Individuals will also be
or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that considered at associate or full professor rank if they possess outstanding
qualifications commensurate with the rank. Successful applicants
have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human
are required to have an earned PhD in Industrial Engineering or a
Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, related field, and are expected to develop and maintain an active,
racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, externally-funded research program as well as teach courses at both the
and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person All qualified undergraduate and graduate levels.
candidates are encouraged to apply; however Canadians and permanent
The Department offers BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Mechanical
residents of Canada will be given priority for the position. The position is
Engineering, and Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, and
subject to final budgetary approval. currently has an undergraduate enrollment of about 770 and a graduate
Applicants are asked to complete the following equity survey: https://survey. enrollment of about 500. More information about the Department can be
found at http://www.mie.uic.edu. Applicants are required to send a letter
ubc.ca/s/Seaspan/. The survey information will not be used to determine of application indicating their qualifications, an up-to-date CV including
eligibility for employment, but will be collated to provide data that can the names and contact information of three references, and separate
assist us in understanding the diversity of our applicant pool and identifying one-page statements outlining their future teaching and research plans.
potential barriers to the employment of designated equity group members.
Your participation in the survey is voluntary and anonymous. This survey For fullest consideration, applications must be submitted online at http://
jobs.uic.edu/job-board/job-details?jobID=82505 by December 1, 2017.
takes only a minute to complete. You may self-identify in one or more of the Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Expected starting
designated equity groups. You may also decline to identify in any or all of the date is August 2018.
questions by choosing “not disclosed”. Canadians and permanent residents
of Canada will be given priority for the position. The position is subject to final UIC is deeply committed to a community of excellence, equity, and diversity and welcomes
applications from women, underrepresented minorities, persons with disabilities, sexual minority
budgetary approval. groups, and other candidates who will contribute
Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, a (4 pages or less) statement to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and
perspectives. An AA/EO employer.
of research interests and a research plan, part of which should be a plan for
engagement with the marine industry, a (1-2 page) statement of teaching The University of Illinois conducts background
interests and accomplishments, and names and contact information for four checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of
referees. Applications are accepted only through http://hr.ubc.ca/careers- contingent offer of employment. Background checks
will be performed in compliance with the Fair Credit
postings/faculty.php, and must be submitted by October 15, 2017. Reporting Act.
POSITIONSOPEN
Faculty Positions in Mechanical and Energy
Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles
Engineering at the Southern University of Science
seeks an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engi-
neering in all areas. Candidates should have a Ph.D. in and Technology (SUSTech), China
mechanical engineering or a closely related field and
The Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering at the Southern
ideally a BS in mechanical engineering. Successful
University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), China (http://www.sustc.
candidates will be dedicated to excellent teaching and
mentoring, developing a thriving research program, edu.cn/en) invite applications for tenure-track or tenured faculty positions
service, and supporting the mission of our institution. at all ranks (Assistant Professors, Associate Professors, Professors and
Apply online at https://jobs.lmu.edu/. LMU is an equal Chair Professors). The Department is established with three broad
opportunity institution. subjects, i.e., Robotics and Automation, Innovative Design and Advanced Manufacturing, as well as Energy
Engineering. There are extraordinary opportunities to develop own careers together with the rapid develop-
Director, TEES Turbomachinery Laboratory, ment of the Department in these three major subjects
NOV#E09FY17 The Texas A&M Engineering Experi-
Established in 2012, SUSTech is a public institution funded by the municipal of Shenzhen City, a special
ment Station invites applications for the Director of the
Turbomachinery Laboratory. Applicants will be able to economic zone in southern China. Shenzhen is a major city located in Southern China, situated immediately
develop, direct and implement TL’s R&D, Work Force north of Hong Kong. As one of China’s major gateways to the world, Shenzhen is the country’s fast-growing city
Development, and technology commercialization ob- in the past two decades. The city is the high-tech and manufacturing hub of southern China. As a state-level
jectives and initiatives. Ensure that TL’s activities will innovative city, Shenzhen has chosen independent innovation as the dominant strategy for its development.
establish, maintain and increase the center’s competi- SUSTech is a pioneer in higher education reform in China. The mission of the University is to become a
tive position and sustainability. Foster collaboration globally recognized institution which emphasizes academic excellence and promotes innovation, creativity
and opportunity between faculty, researchers and
and entrepreneurship.
centers. Collaborate with the head of the Mechanical
Engineering Department to align goals and outcomes Successful candidates are expected to establish vigorous teaching and research programs in the three
and must hold credentials that allow appointment to broad subjects and related interdisciplinary areas. Candidates should possess doctoral degrees in relevant
the engineering faculty. Maintain current sponsor re- subjects and demonstrate research accomplishment and/or potential. Senior candidates are expected to
lationships as well as develop new relationships in new play leadership role of teaching and research. Globally competitive salaries and start-up packages will be
market areas. Expected to foster and provide leader- provided. Those interested are invited to apply through the job website at http://talent.sustc.edu.cn/en/enin-
ship in expanding the R&D portfolio, workforce devel- dex.aspx, with submission of the following material electronically to [email protected]:
opment, and technology commercialization activities of
TL.  A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected. 1) Curriculum Vitae (with a complete list of publications).
Expected to supervise the organization of symposia 2) Statement of teaching philosophy.
and continuing-education activities as well as chair and
support major industrial advisory committees both for 3) Statement of research interests.
organizing symposia and for research.  Qualifications: 4) Selected reprints of three recent papers, to represent your research.
Required Education: Bachelor’s in applicable field or
equivalent combination of education and experience.
5) Names and contact details of five references.
Required Experience: Ten years of related experience.
Preferred Education and Experience: PhD in Engineer-
ing or related field and 10 years of combined experi-
ence in industry and academia. Progressive, success-
ful experience and demonstrable accomplishments in
R&D, WFD and/or technology commercialization lead-
ership, execution and management. Experience as the
director of an R&D organization or agency in industry,
government or academia. Service on industry, gov-
ernment, or academic R&D, WFD, and/or technology
commercialization planning or steering committees.
Service on turbomachinery-related professional com-
mittees, societies, and organizations. For additional
information and to apply, please go to www.tamengi- DEPARTMENT HEAD
neeringjobs.com The members of Texas A&M Engi-
neering are all Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/ UA DEPARTMENT OF AEROSPACE AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Veterans/Disability employers committed to diversity.
We seek an engaging and articulate leader to guide this successful department as it secures ad-
ditional faculty appointments and expands and enhances its undergraduate and graduate programs,
research impact and visibility, and industrial partnerships.
The successful candidate will have a proven record of transparent, collaborative and effective
strategic planning, communication and resource management. A distinguished record of achieve-
ment in scholarship, research and/or professional practice commensurate with an appointment at
the rank of professor with tenure is required. Full posting (#F20856) and application instructions are
Technology that at https://uacareers.com/postings/16156.
The department is dedicated to innovative interdisciplinary research and teaching in both
Moves the World aerospace and mechanical engineering. The department’s research specialties include active flow
control, aerospace guidance navigation and control, astrodynamics, biomechanics, computational
and experimental fluid and solid mechanics, mechatronics, multibody dynamics, nanotechnology
For all recruitment and renewable energy.
advertising opportunities, Research at the University of Arizona is strongly multidisciplinary and the department works
extensively with, among others, the UA Department of Planetary Sciences, Arizona Health Sciences
contact: Center, BIO5 Institute for Collaborative Bioresearch, College of Optical Sciences and the Program in
JAMES PERO Applied Mathematics, all of which enjoy international recognition as centers for world-class academ-
[email protected] (212) 591-7783 ic programs and research.
The University of Arizona is located in Tucson, which has a vibrant, multicultural community – in
2016 UNESCO named it a World City of Gastronomy – and is home to a thriving industrial sector that
includes Raytheon, Rincon Research, Paragon Space Development and Vector Space Systems.
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.66

ADVERTISERINDEX
To purchase or receive information from our advertisers, visit the advertiser’s website, or call the number listed below.
PAGE WEBSITE PHONE PAGE WEBSITE PHONE

Accu-Mold, LLC 13 accu-mold.com Siemens PLM C3 siemens.com/plm/academic

Software Global Academic Program
ATI Industrial 8 ati-ia.com/mes 919-772-0115
Automation Smalley Steel Ring, Inc. 9 Smalley.com

Bluebeam Software, Inc. 7 bluebe.am/trust Tech-Etch, Inc 24 tech-etch.com/

COMSOL, Inc. C4, 27 comsol.com/products Tormach 21 tormach.com

Forest City Gear Co. 19 forestcitygear.com 815-623-2168 US Air Force C2 airforce.com

RECRUITMENT
Master Bond, Inc. 20 masterbond.com 201-343-8983
Penn State University ................................................................................................ 62
Origin Lab Corporation 15 originlab.com/demo San Diego State University .............................................................................62, 63 & 64
Southern University of Science & Technology .............................................................. 65
PHD, Inc. 25 phdinc.com/me917 800-624-8511 University of Illinois at Chicago ...........................................................................62 & 64
University of Arizona.................................................................................................. 65
Proto Labs, Inc. 5 go.protolabs.com/ME7HQ
University of British Columbia .............................................................................63 & 64
Siemens PLM Software 17 siemens.com/mdx University of Michigan ............................................................................................... 63
University of Pennsylvania ......................................................................................... 62
 ASME NEWS MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.67

ASME President
Charla Wise
became the
136th president
ANNUAL MEETING
of the Society
during the ASME
MEMBERSHIP
Annual Meeting
in Newport
ASSEMBLY
Beach, Calif.,
held in June.
ADDRESSES ASME
AND THE NEXT
GENERATION OF
ENGINEERS
NEW ASME PRESIDENT A special Membership Assembly at the

CHARLA WISE HIGHLIGHTS ASME Annual Meeting in Newport Beach,

Calif., provided ASME members attending

ASME’S MISSION & VISION the conference with an update on ASME’s

recently launched strategic plan and its

D
implications for the future of the Society.
uring her inaugural address at I told the Nominating Committee that Following an introduction by Executive
the President’s Dinner at the my theme for this year would be ‘Conti- Director Thomas Loughlin, ASME President
ASME Annual Meeting, ASME’s nuity, As We Move Forward, Together.’ Keith Roe presented the first portion of
new president, Charla K. Wise, And that’s the beauty of the strategy
the program, “ASME Strategy—How We Got
discussed the Society’s mission and that ASME’s Board of Governors has
Here,” in which he discussed the develop-
vision, as well as her hopes for ASME’s been working on over the past several
ment of the Society’s new strategic plan for
future as it continues with its strategic years. It brings us continuity as we
plan for becoming the go-to organiza- look to the future, especially over the
establishing ASME as the go-to organization
tion for addressing key technology- next 10 years. It helps us move forward for addressing key technology-related chal-
related issues. toward achieving our mission by having lenges in the public interest. Subsequent
Given her history with ASME, Wise clear goals. It brings us all together—we steps have included the Board of Governors
is naturally familiar with—and com- all have a common vision—what I call a approving five core technologies—robotics,
mitted to—the Society’s mission: to ‘North Star’ for the Society.” manufacturing, clean energy, bioengineering,
serve diverse global communities by Much like the North Star, which and pressure technology—that will be the
advancing, disseminating, and applying has been used throughout the ages as basis of the Society’s products and services
engineering knowledge for improving a navigational tool because it remains portfolio going forward, and the formulation
the quality of life and communicating nearly immovable in the sky, the Soci- of an Integrated Operating Plan to provide
the excitement of engineering. ety’s vision “holds steady in front of all guidance as the Society develops that port-
Touching on the mission’s last point, of us,” Wise said. “We all can keep our folio and strives to meet a set of 10-year,
Wise said, “As quickly as our world eye on the North Star (our vision) as three-year, and one-year goals.
is changing and advancing, we need we move forward on our ASME paths During the next section of the program,
to stimulate and inspire the minds as individuals, as sectors, as groups. We ASME President-Elect Charla Wise discussed
and capture the hearts and souls of all see how our paths may be somewhat the five Presidential Task Forces that the
our existing engineers and technical separate, yet we are connected and in- BOG formed to address issues facing ASME
professionals, as well as those of future tegrated, helping each other, and doing
in several critical areas: The five Task Forces
generations of engineers to join us in our part to lead us towards success.”
presented their recommendations to the
accomplishing our mission to impact As her speech drew to a close, Wise,
BOG during the Annual Meeting for possible
the world positively, through our solu- addressing her fellow ASME colleagues
tions and technology.” in the room, said, “We are the leaders to
inclusion in the Integrated Operating Plan.
Wise also discussed ASME’s vision make our vision a reality. We are mem- The Membership Assembly continued with
of being the essential resource for me- bers of such an incredible team. I am a panel discussion focusing on ASME’s E-
chanical engineers and other technical always impressed and energized when Fests—a successful new program of regional
professionals throughout the world for I look at the credentials, the commit- three-day events for engineering students
solutions that benefit humankind, not- ment, the energy and the dedication of that combine learning opportunities revolv-
ing that she shared this vision for the this team. You are, and we have on our ing around design, advanced manufactur-
Society as well. team ‘the best of the best’—and we can ing, and robotics with social activities and
“Last year, when I ran for president, make it happen.” ME entertainment. ME
 INPUT OUTPUT MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2017 | P.68

LORD
OF THE

Image: Kaynemaile
RINGS
T
oday’s soldiers don’t tend to wear chainmail. If you cobbled together, but couldn’t get anyone to take it seriously.
want see the stuff, you’ll have to go to a museum—or Months later, the first engineer he had talked to decided to
the movies. The Lord of the Rings, specifically. The help him—on the condition that his name not be associated
series had hundreds of actors that needed to be clad in the with the project. In short, Horsham created a liquid state as-
linked armor. Of course, the armor on the set didn’t need to sembly hot runner system capable of injecting material to 50
be the strong and heavy stuff of yore. So special effects mae- different points at exactly the right time.
stro and weapons designer Kayne Horsham decided to make The result is an incredibly strong material with seem-
it out of silver-plated polypropylene plumbing tubing. ingly miraculous properties. Kaynemaile, as the material
Though the material was lighter and cheaper than iron was dubbed by The Lord of the Rings triology star Viggo
or steel, Horsham was still assembling the mail the old- Mortensen, can be found wrapped around buildings 16 sto-
fashioned way: breaking the rings so they could be linked to- ries high. No metal mail would survive that height without
gether and assembling them by hand. He had 20 to 30 people deformation and breakage. It’s also been featured in an in-
working on suits of armor of 80,000 rings each. But the stallation in Times Square as part of the NYCxDesign show.
assemblers weren’t done when a suit was done. Because each Kaynemaile may soon have some non-decorative appli-
ring had been weakened, the armor would break after a day cations. The material easily separates oil from water, and
on an actor, and they would work all night repairing them. allows the oil to be reused. Horsham hopes that oil compa-
However painstaking the process, the material was a big nies will begin to use it to help clean up spills. It also has the
hit before it was coated in silver. “People showed a level of potential to make a superior fish-containment net. Today’s
joy when it was in that raw state,” Horsham said. “It was nets last just a few years and when they break they float ran-
warm to the touch, nice and tactile.” He began wondering if, domly through the ocean ensnaring fish and other animals.
after he was done with Lord of the Rings, he might make the Kaynemaile has the promise to outperform them.
chained fabric for the fashion industry. Whether it’s for a catwalk, a hotel lobby, or an oil spill, the
So he created a machine that would automate the ring material is completely reusable, as it’s made of a polycarbon-
assembly. “While I was struggling to debug this machine, ate. “My approach means harvesting the material for reuse—
I said, why on earth am I doing what people have done for it’s just a no-brainer, but commercially people have different
2,000 years—rejoining them. Why not make them already motivations,” Horsham said. “But I think there needs to be
rejoined,” he said. “I had a eureka moment: surely I could more responsibility for what people design and build.”
use injection molding.” He learned CAD and started putting With Kaynemaile, we may get to that more sustainable
together a model. future, one link at a time. ME
Engineers he talked to weren’t so sure. He went from one
to another, showing them a pink plasticine prototype he’d MICHAEL ABRAMS is a writer based in Westfield, N.J.
siemens.com/plm/academic