Municipal solid waste in the developing world is often improperly disposed of in dumps near slums or simply discarded along the roadside in rural villages. This waste, particularly plastic, is a serious environmental and health concern for the communities in those regions. Lack of infrastructure, capital, and governmental policies contributes to the waste pile-up. Thus, methods of removing, recycling, and repurposing the otherwise pollutant waste are needed. In order to address the problem of plastic waste accumulation in developing regions, a process based on the principles of Appropriate Technology for converting waste plastic into a fuel oil similar to diesel fuel or kerosene has been proposed by the University of Kentucky Appropriate Technology and Sustainability (UKATS) research team. Several commonly occurring plastics such as High and Low Density Polyethylene, Polypropylene, and Polystyrene have been analyzed for their potential as a source of hydrocarbon fuel oil. In order to optimize this chemical process, the temperature parameters leading to maximum product yield have been studied. Experiments have been conducted in a small scale pyrolysis chamber to determine the optimum process temperature. Along with data collection of individual plastics, a mixture of the waste plastic was also analyzed.

-In the summer of 2015, a group of chemical and mechanical engineering undergraduate students from the University of Kentucky Paducah Extended Campus Program participated in a Global Service Learning and Sustainability course focused on implementing a project to convert waste plastic into a sustainable liquid fuel in rural southern India. The successful construction, operation and testing of the liquid fuel in local diesel powered irrigation pumps will be described. Service learning projects conducted in other countries often face cultural hurdles that are quite different than in traditional study abroad programs. Working side-by-side with local people requires adapting to cultural practices that may be quite different from the students' expectations. To address this, cultural aspects and social sustainability were included in a lecture component of the service learning course as well as in the implementation of the service project. The learning outcomes for this course included providing students with clear understanding of the key issues of sustainability and sustainable community development in rural and underdeveloped regions and educating them as to how engineers must consider cultural factors when working in underdeveloped regions. This service learning project was conducted in collaboration with the Organization of Development Action and Maintenance (ODAM) in Tiruchuli, India.

No abstract

Background: The objective analysis of nasal airflow stands to benefit greatly from the adoption of computational fluid dynamic (CFD) methodologies. In this emerging field, no standards currently exist in regard to the ideal modeling parameters of the nasal airway. Such standards will be necessary for this tool to become clinically relevant. Methods: Human nasal airways were modeled from a healthy control, segmented, and analyzed with an in-house immersed boundary method. The segmentation Hounsfield unit (HU) threshold was varied to measure its effect in relation to airflow velocity magnitude and pressure change. Findings: Surface area and volume have a linear relationship to HU threshold, whereas CFD variables had a more complex relationship. Interpretation: The HU threshold should be included in nasal airflow CFD analysis. Future work is required to determine the optimal segmentation threshold.