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Publication Date
8-2015
Date of Final Oral Examination (Defense)
4-15-2015
Type of Culminating Activity
Thesis - Boise State University Access Only
Degree Title
Master of Science in Civil Engineering
Department
Civil Engineering
Supervisory Committee Chair
Arvin Farid, Ph.D
Supervisory Committee Co-Chair
Ken Cornell, Ph.D.
Supervisory Committee Member
Yang Lu, Ph.D.
Abstract
The application of electromagnetic (EM) waves to measure the electrical properties (dielectric constant and loss tangent) of materials is a well-known approach. The electrical properties can be used to indirectly measure several physical properties of solutions in water such as the concentration and chemical composition of contaminants in water, as the representative of the liquid phase in soil. A capacitive method of measuring dielectric properties of solutions is proposed to detect and determine chemical and biological contaminations at low concentrations in water. The primary objective of this project is to design a low-cost sensor requiring small volumes of samples to detect the dissolved contaminants in water. After measurements are collected, the next step is to eliminate the errors in order to improve the precision of the designed sensor as much as possible to accommodate detection of very low-concentration contaminants. A forward model was developed using a finite-element method (FEM) to simulate the experimental setup (EXP). A calibration function was also developed to minimize deviations between FEM and EXP results for benchmark/reference solutions with known dielectric properties. The forward model was then inverted to calculate the electrical properties of unknown solutions using the corresponding EXP results.
Recommended Citation
Nazaridaftari, Ali, "Impedance-Based Water-Quality Monitoring Using Parallel Plate Method" (2015). Boise State University Theses and Dissertations. 981.
https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/td/981