Engineering Commons^™

Mathematical Simulation Of Proteins Separation In A Packed Bed, Jing James Huang

Dissertations

The generalized adsorption models are developed to simulate the unsteady state mass transfer behavior in a packed column. Based on the nature of adsorbent particles, the adsorption models may be classified into two categories: (1) the surface adsorption model, (2) the pore diffusion model. In the first model, it is assumed that the internal diffusion is negligible, and the adsorption rate is determined by external diffusion and surface adsorption. In the second model, the effect of internal diffusion is considered as significant as that of external diffusion. For both models, the effect of axial dispersion in fluid phase is emphasized. …

Mathematical Modeling Of Carrier Mediated Mass Transfer Through Liquid Membrane Systems, Keng Chao Wang

Dissertations

Dispersed liquid membrane systems are double emulsion drops. Two immiscible phases are separated by a third phase which is immiscible with the other two phases. The liquid membrane systems were classified into three types: (1) carrier mediated mass transfer, (2) mass transfer with reaction in the receiving phase, (3) mass transfer without any reaction involved. Copper extraction, phenol removal and solvent extraction were used as typical examples for each type of the membrane systems in the derivation of their mathematical models. Models with or without the consideration of film resistances were developed and compared. The models developed in this study …

The Biodegradation Of Phenol And O-Chlorophenol Using Activated Sludge Bacteria, Jeffery Colish

Theses

The biological degradation of phenol up to 500 ppm and 0-chlorophenol up to 40 ppm was studied in an aerated 4.0 liter hatch reactor using activated sludge bacteria from the Livingston, N.J. wastewater treatment plant. From the concentration versus time data, kinetic rate constants were determined for phenol (@ 100 ppm) and o-chlorophenol (@ 20 ppm and 40 ppm). Air stripping was determined to be an insignificant removal mechanism for the compounds studied.

It was noted that the acclimation times decreased with repeated exposure to a particular concentration of phenol or o-chlorophenol, and that the activated sludge bacteria first had …

An Experimental Investigation Of The Kinetics And Thermal Properties Of Poly(Ethylene) Terephthalate And Its Related Di-Acid Modified Copolymers, Satish Baliga

Theses

Poly(ethylene) Terephthalate , PET, is synthesized from purified Bis-hydroxyethyl Terephthalate,(BHET), in the presence of antimony oxide catalyst. Rate constant for the polycondensation reaction, based on a second order kinetic model is found to be 152.4/mol/hr.

A new modified polyester Polyethylene Adipic Terephthalate (PEAT) is synthesized from BHET and adipic acid. The effect of adipic acid content in the copolymer,on the rate of polycondensation is studied. Adipic acid is shown to improve the activity of the polymer chain ends thereby increasing the apparent reaction rate constants.

The modified polyesters are observed to melt at a lower temperature than PET. Moreover, the …

Stability Of Bicomponet Polymeric Liquids In Poiseuille Flow, Chin-Chang Jeng

Theses

Polymer processing, involving two or more components, has become more popular recently in industrial plants. However, product Quality is affected very much by the fluid stability. Some theoretical and experimental results concerning Newtonian and non-Newtonian flow in rectangular coordinates, have been published, and the fluid-fluid interfaces were observed to be unstable by some researchers.

In this paper, the linear stability of bicomponent non-Newtonian fluids flowing in a cylindrical tube was investigated by using the Ellis model. Only the very long wave and the axisymmetric disturbances were considered. The Ellis zero-shear-rate viscosity ratio, m( = η02 / η01 )destabilizing. The half-zero-shear-rate-viscosity …

A Comparison Of The Biodegradation Of Nitrobenzene, 1-Butanol, And 2,4-Dichlorphenoxyacetic Acid Using A Municipal Mixed Liquor And Three Commercial Bacterial Preparations, Salvatore P. Salerno

Theses

The biological degradation of nitrobenzene, 1-butanol, and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) was studied in aerated 6 liter batch reactors using activated sludge from the Livingston, NJ wastewater treatment plant-- by itself and in a 10:1 by volume mixture with each of three commercial bacterial preparations: Hydrobac, BI-CHEM DC-1006/7, and Liquid Live Microorganisms (LLMO). Air stripping and adsorption were determined to be insignificant removal mechanisms for the three compounds studied. None of the bacterial mixtures were able to degrade 10 ppm nitrobenzene to any significant extent. A small but noticeable improvement in degradation rates occurred when the Livingston sludge was mixed with …

X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopic Analysis Of Coal Ash, George Patrick Watson

Theses

Several coal ashes and prepared mixtures were analyzed by x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. Various techniques were studied to determine the most reliable procedure for quantitatively estimating, from fluorescent peak intensities, the concentrations of seven major oxides typically present in the ash. These ashes were analyzed with only minimal sample preparation. In order to determine the self-consistency of the procedure, several mixtures of known composition were prepared containing the major elements present in an ash.

Because of inter-element absorption and enhancement effects, several computational techniques were used to calculate composition from spectrum peak intensities. The method that yielded the most accurate estimates …

Homogenous Reaction Kinetics Of Reduction Of Sulfur Dioxide, Satyanarayana Manthani

Theses

Homogeneous reduction of sulfur dioxide by carbon monoxide was investigated in the temperature range between 700 and 1000°C, initial sulfur dioxide concentration of about 3000 ppm, typical of a flue gas from coal fired power plants, and excess carbon monoxide concentration, in a 12 mm O.D. quartz tubular reactor. Over ninty percent reduction of sulfur dioxide was obtained at temperatures above 900°C and space times of the order of about 3.5 seconds. Substantial carbonyl sulfide was also produced.

Mixing Effect On Chemical Reaction In Liquid Phase, Ming-Teh Hsu

Dissertations

Mathematical models for the mixing phenomenon are proposed in this study. First model deals Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid without chemical reaction. The new terminology " degree of mixing " is define in this model for the time-dependency of mixing toward its completeness. The velocity profile and boundary conditions are given, then the degree of mixing can be calculated by the mathematical model. The degree of mixing is influenced by fluid motion and it is function of time.

Second model deals with first-order reaction effected by mixing. A mean fractional conversion is defined to investigate the rate of bhemical reaction. Results …

Simulation Of Particle Size Distribution In Continuous Emulsion Polymerization Through A Modified Population Balance Approach, Ying-Yuh Lu

Theses

A detailed mathematical model for particle size distribution in continuous emulsion polymerization of styrene and vinyl acetate is proposed on the basis of the population balance in the presence of several kinetic and mass transfer processes. This study is limited to the Smith-Ewart case II, which assumes instantaneous free radical termination within polymer particles. Radical desorption mechanism from polymer particles is included in the model and the desorption rate is formulated from the diffusion theory which suggests that the rate coefficient should be inversely proportional to the surface area of polymer particles.

Mathematical Modeling Of Unsteady State Photo-Polymerization, Rong-Fa Liang

Dissertations

Mathematical modeling of unsteady state photopolymerization in an isothermal batch reactor has been investigated. An analytical solution of the distribution of active polymers as a function of reaction time has been determined. It is verified that the quasi-stationary state approximation is valid in the photopolymerization process.

The free radical polymerization of styrene is forced periodically by on-off UV light regulation to the reactor. The effect of operating condition, the ratio of light-off period to light on/off period, on the polydispersity and molecular weight distribution are theoretically and numerically investigated. Significant broadening on molecular weight distribution can be obtained during the …

Mathematical Modeling Of Distillation Operation From Non-Equilibrium Approach, Wen-Dow Pan

Dissertations

A new method for mathematical modeling of a distillation operation from non-equilibrium approach has been studied. The primary purpose of the study was to develop a model to simulate the mechanism of mass transfer between a continuous phase and the bubbles of a dispersed phase in a distillation column. The second major purpose of this work was to utilize and test the model of estimating the tray efficiency.

Distillation was considered to be purely a mass transfer process, where the less volatile component is transferred from vapor to liquid phase, and the more volatile component from liquid to vapor phase. …

Use Of An Optical Probe To Measure Bubble Characteristics In Gas Fluidized Beds, Thomas Tai-Pai Chu

Dissertations

A novel optical probe has been developed and used for on-line monitoring of the bubble characteristics in a three-dimensional gas fluidized bed. The probe sensor has a major dimension of 1.8 cm, and contains an LED and a photo-cell separated by a gap of 2.5 mm. Coupled with a non-inverting comparator circuit with hysteresis as a noise filter, the probe has been very effective in characterizing the size distribution, shape and velocity of gas bubbles.

A 96 liter rectangular fluidized bed was used, containing glass beads with a size fraction of 355μ to 250μ. Air was the fluidizing medium, with …

The Dry Removal Process Of Sulphur Dioxide From Flue Gases Using Aluminum Oxide, Ching-Hwang Lu

Theses

Oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide and absorption on aluminum oxide pellet as a mean of removing sulfur dioxide from flue gas was studied in a packed bed reactor at various temperatures, residence times, SO₂ inlet concentrations (ppm level), and particle sizes. Three different experiments were conducted: (i) sulfation with oxygen/ozone, (ii) sulfation with oxygen only in the presence of UV radiation ( 254 nm or 366 nm ), (iii) sulfation with oxygen only. In all the experiments substantial absorption of sulfur dioxide by alumina pellet was observed. Sulfation with oxygen/ozone give the highest absorption of SO_{2 …}

Prediction Of Enthalpies Of Mixing With A Unifac Model, Dinh Dang

Theses

A modified UNIFAC model is used in the correlation and prediction of enthalpies of mixing. The model requires two interaction parameters per group pair and values for 172 such pairs are presented here. Excellent prediction results are obtained with typical errors, in the temperature range of 273°K to 400°K, below 15%. For systems containing cyclic compounds, somewhat poorer results may be encountered.