Engineering Commons^™

Air Pre-Heat System Optimization For Flash Dryers, Sophia Louden

Honors Theses

Primient, a leading producer of food and industrial ingredients made from plant-based, renewable sources is the industrial sponsor for this project. The company is currently using Plate & Frame Heat exchangers to heat up a 40% by-weight glycol and water solution that is then used to preheat the incoming ambient air. Glycol is being added to reduce the risks of freezing in the system during the winter season. It is important to highlight that this fact affects the heat transfer properties of the liquid overall. Since air heating is a highly energy-demanding process, an outlet stream of hot water produced …

Cellulose Based Separator For High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries, Akshit Vaidya

Masters Theses

During the past two decades, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have gained great success in the field of portable devices, and currently, are penetrating to the market of vehicles. Compared to the fast development of LIBs, little efforts have been dedicated to the separator, which is one of the most important components of LIBs. Primarily, the lithium-ion battery separator has two functions, one is to prevent direct contact between the positive and negative electrodes, and the other is to provide a path for effective ionic transportation. Currently, the separator market of LIBs is dominated by polyolefin materials such as polypropylene, polyethylene, and …

Soy- Based Flexographic Ink For Linerboard Printing, Rahul Ramchandra Pingale

Masters Theses

Many printing inks use volatile solvents in the formulation, which are hazardous to the environment from emission of VOC’s and at the same time, synthetic resins in these inks are not biodegradable. These problems with the fluctuating and rising price of petroleum are main reasons to look for new resources for making more environmentally friendly printing inks. The majority of the commercially available water based inks are formulated based on using acrylic resins, synthetic colorants, solvents/water and additives, which are the common main components for formulating printing inks. In this research, soy proteins were tested for their suitability to partially …

Printed Dot Quality In Response To Doctor Blade Angle In Gravure Printing, Bilge N. Altay, Alexandra Pekarovicova, Paul D. Fleming

The Hilltop Review

Doctor blade is one of the critical machine part of the gravure printing press that controls the amount of ink transfer on the substrate. The angle of the blade can be varied; however, an improper angle may cause major problems. In this study, the doctor blade angle was positioned at three different level to address its effect on the printed dot quality. Print trials were made on a web-fed gravure press at the speed of 650 ft./min. A high-resolution overhead camera was used to analyze the key dot attributes. The results showed that measuring only the density of printed dot …

Papermaking Factors Affecting Lateral Web Position During Commercial Heat Set Web Offset Printing, George W. Shields

Masters Theses

The interaction of water with paper plays a role in web handling characteristics during commercial heat set web offset printing. Water absorption leads to lower web tension for a given strain.

This research investigates paper properties and their role in preventing lateral web movement from cross machine air flows in the drying section during normal printing operations. Tensile properties of sheets are measured at various moisture contents and then used to determine the equilibrium stress-strain relationship for papers at moisture contents typical of heat set web offset printing. Permeability, fiber orientation and tensile stiffness are evaluated against lateral web movement …

Fate Of Conductive Ink Pigments During Recycling And Landfill Deposition Of Paper-Based Printed Electronics, James Edward Atkinson

Dissertations

Printed electronics (PE) are being developed as an alternative to traditional electronics, due to the more efficient use of materials and lower cost of production. The overall goal of this study was to understand how metallic pigments in conductive inks in PE are partitioned during landfill disposal and paper recycling conditions. The purpose is to assess the potential environmental impacts of PE landfilling in terms of metal leaching and to help develop new strategies for sequestering metallic ink components while paper-based PE are subjected to conventional paper recycling methods. The objective of this research is to study the fate of …

Development Of Water-Based Ink System For Braille Printing, Saurabh Varma

Masters Theses

The most commonly used system of writing by and for blind persons is called Braille, named after its French inventor, Louis Braille (1809-1952). Braille is comprised of a rectangular six-dot cell on its end, with up to 63 possible combinations using one or more of the six dots. Braille is the only reliable method of literacy for blind persons, because it enables them to read and write by touch¹.

Currently, Braille is printed by special embossers that serve as a printing press. These embossers create Braille output when it is attached appropriately to computers. The speed of these …

Rheology Of Silica Based Inkjet Coatings And Their Filterability, Peeyush Tripathi

Masters Theses

Coating rheology has long been understood to be a key factor in the smooth operation and performance of a coater. As coaters run faster and formulations become more complex, the demands on a coating's rheology grow more stringent.

Silica based coating formulations present unique rheological challenges, thus providing the opportunity for coating formulators to improve their performance through rheological studies under various conditions of shear. Due to rheological restrictions (gelling), silica based coatings are generally applied at 25-26% solids which is very low as compared to calcium carbonate or clay based coating, at 68-70% solids. Consequently, any improvement in coatings …

Lateral Migration Of A Solid Particle In Shear Flow, Wutthapong Jiraporncharoen

Masters Theses

Lateral migration of solid particles in shear flow is observed in various industrial applications. Suspensions in a blade coater, a device used to apply coating pigment to a base paper to improve paper properties, is an example. Particle hydrodynamics will affect the quality of coated paper and runnability of the coater especially when the speed of the coating machine is very high or the pigment concentration is increased.

Many factors will affect the particle migration. The wall repulsion or lubrication effect forces the particle away from a wall to the channel center. The inertial effects are increased by increasing the …

The Effect Of Wet End Operations On Sizing Loss In Alkaline Papers, Suresh B. Cherukuri

Masters Theses

Changes in wet end of alkaline papermaking affect the size development as well as sizing loss. These changes include pH, alkalinity and type of filler used. Precipitated and ground varieties of carbonate fillers and the alkalinity associated with · them are believed to be the causes for the gradual sizing loss in alkaline papers due the accelerated hydrolysis reaction of sizing chemicals at higher alkalinity.

Precipitated and ground calcium carbonate fillers are used as fillers and compared to non carbonate filler such as kaolin clay for their response to size development and sizing loss at lower and higher alkalinity ranges …

Effect Of Poly Acrylate Addition On Coating Color Rheology, Water Retention And Coating Performance, Shambhu Nath

Masters Theses

Five polyacrylate samples were used to study their effects on coating color rheology, water holding and runnability. The Cylindrical Laboratory Coater was used to apply the coatings and study the runnability of the coating colors. The healing tendencies of the coatings were studied by inducing a scratch under the blade. The higher acid level and degree of crosslinking of the polyacrylate gave higher viscosity and the higher acid level also gave higher water retention. Coating colors containing polyacrylates were less prone to dilatancy at high shear. The addition of polyacrylate reduced the healing of coating colors, but for the same …

Microencapsulation As An Alternative To Emulsification For Preparing As A For Use In Papermaking, William J. Corriveau

Masters Theses

The sizing chemical ASA is emulsified to make i t compatible with the papermaking process. Unfortunately, emulsified ASA is chemically reactive with water at the elevated temperatures found in papermaking systems. As an alternative, encapsulated ASA was made and investigated for its stability towards water at elevated temperatures.

A handsheet procedure was developed to analyze emulsified and encapsulated ASA. It was concluded that the procedure gave statistically reproducible results. Investigations with the procedure revealed important variables concerning the laboratory and m ill application of ASA. Evidence indicated that retention of ASA was critical to sizing development.

Encapsulated ASA made for …