Other Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Controlled Humidity Chambers To Maintain Red Roses’ Freshness And Improve Their Shelf Life, Rima Vasudevan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Floriculture is the third largest agricultural crop in the United States of America. Flowers are usually transported in pots of mud or with the roots still submerged in water to increase their shelf life and ensure freshness during long hours of transport. This not only increases the weight of the transport materials but also makes the process expensive.

The research conducted provides the first stages of an alternative packaging material that can lower the weight of transport materials and maintain the freshness of the flowers. The experiments conducted in this work support the hypothesis that using controlled high (>60%) …

Role Of Salt On Coating Failure, Kyle Krause

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

It is important to understand the role of salt in the coating failure because it may influence the coating degradation mechanism that is related to coating performance. This project will study the role of salt on two types of organic coatings under two different immersion environment. The environment selected was 3.5% by weight sodium chloride solution and deionized (DI) water. The two coatings were Neorez 1080 (a waterborne polyurethane) and Joncryl 587-AC (a solvent borne polyurethane). Each coating was tested in each environment using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurement which presented a total of four data sets. The equivalent circuit …

Corrosion Resistance Of Silane Coatings On Aluminum And Magnesium Alloys, John Demopoulos

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this project was to increase the corrosion resistance of aluminum and magnesium alloys by coating the coupons with a silane on the surface. Four different silanes: 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES), Bis(triethoxysilylpropyl)amine (Bis), (Heptadecafluoro-1,1,2,2-tetrahydrodecyl)trichlorosilane (FTS), and (Heptadecafluoro-1,1,2,2-tetrahydrodecyl)triethoxysilane (non Cl FTS) will be used and compared to see which silane would give the best corrosion resistance. Each silane solution was coated on the coupons by using a solution method in which the coupon was submerged for 24 hours and then thermally cured for another 24 hours. Once the coating was applied, the water contact angle and the thickness of the coating …

Chemical Modification Of Crumb Rubber To Increase Its Bonding With Concrete, Mary T. Mccannon, Kendall J. Sweitzer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The hydrophilicity of crumb rubber was increased with wet chemical modification and added to concrete to increase its adhesion with concrete, consequently the compressive strength relative to that of concrete with untreated rubber. Other modification methods were tested on crumb rubber and rubber sheets to yield an increase in hydrophilicity. Certain tests were less reliable for powder testing or tedious and time consuming and concrete materials and rubber may not be homogeneous.

For wet chemical modification, several approaches were attempted. First, crumb rubber was soaked in 5% sodium hydroxide, 5% potassium permanganate and saturated sodium bisulfite, tested for hydrophilicity using …

Titanium Nanoparticles Synthesized Via Hydrothermal Reaction, Kyle W. Hodge

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The main goal of this project was to determine if increasing the time and temperature of a hydrothermally reacted titanium nanotube would increase the size of the nanotubes. Five experiments were conducted while varying the time and temperature of the reaction: 120°C for 24 hours, 120°C for 48 hours, 150°C for 24 hours, 180°C for 24 hours, and 180°C for 48 hours. Following the synthesis of all of these samples x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analyses were performed. The XRD analysis revealed anatase titanium nanoparticles formed in the 120°C and 150°C samples, this could …

Controlling Properties Of Agglomerates For Chemical Processes, Joseph A. Halt

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Iron ore pellets are hard spheres made from powdered ore and binders. Pellets are used to make iron, mainly in blast furnaces. Around the time that the pelletizing process was developed, starch was proposed as a binder because it’s viscous, adheres well to iron oxides, does not contaminate pellets and is relatively cheap. In practice, however, starch leads to weak pellets with rough surfaces – these increase the amount of dust generated within process equipment and during pellet shipping and handling. Thus, even though the usual binder (bentonite clay) contaminates pellets, pelletizers prefer it to starch or other organics.

This …

Enzymatically Active Microspheres For Self-Propelled Colloidal Engines, Jungeun Park

Dissertations and Theses

Micro- and nano-motors have attracted numerous attentions from various scientific areas due to their potential applications. Most studies on self-propelled colloidal engines have exploited catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to drive the motor. Since the hydrogen peroxide is caustic, it is not suitable to use in biological applications, encouraging people to develop “greener” fuels. The aim of this research is to study a new transduction mechanism for self-propulsion not tied to hydrogen peroxide, and which can in particular be used with biological molecules as fuels. In this study, we focus on making particles with enzymatic activity which can effectively decompose …

Ionic Liquids Tethered To Activated Carbon For Capture Of Airborne Toxins, Devin Peck

Dissertations and Theses

Ionic liquids (ILs) were investigated for functionalization of activated carbon (AC) adsorbents for the filtration of warfare toxins. Preliminary steps were taken by testing absorption capacity of neat ILs and tethering ionic liquids to the surface of AC. AC is known to have good adsorption ability for warfare agents. Functionalizing the AC with ILs could enhance the capture ability significantly. ILs have been found to be good absorbents for a variety of gaseous species. The absorption selectivity and capacity can be tuned by changing the anion-cation pair. By tethering ILs to AC, the beneficial properties of gas absorption from ILs …

Optimising The Performance Of Cement-Based Batteries, Aimee Byrne, Shane Barry, Niall Holmes Dr., Brian Norton

Articles

The development of a battery using different cement-based electrolytes to provide a low but potentially sustainable source of electricity is described. The current, voltage, and lifespan of batteries produced using different electrolyte additives, copper plate cathodes, and (usually) aluminium plate anodes were compared to identify the optimum design, components, and proportions to increase power output and longevity. Parameters examined include water/cement ratio, anode to cathode surface area ratio, electrode material, electrode spacing, and the effect of sand, aggregate, salts, carbon black, silica fume, and sodium silicate on the electrolyte. The results indicate that the greatest and longest lasting power can …

Electrochemical Oxidation Of Antibiotic, Antihistamine, Analgesic And Cns Stimulant Pharmaceuticals, Md Mosaddek Hossen

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

Electrochemical oxidation is a common method for the degradation of chemicals by applying potential at a definite value. In this research, ‘cyclic voltammetry’ experiments were conducted to find out the oxidation potential for 8 different pharmaceuticals. Mainly, 3 different pH solutions (pH 6.0, 7.5, 9.0) and 9 different concentrations (1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 µM) were studied for each of the pharmaceuticals in this experiments. Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, Naproxen Sodium, Caffeine showed oxidation peak at 0.34-0.79V, 1.37- 1.39V, 0.94-1.01V, 1.44-1.55V respectively at different pH and concentrations. Antibiotic and antihistamine pharmaceuticals i.e. Erythromycin Hydrate, Triclosan, Sulfanilamide, Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride …

Chlorpyrifos Removal For Wastewater Reuse, Indran Kamalanathan

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Approximately 1.2 billion people around the world live in areas of physical water scarcity. This could increase to half of the world’s population by 2030 and could displace 24 to 700 million people unless steps are taken to ensure adequate water supply.¹ Water scarcity is an escalating issue within the United States, specifically in Western inland states with arid climates. This scarcity is encouraging communities to investigate tertiary level municipal wastewater treatment, allowing for reuse of wastewater. Unfortunately, wastewater contains numerous contaminants that are not regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). …

Haul Truck Tires Recycling, Omkar Bhave

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The disposal of large Off-the-Road (OTR) tires is an increasingly important concern. These tires can weigh up to 8,450 pounds with an overall diameter and width of approximately 140.7 inches and 45.1 inches respectively. OTR tires are used for mining vehicles such as haul trucks, wheel loaders, backhoes, graders, and trenchers.[1] These new tires cost between $38,000 and $50,000 each, depending on multiple factors including oil prices and the cyclical nature of the industry. Haul trucks contain six tires per vehicle, and mines replace these tires around every 9-12 months.[2] Statistics regarding discarded OTR tires are not provided by the …

Design, Construction, And Preliminary Testing Of A Square Cross-Sectional Mixing Chamber, Holly Holmes-Smith

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Throughout the US, large quantities of chlorine are produced and transported by rail. In the past, train accidents led to deadly accidental releases and the need for mass evacuation. However, moving people unnecessarily may cause pandemonium or danger to health for sensitive members of the public. In these past cases, the models used for evacuation distances did not accurately predict the impact of the chlorine release, but these models did not take into account the reactivity of chlorine. Because chlorine is a highly reactive gas, it is absorbed into the surrounding environment which reduced the amount of chlorine in the …

Numerical Simulation On The Combustion Characteristic Of Iron Ore Sintering With Flue Gas Recirculation, Gan Wang, Zhi Wen, Guofeng Lou, Ruifeng Dou, Xunliang Liu, Fuyong Su, Sizong Zhang

The 8th International Conference on Physical and Numerical Simulation of Materials Processing

No abstract provided.

Molecular Dynamics Studies Of The Adsorption Behavior Of Methyl 3-((2-Mercaptophenyl)Imino)Butanoate As Corrosion Inhibitors On Copper Surface, Jianlin Sun, Sang Xiong, Xudong Yan, Yang Xu

The 8th International Conference on Physical and Numerical Simulation of Materials Processing

No abstract provided.

Continuous Ligand-Assisted Elution Chromatography Applied To Separation Of Rare Earth Elements, Jeremy A. Weinstock, David M. Harvey, N.-H. Linda Wang

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Rare earth elements (REEs) are metals used to make many valuable products such as magnets and electronics. Following their extraction from larger materials, REEs are to be separated into their individual components as high purity is required for product manufacture. Purification is very difficult because most (15/17) of the REEs are lanthanides (Ln’s) and Ln ions have the same valence and similar atomic radii. The current industrial process for purifying REEs involves using toxic solvents to perform a series of liquid-liquid extractions. Ling and Wang (2015) proposed a ligand-assisted batch chromatography process to purify Ln’s. The latter approach is a …

Effect Of Conveying And Distributive Mixing Elements On Breakage Phenomenon In Twin Screw Granulation, Jiayu Li, Shankali U Pradhan, Carl Wassgren

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Twin screw wet granulation (TSG) is gaining more attention and becoming an important process in the pharmaceutical industry. The process is widely implemented because of its flexibility, short residence time, and small equipment footprint. Past studies have shown that screw elements can have a significant impact on the performance of the TSG process. In addition, these studies identified that breakage of wet mass is a significant step in the process. Currently there is no literature that focuses on the effect of each screw element on the breakage process. In this work, experiments have been designed to isolate the breakage process …

Electrodeionization Versus Electrodialysis: A Clean-Up Of Produced Water In Hydraulic Fracturing, Brigitte Marie Rodgers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Electrodeionization (EDI) is a widely studied process ranging from applications in wastewater clean-up in the food and beverage industry to purifying organic compounds. To date, there are no apparent studies on applying this technology to produced wastewater recovered from hydraulic fracking sites. Water consumption within hydraulic fracturing sites can reach in the upwards of millions of gallons per site, so a need for a water recycling process becomes necessary within areas where water requirements are scarce. Implementation of an EDI module that is capable of handling high salt solutions from produced wastewater in subsequent fracturing practices will decrease overall water …

Micro Debris Generator, Gordan Bradaric, Ross Byers, Stephen Quanci

Mechanical Engineering

This senior project team at Cal Poly consisting of Stephen Quanci, Gordan Bradaric, and Ross Byers has been commissioned by Erik Brown of Lawrence Livermore National Labs to create a way to reliably and consistently entrain microscopic particles into the hot HTTU flow. These particles will be used to compare the loading rates of new HEPA filters by measuring the pressure drop across the filter. The generated particles would simulate typical conditions in which these HEPA filters are expected to operate, namely fine ash. The particles used for loading the filter are intended to simulate the particulate reaching the LLNL …

Asset Management Model For An Industrial Process Automations System In The Chemical Engineering Unit Operations Laboratory At Rose-Hulman Institute Of Technology, Megan Elaine Liebman

Graduate Theses - Chemical Engineering

In the Chemical Engineering curriculum, the Unit Operations (UO) Laboratory is recognized as the place where hands-on exposure to industrial practices occurs. Students not only examine fundamental engineering principles, but also gain knowledge of the intricacies of modern control technology. The UO Laboratory at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology houses an industrial state-of-the-art distributed control system, which operates eleven large-scale experiments and interfaces with approximately two hundred process instruments. The size and complexity of the distributed control system and its associated equipment have grown over the past ten years and have reached a point where a systematic asset management approach is …