Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Better Heat And Power Integration Of An Existing Gas-Oil Plant In Egypt Through Revamping The Design And Organic Rankine Cycle, Mamdouh A. Gadalla, Alaa Elmasry, Ibrahim Alhajri, Fatma H. Ashour, Hany A. Elazab

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Objective: The current study aims mainly to Maximize Condensate Recovery (NGLs), focusing on a gas processing train of Gas-Oil Separation Plant (GOSP) located in Egypt with a capacity of 4,230 kmole/h. Methods: The research study accounts for the constraint of Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) specification, which makes the storage in floating roof tanks is of a great risk. The study proposes the installation of the cryogenic train that recovers condensates (C4+). This train comprises of compression unit, expansion unit, three-phase separators and a re-boiled absorber. The problem of RVP will no longer exist because of the re-boiled absorber achieving RVP …

Will Carbon Dioxide Injection In Shale Reservoirs Produce From The Shale Matrix, Natural Fractures, Or Hydraulic Fractures?, Sherif Fakher, Youssef Elgahawy, Hesham Abdelaal, Abdulmohsin Imqam

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in shale reservoirs has been recently shown to increase oil recovery significantly from this unconventional oil and gas source. One of the most studied EOR methods in shale reservoirs is gas injection, with a focus on carbon Dioxide (CO₂) mainly due to the ability to both enhance oil recovery and store the CO₂ in the formation. Even though several shale plays have reported an increase in oil recovery using CO₂ injection, in some cases this method failed severely. This research attempts to investigate the ability of the CO₂ to mobilize crude …

Oxygen Harvesting From Carbon Dioxide: Simultaneous Epoxidation And Co Formation, Han Xu, Muhammad Shaban, Sui Wang, Anas Alkayal, Dingxin Liu, Michael G. Kong, Felix Plasser, Benjamin R. Buckley, Felipe Iza

Bioelectrics Publications

Due to increasing concentrations in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide has, in recent times, been targeted for utilisation (Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage, CCUS). In particular, the production of CO from CO₂ has been an area of intense interest, particularly since the CO can be utilized in Fischer–Tropsch synthesis. Herein we report that CO₂ can also be used as a source of atomic oxygen that is efficiently harvested and used as a waste-free terminal oxidant for the oxidation of alkenes to epoxides. Simultaneously, the process yields CO. Utilization of the atomic oxygen does not only generate a valuable product, …

The Study Of Effects Of Catalyst Groups, Chain Lengths, And Oxygen Vacancies On Ketonization Of Methyl Ester, Thanwarat Rattanachartnarong

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The selectivity of symmetrical ketone was investigated in metal oxide catalyst by the ketonization of long-chain methyl ester at 400 oC and atmospheric pressure. The main problem of the ketonization of long-chain methyl ester was the cracking reaction. To investigate the effect of oxygen vacancies with selectivity of the main product, the metal oxide catalysts were charactered by SEM, XPS, XRD, TGA, TPO, H2-TPD, and NH3-IR. The results indicated that the amphoteric catalyst shown better performance than pure acidic due to the acid-base properties. Moreover, the selectivity of the main product depends on the hydrogen spillover which was the key …

Improving The Accuracy Of Occupational Hygiene Models Used To Estimate Worker Exposure To Solvent Vapours, Spéro Abattan, Stéphane Hallé, Daniel Drolet, Ali Bahloul, Patrick Eddy Ryan, Wejden Chouchene, Carlos Castro Ruiz, Jérôme Lavoué, Maximilien Debia

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Chaque année, des travailleurs québécois subissent des effets sur leur santé après avoir été exposés à des substances chimiques, notamment à des solvants. La modélisation des expositions professionnelles occupe une place importante dans la prévention des risques. Cette recherche vise à étudier différents aspects de la modélisation pour estimer des expositions professionnelles à des vapeurs de solvants dans le but d’en améliorer la justesse de prédiction. Le travail de recherche a été effectué en deux volets. Grâce à la mise en œuvre de tests à petite échelle (volet I) et à échelle humaine (volet II), les travaux présentés dans cette …

Electroless Cunisn Electrocatalyst Supported On Carbon Fabric For Electrochemical Reduction Of Co2, Atikom Hongmeuan

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

In the present work, tri-metallic alloy electrocatalysts containing copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and tin (Sn) supported on Pd-catalyzed carbon fabric substrate were prepared through a simple electroless deposition method. As-deposited Cu-Ni-Sn electrocatalyst was employed in the CO2-ERR in an H-cell type reactor. For the effect of electroless deposition time (15, 30 and 45 mins) on tri-metallic alloy electrocatalyst, the result showed that there is no significant difference for all samples based on the XRD pattern, indicating the deposition time had no effect on the crystalline structure of all catalyst. In addition, the evaluation of the ability of the CO2-ERR on …

Use Of Polyacrylonitrile As Anodic Artificial Solid Electrolyte Interphase For Aqueous-Based Zinc-Ion Batteries, Nutchaya Muangplod

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have attracted attention for energy storage systems because of their high specific capacity, low cost, and safety. However, practical application of the zinc anode in mild acidic electrolytes is limited by several issues such as dendrite formation, corrosion, hydrogen evolution reaction, passivation and relatively low cycling performance. Coating the zinc anode with graphite (GP) (GP@Zn) can partially solve these issues and improves the cycling performance of ZIB. However, after long-term charge/discharge cycles, zinc tends to migrate and redeposit over the surface of GP owing to the electronic conductivity of GP particles. Thus, after long-term cycling, …

High Water Vapor Permeability Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate Copolymer Composite For Fresh Holy Basil (Ocimum Sanctum L.) Packaging, Nuttinan Boonnao

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Fresh fruits and vegetables still respire, which causes large amount of water vapor inside the package. This results in the growth of fungal and bacterial pathogens and defection in the external appearance. To solve this problem, the packaging film with an appropriate value of gas permeability that matches the respiration rate of fresh fruits and vegetable products will be used. In this study, we produced EVA copolymer composite packaging films by melt blending EVA copolymer with diatomite and sorbitan monostearate additives and adjusted gas permeability which includes water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) and oxygen transmission rate (OTR) to be in …

Nature-Inspired Material Strategies Towards Functional Devices, Sayantan Pradhan

Theses and Dissertations

Naturally sourced, renewable biomaterials possess outstanding advantages for a multitude of biomedical applications owing to their biodegradability, biocompatibility, and excellent mechanical properties. Of interest in this dissertation are silk (protein) and chitin (polysaccharide) biopolymers for the fabrication of functional biodevices. One of the major challenges restricting these materials beyond their traditional usage as passive substrate materials is the ability to combine them with high-resolution fabrication techniques. Initial research work is directed towards the fabrication of micropatterned, flexible 2D substrates of silk fibroin and chitin using bench-top photolithographic techniques. Research is focused on imparting electrochemical properties to silk proteins using conducting …

Information Architecture For A Chemical Modeling Knowledge Graph, Adam R. Luxon

Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning models for chemical property predictions are high dimension design challenges spanning multiple disciplines. Free and open-source software libraries have streamlined the model implementation process, but the design complexity remains. In order better navigate and understand the machine learning design space, model information needs to be organized and contextualized. In this work, instances of chemical property models and their associated parameters were stored in a Neo4j property graph database. Machine learning model instances were created with permutations of dataset, learning algorithm, molecular featurization, data scaling, data splitting, hyperparameters, and hyperparameter optimization techniques. The resulting graph contains over 83,000 nodes …

Complementary Techniques To Study The Behavior Of Water And The Effect On Diffusion And Degradation In Hydrogels, Paige Rockwell

Master’s Theses

Hydrogels exhibit biocompatibility in a range of biomedical applications, including drug delivery. This thesis aims to develop complementary techniques to measure the diffusion and degradation behaviors within an injectable, hydrolytically degradable hydrogel, formed via the covalent crosslinking of ethoxylated trimethylolpropane tri-3- mercaptopropionate (ETTMP) and poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), to determine its suitability as a drug delivery matrix. The characterization of water as either free, within the network openings of the hydrogel, or bound, tightly associated with the polymer chains, was determined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The mobility of each type of water within the hydrogels was determined via nuclear …

Kinetics Study Of The Hydrodeoxygenation Of Xylitol Over A ReoX-Pd/Ceo2 Catalyst, Blake Macqueen, Michael Royko, Bradie S. Crandall, Andreas Heyden, Yomaira J. Pagán-Torres, Jochen A. Lauterbach

Faculty Publications

In this study, we elucidate the reaction kinetics for the simultaneous hydrodeoxygenation of xylitol to 1,2-dideoxypentitol and 1,2,5-pentanetriol over a ReOx-Pd/CeO2 (2.0 weight% Re, 0.30 weight% Pd) catalyst. The reaction was determined to be a zero-order reaction with respect to xylitol. The activation energy was elucidated through an Arrhenius relationship as well as non-Arrhenius kinetics. The Arrhenius relationship was investigated at 150–170◦ C and a constant H2 pressure of 10 bar resulting in an activation energy of 48.7 ± 10.5 kJ/mol. The investigation of non-Arrhenius kinetics was conducted at 120–170◦ C and a sub-Arrhenius relation was elucidated with activation energy …

Modeling Of Rare Earth Solvent Extraction Process For Flowsheet Design And Optimization, Vaibhav Kumar Srivastava

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

The separation and purification of rare earth elements (REEs) into individual products has been a topic of significant interest for researchers and engineers for many decades. The prime reason for such sustained interest is due to REEs’ demand and application in modern technology, as well as the challenges associated with their separation and purification. The chemical similarity of rare earth group elements is responsible for difficult separability which makes purification of individual elements challenging. Despite associated complications, processes such as solvent extraction (SX) and ion-exchange have been successfully utilized in the separation and production of REEs on pilot and commercial …

Understanding The Behavior Of Ionic Liquids In Poly (Methyl Methacrylate) Through Molecular Dynamics, Alejandro Gallegos Tovar

Honors Theses

Ionogels are polymer networks swollen by ionic liquids (ILs). They are used for electrochemical devices (lithium-ion batteries, thin-film transistors, and fuel cells) and as permeation membranes for gas separation. The interactions and phase behaviors of an ionic liquid (IL) in a polymer are the most important factor when building ionogels. The molecular behavior between poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and 1-butyl-3- methylimidazolium with four different anionic structures has been studied. The behavior between ILs and polymers is governed by a complex mix of factors such as polymer concentration, polymer and IL hydrophobicity, inter and intramolecular forces, and temperature. Molecular simulations of different …

Thermal And Thermophysical Properties Of Anionic Amines And Their Aqueous Solutions For Co2 Capture In Confined Environments, Randi Swanson

Honors Theses

Air revitalization for the International Space Station (ISS) has been identified by NASA as a mission critical need which requires improvement. The current method uses13X zeolite, a solid adsorbent, to adsorb carbon dioxide. While this is effective, the zeolite adsorbent produces dust that is unwelcome on the space station. Furthermore, the adsorbentis too sensitive to humidity in moderate temperature gas streams [1]. Aqueous solutions of ionic amines show promise as a safe and efficient solution, as they do not volatilize and are not water sensitive [2]. Specifically, anionic amines have the most potential because of the amine functional group’s ability …

Enzyme-Initiated Admicellar Polymerization, Elaheh Shakeri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Admicellar polymerization was developed in the 1980s as an economical method for modifying various surfaces. In admicellar polymerization, a low monomer to initiator (M/I) ratio was traditionally required to overcome this limitation and achieve high polymer conversion when oxygen was present in the headspace and dissolved in the reaction medium. To develop an environmentally friendly, cost-efficient, and feasible deoxygenation and initiation technique, we studied the use of glucose oxidase (GOx) in admicellar polymerization. In this method, GOx acts as the catalyst in the oxidation of ?-D-glucose, while consuming oxygen and generating hydrogen peroxide and D-glucono-?-lactone. There are many advantages of …

Gq-Mediated Ca** Signals In Human Airway Smooth Muscle Cells, Hanna Viktoria Bobinger

Honors Theses

Current asthma therapies include corticosteroids, long acting β2-adrenergic receptor (β2-AR) agonists paired with corticosteroids, or short-acting β2-AR agonists used in rescue inhalers. Chronic use of β-agonists results in diminished effectiveness, and use of long-acting β-agonists can even exacerbate asthma symptoms; this is partly because anti-inflammatory therapy does not directly address the exaggerated airway narrowing due to excessive shortening of airway smooth muscle (ASM), which is the hallmark of asthma. These observations led our collaborators to investigate other potential asthma therapies – bitter taste agonists. 2 Bitter taste agonists, such as chloroquine, activate a subset of Gq-coupled receptors known as bitter …

Investigation Of Post-Acid Stimulation Impacts On Well Performance Using Fracture Modeling And Reservoir Simulation In A Jurassic Carbonate Reservoir, Muaath Alansari

Masters Theses

"Well stimulation (well fracturing) became an essential tool in the Oil and Gas industry to unlock the potential of unconventional reservoirs all over the world and especially in the Middle East. In Kuwait, well stimulation is obligatory when dealing with deep Jurassic carbonate reservoirs. Thus, the well fracture designing process plays a very critical role in determining the success of the stimulation job and the improvement of the recovery.

Several wells stimulated with 20% HCL have shown wide variations in both short and long term well production performance. The research aims to investigate and identify the possible reasons causing these …

Power Generation From Waste Heat During Oil Production, Subrahmanya Chandra Bhamidipati

Masters Theses

"The increase in the world population is causing a significant increase in the global demand for energy. This rise in demand is generally met with the use of fossil fuels. But there is considerable pressure to lessen the release of carbon through the combustion of fossil fuels. One way that the oil and gas industry can provide increased energy without carbon combustion is by extracting the latent heat energy contained in produced oil, gas and water from producing reservoirs, and from water which is cycled through depleted, end-of-life or abandoned reservoirs. Extracting this energy and using it to provide direct …

Effect Of Hydrogen Co-Feeding On Ethylene Polymerization With Ziegler-Natta Catalysts With Different Amounts Of Titanium, Santhakamol Kittibanpacha

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Effect of hydrogen on the prepared TiCl4-MgCl2 catalysts having loading amounts of titanium was investigated via ethylene homopolymerization and ethylene/1-hexene copolymerization in slurry polymerization process. First, the catalysts were prepared to obtain different Ti loadings from 4.4 to 6.5 wt%. Then, all catalysts were characterized and tested in ethylene homopolymerization and ethylene/1-hexene copolymerization in the presence and absence of hydrogen during polymerization. It was found that hydrogen enhanced the catalyst activities on the catalyst with high Ti content (6.5 wt%) for 2.6 times and 1.9 times for ethylene homopolymerization and ethylene/1-hexene copolymerization, whereas it decreased the activity of the catalyst …