Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Asphaltene Stability In Crude Oil During Carbon Dioxide Injection And Its Impact On Oil Recovery: A Review, Data Analysis, And Experimental Study, Sherif M. Fakher

Masters Theses

"Crude oils are usually associated with many compounds, some of which are favorable and others, which are not. One of the most unfavorable components of crude oil that pose severe operational problems and decreases oil production significantly are asphaltenes. These compounds are solids that are homogenized in the crude oil at room temperature but tend to separate from solution when agitated. They can deposit in the reservoir pores, wellbore, and transportation pipelines thus causing severe operational problems and oil recovery reduction.

Even though researchers have been studying asphaltenes for more than 100 years, there is still an ambiguity concerning asphaltene …

Investigating The Use Of Class C Flyash-Based Geopolymer Cement As A Potential Alternative To Portland Cement To Seal Co₂ Storage Wells, Priyesh Parimal Jani

Masters Theses

"Capturing emitted carbon dioxide from the source of emission and storing it underground is one effective way to reduce the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere and is called carbon capture and storage (CCS). For the successful CCS project, it is necessary to ensure long term storage of injected CO₂ inside these selected reservoirs. Portland cement used to cast wells in these reservoirs degrade in CO₂ environment and can create migration path for leakage of CO₂. The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive review about the problem, to propose a new geopolymer …

Gel Composition And Brine Concentration Effect On Hydrogel Dehydration Subjected To Uniaxial Compression, Xinrui Zhao

Masters Theses

"Gel treatment is a process that injects the gel into a reservoir to control the conformance and improve the sweep efficiency of injection fluids. At a certain pressure gradient, the gel dehydrates in a reservoir due to mechanical forces. This work evaluates the effects of the gel composition and brine concentration on gel dehydration under uniaxial compression. A sodium acrylate-co-acrylamide based gel cross-linked with N, N'-Methylenebisacrylamide (MBAA) was used for the study. The compression test is performed with a rheometer with a plate-plate geometry. The gel dehydration under pressure was measured to see how gel dehydration would be impacted by …

Breaker Evaluation And Formation Damage Remediation Of Re-Crosslinkable Preformed Particle Gel (Rppg), Enze Zhou

Masters Theses

"Re-crosslinkable preformed particle gel (RPPG) is a newly developed preformed particle gel for improving sweep efficiency and oil recovery by blocking or reducing the conductivity of fractures and fracture-like channels or conduits. However, RPPG has the potential to plug the facilities or damage the formation if a treatment is not properly conducted.

This work presents the performance of selected oxidizing breakers on the degradation of RPPG. The influence of a few factors on the degradation process was investigated, including breaker type, breaker concentration, temperature, gel concentration, gel aging time, and gel size. Results indicate that breaker type, concentration, and temperature …

Performance Investigation Of Surface Modified Ceramic Microfiltration Membranes And The Effects Of Ionic Strength, Choji Bitrus Daches

Masters Theses

"The performance of ceramic membranes surface coated with cysteic acid to improve efficiency and reduce fouling rate was studied under two transmembrane pressure (TMP) and constant crossflow velocity (CFV). The filtration process was done in crossflow mode to allow for extended operation of the membranes. the performance of the membranes were determined in terms of the measured fluxes and on content rejection. Cleaning-in-place (CIP) was done on the membranes to ensure flux recovery after each run. The results showed significant improvement on the performance of the membranes with respect to high permeate fluxes and high oil content rejection (> 99.5%). …

Review And Data Analysis Of Low Salinity Water Effect Through Induced Fine Migration, Dawei Xu

Masters Theses

"Low salinity water flooding (LSWF) is well proved to be an effective EOR technology both in laboratory and field tests, however, the conditions for LSWF to work and EOR mechanism is still debatable. Up till now, many mechanisms have been proposed to explain the incremental oil recovery in sandstone by LSWF, for instance, fine migration, ionic exchange, wettability alteration and pH increase.

In this study, we only focus on low salinity water flooding effect through induced fine migration mechanism. The objective of this study is to conduct a comprehensive analysis using statistical analysis methods and explaining the mechanism of fine …

Impact Of Natural Fracture Induced Elastic Anisotropy On Completion And Hydraulic Fracturing Designs, Emre Can Dundar

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Shale has been usually recognized as a transverse isotropic (TI) medium in conventional geomechanical log interpretation due to its laminated nature. However, when natural fractures (NFs) exist in the rock body, additional elastic anisotropy can be introduced, converting Shale to an orthorhombic (OB) medium. Previous study illustrates that treating the naturally fractured shale rock as a TI medium by ignoring the NF-induced anisotropy can cause the erroneous estimation of the geomechanical properties (i.e. Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, brittleness index, and etc.) and in-situ stress. In this paper, the study is extended to quantify the impact of NF-induced elastic anisotropy on …

Mechanism Study Of Shale Gas Conversion Via Chemical Looping And Heterocatalytic Processes, Lei Bai

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The shale gas revolution has significantly changed the energy landscape in US. The technical-feasible, energy-effective schemes for shale gas combustion and utilization, especially from remote resources, have attracted increasing interest due to expensive transportation/distribution cost. In this research, for the first time, chemical looping combustion (CLC) of methane with inherent CO₂ capture, oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) and dehydro-aromatization (DHA) of ethane are systematically studied as promising alternatives at O₂-rich, O₂-lean and non-oxidative conditions, respectively.

Chemical looping combustion is bridging clean fuel combustion in energy production with inherent CO₂ capture. CLC utilized an oxygen …

Multi-Responsive Macromolecular Coacervate Complexes For Efficient Biomolecular Encapsulation And Controlled Release, Adrian Lorenzana

Research Opportunities for Engineering Undergraduates (ROEU) Program 2018-19

The project investigates the mechanistic (entropic) formation of organic-inorganic coacervates with improved mechanical strength. We seek to control and modify material properties and stimuli-responsive characteristics of hybrid coacervates, and to explore new practical applications of organic-inorganic coacervate complexes, i.e. (bio)separation, wastewater treatment, drug delivery, battery electrolyte and electrodes.

Molecular Exchange Monte Carlo. A Generalized Method For Identity Exchanges In Grand Canonical Monte Carlo Simulations, Mohammad Soroush Barhaghi

Wayne State University Theses

A generalized identity exchange algorithm is presented for Monte Carlo simulations in the grand canonical ensemble. The algorithm, referred to as Molecular Exchange Monte Carlo (MEMC), may be applied to multicomponent systems of arbitrary molecular topology, and provides significant enhancements in the sampling of phase space over a wide range of compositions and temperatures. Three different approaches are presented for the insertion of large molecules, and the pros and cons of each method are discussed. The performance of the algorithms is highlighted through grand canonical Monte Carlo histogram-reweighting simulations performed on several systems, including 2,2,4-trimethylpentane+neopentane, butane+perfluorobutane, methane+n-alkanes, and water+impurity. Relative …

Characterization Of Pyrolysis Products From Slow Pyrolysis Of Live And Dead Vegetation Native To The Southern United States, Elham Amini, Mohammad-Saeed Safdari, Jonathan Deyoung, David R. Weise, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

Prescribed (i.e., controlled) burning is a common practice used in many vegetation types in the world to accomplish a wide range of land management objectives including wildfire risk reduction, wildlife habitat improvement, forest regeneration, and land clearing. To properly apply controlled fire and reduce unwanted fire behavior, an improved understanding of fundamental processes related to combustion of live and dead vegetation is needed. Since the combustion process starts with pyrolysis, there is a need for more data and better models of pyrolysis of live and dead fuels. In this study, slow pyrolysis experiments were carried out in a pyrolyzer apparatus …

Pelletization Of Nickel Catalyst For Hydrogen Production From Glycerol Steam Reforming, Jinnawat Saengsawang

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This work investigated the pelletization of Ni/Al2O3 catalyst for hydrogen production from glycerol steam reforming (GSR). Effects of preparation methods, binders, and pellet shapes (cylindrical/spherical) on the catalyst's physicochemical properties and catalytic performance in a fixed-bed reactor were considered. Freshly prepared catalyst was characterized with XRD, N2 adsorption-desorption, SEM/EDX, H2-TPR, and H2-chemisorption. The crushing strength of the catalyst pellets was also evaluated by a hydraulic press. GSR was carried out at a water to glycerol molar ratio of 9: 1, a total liquid flow rate of 0.04 ml/min, 600 ºC, and 1 atm. Ni/Al2O3 catalyst pellets showed superior catalytic performance …

Reinforcing Natural Rubber Latex Foam With Nano And Micro Cellulose Fibers Via Dunlop Method, Sirilak Phomrak

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Natural rubber latex foam (NRLF) was reinforced with micro- and nano-cellulose at a loading content of 5-20 parts per hundred of rubber (phr) via the Dunlop process. Cellulose powder from eucalyptus pulp and bacterial cellulose (BC) was used as a microcellulose (MC) and nanocellulose (NC) reinforcing agent, respectively. NRLF, NRLF-MC, and NRLF-NC exhibited interconnected macroporous structures with a high porosity and a low-density. The forms contained pores with sizes in a range of 10-500 µm. As compared to MC, NC had a better dispersion inside the NRLF matrix and showed a higher adhesion to the NRLF matrix, resulting in a …

Prediction Of Catalyst Bed Density And Simulation Of Glycerol Steam Reformer For Hydrogen Production, Vorathorn Charoensuk

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

A simple method was proposed to generate a rigid model and to predict the packing density of catalyst using Blender software. It is a free and open-source 3D creation suite animating catalyst pellets freely falling into a container. The effects of different catalyst shapes (sphere and cylinder) and sizes (2–5 mm) on the packing density of catalyst bed were investigated. It was found that the void fraction decreased with decreasing catalyst pellet diameter for all reactor diameters (18-50 mm). Moreover, the void fraction decreased with increasing reactor size for all catalyst shapes and sizes. The results also showed that the …

เกราะแข็งกันกระสุนแบบหลายชั้นสมรรถนะสูงจากพอลิเบนซอกซาซีนคอมพอสิท : ผลของการเสริมแรงด้วยกราฟีน, ชุติมา มีสัจจานนท์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยนี้มีจุดมุ่งหมายเพื่อพัฒนาวัสดุสำหรับใช้เป็นเกราะกันกระสุนคอมพอสิทแบบหลายชั้นจากวัสดุพอลิเบนซอกซาซีน-ยูรีเทนคอมพอสิท ที่เติมแผ่นกราฟีน (Graphene Nanoplatelets: GnPs) ปริมาณต่างๆ เสริมแรงด้วยเส้นใยอะรามิด เพื่อให้มีประสิทธิภาพในการต้านทานแรงปะทะทางขีปนะสูงขึ้นซึ่งมีตัวแปรที่สำคัญอย่างหนึ่งคือการดูดซับพลังงาน โดยศึกษาปริมาณการเติมแผ่นกราฟีนที่ 0.0, 0.25, 0.50, และ 0.75 เปอร์เซ็นต์โดยน้ำหนัก ต่อสมบัติทางกลของวัสดุ พบว่าการเติมแผ่นกราฟีนส่งผลต่อสมบัติทางกลของวัสดุ โดยการเติมปริมาณแผ่นกราฟีน 0.25 เปอร์เซ็นต์โดยน้ำหนัก เป็นปริมาณที่เหมาะสมที่สุดในการปรับปรุงสมบัติทางกลทั้งค่าความแข็งแรง มอดูลัส และโดยเฉพาะอย่างยิ่งการดูดซับพลังงาน จึงเหมาะจะนำไปประยุกต์ใช้เป็นแผ่นดูดซับพลังงานของเกราะกันกระสุนคอมพอสิทแบบหลายชั้น และตรวจสอบความหนาของวัสดุคอมพอสิทที่เหมาะสมจะนำมาประยุกต์ใช้เป็นเกราะกันกระสุนคอมพอสิทแบบหลายชั้นโดยการจำลองด้วยโปรแกรม ANSYS AUTODYN รวมทั้งประเมินความสามารถในการต้านทานแรงปะทะทางขีปนะของเกราะกันกระสุนคอมพอสิทแบบหลายชั้นเมื่อทดสอบด้วยกระสุนขนาด 7.62 x 51 มม. ที่ความเร็วเฉลี่ย 847 ± 9.1 เมตรต่อวินาที และกระสุนขนาด 5.56 x 45 มม. ที่ความเร็วเฉลี่ย 950 ± 9.1 เมตรต่อวินาที ตามมาตรฐาน NIJ 0101.06 ในระดับภัยคุกคาม 3 หรือสูงกว่า พบว่าเกราะกันกระสุนคอมพอสิทแบบหลายชั้นที่ประกอบด้วยแผ่นที่ 1 วัสดุพอลิเบนซอกซาซีนคอมพอสิท เสริมแรงด้วยเส้นใยแก้ว แผ่นที่ 2 แผ่นโลหะ และแผ่นที่ 3 วัสดุพอลิเบนซอกซาซีน-ยูรีเทนคอมพอสิท เสริมแรงด้วยแผ่นกราฟีนที่ 0.25 เปอร์เซ็นต์โดยน้ำหนักและเส้นใยอะรามิด สามารถต้านทานการเจาะทะลุจากกระสุนทั้งสองชนิดได้อย่างมีประสิทธิภาพ

Effects Of Alkyl-Substituted Aromatic Amines Of Polybenzoxazine On Friction And Wear Properties Of Brake Pads, Anun Wongpayakyotin

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This work aims to study the effects of alkyl-substituted aromatic amines of polybenzoxazine resins used as binders of non-asbestos friction composite materials. Effects of thermosetting resins (BA-ot, BA-mt, BA-pt, BA-a, and BA-35x) used as a binder of friction composite materials on thermal stability, dynamic mechanical properties, mechanical properties, and tribological performances are investigated. The different chemical networks of polybenzoxazine resulting in differences in the crosslink density and glass transition temperature (Tg) of friction composite materials. The enhancement of crosslink density values of polybenzoxazine composites (F-BA-ot < F-BA-pt < F-BA-a < F-BA-mt < F-BA-35x) resulting to bind other ingredients stronger and more tightly. From the experiment, it can be concluded that the higher crosslink density will result in higher thermal and mechanical properties, lower friction coefficient, and lesser specific wear rate.

การสังเคราะห์แคลเซียมออร์โทฟอสเฟตจากเกล็ดปลากะพงขาว, ชยพัทธ์ ธรรมนิพิท

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

ปลากะพงขาวเป็นปลาเศรษฐกิจที่สำคัญของประเทศไทย เกล็ดปลากระพงถือเป็นของเสียจากอุตสาหกรรมแปรรูปอาหาร ซึ่งมีประมาณร้อยละ 4 ของน้ำหนัก เกล็ดจากปลากะพงขาวน้ำจืดที่ผลิตในประเทศไทยมีองค์ประกอบโดยน้ำหนักแห้งเป็นสารอนินทรีย์ร้อยละ 53.61 และสารอินทรีย์ร้อยละ 46.39 สภาวะที่เหมาะสมในการสกัดเกลือแร่โดยรักษาความคงตัวของโปรตีนคอลลาเจนที่อยู่ในเกล็ดปลา ระดับห้องปฏิบัติการ เริ่มจากการเตรียมเกล็ดปลาด้วยการล้างด้วยโซเดียมคลอไรด์ร้อยละ 10 ตามด้วยโซเดียมไฮดรอกไซด์ 0.1 โมลาร์ เพื่อกำจัดโปรตีนที่ไม่ใช่คอลลาเจนและไขมันออกโดยใช้ปฏิกิริยาไฮโดรไลซิส เกล็ดปลาถูกตัดให้มีขนาด 0.0625 ตารางเซนติเมตรและทุบให้แตกเพื่อเพิ่มพื้นที่ผิว จากนั้นจึงสกัดเกลือแร่โดยใช้กรดไฮโดรคลอริกความเข้มข้น 1 โมลาร์ เป็นเวลาอย่างน้อย 6 ชั่วโมง แล้วสะเทินกลับเกลือแร่ด้วยการปรับพีเอชของสารละลายเป็น 7 ด้วยโซเดียมไฮดรอกไซด์ และล้างโซเดียมคลอไรด์ที่เกิดจากการสะเทินด้วยน้ำปราศจากไอออนจำนวนมาก ผลจากวิธีการสกัดนี้ได้เกลือแร่ร้อยละ 52.97 โดยน้ำหนักแห้ง เกลือแร่นี้ถูกนำไปให้ความร้อนที่อุณหภูมิ 1100 องศาเซลเซียส ทำให้เกิดแคลเซียมออร์โทฟอสเฟตวัฏภาคผสมระหว่างไฮดรอกซีอะพาไทต์และเบต้า-ไตรแคลเซียมฟอสเฟต ซึ่งพบปริมาณเบต้า-ไตรแคลเซียมฟอสเฟตสูงสุดร้อยละ 79.85 เมื่อเปลี่ยนพีเอชของสารละลายในกระบวนนการสะเทินกลับเกลือแร่ให้มีความเป็นด่างมากขึ้น จะทำให้เกิดวัฏภาคเบต้า-ไตรแคลเซี่ยมฟอสเฟตน้อยลง แคลเซียมออร์โทฟอสเฟตที่ผลิตได้ไม่แสดงความเป็นพิษต่อเซลล์ผิวหนังหนู (L929) เมื่อทดสอบตามมาตรฐาน ISO10993-5 แบบทางอ้อม

Techno-Economic Analysis Of Alternative Processes For Alcohol-Assisted Methanol Synthesis From Carbon Dioxide And Hydrogen, Natthee Khunathorncharoenwong

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The novel methanol production from carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen (H2) called alcohol-assisted process is simulated. Although the alcohol-assisted process allows the reduction in operating temperature and pressure, the subsequent product purification is complicated. Comparative studies between the conventional CO2 hydrogenation and the alcohol-assisted processes are carried out (case I-V). The alcohol-assisted processes present the opportunity of increasing the CO2 conversion per-pass and reducing the hydrogen consumption, the barriers in the conventional process. However, the product purifications remain challenging due to the azeotrope of methanol and by-products. Energy consumptions decrease in the feed and reaction sections of the alcohol-assisted processes …

Campaign Structure Distillation For Methyl Palmitate Separation From Palm Oil Biodiesel Using Vacuum Batch Distillation, Supakorn Songpanit

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Nowadays, the competition of palm oil biodiesel production in Thailand will increase essentially in the sector for the next few years. Therefore, this study aims to find a new approach for converting palm oil biodiesel or fatty acid methyl ester mixture, into a specialty chemical to increase the value of palm oil biodiesel. Campaign structure distillation was considered to design a separation process using vacuum batch distillation, and turn only one batch process into the sequence of methyl ester cut as a continuous process. The objective is to study the effect of operating parameters on campaign structure distillation for methyl …

Effects Of Pyridine-Based Electron Donors On Ziegler-Natta Catalyst Performance In Ethylene/1-Hexene Copolymerization, Natchayapak Phiromphu

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) is a type of polymer that has been used in a wide range of applications because of its attractive mechanical properties. The mainly synthetic polyolefins are produced by supported Ziegler-Natta catalysts (ZN). The major components to modify ZN catalyst contain active Ti species precursor, aluminum alkyl cocatalyst, MgCl2 support and electron donor. The MgCl2-supported titanium catalysts have the multiple types of active centers. Thus, the copolymers having broad molecular weight distribution (MWD) and chemical composition distribution (CCD). However, the drawback of ZN catalyst is its very low comonomer insertion. In this research, the author would like …