Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Modeling And Simulation Of Micro/Nano-Rod Distribution In Micro Channel Flows, Saman Monjezi

Doctoral Dissertations

"The behavior of a typical nanorod particle in microscale flows was theoretically investigated, considering the effect of the wall on the rotational and translation motions of the non-spherical particle. Initially, a systematic method using Brownian dynamics simulation of the rotational motion of nanorod was performed to obtain the average orientation distribution of a nanorod in various range of Peclet number and position from the confining wall. Subsequently, the results of the angle distributions simulation were employed to generate a universal mathematical model for the particle orientation distribution, which our model of concentration distribution of high aspect ratio nanorods in the …

Techno-Economic Optimization And Environmental Life Cycle Assessment Of Microgrids Using Genetic Algorithm And Artificial Neural Networks, Prashant Nagapurkar

Doctoral Dissertations

"This dissertation focuses primarily on techno-economic optimization and environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) of sustainable energy generation technologies. This work is divided into five papers. The first paper discusses the techno-economic optimization and environmental life cycle assessment of microgrids located in the USA using genetic algorithm. In this paper, a methodology was developed that assessed the techno-economic and environmental performance of a small scale microgrid located in US cities of Tucson, Lubbock and Dickinson. Providing uninterrupted power the microgrid was composed of seven components -- solar photovoltaics, wind-turbines, lead acid batteries, biodiesel generators, fuel cells, electrolyzers and H₂ tanks. …

Developing And Evaluating A Partition-Cavity Solar Thermochemical Reactor For Syngas Production Via Computational Fluid Dynamics, Han Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

"Solar thermochemical processes are attractive since they have the advantages of storing solar energy as chemical fuels. In this dissertation, a partition-cavity solar thermochemical reactor was developed, and the heat and mass transfer of the solar thermochemical processes were numerically analyzed in this directly-irradiated reactor.

The reduction reaction of two-step CeO₂/CeO_2-δ solar redox process was investigated using the coupling of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element method (DEM). The reduction rate was studied based on the catalyst textual properties and the reaction condition. The results revealed that the increase of catalyst specific surface area and the …

Building Shared Knowledge For Eor Technologies: Screening Guideline Constructions, Dashboards, And Advanced Data Analysis, Na Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

"Successful implementation of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology requires comprehensive knowledge and experiences based on existing EOR projects. EOR screening guidelines and EOR reservoir analog are served as such knowledge which are considered as the first step for a reservoir engineer to determine the next step techniques to improve the ultimate oil recovery from their assets. The objective of this research work is to provide better assistance for EOR selection by using fundamental statistics methods and machine learning techniques.

In this dissertation, a total of 977 worldwide EOR projects with the most uniformed, high-quality, and comprehensive information were collected from …

Experimental Investigation Of Liquid Contact In The Developing Post-Dryout Chf Flow Boiling Regime Using Surface Mounted Thermistors, Hiralkumar Harshadbhai Patel

Doctoral Dissertations

"Understanding heat transfer in the post-critical heat flux (CHF) flow boiling regime is important for determining the performance of the heat transfer equipment for various industrial applications requiring high heat transfer rates, e.g., heat exchangers, boilers, chemical and nuclear reactors. Liquid can be present in the core of the flow channel in the form of entrained liquid droplets, especially immediately downstream of film dryout. These droplets are suspected to provide an important heat transfer mechanism as they impinge on the heated wall. The objective of the current study is to investigate liquid contact with the heated wall in this flow …

Multiscale Spatio-Temporal Modeling Of Cell Population In Tissue Architecture And Drug Delivery Nanoparticles, Mohammad Aminul Islam

Doctoral Dissertations

"Multiscale nature of a biological system span at many order of magnitudes in time and space. Molecular interaction at lower scale is connected with the higher scale behavior of tissue or organism. Integrating the dynamics and information at different time and space can give a fundamental physiological understanding of the higher level phenomena. But complex features, functions, interconnectivity between different scales and lack of information on the fundamental physiological property make the model difficult and computationally challenging. The multiscale modeling approach can bridge the gap between different scale by a systemic integration of the complex dynamic behavior.

Here, the focus …

Spatiotemporal Modeling And Model Restructuration Approaches In Studies Of Intracellular Signalling Pathways, Md Shahinuzzaman

Doctoral Dissertations

"The main focus of the research is to understand the complex phenomena of cell transduction pathways and cell biology in a single cell. Mathematical modeling and experimental evaluation are widely used approaches for this kind of research. Firstly, A multiscale framework for protein-protein interaction has been established using Brownian dynamics algorithm. Sit specific feature, steric collision, diffusion, co-localization and complex formation with time and space has been included in this spatial modeling framework. By implementation of the time adaptive feature in this framework, the computation time reduces in an order of magnitude compared with traditional modeling framework. This multiscale Brownian …

Investigating The Use Of Different Types Of Sealant Materials For Cement Remedial Applications, Murad Mohammedahmed Abdulfarraj

Doctoral Dissertations

"The overall objective is to investigate the ability of several material to mitigate cement failures such as channels, fractures, and micro-annuli in oil and gas wells. The sealant material that can also be used in the wells that are used for geologic storage of carbon dioxide CO₂. Evaluating the sealant material is critical to improve the zonal isolation of the wells, which would lead to safer operations. The approach of this dissertation is to utilize particles gel that has been used successfully in conformance control application, and epoxy resin systems, that have superior seal characteristics compared to conventional …

Hydrodynamics Of Trickle Bed Reactors (Tbrs) Packed With Industrial Catalyst Using Advanced Measurement Techniques, Mohammed Jaber Al-Ani

Doctoral Dissertations

"The impacts of the packing characteristics on the hydrodynamics od a trickle bed reactor (TBR) have been investigated using advanced measurements techniques of Gamma-ray densitometry (GRD) and Optical fiber probe and conventional measurement techniques of high-frequency differential pressure transducer and load cell. Two different reactor sizes of bench and pilot plant scale were used. Bench-scale TBR carried out the experiments to assess phase distribution and catalyst utilization with 1.18 cm inside diameter and 72 cm length at ambient pressure and temperature. The mixture of catalyst and fine particles displayed considerable improvements in the phase distribution, liquid holdup profile, and catalyst …

Novel Insights Into Low Salinity Water Flooding Enhanced Oil Recovery In Sandstone Reservoirs, Hasan N. Al-Saedi

Doctoral Dissertations

"Ever growing global energy demand and the natural decline in oil production from mature oil fields have been the main incentives to search for methods to increase recovery efficiency for several decades. Water flooding is extensively applied worldwide to improve oil recovery. The recent drop in oil prices has turned the oil industry to the cheapest improved oil recovery (IOR) techniques, such as low salinity (LS) waterflooding. Also, the reduction in reservoir energy and the friendly environmental aspects of low salinity water flooding (LSWF) provide additional incentives for its use. That LS water requires decreasing only the active divalent cations …

Investigating The Performance Of High Viscosity Friction Reducers Used For Proppant Transport During Hydraulic Fracturing, Mohammed Salem Ba Geri

Doctoral Dissertations

"Over the last few recent years, high viscosity friction reducers (HVFRs) have been successfully used in the oil and gas industry across all premier shale plays in North America including Permian, Bakken, and Eagle Ford. However, selecting the most suitable fracture fluid system plays an essential role in proppant transport and minimizing or eliminating formation damage.

This study investigates the influence of the use of produced water on the rheological behavior of HVFRs compared to a traditional linear guar gel. Experimental rheological characterization was studied to investigate the viscoelastic property of HVFRs on proppant transport. In addition, the successful implication …

Experimental Study On Enhanced Oil Recovery (Eor) Mechanisms Of Nanogel Combining With Low Salinity Water For Carbonate Reservoirs, Pu Han

Doctoral Dissertations

"Nanomaterials have been widely studied and applied in the oil and gas industry. Among the developed nanomaterials, nano-sized crosslinked polymeric gel particle (nanogel) has shown great potential in recovering residual oil and improving oil recovery. This dissertation carried out their potential EOR mechanisms and the synergetic effect between nanogel and low salinity water. Nanogel used in this study was synthesized through the suspension polymerization process in our lab. The morphology, size distribution, and zeta potential were studied for nanogel dispersed in brine with variable ionic strength. The injectivity of nanogel was elucidated at first to ensure their in-depth penetration ability. …

Thermomechanical Analysis Of Rock Asperity In Fractures Of Enhanced Geothermal Systems, Chao Zeng

Doctoral Dissertations

"Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) offer great potential for dramatically expanding the use of geothermal energy and become a promising supplement for fossil energy. The EGS is to extract heat by creating a subsurface system to which cold water can be added through injection wells. Injected water is heated by contact with rock and returns to the surface through production well. Fracture provides the primary conduit for fluid flow and heat transfer in natural rock. Fracture is propped by fracture roughness with varying heights which is called asperity. The stability of asperity determines fracture aperture and hence imposes substantial effect on …

Catalytic Dehydraton Of Ethanol To Ethylene And Diethyl Ether Over Modified Beta Zeolite Catalysts, Tanutporn Kamsuwan

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The gas-phase dehydration of ethanol is one of the most suitable catalytic reactions to produce diethyl ether (DEE) and ethylene. It has been studied over different types of Si- and Al- based solid acid catalysts including H-beta zeolite (HBZ), g-c-Al2O3 (M-Al) and g-Al2O3 (G-Al) with palladium (Pd) modification at temperature range of 200-400ºC. It revealed that the catalytic activity of the solid acid catalysts depended on the nature of acid properties on the catalysts. The Pd-modified catalysts can improve the ethanol conversion and product yield, especially with Pd-HBZ. Furthermore, the different gas pretreatment (N2, air and H2) over Pd-HBZ was …

การวิเคราะห์การผลิตไฟฟ้าจากกระบวนการเผาไหม้แบบฟลูอิดไดซ์เบดที่เกิดการหมุนเวียนร่วมกับเครื่องกังหันไอน้ำโดยใช้เชื้อเพลิงชีวมวลผสม, พิชชาพร นิละนนท์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

ปัจจุบันสถานการณ์การใช้พลังงานไฟฟ้ามีแนวโน้มสูงขึ้นอย่างต่อเนื่องจากการเติบโตทางเศรษฐกิจและเทคโนโลยี และด้วยกับการตระหนักถึงปัญหาสิ่งแวดล้อม จึงทำให้เชื้อเพลิงชีวมวลได้รับความสนใจและการส่งเสริมจากภาครัฐและเอกชนในการผลิตพลังงานไฟฟ้า แต่พบว่าโรงไฟฟ้าชีวมวลส่วนใหญ่มีการใช้เชื้อเพลิงชีวมวลเพียงชนิดเดียว ทำให้เสี่ยงต่อการขาดแคลนวัตถุดิบตั้งต้นและยังพบว่ามีการปลดปล่อยก๊าซคาร์บอนไดออกไซด์สู่บรรยากาศในปริมาณที่สูง โดยงานวิจัยนี้ศึกษาแบบจำลองกระบวนการผลิตพลังงานไฟฟ้าด้วยระบบการเผาไหม้แบบฟลูอิดไดซ์เบดหมุนเวียนร่วมกับเครื่องกังหันไอน้ำ โดยใช้ชีวมวลผสมจาก 5 ภูมิภาคของประเทศไทย และพัฒนาร่วมกับการดูดซึมก๊าซคาร์บอนไดออกไซด์ด้วยวิธีการดูดซึมทางเคมี โดยมีศึกษาตัวทำละลายที่แตกต่างกัน 2 ชนิดคือ โมโนเอทาโนลามีน และ 2-อะมิโน-2-เมทิล-1-โพรพานอล แบบจำลองทั้งสองถูกพัฒนาขึ้นโดยใช้โปรแกรมจำลองกระบวนการ แอสเพน พลัส จากการวิจัยพบว่าชีวมวลผสมจากภาคกลาง ได้แก่ ชิ้นไม้สับ แกลบ และชานอ้อย มีศักยภาพและเหมาะสมต่อการใช้เป็นวัตถุดิบตั้งต้น โดยส่งผลกระทบในระดับต่ำต่อหม้อกำเนิดไอน้ำ และสามารถผลิตพลังงานไฟฟ้าได้ตามที่โรงไฟฟ้าชีวมวลกำหนดที่ 103.43 เมกะวัตต์ โดยที่ใช้ปริมาณเชื้อเพลิง 107.89 ตัน/ชั่วโมง และพบว่าชีวมวลผสมจากภาคกลางมีการปลดปล่อยก๊าซคาร์บอนไดออกไซด์สู่บรรยากาศสูงสุดที่ 12.5% โดยการศึกษาการดักจับก๊าซคาร์บอนไดออกไซด์พบว่า การใช้สารละลาย 2-อะมิโน-2-เมทิล-1-โพรพานอล ที่อัตราส่วนตัวทำละลายต่อก๊าซเท่ากับ 4.03 สามารถดักจับก๊าซคาร์บอนไดออกไซด์ได้สูงสุด 90.82% เมื่อใช้พลังงานในการรีเจนเนอเรชั่นเท่ากับ 13.75 เมกกะจูล/กิโลกรัมคาร์บอนไดออกไซด์ แต่ในการใช้สารละลายโมโนเอทาโนลามีนจะใช้อัตราส่วนตัวทำละลายต่อก๊าซเท่ากับ 4.24 และพลังงานในการรีเจนเนอเรชั่นที่สูงกว่าเท่ากับ 21.91 เมกกะจูล/กิโลกรัมคาร์บอนไดออกไซด์

Superstructure Development Of Lignocellulosic Biomass From Empty Fruit Bunch Of Palm For Optimal Design Of Bio-Based Chemical Productions, Nusara Plodprong

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Apart from palm oil, the left-over parts of palm trees such as leaves, trunks and empty fruit brunches are low in value that typically used for producing fertilizer. In fact, considering the constituents in these wastes, they comprise of valuable components including cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. Recovery of these components is beneficial since they can be used as precursors for a wide range of productions of other chemicals such as bio-ethanol, succinic acid, lactic acid and other aromatic compounds. In this work, therefore, we gather experimental works in the literature in order to establish a super-structure, the network of processes …

Effects Of Graphite/Partially Carbonized Hemp Hurd Particle Mass Ratios On Tribological Properties Of Polybenzoxazine Composites, Nuttarika Kunaroop

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This work aims to study effects of friction modifiers, i.e., synthetic graphite and carbonized hemp hurd (CHH) on thermal stability, dynamic mechanical properties, mechanical properties, and tribological performances of polybenzoxazine-based friction composites. Simulation of brake pad and disc brake by using ANSYS simulation program to study behaviors of the friction modifier filled-polybenzoxazine composites, i.e. pressure distribution and wear rate was also investigated. The results show that when the CHH is added to the polybenzoxazine composites, the tribological, dynamic mechanical, and mechanical properties were significantly improved because of some lignocellulose structure of the partially CHH. While, thermal property i.e., thermal degradation …

Fabrication And Electrochemical Performance Of Nickel-Alloy-Foam-Supported Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell For Hydrogen Production From Steam, Ramin Visvanichkul

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The effect of CuO as a sintering additive on the electrolyte of solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) was investigated. 0.5 wt.% CuO was added into Sc0.1Ce0.05Gd0.05Zr0.89O2 (SCGZ) electrolyte as a sintering additive. An electrolyte-supported cell (Pt/SCGZ/Pt) was fabricated. Phase formation, relative density, and electrical conductivity were investigated. The cells were sintered at 1373 K to 1673 K for 4 h. The CuO significantly affected the sinterability of SCGZ. The SCGZ with 0.5 wt.% CuO achieved 95% relative density at 1573 K while the SCGZ without CuO could not be densified even at 1673 K. Phase transformation and impurity after CuO …

Electrochemical Reduction Of Co2 To Value-Added Chemicals On Zn/Cu Alloy Catalysts Prepared By Electrodeposition, Phongsathon Klongklaew

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

In this work, Zn/Cu alloy electrocatalysts prepared by electrodeposition of Zn on Cu foil (Zn/Cu) and electrodeposition of Zn and Cu on Cu foil (ZnCu/Cu) in different electrodeposition baths consisting of NaCl bath (Zn/Cu-Na, ZnCu/Cu-Na) and HCl bath (Zn/Cu-H, ZnCu/Cu-H) with deposition times 60 and 200 s were investigated in the electrochemical reduction of CO2 (CO2-ERC). As revealed by SEM-EDX and XRD results, the electroplating conditions affected the Zn structure being formed (dendrite or bulky). Under the conditions used, the electrochemical reduction of CO2 using these electrodes led to the formation of gaseous products including carbon monoxide and hydrogen and …

Capillary Forces In Partially Saturated Thin Fibrous Media, Ali Moghadam

Theses and Dissertations

Capillarity is often exploited in self-cleaning, drag reducing and fluid absorption/storage (sanitary products) purposes just to name a few. Formulating the underlying physics of capillarity helps future design and development of optimized structures. This work reports on developing computational models to quantify the capillary pressure and capillary forces on the fibrous surfaces. To this end, the current study utilizes a novel mass-spring-damper approach to incorporate the mechanical properties of the fibers in generating virtual fibrous structures that can best represent fibrous membranes. Such virtual fibrous structures are then subjected to a pressure estimation model, developed for the first time in …