Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Effect Of Variation Of Parameters On Biogas Production Using Aspen Plus & Dynamic Simulation Using Mimic, Shruti Shrikant Karambelkar

Masters Theses

"Design and management for Biogas production have gained significance in growing dependency on Renewable energy resources. This would need a detailed information on steady state and dynamic behavior of systems. In order to make this process environmentally ecofriendly, its needs a lot of improvisation on process simulation. Anaerobic digestion helps treat this inefficient water to be converted into water fit for effluent purposes.

Byproducts contain consists of organic, inorganic and wastes which lead to a high COD content and thus, cannot be discarded into the outlets. The anaerobic digestion process. A study of these effects with simulation need to be …

New Wellbore-Integrity Classification For Gas Migration Problems And New Cement Formulations Using Graphene Nano Platelets To Prevent Gas Migration Through Cement, Mohammed Mousa M. Alkhamis

Masters Theses

"Gas migration, one of the primary problems related to the integrity of oil wells, is caused by cement failures. Gas migration can result in costly well repairs and may endanger personal, equipment, and result in severe operational difficulties and environmental issues. The ultimate objectives of this research were to provide a comprehensive review of the problem and to provide a solution to the problem using Graphene Nano Platelets (GNPs).

An intensive review was performed to understand the cement failures. The reasons behind these failures were analyzed and classified with respect to their locations in the wellbore. Recommendations and potential solutions …

Recycling Effect In Expanded Granular Sludge Bed Reactor And Implementation Of Six Sigma In A Methane Generation Process, Manohar Manchenahalli Shivashankaraiah

Masters Theses

"Brewery industries are the largest consumers of water among several production industries. Despite consuming these huge amounts of water and electricity, they generate by-products that are harmful to the environment. These by-products contain organic, inorganic, and solid wastes with high chemical oxygen demand (COD) strength. The anaerobic digestion (AD) process plays an important role in treating this wastewater. This study investigates the design and development of an expanded granular sludge bed reactor (EGSB) effluent recirculation, which can achieve high COD removal efficiency of the wastewater and enhance the efficiency of generating biogas with high yields and increases in the concentration …

Numerical Simulation Study Of Factors Affecting Production Well Gel Treatment Using Linear Models With Crossflow, Kewei Shi

Masters Theses

"Conformance control is an inevitable topic related to water-flooding. Polymer gel has been proved to enhance oil recovery by blocking the existing water-breakthrough channels. Water that is injected subsequently will be directed to the unswept portion of the reservoir, replacing part of the remaining oil and increasing the oil-recovery factor. Prior to pilot tests of polymer gel treatment, laboratory experiments and numerical simulations are used to design the tests. Understanding physical meanings of key parameters that affect polymer gel treatment and relating the parameters from lab data and the simulator benefit field operation design.

This thesis study tries to evaluate …

Cellular Hitchhiking Via Injectable Microparticles, Daniel Smith

Masters Theses

"Tissue engineering is a process of developing new tissues in a host. Tissue engineering draws upon revitalizing damaged tissues that otherwise would not heal completely from the body's natural response. To augment the body's natural response to impairment, cells can be transplanted to the afflicted area to boost the healing response. Implementing these cells onto scaffolds and transplanting them into the body improves the healing response dramatically. Tissue regeneration improves when a biodegradable scaffold is used in conjunction with cells to augment the body's healing response. Microparticles provide a surface that can mimic the environment cells perceive in vivo, …

The Development Of A New Formulation Of Fly Ash Class C Based Geopolymer And Assessing Its Performance In Presence Of Drilling Fluid Contamination, Mohamed Saad Ahdaya

Masters Theses

"Cementing is one of the most critical steps in the drilling and completion of oil wells. Traditionally, Portland cement is used for oil cementing operations; however, geopolymer materials have recently attracted much attention because they are more cost-effective and have less environmental impacts.

An intensive laboratory work was conducted to obtain a new formulation of fly ash class C based geopolymer cement to be used as a potential alternative cementing material to Portland cement in oil and gas cementing. Twenty-four variations of fly ash class C based geopolymers were prepared, and by comparing several of their properties using API standard …

New Nanoparticle Water-Based Drilling Fluid Formulation With Enhanced Thermal Stability And Inhibition Capabilities In The Woodford Shale, Jose Aramendiz Pacheco

Masters Theses

"Drilling fluid design for unconventional reservoirs aims at preventing formation instability problems associated with fluid invasion, shale swelling, and cuttings dispersion. Although oil-based mud (OBM) can be used to achieve these goals, environmental and economic concerns limit its application. This experimental study evaluated the potential use of nanoparticles (NP) to improve water-based mud (WBM) inhibition capabilities and its ability to enhance the overall drilling fluid thermal stability while providing a cleaner technology to the industry.

Characterization of Woodford shale was completed with X-ray diffraction, cation exchange capacity, and scanning electron microscopy, silica, and graphene NP were characterized with aqueous stability …

Investigation Of Proppant Static Settling Velocity In Hydraulic Fractures Using Viscoelastic Linear Gel, Vismay Manishbhai Shah

Masters Theses

"Few studies have quantified proppant transport in static conditions using actual proppant and validated previously established correlation. The objective of this study is to investigate the rheological properties of the linear gel, and determine the effect of size, shape and specific gravity of the proppant, fracture walls and rheological properties of the fluid on the proppant settling velocity in static condition and validate the previously established correlation.

Shear viscosity and dynamic frequency sweep tests were performed to investigate the viscous and viscoelastic behaviour of the HPG linear gel with five different concentrations. Proppant settling experiments were conducted with different proppant …

Conical Folds -- An Artifact Of Using Simple Geometric Shapes To Describe A Complex Geologic Structure, Avery Joseph Welker

Masters Theses

"Accurate representation of the 3D shapes of natural folds is essential to characterization of the dynamic models for fold formation. Geometrical analysis of folds commonly relies upon analyzing patterns defined by the variation in the orientation of poles to planar surfaces deformed by a shortening event when plotted using graphical calculators (e.g., stereogram, polar tangent diagrams) to interpret the shape of folds. Stereograms for which orientation data define small circles are classified as non-cylindrical regular folds and are interpreted as "conical folds," where the shape of the fold is represented by a cone that terminates at a point. Utilizing similar …

Characterization Of Free-Radical Solution Polymerizations Of Acrylamide Initiated By Persulfate Initiator Systems, Yashu Chen

Masters Theses

”In order to reduce the water production and improve the oil recovery of mature reservoir, various conformance control technologies have been extensively developed. Preformed particle gel (PPG), a cost-effective plugging agent, has been successfully applied to block the high permeability zone and thus to displace the water to up-swept zone.

A common PPG based on polyacrylamide hydrogel have been wildly used. Identifying the parameters that affect gelation performance and understand how these parameters affect the performance is very useful to predict and manipulate the gelation time and to control the performance of gels.

The objective of this research is to …

Removal Of Mixed Vocs Of Benzene, Toluene, And Xylene By Using Catalytic Corona Discharge System, Issaree Tantiprapa

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Silver (Ag) and Manganese (Mn) catalysts were loaded on TiO₂ and Al₂O₃ supports on quartz wool that were tested for the oxidation of mixed Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) of benzene, toluene, and xylene in nonthermal plasma corona discharge. The total feed concentration of VOCs was fixed at 100 ppm. The catalyst located between the pin and plate electrodes with a constant gap distance of 15 mm and the pin and plate plasma reactor had an inside diameter of 9 mm. The outlet stream was analyzed by gas chromatography equipped with TCD and FID detectors. The operating parameters including applied voltage, …

Catalytic Applications Of Cuo Loaded Mesoporous Ceo₂ And Cuo Loaded Mesoporous Ceo₂-Zro₂ Catalyst, Sureerat Jampa

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Copper oxide (CuO) loaded mesoporous ceria (CeO₂) and Copper oxide (CuO) loaded mesoporous ceria-zirconia (CeO₂-ZrO₂) catalysts are successfully synthesized for preferential oxidation of CO (CO-PROX) and autothermal steam reforming of methanol (ASRM). Mesoporous CeO₂ and mesoporous CeO₂-ZrO₂ as catalyst supports with high specific surface area and ordered structure are prepared via a nanocasting process by using MCM-48 as template. Deposition-precipitation technique is chosen to load various Cu contents (1 to 9 wt.%) on the synthesized mesoporous supports. The synthesized CuO loaded mesoporous CeO₂ (Cu-C) and CuO loaded mesoporous CeO₂-ZrO₂ (Cu-CZ) catalysts are characterized by N₂ adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron …

Single-Site Catalyst Promoters Accelerate Metal- Catalyzed Nitroarene Hydrogenation, Liang Wang, Erjia Guan, Jian Zhang, Junhao Yang, Yihan Zhu, Yu Han, Ming Yang, Cheng Cen, Gang Fu, Bruce C. Gates, Feng-Shou Xiao

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Atomically dispersed supported metal catalysts are drawing wide attention because of the opportunities they offer for new catalytic properties combined with efficient use of the metals. We extend this class of materials to catalysts that incorporate atomically dispersed metal atoms as promoters. The catalysts are used for the challenging nitroarene hydro- genation and found to have both high activity and selectivity. The promoters are single-site Sn on TiO2 supports that incorporate metal nanoparticle catalysts. Represented as M/Sn- TiO2 (M = Au, Ru, Pt, Ni), these catalysts decidedly outperform the unpromoted supported metals, even for hydrogenation of nitroarenes substituted with various …

Understanding Inhibition Of A Biodesulfurization Enzyme To Improve Sulfur Removal From Petroleum, Yue Yu

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

The biodesulfurization 4S-pathway is a promising complementary enzymatic approach to remove sulfur from recalcitrant thiophenic derivatives in petroleum products that remain from conventional hydrodesulfurization method without diminishing the calorific value of oil. The final step of this pathway involves the carbon-sulfur bond cleavage from HBPS, and the production of the final products 2-hydroxybiphenyl (HBP) and sulfite, has been recognized as the rate-limiting step, partially as a result of product inhibition. However, the mechanisms and factors responsible for product inhibition in the last step have not been fully understood. In this work, we proposed a computational investigation using molecular dynamic simulations …

Understanding The Thermodynamics And Oral Absorption Potential Of Pharmaceutical Amorphous Solid Dispersions, Nico Setiawan

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

Supersaturating drug delivery systems, such as amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs), have been used extensively to elevate the apparent solubility and oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs. However, despite the numerous examples of success in increasing solubility and oral bioavailability using ASDs, physical stability challenges remain as formulators seek to employ high drug loading for cost reduction and improved patient compliance. Therefore, stability in both the solid and solution state must be considered for ASDs to be successful. In the solid state, the drug must remain amorphous in the solid matrix throughout the shelf life of the product. Although excipients, such …

Evaluation And Prevention Of Spontaneous Combustion During Handling And Storage Of Coal, Amir E. Najarzadeh

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

Spontaneous combustion of coal has historically been a major problem for the coal industry, predominantly during storage and transportation. Various methods have been used in the laboratory for evaluating the propensity of different coal sources to self-heat. However, the heterogeneity of coal and the complexity of the system has resulted in inconsistencies and sometimes conflicting results as indicated by the findings reported in several publications.

The primary objective of the current study was to build a laboratory scale apparatus that simulates the condition of a coal stockpile to evaluate the events leading to spontaneous combustion and develop potential remedies. As …

Pressure-Driven Stabilization Of Capacitive Deionization, Landon S. Caudill

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The effects of system pressure on the performance stability of flow-through capacitive deionization (CDI) cells was investigated. Initial data showed that the highly porous carbon electrodes possessed air/oxygen in the micropores, and the increased system pressure boosts the gases solubility in saline solution and carries them out of the cell in the effluent. Upon applying a potential difference to the electrodes, capacitive-based ion adsorption occurs in competition with faradaic reactions that consume oxygen. Through the addition of backpressure, the rate of degradation decreases, allowing the cell to maintain its salt adsorption capacity (SAC) longer. The removal of oxygen from the …

Characterization Of Rotary Bell Atomizers Through Image Analysis Techniques, Jacob E. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Three methods were developed to better understand and characterize the near-field dynamic processes of rotary bell atomization. The methods were developed with the goal of possible integration into industry to identify equipment changes through changes in the primary atomization of the bell. The first technique utilized high-speed imaging to capture qualitative ligament breakup and, in combination with a developed image processing technique and PIV software, was able to gain statistical size and velocity information about both ligaments and droplets in the image data. A second technique, using an Nd:YAG laser with an optical filter, was used to capture size statistics …

Intermittency Effects On The Universality Of Local Dissipation Scales In Turbulent Boundary Layer Flows With And Without Free-Stream Turbulence, Sabah Falih Habeeb Alhamdi

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Measurements of the small-scale dissipation statistics of turbulent boundary layer flows with and without free-stream turbulence are reported for Re_τ ≈ 1000 (Re_θ ≈ 2000). The scaling of the dissipation scale distribution is examined in these two boundary conditions of external wall-bounded flow.

Results demonstrated that the local large-scale Reynolds number based on the measured longitudinal integral length-scale fails to properly normalize the dissipation scale distribution near the wall in these two free-stream conditions, due to the imperfect characterization of the upper bound of the inertial cascade by the integral length-scale. When a length-scale based on Townsend's …

NoX Formation In Light-Hydrocarbon, Premixed Flames, Robert T. Hughes

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

This study explores the reactions and related species of NO_x pollutants in methane flames in order to understand their production and consumption during the combustion process. To do this, several analytical simulations were run to explore the behavior of nitrogen species in the pre-flame, post- flame, and reaction layer regions. The results were then analyzed in order to identify all "steady-state" species in the flame as well as the determine all the unnecessary reactions and species that are not required to meet a defined accuracy. The reductions were then applied and proven to be viable.