Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Mechanical Dispersion Of Semi-Solid Binders In High-Shear Granulation, Nathan J. Davis

Open Access Dissertations

Granulation is an important industrial process used to produce many foods, medicines, consumer products, and industrial intermediate products. This thesis focuses on high shear wet granulation with the specific case study of detergent manufacture using a high shear pin mixer. The key rate process in detergent manufacturing was determined to be the mechanical dispersion of the semi-solid surfactant binder. The pin mixer and mechanical dispersion utilized experiments, population balance models, and discrete element method (DEM) models.

The mechanical dispersion of the surfactant binder was studied using a lab scale 6 liter pin mixer. An experimental method was developed to isolate …

Extracellular Matrix From Whole Porcine Heart Decellularization For Cardiac Tissue Engineering, Nima Momtahan

Theses and Dissertations

Heart failure is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Every year in the United States, more than 800,000 people are diagnosed with heart failure and more than 375,000 people die from heart disease. Current therapies such as heart transplants and bioartificial hearts are helpful, but not optimal. Decellularization of porcine whole hearts followed by recellularization with patient-specific human cells may provide the ultimate solution for patients with heart failure. Great progress has been made in the development of efficient processes for decellularization, and the design of automated bioreactors. In this study, the decellularization of porcine …

Influence Of Strong Preformed Particle Gels On Low Permeable Formations In Mature Reservoirs, Mahmoud O. Elsharafi, Baojun Bai

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In mature reservoirs, the success of preformed particle gel (PPG) treatment rests primarily on the ability of the PPG to reduce and/or plug the high permeable formations but not damage the low permeable formations. Static test models (filtration test model and pressure test model) were used to determine the effect of PPG on low permeable formations. This work used a strong preformed particle gel, Daqing (DQ) gel made by a Chinese company. The particle gel sizes were ranged from 30 to 120 mesh for this work. PPGs are sized in a millimeter or micrometer, which can absorb over a hundred …

Silk-Derived Graphene-Like Carbon With High Electrocatalytic Activity For Oxygen Reduction Reaction, Qingfa Wang, Ruoping Yanzhang, Yaqing Wu, Han Zhu, Junfeng Zhang, Mingliang Du, Ming Zhang, Li Wang, Xiangwen Zhang, Xinhua Liang

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A facile method to prepare the nanoporous and graphene-like carbon material from a natural silk fiber was developed by a potassium intercalation and carbonization procedure. The as-synthesized graphene-like fiber was employed for oxygen reduction reaction and exhibited impressive electrocatalytic activity.

Aminoacyl-Trna Synthetase Production For Unnatural Amino Acid Incorporation And Preservation Of Linear Expression Templates In Cell-Free Protein Synthesis Reactions, Andrew Broadbent

Theses and Dissertations

Proteins—polymers of amino acids—are a major class of biomolecules whose myriad functions facilitate many crucial biological processes. Accordingly, human control over these biological processes depends upon the ability to study, produce, and modify proteins. One innovative tool for accomplishing these aims is cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS). This technique, rather than using living cells to make protein, simply extracts the cells' natural protein-making machinery and then uses it to produce protein in vitro. Because living cells are no longer involved, scientists can freely adapt the protein production environment in ways not otherwise possible. However, improved versatility and yield of CFPS protein …

Thawing Out: The Role Of The Arctic Council Service In A Melting Arctic, Taylor J. Enos

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

With the changing natural and political climate of the Arctic, conflicts over resource extraction and navigation will become inevitable. Empowering an intergovernmental institution like the Arctic Council Service may be the only solution. This paper analyzes the importance and history of the Arctic as a political environment, which is prone to abuse in the very near future at the hands of Russia and the United States.

Oil Recovery By Polymer Flooding; Sensitivity Analysis To Technical Parameters, Rana Osama Fahmi Saqer

Theses

Numerous enhanced oil recovery techniques including miscible gas injection, chemical, thermal and other methods are applied at the third phase of production after both primary and secondary recovery have been exhausted. Polymer flooding is one of the chemical methods that recover more oil by decreasing the mobility of the system; by increasing the viscosity of the injected water that results in an improvement in the volumetric sweep efficiency.

The objective of this work is to asses and select the development options using polymer process that maximize oil recovery for a synthetic reservoir model where technical parameters are optimized thoroughly.

Reservoir …

Oil Recovery By Flooding; Sensitivity Analysis To Technical Parameters, Rana Osama Fahmi Saqer

Theses

Numerous enhanced oil recovery techniques including miscible gas injection, chemical, thermal and other methods are applied at the third phase of production after both primary and secondary recovery have been exhausted. Polymer flooding is one of the chemical methods that recover more oil by decreasing the mobility of the system; by increasing the viscosity of the injected water that results in an improvement in the volumetric sweep efficiency.

The objective of this work is to asses and select the development options using polymer process that maximize oil recovery for a synthetic reservoir model where technical parameters are optimized thoroughly.

Reservoir …

Contact Angle And Ift Measurements Of Smart Water At Elevated Temperatures And Pressures For Evaluating Wettability In A Selected Carbonate Reservoir In The Uae, Jassim Abubacker Ponnambathayil

Theses

Water flooding has been regarded as a well-known secondary oil recovery method. In the recent years, extensive research on crude oil, brine, and rock systems has acknowledged that the composition of the injected water can change wetting properties of the reservoir during a water flood in a promising way to improve oil recovery. Hence, injection of “smart water” with correct salinity and composition is considered as a tertiary recovery method. The mechanism behind wettability alteration that is promoted by smart water injection has been a topic of discussion in carbonate and sandstone formations. In this work, some key properties of …

Electrochemical Syntheses Of Graphene And Its Composites, Bo Zhao, Li Jiang, Ming-Hui Yuen, Xian-Zhu Fu, Rong Sun, Ching-Ping Wong

Journal of Electrochemistry

Graphene is a kind of ideal two-dimensional flat carbon nanomaterials which have unique chemical and physical properties. The attractive potential applications must be based on the high quality mass production of graphene. However, it remains a huge challenge. An electrochemical approach is a fast, environmental friendly and easy-operating method. single- or multi-layered graphene flakes can easily be produced in short periods of time. In this review, the structure, properties and preparation methods of graphene are first introduced. Accordingly, the electrochemical approaches used for the productions of graphene flakes, graphene/inorganic nanocomposites, graphene/polymer composites and graphene analogues are highlighted. Finally, challenges and …

Synthesis Of Fe, N-Doped Graphene/Carbon Black Composite With High Catalytic Activity For Oxygen Reduction Reaction, Chi Chen, Zhi-You Zhou, Xin-Sheng Zhang, Shi-Gang Sun

Journal of Electrochemistry

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a bottleneck for improving the efficiency of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells as a cathode reaction due to its sluggish kinetics. The exploitation of low cost and high performance non-precious metal catalysts such as Fe/N/C based materials toward ORR has attracted extensive attentions. In this work, the Fe, N-doped graphene nanosheets/carbon black composite was prepared by hydrothermal polymerization and followed by a twice-heat-treatment procedure using 2-aminoimidazole as an N precursor, FeCl₃ as an Fe precursor and KJ600 carbon black as a support. The TEM images revealed that the graphene nanosheets were separated by carbon black …

Electricity Generation Of Microbial Fuel Cell Using Stainless Steel Mesh As Cathode, Hong-Yan Dai, Hui-Min Yang, Xian Liu, Xuan Jian, Xiu-Li Song, Zhen-Hai Liang

Journal of Electrochemistry

In the present work, a dual-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) was constructed with aeration tank sludge as an inoculum, carbon felt as an anode and stainless steel mesh without any modification as a cathode. The influence of the cathode size was investigated in terms of voltage output, power generation and electrochemical impedance. The long-term durability of the stainless steel mesh cathode was also evaluated. Results showed that the stainless steel mesh exhibited satisfactory long-term durability as MFC cathode. When the stainless steel mesh size was 2 × 2 cm², the maximum output voltage, power density, the internal resistance …

The Study On Comparison Of Electrochemical Performance In Microbial Fuel Cell With Glucose And Sodium Acetate Acting As Substrates, Lei Fan, Yu Zhao, Ting Li, Qin-Bo Yuan, En-Zhi Wang, Xiao-Bin Wang, Jun-Wen Wang

Journal of Electrochemistry

By inoculating aerobic sludge and anaerobic sludge from the sewage treatment plant, two sets of dual-chamber microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were built with either glucose or sodium acetate acting as a substrate. Accordingly, the electrochemical performances of MFCs were explored with the concentration of the substrates being 0.0335 mol⋅L^-1. The results of the comparative study in glucose system and sodium acetate system showed that the impedance values of anodic half cell were 222 Ω for glucose and 213.67 Ω for sodium acetate, implying no significant effect on the internal resistance in battery with the different substrates. The exchange …

Electrochemical Detection Of Hydrogen Peroxide At Aunps Modified Electrode Using P-Hydroxyphenylboronic Acid As A Precursor, Chun-Yan Wang, Xiao-Qiu Liu, Ying-Xin Qi

Journal of Electrochemistry

We developed a new method for electrochemical detection of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) based on boronate oxidation of p-hydroxyphenylboronic acid. This method using p-aminophenol which is produced from the reaction of H₂O₂ and p-aminophenylboronic acid as a well electrochemical probe, combined with a gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) modified electrode for an indirect detection of H₂O₂. Because of the large surface area and enhanced electrocatalytic behavior by the AuNPs modified electrode, the detection sensitivity was improved. The method could detect H₂O₂ in the concentration range of 1 ~ 100 …

Thermal Transport Properties Of Dry Spun Carbon Nanotube Sheets, Heath E. Misak, James L. Rutledge, Eric D. Swenson, Shankar Mall

Faculty Publications

The thermal properties of carbon nanotube- (CNT-) sheet were explored and compared to copper in this study. The CNT-sheet was made from dry spinning CNTs into a nonwoven sheet. This nonwoven CNT-sheet has anisotropic properties in in-plane and out-of-plane directions. The in-plane direction has much higher thermal conductivity than the out-of-plane direction. The in-plane thermal conductivity was found by thermal flash analysis, and the out-of-plane thermal conductivity was found by a hot disk method. The thermal irradiative properties were examined and compared to thermal transport theory. The CNT-sheet was heated in the vacuum and the temperature was measured with an …

Direct Band Gap Gallium Antimony Phosphide (GasbXP1-X) Alloys, H. B. Russell, A. N. Andriotis, Madhu Menon, J. B. Jasinski, A. Martinez-Garcia, M. K. Sunkara

Center for Computational Sciences Faculty Publications

Here, we report direct band gap transition for Gallium Phosphide (GaP) when alloyed with just 1–2 at% antimony (Sb) utilizing both density functional theory based computations and experiments. First principles density functional theory calculations of GaSb_xP_1−x alloys in a 216 atom supercell configuration indicate that an indirect to direct band gap transition occurs at x = 0.0092 or higher Sb incorporation into GaSb_xP_1−x. Furthermore, these calculations indicate band edge straddling of the hydrogen evolution and oxygen evolution reactions for compositions ranging from x = 0.0092 Sb up to at least x = 0.065 …

Sensitivity Of Neural Stem Cell Survival, Differentiation And Neurite Outgrowth Within 3d Hydrogels To Environmental Heavy Metals, Sameera Tasneem, Kurt Farrell, Moo Yeal Lee, Chandrasekhar R. Kothapalli

Chemical & Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

© 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. We investigated the sensitivity of embryonic murine neural stem cells exposed to 10 pM-10. μM concentrations of three heavy metals (Cd, Hg, Pb), continuously for 14 days within 3D collagen hydrogels. Critical endpoints for neurogenesis such as survival, differentiation and neurite outgrowth were assessed. Results suggest significant compromise in cell viability within the first four days at concentrations ≥10. nM, while lower concentrations induced a more delayed effect. Mercury and lead suppressed neural differentiation at as low as 10 pM concentration within 7 days, while all three metals inhibited neural and glial differentiation by day …

Graphene Oxide Quantum Dots Covalently Functionalized Pvdf Membrane With Significantly-Enhanced Bactericidal And Antibiofouling Performances, Zhiping Zeng, Dingshan Yu, Ziming He, Jing Liu, Fang-Xing Xiao, Yan Zhang, Rong Wang, Dibakar Bhattacharyya, Timothy Thatt Yang Tan

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Covalent bonding of graphene oxide quantum dots (GOQDs) onto amino modified polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane has generated a new type of nano-carbon functionalized membrane with significantly enhanced antibacterial and antibiofouling properties. A continuous filtration test using E. coli containing feedwater shows that the relative flux drop over GOQDs modified PVDF is 23%, which is significantly lower than those over pristine PVDF (86%) and GO-sheet modified PVDF (62%) after 10 h of filtration. The presence of GOQD coating layer effectively inactivates E. coli and S. aureus cells, and prevents the biofilm formation on the membrane surface, producing excellent antimicrobial activity and …

Controlling The Structure And Dynamics Of Magnetoresponsive Particle Suspensions For Enhanced Transport Phenomena, Kyle J. Solis

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

The work contained herein describes the use of various magnetic fields to control the structure and dynamics of magnetic particle suspensions, with the practical aim of enhancing momentum, heat, and mass transport. The magnetic fields are often multiaxial and can consist of up to three orthogonal components that may be either static (dc), time-dependent (ac), or some combination thereof. The magnetic particles are composed of a ferromagnetic material—such as iron, nickel, cobalt, or Permalloy—and can exist in a variety of shapes, including spheres, platelets, and rods. The shape of the particles is particularly important, as this can determine the type …

The Effect Of Assembly Technique On Weak Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Film Morphology And Humidity Swelling/Deswelling Behavior, Ziyang Yin

Graduate Theses - Chemical Engineering

The goal of this research is to investigate the film morphology and humidity swelling/deswelling behavior of polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) that are constructed from poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) by two assembly techniques: automated dipping layer-by-layer (LbL) and spin-assisted (SA) LbL. Two sets of pH polyelectrolyte solution conditions were tested: (PAH7.5/PAA3.5) and (PAH7.0/PAA7.0). It was found that when the films were constructed with the same number of bilayers (=20 bilayers), SA-LbL (PAH7.5/PAA3.5) has a greater thickness than (PAH7.0/PAA7.0). (PAH7.5/PAA3.5) thin films constructed by automated dipping LbL did not result in a uniform film morphology, making thickness comparisons between techniques …