Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Molecular Simulation Study Of Oil Hydrocarbons, Dispersants And Other Organics In Atmospheric Air/Water Interfaces, Zenghui Zhang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The main objective of this dissertation is to study the interfacial properties of organic contaminants, in particular green leaf volatiles (GLVs), oil hydrocarbons [mainly intermediate-volatile organic compounds (IVOCs) and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs)], as well as surfactant species (i.e. DOSS and Span 80) from Corexit dispersants at atmospheric air/water and air/seawater interfaces. All these compounds can significantly contribute to the formation of secondary organic aerosols (SOAs). Furthermore, our simulation work on IVOCs, SVOCs and Corexit surfactants, combining with experiments from the Valsaraj group, suggests that these compounds can be adsorbed on the surface of seawater droplets and aerosolized into the …

Design And Commissioning Of A Community Scale Solar Powered Membrane-Based Water Purification System In Haiti, Shavin Pinto, Yung Wong, Kyle Fennesy, Yan Tang, Marc Compere

Publications

This paper presents the design and commissioning of a solar powered water purification system at the Ryan Epps Home for Children (REHC) in Michaud, Haiti. This system supplies clean drinking water to the 200 children who live and go to school at REHC and also to the community in the form of a micro-business. This micro-business is the mechanism for income generation for sustainable system operation. The purifier uses a three stage filtration system with a disc-type sediment filter, a 0.1 micron ultrafiltration membrane, and an ultraviolet light for disinfection. The backwash cycle extends the life of the ultrafiltration membrane …

Cement Based Batteries And Their Potential For Use In Low Power Operations, Aimee Byrne, Niall Holmes, Brian Norton

Articles

This paper presents the development of an innovative cement-electrolyte battery for low power operations such as cathodic protection of reinforced concrete. A battery design was refined by altering different constituents and examining the open circuit voltage, resistor loaded current and lifespan. The final design consisted of a copper plate cathode, aluminium plate anode, and a cement electrolyte which included additives of carbon black, plasticiser, Alum salt and Epsom salt. A relationship between age, temperature and hydration of the cell and the current it produced was determined. It was found that sealing the battery using varnish increased the moisture retention and …

Relating Ion Release And Ph To In Vitro Cell Viability For Gallium-Inclusive Bioactive Glasses, Timothy J. Keenan, L. M. Placek, T. L. Mcginnity, Mark R. Towler, M. M. Hall, A. W. Wren

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A bioactive glass (BG) in which Ga was substituted for Zn was formulated to investigate whether the ionic form of Ga can elicit effects similar to gallium nitrate. The ion release and pH of BG extracts were evaluated, as well as the in vitro cytocompatibility of extracts in contact with mouse fibroblasts and human osteoblasts. After incubation times of 1 year, the glass (TGa-1) containing the smaller Ga-addition (8 mol%) released the most sodium (Na) (1420 mg/L), silicon (Si) (221 mg/L), and Ga (1295 mg/L), while the glass (TGa-2) containing the larger Ga-addition (16 mol%), exhibited release levels between TGa-1, …

Sensitivity Analysis Of Geomechanical Parameters In A Two-Way Coupling Reservoir Simulation, Hector Gabriel Donoso

Masters Theses

"Currently reservoir simulators model geomechanical effects such as compaction, subsidence, fault reactivation, breach of the seal integrity, etc. using only the rock compressibility to change the pore volume. However, rock compressibility as a scalar quantity is unfit to represent the true rock mechanics in the reservoir. In order to accurately represent geomechanical effects in a reservoir simulation, a two-way coupling simulation of the stress analyzer and the reservoir simulator was done. Based on the poroelasticity theory during the production or depletion of the reservoir the porosity and permeability changed due to the stress or pore pressure changes.

A sensitivity analysis …

Nanostructured Materials Prepared By Atomic Layer Deposition For Catalysis And Lithium-Ion Battery Applications, Rajankumar Patel

Doctoral Dissertations

"Atomic/molecular layer deposition (ALD/MLD) has emerged as an important technique for depositing thin films in both scientific research and industrial applications. In this dissertation, ALD/MLD was used to create novel nanostructures for two different applications, catalysis and lithium-ion batteries.

MLD was used to prepare ultra-thin dense hybrid organic/inorganic polymer films. Oxidizing the hybrid films removed the organic components and produced the desired nanoporous films. Both porous alumina and titania films can be prepared by such a way. A novel nanostructured catalyst (Pt/SiO₂) with an ultra-thin porous alumina shell obtained from the thermal decomposition of an aluminium alkoxide film …

Experimental Investigation Of Fracture Width Limitations Of Granular Lost Circulation Treatments, Mortadha Al-Saba, Runar Nygaard, Arild Saasen, Olav Magnar Nes

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Drilling fluid losses into fractured shales is a major challenge. Lost circulation treatments are widely applied to mitigate the losses; however, the effectiveness of these treatments is affected by different physical properties of the used lost circulation materials (LCM). This paper presents an experimental investigation to study the effect of LCM type, concentration, particle size distribution, temperature, and LCM shape on the formed seal integrity, with respect to differential pressure, at different fracture widths. The overall objective of this study is to address the effectiveness of LCM treatments in sealing fractured shales, with specific application to the over consolidated Barents …

Unique Characterization Of Materials With Memory, John Murrough Golden

Articles

In general, materials with linear memory constitutive relations are characterized by a relaxation function. This leads to a situation where the free energy for most materials with memory is not unique. There is a convex set of free energy functionals with a minimum and a maximum element. An alternative procedure is proposed which characterizes a material by the kernel of the rate of dissipation functional. Using some recent results, we find that a unique free energy and relaxation function may then be deduced. An example is given for discrete spectrum materials. Also, the new results are used to show that …

Computational Modeling Of High-Performance Nickel-Metal Hydride Battery Materials, Diana Felicia Wong

Wayne State University Dissertations

With 10 million hybrid electric vehicles on the road worldwide powered primarily by nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries, research into this battery chemistry will improve the hybrid vehicle driving experience, extending electric-only driving ranges while reducing emissions and using less gasoline. The transfer, storage and transport of protons and electrons depend strongly on the structural and electrical features of the active material, including multiple phases, defects, and structural and compositional disorder. The contributions of such subtle defects and the difference with the bulk structure can be difficult to discern experimentally. Ab initio calculations such as the ones based on density functional …

Laboratory Evaluation Of A Real-Time Coaxial Cable Casing Imager For Wellbore Integrity Monitoring, Yurong Li, Runar Nygaard, Baokai Cheng, Wenge Zhu, Hai Xiao

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Leakage is one of the major concerns in a geological carbon sequestration project due to the adverse environmental consequences. The main leakage risk of CO₂ through a thick, low permeable cap rock is identified to be along wells, especially in sedimentary basins that have a history of oil and gas exploration and production. To pursue a robust and cost-effective real-time monitoring technology for CO₂ leakage risk detection along the wellbore, a permanently downhole deployed coaxial cable casing imaging system is developed and tested for various deformation modes in laboratory in this paper. The casing imager consists of a …

Mathematical Scaling And Statistical Modeling Of Geopressured Geothermal Reservoirs, Esmail Ansari

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The interest for developing geopressured-geothermal reservoirs along the US Gulf Coast is increasing for securing energy needs and reducing global warming. Identifying the most attractive candidate reservoirs for geothermal energy production requires quick and simple models. Analytical models are not always available and simulating each case individually is expensive. The use of scaling and statistical modeling is one approach to translate the output of a simulator into quick models with general applicability at all scales. The developed models can quickly estimate temperature and thermal energy recovery from the geopressured-geothermal reservoirs. These models can screen large databases of reservoirs to select …

An Overview Of The Development Of Cement-Based Batteries For The Cathodic Protection Of Embedded Steel In Concrete, Aimee Byrne, Niall Holmes, Brian Norton

Conference papers

This paper presents an overview of the cement-based batteries developed in DIT for use in the cathodic protection of embedded steel in reinforced concrete undergoing chloride-induced corrosion. Cathodic protection delivers an external current (approximately 20mA per m2 of embedded steel) which effectively polarises the internal current generated during corrosion. The batteries developed in DIT comprise of a cement-based electrolyte containing different additives including sand, aggregate, salts, carbon black and plasticiser with protruding anode and cathode metal plates. These batteries produced an initial electrical output of 1.5V and 23mA through a 10 resistor as measured using data acquisition units and a …

A Petrophysical Evaluation For Permeability Of A Gas Reservoir In The Taranaki Basin, New Zealand, Musa Cetin

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The goal of this study was to evaluate permeability and study the controls on permeability in a gas saturated formation. Conventional well logs, mineral identification crossplots and empirical models were applied to analyze different lithologic and diagenetic features and to examine the effect that these features may have on the reservoir. An unusual feature was observed, and required detailed examination: there existed (in two wells) five zones of lower resistivity (higher water saturation) above the gas-water contact. This is unexpected, as above that contact, the water is usually at irreducible water saturation. I conclude that the lower resistivity (the higher …

An Experimental Investigation Into The Effect Of Particulate Matter On Nox Reduction In A Scr Catalyst On A Dpf, Saksham Gupta

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The study of NO_x reduction across the SCRF^® is presented in this report to understand the inlet and outlet NO, NO₂, NH₃ species from the SCRF^®. The SCRF^® is a prototype SCR catalyst on a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) that reduces NOx and PM at the downstream location. The SCRF^® reduces the packaging volume of the aftertreatment components in order to reduce the cost, volume and weight of the aftertreatment system. A total of 12 experiments were performed on a Cummins ISB 2013 280 hp engine and the aftertreatment system. The …

Purification And Recovery Of Infectious Virus Particles Using Osmolyte Flocculation, Ashish Saksule

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Viral infectious diseases cause millions of deaths and severe illness all around the world affecting public health and economics. Viral vaccines are helping to fight against viral diseases, but current vaccines are expensive and unavailable, especially in poor and developing countries. When measuring the entire manufacturing processing, the downstream processing of vaccines is the major cost of production. Our goal for this research is to develop a low-cost alternative downstream processing platform for new vaccine manufacturing infrastructures. We have developed a novel osmolyte flocculation method for viral particles. To create a platform purification for several types of viral particles, we …

Electrochemical Reduction Of Carbon Dioxide On Carbon Nanostructures: Defect Structures & Electrocatalytic Activity, Pranav Parag Sharma

Theses and Dissertations

The advantages of the electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide to fuels using renewable energy sources are two-fold: (1) it has the potential to accomplish a carbon-neutral energy cycle and (2) it can provide an approach to tackle the environmental challenges caused by anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. Although thermodynamically possible, the kinetics of carbon dioxide reduction to fuels remains challenging and therefore, an efficient and robust electrocatalyst is needed to promote the reaction. The ideal catalyst for the electrochemical CO2 reduction must be capable of mediating multiple proton-coupled electron transfer reactions at low overpotentials, suppressing the concurrent hydrogen evolution reaction, converting …

Solving Atomic Structures Using Statistical Mechanical Searches On X-Ray Scattering Derived Potential Energy Surfaces, Christopher James Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Engineering the next generation of materials, especially nanomaterials, requires a detailed understanding of the material’s underlying atomic structure. These structures give us better insight into structure-property relationships, allowing for property driven material design on the atomic level. Even more importantly, understanding structures in-situ will translate stimuli and responses on the macroscopic scale to changes on the nanoscale. Despite the importance of precise atomic structures for materials design, solving atomic structures is difficult both experimentally and computationally. Atomic pair distribution functions (PDFs) provide information on atomic structure, but the difficulty of extracting the PDF from x-ray total scattering measurements limits their …

Uncertainty Quantification In Computational Catalysis, Eric Alan Walker

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation augments the field of computational catalysis with uncertainty quantification. An efficient tool to describe the energetics and structure of atomistic systems is density functional theory (DFT). DFT may be used to understand how catalysts work although DFT is inexact in nature due to approximations necessary for computational tractability. These approximations in DFT cause uncertainty in microkinetic model results for catalytic systems. Therefore, reliable model results gained from DFT include a quantification of uncertainty. The case study to examine a systematic framework for uncertainty quantification is water-gas shift (WGS CO+H2O⇌CO2+H2) reaction by Pt/TiO2 catalyst.

Uncertainties are represented with probabilities …

Methane Separation And Purification Via Pressure Swing Adsorption, Lutfi Erden

Theses and Dissertations

Investigations on alternative energy sources have gained increasing attention due to significant shortage in the fossil fuel reserves and increase on the usage of internal combustion engines. Natural gas which mainly consists of Methane has a significant role in short term solution of this issue. Although methane as a greenhouse gas is over 20 times more potent by weight than carbon dioxide, if released directly into the atmosphere, it is a valuable energy source. However, methane is not extracted % 100 pure from the source. Natural gas generally contains many other contaminants such as water, other hydrocarbons, Carbon dioxide, Nitrogen, …

Mathematical Modeling Of Transport And Corrosion Phenomenon Inside High Temperature Molten Salt Systems, Bahareh Alsadat Tavakoli Mehrabadi

Theses and Dissertations

In today's world, alternative clean methods of energy are needed to meet growing energy demands. Concentrating solar thermal power, more commonly referred to as CSP, is unique among renewable energy generators because even though it is variable, like solar photovoltaic and wind, it can easily be coupled with thermal energy storage as well as conventional fuels, making it highly dispatchable. One challenge with concentrated solar power (CSP) systems is the potential corrosion of the alloys in the receivers and heat exchangers at high-temperature (700-1000 °C), which leads to a reduction of heat transfer efficiency and influences the systems durability. The …