Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Steam Flooding Screening And Eor Prediction By Using Clustering Algorithm And Data Visualization, Na Zhang

Masters Theses

"Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) techniques are vitally important in the oil industry because these techniques could not only extend the life of wells, but also produce 10% to 30% additional oil from the reservoir. However, selecting the most suitable EOR techniques for unknown reservoirs is not easy for decision making. Based on literature, EOR screening criteria could help to find the best candidates for unknown projects, which is classified into two categories: conventional EOR screening and advanced EOR screening. In this research, an artificial intelligent (AI) method, hierarchical clustering algorithm, is adapted to analyze both steam flooding projects and worldwide …

Modeling Light Gas And Tar Yields From Pyrolysis Of Green River Oil Shale Demineralized Kerogen Using The Chemical Percolation Devolatilization Model, Daniel Barfuss, Ronald J. Pugmire, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

Recent detailed chemical structure analyses of three demineralized kerogens from Green River oil shale samples were used to generate input parameters for the chemical percolation devolatilization (CPD) model. This model uses a lattice network to describe pyrolysis of solid hydrocarbons, such as coal and biomass. It was necessary to modify the formulation of the CPD model to account for the long aliphatic carbon chains found in oil shale, because gases formed from these long chains condense at room temperature and are counted as tar. It was initially assumed that 20% of the aliphatic material was released as light gas during …

Fuel Element Combustion Properties For Live Wildland Utah Shrubs, Thomas H. Fletcher, Chen Shen

Faculty Publications

Current field models for wildfire prediction are mostly based on dry or low-moisture fuel combustion research. To better study the live fuel combustion behavior, a laminar flow flat-flame burner was used to provide a convection heating source to ignite an individual live fuel sample. In this research project, four Utah species were studied: Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii), canyon maple (Acer grandidentatum), big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), and Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma). Leaf geometrical parameters measured included individual leaf total mass, thickness, leaf width, leaf length, and moisture content. Time-stamped images of combustion behavior along with time-dependent mass data were recorded via …

The Contribution Of Non-Thermal And Advanced Oxidation Technologies Towards Dissipation Of Pesticide Residues, N. Misra

Articles

Background

The use of pesticides has stabilised the food production to a great extent and their usage cannot be avoided anymore. Nevertheless, common food processing operations always allowed dissipating pesticide residues in foods to some extent. Within the food science community and the food processing sector, non-thermal food technologies are being researched and commercialised at a great pace over the past three decades.

Scope and Approach

In this review we provide a critical analysis of the literature pertinent to the fate of pesticide residues during non-thermal processing of solid and liquid foods. We also identify the opportunities for further development …

Effect Of Resin Thickness, And Curing Time On The Micro-Hardness Of Bulk-Fill Resin Composites, Shaymaa M. Nagi, Lamiaa M. Moharam, Mohamed H. Zaazou

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Background: Bulk-fill resin composite has been introduced, their manufacturers claimed that they can be applied in bulks of 4mm, without necessitating a prolonged curing time, or a light curing unit with increased irradiance. Thus, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of resin thickness and curing time on the micro-hardness of two bulk -fill resin composites: Tetric Evo-Ceram [TE], and X-trafil [XF]. Material and Methods: 120 cylindrical specimens were prepared and divided into 24 groups (n=5/group), representing the two bulk-fill resin composites, three different material thicknesses (2, 3 and 4 mm) and the four curing times used in the …

Effect Of Nitrogen On Properties Of Na2o-Cao-Sro-Zno-Sio2 Glasses, Ahmed Bachar, Cyrille Mercier, Arnaud Tricoteaux, Jean Christophe Hornez, Anne Leriche, Claudine Follet, Bertrand Revel, Stuart Hampshire, Mark R. Towler

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Glasses in the Na₂O-CaO-SrO-ZnO-SiO₂ system have previously been investigated for suitability as a reagent in Al-free glass polyalkenoate cements (GPCs). These materials have many properties that offer potential in orthopedics. However, their applicability has been limited, to date, because of their poor strength. This study was undertaken with the aim of increasing the mechanical properties of a series of these Zn-based GPC glasses by doping with nitrogen to give overall compositions of: 10Na₂O-10CaO-20SrO-20ZnO-(40-3x)SiO₂-xSi₃N₄ (x is the no. of moles of Si₃N₄). The density, glass-transition temperature, hardness, …

Modeling The Crude Oil Scheduling Problem With Integration With Lower Level Production Optimization And Uncertainty, Jorge Asis Charbel Chebeir

LSU Master's Theses

This research is focused on the modeling and optimization of the crude oil scheduling problem in order to generate the most appropriate schedule for the unloading, charging, blending, and movement of crude oil in a refinery, which means obtaining the schedule that generates the lowest costs. Uncertainty, which is often present in these types of optimization problems, is also analyzed and taken into account for the resolution of crude oil scheduling problem. A comprehensive novel model is proposed to describe the upper level crude oil scheduling problem, generate an optimal solution for the mentioned problem, and allow integration with the …

A Comprehensive Optimization Framework For Designing Sustainable Renewable Energy Production Systems, Aryan Geraili Nejadfomeshi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

As the world has recognized the importance of diversifying its energy resource portfolio away from fossil resources and more towards renewable resources such as biomass, there arises a need for developing strategies which can design renewable sustainable value chains that can be scaled up efficiently and provide tangible net environmental benefits from energy utilization. The objective of this research is to develop and implement a novel decision-making framework for the optimal design of renewable energy systems. The proposed optimization framework is based on a distributed, systematic approach which is composed of different layers including systems-based strategic optimization, detailed mechanistic modeling …

Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Tel1 & Tel2 Role In Dna Double-Strand Break Repairs, Tommy Nhan Trieu

LSU Master's Theses

Genomic DNA is constantly in danger of being damaged by endogenous cellular processes and exogenous agents. Eukaryotes have mechanisms, collectively termed the DNA damage response, that detect and repair DNA damage. After a double-stranded break occurs, protein complexes are recruited to the break site to promote resection. Two main protein kinases involved in DNA repair are the Tel1 and Mec1 proteins. Recent studies have found that the Tel2 protein binds to both the Tel1 and Mec1 proteins and a point mutation of TEL2 on the 129th amino acid disrupts this interaction. Since both of the Tel1 and Mec1 proteins are …

Deepwater Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill Scenarios Development And Their Associated Risk Assessment, Muhammad Zulqarnain

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

World’s growing energy demand has pushed oil companies to explore and produce hydrocarbons in complex and technologically challenging deepwater environments. These difficult and complex operations involve the risk of major accidents as well, demonstrated by disasters such as the explosion and fire on the UK production platform Piper Alpha and capsizing of the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Accidents cause death, suffering, pollution of the environment, disruption of business and bad reputation to oil industry. A quantitative risk analysis technique has been used in this study to identify and categorize risk associated with different life phases …

Electrochemical Study Of Ammonium Interaction With Au,Sn And Cu Electrodes In Nonaqueous Electrolytes, Guoying Qu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Nonaqueous electrolytes play an important role in electrochemical devices such as flip chip and lithium-air batteries. In this work, we examine ammonium-Cu, Sn and Li interactions in nonaqueous electrolytes to optimize the future flip chip flux and electrolyte additive of lithium-air battery. The activity of halogen-free carboxylic acid flux is considered one of the most important aspects in controlling flip chip joint quality recently. CuOx removal effectiveness of carboxylic acid solutions at Cu substrates using electrochemical methods at elevated temperatures from 100ºC to 180ºC is studied thoroughly by chronopotentiometry and gravimetric analysis. Carboxylic acid-based solutions with ethanolamine show oxide removal …

Bioplastic Production In Cyanobacteria And Consensus Degenerate Pcr Probe Design, Courtney Edward Lane

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Cyanobacteria show much promise in reducing biodegradable thermoplastic production costs; however, most currently characterized strains are ill-equipped to do so. The result of Objective I produced a high-throughput assay designed to discover existing cyanobacterial strains and rapidly characterize them as PHA-producers or potential PHA-producers. This assay will play an instrumental role in the attainment of a novel cyanobacteria environmental isolate capable of accumulating high levels of PHA naturally. Objective II produced an open source computer program which dramatically speeds the design of similar assays for any arbitrary genetic screening purpose. The program is not limited to this implementation alone. In …

Analyses Of The Mec1 Dna Damage Pathway In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, William Barrett Ainsworth

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Eukaryotic organisms implement conserved surveillance machinery to sense and respond to DNA damage. Fundamental to the repair process is coordinated regulation of repair genes and initiation of cell cycle arrest protocols. Failure to preserve these checkpoints results in accumulation of mutated DNA and aberrant cell phenotypes that are characteristic of human disease. The yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, utilizes the MEC1 checkpoint pathway to regulate the DNA damage response. This study addressed two overarching themes of transcriptional and post-translational regulation within the MEC1 pathway. We first applied our understanding of the MEC1 DNA damage transcriptional response to develop advanced luciferase whole cell …

Modelling Of Channelization In Unconsolidated Formations Due To Liquid Injection, Juan Felipe Bautista Barake

LSU Master's Theses

Fluid injection has been increasingly implemented in oil and gas producing fields to optimize hydrocarbon production in both young and mature oil fields across the globe. This situation arises from the realization that early planning of second and tertiary recovery methods may improve project economics significantly. Injectors are then intended to perform at high injection rates with low bottomhole flowing pressures for as long as possible. In the case of injectors drilled in unconsolidated formations, deficient performance often times seems to be the norm. With a majority of these fields being offshore developments in which capital expenditures are high, a …

Multiscale Modeling Of Particle Transport In Petroleum Reservoirs, Layne Bryan French

LSU Master's Theses

Modeling subsurface particle transport and retention is important for many processes, including sand production, fines migration, and nanoparticle injection. In this study, a pore-scale particle plugging simulator is concurrently coupled with a streamline reservoir simulator to predict the behavior of particles in the subsurface. The coupled simulators march forward in time together. The automated communication between the two models enables the prediction of spatially and time dependent parameters that control the particle transport process. At each time step, the reservoir simulator provides the inlet velocity and particle concentration of the fluid suspension to the pore-scale model which outputs the permeability, …

Catalysts For The Positional Isomerization Of Internal, Long-Chain Olefins, James Edward Bruno

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Double-bond isomerization of internal C16-C18 olefins is a necessary step in the production of paper sizing agents. In this work, the properties that enable long-lasting solid acid catalysts (both commercial and lab-synthesized) were identified, the efficacy of regenerated solid acid catalysts was tested, and the feasibility of organometallic chain-walking catalysts (both homogeneous and polymer-supported) for olefin isomerization was evaluated. Hexadecene isomerization was investigated using perfluorinated ion exchange resins (Nafion®) supported on SiO2 or Al2O3, sulfonated poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) resins (PS-DVBs), tungstated zirconias, and acidic zeolites. Selected catalysts underwent lifetime studies. Oversulfonated PS-DVBs (e.g., Amberlyst 35) were reasonably selective with long lifetimes, only …

Applications Of Cfd Simulations On Fractal Fluid Distributor, Gongqiang He

LSU Master's Theses

Since its emergence in 1970s, process intensification has been attracting extensive research interests from both academic and industrial societies over the years. One good example of process intensification in chemical industry is the optimization of flow distributors. In many chemical processes, the uniformity of flow distributions plays the key role in determining the overall efficiency. Conventional distributors rely on high pressure drop to achieve acceptable flow distribution. With scaling symmetry from fractal, fractal distributors can handle fluid distribution much better than conventional distributors. With the rapid development of computation power and numerical simulation algorithms, Computer Fluid Dynamics (CFD) provides us …

Application Of Computational Fluid Dynamics To Near-Wellbore Modeling Of A Gas Well, Oscar Mauricio Molina

LSU Master's Theses

Well completion plays a key role in the economically viable production of hydrocarbons from a reservoir. Therefore, it is of high importance for the production engineer to have as many tools available that aid in the successful design of a proper completion scheme, depending on the type of formation rock, reservoir fluid properties and forecasting of production rates. Because well completion jobs are expensive, most of the completed wells are usually expected to produce as much hydrocarbon and as fast as possible, in order to shorten the time of return of the investment. This research study focused on the evaluation …

Post-Treatment Assessment Of Hydraulic Fracturing With Integrated Modeling Of Natural Fracture Distribution, Ping Puyang

LSU Master's Theses

Hydraulic fracturing has been serving as the principal reservoir stimulation technique for decades to improve production capacities of low permeability formations. On the other hand, through core and outcrop studies, advanced logging tools, microseismic fracture mapping and well testing analysis, it has been further revealed that many of the shale gas formations are naturally fractured. The presence of natural fractures and their interactions with hydraulic fractures must be taken into consideration while designing fracturing treatment. Although most natural fractures are cemented by precipitations during diagenesis, they may be reactivated during hydraulic fracturing and serve as weak paths for fluid flow …

Metallic Encapsulation For High Temperature (>500 °C) Thermal Energy Storage Applications, Abhinav Bhardwaj

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Deployment of high temperature (>500 °C) thermal energy storage in solar power plants will make solar power more cost competitive and pave the way towards a sustainable future. In this research, a unique metallic encapsulation has been presented for thermal energy storage at high temperatures, capable of operation in aerobic conditions. This goal was achieved by employing low cost materials like carbon steel. The research work presents the unique encapsulation procedure adopted, as well as various coatings evaluated and optimized for corrosion protection. Experimental testing favored the use of 150 μm of nickel on carbon steel for corrosion protection …