Engineering Commons^™

Carbon Dioxide Capture From Flue Gas Using Regenerable Sodium-Based Sorbents, Ya Liang

LSU Master's Theses

The overall objective of this project is to develop a simple and inexpensive process to separate carbon dioxide (CO2) as an essentially pure stream from a fossil fuel combustion gases using a regenerable sodium-based sorbent. This objective of this phase of the project is to evaluate CO2 capture using sodium-based sorbents in single-cycle and multicycle tests as a function of calcination and carbonation conditions. The sorbent precursors investigated were sodium bicarbonates supplied by Church and Dwight, Inc., and natural trona supplied by Solvay. All precursors were first calcined to sodium carbonate and then converted to sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) or Wegscheider’s …

Investigation Of Qualitative Methods For Diagnosis Of Poor Bit Performance Using Surface Drilling Parameters, Arash Aghassi

LSU Master's Theses

Bit performance in deep shale when using water-based mud is typically poor. This study is part of a larger research project to improve that performance entitled "Automated Rig Controls for Improved Drilling Costs." The objective of the project is diagnosis of changes in drill bit performance to provide a logical basis for automating draw works control, maximizing bit performance, and reducing drilling costs. The specific goal of this study is a means to diagnose bit performance, specifically to identify bit balling and lithology changes, using real-time drilling data. The research began by identifying symptoms relating to specific causes of bit …

Improved Bottomhole Pressure Control For Underbalanced Drilling Operations, Carlos Perez-Tellez

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Maintaining underbalanced conditions from the beginning to the end of the drilling process is necessary to guarantee the success of jointed-pipe underbalanced drilling (UBD) operations by avoiding formation damage and potential hazardous drilling problems such as lost circulation and differential sticking. However, maintaining these conditions is an unmet challenge that continues motivating not only research but also technological developments. This research proposes an UBD flow control procedure, which represents an economical method for maintaining continuous underbalanced conditions and, therefore, to increase well productivity by preventing formation damage. It is applicable to wells that can flow without artificial lift and within …

Theoretical Analysis For Obtaining Physical Properties Of Composite Electrodes, Parthasarathy M. Gomadam, John W. Weidner, Thomas A. Zawodzinski, Andrew P. Saab

Faculty Publications

A theoretical analysis is presented that allows in situ measurements of the physical properties of a composite electrode, namely, the electronic conductivity, the ionic conductivity, the exchange-current density, and the double-layer capacitance. Use is made of the current-voltage responses of the composite electrode to dc and ac polarizations under three different experimental configurations. This analysis allows the physical properties to be obtained even when the various resistances in the composite (e.g., ionic, electronic, and charge-transfer) are of comparable values.

Modeling Heat Conduction In Spiral Geometries, Parthasarathy M. Gomadam, Ralph E. White, John W. Weidner

Faculty Publications

A two-dimensional (2-D) energy balance (the 2D model) is reduced to a one-dimensioanl (1-D) energy balance (the 1D-radial-spiral model) by a coordinate transformation approach. The 1D-radial-spiral model, even though 1-D, captures both radial and spiral heat conductions over a wide range of design parameters. By comparing the temperature predictions of the 1D-radial-spiral model and the 2D model, parameter ranges were identified where spiral conduction was important and where the 1D-radial-spiral model held. The 1D-radial-spiral model provided a sixtyfold savings in computation time over the 2D model. When coupled to electrochemistry, the 2D model took approximately 20 h to simulate a …

Analysis Of Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell Performance Using A Three-Phase Homogeneous Model, N. Subramanian, B. S. Haran, P. Ganesan, Ralph E. White, Branko N. Popov

Faculty Publications

In this study a three-phase homogeneous model was developed to simulate the performance of the molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) cathode. The homogeneous model is based on volume averaging of different variables in the three phases over a small volume element. This approach can be used to model porous electrodes as it represents the real system much better than the conventional agglomerate model. Using the homogeneous model the polarization characteristics of the MCFC cathode was studied under different operating conditions.

A Mathematical Model Of Oxide/Carbon Composite Electrode For Supercapacitors, Hansung Kim, Branko N. Popov

Faculty Publications

A pseudo two-dimensional model is developed for the general application of supercapacitors consisting of an oxide/carbon composite electrode. The model takes into account the diffusion of protons in the oxide particle by employing the method of superposition. RuO₂/carbon system is modeled as a specific example. From the simulation data, it is found that the oxide particle size and proton diffusion coefficient have an enormous effect on the performance at high discharge rate due to the limitation of proton transport into RuO₂ particles. With increasing carbon ratio, the porosity of electrode increases, which causes the potential drop in …

A Novel Electrodeposition Process For Plating Zn-Ni-Cd Alloys, Hansung Kim, Branko N. Popov, Ken S. Chen

Faculty Publications

Zn-Ni-Cd alloy was electrodeposited from an alkaline electrolytic bath under potentiostatic conditions. Bath analyses using a pH concentration diagram reveal that addition of a complexing agent is essential to maintain the bath stability. Introduction of a low concentration of CdSO₄ reduces the anomalous nature of the Zn-Ni deposit. Deposits obtained from the electrolytic bath which contains 60 g/L of ZnSO₄·7H₂O, 40 g/L of NiSO₄·6H₂O, 1 g/L of CdSO₄, and 80 g/L of (NH₄)₂SO₄ in the presence of additives and ammonium hydroxide at pH 9.3 …

Reaction Control In Quiescent Systems Of Free-Radical Retrograde-Precipitation Polymerization, Vijaya Raghavan Tirumala

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Free-radical retrograde-precipitation polymerization, FRRPP in short, is a novel polymerization process discovered by Dr. Gerard Caneba in the late 1980s. The current study is aimed at gaining a better understanding of the reaction mechanism of the FRRPP and its thermodynamically-driven features that are predominant in controlling the chain reaction.

A previously developed mathematical model to represent free radical polymerization kinetics was used to simulate a classic bulk polymerization system from the literature. Unlike other existing models, such a sparse-matrix-based representation allows one to explicitly accommodate the chain length dependent kinetic parameters.

Extrapolating from the past results, mixing was experimentally shown …

Application Of Mechanistic Models In Predicting Flow Behavior In Deviated Wells Under Ubd Conditions, Faisal Abdullah Aladwani

LSU Master's Theses

Underbalanced drilling (UBD) has increased in recent years because of the many advantages associated with it. These include increase in the rate of penetration and reduction of lost circulation and formation damage. Drilling of deviated and horizontal wells also increased since recovery can be improved from a horizontal or a deviated well. The drilling of deviated wells using UBD method will reduce several drilling related problems such as hole cleaning and formation damage. Prediction of flow and pressure profiles while drilling underbalanced in such wells will help in designing and planning of the well. The main aim of this research …

High-Pressure Coal Pyrolysis In A Drop Tube Furnace, Koichi Matsuoka, Zhi-Xin Ma, Hiroyuki Akiho, Zhan-Guo Zhang, Akira Tomita, Thomas H. Fletcher, Marek A. Wojtowicz, Stephen Niksa

Faculty Publications

To obtain useful and reliable pyrolysis data under high pressures, continuous pyrolysis experiments were carried out using a drop tube furnace. To ascertain the reliability of data, a mass balance during pyrolysis was carefully checked. The pyrolysis data obtained in this equipment was compared with previous results, and it was found that the weight loss observed in the drop tube furnace was somewhat larger than those obtained with other apparatuses. The experimental results were compared with those predicted by three pyrolysis models. Although discrepancies between predictions and experimental results were observed under a certain condition, the agreement between the experimental …

High-Pressure Intrinsic Oxidation Kinetics Of Two Coal Chars, William C. Hecker, Peter M. Madsen, Michael R. Sherman, Jared W. Allen, Rebecca J. Sawaya, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

Chars were produced from two coals (North Dakota lignite and Pittsburgh No. 8 hva bituminous coal) in a flat flame burner at atmospheric pressure. Intrinsic char reactivities to oxygen were then measured in a high-pressure thermogravimetric analyzer as a function of temperature, total pressure, and partial pressure of oxygen. Care was taken to avoid mass transfer effects. Reactivities were normalized by the available mass of char at any given time (g/(gavailâs)). Reactivity data were obtained over a wide range of char burnout and were found to be independent of burnout level between char burnouts of 20 and 60%. Data were …

Discrete Element Modelling Of The Abrasive Dehulling Process Of Sorghum And Millet, E. L. Lazaro

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

The abrasive dehulling process of sorghum and millet was modelled using a three-dimensional discrete element model. The model was validated by comparison between experimental and simulation results. Good correlation between experimental and simulation results was obtained. Several numerical experiments were also carried out using the developed model to investigate the influence of mill and grain parameters on dehulling of sorghum and millet. The simulated results correlated well with experimental results from literature. The developed model therefore provides a simple and cheap tool, which can be used to study the dehulling process in more detail than, is currently possible using the …

Properties Of Rice Husk Particle Boards Bonded By A Blend Of Tannin-Cnsl Resin, J. V. Tesha

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

There are vast quantities of agricultural residues available in Tanzania. Rice husk being amongst those residues is reported to have low resistance to alkalis, high silica content, and have short fibres. These factors have made rice husks not attractive raw materials in panels’ production. However, it has been demonstrated that rice husks can be used to develop panel products of low cost and good performance if appropriate indigenous technologies and affordable binders that can bind siliceous materials are used.

This paper provides a summary on the study of the effectiveness of the binding characteristics of a blend of natural adhesive …

Computer Simulations And Neutron Reflectivity Of Proteins At Interfaces, Amol A. Mungikar, Daniel Forciniti

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Computer simulations in conjunction with neutron reflectivity is an excellent combination for the study of biological materials at solid-liquid interfaces: Both techniques have excellent resolution levels (Ångströms) and they are mature. A stronger interaction between physicists and biologists will allow the use of these two approaches in topics of biological-biomedical interest.

Novel General Expressions That Describe The Behavior Of The Height Equivalent Of A Theoretical Plate In Chromatographic Systems Involving Electrically-Driven And Pressure-Driven Flows, B. A. Grimes, S. Lüdtke, K. K. Unger, Athanasios I. Liapis

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Novel general expressions are constructed and presented that describe the behavior of the height equivalent of a theoretical plate (plate height), H, as a function of the linear velocity, Vx, along the axis, x, of the column and the kinetic parameters that characterize the mass transfer and adsorption mechanisms in chromatographic columns. Open tube capillaries as well as columns packed with either non-porous or porous particles are studied. The porous particles could have unimodal or bimodal pore-size distributions and intraparticle convective fluid flow and pore diffusion are considered. The expressions for the plate height, H, presented in this work could …

Iodat Analysis Content In Cooking Ingredients Using Iodometry And X-Ray Fluorescence Methods., Nelson Saksono

Makara Journal of Technology

Iodat Analysis Content in Cooking Ingredients Using Iodometry and X-ray Fluorescence Methods. Salt iodization program using iodine fortification into salt method is the best method that is effective and economical to overcome the problems caused by iodine deficiency. However in, its development there are some issues clamed that the use of iodized salt is ineffective since iodine content reduces, even disappear when the salt mix with other cooking ingredients. In order to investigated the existence of iodine in cooking ingredients, a research applying iodometry and X-ray fluorescence methods was carry out. The result obtained by iodometry method showed decreases in …

Emission Gas Reducer On Motor Vehicle, Automobile, Light Engine Of Boat And Stationary Combustion Engine., I Gusti Bagus Wijaya Kusuma

Makara Journal of Technology

Emission gas reducer on motor vehicle, automobile, light engine of boat and stationary combustion engine. The use of motor vehicle should be followed by protection against damages on the environment, since the exhaust gas from combustion engine has significantly affect on air and environmental pollution. One method to solve the problems in air pollution has been done by using a re-heater designed in Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Udayana. In accordance to the test on the re-heater, it can be seen very clear that the re-heater has significantly reduce the CO emission of about 54%. It also reduces the CO2 …

Application Of Remote Sensing For Mapping Soil Organic Matter Content, Bangun Muljo Sukojo, Wahono Wahono

Makara Journal of Technology

Application of Remote Sensing for Mapping Soil Organic Matter Content. Information organic content is important in monitoring and managing the environment as well as doing agricultural production activities. This research tried to map soil organic content in Malang using remote sensing technology. The research uses 6 bands of data captured by Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper) satellite (band 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7). The research focuses on pixels having Normalized Difference Soil Index (NDSI) more than 0.3. Ground-truth data were collected by analysing organic content of soil samples using Black-Walkey method. The result of analysis shows that digital number of …

Optimation Model Of Planning Investment Dockyard With Approach Multi Objective Goal Programming, Ali Azhar

Makara Journal of Technology

Optimation model of planning investment dockyard with approach multi objective goal programming. The purpose of this research is to determine decision variable, goal function, alternative priority and achievement function in investment planning. From this optimation component, the model of ship yard investment planning could be achieved. The model of developed model in this research was the optimation of ship yard investment planning using multi objective goal programming approach. The model consist of 5 decision variable, 11 goal function, 2 alternative priority and 11 achievement functions. The model implementation was done toward PT ASSI investment planning. The calculation using from Quantitative …

Self-Ignition Properties Of Peat, Palm Shell Fibre And Woods, Yulianto Sulistyo Nugroho

Makara Journal of Technology

Self-ignition properties of peat, palm shell fibre and woods. Forest fire is one of the greatest environmental problems faced by Indonesia. Forest fires have destroyed million hectares of forest and land which cause economic loss, social problems including smoke related diseases and environmental disaster with long time consequences. The exothermic reactions of forest fuels that lead to fire can be initiated by a piloted flame and low-temperature oxidation mechanism. This paper presents the results of low temperature oxidation studies using forests fuel samples i.e. palm shell fibre, peat, woods and low-rank coal. The measured values of the critical oven temperatures …

The Use Of 2d Plastic Grating For Surface Profile And Dimension Manufacture Product Measurements By Using Ndt Moiré Technique, Retno Wigajatri P., Dini Andiani

Makara Journal of Technology

The Use of 2D Plastic Grating for Surface Profile and Dimension Manufacture Product Measurements by Using NDT Moiré Technique. Research of measuring the shape and dimension of object using the moiré technique have been done. Measurement have been made by observing the moiré space as a result of interaction between grating and its shadow casted on the object’s surface caused by the projector lamp with CCD camera. The acquired data was further processed by way of off-line. By successive phase shifts that is π/2, π dan 3π/2 towards the table tennis ball at the distance of 48 cm from the …

Poly(Meta-Phenylene Isophthalamide) Nanofibers: Coating And Post Processing, Wenxia Liu, Mathew Graham, Edward A. Evans, Darrell Hyson Reneker

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

Electrospun nanofibers have applications in the areas of filtration, composites; biomaterials, and electronics. Controlling the surface properties of these nanofibers is important for many applications. Nanofibers can also be used as unique substrates for observing the growth of deposited films and creating nanoscale structures. In this work, electrospun poly(meta-phenylene isophthalamide) (MPD-I) nanofibers were used as substrates for creating nanoscale structures out of carbon-based materials and metals. MPD-I was used because it can be electrospun into nanofibers with diameters smaller than 10 nm and it has good thermal stability. MPD-I nanofibers were coated with carbon, copper, and aluminum using plasma enhanced …

The Effect Of Convection On Disorder In Primary Cellular And Dendritic Arrays, R. Trivedi, P. Mazumder, Surendra N. Tewari

Chemical & Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Directional solidification studies have been carried out to characterize the spatial disorder in the arrays of cells and dendrites. Different factors that cause array disorder are investigated experimentally and analyzed numerically. In addition to the disorder resulting from the fundamental selection of a range of primary spacings under given experimental conditions, a significant variation in primary spacings is shown to occur in bulk samples due to convection effects, especially at low growth velocities. The effect of convection on array disorder is examined through directional solidification studies in two different alloy systems, Pb-Sn and Al-Cu. A detailed analysis of the spacing …

The Evolution And Implications Of The Concentration Profiles Of An Analyte In Porous Adsorbent Particles Packed In A Capillary Electrochromatography Column Operated In The Analytical Mode, B. A. Grimes, Athanasios I. Liapis

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this work, a mathematical model is constructed and solved to describe the propagation and dispersion of the mass wave of an analyte in a capillary electrochromatography (CEC) column packed with porous adsorbent particles and operated in the analytical mode. The evolution and dynamic behavior of the isoconcentration contours of the concentration of the analyte in the pores of the particles are presented in order to demonstrate the significant impact that the velocity of the intraparticle electroosmotic flow (EOF) encountered in CEC systems could have in reducing the overall intraparticle mass transfer resistance. It is shown that under both unretained …

Preparation And Performance Of Lifeo2 Coated Nickel Oxide Cathode For Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells, Chun-Ming Wang, Fei Li, Ke-Ao Hu

Journal of Electrochemistry

A novel cathode for molten carbonate fuel cells was prepared by coating LiFeO₂ over the surface of porous NiO cathode by a simple combustion process. The analytical results of X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive analysis of X-ray (EDAX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that the LiFeO₂ coating on the surface of NiO particles consisted of nonometer-sized LiFeO₂ grains and sintered tightly with the NiO particles. The LiFeO₂ coating dramatically reduced the contacting area of NiO with the carbonate melts, thus the solubility of NiO in the carbonate melts was decreased. Meanwhile, …

Review Of Mathematical Model For Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell, Shan-Hai Ge, Bao-Lian Yi, Hua-Min Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

In the review with 49 references, the mathematical models for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) were summarized. The mechanistic model and empirical model were introduced. Transfer in the membrane, catalyst layer, diffusion layer and flow field of PEMFC were described. The importance of water and heat management was analyzed. The dimension, complexity and solving methods of the PEMFC model were discussed. The importance and validity to develop a model with time dimension are put forward.

Mechanistic Study Of Oxidation Of Hypophosphite On Pt Electrodes By Sniftirs, Tai-Xiang Jiang, Hui-Huang Wu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The oxidation of hypophosphite on a polycrystalline platinum electrode was studied by SNIFTIRS and cyclic voltammetry, the in-situ IR spectra were analyzed as a function of Pt electrode potentials in the solution of 0.5 mol/L H₂SO₄+0.1 mol/L NaH₂PO₂. It was found that the dissociative adsorption of hypophosphite ions occurs on Pt surface, and the oxidation product is H₃PO₄, rather than H₂PO₃^- which was considered to produce on Ni electrodes, thereby a new insight into mechanism of hypophosphite oxidation on Pt in acidic media was …

Nano-Sized Cobalt-Based Oxides As Negative Electrode For Lithium-Ion Batteries, Feng Huang, Zheng-Yong Yuan, Yun-Hong Zhou, Ju-Tang Sun

Journal of Electrochemistry

Nanosized cobalt-based oxide (Co₃O₄, CoB_1.36O_2.8 and CoB_0.5Al_0.1O_1.5) samples were prepared by rheological phase method and were tested as anodes in secondary lithium batteries. The cells were cycled between 0.01V and 3.00 V. The best electrochemical performance was obtained from the Co₃O₄ cell, which retained 95% of its initial capacity (931 mAh/g) after 30 cycles. The doping of B, Al reduced the reversible capacity during the first discharge/charge cycle, and the quantity of reversible capacity reduced with B, Al increasing. The modifying structures at difference …

Electrocatalytic Oxidation Of Formic Acid On Molybdate-Modified Platinum Electrode, Jun-Hua Du, Xue-Hui Xu, Hong Li, Hong-Yu Cheng, Wei-Shan Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

The electrochemical behavior of molybdates on a platinum electrode in H₂SO₄ solutions with different H₂SO₄ concentrations was studied by cyclic voltammetry and double chronoamperometry. Molybdates were reduced to adsorb hydrogen molybdenum bronzes on the platinum electrode in H₂SO₄ solutions during cathodically potential sweep. The hydrogen molybdenum bronzes were oxidized to different forms of hydrogen molybdenum bronzes with less hydrogen, depending on the H₂SO₄ concentration. Platinum electrode was modified by these hydrogen molybdenum bronzes. However, this modified electrode was not stable in H₂SO₄ solutions. The modified …