Engineering Commons^™

Sustainable Production Of Bio-Based Succinic Acid From Plant Biomass, Enlin Lo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Succinic acid is a compound used for manufacturing lacquers, resins, and other coating chemicals. It is also used in the food and beverage industry as a flavor additive. It is predominantly manufactured from petrochemicals, but it can also be produced more sustainably by fermentation of sugars from renewable feedstocks (biomass). Bio-based succinic acid has excellent potential for becoming a platform chemical (building block) for commodity and high-value chemicals.

In this study, we focused on the production of bio-based succinic acid from the fiber of sweet sorghum (SS), which has a high fermentable sugar content and can be cultivated in a …

An Entirely New Molecular Glue For Mof Using Unusual Structural Transformation Of A Coordination Polymer, Sukwoo Jung, Hangyeol Kim, Junseok Ahn

The International Student Science Fair 2018

In this research, an entirely new molecular glue is reported. This ‘coordination polymer glue’ is synthesized from zinc metal and BDC-NPE(2,5-bis{4-[1-(4-nitrophenyl)ethylamino]butoxy}terephthalic acid). Molecular glue transforms from 1D coordination polymer to a 3D cross-linked framework, resulting in a phase change of solution to solid. The carboxylate group of this glue makes the preformed MOF bind to its framework. Therefore, when the solution of molecular glue is mixed with preformed MOF powder and heated, homogeneous and thin MOF film – MOF/ZnNPE film – is fabricated. The film is irrelevant to the kind of its substrate, and its thermal stability was enhanced in …

Distribution And Localization Of Novel Iodine Nanoparticles In The Human Glioma 1242 Growing In The Brains Of Mice, Benjamin Billings

Honors Scholar Theses

Observing and designing the in vivo distribution and localization of therapeutic nanoparticles is an essential aspect of developing and understanding novel nanoparticle- based medical treatments. This study investigates novel PEGylated Iodine-based nanoparticles (INPs), an alternate composition to the more widely researched gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), which may help avoid adverse effects associated with AuNPs, such as potential toxicity and skin discoloration, when used in similar applications. Determining the localization of the novel INPs within murine brains containing human glioma U-1242MG cells is critical in assisting the development of radiation dose enhancement therapy for this aggressive cancer. Radiation dose enhancement utilizes the …

Experimental And Numerical Investigation Of Liquid-Assisted Gas-Lift Unloading, Renato Peixoto Coutinho

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The case for a unique form of gas-lift unloading, termed “Liquid-Assisted Gas-Lift (LAGL),” is presented. This work demonstrates that the injection of a gas-liquid mixture allows transport of gas to a deep injection point utilizing injection pressure considerably lower than single-phase gas injection. The LAGL is demonstrated in a 2,880 ft deep test well. The test well is kicked-off using an injection pressure that would normally be lower than the pressure for single-point single-phase gas injection at this depth. Experimental results indicate that the LAGL can lower the injection pressure by up to 75%.

This work breaks the LAGL system …

Laser Vaporization And Controlled Condensation (Lvcc) Of Graphene Supported Pd/Fe3o4 Nanoparticles As An Efficient Magnetic Catalysts For Suzuki Cross – Coupling, Hany A. Elazab

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Herein, a reproducible, reliable, and efficient method was reported for the synthesis of palladium nanoparticles dispersed on a composite of Fe₃O₄ and graphene (Pd-Fe₃O₄/G) as a highly efficient active catalyst for being used in Suzuki cross–coupling reactions. Graphene supported Pd/Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (Pd-Fe₃O₄/G) exhibit a remarkable catalytic performance towards Suzuki coupling reactions. Moreover, the prepared catalyst could be recycled for up to three times with high catalytic activity. The catalyst was prepared using LVCC synthesis; the prepared catalyst is highly magnetic which provides a platform to facilitate …

Reaction Mechanism For Oxygen Evolution On Ruo2, Iro2, And Ruo2@Iro2 Core-Shell Nanocatalysts, Julie N. Renner

Faculty Scholarship

Iridium dioxide, IrO2, is second to the most active RuO2 catalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acid, and is used in proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers due to its high durability. To improve the activity of IrO2-based catalysts, we prepared RuO2@IrO2 core-shell nanocatalysts using carbon-supported Ru as the template. At 1.48 V, the OER specific activity of RuO2@IrO2 is threefold that of IrO2. While the activity volcano plots over wide range of materials have been reported, zooming into the top region to clarify the rate limiting steps of most active catalysts is important for further activity enhancement. Here, …

The Catalytic Activity Of Copper Oxide Nanoparticles Towards Carbon Monoxide Oxidation Catalysis: Microwave – Assisted Synthesis Approach, Hany A. Elazab

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this research, we report a simple, versatile, and reproducible method for the synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles via microwave assisted synthesis approach. The important advantage of this catalyst is due to its important role not only in the low temperature oxidation of CO but also in potential applications in pharmaceutical and fine chemical synthesis. The results reveal that the copper oxide catalyst has particularly a remarkable high activity for CO oxidation catalysis as it was found that copper oxide (CuO) catalyst has 100% conversion of carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide at 175 oC. This also could be attributed to …

Process Intervention For Water Recovery In Food Manufacture, Christian Michael Wisniewski

Theses and Dissertations

A case study has been conducted for the recovery of water from complex wastewater at a soluble coffee manufacturing factory. The study has evaluated separation methods for process intervention based on environmental and economic assessments. Water recovery was identified in two possible wastewater streams at the factory: the overall plant effluent and an intermediate stream before it enters on-site pre-treatment. A novel vibratory field membrane separation was tested at the laboratory scale using real factory wastewater and scaled-up using appropriate design protocols. Recovery of water from the intermediate stream proved the most effective, both environmentally and economically. The full-scale vibratory …

One-Dimensional Turbulence Modeling For Cylindrical And Spherical Flows: Model Formulation And Application, David O. Lignell, Victoria B. Lansinger, Juan Medina, Marten Klein, Alan R. Kerstein, Heiko Schmidt, Marco Fistler, Michael Oevermann

Faculty Publications

The one-dimensional turbulence (ODT) model resolves a full range of time and length scales and is computationally efficient. ODT has been applied to a wide range of complex multi-scale flows, such as turbulent combustion. Previous ODT comparisons to experimental data have focused mainly on planar flows. Applications to cylindrical flows, such as round jets, have been based on rough analogies, e.g., by exploiting the fortuitous consistency of the similarity scalings of temporally developing planar jets and spatially developing round jets. To obtain a more systematic treatment, a new formulation of the ODT model in cylindrical and spherical coordinates is presented …

High Efficiency, High Performance Metal-Organic Framework (Mof) Membranes In Hollow Fibers And Tubular Modules, Sankar Nair, Kiwon Eum, Christopher W. Jones, Ali A. Rownaghi

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A reactor cell for measuring gas and liquid permeation is disclosed. A hollow fiber is supported by and sealed into a first hole and a second hole of the reactor module. The first and second ends of the hollow fiber are sealed with a sealing solution. Methods for making and using the reactor cell are also disclosed. As made and used, the reactor cell further comprises a molecular sieving membrane that is uniform and free of defects grown on an inner bore surface of the hollow fiber.

Sustainability In Chemical Engineering, Alec T. Raber

Undergraduate Voices

For much of the past century, the world has seen industrial and technological progress that has helped make life better for humans but hurt the environment while doing so. Once people realized the damage that was being done, it was observed that this kind of development was not sustainable, meaning it did not “meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Brundtland, 1987, p. 3). While different experts may define the term “sustainability” (or “sustainable development”), differently, they will all share the substance of Brundtland’s definition. Ever since the light …

Dynamic Modeling Of An Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, Komal Rathore

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Advanced wastewater treatment plants have complex biological kinetics, time variant influent rates and long processing times. The modeling and operation control of wastewater treatment plant gets complicated due to these characteristics. However, a robust operational system for a wastewater treatment plant is necessary to increase the efficiency of the plant, reduce energy cost and achieve environmental discharge limits. These discharge limits are set by the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants to limit the amount of nutrients being discharged into the aquatic systems.

This document summarizes the research to develop a supervisory operational …

Laser Vaporization And Controlled Condensation (Lvcc) Of Graphene Supported Pd/Fe3o4 Nanoparticles As An Efficient Magnetic Catalysts For Suzuki Cross – Coupling, Hany A. Elazab Dr

Chemical Engineering

Herein, a reproducible, reliable, and efficient method was reported for the synthesis of palladium nanoparticles dispersed on a composite of Fe3O4 and graphene (Pd-Fe3O4/G) as a highly efficient active catalyst for being used in Suzuki cross–coupling reactions. Graphene supported Pd/Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Pd-Fe3O4/G) exhibit a remarkable catalytic performance towards Suzuki coupling reactions. Moreover, the prepared catalyst could be recycled for up to three times with high catalytic activity. The catalyst was prepared using LVCC synthesis; the prepared catalyst is highly magnetic which provides a platform to facilitate the separation process of the catalyst through applying an external magnetic field using a …

Increased Energy Yield Through Fast Pyrolysis: Empowering Malawian Villages, Diehl Mutamba

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Biomass contributes to several renewable energy technologies. This project will explore the use of fast pyrolysis to produce fuels by designing an apparatus for fast pyrolysis. Malawian people harvest firewood from the forests, which is a major contributor to deforestation. Furthermore, they convert some of it to charcoal with about 10-15% efficiency to sell to city dwellers. The project will enable herbaceous fuels to replace wood, increase charcoal yields and create new products. Firewood and charcoal produce smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) that compromises the villagers’ health.

This project will address deforestation problems, improve sustainability, decrease health hazards and improve …

Suitability Of The Kalina Cycle For Power Conversion From Pressurized Water Reactors, Jack Ryan Webster

Theses and Dissertations

The primary objective of this work is to determine the Kalina cycle's suitability for thermal power conversion from a pressurized water reactor. Several previous papers have examined this application, but these either lack proof of concept or make unfeasible assumptions. This work expands current knowledge by simulating the Kalina cycle and comparing it to current pressurized water reactor Rankine cycles in order to identify which is more efficient. Prerequisite to the modeling is a simulation tool capable of modeling the thermodynamics of ammonia/water mixtures. Instead of using an existing program, a new one called Clearwater is used. This tool is …

Preparation Of Supramolecular Amphiphilic Cyclodextrin Bilayer Vesicles For Pharmaceutical Applications, Kate E. Frischkorn

Master's Theses

Recent pharmaceutical developments have investigated using supramolecular nanoparticles in order to increase the bioavailability and solubility of drugs delivered in various methods. Modification of the carbohydrate cyclodextrin increases the ability to encapsulate hydrophobic pharmaceutical molecules by forming a carrier with a hydrophobic core and hydrophilic exterior. Guest molecules are commonly added to these inclusion complexes in order to add stability and further increase targeting abilities of the carriers. One such guest molecule is adamantine combined with a poly(ethylene glycol) chain. Vesicles are formed by hydrating a thin film of amphiphilic cyclodextrin and guest molecules in buffer solution that mimics physiological …

Using Switchable Solvents For Simultaneous Microalgae Lipids’ Extraction And Biodiesel Production, Mariam Sultan Saeed Alamer

Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Theses

Biodiesel produced from microalgae biomass has been pursued as a possible replacement to petroleum diesel. Among the main steps in microalgae biodiesel production are the drying and cell walls disruption, which are energy intensive and/or time consuming, and oil extraction, which is conventionally done using toxic organic solvents that contaminate the left over biomass and require additional solvent recovery. Therefore, these steps are considered the major obstacles facing the commercialization of microalgae biodiesel.

In this work, switchable solvents (SSs), which can reversibly alter their hydrophobicities, have been tested for oil extraction and biodiesel production. Three switchable solvents, namely N, N-dimethylcyclohexylamine …

Negative Electron Transfer Dissociation Sequencing Of 3-O-Sulfation-Containing Heparan Sulfate Oligosaccharides, Jiandong Wu, Juan Wei, John D. Hogan, Pradeep Chopra, Apoorva Joshi, Weigang Lu, Joshua Klein, Geert Jan Boons, Cheng Lin, Joseph Zaia

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Among Dissociation Methods, Negative Electron Transfer Dissociation (NETD) Has Been Proven the Most Useful for Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) Sequencing Because It Produces Informative Fragmentation, a Low Degree of Sulfate Losses, High Sensitivity, and Translatability to Multiple Instrument Types. the Challenge, However, is to Distinguish Positional Sulfation. in Particular, NETD Has Been Reported to Fail to Differentiate 4-O- Versus 6-O-Sulfation in Chondroitin Sulfate Decasaccharide. This Raised the Concern of Whether NETD is Able to Differentiate the Rare 3-O-Sulfation from Predominant 6-O-Sulfation in Heparan Sulfate (HS) Oligosaccharides. Here, We Report that NETD Generates Highly Informative Spectra that Differentiate Sites of O-Sulfation on Glucosamine …

The Effect Of Wellbore Circulation On Building An Lcm Bridge At The Fracture Aperture, Ghassan Alshubbar, Runar Nygaard, Montri Jeennakorn

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Different laboratory experimental setups with slotted disks, simulating fractures' apertures, have been used extensively to formulate effective loss circulation materials (LCM) recipes. The amount of fluid loss and sealing pressure have been used as the evaluation criteria. The question still remains is how valuable these tests are when LCM fluids are circulated in the wellbore to stop losses. The main objective of this work is to study the effect of the annular fluid flow on building an LCM bridge at the fracture aperture. To address the objective, a fluid loss apparatus has been developed to mimic wellbore circulation. Tapered slotted …

Chemotherapeutic Drug Cytotoxicity Measurement With A 3d Biomimetic Microfluidic Device And Computational Fluid Dynamics Model, Maryam Moarefian, Caroline Jones, Luke Achenie, Danesh Tafti

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Mechanochemical Nitration Of Aromatic Compounds, Oleg Shlomo Lagoviyer

Theses

Aromatic compounds such as toluene are commercially nitrated using a combination of nitric acid with other strong acids. This process relies on the use of highly corrosive chemicals and generates environmentally harmful waste, which is difficult to handle and dispose of. In this study aromatic nitration using solvent-free mechanochemical processing of environmentally benign precursors has been achieved and investigated. Mononitrotoluene was synthesized by milling toluene with sodium nitrate and molybdenum trioxide as a catalyst. Several parameters affecting the desired product yield and selectivity were identified and varied. MNT yields in excess of 60% have been achieved in different tests. The …

Micronized Dry Drug Powder-Loaded Polymer Films For Delivery Of Poorly Water Soluble Drugs, Lu Zhang

Dissertations

Polymer strip films have been recently established as a robust platform for delivery of poorly water-soluble drugs via slurry casting, in particular using stable drug nanosuspensions. In this dissertation, a simpler, economically feasible, and robust method to directly incorporate dry micronized poorly water-soluble drug is introduced. As a major novelty, simultaneous surface modification using hydrophilic silica along with micronization is done using fluid energy mill (FEM) in order to reduce the hydrophobicity and agglomeration of poorly water-solube drug powder. When micronized coated drug powders are used, films exhibit improved appearance (thickness uniformity, visible lumps), better drug content uniformity (relative standard …

Elucidating The Action Of A Regulatory Lipid Ligand Via Molecular Simulation: Cholesterol Swarms And The Inwardly Rectifying Potassium Channel, Belinda Akpa, Nicolas Barbera, Irena Levitan

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Modeling Pharmaceutical Inhibition Of Glucose-Stimulated Renin-Angiotensin System In Kidneys, Ashlee N. Ford Versypt, Minu R. Pilvankar, Hui Ling Yong

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Experimental Evaluation Of Lignocellulosic Biomass Pyrolysis By Dielectric Heating And Thermocatalytic Upgrading Of Pyrolysis Vapors Via Iron-Doped Montmorillonite Clay Catalyst, Candice Raffaela Ellison

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This work is an investigation of microwave-assisted biomass pyrolysis and thermocatalytic upgrading of pyrolysis vapors. In the first two chapters, the microwave susceptibility of mixtures of biomass with potential microwave absorbers are characterized by dielectric measurements at microwave frequencies. Dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor of biomass mixtures with char and biomass mixtures with bentonite are found to increase quadratically with increasing weight percent of char or bentonite.

Chapter 3 presents a finite element model, developed in COMSOL Multiphysics, comparing two waveguide applicator configurations for microwave processing using biomass as a model material. A standing wave configuration results in intense …

Selective Flocculation Separation Of Fine Hematite From Quartz Using A Novel Grafted Copolymer Flocculant, Jinxia Zhang, Weiguang Sun, Zhiyong Gao, Fusheng Niu, Long Wang, Yawei Zhao, Yuesheng Gao

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Beneficiation of ultrafine mineral particles (typically with an average size less than 20 µm) remains a critical problem for the mineral processing industry. Selective flocculation technique has been found to show great potential to tackle this problem, whose success mainly depends on the selective adsorption of a flocculant on the target mineral particles. In this work, a novel copolymer flocculant was synthesized by grafting starch and acrylamide, which for the first time, was employed in the flocculation separation of fine hematite from quartz. The composites of the grafted copolymer flocculant (GCF) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and …

Synthesis-Structure-Activity Relationships In Co3o4 Catalyzed Co Oxidation, Kathleen Mingle, Jochen A. Lauterbach

Faculty Publications

In this work, a statistical design and analysis platform was used to develop cobalt oxide based oxidation catalysts prepared via one pot metal salt reduction. An emphasis was placed upon understanding the effects of synthesis conditions, such as heating regimen and Co2+ concentration on the metal salt reduction mechanism, the resultant nanomaterial properties (i.e., size, crystal structure, and crystal faceting), and the catalytic activity in CO oxidation. This was accomplished by carrying out XRD, TEM, and FTIR studies on synthesis intermediates and products. Additionally, high-throughput experimentation was employed to study the performance of Co3O4 oxidation catalysts over a wide range …

Stretchable Methyl Ammonium Lead Iodide Perovskite Solar Cells For Photovoltaic And Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting, William Tait

University Scholar Projects

The goal of this work was to fabricate an inverse planar perovskite solar cell (PSC) that was stretchable in one dimension and completely solution-processible. Perovskites are a material that have attracted much attention in recent years due to their appealing characteristics, such as being photovoltaic and piezoelectric. PSCs have been the focus of many studies in the solar cell area, as they are solution-processible and have shown high efficiencies relative to the amount of time they have been studied. Fabricating a PSC on a stretchable substrate would be beneficial, as a bendable, stretchable PSC would likely have more applications than …

Learning In Bio-Molecular Computing Systems, Lauren Braun

Maseeh Summer Undergraduate Research Experience

Many potential applications of biochemical computers involve the detection of highly adaptable and dynamic chemical systems, such as emerging pathogens. Current technology is expensive to develop and unique to each application, thus causing limitations in accessibility. In order to make this type of computing a realistic solution to problems in the medical field, a biochemical computer would need to be adaptable to work in a variety of applications. Banda et al. (2014) previously proposed a first dynamic biochemical system that was capable of autonomous learning. For this project we studied a framework similar to Banda’s but in two separate pieces, …

Predicting The Dynamic Binding Capacities For Adsorbents Using Bsa As A Model Protein, Gaoshan Li

Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Research Publications

Membrane adsorbers are one alternative to traditional bead-based chromatography that receive attention in the bioseparation process because of their ability to process material with lower residence times. However some properties of membranes make membrane adsorbers unrealistic for some applications. For example, some membrane adsorbers exhibit lower binding capacities compared with the traditional bead-based chromatography counterparts. The dynamic binding capacity (DBC) in this study is defined as the amount of protein bound in the column when the outlet reaches a certain concentration, which is 10% [2], and the equilibrium binding capacity (EBC) is the binding capacity under the equilibrium conditions, when …