Engineering Commons^™

Effect Of Surfactants And Brine Salinity And Composition On Spreading, Wettability And Flow Behavior In Gas-Condensate Reservoirs, Yu Zheng

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The well-known condensate blockage problem causes severe impairment of gas productivity as the flowing bottom-hole pressure falls below the dew point in gas-condensate reservoirs. Hence, this study attempts to investigate the concept of modifying the spreading coefficient and wettability using low-cost surfactants in the near wellbore region, to prevent the gas flow problems associated with condensate buildup. This study also examines the effect of brine salinity and composition on wettability, spreading and adhesion in condensate buildup regions, to evaluate the ability of brine salinity/composition for enhanced gas productivity in gas-condensate reservoirs. In this study, experiments were performed at both ambient …

A Modeling, Optimization, And Analysis Framework For Designing Multi-Product Lignocellulosic Biorefineries, Paritosh Kumar Sharma

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The objective of this research is to propose a methodology to develop modular decision analysis frameworks to design value chains for enterprises in the renewable fuels and chemicals sector. The decision support framework focuses on providing strategic decision support to startup and new product ventures. The tasks that are embedded in the framework include process and systems design, technology and product selection, forecasting cost and market variables, designing network capacities, and analysis of risks. The Decision support system (DSS) proposed is based on optimization modeling; systems design are carried out using integer programming with multiple sets of process and network …

Efficacy Of Multifunctionalized Saccharide Constructs For The Attenuation Of Amyloid-Beta Toxicity, Dhruva Dilip Dhavale

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

There is evidence that amyloid-beta (Aβ) toxicity is mediated through interactions and binding with neuronal surface sialic acids in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The binding affinity is higher if the sialic acids are clustered and toxicity of Aβ was attenuated by removal of neuronal sialic acids. Thus, interfering with cell membrane-Aβ binding using biomimetics that could reproduce the clustered sialic acid structure could present us with a potential target for therapeutic intervention in AD. Based on this hypothesis, we developed several multifunctionalized sialic acid labeled chitosan compounds of different valency, or number of sialic acid per chitosan molecule, to attenuate Aβ …

Copper-Cobalt Catalysts For Conversion Of Syngas To Ethanol And Higher Alcohols, Miranda Louise Smith

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Higher alcohols produced by catalytic conversion of synthesis gas are potential octane enhancers for transportation fuels. Copper-cobalt catalysts have emerged as alternatives to the ethanol-selective, but expensive, rhodium-based ones. The reducibility of the catalyst and the CO adsorption mode are important factors in directing the selectivity of CO hydrogenation toward methanol, hydrocarbons, or higher alcohols. In this study, Cu/SiO2, Co/SiO2, and bimetallic CuCo/SiO2 catalysts, as well as their tin-promoted analogues, were synthesized and characterized by TPR, in situ XRD, in situ XANES, and in situ DRIFTS. Cobalt addition to Cu/SiO2 created an amorphous fraction of CuO that was more easily …

Structural And Dynamical Properties Of Liquid And Solid Phases Of Ionic Liquids Confined Inside Nanoporous Materials, Ramesh Singh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to investigate the physical properties of ionic liquids (ILs) confined inside nanopores of different materials and morphologies. We are interested to study the effect of pore material, morphology and addition of organic solvents on the properties of confined ILs. Understanding the behavior of ILs inside nanopores is relevant to potential applications of these systems in electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLCs) and dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Such a fundamental understanding is also crucial to optimize the synthesis of hard-templated 1D nanostructures (nanorods, nanotubes, nanowires) based on organic salts, which may be imparted properties (e.g., …

Lipid Production From A Louisiana Native Chlorella Vulgaris/Leptolyngbya Sp. Co-Culture For Biofuel Applications, Rong Bai

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Over the last several decades, microalgae have garnered great interest for biofuel production mainly due to the high lipid productivity and minimum land competition with food crops. In this research, a Louisiana native Chlorella vulgaris/Leptolyngbya sp. co-culture was selected for lipid production. The goal of this work is to improve the lipid productivity and lipid composition of this co-culture via optimizing irradiance and nitrogen levels, lipid extraction method and modeling of pilot photobioreactor (HISTAR). Effects of irradiance and nitrate nitrogen levels on total lipid yield, neutral lipid portion, and fatty acid profile of non-aerated and aerated co-cultures were investigated in …

An Experimental Investigation Of The Role Of Small Hydrocarbons And Combustion-Generated Nanoparticles On The Formation And Growth Reactions Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons During The Pyrolysis Of A Model-Fuel And Hydrocarbon Gases, Nimesh Bharat Poddar

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are an important class of environmental pollutants formed during fuel combustion or pyrolysis. Therefore, an experimental study has been undertaken to better understand the formation and growth pathways of PAH.

To investigate the efficacy of C₃ species as PAH growth agents in the context of solid fuels, pyrolysis experiments have been performed in an isothermal quartz flow reactor in the temperature range of 700–1000 °C and a fixed residence time of 0.3 s. Experiments are performed with the C₃ hydrocarbon, propyne; with catechol (ortho-dihydroxybenzene), a model-fuel representative of aromatic moieties in coal …

Applications Of Cfd Simulations On Microfluidic Systems For Nanoparticle Synthesis, Yuehao Li

LSU Master's Theses

Microfluidics has been extensively investigated as a unique platform to synthesize nanoparticles with desired properties, e.g., size and morphology. Compared to the conventional batch reactors, wet-chemical synthesis using continuous flow microfluidics provides better control over addition of reagents, heat and mass transfer, and reproducibility. Recently, millifluidics has emerged as an alternative since it offers similar control as microfluidics. With its dimensions scaled up to millimeter size, millifluidics saves fabrication efforts and potentially paves the way for industrial applications. Good designs and manipulations of microfluidic and millifluidic devices rely on solid understanding of fluid dynamics. Fluid flow plays an important role …

Risk Of Well Integrity Failure Due Sustained Casing Pressure, Koray Kinik

LSU Master's Theses

Sustained casing pressure (SCP) is considered a well integrity problem. The approach of this study is to look at SCP as environmental risk due hydrocarbon release. Currently, the risk is qualified by the value of surface pressure (Pcsg) that may cause failure of casing head. However, the resulting rate of gas emission to the atmosphere is not considered. Also not considered is a possibility of breaching the casing shoe due transmission of Pcsg downhole. The objective of this study is to develop methods for maximum possible air emission rates (MER) and risk of subsurface well integrity failure due SCP. Mathematical …

Synthesis, Characterization, And Testing Of Atomically-Precise Au Clusters Supported On Tio₂ For Co Oxidation, Sarthak Gaur

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Supported Au catalysts have been studied extensively for CO oxidation. These catalysts are known to catalyze this reaction even at sub-ambient temperatures. While recent literature demonstrates catalytic activity of gold nanoparticles <2 nm, the next stage in fine tuning this catalysis process is to develop gold clusters prepared with atomic precision. Such atomically precise gold catalysts supported on TiO2 hitherto have not been investigated for CO oxidation. The main objective of this work is to synthesize atomically-precise Au38 clusters in a flask-based method using principles of wet chemistry, to characterize these clusters using various advanced spectroscopic techniques, and to test these clusters as potential catalytic materials for CO oxidation. Furthermore, we have tested TiO2-supported Au38 clusters and a commercially purchased Au/TiO2 catalyst for CO oxidation at 30 °C and 60 °C, and used DRIFTS as a probe spectroscopic technique to correlate kinetics with the mechanism occurring on the surface of both catalysts in order to device the mechanistic pathways for CO oxidation. The work reported in this dissertation is the first spectroscopic observation of the phenomena where sulfur may have beneficial effect on the catalytic activity of Au/TiO2 catalysts. Such an interesting observation where sulfur has beneficial effect on catalytic activity of Au/TiO2 catalysts has never been observed in the past. We have also synthesized and tested Fe3O4@Au core-shell nanoparticles supported on TiO2 for CO oxidation. We show for the first time that, core-shell type nanogold catalysts are better suited compared to pure gold nanoparticles for heterogeneous gas phase catalysis of CO oxidation. By conducting comprehensive experiments towards understanding CO oxidation catalysis using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and temperature programmed reduction, we show that the enhanced catalytic activity is due to a combination of factors ranging from synergistic interaction between Au and Fe, complete removal of organic capping ligands and the presence of metallic gold (Au0) in the active catalyst.

Experimental Investigations In Co2 Sequestration And Shale Caprock Integrity, Abiola Olukola Olabode

LSU Master's Theses

More than sixty percent (60%) of conventional hydrocarbon reservoirs which are potential CO2 repositories are sealed by tight shale caprock. The geochemical reactivity of shale caprock during CO2 diffusive transport needs to be included in the reservoir characterization of potential CO2 sequestration sites as slow reactive transport processes can either strengthen or degrade seal integrity over the long term. Several simulation results had predicted that influx-induced mineral dissolution/precipitation reactions within shale caprocks can continuously reduce micro-fracture networks, while pressure and effective-stress transformation first rapidly increase then progressively constrict them. This experimental work applied specific analytical techniques in investigating changes in …

Measurement Of Interfacial Tension In Hydrocarbon/Water/Dispersant Systems At Deepwater Conditions, Mohamed Abdelrahim

LSU Master's Theses

The events of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico were associated with great water depths that made it difficult to understand the behavior of the spilled oil as it came in contact with the seawater. The remedial subsea application of chemical dispersants draws interest to evaluate the interfacial interactions between the oil and water at such great water depths. Most importantly, a quantification of the interfacial tension (IFT) between the spilled oil and seawater at deepwater conditions can provide insight into the effectiveness of the chemical dispersion of spilled oil. In this study, Macondo crude oil …

Displacement Of Heavy Oil By Carbon Dioxide In A Tube, Mohammed Almabrouk Ali Ahmad

Masters Theses

"After using primary and secondary oil recovery methods, about two third of the original oil in place is left behind in the reservoir. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods are being used to recover that oil. CO₂ flooding is one of the EOR methods that is used to recover the oil. The interest here lies in recovery of heavy oils. The dissolution of CO₂ in oil reduces oil viscosity and swells it, making it easier to displace the oil. FLUENT is used to solve the problem of CO₂ displacing heavy oil in a tube. Different velocities/capillary numbers (Ca) and …

Effect Of Lipid Composition On The Physical Properties Of Liposomes: A Light Scattering Study, Rajiv Kumar Yandrapati

Masters Theses

"The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of lipid composition on the physical properties of liposomes. Eight different types of liposomes were prepared for this study. Liposomes consisting of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and cholesterol were prepared in three different compositions 80/20, 50/50 and 20/80 respectively. Similarly liposomes consisting of PC and negatively charged phosphatidylserine (PS) were also prepared in three different compositions 80/20, 50/50 and 20/80 respectively. Two liposomes with the compositions 2:2:1:1 (cholesterol:PC:phosphatidylglycerol (PG): phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) ) which resembles the myelin membrane and 10:5:7.5:16 (PC:PE:PS:cholesterol) which mimics rat's neural membranes were also prepared. The liposomes were prepared …

Hydraulic Fracturing Experiments To Investigate Circulation Losses, Maximiliano Liberman

Masters Theses

"In recent years the oil and gas industry has been drilling more challenging wells due to long deviated wells, drilling through already depleted reservoirs, sub salt wells and increasing water depth. A major challenge these wells create is to prevent fluid loss into the formation and wellbore breakouts by having accurately determined the mud weight operational window. In addition to accurately determine the fracture gradient, additives in the drilling fluid have been used to enhance the fracture gradient in an industry process named wellbore strengthening. In order to study the phenomenon of fracture gradient alteration, a hydraulic fracturing apparatus was …

Investigation Of Geosteering In Non-Trivial Geological Settings, Anuroop Pandey

Masters Theses

"The well placement technology has advanced to a stage where we can explore small tolerance targets such as thin reservoirs. Well placement with geosteering, which is the real time adjustment of the well path based on the geological responses to place and maintain the well within the best part of the reservoir, is the technology that has made this progress possible. Geosteering however can get very complex with the increasing heterogeneities of the formations and there is no fixed methodology to devise a steering strategy in such complex geological settings. To accommodate this challenge, we investigated three methods to verify …

Surfactant Enhanced Oil Recovery By Wettability Alteration In Sandstone Reservoirs, Omar Elmofty

Masters Theses

"Recovering more oil from existing oil reservoirs using enhanced oil recovery methods holds the key for meeting future energy demands. Even though wettability is a cornerstone in oil recovery, few studies have focused on increasing oil recovery in sandstone reservoirs through wettability alteration. The objective of this thesis is to prove that altering the wettability of a sandstone rock to preferentially water-wet condition will reduce the remaining oil saturation and thus increase the percentage of recovered oil.

Two commercial surfactants were selected after studying both the phase behavior and the interfacial properties of 30 surfactants with oil and 1.00% sodium …

Synthesis Of Nickel Nanoparticles By Gamma-Radiation And Femtosecond Laser Ablation, Vivek Murlidhar Rao

Masters Theses

"Nickel nanoparticles were synthesized by gamma-radiation and femtosecond laser ablation. Aqueous precursors were prepared by uniformly dispersing nickel chloride in a 2:1 ratio of water and isopropanol. Stabilizers employed were Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS) and Poly Vinyl Pyrrolidone (PVP). Gamma-ray radiolysis of aqueous nickel precursors was investigated as a reducing agent for nickel cations to form atomic seeds for nucleation on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). 30-60kGy was the dosage used in increments of 10kGy, at a rate of 10kGy/hr. Isopropanol was added to consume the excess of oxidizing species produced by irradiation and form stable secondary radicals. The influence of …

Direct Shear Testing Of Fractured Rocks From Missouri Used To Evaluate Potential Fault Reactivation Induced By Carbon Dioxide Sequestration, Ishan Kumar

Masters Theses

"Geological storage projects of CO₂ are designed to maintain secure storage for thousands of years. Carbon Capture and Storage has been identified as one of the methods which is used to reduce global emission of CO₂ and achieve lower concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere by capturing the CO₂ from the flue gases and storing it in underground formations. Potential leakage of injected CO₂ from the reservoir to the surface is caused by the reactivation of pre-existing faults and fractures which is caused by the change in the state of stresses and the pore pressure. To avoid damage to the …

Formation Of Amyloid Fibrils By Diblock Peptides, Kunal Mukesh Naik

Masters Theses

"The objective of this study was to identify and then synthesize a series of peptides which were able to form fibrils rich in ß-sheet structure and to study the effect of the presence of surfaces on their formation. We decided to focus our experimental work on a family of peptides containing one "beta-sheet forming amino acid" and one 'alpha-helix forming amino acid'. This selection covers a wide range of hydrophillicites and charges and, by avoiding highly hydrophobic amino acids we can assure that the diblock peptides are soluble in a wide range of concentrations and solvent conditions. Three different diblocks …

Kinetic Modeling Of Methanol Synthesis From Carbon Monoxide, Carbon Dioxide, And Hydrogen Over A Cu/Zno/Cr2o3 Catalyst, Daaniya Rahman

Master's Theses

The main purpose of this study was to investigate kinetic models proposed in the

literature for methanol synthesis and select the best fit model using regression techniques

in POLYMATH. Another aim was to use the results from the best fit model to explain

some aspects and resolve some questions related to methanol synthesis kinetics. Two

statistically sound kinetic models were chosen from literature based on their goodness of

fit to the respective kinetic data. POLYMATH, the non-linear regression software, was

used to fit published experimental data to different kinetic models and evaluate kinetic

parameters. The statistical results from POLYMATH were …

Advanced Nanostructured Electro-Catalysts For Electricity Generation And Biorenewable Alcohol Conversion, Zhiyong Zhang

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

In my Ph.D research, a wet chemistry-based organic solution phase reduction method was developed, and was successfully applied in the preparation of a series of advanced electro-catalysts, including 0-dimensional (0-D) Pt, Pd, Au, and Pd-Ni nanoparticles (NPs), 1-D Pt-Fe nanowires (NWs) and 2-D Pd-Fe nanoleaves (NLs), with controlled size, shape, and morphology. These nanostructured catalysts have demonstrated unique electro-catalytic functions towards electricity production and biorenewable alcohol conversion.

The molecular oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a long-standing scientific issue for fuel cells due to its sluggish kinetics and the poor catalyst durability. The activity and durability of an electro-catalyst is strongly …

Development Of Eco-Friendly Flame Retardant Fabric Using Phosphorus Based Intumescence Chemistry, Vikas P. Joshi

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The research aims at developing Eco-friendly flame retardant textile fabric using phosphorous based intumescence chemistry. Phosphorous in the structure of Spirocyclic pentaerythriol diphosphoryl chloride (SPDPC) acts as the main group to impart flame retardancy. Intermediate compounds were synthesized in the laboratory and finally converted into sol. The silane sol was applied to the textile material using pad-dry-cure method. The intermediate compounds and the coated material were tested using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and Thermogravemetric analysis (TGA) testing instruments. Vertical flammability testing was performed as per ASTM D-6413 standards to test the fabric for its flame …

Processes Involving Acid Gas Solubility In Room Temperature Ionic Liquids (Rtils), Fadekemi E. Osideinde

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The literature contains a number of thermodynamic studies involving the solubility of acid gases in RTILs. This thesis looks at using these studies in the context of two processes: membrane separation and absorption refrigeration cycles. The first part of this study investigated the separation of a mixed dry gas feed of CO2/CH4 by four Stabilized Ionic Liquid Membranes (SILMs); 1-Ethyl-3-methlyimidazolium dicyanamide, [emim][DCA], 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium thiocyanate, [emim][SCN], 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, [emim][Tf2N] and 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium nitrate, [bmim][NO 3]. The selectivities and permeances for the CO2/CH 4 feed were measured in all four SILMs at various partial pressures of CO2 in the feed and at two …

Preprocessing Of Biomass Using Mechanical, Chemical And Microbial Techniques, Swetha Mahalaxmi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Biomass-derived fuels have acquired a lot of attention recently due to increasing emphasis on energy independence, efforts to utilize abundance of green resources and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. Grasses, agricultural residues, animal residues and waste, used oils, etc., can be used as starting materials in the production of biofuels. Various preprocessing techniques used in the preprocessing of biomass, such as microbial preprocessing, mechanical preprocessing and chemical pretreatment, are used for enhancing the digestibility of biomass to sugars for ethanol production. In this work, studies were conducted to improve the microbial, chemical and mechanical preprocessing of switch grass by decreasing …

Admicellar Polymerization To Compatibilize Calcium Carbonate With Oil-Based Drilling Mud, Olugbenga Samuel Ojo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Weighting agents like calcium carbonate (CC) are added to drilling mud to improve mud properties and performance during oil and gas drilling operations. Oil-based mud (OBM), a more preferred drilling mud, being hydrophobic is particularly non-compatible with hydrophilic CC. This work explored an economically viable admicellar polymerization technique to surface-modify the high energy hydrophilic CC surface to a low energy hydrophobic surface by polymerizing organic styrene monomer within an admicelle of nonionic surfactant Triton X-100 adsorbed on the CC surface. BET N2 particle size analysis, Soxhlet extraction of the coated polymer, Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) spectra analysis, and …

"Lead-Free Solders Are Currently Used In The Electronic Components Industry…", Timothy Mead

Summer Community of Scholars Posters (RCEU and HCR Combined Programs)

No abstract provided.

Investigation Of Carbon Corrosion Resistance Of Cnt Containing Electrode, Diana Larrabee, William A. Rigdon, Eli Mcpherson, Joshua Sightler, Xinyu Huang

Faculty Publications

Carbon support corrosion is one of the major degradation mechanisms of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell. Carbon oxidation occurs in PEM electrode and is accelerated at high potential created by adverse operating conditions and improper distribution of reactants and products [1, 2, 3]. Carbon corrosion can lead to the thinning of the electrode layer and severe performance degradation. The detailed mechanisms of carbon support corrosion induced performance loss are still not fully understood; it is believed that the following events contribute to the decay: (1) structural collapse of the porous electrode due to the loss of carbon; (2) carbon …

Application Of Electrospinning Technique In The Fabrication Of A Composite Electrode For Pemfc, Joshua Sightler, Eli Mcpherson, William A. Rigdon, Xinyu Huang

Faculty Publications

The Pt/C catalysts were mixed with carbon nanotube (CNT), Nafion™ dispersion and a fiber former, polymer poly-acrylic acid (PAA), to form an ink. The ink was deposited onto aluminum foil attached to a rotating collector via an electrospinning process. The ink composition, mixing procedure, and the E-spin parameters were studied for producing a uniform nanofiber mat on the aluminum substrate. The fiber-mat containing active catalyst ingredients was heat treated and decal transferred onto a Nafion membrane to form a membrane electrode assembly (MEA).

A Study Of The Electrocoalescence On Spherical Droplets In A Flow Focusing Juction Microchannel, Shady A. Habib

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.