Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Synthesis Of A Phosphorus-Based Epoxy Reactive Flame Retardant Analog To Diglycidyl Ether Of Bisphenol A (Dgeba) And Its Behavior As A Matrix In A Carbon Fiber Composite, Mustafa Mukhtar

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper describes the synthesis of a phosphorus-based flame retardant that is a chemical analog of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA), as well as its incorporation as a matrix into carbon fiber laminates. Carbon fiber composites, if used for structural applications in mass transport vehicles (aircraft, trains), will require some aspects of improved fire performance to be used safely in those applications. The first phase of work involved the development of two separate synthesis routes to produce the flame retardant monomer, referred to as Phosphorus-DGEBA or simply P-DGEBA. The second step was to determine the viability of the compound's …

Phase Transitions And Photoluminescent Properties Of Anion-Engineered Y2o3, Maharram Jabrayilov

LSU Master's Theses

Rare earth doped metal oxides are widely employed as phosphor materials for white light LEDs (w-LEDs). The aim of this work is to engineer anionic sites of metal oxides, specifically, Y₂O₃, to investigate structural and luminescent properties relationships and energy transfer mechanisms between rare earth sensitizer and activator ions in different hosts.

A low temperature two-step hydrothermal/combustion method was employed to incorporate sulfate ions into Y₂O₃. Furthermore, annealing at 600 °C under H₂/N₂ was employed to convert Y₂O₂SO₄ to Y₂O₂S. …

Identification Of Lithocholic Acid As A Molecular Glass Host For Room-Temperature Phosphorescent Materials, John J. Flynn, Zachary M. Marsh, Douglas M. Krein, Steven M. Wolf, Joy E. Haley, Erick S. Vasquez, Thomas M. Cooper, Nicholas P. Godman, Tod A. Grusenmeyer

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Lithocholic acid was identified as a molecular glass host material for room temperature phosphorescent (RTP) chromophores. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was performed on a series of structurally similar, biologically sourced molecules, including lithocholic acid, β-estradiol, cholesterol, and β-sitosterol, in an effort to identify new amorphous molecular glasses independent of plasticizing additives. DSC analysis revealed lithocholic acid and β-estradiol form stable molecular glasses post thermal processing unlike neat cholesterol and β-sitosterol. The ability of lithocholic acid and β-estradiol to stabilize high wt. % loadings of d10-pyrene and a mixture of d10-pyrene and an iridium chromophore, bis(2,4-difluorophenylpyridinato)-tetrakis(1-pyrazolyl)borate iridium(III) (FIr6), was also investigated. …

Electric Field Driven Co-Assembly And Transport Of Colloids Using Active-Passive Interaction, Brishty Deb Choudhury

LSU Master's Theses

Over the past few decades, the out-of-equilibrium transport and assembly of colloidal particles have been drawing significant interest due to their myriad applications in biology, engineering, and physics. In the absence of any external force, micro and nanoparticles perform Brownian motion in dispersion and are termed as passive colloids. In contrast, active colloids are a class of particles where a net imbalance of fluid flow around their surface drives their net migration in space when subjected to an external electric field. While several studies have shown the ability to program the dynamics of active colloids using an external electric field, …

Effect Of Temperature, Catalyst Concentration And Time, On Polylactic Acid Production From Sisal Boles Juice By Ring Open Polymerization, Neema O. Msuya

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Polylactic acid (PLA) is a biodegradable and renewable alternative to non-biodegradable petrochemical-based polymers that is environmentally friendly and green. PLA can be made from a variety of agricultural wastes that contain sugars, such as sisal boles. This study aimed at analysing the possibility of producing PLA from lactic acid (LA) produced from sisal bole. A 2n factorial design was used to analyse the effects of temperature (160-180ºC), time (1-2 hrs) and tin octoate catalyst concentration (0.025-0.05%) on the PLA yield during polymerization. Minitab Version 20.2.0 was used to design the experiment and analyse the effects on the responses through ANOVA. …

Augmented Formic Acid Electro-Oxidation At A Co-Electrodeposited Pd/Au Nanoparticle Catalyst, Yaser M. Asal, Ahmad M. Mohammad, Sayed S. Abd El Rehim, Islam M. Al-Akraa

Chemical Engineering

In this study, the formic acid electro-oxidation reaction (FAEOR) was catalyzed on a Pd-Au co-electrodeposited binary catalyst. The kinetics of FAEOR were intensively impacted by changing the Pd2+:Au3+ molar ratio in the deposition medium. The Pd1-Au1 catalyst (for which the Pd2+:Au3+ molar ratio was 1:1) acquired the highest activity with a peak current density for the direct FAEOR (Ip) of 4.14 mA cm−2 (ca. 13- times higher than that (ca. 0.33 mA cm−2) of the pristine Pd1-Au0 catalyst). It also retained the highest stability that was denoted in fulfilling ca. 0.292 mA cm−2 (ca. 19-times higher than 0.015 …

Nuclear Energy As A Reliable And Safe Source Of Power Generation, Sarup Dhungana

Honors Theses

There is a high demand of energy for generating civil applicable power in the world and in the USA, correspondingly. The world has been consuming various sources to extract the power to meet its demands. Most of the power sources include renewable and non-renewable sources like fossil fuels, natural gas, coal, water, solar, wind, and nuclear power. Although most of these sources have many advantages in terms of their capacity and cost of production, nuclear power can be categorized as the emerging driving force in the United States and in the world for power generation, because of its reliability and …

Energy And Resource-Saving Method For Enriching The Waste Water Purified Without Sufficient Purification With Oxygen, Dilobar Khurramova, Mukhtor Khurramov, Sharifa Ganieva, Zulqaynar Nazirov

CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

In order to implement a reliable and environmentally safe, economically viable method of wastewater enrichment, the goal is to develop an energy- and resource-saving method of oxygen enrichment of wastewater that has not undergone sufficient treatment. Cleaning is carried out in a tank, which is built using rock, which is an algal limestone. Limestone contributes to the improvement of the oxygen regime due to the “conservation” of organic matter in anoxic bottom layers and the acceleration of the process of photosynthesis of unicellular algae. Calcium carbonate is a reagent that provides not only automatic stabilization of water pH at 2/dm …

Preparation, Cure, And Characterization Of Cyanate Ester-Epoxy Blends, Donald A. Klosterman

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Cyanate ester resins are often blended with lower cost epoxy monomers in order to modify the cost, toughness, and processing characteristics. There are also several choices of catalysts that can be used to improve processing, namely by reducing the cure temperature. This study was undertaken to illustrate how a designed experiment approach can be used to systematically investigate a wide range of material combinations and illuminate the basic cure behavior of some simple cyanate ester – epoxy blend combinations. Two commercial cyanate ester resin products were obtained. Each was blended with a bisphenol F based epoxy resin at two different …

Diffusion Of A Salt In An Aqueous Media, Aldaly Pineda Hernandez

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Diffusion is defined as the net transfer of a molecule from a high concentration region to a low concentration region. The concept of diffusion is used in a very important process called "desalination." Desalination is a separation process used to reduce the salt content dissolved in brackish water to make it suitable for human consumption, irrigation, and industrial use.

In desalination plants, it is important to monitor the constantly changing salt content of water, partly due to the diffusive effect. The main purpose of this experiment was to study the diffusion of NaCl in water at two NaCl concentrations. The …

Engineering Lewis Acidic Materials For Biomass Conversion And Battery Applications., Md Anwar Hossain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My long-term goal is to develop catalytic systems to produce renewable energy for a sustainable society. The overall research objective of my dissertation is to advance understanding of Lewis acidic materials for (1) conversion of renewable lignin into phenolics and (2) enhanced cycling stability of lithium metal batteries to safely store renewable electricity from wind and solar, thereby laying the groundwork for our transition to a sustainable society. Petroleum is a conventional feedstock for current transportation fuels (gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels). However, petroleum is a finite resource and produces greenhouse gases (CO₂ and CH₄) upon processing, …

Materials And Interfaces For Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Production And Utilization., Alexander Jiya Gupta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mass industrialization over the last few centuries has created a global economy which is dependent upon fossil fuels to satisfy an exponentially increasing demand for energy. Aside from the possible depletion of this finite resource, the combustion of fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere which cause the global temperature to rise – a phenomenon which has already begun to create geologic and geopolitical instability and shows no signs of abatement. One proposed method to rid humanity of its dependence on fossil fuels is to use green hydrogen as an energy carrier. In this scheme, excess electricity from a …

The Aiche Student Design Competition: Modular Distributed Gas-To-Liquids (Gtl) Synthesis, Abigail Bozarth, Jason Mote, Revathi Panuganti, Fausat Isu

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of Bio-Mass To Bio-Oil Reactor Systems: Direct Conversion Vs. Companion Coal Gasification, Luci Evans

Honors Theses

The purpose of this project was to define, design, and optimize the economic feasibility of the production of bio-oil from a direct conversion of biomass to bio-oil using fast pyrolysis and a secondary side reaction of the production of a syngas from coal gasification. In the end, a combined process of these two was created to show the new strengths and more efficient options to produce a desired product within a budget. The main objectives of this project were to research the economic feasibility of the biomass and bio-oil industry, obtain a market survey, design two process flow diagrams showing …

Synergistic Enhancement Of Formic Acid Electro-Oxidation On Ptxcuy Co-Electrodeposited Binary Catalysts, Yaser M. Asal, Ahmad M. Mohammad, Sayed S. Abd El Rehim, Islam M. Al-Akraa

Chemical Engineering

A propitious binary catalyst composed of Pt and Cu which were electrodeposited simultaneously onto a glassy carbon (GC) substrate was recommended for the formic acid (FA) electro-oxidation reaction (FAOR); the principal anodic reaction in the direct FA fuel cells (DFAFCs). The simultaneous co-electrodeposition of Pt and Cu in the catalyst provided an opportunity to tune the geometric functionality of the catalyst to resist the adsorption of poisoning CO at the Pt surface that represented the major impediment for DFAFCs marketing. The catalytic activity of the catalyst toward FAOR was significantly influenced by the (Pt4+/Cu2+) molar ratio of the electrolyte during …

Heteroaggregation Of Lignin-Zein Nanoparticles: Effects Of Relative Size And Concentration, Yada Chulakham

LSU Master's Theses

Nanotechnology has become an advanced tool for manufacturing materials of the future. As the size of a material is reduced to a nanoscale, its surface area to volume ratio increases drastically, and its surface property becomes size dependent. This allows scientists to make use of unique properties that nanomaterials have to offer to create novel materials that otherwise could not have been achieved in meter-scale materials. As more industrial companies have planned to incorporate different types of nanomaterials into their products, it is undeniable that some of these nanomaterials will be released to the environment. Such possibility has led to …

Castor Oil Conversion To Biodiesel: A Process Simulation Study, Yaser M. Asal Mr, Islam M. Al-Akraa, Ahmad M. Mohammad, Razan Aymen

Chemical Engineering

The aim of this study is to highlights the importance to shift from the use of traditional fossil fuels to biodiesel as a clean energy source. A simulation study has been conducted using ASPEN HYSIS software for the biodiesel production form castor oil. The simulation was run and the properties of the produced biodiesel were highlighted. The optimum conditions resulted in 88 % conversion.

Investigation Of Reactions Occurring In Municipal Solid Waste Residues, Tasnuva T. Moutushi

Dissertations and Theses

Each year more than 290 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) is generated in the U.S. Understanding the reactions occurring in waste during disposal, transport, and storage is important to move towards an integrated waste management strategy. Recently some landfills in the U.S. have been reported to exceed the regulatory temperature range, causing numerous regulatory challenges. The reason for this phenomenon is still unidentified. In addition, the co-disposal of the MSW ash in landfills lead to various reactions which can impact the landfill environment. Understanding the reactions occurring in the MSW and in ash is essential to minimize and …

Reverse Cationic Flotation Of Hematite, Natalia Parra Alvarez

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The reverse cationic flotation of hematite is the most common method to process hematite ores. The goal of this research is to understand the impact of fundamental water and surface effects to enable the optimization of the flotation process. At present, reverse cationic flotation is performed using a single chemical as both collector and frother. Excessive amounts of frother or collector should lead to diminished performance. This research investigates this phenomenon by replacing some of the collector with frothers. It was found that flotation recovery can be improved up to 2.5wt% via 10% replacement with methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC). Since …

Prototype Development For Fabric Sodium Sensor, Mary Nicodemus, Dunia Jaffal, Shelby Daniels

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project is designed to refine a process for developing sodium-selective nylon fabric sensors to be used for reading sodium concentrations in sweat from the human body through a series of quality control and on-body testing experiments. The intention is to have a refined process to make reproducible sensors that are turned into consistently working prototypes for future mass production. There are three essential steps in developing a working prototype: sensor synthesis, sensor testing, and sensor validation. Once all three steps are completed, consistent methods will be defined for turning nylon into sensors and then into prototypes, calibrating the prototypes, …

Comparing Galvanic Corrosion Rates Predicted From Polarization Curves With Empirical Data From A Carbon Steel And Monel Couple For A Various Geometries, Michael Hinnebusch

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective of this investigation was to compare the galvanic corrosion rate of carbon steel C1018 and Monel K-500 alloy in a bolt and plate geometry to that derived using Tafel plots. This was achieved using carbon steels sheets of steel with a pair of with varying the number of Monel bolts and varying spacing. It was found that the carbon steel plates do not corrode uniformly. This can create issues when using Polarization curves to assume galvanic corrosion rate of a carbon steel and Monel system. The geometry of the bolts can further affect this corrosion rate and make …

Application Of Sla 3d Printing For Polymers, Taylor Wilson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Stereolithography is a type of 3D printing that allows liquid photopolymer resin to be cured into layers that make up a 3D object. Creation of such resins for these purposes can require a significant amount of time to test and develop, and commercial resins also require some amount of testing for printer settings before use. This paper reviews how stereolithography works, the materials used, and experimentation done to compare the resin properties to the determined curing times. Using several commercially available resins, varying base exposure and layer exposure times were used to determine the lowest possible curing time that gave …

Retention And Stability Of Polystyrene Sulfonic Acid And Polyethylene Glycol Anti- Fouling Films With 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane Coupling Agent, Brian Cameron

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Fouling is a process where particles, proteins, or microorganisms will accumulate onto a material [2]. This can lead to biofilms in medical implants, which can trap and create drug resistant bacteria [5]. Due to this, the study and creation of anti-fouling polymeric films that is stable in aqueous environments is essential. The goal of this study is to utilize APTES to retain the already studied PSS-PEG anti-fouling films. The films that are created is a thermally crosslinked network of the polystyrene sulfonic acid (PSS) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) with differing mass fractions (75- 25 and 55-45 PSS-PEG). To retain the …

Extraction Of Melanin From Black Knot Fungus: Optimization And Applications, Amara Davis

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The goal of this research project was to optimize the extraction of melanin from black knot fungus and to analyze possible applications of the extracted melanin. An extraction method that was previously created was examined for possible improvements. Improvements that were studied include the elimination of steps in the extraction process while obtaining the same quality of product, examining options for machinery that could be used to increase production rate when moved to a production plant setting, and optimize the concentrations of the raw materials that are used in the extraction for possible reduction of cost without compromising yield or …

Development Of Co2 Capture Method Via Polyurethane-Amine Sorbent In Vsa, Samantha Starkey, David S. Rinehart

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

With increases in extreme weather and global temperatures, research is delving into CO₂ capture to help reverse climate change. This project explored utilizing vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) for CO₂ capture and release. VSA uses a sorbent, in this case amine sorbents, to capture CO­­₂ from air and subsequently removes it via vacuum. Polyurethane (PU) foam was investigated as a potential matrix for amine sorbents to increase exposure of CO₂ capturing amines to air by utilizing its porous structure. PU mixing studies were conducted to determine the feasibility of mixing PU foam with amines and coating foams …

Biodiesel Production From Castor Oil: Mixing Optimization During Transesterification, Yaser M. Asal Mr, Islam M. Al-Akraa, Ahmad M. Mohammad, Hassan E. Hisham

Chemical Engineering

With the growing warning for accrediting the traditional combustion of fossil fuels for energy production, not only for their limited supply but also for their environmental risks (air pollution, climate change, …. etc), it became necessary to realize alternative greener and abundant sources for energy. Instead, the interest to sustain biodiesel for the energy production has recently been renewed as a replacement for petroleum diesel in conventional diesel engines. This was due to its renewable nature, low toxicity, high degradability and unique physical properties (high flash points & lubrication). Castor oil, in particular, appeared promising for biodiesel production with extremely …

Advanced Process Modeling And Optimization Of Amine-Based Carbon Capture Process, Paul Jide Terhemba Akula

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

With the rise of carbondioxide (CO2) concentration in the atmosphere to more than 400 parts per million (ppm), research efforts have been focused on achieving net-zero carbon emission technologies. Post-combustion CO2 capture (PCC) is a key strategy in reducing CO2 emissions. Amine-based CO2 capture is the baseline technology for retrofitting existing power stations. However, the integration of amine-based PCC technology with power plants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions incurs a high energy penalty, decreasing a powerplant’s efficiency by about 23 percentage points. Understanding the capture plant dynamics plays an important role in its technical and economic performance. Rigorous models are …

Itraconazole Nanocomposites Prepared Via Rotary Evaporator Drying Of Nanomilled Suspensions, Alexander Santos Coelho

Theses

The aim of this study is to explore the feasibility of rotary evaporation for drying wetmilled drug suspensions as a novel approach to produce drug nanocomposites that exhibit fast redispersion and immediate drug release. To this end, the physical stability of the nanomilled itraconazole (drug) suspensions, a.k.a., nanosuspensions, during the milling and storage; the drying of the itraconazole nanosuspensions via the rotary evaporator; and the type/loading of various polymers/surfactants (dispersants) on aqueous redispersion and drug release from the nanocomposites were examined. Our results suggest that smaller drug particle size, owing to nanomilling, and smaller nanocomposite particle size, owing to optimized …

An Introductory Study Of Coal Fly Ash Enhancement For Heavy Metal Removal In Wastewater Treatment., Samuel T. Romes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Coal Combustion Products are the materials that remain after pulverized coal is burned to generate electricity. The fine portion, fly ash, has many re-use capabilities across various industries. Most recent data shows that approximately 60% of fly ash produced in the United States was used with the largest re-use being concrete additives. This work aims to enhance fly ash via hydrothermal treatment in order to expand the re-use capabilities of the material. These materials were tested as adsorbents for heavy metal removal from wastewater samples. The metals tested for removal were Copper (II) Acetate, Cadmium Chloride, Boric Acid, Sodium Selenite, …

Scalable Synthesis Of Alumina Nanowires By Wet Chemical Method., Luis N Moreno

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To satisfy an increasing demand for large-scale processes for producing alumina nanomaterials, a wet chemical method was evaluated. A potassium salt precursor was combined with aluminum to produce alumina – based nanowires. Compared with current methods such as thermal oxidation, sol-gel, and laser ablation, this method is highly scalable due to relatively low energy requirements and the ability to carry out the primary reaction under ambient conditions. The nanowire samples were evaluated using SEM, XRD, BET, and TEM to confirm morphology, phases present, and surface area. A porous nanowire structure was confirmed which has a BET surface area of 324.6 …