Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Purification And Effectiveness Of Vaccines And Antiviral Compounds, Maria F. Gencoglu

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

Viral infections account for over 13 million deaths per year. Antiviral drugs and vaccines are the most effective method to treat viral diseases. Antiviral compounds have revolutionized the treatment of AIDS, and reduced the mortality rate. However, this disease still causes a large number of deaths in developing countries that lack these types of drugs. Vaccination is the most effective method to treat viral disease; vaccines prevent around 2.5 million deaths per year. Vaccines are not able to offer full coverage due to high operational costs in the manufacturing processes. Although vaccines have saved millions of lives, conventional vaccines often …

Enzyme Optimization For Lignocellulose Hydrolysis Using Mechanistic Modeling, Adam S. Marlowe

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

A novel mechanistic model for the saccharification of cellulose and hemicellulose is utilized to predict the products of hydrolysis over a range of enzyme loadings and times. The mechanistic model considers the morphology of the substrate and the kinetics of enzymes to optimize enzyme concentrations for the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose simultaneously. Substrates are modeled based on their fraction of accessible sites, glucan content, xylan content, and degree of polymerizations. This enzyme optimization model takes into account the kinetics of six core enzymes for lignocellulose hydrolysis: endoglucanase I (EG1), cellobiohydrolase I (CBH1), cellobiohydrolase II (CBH2), and endo-xylanase (EX) …

Characterizing And Improving Production Of Fermentable Sugars And Co-Products From A Forest Product Industry Wastewater Stream, Jifei Liu

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

Hardboard processing wastewater was evaluated as a feedstock in a bio refinery co-located with the hardboard facility for the production of fuel grade ethanol. A thorough characterization was conducted on the wastewater and the composition changes of which during the process in the bio refinery were tracked. It was determined that the wastewater had a low solid content (1.4%), and hemicellulose was the main component in the solid, accounting for up to 70%. Acid pretreatment alone can hydrolyze the majority of the hemicellulose as well as oligomers, and over 50% of the monomer sugars generated were xylose. The percentage of …

New Microfluidic System To Increase Robustness Of Electrode Performance And Develop Point-Of-Care Hematocrit Device, Hwi Yong Lee

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

The present dissertation aimed to develop a new microfluidic system for a point-of-care hematocrit device. Stabilization of microfluidic systems via surfactant additives and integration of semipermeable SnakeSkin® membranes was investigated. Both methods stabilized the microfluidic systems by controlling electrolysis bubbles. Surfactant additives, Triton X-100 and SDS stabilized promoted faster bubble detachment at electrode surfaces by lowering surface tension and decreased gas bubble formation by increasing gas solubility. The SnakeSkin® membranes blocked bubbles from entering the microchannel and thus less disturbance to the electric field by bubbles occurred in the microchannel. Platinum electrode performance was improved by carbonizing electrode surface using …

Investigation Of Air Jigging And Air Classification To Recover Metallic Particles From Analytical Samples, Hrishikesh Vilas Shinde

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

Analyzing “nuggety” gold samples commonly produces erratic fire assay results, due to random inclusion or exclusion of coarse gold in analytical samples. Preconcentrating gold samples might allow the nuggets to be concentrated and fire assayed separately. In this investigation synthetic gold samples were made using similar density tungsten powder and silica, and were preconcentrated using two approaches: an air jig and an air classifier. Current analytical gold sampling method is time and labor intensive and our aim is to design a set-up for rapid testing. It was observed that the preliminary air classifier design showed more promise than the air …

Dynamics And Control Of Reactive Distillation Process For Monomer Synthesis Of Polycarbonate Plants, Mathkar Alawi A Alharthi

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

Polycarbonate (PC) is an important engineering thermoplastic that is currently produced in large industrial scale using bisphenol A and monomers such as phosgene. Since phosgene is highly toxic, a non-phosgene approach using diphenyl carbonate (DPC) as an alternative monomer, as developed by Asahi Corporation of Japan, is a significantly more environmentally friendly alternative. Other advantages include the use of CO₂ instead of CO as raw material and the elimination of major waste water production. However, for the production of DPC to be economically viable, reactive-distillation units are needed to obtain the necessary yields by shifting the reaction-equilibrium to the …

2013-2014 Che Newsletter, Department Of Chemical Engineering, Michigan Technological University

Department of Chemical Engineering Newsletters

Table of Contents

• Department
• Research
• Student News
• Faculty News
• Alumni & Friends

Bacteriorhodopsin-Based Sensors, Craig Friedrich, Donald Lueking, Mark Griep

Michigan Tech Patents

A sensor comprising a membrane containing bacteriorhodopsin. In one embodiment, the sensor comprises a layer of purple membrane between a first and a second electrode, wherein the electrodes are connected to a circuit such that a signal is produced when a charge is transferred across the membrane. In another embodiment, the sensor comprises a field effect transistor with a layer of purple membrane deposited on the gate. The layer of purple membrane may be further functionalized by adding fluorophores to the layer of purple membrane. The fluorophores may be deposited adjacent to the layer of purple membrane, or the fluorophores …

Two-Phase Flow In Microchannels: Morphology And Interface Phenomena, Alexandru Herescu

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

The existence and morphology, as well as the dynamics of micro-scale gas-liquid interfaces is investigated numerically and experimentally. These studies can be used to assess liquid management issues in microsystems such as PEMFC gas flow channels, and are meant to open new research perspectives in two-phase flow, particularly in film deposition on non-wetting surfaces. For example the critical plug volume data can be used to deliver desired length plugs, or to determine the plug formation frequency. The dynamics of gas-liquid interfaces, of interest for applications involving small passages (e.g. heat exchangers, phase separators and filtration systems), was investigated using high-speed …

Induction Of Microalgal Lipids For Biodiesel Production In Tandem With Sequestration Of High Carbon Dioxide Concentration, Wilbel J. Brewer

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

There is no doubt that sufficient energy supply is indispensable for the fulfillment of our fossil fuel crises in a stainable fashion. There have been many attempts in deriving biodiesel fuel from different bioenergy crops including corn, canola, soybean, palm, sugar cane and vegetable oil. However, there are some significant challenges, including depleting feedstock supplies, land use change impacts and food use competition, which lead to high prices and inability to completely displace fossil fuel ^[1-2]. In recent years, use of microalgae as an alternative biodiesel feedstock has gained renewed interest as these fuels are becoming increasingly economically viable, …

Selective Mercury Sequestration From A Silver/Mercury Cyanide Solution, Kristen L. Gabby

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

Silver and mercury are both dissolved in cyanide leaching and the mercury co-precipitates with silver during metal recovery. Mercury must then be removed from the silver/mercury amalgam by vaporizing the mercury in a retort, leading to environmental and health hazards. The need for retorting silver can be greatly reduced if mercury is selectively removed from leaching solutions.

Theoretical calculations were carried out based on the thermodynamics of the Ag/Hg/CN- system in order to determine possible approaches to either preventing mercury dissolution, or selectively precipitating it without silver loss. Preliminary experiments were then carried out based on these calculations to determine …

Electrospun Quaternized Chitosan Fibers For Virus Removal From Drinking Water, Xue Mi

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

Membrane filtration has become an accepted technology for the removal of pathogens from drinking water. Viruses, known to contaminate water supplies, are too small to be removed by a size-exclusion mechanism without a large energy penalty. Thus, functionalized electrospun membranes that can adsorb viruses have drawn our interest. We chose a quaternized chitosan derivative (HTCC) which carries a positively-charged quaternary amine, known to bind negatively-charged virus particles, as a functionalized membrane material. The technique of electrospinning was utilized to produce nanofiber mats with large pore diameters to increase water flux and decrease membrane fouling. In this study, stable, functionalized, electrospun …

Sustainable Energy Production In The United States: Life Cycle Assessment Of Biofuels And Bioenergy, Jiqing Fan

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

The United States of America is making great efforts to transform the renewable and abundant biomass resources into cost-competitive, high-performance biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower. This is the key to increase domestic production of transportation fuels and renewable energy, and reduce greenhouse gas and other pollutant emissions.

This dissertation focuses specifically on assessing the life cycle environmental impacts of biofuels and bioenergy produced from renewable feedstocks, such as lignocellulosic biomass, renewable oils and fats. The first part of the dissertation presents the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy demands of renewable diesel (RD) and hydroprocessed jet fuels (HRJ). The …

Production Of Recombinant Trichoderma Reesei Endoglucanase Protein Cel7b By Using Kluyveromyces Lactis, Zainab Ibrahim Alshoug

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

This research is about producing recombinant Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase Cel7B by using Kluyveromyces lactis, transformed with chromosomally integrated Cel7B cDNA, as a host cell (K. lactis Cel7B). Cel7B is one of the glycoside hydrolyze family of proteins that are produced by T. reesei. Cel7B together with other endoglucanases, exoglucanases, and â-glucosidases hydrolyze cellulose to glucose, which can then be fermented to biofuels or other value-added products.

The research objective of this MS project is to examine favorable fermentation conditions for recombinant Cel7B enzyme production and improved activity. Production of enzyme on different types of media was examined, and the activity …

A Novel Approach To Carbon Dioxide Capture And Storage, Brett P. Spigarelli

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

The novel approach to carbon capture and storage (CCS) described in this dissertation is a significant departure from the conventional approach to CCS. The novel approach uses a sodium carbonate solution to first capture CO₂ from post combustion flue gas streams. The captured CO₂ is then reacted with an alkaline industrial waste material, at ambient conditions, to regenerate the carbonate solution and permanently store the CO₂ in the form of an added value carbonate mineral. Conventional CCS makes use of a hazardous amine solution for CO₂ capture, a costly thermal regeneration stage, and the underground storage …

Computational Prediction Of The Sporulation Network In Clostridium Thermocellum, Changyi Jiang

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

Sporulation is a process in which some bacteria divide asymmetrically to form tough protective endospores, which help them to survive in a hazardous environment for a quite long time. The factors which can trigger this process are diverse. Heat, radiation, chemicals and lacking of nutrition can all lead to the formation of endospores. This phenomenon will lead to low productivity during industrial production. However, the sporulation mechanism in a spore-forming bacterium, Clostridium theromcellum, is still unclear. Therefore, if a regulation network of sporulation can be built, we may figure out ways to inhibit this process. In this study, a …

The Potential Of Industrial Waste And Agricultural Feedstock Towards Sustainable Biofuels Production: Techno-Economic And Environmental Impact Perspectives, Felix K. Adom

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

This Ph.D. research is comprised of three major components; (i) Characterization study to analyze the composition of defatted corn syrup (DCS) from a dry corn mill facility (ii) Hydrolysis experiments to optimize the production of fermentable sugars and amino acid platform using DCS and (iii) Sustainability analyses. Analyses of DCS included total solids, ash content, total protein, amino acids, inorganic elements, starch, total carbohydrates, lignin, organic acids, glycerol, and presence of functional groups. Total solids content was 37.4% (± 0.4%) by weight, and the mass balance closure was 101%. Total carbohydrates [27% (± 5%) wt.] comprised of starch (5.6%), soluble …

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 …

Electrospun Chitosan Nanofibers For Virus Removal, Bingyu Bai

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

Electrospinning uses electrostatic forces to create nanofibers that are far smaller than conventional fiber spinning process. Nanofibers made with chitosan were created and techniques to control fibers diameter and were well developed. However, the adsorption of porcine parvovirus (PPV) was low. PPV is a small, nonenveloped virus that is difficult to remove due to its size, 18-26 nm in diameter, and its chemical stability. To improve virus adsorption, we functionalized the nanofibers with a quaternized amine, forming N-[(2-hydroxy-3-trimethylammonium) propyl] chitosan chloride (HTCC). This was blended with additives to increase the ability to form HTCC nanofibers. The additives changed the viscosity …

Life Cycle Assessment Of Biofuels Produced By The New Integrated Hydropyrolysis-Hydroconversion (Ih2) Process, Edwin Maleche

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

Biofuels are alternative fuels that have the promise of reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels and decreasing emission of greenhouse gases from energy consumption. This thesis analyses the environmental impacts focusing on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the production and delivery of biofuel using the new Integrated Hydropyrolysis and Hydroconversion (IH²) process. The IH² process is an innovative process for the conversion of woody biomass into hydrocarbon liquid transportation fuels in the range of gasoline and diesel.

A cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions associated with diverse feedstocks …

Synthesis Of Pdms-Metal Oxide Hybrid Nanocomposites Using An In Situ Sol-Gel Route, Qiaoyu Lu

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

Organic-inorganic hybrid nanocomposites are widely studied and applied in broad areas because of their ability to combine the flexibility, low density of the organic materials with the hardness, strength, thermal stability, good optical and electronic properties of the inorganic materials. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) due to its excellent elasticity, transparency, and biocompatibility has been extensively employed as the organic host matrix for nanocomposites. For the inorganic component, titanium dioxide and barium titanate are broadly explored as they possess outstanding physical, optical and electronic properties.

In our experiment, PDMS-TiO₂ and PDMS-BaTiO₃ hybrid nanocomposites were fabricated based on in-situ sol-gel technique. By …

Investigation Into The Enhancement Of Polycarbonate With Conductive Nanomaterials, Michael D. Via Jr.

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

Polymers are typically electrically and thermally insulating materials. The electrical and thermal conductivities of polymers can be increased by the addition conductive fillers such as carbons. Once the polymer composites have been made electrically and thermally conductive, they can be used in applications where these conductivities are desired such as electromagnetic shielding and static dissipation.

In this project, three carbon nanomaterials are added to polycarbonate to enhance the electrical and thermal conductivity of the resulting composite. Hyperion Catalysis FIBRILs carbon nanotubes were added to a maximum loading of 8 wt%. Ketjenblack EC-600 JD carbon black was added to a maximum …

Biochemical Conversions Of Lignocellulosic Biomass For Sustainable Fuel-Ethanol Production In The Upper Midwest, Michael James Brodeur-Campbell

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

Biofuels are an increasingly important component of worldwide energy supply. This research aims to understand the pathways and impacts of biofuels production, and to improve these processes to make them more efficient. In Chapter 2, a life cycle assessment (LCA) is presented for cellulosic ethanol production from five potential feedstocks of regional importance to the upper Midwest - hybrid poplar, hybrid willow, switchgrass, diverse prairie grasses, and logging residues - according to the requirements of Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Direct land use change emissions are included for the conversion of abandoned agricultural land to feedstock production, and computer models of …

Capture And Sequestration Of Carbon Dioxide In Flue Gases, Surendra Komar Kawatra, Timothy C. Eisele, John J. Simmons

Michigan Tech Patents

There is provided a process for the capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide that would otherwise enter the atmosphere and contribute to global warming and other problems. C02 capture is accomplished by reacting carbon dioxide in flue gas with an alkali metal carbonate, or a metal oxide, particularly containing an alkaline earth metal or iron, to form a carbonate salt. A preferred carbonate for C02 capture is a dilute aqueous solution of additive-free (Na2C03). Other carbonates include (K2C03) or other metal ion that can produce both a carbonate and a bicarbonate salt. Examples of suitable metal oxides include several alkaline …

Anti-Neuroblastoma Activity Of Gold Nanorods Bound With Gd2 Monoclonal Antibody Under Near-Infrared Laser Irradiation, Ching-An Peng, Chung-Hao Wang

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

High-risk neuroblastoma is one of the most common deaths in pediatric oncology. Current treatment of this disease involves a coordinated sequence of chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation. Further advances in therapy will require the targeting of tumor cells in a more selective and efficient way so that survival can be improved without substantially increasing toxicity. To achieve tumor-selective delivery, disialoganglioside (GD2) expressed by almost all neuroblastoma tumors represents a potential molecular target that can be exploited for tumor-selective delivery. In this study, GD2 monoclonal antibody (anti-GD2) was conjugated to gold nanorods (GNRs) which are one of anisotropic nanomaterials that can absorb …

2011-2012 Che Newsletter, Department Of Chemical Engineering, Michigan Technological University

Department of Chemical Engineering Newsletters

Table of Contents

• Department
• Bioengineering Research
• Student News
• Alumni and Friends

Characterization Of Thermal And Mechanical Properties Of Polypropylene-Based Composites For Fuel Cell Bipolar Plates And Development Of Educational Tools In Hydrogen And Fuel Cell Technologies, Daniel López Gaxiola

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

In this project we developed conductive thermoplastic resins by adding varying amounts of three different carbon fillers: carbon black (CB), synthetic graphite (SG) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) to a polypropylene matrix for application as fuel cell bipolar plates. This component of fuel cells provides mechanical support to the stack, circulates the gases that participate in the electrochemical reaction within the fuel cell and allows for removal of the excess heat from the system.

The materials fabricated in this work were tested to determine their mechanical and thermal properties. These materials were produced by adding varying amounts of single carbon …

Production Of Biofuel Intermediates From Woody Feedstocks Via Fast Pyrolysis And Torrefaction, Jordan Lee Klinger

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

The main objective of this research was to investigate pyrolysis and torrefaction of forest biomass species using a micropyrolysis instrument. It was found that 30-45% of the original sample mass remained as bio-char in the pyrolysis temperature range of 500 - 700˚C for aspen, balsam, and switchgrass. The non-char mass was converted to gaseous and vapor products, of which 10-55% was water and syngas, 2-12% to acetic acid, 2-12% to hydroxypropanone, 1-3% to furaldehyde, and 5-15% to various phenolic compounds. In addition, several general trends in the evolution of gaseous species were indentified when woody feedstocks were pyrolyzed. With increasing …

Characterizations Of Partially Reduced Polyoxometalate Catalysts Using Ammonia Adsorption Microcalorimetry And Methanol Oxidation Studies / By Suresh Babu Bommineni., Suresh Babu Bommineni

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

Phosphomolybdic acid (H₃PMo₁₂O₄₀) along with niobium,pyridine and niobium exchanged phosphomolybdic acid catalysts were prepared. Ammonia adsorption microcalorimetry and methanol oxidation studies were carried out to investigate the acid sites strength acid/base/redox properties of each catalyst. The addition of niobium, pyridine or both increased the ammonia heat of adsorption and the total uptake. The catalyst with both niobium and pyridine demonstrated the largest number of strong sites. For the parent H₃PMo₁₂O₄₀ catalyst, methanol oxidation favors the redox product. Incorporation of niobium results in similar selectivity to redox products but also …

Development And Testing Of An Asymmetric Capacitor With A Nickel-Carbon Foam Positive Electrode, Wen Nee Yeo

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

Electrochemical capacitors (ECs), also known as supercapacitors or ultracapacitors, are energy storage devices with properties between batteries and conventional capacitors. EC have evolved through several generations. The trend in EC is to combine a double-layer electrode with a battery-type electrode in an asymmetric capacitor configuration. The double-layer electrode is usually an activated carbon (AC) since it has high surface area, good conductivity, and relatively low cost. The battery-type electrode usually consists of PbO₂ or Ni(OH)₂.

In this research, a graphitic carbon foam was impregnated with Co-substituted Ni(OH)₂ using electrochemical deposition to serve as the positive electrode …