Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Zeta Potential Measurements Of Biological Flocs Using A Streaming Potential Cell, Wayne James Gallagher

Theses

A streaming potential apparatus was assembled and tested. Its purpose was to characterize the surface of biological flocs in a wastewater environment. Samples of mixed liquor were obtained from the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners wastewater treatment plant in Newark, New Jersey. Filtered mixed liquor was passed through a bed of the floc particles in the streaming potential cell, and the electric potential across the cell was measured as a function of the differential pressure drop. From these data, the zeta potential was calculated using the Helmholtz equation. Values of -0.88 and -0.44 millivolts were obtained for two mixed liquor samples.

A Theoretical Study Of Pure And Simple Competition Between Two Microbial Species In Configurations Of Two Interconnected Chemostat, Cheng-Ming Kung

Theses

It is known that two microbial populations competing purely and simply for a common substrate cannot coexist in a steady state in an environment which is spatially homogeneous. Hence they cannot coexist in a chemostat something which implies that a mixed culture of two pure and simple competitors cannot be maintained in a single ideal reactor in a steady state. The present study investigates theoretically pure and simple competition between two populations in two interconnected chemostats. Three reactor configurations are considered and analyzed. It is proved that two pure and simple competitors can coexist in a steady state in both …

Fluid Flow And Gas Absorption In An Ejector Venturi Scrubber, Iclal Atay

Dissertations

Empirical models were developed to describe the fluid flow characteristics and gas absorption efficiency of an ejector venturi scrubber. The empirical constants were determined experimentally using stop action photographs of the spray, static pressure measurements, and sulfur dioxide absorption efficiencies.

To take photographs of the spray, a 2 foot high, clear plastic ejector venturi scrubber was used, with a 4 inch diameter gas entrance port. Photographic equipment included a Hasselblad camera, Xenon flash lamp, and Polaroid 667 ASA 3000 film. Exposure duration was about 1 microsecond, resulting in complete stop-action of the spray droplets at liquid rates up to 6 …

The Effects Of Platelet Activating Factor (Paf) On The Arteriolar Average Blood Velocity And Volumetric Flowrate In The Microcirculation Of The Hamster Cheek Pouch, Patricia Ann Shatynski

Theses

The effects of platelet activating factor (PAF) in vessel diameter, average red blood cell (RBC) velocity and volumetric flowrate were studied in twenty-four arterioles located in the cheek pouches of nine male syrian golden hamsters. The observed vessels were between 8-32um in diameter. These vesgs were subdivided further into two groups: 8-17um and the 21-32um group. Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) labeled cells were injected into the hamster to act as velocity tracers. Immediately prior to and for a total of 60 minutes after the topical application of 10^-7M and 10^-9M PAF, selected arterioles were video taped periodically …

An Analysis Of Carrier Facilitated Transport In Liquid Surfactant Membranes, Pei-Jen Tsai

Theses

Mathematical models describing the mass transfer through facilitated liquid membranes are proposed and solved analytically. A self-adjoint operator method is applied to solve the coupled differential equations with discontinuity in the boundary conditions. It is assumed that equilibrium of the solute at the interfaces is maintained during the separation process. The effects of film resistance are studied/ and a first order kinetic model is used to simulate the reaction which takes place at the membrane-internal phase interface.

Experimental results indicate that the model with external film resistance consideration is in good agreement with the experimental data. This shows that most …

Preparation And Properties Of Monomers Derived From Hydroxyhexyl Methacrylate For Dental Adfesive, Ren-Dar Ku

Theses

Although methacrylic acid is the simplest unsaturated carboxylic acid and its hydroxyl ester polymerize readily, yielding useful resins, no adequate study of the preparation and application of the higher hydroxyl alkyl methacrylates has been published. The commercially important hydroxyethyl and hydroxypropyl methacrylates are manufactured from the appropriate alcohol in the presence of sulfuric acid, a method which appears to be less suitable for production of higher hydroxyl alkyl methacrylates. The purpose of the present work was to prepare the hydroxyhexyl methacrylate (HHMA) by a generally applicable method and determine its common physical properties. In addition, the urethane methacrylates were synthesized …

Computer Aided Mathematical Modeling Of A Once Through Claus Type Sulfur Recovery Process, Yuriy Osyp Kutny

Theses

The computer aided mathematical modeling of the once through Claus process for hydrogen sulfide conversion to sulfur is presented herein. This vapor phase oxidation reaction is carried out using one thermal reactor and up to three bauxite catalytic reactors with sulfur condensers in between. The method of catalytic reactor feed reheat and its ramifications upon reactor performance and total model convergence is of major importance.

The reactor feed preheat can be carried out in either of the following ways: (1) indirect heat exchange using some external heat source; (2) indirect heat exchange using other hot process streams as heat source; …

Osmotic And Mean Activity Coefficients Of Cacl2, Nai, Libr And Licl In Ethanol At 50 Degrees C, Gregory J. Czerwienski

Theses

Vapor pressure depression data for CaCl₂, NaI, LiBr, and LiCl were measured at a molality ranging between 0.2-7.5 depending on the solubility of the salt in ethanol. Data were also measured at 35° C for the LiCl. The apparatus used was a recirculation still of the Othmer type.

Osmotic coefficients were calculated from the total pressure of the system. The one parameter Bromley equation and the three parameter Pitzer equation were used to correlate the data. For all the systems, the Pitzer equation correlated the data better as one would expect. Mean activity coefficients were calculated graphically and …

The Separation Of Proteins Via Charged Electromembrane Process, Chi-Wen Lin

Theses

A new method for separation and concentration of protein and other biocolloids such as hemoglobin and albumin was developed by a process called the charged electromembrane (CEM) process. The process is characterized by using a metallic membrane as a filter which can carry either positive or negative electric current.

The effect of various factors on the separation coefficient and filtration efficiency were investigated experimentally. These factors include strength of electric field, pH of colloidal solution, electric current through membrane filter and flow rate.

It was found out that the thickness of the gel layer formed on the membrane could be …

The Kinetics And Mechanism Studies Of A Polymer Powder Coating On Metal Surface By Cathodic Electrodeposition Process, Wen-Lin Wu

Theses

A polymer dispersion of fluorocarbon with solid constent in the range of 10-25% were prepared from white powder polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE), emulsifier combination of dodecylbenzyldimetlyl sulfonium chloride and Trition N-150, and other components or additives. Such a fluorocarbon dispersion is very stable against coagulation and has a pH in the range of 8-10, which is especially suitable for powder coating purpose.

A new electrocoating technique, which is called cathodic electrodeposition powder coating method, was conducted in this study. This new coating method includes four steps: pretreatment, electrocoating, drying and baking. Two kinds of degreased metal substrates, aluminum and steel plates, were …

Prediction Of Vapor And Liquid Equilibrium Properties For 25 Organic Priority Pollutants In Aqueous Solution, Pinchieh Pai

Theses

Activity coefficients and Henry's law constants for 25 organic priority pollutants were estimated using UNIFAC thermodynamic calculations. For 6 of these compounds, the results were compared with measured values reported in the literature. This indicated errors in the UNIFAC predictions varying from 24.0% to 95.0%. Best results with UNIFAC were obtained using liquid-liquid equilibria, rather than vapor-liquid equilibria.

Octanol/water partition coefficients were also estimated for the same 25 organic priority pollutants using the fragment constant method. Results differed from values reported in the literature by 5% to 170%.

Estimated activity coefficients were also used to predict stripping rates of organic …

Biodegradation Of Phenol And 2-Chlorophenol Using A Fill-And-Draw-Reactor, Chi-Chun Tsai

Theses

The biological degradation of phenol and 2-chlorophenol was studied at room temperature in a microprocesser controlled fill-and-draw reactor using activated sludge from the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners wastewater treatment plant (Newark, New Jersey). The reactor was cycled through four unit processes: fill, react, settle, and draw. Different cycle times were tested, and the system response was characterized by dissolved oxygen measurements and substrate analysis (by gas chromatography).

With inhibitory substrates, such as those tested, this reactor had much more flexibility, and was therefore much easier to operate, than a standard continuous flow reactor.

The Conversion Of The Process Flowsheet Simulator, Flowtran, For Fortran 66 Based Mainframe Computers, Timothy Edward Roche

Theses

The process flowsheet simulator FLOWTRAN was converted from FORTRAN 77 code to FORTRAN 66 code. The conversion was accomplished by developing a number of subprograms to handle FORTRAN 77 intrinsic functions that are missing in the FORTRAN 66 standard and by altering the code to take advantage of the developed subprograms. Also developed were a set of procedure files for executing the FORTRAN 66 FLOWTRAN on a Sperry-Univac 90/80-4. The new FLOWTRAN was tested and performs identically to the FORTRAN 77 version. The FORTRAN 66 FLOWTRAN can be installed on any mainframe computer with a FORTRAN 66 compiler.

Preparation And Kinetic Study Of Immobilized Enzyme Catalyst, Sanjiv S. Kuray

Theses

Degradation of commercially available immobilized Glucose Isomerase enzyme was studied in a batch reactor. Effect of shearing on the degradation was studied by comparing the performance of a basket type reactor ( with enzyme kept inside the stirrer) and ordinary batch reactor ( with enzyme kept outside the stirrer).

Invertase enzyme is available commercially in a free soluble form. It was coupled with a new kind of starch derivative. The coupling efficiency achieved was 8.7 % and the concentration of the immobilized enzyme was 718 U invertase per gram of starch. The deactivation of enzyme-starch gel was studied in a …

Dispersion In The Laminar Flow Of Ellis Model Fluids Through Straight Tubes, Yeong-Hua Huang

Theses

Taylor-Aris dispersion theory is extended to the laminar tube flow of Carreau model fluids and Ellis model fluids and the results are compared with those of power law fluids. It is found that Carreau and Ellis models are more appropriate than power-law model, especially at low pressure gradient.

An exact solution to the unsteady convective diffusion equation in fully developed laminar flow in tube is obtained by applying the generalized dispersion theory of Gill and Sankarasubramanian for Ellis model. The results are compared with those obtained by Booras and Krantz for power-law model. The most interesting result of this work …

Reactions Of Chlorocarbon Species With Hydrogen Over Palladium On Alumina Catalyst And Zeolite Catalyst-Development Of Deactivation Models, Yuh-Der Yang

Dissertations

Four catalytic dechlorination reactions were studied experimentally using a fixed-bed reactor at atmosphere pressure. Reaction mechanisms were proposed, and the kinetics modelled.

The first reaction is 1,2-dichloroethane with hydrogen over zeolite catalyst. Catalyst deactivation models were examined.

The second reaction was between 1,2-dichloroethane and hydrogen over palladium catalyst on alumina support. Formation of two intermediates on the catalyst surface is proposed, which then produced ethane, ethylene, and ethyl chloride. Higher conversion to ethane and ethylene was observed at temperatures above 218°C while conversion to chloroethane is higher at temperatures below 218°C. The activation energy was found to be 15 Kcal/gm-mole. …

Electrochemical Reduction Of Quaternary Ammonium Salts, Rudolph K. Kapichak

Theses

The electrochemical reduction of two highly hindered quaternary ammonium salts was attempted. The reductions were performed in hexamethylphosphoramide at a controlled potential using platinum electrodes. It was anticipated that these reductions would provide a route to the formation of anti-Bredt bridgehead olefins. This work is an extension of the work of Dubois, Monvernay and Lacaze who electrochemically reduced quaternary ammonium salts such as trimethyl-t-butylammonium iodide (XX).

Trimethy1-2,4,4-trimethy1-2-pentylammonium iodide (XXIII) was reduced to form 2,4,4-trimethyl-l-pentene (XXVI) and 2,2,4-trimethylpentane (XXV). The yields of the two runs of this reduction were 10% and 20% and in the first run of the reduction 75% …

An Industrial Ethanol Azeotropic Distillation Process : Modeling, Analysis, And Simulation, Harpreet Singh Chawla

Dissertations

A steady state process simulator with extensive capabilities was developed for the simulation of process plants involving non-ideal multicomponent systems. A comprehensive stand alone program was developed to represent process systems encountering three phases. A computer program was also developed to handle simultaneous regression of vapor-liquid and liquid-liquid equilibria data to estimate the liquid phase activity coefficients via a global set of parameters for the ethanol azeotropic distillation process, using benzene as the entrainer.

An industrial ethanol azeotropic distillation process has been simulated using the developed process simulator (PROSIM). A study of the azeotropic column's aqueous ethanol feed composition reveals …

Enhancement Of The Thermophysical Capability Of The Chemical Engineering Simulation System, Joydeep Banerjee

Theses

The CHESS (Chemical Engineering Emulation System) is a generalized steady-state, sequential-modular chemical process simulation program. In this thesis, the thermophysical data prediction capability of CHESS has been expanded by: incorporating more accurate thermodynamic phase-behavior models, by utilizing these models in generating a wider range of thermophysical properties, and providing an updated and expanded database for pure-component physical properties.

The overall performance of the simulation system's thermophysical package has been evaluated using the study of a subprocess consisting of various rotational equipment modules.

In this work, the Chao-Seader liquid phase activity coefficient model has been reinstalled in conjunction with the original …

The Effect Of Single Electrolytes On The Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium Of Mixed Solvents, Peggy Tomasula

Dissertations

A group-contribution model for the prediction of salt-effects on the vapor-liquid equilibria of multicomponent electrolytic solutions containing a single electrolyte is presented. Coulombic interactions are represented through a Pitzer term. Solvation effects and short-range interactions are represented through a UNIQUAC-type expression. An ion-size, a solvation and three ion-solvent interaction parameters per salt-solvent binary are required for multicomponent predictions.

All parameters are obtained only through the correlation of binary salt-solvent osmotic coefficient and vapor-pressure depression data at 25°C, in most cases, and binary solvent VLE data. The salt-solvent binary data were correlated with an average percent error in CD of 2.5 …

Ternary Ion Exchange In Fixed Beds : Equilibrium And Dynamics, David W. H. Roth

Dissertations

A model was developed to simulate ion exchange within fixed beds for ternary systems. Models of the fluid phase material balance, phase equilibria, and diffusion of ions through the film and within the resin phase incorporated the latest advances in ion exchange theory. The separate model elements were combined after testing into an overall general model. Non-linear regression support programs were developed to estimate equilibrium parameters and resin phase diffusion coefficients.

A computer program was developed to estimate axial dispersion coefficients from experimental data. General correlations derived from literature sources were tested, and axial dispersion terms were included in the …

Kinetic Modeling Of A Laminar-Flow Reactor, Shih-Hsin Chang

Dissertations

The laminar-flow reactor considering radial dispersion for a species incurring first-order homogeneous (bulk) and heterogeneous (wall) chemical reactions was mathematically modeled. The equation was solved both analytically, and by the Crank-Nicolson finite-difference technique.

The response surface method was used to obtain the optimum values of the two rate constants. The optimum values interact because the wall and bulk reactions proceed in parallel. Varied reactor diameters serve to decouple the bulk and wall reactions to locate the true values of the rate constants.

Four dimensionless variables were defined and used to characterize the reacting system. In addition, their values were shown …

The Catabolism Of Arginine By Lactobacillus Brevis In A Chemostat, Jeanette Carque

Theses

A total of thirty chemostat runs were evaluated for steady state biomass concentration of L. brevis and arginine deiminase activity at dilution rates ranging from 0.022 to 0.1.07 h^-1 for a substrate feed consisting of 1.0% glucose and 0.5% arginine (w/v). Biomass concentration and enzyme activity responses were also evaluated for variations in glucose concentration from 0.05% to 1.5% and variations in arginine concentrations from 0.25% to 1.0% at a constant dilution rate (0.06 h^-1).

The system exhibited multiple steady states for the range of dilution rates from 0.022 to 0.107 h^-1. A steady state …

Transport Phenomena Of Copper Ions Through An Electromembrane, Ren-Fu Cheng

Theses

A separation process based on a new class of membrane ( the electromembrane ) was studied. Experiments were performed using three types of electromembrane to remove copper ions from aqueous solution. A Separation Cell Unit was designed and set up to investigate the transport of copper ions through the electromembranes under the influence of both an electric field and a concentration gradient. Fluxes achieved were much greater than those reported for other membrane processes, and the energy consumption was one half that of electrolytic deposition.

Computer Simulation Of A Batch Distillation Column With A Reflux Divider, Michael Gerard Clarke

Theses

The operation of a batch distillation column with a reflux divider has been mathematically simulated to reproduce operational equipment.

The operation of the column consists of one or more product recoveries. During each product recovery period the column alternates between total reflux and total product withdrawal, with the product withdrawal period being 2 — 5 seconds. Between product recoveries the column operating conditions can be reset.

The basic assumption of this batch distillation simulation is that the column completely equilibrates during the period of total reflux. The determination of the total reflux condition is obtained computationally using the iterative Newton—Raphson …

Preparation And Properties Of Novel Dental Adhesives Based Upon Pentaerythritol, Yuan-Yuan Su

Theses

Urethane methacrylates were synthesized from Pentaerythritol, TDI, HEMA and four phenolic blocking agents or from hydroxypropyl methacrylatel TDI and two phenolic blocking agents. All the products were characterized by melting pointy infrared spectroscopy, NMR spectra, and elemental analysis. The bonding of these materials to dentin slices was also investigated. Such materials are supposed to not only react with the organic constituent of dentin but also polymerized with restorative resin. It was found that bond strength was enhanced by the use of the urethane methacrylates, resulting in best mean bonding strengths of 2400 psi.

Improving The Capabilities Of The Chemical Engineering Simulation System (Chess) Computer Program, Thomas Zvolensky

Theses

Chemical process simulation programs have become an indispensable tool to chemical engineers in the preparation of heat and material balances, and energy conservation studies. Since the 1960's several dozen process simulators have been developed which are in use today within companies and through computer service bureaus. Due to advances in the areas of unit operation analysis and thermodynamic relations, these programs require periodic modification. This thesis describes the programming modifications made to the Chemical Engineering Simulation System (CHESS) version 2.0, computer program. This undertaking was considered warranted since no improvements have been made to CHESS since its release in 1971. …

The Biodegradation Of Phenolics Using Mixed Liquor From Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners Plant, Newark, New Jersey, Daewon Pak

Theses

The biological degradation of phenol, O-chlorophenol, and 2,6-dichlorophenol was studied at room temperature in aerated 5 liter batch reactors using mixed liquor from Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners Plant (Newark, New Jersey). From the concentration versus time data, kinetic rate constants were determined for phenol (at 100 ppm), 2'-chlorophenol (at 20 ppm), and 2,6-dichlorophenol (at 10 ppm). Air stripping and adsorption were determined to be insignificant removal mechanisms for the three compounds studied.

It was noted that the biodegradation rates increased after the organisms were acclimated to 100 ppm phenol. In addition, on substrate exposure, the degradation rate increased from the …

Vapor Pressures Of Some Coal Oil Fractions, David G. Gaydos

Theses

New data on coal tar oils and data from the literature on pure compounds and oils derived from coal were used for testing the predictions by the correlation of Maxwell—Bonnell. Based on the observation that the discrepancies between the predicted values and the data are systematic, recommendations were deduced on needed modifications to the correlation. A proposal for modification to the Maxwell and Bonnell correlation to improve prediction of vapor pressures of highly aromatic fuel fractions with characterization factors of8 UOPK 10.5 was made.

Experimental data were taken on vapor pressures of fractions of coke oven coal tar oils and …

Conversion And Kinetics In The Reaction Of Chloroform With Water Vapor At High Temperatures, Chii-Guang Hwang

Theses

This is an experimental study on thermolytic reactions of chloroform with excess water vapor where kinetic parameters are determined and complete product analysis made at atmospheric pressure over a temperature range from 550to 1050°C. In this study, water vapor was introduced as a reactant to convert chlorine in chlorocarbons to stable HCl which is an easily neutralized end-product and thereby completely destroy chloroform. Substantial amounts of thermodynamically stable species: HCl, CO, CO₂, C(s) etc. were observed as products.

The reaction was studied in a 46cm tubular flow reactor mounted in a furnace that had three independently temperature-controlled heating …