Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Design And Synthesis Of Sigma-1 Probe For Positron Emission Tomography (Pet) Imaging, May Ly

Honors Theses

Sigma-1 receptor radioligands have the potential to detect and monitor various neurological diseases. Because sigma-1 receptors are believed to be associated with numerous psychiatric conditions and neurodegenerative diseases, radioligands for sigma-1 receptors have the potential to serve as novel diagnostic tools and may be useful in assessing treatment effectiveness. A benzothiazolone 18F-labeled sigma-1 receptor ligand, CM304, has demonstrated promise as a specific positron emission tomography radiotracer for visualizing sigma-1 receptors in living subjects. Based on CM304, backup molecules were created to improve the overall drug profile, including half- life and bioavailability.

Optimization Of A Chemical Production Facility: A Study Of Operating Conditions, Equipment Sizing, And Economics Of An Ethylbenzene Production Plant., Xi Peng

Honors Theses

Economics of a chemical plant depend on multiple factors: grade of a feed, types of catalyst, operating temperature and pressure, cost of equipment, and many other factors could have influences on economics of the plant. In a previous study about an ethylbenzene facility, our team scrutinize two proposed changes. An optimization plan is recommended by our team in order to maximize the net present value (NPV) of the plant. This report focuses on demonstrating rationales of setting certain operating conditions, showcasing the details of optimization, and elucidating the reasons behind applying these modifications. The team used simulating software PRO/-II to …

Optimization: A Perspective On Improving An Ethylbenzene Production Design, Derrick C. Marchant

Honors Theses

The goal of optimization in a chemical process or system involves improving an existing design or a combination of devices. In the case of an established process such as the ethylbenzene production process investigated here, the optimization involves improving an established process and choosing the best available case within a set of constraints that also considers maximizing the economic bottom line. An objective function must be selected for an optimization problem which defines the achievable goal. The objective function of the optimization process presented here is to minimize the estimated annual operating cost (EAOC). An EAOC takes in to account …

Optimization Of An Ethylbenzene Process, Garrison Padgett Morgan

Honors Theses

In industry, chemical plants should be running at optimal performance in order to maximize profit. However, this is frequently not the case. Optimization is the process of improving an existing situation, device, or, in the case of chemical engineers, a chemical process. Furthermore, there are numerous strategies to optimize a chemical process, and it is up to the engineer to decide what to change in order to make the optimization worthwhile. Last semester, I was able to show my knowledge of optimization by applying changes to an existing ethylbenzene producing plant. I simulated the base case for this plant and …

Using Greet To Analyze Natural Gas Usage In Municipal Fleets, Bradley E. Gibson

Honors Theses

GREET was used to calculate energy consumption and pollutants emitted from specific fuel/vehicle types when given a specific set of parameters. In this case, the parameters were the type of fuel mix from TVA, the selected vehicle year of 2015, the vehicle weight specified in the heavy-duty vehicle range, and type of simulation technique, which was the Hammersely Sequence Sampling. These inputs, along with seventeen fuel/vehicles mixes, specific pollutants, and cost considerations, were used to investigate the environmental impact of the transition from petrol diesel to natural gas in the municipal fleets of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The energy consumption included coal, …

Reduction Of Ketoximes To Amines By Catalytic Transfer Hydrogenation Using Raney Nickel And 2-Propanol As Hydrogen Donor, Katherynne E. Taylor

Honors Theses

Ketoximes successfully underwent hydrogenolysis and hydrogenation under catalytic transfer conditions with Raney Nickel and 2-propanol as a hydrogen donor. Ketoximes were reduced to primary amines when 2% KOH was included in the reaction. In the absence of KOH N-isopropyl-secondary-amines were obtained in good yields.

The Effect Of Co-Solvent And Ordered Lattice Structure On Catalysis Of Biodiesel Production In Microreactors, Benjamin J. D. Kegley

Honors Theses

In this study, stable single phase feedstocks for biodiesel production were successfully determined. The addition of free fatty acids, which are considered waste, to the soy bean oil and methanol processing feed as a co-solvent, produces a stable single phase. The single phase feedstock significantly increases initial global rates and supplements the oil with further biodiesel production. A stable single phase feedstock and increased reaction rates are desirable due to the use of continuous heterogeneous biodiesel production in microreactors currently being developed by this research group. Further design improvements to the microreactor design have been determined. Such improvements include the …

Outlining The Biocidal Mechanisms Of Synthetic Antimicrobial Peptide Mimics, Tyler D. Brown

Honors Theses

Each day, antibiotic resistance affects the livelihood of individuals worldwide, especially in relation to hospital-acquired diseases. In an effort to combat this resistance, antimicrobial peptides, small biopolymers produced naturally by multicellular organisms, can be used to selectively eliminate bacteria and have demonstrated great potential as alternatives to conventional antibiotics. Many naturally-occurring antimicrobial peptides possess high concentrations of lysine and arginine amino acid residues, which are protonated and positively-charged at physiological pH. Herein, we describe the design and synthesis of antimicrobial peptide mimics, using amino acid mimics. N-3-aminopropyl methacrylamide (APMA) and 3-guanidinopropyl methacrylamide (GPMA) monomers mimic the amino acid residues lysine …

Utilizing Reversible Addition Fragmentation Chain Transer For The Synthesis Of Polymeric Gene Delivery Vehicles, Jared Spoons

Honors Theses

There are many techniques used today to make a variety of polymers but this thesis investigates the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization technique and illustrates the advantages and importance of using RAFT polymerization technique to make the desired polymer. The research focused on two monomer units that were to form the diblock copolymer; the hydrophilic part, oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate, and the cationic hydrophobic part 2-diethylaminoethyl methacrylate. The goal was to produce a target diblock copolymer with a Mn value of 44K and a PDI under 1.5 with the block sizes being a 35K Mn OEGMA chain and a 9K …

Performance And Stability For Room Temperature Ionic Liquid Membranes For The Dehumidification Of Methane, Dora Frances Sullivan-González

Honors Theses

The biogas production from organic waste—animal, sewage, landfill material— could be a valuable renewable fuel. Before this biogas—predominately bio-methane— can be converted to fuel, it must be dehumidified. Typically membrane-based gas dehumidification uses hydrophilic polymer membrane materials, such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and cellulose acetate (CA). The main problems with polymer dehumidification membranes are methane loss and the susceptibility of polymer materials to plasticization by H2O. Room temperature ionic liquid membranes (RTIL- membranes), according to recent literature, are not plasticized by water and have large water/CH4 selectivities. We built on the initial literature RTIL-dehumidification data by looking at a series of …

The Cooling Effect Of Cryotherapy On Power And Accuracy In The Pitching Arms Of Baseball Players, David Kimble Wilbanks

Honors Theses

As the human body does work, energy is released in the form of heat. The ability to perform the same action repeatedly and at the same intensity requires energy to be maintained. By preserving energy in sports, a reduction of injuries and an increase in performance duration would most likely be observed. More specifically in sports, for 200 years of baseball history, the pitcher has attempted to keep their arm warm during resting intervals of a game, in belief this would help sustain their level of performance. This study attempted to overturn this view. I hypothesized that by cooling their …

Catalyst Studies With Implications On The Design And Fabrication Of Microreactors, Eric Snider

Honors Theses

Biodiesel, or fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), 'is a potential alternative, renewable fuel source to lessen foreign fuel dependency. Dr. Frank Jones' microreactor research group is investigating the use of microreactors to produce biodiesel. Microreactors can increase reaction rates, heat transfer, and lessen production costs due to their small size. The first generation of microreactors, coated with a nickel oxide (NiO) catalyst, has been developed and needs to be tested to determine their performance. Also, a catalyst study comparing NiO and platinum oxide (PtO2) will be performed to find the better catalyst for FAME production.

Replacement Options For The Ap1-Lew System, Tiffany M. Sherburn

Honors Theses

This report details the upgrade of Pfizer’s Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient-Low Endotoxin Water (API-LEW) distribution system. The current system is suffering from chloride induced stress corrosion which has caused pitting and cracking throughout the exterior portions of the loop. The system will eventually fail catastrophically if an update is not undertaken. Many variables and system constraints are considered to maintain the API-LEW grade water.

The system operates at 65 ^○C and maintains turbulence to prevent any microbial growth. The distribution loop spans 8,500 feet of 4 inch diameter stainless steel pipe which is carried on trestles that are exterior to …

Investigation Of Solid-State Shear Pulverization Processing Parameters For Polyethylene-Clay Nanocomposites , Ben Aldrich

Honors Theses

Investigates multiple processing parameters, includingpolymer type, filler type, processing technique, severity of SSSP (Solid-state shear pulverization)processing, and postprocessing, of SSSP. HDPE and LLDPE polymers with pristine clay and organo-clay samples are explored. Effects on crystallization, high-temperature behavior, mechanicalproperties, and gas barrier properties are examined. Thermal, mechanical, and morphological characterization is conducted to determine polymer/filler compatibility and superior processing methods for the polymer-clay nanocomposites.

New Catalysts For The Photocatalytic Reduction Of Carbon Dioxide To C1 Organic Compounds, Anna Hailey

Honors Theses

Photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) has recently been identified as one of the five notable research areas in catalysis because it simultaneously reduces carbon emissions while storing clean, green solar energy in organic compounds. The development of efficient photocatalysts that take advantage of solar radiation is therefore an important area of research. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a commonly-used photocatalyst for this reaction, but it requires ultraviolet (UV) radiation to excite its electrons. Carbon-doping (C-doping) has been shown to reduce the intensity of energy required, thus allowing the photocatalyst to take advantage of the visible light spectrum. Copper (Cu), added …

Cooling Tunnel Optimization, Trisha Janicki, Jason Thomas

Honors Theses

The goal of this senior design project was to design an Excel spreadsheet which would model a cooling tunnel at the production facility for Kellogg. This model takes the inputs from the operator, the ambient conditions, and the product going through the model and shows exactly what is happening within the tunnel. Once the model was built, an economic analysis was done based on the normal operations versus the increased efficiency of the cooling tunnel. This economic comparison showed that if the throughput of the cooling tunnel was increased by 17.6%, the cost of running the chiller, which is the …

Non-Classical Level Control Of The Utc Distillation Column, Mevan Ranasinghe

Honors Theses

This paper researches the enhancement of accuracy for level control for an operational distillation column. This was achieved through an analysis of both controller and sensor components. The UTC distillation column reboiler level control, like any control system, has multiple sources of error resulting in increased imprecision and inaccuracy. Several fundamental inaccuracies in processing of data were identified and then minimized by the introduction of a non-linear mathematical model prior to any actual controller development. This provides more accurate level measurement and a base for developing accurate controllers.In exploring the effectiveness of alternative controllers, two non-classical controllers are considered in …

A Continuous Distillation Operation At The University Of Tennessee At Chattanooga, David H. Cummins

Honors Theses

This paper describes the work done on the design, construction, monitoring, and control of a distillation column. This work was done as a Departmental Honors Project in the School of Engineering at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The column has been completed and the various tests performed with the column have produced satisfactory results. The column parameters are monitored and controlled by automatic controllers with manually adjusted set points. In addition to this, micro-computer based control for the column has been designed, however implementation of this control has not yet been achieved.