Chemical Engineering Commons^™

The Technical And Economic Feasibility Of Constructing An Artificial Wetland For Burra-Burra Creek In Ducktown Tennessee, Ileana M. Speer

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The Copper Hill Basin area in Polk County, Tennessee has been severely impacted by more than a century of mining. The water found in the streams in this area is polluted with dissolved metals and sulfates. Burra-Burra Creek is one of the various waterways impacted and is located within the 130 km2 area of deserted mines in the Copper Basin. This stream is fed from runoff and mine seepage; the stream is acidic and the metal concentration is high in comparison to the concentrations in other streams in the immediate area. The use of constructed wetlands to treat acidic mine …

Pulsed Ultrasound Enhances The Killing Of Escherichia Coli Biofilms By Aminoglycoside Antibiotics In Vivo, Andrea M. Rediske, Beverly L. Roeder, Jared L. Nelson, Rachel L. Robison, Bruce Schaaije, Richard A. Robison, William G. Pitt

Faculty Publications

Escherichia coli biofilms on two polyethylene disks were implanted subcutaneously into rabbits receiving systemic gentamicin. Ultrasound was applied for 24 h to one disk. Both disks were removed, and viable bacteria were counted. Pulsed ultrasound significantly reduced bacterial viability below that of nontreated biofilms without damage to the skin.

Electro-Oxidation Of Glyoxal To Glyoxalic Acid, Yin-Sheng Chen, Xin-Sheng Zhang, Jun Hu, Ying-Chun Dai

Journal of Electrochemistry

An investigation has been made to obtain the glyoxalic acid by the electrochemical oxidation of glyoxal solution with hydrochloric acid under various experimental conditions.The cell used consists of a lead cathode, a DSA anode and a cation-exchange membrane of model CM001. The current efficiency and yield for glyoxalic acid generation were 80.0% and 91.1% respectively, under optimal operating conditions: velocity of electrolyte flow 1.4 m·s^-1 ,current density 450 A·m^-2, temperature 30～40 ℃, initial concentration of glyoxal and hydrochloric acid 9.1%～16.0%, 4%～6%, respectively.

Studies On Electrochemical Synthesis Of 4,5-Disubstituted-1,2- Benzoquinones And The Reaction Mechanism, Xian-Zhang Bu, Gui-Wu Xiao, Lin Ma, Xing-Chum He, Ling-Quan Gu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The oxidation peak potentials (E_p) of alinine derivates and catechol in 0.1 mol/L KCl+15% alcohol solution were measured by cyclic voltammograms technique. The electrochemical oxidation condition was set according to the E_p. Three derivates of 4,5-disubstituted -1,2-benzoquinones were prepared via electrochemical oxidation-Michael addition reaction. The possible mechanism of electrochemical oxidation-Michael addition reaction is presented.

Electrochemical Characterization Of Ir-Ta-Ti Metal Oxide Coated Titanium Anodes, Ting-Yong Wang, Li-Kun Xu, Guang-Zhang Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

Ir-Ta-Ti metal oxide coated titanium anodes of variable composition were prepared by thermal decomposition. Their micro morphorogies and electrochemical properties were characterized by scanning electron microscope, open circuit potential, cyclic voltammetry, consumption rate measurements and accelerated life test. The SEM results indicated that all coatings were of a porous and cracked-mud microstructure influenced greatly by the composition of coatings. The electrochemical measurements showed that the Ir-Ta-Ti ternary oxide-coated anodes exhibited excellent electrochemical activity and electrochemical stability in both acidic media and seawater which were affected by the composition and microstructure of the coatings. Owing to good corrosion resistance and low …

The Study On Fabricating Thin Electrodes For Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (Pemfc), Yong-Sheng Yang, Jing-Hua Liu, Chang-Peng Liu, Gong-Quan Sun, Chang-Zhi Li, Tian-Hong Lu

Journal of Electrochemistry

To lower platinum loading in electrodes for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell, a new thin electrode fabrication technique (TEFT) was developed in this work. A series of low Pt loading electrodes with smooth and uniformed surface were fabricated by the TEFT. As a result, the maximum power density of the cell with platinum loading of 1 mg/cm² and Nafion 117 membrane as electrolyte was up to 0.3 W.cm^-2. Moreover, the effects of PTFE and Nafion content in cathodes on the performance of PEMFC with low Pt loading electrodes (1 mg Pt/cm²) were examined systematically.

Effect Of Different Species Of Cobalt Additive On Performance Of Nickel Hydroxide Electrode, Xian-Xia Yuan, Yin-Dong Wang, Feng Zhan

Journal of Electrochemistry

Performances of nickel electrodes when adding or without adding Cobalt in different forms were studied, the results were interpreted by cyclic voltammetry(CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscope (EIS). It was demonstrated that the additions of Co, CoO, CoO+Co by mechanically mixing with Ni(OH)₂ all can improve the performance of nickel electrode to some extent, and when Co is added in the form of CoO the best performance can be obtained. This can be mainly attributed to the fact that three kinds of Co additives all improved the structure of nickel hydroxide and the ability of H⁺ in electrolyte transporting …

Fabrication And Examination Of Reduced Temperatrue Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Using A Supported Thin Ysz Electrolyte Substrate, Yi-Huang Zhang, Yong-Lei Dong, Yi Jiang, Zhi-Gui Lu, Jing-Wang Yan

Journal of Electrochemistry

By using a cost-effective wet process,dense yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) films on Ni-YSZ anode substrates have been prepared successfully. The YSZ film was characterized to be around 10 μm in thickness, sufficiently dense, uniform and crack free. A single solid oxide fuel cell fabricated from the supported YSZ film electrolyte on the anode substrate and a LSM cathode prepared on the YSZ film was tested. The power density reached to 0.1 W/cm² at 800 ℃, showing a reasonable performance. Further analysis on both electrodes shows that the anodic overpotential was much larger than IR drop (including YSZ resistance and …

Cathodic Indirect Electro-Oxidation——Organic Electro-Synthesis Dimethyl Sulfone, Deng-Ping Gu, Rui-Zhi Wang, Hong-Kun Zhang, Xue-Ying Zhang, Wei Li, Bao-Qiu Cui

Journal of Electrochemistry

A cathodic indirect electro-oxidation system was established for indirect electro-oxidize dimethyl sulfoxide to dimethyl sulfone with electro-eduction generated H₂O₂ catalyzed by the pertungstate/tungstate (WO₅^2-/WO₄^2-) redox mediator. Influences of current density, pH, temperature, and the current efficiencies etc. On the cathodic indirect electro-oxidation of dimethyl sulfone were investigated for determining optimum reaction conditions. The current efficiency reached more than 70%. Mother-liquid could be recycled to use without pollution.

Reactor And Method For Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis, Nicholas Stepanluk, Keith Tomazi, Michael C. Stapleton

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A solid phase peptide synthesis reactor system and method of operating the reactor are provided. The reactor system includes a basket rotatable about an axis within a housing and a receiver which delivers fluid to; and collects fluid from; the housing. The basket has a perforate side wall against which a resin cake for the peptide synthesis formed. The reactor and receiver form a loop or circuit through which solutions are circulated. The circulation of the solutions prevents the reactor from flooding so that the basket Will not be submerged in solution and allows for the use of less liquid. …

Effects Of Adding Sodium And Fluoride Ions To Glass Ionomer On Its Interactions With Sodium Fluoride Solution, R. W. Billington, P. C. Hadley, Mark R. Towler, G. J. Pearson, J. A. Williams

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This investigates the effects of the addition of Na and F ions to a glass ionomer cement in which those ions are not inherently present on its interactions with dilute (0.2%) NaF solution. Both the effect of the solution on the cement's surface morphology and the effect of the cement on the solution in terms of take up of Na⁺ and F^- and of change in pH are to be investigated. These results are to be compared to previous results obtained with glasses which contained both, one, or neither of the ions as components of their glasses. NaF …

In-Line Measurement Of Solibility Of Physical Blowing Agents In Thermoplastic Melts As Related To Extrusion Foaming, Qiang Zhang

Dissertations

A novel in-line method for measuring physical blowing agent solubility in thermoplastic melts in extrusion foaming equipment has been developed in this study. This method uses video microscopy in connection with a foaming extruder (single or twin-screw) to generate solubility data by observing the onset of gas bubble formation/dissolution. This method offers a number of advantages over the existing conventional methods. It can be easily used to obtain solubility data for many foamable thermoplastic-physical blowing agent systems at high pressure and temperature near actual foaming conditions. Data generated using this method could be directly used to characterize and control a …

A Study Of Sound Attenuation Using Sonic Energy Focussed At An Artificial Soil Fracture, Minhaz Bootwala

Theses

Several laws have been passed over the past two decades to control contamination and to remediate already existing contaminated sites. There are a large number of these sites and several ex-situ and in-situ techniques have been developed to decontaminate these sites. These techniques can be quite expensive, especially the ex-situ clean-up operations, and there has always been a need for cheap, quick remediation methods.

This study investigates the attenuation of sound used in the in situ remediation technique coupling Sonic Energy with Pneumatic Fracturing and Vapor Extraction. Preliminary attenuation studies were performed in the laboratory with a microphone made at …

Ultra High Density Storage Media And Method Thereof, Ravi F. Saraf

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Patents

A storage media for storing information having a substrate. The substrate has an upper surface and a molecular weight greater than 5,000. Preferably the material is a polymer. The material has a plurality of piles of molecular chains in selected areas formed by pushing the molecular chains of the material on its upper surface to the selected area mechanically with a mechanical tool. The piles represent written information. The mechanical tool is preferably an atomic force microscope. Another aspect of the present invention is a method for storing information having the steps of selecting a material substrate having an upper …

Process For Producing Biodiesel Fuel With Reduced Viscosity And A Cloud Point Below Thirty-Two (32) Degrees Fahrenheit, Hossein Noureddini

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Patents

Triglycerides are reacted in a liquid phase reaction with methanol and a homogeneous basic catalyst. The reaction yields a spatially separated two phase result with an upper located non-polar phase consisting principally of non-polar methyl esters and a lower located phase consisting principally of glycerol and residual methyl esters. The glycerol phase is passed through a strong cationic ion exchanger to remove anions, resulting in a neutral product which is flashed to remove methanol and which is reacted with isobutylene in the presence of a strong acid catalyst to produce glycerol ethers. The glycerol ethers are then added back to …

Purification Of Immunoglobulins From Serum Using Thiophilic Cellulose Beads, Anuradha Subramanian

Papers in Biotechnology

This study evaluates the chromatographic performance of a support obtained by the reaction of mercaptoethanol with cellulose beads activated with divinyl sulfone. Cellulose beads 500-800 microns (pm) in diameter and with a solids content of 3.5% were selected for this study. A two-step sequence of permeation and reaction was used to install thiophilic sites throughout the cross section of the bead. The distribution of thiophilic sites was visualized by immobilizing fluorescent antibodies. Human and porcine serum proteins were separated on the thiophilic support at different linear velocities. Thiophilic cellulose beads were observed to bind human and porcine immunoglobulins (IgG) selectively …

Composition Containing A Polymer And Conductive Filler And Use Thereof, Ravi F. Saraf

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Patents

A composition containing a polymeric matrix and a conductive filler component is provided. The conductive filler component comprises conductive particles and a polymer selected from the group consisting of substituted and unsubstituted polyanilines, substituted and unsubstituted polyparaphenylenevinylenes, substituted and unsubstituted polythiophenes, substituted and unsubstituted polyazines, substituted and unsubstituted polyparaphenylenes, substituted and unsubstituted polyfuranes, substituted and unsubstituted polypyrroles, substituted and unsubstituted polyselenophene, substituted and unsubstituted poly-p-phenylene sulfides and substituted and unsubstituted polyacetylenes, and mixtures thereof, and copolymers thereof. Compositions of the present invention are useful as corrosion protecting layers for metal substrates, for electrostatic discharge protection, electromagnetic interference shielding, and as …

Electrode Modification Using An Unzippable Polymer Paste, Ravi F. Saraf

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Patents

A paste is described for capping electrodes with an oxide free metal layer incorporating a solvent, an unzippable polymer and particles. The electrode could be an interconnect such as a C4 bump. A method for forming a coating and for testing integrated circuit chips is also described. The invention overcomes the problem of interconnecting Pb containing electrodes that are covered with an insulating oxide on integrated circuit chips by coating the Pb containing electrode with Au to provide an oxide free surface for testing and interconnection.

Ethics Exercises For Civil, Environmental, And Geological Engineers, Paul Michael Santi

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The practices of civil, environmental, and geological engineering share many common ethical dilemmas. These fields typically require extensive interaction with clients and regulatory agencies, while dealing with unpredictable earth materials for design and uncertain design parameters. Consequently, a capstone design course must address not only technical issues, but also a wide range of ethical and behavioral issues. This study presents a series of exercises used in the classroom to teach these issues through dealing with "gray" ethical areas, concepts of advocacy and the use of compromise, relating specific stories to global concepts, proper behavior in the corporate environment, and the …

Ranking The Factors Impacting Lmmunosorbent Performance, Anuradha Subramanian, William H. Velander

Papers in Biotechnology

This work addresses the relative impact of the phenomena of orientation, multipoint attachment, and local density of the immobilized antibody 011 immunosorbent perfornnance. The masking of the antigen binding domains of monoclonal antibodies (Mab) by Fab Masking Antigens (FMAs) was used as a tool to determine the impact of orientation on the perforn~anceo f Emphaze, Affiprep'M, and Cellulose bead-based immunosorbents. A two-step antibody immobilization inethod involving permeation of the beaded matrix followed by a fast coupling reaction was used to study the effect of local density of the Mnh on immunosorbent efficiency. Lysyl groups on Mabs were covalently modified to …

Solid-State 13c Nmr Characterization Of Matched Tars And Chars From Rapid Coal Devolatilization, Steven T. Perry, Eric M. Hambly, Thomas H. Fletcher, Mark S. Solum, Ronald J. Pugmire

Faculty Publications

Matched tar/char sets were prepared by pyrolysis of a lignite and a bituminous coal in two entrained flow reactors at temperatures between 900 K and 1650 K and heating rates of 10⁴–10⁵ K/s. Detailed chemical structural characterization of these tars and chars was performed using elemental analysis and solid-state ¹³C NMR. This is the first set of detailed solid-state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data on coal tar samples. The average aromatic cluster sizes of the primary tars from these experiments are quite similar to those of their parent coals, confirming an assumption often made …

Modeling High Pressure Char Oxidation Using Langmuir Kinetics With An Effectiveness Factor, Jianhui Hong, William C. Hecker, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

The global nth order rate equation has been criticized for lack of theoretical basis and has been shown to be inadequate for modeling char oxidation rates as a function of total gas pressure. The simple Langmuir rate equation is believed to have more potential for modeling high pressure char oxidation. The intrinsic Langmuir rate equation is applied to graphite flake oxidation data and agrees well with reaction rates at three temperatures over the entire range of oxygen pressure (1–64 atm). It also explains the change of reaction order with temperature. In this work, the intrinsic Langmuir rate equation is combined …

Modeling Nitrogen Evolution During Coal Pyrolysis Based On A Global Free-Radical Mechanism, Steven T. Perry, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

A global free-radical mechanism and an associated rate equation for the evolution of light gas nitrogen during coal devolatilization are presented. The light gas nitrogen rate equation was used to modify an existing nitrogen model so that only a network devolatilization model and coal-specific chemical structural input data are required to adequately predict light gas nitrogen release at a variety of pyrolysis conditions. Model predictions show good agreement with nitrogen release data from pyrolysis of coals of rank from lignite to low volatile bituminous at heating rates from 0.5 to 10⁵ K/s, temperatures as high as 2300 K, and …

Improving The Accuracy Of Predicting Effectiveness Factors For Mth Order And Langmuir Rate Equations In Spherical Coordinates, Jianhui Hong, William C. Hecker, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

Char oxidation is often modeled using an mth order intrinsic reaction rate in conjunction with an effectiveness factor to account for intraparticle diffusion of gas species. This approach involves the use of a general modulus (M_T) and using the first-order curve of effectiveness factor vs M_T. This method was originally referred to as the general asymptotic solution. It has been suggested that a simple Langmuir rate equation is more suitable for modeling the effects of pressure on char reactivity. Therefore, several methods of developing general moduli for the Langmuir rate expression are shown. The general asymptotic …

Measurement Of Soot And Char In Pulverized Coal Fly Ash, John M. Veranth, Thomas H. Fletcher, David W. Pershing, Adel F. Sarofim

Faculty Publications

The unburned carbon in the fly ash produced by low-NOx pulverized coal combustion has been shown by electron microscopy to be a mixture of porous coal char particles and aggregates of submicron particles, which are thought to be soot. The carbon is bimodally distributed with large soot aggregates mixed with the char in the particles larger than 10 microns and dispersed soot found with the submicron particles. A method for determining the mass of soot and char by liquid-suspension gravity separation was used with both laboratory-scale and power plant fly ash samples. For low-NOx, staged, pilot-scale combustion of bituminous coal …

The Use Of Two Mixture Fractions To Treat Coal Combustion Products In Turbulent Pulverized-Coal Flames, Daniel V. Flores, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

Previous coal combustion models using assumed-shape PDF's to treat turbulence-chemistry interactions have used only one progress variable to treat products from coal reactions. This assumes that the products of all coal reactions have the same composition. However. the composition of the combustion products of coal particles is known to vary with burnout, especially between devclatilization and char oxidation. In this work, two progress variables were implemented which distinguish between the products of devolatilization and those of char oxidation. This new approach requires as input the specified volatile content and elemental release during devolatilization. The values for these parameters were estimated …

Diffusion Of Water In Nafion 115 Membranes, Sathya Motupally, Aaron J. Becker, John W. Weidner

Faculty Publications

In this paper, experimental and simulated data for the diffusion of water across Nafion membranes as a function of the water activity gradient are presented. The gradient in the activity of water across the membrane was varied by changing the flow rate and pressure of nitrogen gas on one side of the membrane. The other side of the membrane was equilibrated with liquid water. It was found that the model predictions are very sensitive to the value of the diffusion coefficient of water in Nafion. Using the Fickian diffusion coefficient extracted from self-diffusion measurements reported in the literature, the model …

Modeling The Effects Of Ion Association On Direct-Current Polarization Of Solid Polymer Electrolytes, Changqing Lin, Ralph E. White, Harry J. Ploehn

Faculty Publications

Considerable experimental evidence indicates that ion association occurs in solid polymer electrolytes. This work provides a thorough theoretical analysis of the effect of ion association on the conductivity, general current-potential behavior, and limiting current density in a solid polymer electrolyte. The model employs dilute solution theory to describe the fluxes of cations, anions, and ion pairs in a motionless continuum but neglects higher order association. The predictions of the model highlight the effects of the relative diffusion coefficients and dimensionless association constant on concentration distributions of simple ions and ion pairs, the limiting current density, and the potential drop required …

Oxygen Diffusion Coefficient And Solubility In A New Proton Exchange Membrane, Andrew T. Haug, Ralph E. White

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Self‐Discharge Model Of A Nickel‐Hydrogen Cell, B. Wu, Ralph E. White

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.