Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Hydrological Monitoring With Hybrid Sensor Networks, Thomas V. Freiberger, Sahra Sedigh, Estella A. Atekwana

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Existing hydrological monitoring systems suffer from short- comings in accuracy, resolution, and scalability. Their fragility, high power consumption, and lack of autonomy necessitate frequent site visits. Cabling requirements and large size limit their scalability and make them prohibitively expensive. The research described in this paper proposes to alleviate these problems by pairing high-resolution in situ measure- ment with remote data collection and software maintenance. A hybrid sensor network composed of wired and wireless connections autonomously measures various attributes of the soil, including moisture, temperature, and resistivity. The mea- surements are communicated to a processing server over the existing GSM cellular …

Rational De Novo Gene Synthesis By Rapid Polymerase Chain Assembly (Pca) And Expression Of Endothelial Protein-C And Thrombin Receptor Genes, Tarlan G. Mamedov, Nisha V. Padhye, Hendrik J. Viljoen, Anuradha Subramanian

Anuradha Subramanian Publications

The assembly of synthetic oligonucleotides into genes and genomes is an important methodology. Several methodologies for such synthesis have been developed, but they have two drawbacks: (1) the processes are slow and (2) the error frequencies are high (typically 1–3 errors/kb of DNA). Thermal damage is a major contributor to biosynthetic errors. In this paper, we elucidate the advantages of rapid gene synthesis by polymerase chain assembly (PCA) when used in combination with smart error control strategies. We used a high-speed thermocycler (PCRJet®) to effectively minimize thermal damage and to perform rapid assembly of synthetic oligonucleotides to construct two different …

Effect Of Hydrofluoric Acid In Oxidizing Acid Mixtures On The Hydroxylation Of Silicon Surface, Sanjukta Guhathakurta, Anuradha Subramanian

Anuradha Subramanian Publications

Silicon (100) wafers, predipped in 1:20 (v/v) HF water, were treated separately with four different acid mixtures, viz., HNO₃, H₂SO₄–H₂O₂, HNO₂–HF, and H₂SO₄–H₂O₂–HF, for different time durations. Subsequent vigorous rinsing with deionized water rendered the wafer surfaces with hydroxyl termination. Synthesized surfaces were characterized by diffuse-reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS), ellipsometry, contact angle and atomic force microscopy. Surfaces treated with HN0₃ and H₂SO₂–H₂O₂ showed increasing hydrophilicity at room temperature due to …

Bayesian Estimation Via Sequential Monte Carlo Sampling-Constrained Dynamic Systems, Lixin Lang, Wen-Shiang Chen, Bhavik R. Bakshi, Prem K. Goel, Sridhar Ungarala

Chemical & Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Nonlinear and non-Gaussian processes with constraints are commonly encountered in dynamic estimation problems. Methods for solving such problems either ignore the constraints or rely on crude approximations of the model or probability distributions. Such approximations may reduce the accuracy of the estimates since they often fail to capture the variety of probability distributions encountered in constrained linear and nonlinear dynamic systems. This article describes a practical approach that overcomes these shortcomings via a novel extension of sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) sampling or particle filtering. Inequality constraints are imposed by accept/reject steps in the algorithm. The proposed approach provides samples representing …

Mesophilic Digestion Kinetics Of Manure Slurry, Khursheed Karim, K. Thomas Klasson, Sadie R. Drescher, Whitney Ridenour, Abhijeet P. Borole, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Anaerobic Digestion Kinetics Study of Cow Manure Was Performed at 35°C in Bench-Scale Gas-Lift Digesters (3.78 L Working Volume) at Eight Different Volatile Solids (VS) Loading Rates in the Range of 1.11-5.87 G L^-1 Day^-1. the Digesters Produced Methane at the Rates of 0.44-1.18 L L^-1 Day^-1, and the Methane Content of the Biogas Was Found to Increase with Longer Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT). based on the Experimental Observations, the Ultimate Methane Yield and the Specific Methane Productivity Were Estimated to Be 0.42 L CH₄ (G vs. Loaded)^-1 and 0.45 L CH …

New Approaches To Scaled-Up Carbon Nanotube Synthesis And Nanotube-Based Metal Composites And Sensors, Amit Goyal

Dissertations

The first phase of the work presented in this dissertation is the development of a scaleable process for the cost-effective synthesis of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) by thermally-induced catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CVD). With the goal of understanding the growth mechanism and optimize the synthesis process, the effect of CVD and catalyst parameters on nanotube formation was investigated in detail. It was found that nucleation and growth of SWNTs occurred within a few seconds of the introduction of the carbon source, carbon monoxide, at temperatures above 675°C over a Co-Mo/MgO catalyst/support system, resulting in the formation of high quality …

Oxygen Enrichment Effect Of Mno2-Pt/C Compound Catalyst To The Cathode Of Pemfc, Hong-Feng Xu, Mao-Feng Zhang, Quan-Quan Gan, Cai-Sheng Huang

Journal of Electrochemistry

TO study of the oxygen storage material of air cathode is crucial for increasing performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell.Using the MnO₂ as oxygen storage materials,a MnO₂-Pt/C catalysts were prepared and is used to replace the conventional Pt/C in air cathode.The electrochemical performance of air cathode composed of MnO₂ supported on Pt/C and the properties of fuel cell composed of MnO₂-Pt/C were investigated by using the CV,galvanostatic dischange method and TEM.

Electro-Chemical Oxidation Kinetics Of The V(Iv) In The Sulfuric Acid Solution, Yong-Lian Qiao, Qian Xu, Jie Zhang, Yu-Chun Zhai

Journal of Electrochemistry

The electro-chemical oxidation kinetics for V(IV) in the sulfuric acid solution were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and steady state polarization curves at a graphite,platinum or conducting polymer electrode.Some kinetics parameters for the electrochemical reaction of V(IV) were calculated according to the Tafel curves.The results showed that the exchange current density and reversibility of V(V)/V(IV) redox reaction at the graphite electrode is largest among the three electrodes.There is the broadest extent of water stability and large oxidgen evolution potential when the conducting polymer was used as a working electrode in the solution of VOSO₄(0.5 mol/L) and H₂SO …

Preparation, Structure, And Cv Study Of The Supported Ptruir/Tic Electrocatalysts For Oxygen Electrodes, Sheng Sui, Li-Rong Ma

Journal of Electrochemistry

The PtRuIr/TiC electrocatalysts were prepared by method of reduction and deposition on TiC powders as supports together with ultrasonic wave dispersion.The sampls were characterized by BET surface area,scanning electron microscope,X-ray diffraction,and cyclic voltammetry techniques.The active components of Pt,Ru,and Ir particles(2.6%Pt,1.3%Ru,16%Ir,and 80%TiC,by mass) were mainly dispersed on the outer surface of the TiC supports,which structures were in favor of fine variable crystallites.It was found that the electrochemical performance of the PtRuIr/TiC electrodes was about three times as that of the unsupported electrocatalysts with the same active compositions for oxygen evolution reaction.After 120 times of CV cycles,there was almost no PtRuIr/TiC dissolving …

Electrocatalytic Oxidation Of Methanol At The Nano Ni-B Amorphous Alloy Powdermicroelectrode, Yi-Xiong Zheng, Shi-Bing Yao, Shao-Min Zhou

Journal of Electrochemistry

Electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol at the nano Ni-B amorphous alloy powder-microelectrode in alkaline media was studied by using cyclic voltammetry.Compared to the highly preferred orientation(220) nickel electrode,The onset potential of methanol electrooxidation at the nano Ni-B microelectrode is negatively shifted about 0.04V,and the current density is increased approximately by 2 orders of magnitude.Thus,the nano Ni-B microelectrode has very strong electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of methanol.The kinetic parameters were determined with the steady polarization curves.The results show that the rate constants for both the oxidation of Ni(Ⅱ) to Ni(Ⅲ) and the reduction of Ni(Ⅲ) to Ni(Ⅱ) at the nano Ni-B …

The Syntheses And Electrochemical Performance Of Nano-Mno2 For Supercapacitor, Jun Ma, Ming-Sen Zheng, Quan-Feng Dong

Journal of Electrochemistry

Nano-manganese dioxide were prepared by two different methods which are low temperature solid reaction and chemical deposition.The products were characterized by XRD,SEM,BET and constant current charge-discharge tests.The result shows that there is a close relationship between specific capacitance and BET surface areas.Meanwhile the specific capacitance was impacted little by the structure of the nano-manganese dioxides.However,the product performance of high rates,was influenced by structure,the higher rate can be obtained with the more perfect crystal structure.

Analysis Of Thermal Effects In Infrared And Interference Microscopy: N-Butane-5a And Methanol-Ferrierite Systems, Lars Heinke, Christian Chmelik, Pavel Kortunov, Dhananjai B. Shah, S. Brandani, Douglas M. Ruthven, Jörg Kärger

Chemical & Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Recently, infrared and interference microscopy methods have been increasingly applied to measure internal concentration gradients and hence the uptake of different adsorbates in zeolite crystals. In contrast to conventional macroscopic batch uptake techniques, these microscopic/mesoscopic methods measure changes associated with single zeolite crystals. The analysis of data from these measurements to determine micropore diffusivities has been performed on the basis of the assumption that isothermal conditions prevail during both the adsorption and desorption experiments. This assumption is critically examined in this paper for the case of methanol diffusion in ferrierite crystals during adsorption and desorption to vacuum. It is shown …

Two-Dimensional Modeling Of Ap/Htpb Utilizing A Vorticity Formulation And One-Dimensional Modeling Of Ap And Adn, Matthew L. Gross

Theses and Dissertations

This document details original numerical studies performed by the author pertaining to the propellant oxidizer, ammonium perchlorate (AP). Detailed kinetic mechanisms have been utilized to model the combustion of the monopropellants AP and ADN, and a two-dimensional diffusion flame model has been developed to examine the flame structure above an AP/HTPB composite propellant. This work was part of an ongoing effort to develop theoretically based, a priori combustion models. The improved numerical model for AP combustion utilizes a “universal” gas-phase kinetic mechanism previously applied to combustion models of HMX, RDX, GAP, GAP/RDX, GAP/HMX, NG, BTTN, TMETN, GAP/BTTN, and GAP/RDX/BTTN. The …

The Effect Of Flame Structure On Soot Formation And Transport In Turbulent Nonpremixed Flames Using Direct Numerical Simulation, David O. Lignell, Jacqueline H. Chen, Philip J. Smith, Tianfeng Lu, Chung K. Law

Faculty Publications

Direct numerical simulations of a two-dimensional, nonpremixed, sooting ethylene flame are performed to examine the effects of soot–flame interactions and transport in an unsteady configuration. A 15-step, 19-species (with 10 quasi-steady species) chemical mechanism was used for gas chemistry, with a two-moment, four-step, semiempirical soot model. Flame curvature is shown to result in flames that move, relative to the fluid, either toward or away from rich soot formation regions, resulting in soot being essentially convected into or away from the flame. This relative motion of flame and soot results in a wide spread of soot in the mixture fraction coordinate. …

Heterogeneous Catalysis And Biodiesel Forming Reactions, Dora Lopez

All Dissertations

Biodiesel, defined as 'a fuel comprised of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats', is finding favor commercially worldwide. The objective of this study is to evaluate the use of solid catalysts for triglyceride transesterification and carboxylic acid esterification to produce biodiesel fuel.
Processes using mainly homogeneous alkali catalysts (such as NaOH, KOH, and methoxides) have been shown to be effective for biodiesel synthesis when dealing with virgin oil feedstocks. Use of acid catalysts (e.g., H2SO4) becomes important when processing low quality feedstocks that contain appreciable amounts of free fatty acids, such as …

Biodiesel Forming Reactions Using Heterogneous Catalysis, Yijun Liu

All Dissertations

Biodiesel synthesis from biomass provides a means for utilizing effectively renewable resources, a way to convert waste vegetable oils and animal fats to a useful product, a way to recycle carbon dioxide for a combustion fuel, and production of a fuel that is biodegradable, non-toxic, and has a lower emission profile than petroleum-diesel. Free fatty acid (FFA) esterification and triglyceride (TG) transesterification with low molecular weight alcohols constitute the synthetic routes to prepare biodiesel from lipid feedstocks. This project was aimed at developing a better understanding of important fundamental issues involved in heterogeneous catalyzed biodiesel forming reactions using mainly model …

Thermodynamic Adsorption Studies Of Peptides On Well-Defined, Surface-Confined Polymers With Applications In Membrane Bioseparations, Nripen Singh

All Dissertations

This dissertation deals with the fundamental studies of peptide adsorption on surfaces modified by surface-confined polymer films, with an application emphasis on membrane bioseparations. In order to understand protein adsorption at a fundamental level, it is important to study the specific residue-level interactions with surfaces. Keeping this idea in view, the present work describes experimental measurements of submolecular-level interaction energies involved in the process of peptide adsorption on polymer films using surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy. Gibbs energy change on adsorption (ΔGad) for tyrosine, phenylalanine, and glycine homopeptides were measured at 25 °C and pH 7 on highly uniform, nanothin polymer …

Research On Establishment Of Oil Spill Emergency Response System In China Qingdao Port Based On Ann, Ge Zhang

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Application Of Iso Tank In Chemimcal Logisitcs In China And Relative Issues, Hao Zhang

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Security Printing: Towards Hologram Printing, Sachin Ravindra Agate

Masters Theses

Today we are facing many situations where the genuineness of the products and documents is questioned. Counterfeiting the original products has become a business of few people, which result in the degradation of quality of products, loss of money and loss of faith of end user. To prevent such malicious act, security features are added in the final product. Security printing is one of those methods that help in preventing counterfeit products and treachery. There are many different security features, which can be added in the security printing. Apart from those features, an embossed hologram is also included in prints …

New Theoretical Considerations In Polymer Rheology: Elastic Breakdown Of Chain Entanglement Network, Shi-Qing Wang, Sham Ravindranath, Yangyang Wang, Pouyan Boukany

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

Recent experimental evidence has motivated us to present a set of new theoretical considerations and to provide a rationale for interpreting the intriguing flow phenomena observed in entangled polymer solutions and melts [P. Tapadia and S. Q. Wang, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 016001 (2006); 96, 196001 (2006); S. Q. Wang , ibid. 97, 187801 (2006)]. Three forces have been recognized to play important roles in controlling the response of a strained entanglement network. During flow, an intermolecular locking force f(iml) arises and causes conformational deformation in each load-bearing strand between entanglements. The chain deformation builds up a retractive force f(retract) …

Anwendung Von Interferenz- Und Ir-Mikroskopie Zur Charakterisierung Und Untersuchung Des Stofftransportes In Nanoporösen Materialien, Lars Heinke, Christian Chmelik, Pavel Kortunov, Sergey Vasenkov, Douglas M. Ruthven, Dhananjai B. Shah, Jörg Kärger

Chemical & Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Die Anwendung der Interferenz-Mikroskopie bedeutet einen entscheidenden Durchbruch in der Untersuchung des Stofftransports von Gastmolekülen in nanoporösen Wirtsmaterialien. Diese Technik ermöglicht die Beobachtung der zeitaufgelösten intrakristallinen Konzentrationsprofile, die durch eine Änderung des umgebenden Gasdruckes entstehen. Dieser Ansatz wurde zur Untersuchung von Adsorptions- und Desorptionsprozessen in verschiedenen Zeolithsystemen verwendet. Die Vorteile dieser Technik, vor allem wenn sie mit Infrarotabsorptionsmessungen kombiniert wird, werden an Hand der experimentellen Resultate des Methanol-in-Ferrierit-Systems illustriert.

Influence Of Two Changes In The Composition Of An Acrylic Bone Cement On Its Handling, Thermal, Physical, And Mechanical Properties, G. Lewis, J. Xu, S. Madigan, Mark R. Towler

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study is a contribution to the growing body of work on the influence of changes in the composition of an acrylic bone cement on various properties of the curing and cured material. The focus is on one commercially-available acrylic bone cement brand, Surgical Simplex®P, and three variants of it and a series of properties, namely, setting time, maximum exotherm temperature, activation energy and frequency factor for the polymerization reaction, diffusion coefficient for the uptake of phosphate buffered saline, at 37°C, ultimate compressive strength (UCS), plane-strain fracture toughness, fatigue life (under fully-reversed tension-compression stress), hardness (H) and elastic modulus (both …

A Chemical Engineering Laboratory Over Distributed Control And Measurement Systems, Jing Guo, David Kettler, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Remote Control of Lab Apparatus Via the Internet Allows Flexible Scheduling of Experiments and Exercises. This Paper Presents a Novel Application of Computers and Internet Technology in Chemical Engineering Education that Highlights Interactive Learning for an Undergraduate Course in Online Measurement and Control. the Proposed Client-Server Architecture Can Be Adapted to Drive Different Kinds of Devices and Can Be Easily Expanded. the Developed Online Laboratory Has Been Tested by Many Students using Different Connections and Operating Conditions. This Internet-Based Solution Can Improve Undergraduate Engineering Education in a Conventional Unit Operation Laboratory. as an Example, the Application of Remote Experiments to …

Vibrational Modes Of ⁴He And H₂ Gases Adsorbed On Carbon Nanotubes, Silvina M. Gatica, Angela D. Lueking, W. Milton Cole, Gerald D. Mahan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We present calculations of the breathing mode phonon frequencies of ⁴He and H₂ physically adsorbed on the outside surface of one or more carbon nanotubes. Two geometries are considered. The first is a single, isolated nanotube, upon which the gas is adsorbed as a commensurate phase. The second is a quasi-one-dimensional "groove" phase nestled between two nanotubes. While the computed breathing mode frequencies depend on nanotube radius and the adsorbate, in general, they are of the same order of magnitude as those of the bare nanotubes.

Influence Of Acid Washing On The Surface Morphology Of Ionomer Glasses And Handling Properties Of Glass Ionomer Cements, C. M. Crowley, J. Doyle, Mark R. Towler, N. Rushe, S. Hampshire

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Acid washing is known to influence the handling properties of ionomer glasses used in glass ionomer cements due to the production of an ion depleted zone on the surface of the glass particles. The influence of acid washing on the particle size distribution and surface area of four glasses was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), particle size analysis (PSA) and accelerated surface area porosimetry (ASAP) and the working and setting times of cements, produced from the glasses, correlated to changes in surface morphology. A linear relationship was found between the specific surface area of acid-washed SiO₂-Al_{2 …}

The Effect Of Alternative Fuels And Aftertreatment Devices On Measured Mobile School Bus Emissions, Andrew Todd Toback

Theses and Dissertations

Since January 2002, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) has sponsored a research study at Rowan University to develop strategies for reducing diesel emissions from mobile sources such as school buses and class 8 trucks. This thesis presents research conducted on reducing emissions from school buses during mobile operating conditions. Four fuel blends and three aftertreatment devices were tested on three school bus engines.

For all of the tests, exhaust gas emission measurements were made using a Sensors Semtech-D to measure CO, CO₂, NO₂, NO, O₂, and HC, along with a Sensors PM-300 …

Comprehensive Study Of Biomass Fly Ash In Concrete: Strength, Microscopy, Kinetics And Durability, Shuangzhen Wang, Larry Baxter

Faculty Publications

ASTM (American Standard Testing and Materials) C 618 prohibits use of biomass fly ash in concrete. This document systematically investigates the strength, microscopic study and durability (mitigation of Alkali Silica Reaction (ASR) expansion) of biomass fly ash concrete (cement partially replaced by fly ash) and kinetics of the mixture of biomass fly ash and calcium hydroxide. The biomass fly ash in the investigation comes from cofired (herbaceous with coal) fly ash, which includes different kinds of coal and biomass. All the results show that biomass fly ash with cofiring concentration within the interest to commercial coal–biomass cofiring operations at power …

Potential Energy Surfaces For Small Alcohol Dimers. Ii. Propanol, Isopropanol, T-Butanol, And Sec-Butanol, Richard L. Rowley, Christopher M. Tracy, Tapani A. Pakkanen

Faculty Publications

Potential energy landscapes for homogeneous dimers of propanol, isopropanol, tert-butanol, and sec-butanol were obtained using 735 counterpoise-corrected energies at the MP2/6-311+G(2df,2pd) level. The landscapes were sampled at 15 dimer separation distances for different relative monomer geometries, or routes, given in terms of the yaw, pitch, and roll of one monomer relative to the other and the spherical angles between the two monomer centers (taken as the C atom attached to the O). The resultant individual energy surfaces and their complex topographies were also regressed using a site-site pair potential model using a modified Morse potential that provides a mathematically simple …

Ultrasonically-Assisted Drug Delivery In Rats Reduces Tumor Growth, William G. Pitt, Beverly L. Roeder, G. Bruce Schaalje, Bryant J. Staples

Faculty Publications

Previously we have shown that nanosized drug carriers called Plurogels™ sequestered Doxorubicin (Dox) and partially released this drug with application of ultrasound (US) (Fig. 1)1. The application to chemotherapy was successfully demonstrated in a rat tumor model2. However previous studies did not examine the distribution of Dox in the insonated and control tissue. This recent work investigated the effect of two US frequencies and examined the Dox distribution in the insonated and control tumors to determine if US was depositing more Dox at the insonated site.