Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Electrochemical Synthesis Of Methoxide For Transesterification Of Palm Oil, Apiruedee Juntuma

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Sodium methoxide (NaOCH3) is commonly used as an alkaline homogeneous catalyst in transesterification to produce fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) and glycerol as a by-product. However, this conventional process requires a few steps to remove the homogeneous catalyst from the products by neutralization and washing, creating waste salts to be treated with additional cost. This study investigates the electrochemical synthesis of methoxide. Amberlite IRA402 anion exchange resin is used to adsorb the generated methoxide and subsequently as a heterogeneous catalyst for transesterification to observe its catalytic activity. In contrast to many other similar works, this synthesis was performed with anion-exchange …

Prediction Of Coke Formation Over A Catalyst Particle For Dry Reforming Of Methane, Chananun Rojanarungruengporn

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Nowadays, global warming is a significant environmental problem causing various impacts across the globe. Dry reforming of methane (DRM) is one of the reactions that can utilize CO2 effectively. However, the major problem of DRM process is the deactivation of catalysts caused by coke formation over the catalyst particle which mainly occurs from CH4 decomposition reaction. Coke formation leads to a decrease in catalytic performance by blocking the pores and active sites. In this study, the spatial catalyst deactivation caused by coke formation over a spherical alumina-supported nickel catalyst (Ni/Al2O3) particle in dry reforming of methane (DRM) was investigated using …

Effect Of Cob Loading Amount In Gc3n4 Nanosheet In Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation, Chayathorn Prapaitrakool

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Noble metals, such as Pt, Ru, and Ir, have been widely used as expensive catalyst promoters to enhance the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In contrast, other cheaper catalyst promoters that can also promote high HER performance have been developed, such as metal phosphides, and metal borides. Recently, nickel boride (NiB) loaded on graphitic carbon nitride nanosheet (gCNS) has exhibited promising HER performance under visible light. Thus, this research attempted to investigate HER performance of cobalt boride (CoB) as a cocatalyst on gCNS and compare to the HER performance of NiB. The amount of CoB loading was varied from 1-11 …

Synthesis Of Molybdenum-Based Catalysts On Carbon Support For Partial Hydrogenation Reaction Of Biodiesel, Dolrudee Jaruwat

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Nowadays, biodiesel is a renewable energy, which can decrease fossil fuel. It helped reducing air pollution. Partial Hydrogenation is one process which improves the biodiesel quality. In this research, activated carbon was produced from cattail leave via hydrothermal carbonization and chemical activation. The activated carbon was treated with 4 M of potassium hydroxide at 900oC, which exhibits 1323.38 m2g-1 of SBET. Several type of catalysts (Mo, Ni, Ci, Fe, MoNi, MoCu, and MoFe) were studied in this research, which were prepared using a rotary evaporation technique. The experiments reveal that MoNi/C catalyst indicate the highest dispersion of metal particle. The …

Effects Of Types Of Arylamine Based Benzoxazine Binders In Brake Pads On Thermal Degradation Kinetics, Juntasak Wangrangsimakul

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This research aimed to investigate the effect of the alkyl-substituted aromatic amines of polybenzoxazine resins used as binders in the non-asbestos friction composite materials on their thermal degradation and stability. The effects of BA-35x polybenzoxazine resin used as a binder of the brake pad were investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) under nitrogen atmosphere at various heating rates of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 25 °C/min by applying the model of Advanced iso-conversional method. For the friction composite system using BA-35x as binder, the derivative thermogram exhibited six stages of thermal decomposition reaction. The activation energies of six stages were determined …

Degradation Of Benzyl Phenyl Ether As Lignin Model Compound By Electrochemical Advanced Oxidation Process In A Microreactor, Kevin Lee

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

As the world is shifting away from its reliance on fossil fuel, lignocellulosic biomass, which is low cost, renewable and abundant with cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin being its major components. Lignin has high potential to be converted into other value-added chemicals as an alternative to fossil fuel. This research focusses on systematic investigation of degradation of lignin by electrochemical advanced oxidation process (EAOP) in a microreactor, using benzyl phenyl ether (BPE) as a model compound for lignin. The first part of the research investigates the dissolution of BPE in various volume fraction of co-solvent system. The co-solvent system is used …

Controllable Formation Of Microparticles Via Microfluidic Technique, Narin Paiboon

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Droplet microfluidics is an interesting tool in the encapsulation process due to its potentiality for microparticles and microcapsules fabrication with uniform size and narrow size distribution. The formation of water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion droplets in a microfluidic flow-focusing device for microparticles production were investigated under a wide selection of operating parameters together with liquid materials. Experimental results of 12 data sets from over 100 experiments in two different-sized channels were assessed. The stable narrowing jet and tip streaming regime noticeably created monodisperse droplet formation with high throughput. The droplet size to junction size has been found to correlate with the three …

Development Of Rotating Tube Reactor For Biodiesel Production From Palm Oil, Narita Chanthon

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Rotating tube reactor (RTR), one of process intensification technologies, could highly increase the mixing performance and generate sufficient heat for biodiesel production. This research explored the optimum condition, essential characteristics of hydrodynamic regime and residence time distribution inside the rotating tube reactor (RTR) to enhance the biodiesel production rate using alkali-catalyzed transesterification. The operating condition of this RTR was 6:1 methanol-to-oil molar ratio, total flowrate of 30 mL/min and rotational speed of 1,000 rpm at room temperature, giving the highest biodiesel yield of 97.5% with yield efficiency of 3.75 × 10-3 g/J and the quality of biodiesel achieving the ASTM …

Cathodized Stainless Steel Mesh For Binder-Free Nife2o4/Nife Ldh Oxygen Evolution Reaction Electrode, Natthapon Sripallawit

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is an essential reaction commonly applied in various energy storage and conversion technologies. One of the common issues of OER lies in its low kinetic activity. Therefore, developing durable, low-cost, and high-performance OER catalysts is critical. Recently, many attempts have used stainless steel mesh (SSM) as the substrate for OER electrodes because SSM is abundant, cheap, and durable. Nickel/iron-based materials, i.e., NiFe2O4/NiFe layer double hydroxides (LDHs), are regarded as one of the most excellent OER catalysts in alkaline electrolytes, making them attractive low-cost materials for OER catalysts. However, the synthesis of NiFe2O4/NiFe LDHs directly on the …

Manganese Dioxide Coated With Tin Oxide As Cathode Material For High-Performance Aqueous Zinc-Ion Battery., Nichakarn Meekaew

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have attracted increasing attention as an energy storage technology due to their high energy density, low cost, and environmental friendliness. However, the application of manganese dioxide as the cathode for aqueous Zn-ion batteries (ZIBs) is restricted by the solubility of manganese dioxide in aqueous electrolytes and the formation of byproducts during the charge/discharge process, causing severe capacity fading and limited cycle life. Surface modification is one of the interesting techniques to improve zinc-ion batteries electrochemical performance. Here, we report an ultrathin SnO2 film as an artificial solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) to modify the surface of …

Norfloxacin Adsorption By Activated Carbon From Turmeric Waste, Nuttamon Vanichsetakul

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

In recent years, extensive use of modern medicines and incompetency of conventional wastewater treatment systems have led to contamination of antibiotics in the environment especially in lower income countries. Antibiotics could interact with bacteria in the environment forming resistance to the medicine. Antibiotics also disrupt the balance of ecosystems affecting various lifeforms. Norfloxacin is a common antibiotic in Thailand with reported levels of contamination in Bang Pakong River. Adsorption process is a cheap and effective approach to remove antibiotics from wastewater effluent. Activated carbon is a common adsorbent in adsorption process due to its porous properties. Agricultural waste presents as …

Electrochemical Tubular Fixed-Bed Reactor For Conversion Of Pressurized Co2 To Co, Pakawat Sengchim

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) can be used for activating the stable CO2 molecule to the more active CO for downstream purposes. Usually, this process is carried out in CO2-saturated aqueous solutions. The low solubility of CO2 in water of 0.033 M at 1 bar of CO2 and room temperature hinders both kinetics and mass transfer. In this study, a novel electrochemical tubular reactor for electrochemical CO2RR is proposed. The design was made with ease of scale-up in mind. A reactor can contain multiple electrochemical cells connected in series. Each cell consists of 3 main parts: porous anode, porous solid …

Process Of Pretreatment And Hydrolysis Of Lignocellulose From Palm Empty Fruit Bunch For Xylose And Glucose Production, Pitchaya Teerakulkittipong

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Oil palm empty fruit bunch is an interesting lignocellulose feedstock for sugar production. However, lignin prohibits chemicals from accessing the hemicellulose and cellulose, which is the source of sugar. Therefore, the overall process requires pretreatment to remove lignin and hydrolysis to convert hemicellulose and cellulose to sugar. In this research, the aim is to design a process model of sugar production using different pretreatment chemicals, including alkaline (NaOH) and acid (H2SO4), and compare the other necessary following process. Moreover, capital investment is also estimated. According to the results, different pretreatment chemicals results in a different change of lignocellulose structure and …

Effect Of Bismuth (Bi) Concentration On Bi/Sn Electrodes Prepared By Electrodeposition In Electrochemical Reduction Of Co2 To Toward Solid Carbon Products, Sarita Phupaichitkun

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the main greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. The electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction (CO2RR) is an interesting and low-cost CO2 conversion technology using renewable electricity as an energy source. Herein, CO2RR to solid carbon products was studied on bismuth/tin (Bi/Sn) electrodes synthesized by electrodeposition method. Different Bi concentration (0.01 M,0.03 M, 0.05 M,0.07 M and 0.1 M) were used to prepare the electrodes by electrodeposition method. The SEM-EDX and EIS results which reveal that the Bi/Sn electrode prepared in 0.05 M Bi 3+ had the lowest charge transfer resistance and was indicated as a CO2RR …

Preparation Of Nickel Phyllosilicate Catalysts By One-Step Modified Spherical Silica Synthesis In Carbon Dioxide Hydrogenation And Selective Hydrogenation Of Furfural To Furfuryl Alcohol, Sasithorn Kuhaudomlap

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Spherical silica derived nickel phyllosilicate catalysts were prepared via a one-step modified spherical silica synthesis under room temperature. For 10wt% Ni loading, the loading sequence of Ni and Si sources during spherical silica synthesis was found to affect the characteristics and catalytic properties in CO2 methanation. The stronger interaction between Ni and silica in the form of nickel phyllosilicate revealed the better catalytic performances than the impregnation method. The highest CO2 methanation activity and methane selectivity were obtained over the catalyst prepared by alternate loading between Ni and Si (Ni_Alt_Si) due to high electron density of nickel on the surface, …

Liquid-Phase Selective Hydrogenation Of Furfural To Furfuryl Alcohol Over Pt- And Ptfe-Incorporated Mesoporous Carbon, Sureeporn Saknaphawuth

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This research aims to investigate the liquid-phase selective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol in a batch reactor at 50ºC, 20 bar H2 using water and methanol as the solvent. This study has been divided into two sections. The characteristics and catalytic properties of OMC-supported Pt catalysts (Pt/OMC-one-pot) prepared by one-step modified soft-template self-assembly method were compared with the Pt impregnated on OMC, activated carbon (AC), and non-uniform meso/macroporous carbon (MC) in the first section. Larger Pt particle size (~4 nm) was obtained on the Pt/OMC-one-pot comparing to all the impregnated ones, in which the Pt particle sizes were in …

Electrochemical Reduction Of Carbon Dioxide On Copper-Based Cathodes In Electrochemical Tubular Fixed Bed Reactor, Kanjira Janya

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

CO2 electrochemical reduction reaction (CO2ERR) has been investigated with an aim to eventually become a means to decrease the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere to hydrocarbons by proton and electron transfer. The product distribution strongly depends on cathode materials. Copper is a unique metal in its ability to catalyze the electrochemical reduction of CO2 to various hydrocarbons including ethylene, but the main problems are the poor solubility CO2 in aqueous solutions. In this study, the performance of CO2ERR is improved by increasing pressure. The ionomer copper foam is used as a cathode in the electrochemical tubular fixed bed reactor …

Synthesis Of Magnetic Carbon Nanotubes Via Co-Pyrolysis Of Eucalyptus Oil With Bimetallic Ni-Fe Catalyst, Tanapat Rodruangnon

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Magnetic carbon nanotubes (MCNTs) have been specified one of the most promising nanomaterials. They have been applied in many applications due to special electrical, mechanical, and chemical properties. Additionally, magnetic carbon nanotubes could be easily handled by using magnetic field. There are many production developments for increasing in yield and quality of MCNTs. In this thesis, bimetallic Ni-Fe catalyst was investigated for its possibility to improve MCNT synthesis. Nickel content was impregnated on the surface of ferrocene which is the source of Fe content. The catalyst is called ‘ferrocene impregnated with nickel nitrate’. Eucalyptus oil, which mainly contains eucalyptol, was …

Tetracycline Sorption By Magnetic Biochar Derived From Watermelon Rind: Performance And Influential Factors, Phisit Thairattananon

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Tetracycline (TC) antibiotic is one of emerging contaminants in water reservoirs that causes undesirable effects on environment and human health. Magnetic biochar (MBC) is considered a promising sorbent in adsorption process for removal of contaminants with highly efficient and facile operation. In this work, MBC was synthesized by pyrolysis of watermelon rind impregnated with FeCl3 at different pyrolysis temperatures in a range of 600-900 °C prior to applying for TC adsorption. Characteristics of MBC were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, elemental analyzer, N2 adsorption/desorption, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, and X-ray diffractometry. The adsorption kinetics, isotherm, effect …

Analysis Of Refracturing Activities In The Major Shale Plays In The United States, Faisal Shammam

Masters Theses

"Refracturing of existing horizontal multistage wells has increased over the past decade in the oil industry. This work aims to investigate all the refracturing operations in the most active shale plays in the united states (Bakken, Niobrara, Marcellus, Permian, Eagle Ford, Barnett, and Haynesville) in terms of completion technique, candidate selection, treatment types, and refracturing production efficiency. To collect the data of the refractured wells, an advanced data analytics approach was applied to separate the refractured wells from 170,000 wells reported in FracFocus, a public chemical registry for hydraulic fracturing in the United States, and combine it with DrillingInfo database, …

Relationships Among Mineralogy, Geochemistry, And Oil And Gas Production In The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, Hayley Roxana Beitel

Masters Theses

"The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) is an unconventional shale reservoir located in southeast Louisiana and southwest Mississippi. Limited mineralogical and geochemical data for the TMS have been published. The data that do exist indicate that the formation is heterogeneous. Consequently, previous investigators and oil and gas companies have not managed to effectively link mineralogical and chemical changes to oil and gas production in the TMS. These linkages are critical to establish for future exploration efforts. In this study, we attempt to establish these relationships by gathering all existing mineralogical and chemical data in the TMS, including newly acquired data from …

Thermal/Structural Analysis Of The Axion Quantum Metrology Cavity And Its Components, Tyler Funk

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This research was centered around maximizing the capability to cool dielectric material within a containment unit, or Photonic Band Gap (PBG) cavity, designed for detecting axion dark matter and identifying the unit’s thermal properties. There are multiple types of PBG cavities, but the latest version that axion researchers wish to use has been theorized to contain possible issues related to its thermal properties. Thermal conductivity is an issue with the dielectric material because it is made from alumina which is highly insulative. This is important since the research is being done in a cryogenic environment and the thermal noise affects …

Tailoring Thermoresponsive Poly(N-Isopropylacrylamide) Toward Sensing Perfluoroalkyl Acids, Dustin Thomas Savage

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Widespread distribution of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the environment combined with concerns for their potentially negative health effects has motivated regulators to establish strict standards for their surveillance. The United States Environmental Protection Agency issued a cumulative domestic threshold of 70 ppt for water supplies, and this bar is even lower in some local districts and other countries. Monitoring PFAS consequently requires sensitive analytical equipment to meet regulatory specifications, and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectroscopy (LC/MS/MS) is the most common technique used to satisfy these requirements. Though extremely sensitive, the instrument is often burdened by pretreatment regimens, …

Development Of Novel Polymeric Materials For Their Application In Monitoring And Remediation Of Environmental Pollutants, Rishabh Shah

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Remediation of environmental pollutants from water is one of the major challenges in the 21st century. Utilizing novel polymeric materials to accomplish this challenge has garnered a lot of interest in recent times. Flexibility in synthesizing as well as functionalizing makes them attractive for their application in pollutant remediation. This work is based on development and characterization of novel crosslinked polymeric as well as linear polymeric materials from biphenyl-based monomers, biphenyl based crosslinker and a temperature responsive monomer (Nisopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm)) for their application in remediation of toxic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and iron oxide nanoparticle …

Physicochemical Characterisation Of Zirconia Nanoparticles Based Sodium Alginate Polymer Suspension For Enhanced Oil Recovery, Udit S. Mohanty, Faisal Ur Rahman Awan, Muhammad Ali, Adnan Aftab, Alireza Keshavarz, Sefan Iglauer

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Biopolymers have been employed in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) due to their high viscosity and significant effects on waterflooding performance. Sodium alginate (NaAlg) is an excellent biopolymer that is extracted primarily from brown algae. It has been used in the biotechnology industry as a thickening agent, colloidal stabilizer, and oil recovery application. In the present study, a series of sodium alginate/zirconium oxide nanoparticle suspensions were prepared via solution mixing, and the effect of nanoparticle content, polymer concentration, temperature, salinity was investigated on the rheological behavior using a concentric cylinder dynamic rheometer. The rheology results revealed that the lower concentration of …

Investigation Of Post-Acid Stimulation Impacts On Well Performance Using Fracture Modeling And Reservoir Simulation In A Jurassic Carbonate Reservoir, Muaath Alansari

Masters Theses

"Well stimulation (well fracturing) became an essential tool in the Oil and Gas industry to unlock the potential of unconventional reservoirs all over the world and especially in the Middle East. In Kuwait, well stimulation is obligatory when dealing with deep Jurassic carbonate reservoirs. Thus, the well fracture designing process plays a very critical role in determining the success of the stimulation job and the improvement of the recovery.

Several wells stimulated with 20% HCL have shown wide variations in both short and long term well production performance. The research aims to investigate and identify the possible reasons causing these …

Power Generation From Waste Heat During Oil Production, Subrahmanya Chandra Bhamidipati

Masters Theses

"The increase in the world population is causing a significant increase in the global demand for energy. This rise in demand is generally met with the use of fossil fuels. But there is considerable pressure to lessen the release of carbon through the combustion of fossil fuels. One way that the oil and gas industry can provide increased energy without carbon combustion is by extracting the latent heat energy contained in produced oil, gas and water from producing reservoirs, and from water which is cycled through depleted, end-of-life or abandoned reservoirs. Extracting this energy and using it to provide direct …

Minimizing Lost Circulation Non-Productive Time Using Expected Monetary Value And Decision Tree Analysis, Husam Hasan Alkinani, Abo Taleb Tuama Al-Hameedi, Shari Dunn-Norman

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Lost circulation and problems related to drilling present a major challenge for the drilling industry. Each year, billions are spent to treat these problems. There is not a single solution to lost circulation because of the complexity and kind of formations susceptible to this issue. Lost circulation treatment data for the Shuaiba formation (induced fractured formation) were gathered from drilled wells in Southern Iraq (over 2000). Treatments have been grouped according to the volume of mud loss as complete, severe, and partial loss remedies. Detailed costs and probabilities calculations were conducted. The costs of three types of loss treatments (partial, …

Impact Of Rheology Models On Horizontal Well Polymer Flooding In A Heavy Oil Reservoir On Alaska North Slope: A Simulation Study, Jianqiao Leng, Mingzhen Wei, Baojun Bai, Randall S. Seright, Yin Zhang, David Cercone, Samson Ning

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Polymer rheology can have either a positive or a negative effect on polymer flooding performance under varied circumstances. Many researchers have studied the effect of polymer rheology in a vertical well, but no field scale studies have been conducted to investigate whether polymer rheology is beneficial to polymer flooding in heavy oil reservoirs developed by horizontal wells. In this paper, we conducted a numerical simulation study to examine the effect of HPAM polymer rheology on a polymer flooding pilot, which is the first-ever project conducted on a heavy oil reservoir from Alaska North Slope (ANS) developed by horizontal wells. Three …

First Ever Polymer Flood Field Pilot To Enhance The Recovery Of Heavy Oils On Alaska's North Slope Pushing Ahead One Year Later, Abhijit Dandekar, Baojun Bai, John Barnes, Dave Cercone, Jared Ciferno, Reid Edwards, Samson Ning, Walbert Schulpen, Randy Seright, Brent Sheets, Dongmei Wang, Yin Zhang

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In June 2018 the team embarked on an ambitious project to address the slow development pace of Alaska's 20+ billion barrels heavy oil resource via the first ever polymer flood pilot. Following the successful commencement of the pilot in August 2018, the field demonstration, supporting laboratory experiments and numerical simulation have steadily progressed. A significant amount of valuable data and lessons learned have been collected and are reported in this paper. The ongoing pilot and the research activities is making headway toward the primary objective of validating the use of polymer flooding for extracting heavy oil in Alaska's challenging environment. …