Chemical Engineering Commons^™

The Kanarra Fold-Thrust System -- The Leading Edge Of The Sevier Fold-Thrust Belt, Southwest Utah, William Joseph Michael Chandonia

Doctoral Dissertations

“The Jurassic to Eocene Sevier fold-thrust belt is the subject of continued scientific curiosity in tectonics, stratigraphy, and industry. Understanding its development in southwest Utah is hindered in part due to the multiple origins proposed for the Kanarra anticline, a major leading edge structure -- a drag fold along the Hurricane fault, Laramide monocline, Sevier fault propagation fold, or a combination of these -- which have confused its tectonic significance and regional context. This confusion results from the structural complexity of its exposed eastern limb, as well as displacement and burial of its crest and western limb beneath Neogene sediments …

Sustainable Polylactic Acid Foam Development Through Solid-State Processing, Philip Onffroy

Honors Theses

Plastics play a vital role in global materials industries, but they contribute to environmental and ecological toxicity effects that accelerate climate change. One important category of plastic material is polymer foams, which have widespread applications in insulation, packaging, and storage. Current bio-based plastic foams that originate from natural, non-petroleum feedstocks are potential solutions but do not yet have adequate properties to supplant petrochemical-based plastic foams. This project aims to generate, test, and analyze bio-based polylactic acid (PLA) polymer foams developed through methods involving solid-state processing such as solid-state shear pulverization (SSSP) and cryogenic milling. SSSP has previously been shown to …

ฝาแฝดดิจิทัลของหม้อไอน้ำแบบเผาร่วมชีวมวลและถ่านหินโดยการจำลองพลศาสตร์ของไหลเชิงคำนวณ, ธนากรณ์ วาระเพียง

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยนี้ศึกษาการใช้เชื้อเพลิงชีวมวลผสมกับถ่านหินในหม้อไอน้ำฟลูอิไดซ์เบดแบบหมุนเวียนซึ่งเป็นเรื่องที่น่าสนใจท่ามกลางการเพิ่มขึ้นของความต้องการพลังงาน ลักษณะการเผาไหม้ร่วมของชีวมวลและถ่านหินในหม้อไอน้ำจะได้รับการตรวจสอบโดยใช้พลศาสตร์ของไหลเชิงคำนวณ (CFD) เชื้อเพลิงที่ศึกษาในงานวิจัยนี้ ได้แก่ ถ่านหิน ไม้สับ และเปลือกไม้ กำหนดสัดส่วนของเชื้อเพลิงเพื่อศึกษาผลกระทบต่อการเผาไหม้ด้วยการออกแบบการทดลองแบบผสมซิมเพล็กซ์เซนทรอยด์ การจำลอง CFD ประกอบด้วยแบบจำลองการไหลของความหนืด k-epsilon แบบจำลองการไหลของของไหลหลายเฟสของออยเลอร์ และแบบจำลองการเผาไหม้เชื้อเพลิงแข็ง ผลการตรวจสอบความถูกต้องของแบบจำลองแสดงให้เห็นว่าข้อมูลแบบจำลองมีความสอดคล้องกับข้อมูลจริงของโรงไฟฟ้าซึ่งอาจเป็นฝาแฝดดิจิทัลของหม้อไอน้ำที่ศึกษา โดยแบบจำลองจะทำนายผลที่เกิดขึ้นในห้องเผาไหม้ ได้แก่ อุณหภูมิ ฟลักซ์ความร้อน เถ้า และแก๊สมลพิษ ได้แก่ คาร์บอนมอนอกไซด์ (CO) คาร์บอนไดออกไซด์ (CO2) ไนตริกออกไซด์ (NO) ซัลเฟอร์ไดออกไซด์ (SO2) และก๊าซคลอรีน (Cl2) ผลการจำลองพบว่าการใช้ถ่านหินเป็นเชื้อเพลิงจะให้อุณหภูมิและฟลักซ์ความร้อนสูงสุด รองลงมาคือ ไม้สับและเปลือกไม้ ในทางตรงข้ามการใช้ชีวมวลจะปล่อยแก๊สมลพิษออกมาน้อยกว่าถ่านหิน ในการทดลองนี้ได้ศึกษาอิทธิพลของอัตราการป้อนเชื้อเพลิง พบว่าอัตราการป้อนเชื้อเพลิงสูงจะทำให้ตัวแปรตามสูงกว่าอัตราการป้อนเชื้อเพลิงต่ำ จากการวิเคราะห์ข้อมูลแบบจำลองพบว่าชีวมวลเป็นมิตรต่อสิ่งแวดล้อมและประหยัดต้นทุนการผลิตมากกว่าถ่านหิน แบบจำลอง CFD สามารถสร้างแบบทำนายเพื่อกำหนดชนิดและสัดส่วนของเชื้อเพลิงได้อย่างง่ายดายโดยใช้สองวิธี คือ สมการและกราฟคอนทัวร์ ซึ่งสามารถเปรียบเสมือนฝาแฝดดิจิทัลของหม้อไอน้ำ

การแยกปรอทออกจากน้ำทิ้งสังเคราะห์ด้วยน้ำมันพืชผ่านวิธีการสกัดและนำกลับด้วยระบบเยื่อแผ่นเหลวที่พยุงด้วยเส้นใยกลวง, กัญญาณัฐ ดวงจันทร์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยนี้ศึกษาการสกัดและนำกลับปรอทออกจากน้ำทิ้งสังเคราะห์ด้วยน้ำมันพืชซึ่งเป็นสารที่เป็นมิตรต่อสิ่งแวดล้อมด้วยเยื่อแผ่นเหลวที่พยุงด้วยเส้นใยกลวง เป็นไปตามหลักการและพื้นฐานของวิธีการสกัดด้วยตัวทำละลาย ผลการศึกษาพบว่าน้ำมันข้าวโพดมีประสิทธิภาพในการสกัดปรอทสูงที่สุด และยังสามารถเลือกสกัดปรอทออกจากไอออนโลหะอื่นที่ปนในน้ำทิ้งสังเคราะห์ได้ดี จากการศึกษาอิทธิพลของปัจจัยที่ส่งผลต่อร้อยละการสกัดและนำกลับปรอทด้วยการออกแบบการทดลองแบบบ็อกซ์-เบห์นเคน พบว่า อุณหภูมิ ค่าความเป็นกรด-เบสของน้ำทิ้งสังเคราะห์ และความเข้มข้นของสารนำกลับ ส่งผลต่อร้อยละการสกัดและการนำกลับปรอทอย่างมีนัยสำคัญ สภาวะที่เหมาะสมในการสกัดและนำกลับปรอท ได้แก่ อุณหภูมิ 323.15 เคลวิน ค่าความเป็นกรด-เบสของน้ำทิ้งสังเคราะห์เป็น 3 ความเข้มข้นของกรดไฮโดรคลอริกเป็น 1.2 โมลต่อลิตร และอัตราการไหลของสารละลายป้อนและสารนำกลับที่ 100 มิลลิลิตรต่อนาที ได้ค่าร้อยละการสกัดและนำกลับปรอท 96.14 และ 40.13 ตามลำดับ กลไกการสกัดปรอทเกิดจากการจับกันด้วยพันธะฮาโลเจนของปรอทและกรดไขมันที่ตำแหน่งหมู่คาร์บอกซิลิก สนับสนุนด้วยการวิเคราะห์ทางสเปกโตรสโคปีร่วมกับทฤษฎีฟังก์ชันนอลความหนาแน่น คำนวณค่าพลังงานเอนทาลปีและพลังงานของกิบส์ได้ -23.71 และ 24.38 กิโลจูลต่อโมล ตามลำดับ นอกจากนี้การคำนวณหาค่าอันดับปฏิกิริยาและค่าคงที่ของปฏิกิริยาการสกัดและนำกลับปรอทด้วยวิธีอินทิเกรต ซึ่งได้ค่าอันดับปฏิกิริยาเท่ากับ 1 และ 0 ได้ค่าคงที่ปฏิกิริยาเท่ากับ 0.0262 นาที-1 และ 0.0011 มิลลิกรัมต่อลิตรต่อนาที ตามลำดับ อีกทั้งวิธีการสกัดปรอทด้วยน้ำมันข้าวโพดโดยใช้เยื่อแผ่นเหลวที่พยุงด้วยเส้นใยกลวงประสบความสำเร็จในการลดค่าความเข้มข้นของปรอทให้อยู่ภายใต้ค่ามาตรฐานน้ำทิ้งของประเทศไทย

Effect Of Silica Size In Ticl4/Mgcl2-Sio2 Catalysts On Ethylene Polymerization Behaviors, Nattawat Manomaiwajee

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

At present, the production of polyethylene has a high production volume. The commonly used catalyst for the synthesis of polyethylene is Ziegler-Natta. The development of polymer morphology and efficiency of ethylene polymerization in the petrochemical industry was developed by the addition of silica supports. However, the specific properties of silica have not been widely researched with the Ziegler-Natta catalyst. Therefore, the effect of silica size on the Ziegler-Natta catalyst was studied in this thesis. The study focused on the polymerization of ethylene and the copolymerization of ethylene/1-hexene in slurry process. The silica sizes used as bisupport were varied including 8 …

Thermochemical Water-Splitting Using Novel High-Entropy Perovskite Oxides, Hector Alexis De Santiago Hernandez

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this project, we designed, synthesized, and tested the transformative (La_0.8Sr_0.2)(Mn_[1-x]/3Fe_[1-x]/3Co_xAl_[1-x]/3)O₃ (0 ≤ x ≤ 1.0) high-entropy perovskite oxides (HEPOs) as redox active oxygen carriers for thermochemical hydrogen production with improved stability, kinetics, and H₂ yield. The developed HEPOs form an R3c (hexagonal) phase and were successfully synthesized using both the Pechini and solid-state reactions with the latter synthesis being the primary source for testing. These innovative perovskites demonstrated an improved kinetics with oxygen surface exchange coefficient, k, greater than 7.5 x 10^-4 cm/s, …

Application Of Artificial Intelligence For Co2 Storage In Saline Aquifer (Smart Proxy For Snap-Shot In Time), Marwan Mohammed Alnuaimi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technology have grown in popularity. Smart Proxy Models (SPM) are AI/ML based data-driven models which have proven to be quite crucial in petroleum engineering domain with abundant data, or operations in which large surface/ subsurface volume of data is generated. Climate change mitigation is one application of such technology to simulate and monitor CO2 injection into underground formations.

The goal of the SPM developed in this study is to replicate the results (in terms of pressure and saturation outputs) of the numerical reservoir simulation model (CMG) for CO2 injection into …

Hydrocarbon Pay Zone Prediction Using Ai Neural Network Modeling., Darren D. Guedon

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This paper captures the ability of AI neural network technology to analyze petrophysical datasets for pattern recognition and accurate prediction of the pay zone of a vertical well from the Santa Fe field in Kansas.

During this project, data from 10 completed wells in the Santa Fe field were gathered, resulting in a dataset with 25,580 records, ten predictors (logs data), and a single binary output (Yes or No) to identify the availability of Hydrocarbon over a half feet depth segment in the well. Several models composed of different predictors combinations were also tested to determine how impactful some logs …

Ethane Dehydrogenation For Light Olefins Production Over Stable Catalyst, Xiaoyan Wang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Accompanied by the development of modern industry, the demand for light olefins (e.g., ethylene, propylene, butene, butadiene) increases year by year. Light olefins are important intermediates in producing polymers (Polyethylene, Polypropylene, etc.) and rubber (Styrene Butadiene Rubber, Polybutadiene rubber, etc.). The primary process for the production of light olefins is steam cracking of petroleum liquids (naphtha and distillate fuel oil). It is an energy-intensive process, requiring high temperature (750-850℃) and pressure (1.0-4.5 MPa). Meanwhile, due to undesired side reactions, this process has lowered the efficiency of light olefins production and suffers from severe coking issues. Furthermore, as petroleum liquids become …

Design And Control Of Intensified Membrane Reactor Systems Through Module-Based Design Approach, Brent Bishop

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As interest in the modularization and intensification of chemical processes continues to grow, more research must be directed towards the modeling and analysis of intensified process units. Intensified process units such as membrane reactors pose unique challenges pertaining to design and operation that have not been fully addressed in the reported literature. This work aims to address the design and control challenges caused by the integration of phenomena and the loss of degrees of freedom (DOF) that occur in the intensification of modular membrane reactor units.

First, a novel first-principles approach for modeling membrane reactors is developed using the AVEVA …

Advanced Process Modeling And Optimization Of Amine-Based Carbon Capture Process, Paul Jide Terhemba Akula

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

With the rise of carbondioxide (CO2) concentration in the atmosphere to more than 400 parts per million (ppm), research efforts have been focused on achieving net-zero carbon emission technologies. Post-combustion CO2 capture (PCC) is a key strategy in reducing CO2 emissions. Amine-based CO2 capture is the baseline technology for retrofitting existing power stations. However, the integration of amine-based PCC technology with power plants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions incurs a high energy penalty, decreasing a powerplant’s efficiency by about 23 percentage points. Understanding the capture plant dynamics plays an important role in its technical and economic performance. Rigorous models are …

A Workflow For Unconventional Reservoirs Optimization Using Supervised Machine Learning In Conjunction With Orthorhombic Elasticity Modeling, Aymen Ab Ali Alhemdi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Due to the anisotropy and heterogeneous nature of unconventional reservoirs like shale, a comprehensive parametric study to optimize hydraulic fracture treatment for such reservoirs is a tough challenge, especially when natural fractures are present. Most of the current frac simulators do not consider the anisotropy of rock elasticity in the shales. Besides, using the fracture simulation linked with reservoir simulation for the parametric study to understand the impact of multiple different design parameters on fracture propagation and production is time expensive and low efficient. The study proposes a workflow including a new orthorhombic (OB) rock algorithm to interpret geomechanical properties …

Microwave-Assisted Carbon Nanotube Growth From Methane On Surface Catalyst Exsolving Perovskite Oxide, Angela M. Deibel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The novel method of using a perovskite exsolution catalyst, strontium titanium nickel oxide (STNO), proved capable of simultaneously producing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and CO_x-free hydrogen during methane decomposition under microwave irradiation. An optimization of common perovskite materials was conducted for microwave-responsiveness with the results reported in this study. Out of the materials screened, strontium titanium nickel oxide (STNO) was the best candidate to achieve an acceptable methane conversion rate as well as a decent responsiveness to microwave. STNO was further optimized through Ni content, reduction dwell time, and reduction temperature to produce the best methane conversion and CNT …

Nano-, Encapsulated Manganese Oxide (Nemo) Particles For Mri Enhancement In Microfluidic Tumor Models, Kasey Alexis Freshwater

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Breast cancer is among the deadliest cancers in women, with approximately 2.3 million new cases and 685,000 deaths reported globally in 2020 alone. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is commonly used to diagnose, stage, and develop treatment plans for patients predisposed to breast cancer. However, current MRI-based screening of breast cancer has high false-positive rates up to 25%, leading to unnecessary invasive follow-up screening and testing. The gold-standard intravenous gadolinium (Gd)-based contrast agents (GBCAs) account for false-positive rates because they are always “ON”, providing a constant MRI signal that highlights both benign and malignant tumors. The work detailed in this thesis …

Reinforcement Learning For Process Control: Applications To Energy Systems, Elijah Ballard Hedrick

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Reinforcement learning (RL) is a machine learning method that has recently seen significant research activity owing to its successes in the areas of robotics and gameplaying (Silver et al., 2017). However, significant challenges exist in the extension of these control methods to process control problems, where state and input signals are nearly always continuous and more stringent performance guarantees are required. The goal of this work is to explore ways that modern RL algorithms can be adapted to handle process control problems; avenues for this work include using RL with existing controllers such as model predictive control (MPC) and adapting …

Calcite Depression In Bastnaesite-Calcite Flotation System Using Organic Acids, Emmy Muhoza

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Bastnaesite is the primary source of light REEs, namely cerium (Ce), lanthanum (La), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), to name a few. Bastnaesite is typically concentrated using the froth flotation beneficiation method. Flotation of bastnaesite suffers from high reagent consumption due to the similar surface characteristics of bastnaesite and associated gangue minerals, including calcite. Additionally, complex stages of high-temperature conditioning are often required to suppress the detrimental impact of dissolved calcium ions on the flotation of bastnaesite. This research seeks to investigate the capabilities of organic acids in the bastnaesite-calcite flotation systems to selectively depress calcite minerals and effectively chelate calcium …

Prototype Development For Fabric Sodium Sensor, Mary Nicodemus, Dunia Jaffal, Shelby Daniels

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project is designed to refine a process for developing sodium-selective nylon fabric sensors to be used for reading sodium concentrations in sweat from the human body through a series of quality control and on-body testing experiments. The intention is to have a refined process to make reproducible sensors that are turned into consistently working prototypes for future mass production. There are three essential steps in developing a working prototype: sensor synthesis, sensor testing, and sensor validation. Once all three steps are completed, consistent methods will be defined for turning nylon into sensors and then into prototypes, calibrating the prototypes, …

Austenitic, Duplex, And Lean Duplex Stainless Steel Critical Pitting Temperature In Simulated Concrete Environment, Bobby Giebel

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In this work, the critical pitting temperature (CPT) will be observed for a selection of austenitic (316LN and 24100) and duplex (2205), and lean duplex (2304, 2001) stainless steels in simulated concrete pore solution. To study the influence of temperature on the pitting stability of the stainless steels, three temperatures were tested: 25oC, 45oC, and 65oC for cyclic potentiodynamic polarization (CPP) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Electrochemical properties of the interfaces we studied via EIS analysis. Kinetics were studied via CPP testing. To reveal the critical pitting temperature of the stainless steels, cyclic thermammetry was used. Characterization of the pits …

Comparing Galvanic Corrosion Rates Predicted From Polarization Curves With Empirical Data From A Carbon Steel And Monel Couple For A Various Geometries, Michael Hinnebusch

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective of this investigation was to compare the galvanic corrosion rate of carbon steel C1018 and Monel K-500 alloy in a bolt and plate geometry to that derived using Tafel plots. This was achieved using carbon steels sheets of steel with a pair of with varying the number of Monel bolts and varying spacing. It was found that the carbon steel plates do not corrode uniformly. This can create issues when using Polarization curves to assume galvanic corrosion rate of a carbon steel and Monel system. The geometry of the bolts can further affect this corrosion rate and make …

Scale-Up Of Flow-Electrode Capacitive Deionization Method For Hard Water Softening, Noah Henry

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This study’s purpose is to further document a capacitive deionization design that could be capable of purifying H₂O at a household scale where clean water is otherwise unobtainable in applicable regions of the world. The hypothesis behind this study was continuously larger scaled electrochemical cell-units would increase their water softening capabilities in sustainable fashion. The trend at which performance will scale is currently unknown. The units studied were constructed using graphite plates, anion exchange membranes, cation exchange membranes, and Teflon channels. Three streams, two being CaCl₂ solutions in DI H₂O (one being concentrated with CaCl …

Wetting Transition On 3d-Printed Surfaces, Isabelle Moryan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Taking the previous research conducted, this project aims to further the study and research of the wettability of surfaces. Surface features and types are important factors to their wettability. The geometric properties of a surface can make it more hydrophobic and hydrophilic. Extreme cases of hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces lead to water repulsion or water absorption, even under extreme conditions. The goal of this project is to gain further insight on how fabricated 3D-printed featured surfaces and examine the wetting transition on these surfaces. In particular, cylindrical pillars will be studied with varied pillar spacing, height and diameter. In addition, …

Enzymatic Treatment, Gluten Reduction, And Production Of Celiac Safe Gluten Removed Beer, Alyssa Baumann, Calvin Baumann, Noah Alfman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Celiac Disease affects many people across the world with the only solution being a life-long abstinence from gluten intake. Although beers may be considered “gluten-free”, some still contain remains of gluten which can be harmful to those with Celiac Disease. There exists a large market for high-quality, celiac-safe beer. The primary approach for producing gluten-free beer is enzymatic treatment. The first objective of the project is to measure the natural gluten reduction in the beer brewing process versus the gluten reduction within enzymatic treated beer. The second objective of the project is to create celiac-safe beer through experimentation of the …

Amine-Functionalized Interpenetrating Polymer Networks For Co2 Capture, James Wills

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The research performed looked to advance the studies of vacuum swing absorption of Carbon Dioxide to help combat global climate change issues. The focus of the project was to create an anime-polymer sorbent that will weakly absorb and desorb CO2. The sorbent must be durable and be able to withstand multiple uses. The creation of a porous polymer matrix aided in the amines' ability to absorb CO2. Created samples underwent several qualitative and quantitative tests to determine their usefulness as an industrial sorbent. Infrared spectroscopy was used to study the effectiveness of the amine sorbents. Studying the changes in the …

Retention And Stability Of Polystyrene Sulfonic Acid And Polyethylene Glycol Anti- Fouling Films With 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane Coupling Agent, Brian Cameron

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Fouling is a process where particles, proteins, or microorganisms will accumulate onto a material [2]. This can lead to biofilms in medical implants, which can trap and create drug resistant bacteria [5]. Due to this, the study and creation of anti-fouling polymeric films that is stable in aqueous environments is essential. The goal of this study is to utilize APTES to retain the already studied PSS-PEG anti-fouling films. The films that are created is a thermally crosslinked network of the polystyrene sulfonic acid (PSS) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) with differing mass fractions (75- 25 and 55-45 PSS-PEG). To retain the …

A Solid-State Fermentation Scale-Up Of Scopulariopsis Brevicaulis, Timothy Hudak

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Publication to be delayed until October 2023

Recycled Printer Filament, Charlotte Hyland, Troy D. Molinar

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of recycling PLA filament for 3D printing on its material properties. After examining these effects, PLA and carbon fiber additives were mixed with recycled PLA pellets in different ratios to attempt to regain material properties lost in the recycling process. To complete these findings, an experiment was design and executed.

The research found that tensile strength during multiple iterations of recycling remained mostly unaffected, however, the strain degraded exponentially. In the PLA additive study, high ratios of PLA additive were able to increase the strength and strain properties of the …

Extraction Of Melanin From Black Knot Fungus: Optimization And Applications, Amara Davis

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The goal of this research project was to optimize the extraction of melanin from black knot fungus and to analyze possible applications of the extracted melanin. An extraction method that was previously created was examined for possible improvements. Improvements that were studied include the elimination of steps in the extraction process while obtaining the same quality of product, examining options for machinery that could be used to increase production rate when moved to a production plant setting, and optimize the concentrations of the raw materials that are used in the extraction for possible reduction of cost without compromising yield or …

Retaining Thermoresponsive Poly(Vinyl Methyl Ether) To Cellulose Via (3-Aminopropyl)Triethoxylsilane Network, Grace Tolhurst

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Stimuli-responsive supports and devices that are fabricated from inexpensive materials are attractive candidates for a variety of applications, such as environmental protection, and regenerative medicine. Poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME), a thermoresponsive polymer (TRP), has recently been used as thermoresponsive cell culture supports for cell growth/proliferation followed with cell/cell sheet harvesting by simply switching temperature. Cellulose is an attractive candidate to replace glass/silicone supports as it is inexpensive and environmentally friendly. This project focuses on retaining PVME to the cellulose membrane via 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) network to generate TR membranes and flexible liners that can be incorporated into bioreactors for producing cells …

Mimicking The Namib Desert Beetle With Hydrophilic And Hydrophobic Surfaces, Tyler Bracewell

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Namib Desert beetle, Stenocara gracilipes, condenses fog that rolls in off the west coast of Namibia to provide itself with the water it needs for the day. By lifting its abdomen into the air to collect the water vapor, it condenses on hydrophilic bumps that are about 500μm in diameter and are spaced apart about 500-1500μm. Once the water reaches a critical size, the droplet rolls off the hydrophilic bump and onto the flat hydrophobic surface of the elytra. Since the beetle is angled with its abdomen in the air, the water rolls down to its mouth. A …

Evaluation Of Recrosslinkable Preformed Particle Gel (Rppg) As A Fluid Loss Control Material During Drilling Operations, Mohamed Saad M. Ahdaya

Doctoral Dissertations

"One of the most intense, expensive, and time-consuming problems during drilling operations is the loss of circulation, which could result in several consequences, including wellbore collapse, fluid inflow, formation damage, environmental issues, and nonproductive time. This research aims to evaluate novel materials that can mitigate lost circulation and overcome the limitation of other materials. In this research, a comprehensive evaluation of a re-crosslinkable preformed particle gel (RPPG) has been conducted to determine the extent to which it can be used to control drilling fluid losses during drilling operations. The RPPG consists of swellable gel particles that can self-crosslink to form …