Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Modular Supply Network Optimization Of Renewable Ammonia And Methanol Co-Production, Benjamin Akoh

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

To reduce the use of fossil fuels and other carbonaceous fuels, renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal energy have been suggested to be promising alternative energy that guarantee sustainable and clean environment. However, the availability of renewable energy has been limited due to its dependence on weather and geographical location. This challenge is intended to be solved by the utilization of the renewable energy in the production of chemical energy carriers. Hydrogen has been proposed as a potential renewable energy carrier, however, its chemical instability and high liquefaction energy makes researchers seek for other alternative energy carriers. Ammonia …

Optimal Design And Operation Of Integrated Hydrogen Generation And Utilization Plants, Ijiwole Solomon Ijiyinka

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

There are considerable efforts worldwide for reducing the use of fossil fuel for energy production. While renewable energy sources are being increasingly used, fossil fuel still contribute about 80% of the energy used worldwide. As a result, the level of CO₂ is still increasing fast in the atmosphere currently exceeding about 410 parts per million (ppm). For reducing CO₂ build up in the atmosphere, various approaches are being investigated. For the electric power generation sector, two key approaches are post-combustion CO₂ capture and use of hydrogen as a fuel for power generation. These two solutions can also …

State Estimation, Covariance Estimation, And Economic Optimization Of Semi-Batch Bioprocesses, Ronald Hunter Alexander

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

One of the most critical aspects of any chemical process engineer is the ability to gather, analyze, and trust incoming process data as it is often required in control and process monitoring applications. In real processes, online data can be unreliable due to factors such as poor tuning, calibration drift, or mechanical drift. Outside of these sources of noise, it may not be economically viable to directly measure all process states of interest (e.g., component concentrations). While process models can help validate incoming process data, models are often subject to plant-model mismatches, unmodeled disturbances, or lack enough detail to track …

Combustion Characteristics Of Methane, Ethane, Propane, And Butane Blends Under Conditions Relevant Of A Dual-Fuel Diesel And Natural Gas Engine, Christopher Joseph Ulishney

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As natural gas production infrastructure is already in place in most of the world and will continue expanding for the foreseeable future, natural gas is an alternative to traditional liquid petroleum fuels in heavy-duty engines. Dedicated natural gas or dual-fuel diesel-natural gas heavy-duty engines are alternatives to diesel-only power generation equipment. One challenge is the large variation in the natural gas composition available for such applications, which is known to significantly affect engine’s combustion characteristics and the emissions composition. As the literature on dual-fuel combustion under low load engine operating conditions that use more realistic natural gas mixtures (i.e., mixtures …

Machine Learning Assisted Framework For Advanced Subsurface Fracture Mapping And Well Interference Quantification, Mohammad Faiq Adenan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The oil and gas industry has historically spent significant amount of capital to acquire large volumes of analog and digital data often left unused due to lack of digital awareness. It has instead relied on individual expertise and numerical modelling for reservoir development, characterization, and simulation, which is extremely time consuming and expensive and inevitably invites significant human bias and error into the equation. One of the major questions that has significant impact in unconventional reservoir development (e.g., completion design, production, and well spacing optimization), CO2 sequestration in geological formations (e.g., well and reservoir integrity), and engineered geothermal systems (e.g., …

Applying Thermal And Microwave Heating For Natural Gas Conversion To Value-Added Chemicals Over Zeolite-Supported Catalysts, Ashley Marie Caiola

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The world’s demand for natural gas has been consistently growing over the past few decades. Natural gas is considered a potential alternative to oil and coal because of its ability to burn cleaner. Although not completely emission-free, it has dominated the energy industry by providing a continuous supply of cheap fuel. Currently, natural gas makes up 41% of North American energy production. The conversion of natural gas to value-added chemicals typically involves the indirect production of synthesis gas (syngas) as an intermediate before the production of the desired product. Steam reforming and partial oxidation are two of the most common …

Microwave-Assisted Ammonia Synthesis Over Cs-Ru/Ceo2 Catalyst, Alazar Kesete Araia

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Ammonia synthesis is one of the greatest innovations of the 20^th century with extensive applications from fertilizers to intermediates for nitrogen-containing chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Annually, more than 242 million tons of ammonia is produced globally, supporting approximately 27% of the world’s population. One of the fast-growing applications for ammonia is as H₂ energy carrier due to its high energy storage capacity, considered to be a decarbonized energy source. The low volumetric energy density and incompressibility makes Hydrogen a non-preferable energy carrier; an alternative carrier becomes a requirement. Ammonia possesses unique property as an energy-dense carrier to store and …

The Effect Of Different Fracturing Fluids On The Productivity Of Multi-Staged Fractured Marcellus Shale Horizontal Wells, Vida Gyaubea Matey-Korley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

While hydraulic fracturing has undeniably improved the production from oil and gas reservoirs, this technology is not without limitations. The primary hurdles lie in the areas of proppant transport, fluid rheology, and stress management. Despite the extensive research conducted in this domain, there remains a considerable amount of work to be done for comprehensive solutions that account for the complex interactions among fracturing fluid, proppant distribution, and geomechanical conditions. Achieving this will then make room for a holistic and efficient hydraulic fracturing strategy.

This study addresses the above-mentioned problem by examining the impact of fluid type on proppant transport and …

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence And Geomechanical Data For Accurate Shear Stress Prediction In Co2 Sequestration Within Saline Aquifers (Smart Proxy Modeling), Munirah Alawadh

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research builds upon the success of a previous project that used a Smart Proxy Model (SPM) to predict pressure and saturation in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) operations into saline aquifers. The Smart Proxy Model is a data-driven machine learning model that can replicate the output of a sophisticated numerical simulation model for each time step in a short amount of time, using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and large volumes of subsurface data. This study aims to develop the Smart Proxy Model further by incorporating geomechanical datadriven techniques to predict shear stress by using a neural network, specifically through supervised …

Computational Investigation Of A Series Of Small Molecules As Potential Compounds For Lysyl Hydroxylase-2 (Lh2) Inhibition, Yazdan Maghsoud, Erik Antonio Vázquez-Montelongo, Xudong Yang, Chengwen Liu, Zhifeng Jing, Juhoon Lee, Matthew Harger, Ally K. Smith, Miguel Espinoza, Hou-Fu Guo, Jonathan M. Kurie, Kevin N. Dalby, Pengyu Ren, G. Andrés Cisneros

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

The catalytic function of lysyl hydroxylase-2 (LH2), a member of the Fe(II)/αKG-dependent oxygenase superfamily, is to catalyze the hydroxylation of lysine to hydroxylysine in collagen, resulting in stable hydroxylysine aldehyde-derived collagen cross- links (HLCCs). Reports show that high amounts of LH2 lead to the accumulation of HLCCs, causing fibrosis and specific types of cancer metastasis. Some members of the Fe(II)/αKG-dependent family have also been reported to have intramolecular O2 tunnels, which aid in transporting one of the required cosubstrates into the active site. While LH2 can be a promising target to combat these diseases, efficacious inhibitors are still lacking. We …

An Experimental Study On The Mechanical Properties And Chemical Composition Of Lcd 3d Printed Specimens, Sebastian Gomez

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Additive manufacturing technologies have been enhanced throughout the years yet have surprised the manufacturing industry due to their high-end surface finish and dimensional accuracy. Different experiments have been done to identify a specific phenomenon known in the vat-polymerization field. Distortion and dimensional inaccuracy tend to affect the overall properties of the process, either physical or chemical. This approach allows the understanding of how the physical properties have been affected and how to study the chemical properties to avoid this type of phenomenon. The chemical reaction between polymer and UV light has been studied and experimented with to the point that …

Carbon Dioxide And Steam Gasification Of Biochar: A Study On Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions And Producing Syngas For Downline Synthesis Of Renewable Hydrocarbon Fuel, Parth Patel

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This research explores the potential of mitigating CO₂ emissions from fossil fuel consumption and providing an alternative renewable source of energy by gasifying biochar with carbon dioxide (CO₂) and steam (H₂O). The utilization of captured carbon dioxide and wastewater in industrial sectors is considered to further contribute to the advancements in energy-efficient and low-emission technological solutions. This research evaluated the performance and kinetic parameters of biochar gasification through CO₂ and H₂O gasification using a stainless-steel fixed bed reactor. The operating parameters including biochar mass, reactor temperature, and inlet flow rate were varied. …

Data Analytics Of Wettability Alteration With Surfactants In Carbonate Reservoirs, Ya Yao

Doctoral Dissertations

"Wettability alteration with surfactants has been widely applied to improve oil recovery in carbonate reservoirs. An effective surfactant huff-puff application design requires comprehensive guidelines about where, how, and when this method could be applied. Besides, traditional methods to design an effective application and optimize surfactant performance are dependent on extensive experiments and are time-consuming. This study is to assist in the design of surfactant huff-puff via statistical methods and machine learning techniques.

In this study, a dataset including 402 effective surfactant imbibition tests is established by collecting information from nearly 50 publications. The dataset provides a foundation for further data …

Effects Of Sio2 Coating On Activity Of Ru/Tio2 Catalyst For Co2 Methanation, Fasai Chaisalee

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Hydrogenation of carbondioxide to methane has the potential to effectively decrease the release of excessive CO2 emissions. The Ru/TiO2-rutile catalyst has been previously reported as the best catalytic activity for methane generation under mild operating conditions. However, no catalyst has been developed that approaches the efficiency of this Ru/rutile. This study aims to develop a catalyst that can overcome the performance of the Ru/rutile catalyst. This work investigates Ru catalysts supported on TiO2 and core-shell TiO2@SiO2 catalysts with various phase structures and SiO2 thicknesses were prepared using incipient wetness impregnation of Ru precursor on TiO2 and core-shell TiO2@SiO2 supports. The …

Fugacity-Based Lattice Boltzmann Method For Multicomponent Multiphase Systems, Muzammil Soomro, Luis F. Ayala, Cheng Peng, Orlando M. Ayala

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The free-energy model can extend the lattice Boltzmann method to multiphase systems. However, there is a lack of models capable of simulating multicomponent multiphase fluids with partial miscibility. In addition, existing models cannot be generalized to honor thermodynamic information provided by any multicomponent equation of state of choice. In this paper, we introduce a free-energy lattice Boltzmann model where the forcing term is determined by the fugacity of the species, the thermodynamic property that connects species partial pressure to chemical potential calculations. By doing so, we are able to carry out multicomponent multiphase simulations of partially miscible fluids and generalize …

Understanding Failure Mechanisms Using Multi-Scale Analyses To Improve The Performance Of Zinc Metal And Lithium-Ion Batteries, Brendan E. Hawkins

Dissertations and Theses

We are beginning a global transition away from the use of fossil fuels for our energy needs toward using renewable energy sources in order to mitigate the effects of climate change. One of the biggest challenges to this transition is that, unlike fossil fuels, renewable energy systems have inherent intermittency and require supporting energy storage systems to enable reliable power distribution and electrified transportation. Rechargeable batteries are an attractive energy storage option because of their high energy efficiency, versatility, modularity, and ease of use. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have dominated the rechargeable battery market for portable electronics for the past two …

Molecular Elucidation Of Reaction Mechanisms In Aluminum & Lithium Metal Batteries By Solid-State Nmr Spectroscopy And Electrochemical Methods, Leo W. Gordon

Dissertations and Theses

As society wrestles with the ever-growing climate consequences of burning fossil fuels, the increased demand for electric vehicles and renewable power generation mandates safe, sustainable, earth-abundant, low cost, and energy dense batteries. Different use cases will necessitate different types of batteries; for example, stationary storage systems prioritize minimal expense, whereas mobile applications like electric vehicles emphasize high energy densities. Aluminum and lithium metal batteries hold great promise for next-generation energy storage due to their large specific capacities (2980 mA h g^-1, and 3860 mA h g^-1, respectively). In particular, aluminum metal is low cost, has high …

Understanding The Kinetics And Mechanisms Of The Desired And Undesired Reactions During Electrochemical Hydrogenation And Hydrogenolysis Of Furfural On Copper In Acidic Media, Andrew S. May

Dissertations and Theses

The decarbonization of the chemical industry would have an immense impact on lowering greenhouse gas emissions and assisting in mitigating global warming. To achieve this there is a growing interest in implementing renewable feedstocks like biomass and coupling of chemical processes with renewable energy. Furfural is a biomass derived species that has been identified as a platform molecule. Electrochemical processes are more easily coupled with renewable electricity and can be used to valorize biomass derived species such as furfural. The installation of electrochemical processes is hindered by a smaller knowledge base compared to thermochemical processes. This dissertation investigates the electrochemical …

Analyzing Spatio-Temporal Mechanisms Of Land Subsidence In The Parowan Valley, Utah, Usa, Jiawei Li, Ryan G. Smith, Katherine R. Grote

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Parowan Valley, Utah (USA), is an agricultural region experiencing rapid subsidence due to extensive groundwater extraction from aquifers with a significant portion of fine-grained sediments. To analyze the subsidence spatio-temporally, time-series Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) of 155 Sentinel-1 C-band scenes were processed. These data showed approximately 30 cm of ground subsidence in Parowan Valley from 2014 to 2020. Because of the high temporal sampling rate of the Sentinel-1 satellite (12-day cycle), it is possible to determine the seasonal changes of ground deformation and relate this to groundwater extraction. To better understand the relationship between ground deformation and groundwater extraction …

Microcrystalline Dolomite In A Middle Permian Volcanic Lake: Insights On Primary Dolomite Formation In A Non-Evaporitic Environment, Xin Jiao, Yi Qun Liu, Wan Yang, Hong Li, Zi Yuan Meng, Min Ru Zhao, Zhe Xuan Li

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Lacustrine dolomite nucleation commonly occurs in modern and Neogene evaporitic alkaline lakes. As a result, ancient lacustrine microcrystalline dolomite has been conventionally interpreted to be formed in evaporitic environments. This study, however, suggests a non-evaporitic origin of dolomite precipitated in a volcanic–hydrothermal lake, where hydrothermal and volcanic processes interacted. The dolomite occurs in lacustrine fine-grained sedimentary rocks in the middle Permian Lucaogou Formation in the Santanghu intracontinental rift basin, north-west China. Dolostones are composed mainly of nano-sized to micron-sized dolomite with a euhedral to subhedral shape and a low degree of cation ordering, and are interlaminated and intercalated with tuffaceous …

Model Based Systems Engineering Approaches To Chemicals And Materials Manufacturing, Quang Le

Theses and Dissertations

Model-based systems engineering (MBSE) is part of a long-term trend toward model-centric approaches adopted by many engineering disciplines. This work establishes the need for an MBSE approach by reviewing the importance, complexity, and vulnerability of the U.S. chemical supply chains. The origins, work processes, modeling approaches, and supporting tools of the systems engineering discipline (SE) are discussed, along with the limitations of the current Process Systems Engineering (PSE) framework. The case is made for MBSE as a more generalizable and robust approach. Systems modeling strategies for MBSE are introduced, as well as a novel MBSE method that supports the automation …

Mechanisms Of Emulsion Destabilization: An Investigation Of Surfactant, Stabilizer, And Detergent Based Formulations Using Diffusing Wave Spectroscopy, Jordan N. Nowaczyk

Theses and Dissertations

Conventional approaches for studying emulsions, such as microscopy and macroscopic phase tracking, present challenges when it comes to establishing detailed mechanistic descriptions of the impact of emulsifier and stabilizer additives. Additionally, while a combination of sizing methods and macroscopic phase tracking can provide insights into droplet size changes and concentration, the use of multiple measurements can be cumbersome and error-prone. It is the focus of this work, to present a new method for studying water in oil (W/O) emulsions that involves using diffusing wave spectroscopy (DWS) to examine the impact of three different surface stabilizing additives at varying concentrations. By …

Finite Line Relief Well System Design For Dams And Levees, Andrew M. Keffer, Erich D. Guy, Katherine R. Grote

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An Analytical Method is Commonly Used to Design Relief Well Systems by Assuming the Well Line Extends an Infinite Distance Parallel to the Dam or Levee. This Assumption May Be Met in Some Cases, But When a Well Line is of Finite Length, This Can Severely Underestimate Excess Heads. Although These Consequences Have Been Historically Recognized, a Practical Graph-Based Analytical Approach for Finite Well Line Design Has Not Been Developed. Finite Well Lines Exist and Continue to Be Installed at Many Locations, So This Study Developed a Practical Design Method for Such Systems. Analytical Solutions and Numerical Models Were Used …

Electrical Resistivity Tomography Revealing Possible Breaching Mechanism Of A Late Pleistocene Long-Lasted Gigantic Rockslide Dam In Diexi, China, Lanxin Dai, Xuanmei Fan, Dan Wang, Fanyu Zhang, Ali P. Yunus, Srikrishnan Siva Subramanian, J. David Rogers, Hans Balder Havenith

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Landslide damming is a widespread phenomenon worldwide and significantly affects the evolution of fluvial landscapes. However, it is rarely witnessed from an antiquities perspective, and the case for observing their internal structure is challenging. We attempt to visualize the subsurface structure and understand the likely breaching mechanism of the late Pleistocene Diexi gigantic landslide dam (longevity of ~ 10 ka), using electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) method. Eight ERT measurements on the Diexi dam body revealed high resistivity zones near the periphery and lower resistivity zones in the middle portion of the profiles. Geomorphological mapping based on the LiDAR data determined …

The Taphonomic Character, Occurrence, And Persistence Of Upper Permian–Lower Triassic Plant Assemblages In The Mid-Paleolatitudes, Bogda Mountains, Western China, Robert A. Gastaldo, Mingli Wan, Wan Yang

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Bogda Mountains, Xianjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Western China, Expose an Uppermost Permian–Lower Triassic Succession of Fully Continental Strata Deposited Across Three Graben (Half Graben) Structures in the Mid-Paleolatitudes of Pangea. a Cyclostratigraphy Scheme Developed for the Succession is Subdivided into Three Low-Order Cycles (Wutonggou, Jiucaiyuan, Shaofanggou). Low-Order Cycles Are Partitioned into 1838 High-Order Cycles based on Repetitive Environmental Changes, and their Plant Taphonomic Character is Assessed in . 4700 M of High-Resolution, Measured Sections Distributed Across ~ 100 Km. Four Taphonomic Assemblages Are Represented By: Permineralized Wood (Both Autochthonous and Allochthonous), Megafloral Adpressions (?parautochthonous and Allochthonous) Identifiable to Systematic …

Drainage And Sedimentary Response Of The Northern Andes And The Pebas System To Miocene Strike-Slip Tectonics: A Source To Sink Study Of The Magdalena Basin, S. Zapata, L. Calderon-Diaz, C. Jaramillo, Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe, J. C. Piedrahita, M. Rodríguez-Cuevas, A. Cardona, E. R. Sobel, M. Parra, V. Valencia, A. Patiño, J. S. Jaramillo-Rios, M. Flores, J. Glodny

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Miocene strike-slip tectonics was responsible for creating and closing short-lived (ca. 6 Ma) passages and the emergence of isolated topography in the Northern Andes. These geological events likely influenced the migration and/or isolation of biological populations. To better understand the paleogeography of the Miocene hinterland and foreland regions in the Northern Andes, we conducted a source-to-sink approach in the Magdalena Basin. This basin is located between the Central and Eastern Cordilleras of Colombia and contains an ample Miocene record, which includes Lower Miocene fine-grained strata and Middle Miocene to Pliocene coarsening-up strata. Our study presents a new data set that …

Sedimentological And Geochemical Characterization Of A Varved Sediment Record From The Northern Neotropics, Edward Duarte, Jonathan Obrist-Farner, Susan R.H. Zimmerman, Erik T. Brown, Robert Brown

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Annually resolved sedimentological records (including annual varves) can be used to develop precise chronologies for key climatic and tectonic events. Varved records, however, are most common in high latitude lakes, resulting in a spatial bias with respect to annually resolved records in tropical regions. Here we report on the sedimentology of two sediment cores from Lake Izabal, eastern Guatemala, that contain a well-preserved thinly laminated section spanning ca. 2200 years of the mid-Holocene. We integrate radiocarbon age-depth modeling, sedimentological observations, laminae counting, µX-ray fluorescence scanning, and multivariate statistical analyses to constrain the nature and chronology of the laminations. Our sedimentological …

Impact Of Composition And Salinity On Swelling And Gel Strength Of Poly (Acrylamide-Co-Acrylic Acid) Preformed Particle Gel, Ahmed Ben Ali, Reem Elaf, Mohammed Saad, Ibnelwaleed A. Hussein, Baojun Bai

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The effects of various material compositions and reservoir environments on the ultimate strength and swelling kinetics of a commercial preformed particle gel (PPG) have been investigated. This study used different ratios of acrylamide and acrylic acid copolymers with a specific crosslinker concentration. Results have indicated that increasing the acrylic acid proportion enhances the PPGs' ability to swell but weakens their network structure. In contrast, increasing the crosslinker content decreases the swelling ratio and increases the gel strength. The highest equilibrium swelling capacity among the six preformed particle gel samples was obtained for PPG2, which has the highest acrylic acid amount …

Prediction Of Single Proppant Terminal Settling Velocity In High Viscosity Friction Reducers By Using Artificial Neural Networks And Xgboost, Xiaojing Ge, Rong Lu, Ghith Biheri, Abdulmohsin Imqam, Baojun Bai

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

High viscosity friction reducers (HVFRs) have been recently gaining more attention and increasing in use, not only as friction-reducing agents but also as proppant carriers. The settling velocity of the proppant is one of the key outputs to describe their proppant transport capability. However, it is influenced by many factors such as fluid properties, proppant properties, and fracture properties. Many empirical/physics-based models and correlations to predict particle settling velocity have been developed. However, they are usually based on certain assumptions and have applicable limits. In contrast, machine learning models can be considered as a black box. The objective of this …

Transport And Plugging Performance Evaluation Of A Novel Re-Crosslinkable Microgel Used For Conformance Control In Mature Oilfields With Super-Permeable Channels, Adel Alotibi, T. Song, Baojun Bai, Thomas P. Schuman

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Preformed particle gels (PPG) have been widely applied in oilfields to control excessive water production. However, PPG has limited success in treating opening features because the particles can be flushed readily during post-water flooding. We have developed a novel micro-sized Re-crosslinkable PPG (micro-RPPG) to solve the problem. The microgel can re-crosslink to form a bulk gel, avoiding being washed out easily. This paper evaluates the novel microgels' transport and plugging performance through super-permeable channels. Micro-RPPG was synthesized and evaluated for this study. Its storage moduli after fully swelling are approximately 82 Pa. The microgel characterization, self-healing process, transportation behavior, and …