Other Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Utilization Of Biopertalite For Fuel Efficiency And Reduction In Co And Co2 Gas Emissions In Four-Wheel Motor Vehicles, Ridwan Iskandar, Hadiyanto Hadiyanto, Suherman Suherman, Zainul Akmar Zakaria

Makara Journal of Technology

Emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) gases are the main problem that must be rectified as they are harmful and contribute to global warming through the greenhouse gas effect. In Indonesia, motor vehicles, especially four wheelers, are one of the biggest contributors with up to 71 million tons of CO2 emissions and energy consumption of 179 million barrel of oil equivalent. Bioethanol has octane rating >100, which is higher than that of gasoline; and emission contribution of only 0.02 kg/L, which is lower than that from gasoline (2.23 kg/L). Accordingly, a mixture of gasoline and bioethanol is …

Multi-Criteria Decision Matrix Method In The Risk Analysis Of Biodiesel Production Processes, Kaylee Alles

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Theses and Student Research

Renewable fuel technologies aim to mitigate the non-renewability of fossil fuels, challenges with increased energy demand, and the climate impact of fossil fuel emissions. However, before investing in renewable technologies, there need to be decision strategies that assess and identify the best alternatives according to stakeholder priorities. There is also a concern about whether the technologies that are the “most sustainable” effectively meet the acceptable risk requirements of stakeholders. In response to this question, a risk-adapted multi-criteria decision model was developed and compared to a sustainability study that evaluated five renewable diesel technologies, including Green Diesel I, II, and III; …

Anion Alloying Of Iii-V Semiconductors For Water Splitting., Sonia Calero-Barney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The challenge of solar energy conversion and storage translates into the discovery and development of semiconductor materials that can transform sunlight energy into electricity and/or high-energy-density fuels in a cost-effective way. From the solar energy conversion perspective, cation-alloyed III-V solar cells hold record-breaking energy conversion efficiencies, while anion-alloyed III-V’s are particularly interesting for photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation. The major challenge for the adoption of III-V-based technologies lies in the high manufacturing costs of established synthesis techniques and the difficulty to control the composition of ternary alloys. One of the materials investigated in this work is GaSb_zP_1-z. Thermodynamic …

Production Of Cellulose-Based Superabsorbent Polymers For Soil Water Retention, Rosa Maria Arredondo Ramirez

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) have attracted tremendous attention, with researchers noting that their high water absorption capacity (AC) is valuable for various applications, especially in agricultural contexts. Two types of materials can be used to produce SAPs: fossil-based (which are harmful to the environment) and bio-based (which are significantly more environmentally friendly, given their biodegradability and minimal toxic side effects). Although bio-based SAPs (Bio-SAPs) are preferable due to their environmental merits, their preparation tends to be time consuming and labour intensive, and their AC is still far below expectations. To address these problems, a novel, eco-friendly, cellulose-based superabsorbent polymer (Cellulo-SAP) was …

Synthesis Of A Phosphorus-Based Epoxy Reactive Flame Retardant Analog To Diglycidyl Ether Of Bisphenol A (Dgeba) And Its Behavior As A Matrix In A Carbon Fiber Composite, Mustafa Mukhtar

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper describes the synthesis of a phosphorus-based flame retardant that is a chemical analog of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA), as well as its incorporation as a matrix into carbon fiber laminates. Carbon fiber composites, if used for structural applications in mass transport vehicles (aircraft, trains), will require some aspects of improved fire performance to be used safely in those applications. The first phase of work involved the development of two separate synthesis routes to produce the flame retardant monomer, referred to as Phosphorus-DGEBA or simply P-DGEBA. The second step was to determine the viability of the compound's …

Identification Of Lithocholic Acid As A Molecular Glass Host For Room-Temperature Phosphorescent Materials, John J. Flynn, Zachary M. Marsh, Douglas M. Krein, Steven M. Wolf, Joy E. Haley, Erick S. Vasquez, Thomas M. Cooper, Nicholas P. Godman, Tod A. Grusenmeyer

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Lithocholic acid was identified as a molecular glass host material for room temperature phosphorescent (RTP) chromophores. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was performed on a series of structurally similar, biologically sourced molecules, including lithocholic acid, β-estradiol, cholesterol, and β-sitosterol, in an effort to identify new amorphous molecular glasses independent of plasticizing additives. DSC analysis revealed lithocholic acid and β-estradiol form stable molecular glasses post thermal processing unlike neat cholesterol and β-sitosterol. The ability of lithocholic acid and β-estradiol to stabilize high wt. % loadings of d10-pyrene and a mixture of d10-pyrene and an iridium chromophore, bis(2,4-difluorophenylpyridinato)-tetrakis(1-pyrazolyl)borate iridium(III) (FIr6), was also investigated. …

Identification And Distribution Analysis Of The Mid-Phase In A Low-Velocity Gas-Solid Fluidized Bed, Zhenan Zhang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The intermediate phase in low-velocity gas-solid fluidized beds generally presents excellent gas-solid contact in the systems. However, no comprehensive understanding of this vital phase is available in the literature. Therefore, this study proposed a statistical method to identify this intermediate phase, named ‘mid-phase’ in this thesis, to interpret the system performance based on the analysis of solids holdup in a low-velocity gas-solid fluidized bed.

The distributions of the mid-phase are investigated along both radial and axial directions in consideration of different flow regimes. The result shows that the turbulent regime contains a higher amount of mid-phase and the spatial mid-phase …

Electric Field Driven Co-Assembly And Transport Of Colloids Using Active-Passive Interaction, Brishty Deb Choudhury

LSU Master's Theses

Over the past few decades, the out-of-equilibrium transport and assembly of colloidal particles have been drawing significant interest due to their myriad applications in biology, engineering, and physics. In the absence of any external force, micro and nanoparticles perform Brownian motion in dispersion and are termed as passive colloids. In contrast, active colloids are a class of particles where a net imbalance of fluid flow around their surface drives their net migration in space when subjected to an external electric field. While several studies have shown the ability to program the dynamics of active colloids using an external electric field, …

Augmented Formic Acid Electro-Oxidation At A Co-Electrodeposited Pd/Au Nanoparticle Catalyst, Yaser M. Asal, Ahmad M. Mohammad, Sayed S. Abd El Rehim, Islam M. Al-Akraa

Chemical Engineering

In this study, the formic acid electro-oxidation reaction (FAEOR) was catalyzed on a Pd-Au co-electrodeposited binary catalyst. The kinetics of FAEOR were intensively impacted by changing the Pd2+:Au3+ molar ratio in the deposition medium. The Pd1-Au1 catalyst (for which the Pd2+:Au3+ molar ratio was 1:1) acquired the highest activity with a peak current density for the direct FAEOR (Ip) of 4.14 mA cm−2 (ca. 13- times higher than that (ca. 0.33 mA cm−2) of the pristine Pd1-Au0 catalyst). It also retained the highest stability that was denoted in fulfilling ca. 0.292 mA cm−2 (ca. 19-times higher than 0.015 …

Surface Engineering Of Pt Surfaces With Au And Cobalt Oxide Nanostructures For Enhanced Formic Acid Electro-Oxidation, Yaser M. Asal, Islam M. Al-Akraa, Ahmad M. Mohammad

Chemical Engineering

This study aims to mitigate the CO poisoning of platinum (Pt) surfaces during formic acid electro-oxidation (FAEO), the essential anodic reaction in the direct formic acid fuel cells (DFAFCs). For this purpose, a glassy carbon (GC) electrode was amended sequentially with Pt (n-Pt), gold (n-Au), and cobalt oxide (n-CoOx) nanostructures. Fascinatingly, the ternary modified n-CoOx/n-Au/n-Pt/GC catalyst (for which n-Pt, n-Au, and n-CoOx were sequentially and respectively assembled onto the GC surface) exhibited a remarkable electrocatalytic enhancement toward FAEO, which surpassed ca. 53 times that of the Pt/GC catalyst. Additionally, it exhibited a much (ca. 18 times) higher stability after 3000 …

Nuclear Energy As A Reliable And Safe Source Of Power Generation, Sarup Dhungana

Honors Theses

There is a high demand of energy for generating civil applicable power in the world and in the USA, correspondingly. The world has been consuming various sources to extract the power to meet its demands. Most of the power sources include renewable and non-renewable sources like fossil fuels, natural gas, coal, water, solar, wind, and nuclear power. Although most of these sources have many advantages in terms of their capacity and cost of production, nuclear power can be categorized as the emerging driving force in the United States and in the world for power generation, because of its reliability and …

Energy And Resource-Saving Method For Enriching The Waste Water Purified Without Sufficient Purification With Oxygen, Dilobar Khurramova, Mukhtor Khurramov, Sharifa Ganieva, Zulqaynar Nazirov

CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

In order to implement a reliable and environmentally safe, economically viable method of wastewater enrichment, the goal is to develop an energy- and resource-saving method of oxygen enrichment of wastewater that has not undergone sufficient treatment. Cleaning is carried out in a tank, which is built using rock, which is an algal limestone. Limestone contributes to the improvement of the oxygen regime due to the “conservation” of organic matter in anoxic bottom layers and the acceleration of the process of photosynthesis of unicellular algae. Calcium carbonate is a reagent that provides not only automatic stabilization of water pH at 2/dm …

Preparation, Cure, And Characterization Of Cyanate Ester-Epoxy Blends, Donald A. Klosterman

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Cyanate ester resins are often blended with lower cost epoxy monomers in order to modify the cost, toughness, and processing characteristics. There are also several choices of catalysts that can be used to improve processing, namely by reducing the cure temperature. This study was undertaken to illustrate how a designed experiment approach can be used to systematically investigate a wide range of material combinations and illuminate the basic cure behavior of some simple cyanate ester – epoxy blend combinations. Two commercial cyanate ester resin products were obtained. Each was blended with a bisphenol F based epoxy resin at two different …

Engineering Lewis Acidic Materials For Biomass Conversion And Battery Applications., Md Anwar Hossain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My long-term goal is to develop catalytic systems to produce renewable energy for a sustainable society. The overall research objective of my dissertation is to advance understanding of Lewis acidic materials for (1) conversion of renewable lignin into phenolics and (2) enhanced cycling stability of lithium metal batteries to safely store renewable electricity from wind and solar, thereby laying the groundwork for our transition to a sustainable society. Petroleum is a conventional feedstock for current transportation fuels (gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels). However, petroleum is a finite resource and produces greenhouse gases (CO₂ and CH₄) upon processing, …

Diffusion Of A Salt In An Aqueous Media, Aldaly Pineda Hernandez

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Diffusion is defined as the net transfer of a molecule from a high concentration region to a low concentration region. The concept of diffusion is used in a very important process called "desalination." Desalination is a separation process used to reduce the salt content dissolved in brackish water to make it suitable for human consumption, irrigation, and industrial use.

In desalination plants, it is important to monitor the constantly changing salt content of water, partly due to the diffusive effect. The main purpose of this experiment was to study the diffusion of NaCl in water at two NaCl concentrations. The …

Materials And Interfaces For Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Production And Utilization., Alexander Jiya Gupta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mass industrialization over the last few centuries has created a global economy which is dependent upon fossil fuels to satisfy an exponentially increasing demand for energy. Aside from the possible depletion of this finite resource, the combustion of fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere which cause the global temperature to rise – a phenomenon which has already begun to create geologic and geopolitical instability and shows no signs of abatement. One proposed method to rid humanity of its dependence on fossil fuels is to use green hydrogen as an energy carrier. In this scheme, excess electricity from a …

The Aiche Student Design Competition: Modular Distributed Gas-To-Liquids (Gtl) Synthesis, Abigail Bozarth, Jason Mote, Revathi Panuganti, Fausat Isu

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of Bio-Mass To Bio-Oil Reactor Systems: Direct Conversion Vs. Companion Coal Gasification, Luci Evans

Honors Theses

The purpose of this project was to define, design, and optimize the economic feasibility of the production of bio-oil from a direct conversion of biomass to bio-oil using fast pyrolysis and a secondary side reaction of the production of a syngas from coal gasification. In the end, a combined process of these two was created to show the new strengths and more efficient options to produce a desired product within a budget. The main objectives of this project were to research the economic feasibility of the biomass and bio-oil industry, obtain a market survey, design two process flow diagrams showing …

Co-Gasification Of Biomass And Plastic Waste In A Bubbling Fluidized Bed Reactor, Islam Elghamrawy

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Plastics are versatile, durable, and can be manipulated to match different needs. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of reducing plastic waste and is believed to be responsible for increasing the generation of plastic waste by 54,000 tons/day which was reported in 2020. Another widely available waste is biomass waste. Agriculture and agroforestry, forest and wood processing, municipal waste, and the food industry are all considered major producers of biowaste. Co-gasification is considered one of the most promising methods of chemical recycling that targets the production of syngas (hydrogen and carbon monoxide) and light hydrocarbon gases. In this study, …

Effect Of Palladium Loading On Catalytic Properties Of Pd/Gce For The Electro-Oxidation Of Methanol, Formic Acid, And Ethylene Glycol, Islam M. Al-Akraa, Yaser M. Asal, Sohir A. Darwish, Rafik M. Fikry, Reem H. Mahmoud, Mohamed Hassan, Ahmad M. Mohammad

Chemical Engineering

This study investigates the influence of the catalyst (Palladium, Pd) mass that loaded onto a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) on the catalytic activity of methanol (MEO), formic acid (FAEO), and ethylene glycol (EGEO) electro-oxidation, the corresponding principal anodic reactions in the direct methanol (DMFCs), formic acid (DFAFCs), and ethylene glycol (DEGFCs) fuel cells, respectively. By increasing the Pd loading at 0.1 V, the Pd surface area increased from 0.55 cm2 (2 min Pd deposition) to 1.94 cm2 (25 min Pd deposition) which increased the peak currents (IP) of MEO (from 0.181 to 0.608 mA), FAEO (from 0.236 to …

A Competent Mwcnt-Grafted Mnox/Pt Nanoanode For The Direct Formic Acid Fuel Cells, Islam M. Al-Akraa, Mamdouh M. Moutaz, Ahmad M. Mohammad, Yaser M. Asal

Chemical Engineering

A novel “MnOx/Pt/MWCNT-GC” nanocatalyst is recommended for the electrooxidation of formic acid (EOFA), the principal anodic reaction in the direct formic acid fuel cells (DFAFCs). The sequential (layer-by-layer) protocol was employed to prepare the catalyst through the electrodeposition of Pt (nano-Pt) and manganese oxide (nano-MnOx) nanoparticles onto the surface of a glassy carbon (GC) electrode supported with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The nano-MnOx could successfully mediate the mechanism of EOFA by accelerating the charge transfer, “electronic effect”. On the other hand, MWCNTs could enhance the catalytic performance by changing the surface geometry that inhibited the adsorption of poisoning CO, which …

Synergistic Enhancement Of Formic Acid Electro-Oxidation On Ptxcuy Co-Electrodeposited Binary Catalysts, Yaser M. Asal, Ahmad M. Mohammad, Sayed S. Abd El Rehim, Islam M. Al-Akraa

Chemical Engineering

A propitious binary catalyst composed of Pt and Cu which were electrodeposited simultaneously onto a glassy carbon (GC) substrate was recommended for the formic acid (FA) electro-oxidation reaction (FAOR); the principal anodic reaction in the direct FA fuel cells (DFAFCs). The simultaneous co-electrodeposition of Pt and Cu in the catalyst provided an opportunity to tune the geometric functionality of the catalyst to resist the adsorption of poisoning CO at the Pt surface that represented the major impediment for DFAFCs marketing. The catalytic activity of the catalyst toward FAOR was significantly influenced by the (Pt4+/Cu2+) molar ratio of the electrolyte during …

Heteroaggregation Of Lignin-Zein Nanoparticles: Effects Of Relative Size And Concentration, Yada Chulakham

LSU Master's Theses

Nanotechnology has become an advanced tool for manufacturing materials of the future. As the size of a material is reduced to a nanoscale, its surface area to volume ratio increases drastically, and its surface property becomes size dependent. This allows scientists to make use of unique properties that nanomaterials have to offer to create novel materials that otherwise could not have been achieved in meter-scale materials. As more industrial companies have planned to incorporate different types of nanomaterials into their products, it is undeniable that some of these nanomaterials will be released to the environment. Such possibility has led to …

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 …

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, …

Investigation Of Reactions Occurring In Municipal Solid Waste Residues, Tasnuva T. Moutushi

Dissertations and Theses

Each year more than 290 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) is generated in the U.S. Understanding the reactions occurring in waste during disposal, transport, and storage is important to move towards an integrated waste management strategy. Recently some landfills in the U.S. have been reported to exceed the regulatory temperature range, causing numerous regulatory challenges. The reason for this phenomenon is still unidentified. In addition, the co-disposal of the MSW ash in landfills lead to various reactions which can impact the landfill environment. Understanding the reactions occurring in the MSW and in ash is essential to minimize and …

Reverse Cationic Flotation Of Hematite, Natalia Parra Alvarez

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The reverse cationic flotation of hematite is the most common method to process hematite ores. The goal of this research is to understand the impact of fundamental water and surface effects to enable the optimization of the flotation process. At present, reverse cationic flotation is performed using a single chemical as both collector and frother. Excessive amounts of frother or collector should lead to diminished performance. This research investigates this phenomenon by replacing some of the collector with frothers. It was found that flotation recovery can be improved up to 2.5wt% via 10% replacement with methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC). Since …

Castor Oil Conversion To Biodiesel: A Process Simulation Study, Islam M. Al-Akraa, Ahmad M. Mohammad, Yaser M. Asal, Razan Aymen

Chemical Engineering

The aim of this study is to highlights the importance to shift from the use of traditional fossil fuels to biodiesel as a clean energy source. A simulation study has been conducted using ASPEN HYSIS software for the biodiesel production form castor oil. The simulation was run and the properties of the produced biodiesel were highlighted. The optimum conditions resulted in 88 % conversion.

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

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

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 …

Application Of Sla 3d Printing For Polymers, Taylor Wilson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Stereolithography is a type of 3D printing that allows liquid photopolymer resin to be cured into layers that make up a 3D object. Creation of such resins for these purposes can require a significant amount of time to test and develop, and commercial resins also require some amount of testing for printer settings before use. This paper reviews how stereolithography works, the materials used, and experimentation done to compare the resin properties to the determined curing times. Using several commercially available resins, varying base exposure and layer exposure times were used to determine the lowest possible curing time that gave …