Modeling of liquid hydrocarbon products from syngas

International Journal of Coal Science & Technology - The modeling of hydrocarbon selectivity and CO conversion of the Fischer–Tropsch synthesis over Fe–Ni/Al2O3 catalyst by using...     

Future directions in physiochemical modeling of the thermodynamics of polyelectrolyte coacervates

We review theories of polyelectrolyte (PE) coacervation, which is the spontaneous association of oppositely charged units of PEs and phase separation into a polymer-dense phase in aqueous solution. The simplest theories can be divided into “physics-based” and “chemistry-based” approaches. In the former, PEs are treated as charged, long-chain, molecules, defined by charge level, chain length, and chain flexibility, but otherwise lacking chemical identity, with electrostatic interactions driving coacervation. The “chemistry-based” approaches focus on the local interactions between the species for which chemical identity is critical, and describe coacervation as the result of competitive local binding interactions of monomers and salts. In this article, we show how these approaches complement each other by presenting recent approaches that take both physical and chemical effects into account. Finally, we suggest future directions toward producing theories that are made quantitatively predictive by accounting for both long range electrostatic and local chemically specific interactions.     

Synergistic effect of salt ions and water-soluble amphiphilic compounds of acidic crude oil on surface and interfacial tension

This study investigated the effect of solubility of amphiphilic compounds of acidic crude oil in water on the surface and interfacial tension (IFT) with NaCl, MgCl₂, CaCl₂, and Na₂SO₄ salts. Accordingly, distilled water, along with the salts mentioned in zero ionic strength up to 2 mol were put in contact with crude oil to become saturated with amphiphilic compounds. The effects of these compounds were investigated on the properties of contact water by pH, total organic carbon (TOC), FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), water-air surface tension (ST), and water-n-decane IFT tests. The results showed that some of the organic components of crude oil, especially acidic and basic compounds, are present or soluble in water, which have a significant effect on reducing the surface and IFT. The IFT reduction of water-n-decane was greater than the water-air ST system. Also, the observations showed that for both NaCl and Na₂SO₄ salt water, with increasing ionic strength of water, there was an optimum salinity within the range of 0.1-0.25 mol/L for both salts with the amount of surface and IFT minimized at this point. In the other two salts, this point was delayed upon elevation of ionic strength and was observed at high salinity. In this case, divalent cations reduce tension rate compared to monovalent cations. Due to solubility of acidic and basic groups in water, pH of salt water illustrates an acidic trend. Results of the FTIR test confirmed solubility of these compounds as well.     

Direct synthesis of bi-modal porous structure MCM-41 and its application in CO2 capturing through amine-grafting

A bi-modal porous structure MCM-41 (BPS-MCM-41) was synthesized and functionalized by 3-[2-(2-Aminoethylamino)ethylamino]propyltrimethoxysilane (TRI); also, its performance in amine grafting and CO₂ capturing was compared with that of pore-expanded MCM-41 [1]. To create larger pores beside the mesoporous structure of MCM-41, carbon black nanoparticles were used as the solid template. Characterizing the BPS-MCM-41 using the BET and BJH techniques resulted in the surface reduction of 29.3 percent and volume increase of 68.46 percent. The pore size distribution showed two peaks: a narrow peak at 2.24 nm diameter, which belonged to micelles, and a wide one at about 50 nm due to the presence of used nanoparticles. The functionalization confirmed that BPS-MCM-41 is capable of accommodating a large quantity of amine groups. The CO₂ adsorption measurement indicated that internal volume of the adsorbent was a critical factor affecting the adsorption capacity of the amine grafted adsorbents.     

Statistical analysis and optimization of simultaneous biological nutrients removal process in an intermittently aerated SBR

Simultaneous removal of carbon and nutrients from a synthetic wastewater in aerobic/anoxic sequence batch reactor (SBR) was investigated. The experiments were conducted based on a central composite design (CCD) and analyzed using response surface methodology (RSM). Two significant independent variables, cycle time and aeration time, were studied to analyze the process. Five dependent parameters—total COD (TCOD) removal, total nitrogen removal, total phosphorus removal, total Kjeldahl nitrogen removal and effluent nitrate concentration—were monitored as the process responses. The region of exploration for the process was taken as the area enclosed by cycle times (2, 4.25 and 6.5 h) and aeration times (30, 40 and 50 min/h) boundaries. The maximum COD (87.18%) and TKN (78.94%) removal efficiencies were obtained at the cycle time and aeration time of 6.5 h and 50 min/h, respectively. While the maximum TN (71.15%) and phosphorus (68.91%) removal efficiencies were obtained at cycle time of 6.5 h and aeration time of 40min/h. As a result, high cycle time (6.5 h) and moderate aeration time (40min/h) were found to be the optimal region for maximum carbon and nitrogen removal efficiencies.     

CFD Simulation of Deep-Bed Paddy Drying Process and Performance

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was applied three-dimensionally to simulate the drying behavior of paddy in a deep-bed dryer. The commercial CFD software Fluent 6.3.26 was used. The deep-bed paddy drying process and performance were studied by incorporating user-defined function (UDF) in Fluent written in C language. The predicted drying parameters were compared with experimental data of deep-bed drying of paddy. The values of mean relative deviation (MRD), standard error of prediction (SEP), and maximum error of prediction (MEP) for prediction of grain moisture content, air temperature, and absolute humidity were less than 6, 10, and 9%; 0.33% (d.b), 1.24°C, and 0.06% (kg/kg of dry air); and 2.25% (d.b), 6.8°C, and 0.37% (kg/kg of dry air), respectively, which reflect reasonable accuracy. Moreover, the energetic and exergetic performance of deep-bed paddy drying were simulated and analyzed. The effects of inlet air temperature and mass flow rate on the performance parameters were investigated. It was shown that the application of higher levels of inlet air temperature and lower mass flow rates yielded higher exergy efficiencies of deep-bed paddy drying.     

Reliability Improved Stochastic Dynamic Programming for Reservoir Operation Optimization

Stochastic Dynamic Programming (SDP) is widely used in reservoir operation problems. Besides its advantages, a few drawbacks have leaded many studies to improve its structure. Handling the infeasible conditions and curse of dimensionality are two major challenges in this method. The main goal of this paper is proposing a new method to avoid infeasible conditions and enhance the solution efficiency with new discretization procedure. For this purpose, an optimization module is incorporated into regular SDP structure, so that, near optimal values of state variables are determined based on the available constraints. The new method (RISDP) employs reliability concept to maximize the reservoir releases to satisfy the downstream demands. Applying the proposed technique improves the reservoir operating policies compared to regular SDP policies with the same assumptions of discretization. Simulation of reservoir operation in a real case study indicates about 15% improvement in objective function value and elimination of infeasible conditions by using RISDP operating policies.     

A new blend of polymeric encapsulation of azithromycin by spray-drying with a pH responsive in drug release

The microencapsulation of macrolides with polymers has been reported to retard the release of the drug in oral cavity. However, these methods are unable to control drug release in gastrointestinal tract. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of formulation of a new polymeric encapsulation of azithromycin which is suitable for both masking and sustained release usage. Eudragit E100 and polyethylene glycol (PEG) 4000 were chosen as the barrier coatings. The spray drying technique was used to obtain the microcapsules containing azithromycin. To obtain the initial results, the effects of several parameters were evaluated. A 3:2:1 ratio of E100:PEG 4000:azithromycin at pH 6 gave the best coating condition. Thermogravimetric analysis and IR analysis data confirmed the encapsulation of azithromycin inside polymers. The encapsulated drug was released in different rates from the particles by changing the pH (1.7 and 7.4). An analysis of the kinetic release properties indicates that the release of the drug is a combination of swelling and diffusion mechanism. The synergistic cooperation between polymers and drug due to the existence of several hydrogen bonding is supposed to influence the pH-responsive property of the encapsulated drug. Moreover, the use of mixtures of E100 and PEG 4000 appears to offer a good balance between cost and efficiency.     

Effects of discrete source-sink arrangements on mixed convection in a square cavity filled by nanofluid

Laminar mixed convection of Al₂O₃/water nanofluid flow in a cavity in which the upper wall is moving from right to left has been studied numerically. Fifteen different arrangements of two discrete sources and four discrete sinks have been considered. This work shows when one source is located at the right side of the bottom wall and other one at the down half of the left wall, total heat transfer achieves its maximum value. The lowest heat transfer rate is achieved when more than two vortexes are created in the cavity (case 13 for Ri=1 and case 5 for Ri=100). In general, for cases with one overall vortex, the cavities which have separate sources induce better cooling and have higher Nu number.