Investigation of an Australian soft rock permeability variation

In this study, permeabilities of Victorian Brown Coal (VBC) as an Australian soft rock are determined for a range of depths of a continuous coal seam located at the batter crest of the Yallourn brown coal open-cut mine in Victoria, Australia, by implementing a Lugeon packer testing procedure. Permeability values are determined both analytically and by numerical simulation and are compared with laboratory test results. Field testing resulted in permeabilities several orders of magnitude higher than laboratory testing, suggesting the existence of fractures common to lignite structures on a greater scale than can be observed in the laboratory. The variation of depth-based field and laboratory permeabilities is discussed, as well as the necessary conditions required for the numerical modelling of packer testing within VBC.

     

Effect of copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) on electrochemical hydrogen storage capacity of BaAl2O4/BaCO3 nanoparticles

A green synthesis method, solution combustion, were performed to synthesize BaAl₂O₄/BaCO₃ nanoparticles by using stoichiometric amount of cations, Ba²⁺ and Al³⁺, in rational fraction of a fuel (maltose). Single fuel led to the formation of combustion reaction required further annealing at 700 °C in order to achieve pure crystals. The average crystallite sizes of the BaAl₂O₄/BaCO₃ nanopowders were obtained about 36 nm using modified Scherrer equation. In order to improve the electrochemical hydrogen storage capacity of BaAl₂O₄/BaCO₃ nanoparticles, a novel admixture was designed by introducing copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) into an inorganic phase. The reaction profiles of BaAl₂O₄/BaCO₃-CuPc nanocomposites were confirmed by FTIR analysis. The structural and elemental analysis were confirmed the formation of nanocomposites. Morphological analysis confirmed the nanoscale formation of the host material. In addition, TEM results clearly confirmed the morphology of BaAl₂O₄/BaCO₃ sample and its nanocomposites. The Band gap energy was calculated for host, CuPc and its respective nanocomposites using Tauc method obtained at 4.95, 2.10 and 2.54/4.89 eV, respectively. Electrochemical performances of the materials were confirmed a large I_pa for BaAl₂O₄/BaCO₃-CuPc nanocomposites as compare to the host materials. This was directly reflected in hydrogen storage capacities of the materials (900 mA h/g discharge capacity for BaAl₂O₄/BaCO₃ (～3.17%) and >1500 mA h/g for BaAl₂O₄/BaCO₃-CuPc nanocomposites (～5.3%)).     

Adhesion-Induced Phase Behavior of Two-Component Membranes and Vesicles

The interplay of adhesion and phase separation is studied theoretically for two-component membranes that can phase separate into two fluid phases such as liquid-ordered and liquid-disordered phases. Many adhesion geometries provide two different environments for these membranes and then partition the membranes into two segments that differ in their composition. Examples are provided by adhering vesicles, by hole- or pore-spanning membranes, and by membranes supported by chemically patterned surfaces. Generalizing a lattice model for binary mixtures to these adhesion geometries, we show that the phase behavior of the adhering membranes depends, apart from composition and temperature, on two additional parameters, the area fraction of one membrane segment and the affinity contrast between the two segments. For the generic case of non-vanishing affinity contrast, the adhering membranes undergo two distinct phase transitions and the phase diagrams in the composition/temperature plane have a generic topology that consists of two two-phase coexistence regions separated by an intermediate one-phase region. As a consequence, phase separation and domain formation is predicted to occur separately in each of the two membrane segments but not in both segments simultaneously. Furthermore, adhesion is also predicted to suppress the phase separation process for certain regions of the phase diagrams. These generic features of the adhesion-induced phase behavior are accessible to experiment.     

Polyimide/organo‐montmorillonite nanocomposites: A comparative study of the organoclays modified with aromatic diamines

Six organophilic clays have been obtained through cation‐exchange between sodium montmorillonite (Na^+‐Mt) and the hydrochloride salts of aromatic diamines (DA1–6). The results obtained by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that the organophilic clays start to decomposition within 150–340°C, which shows that they are thermally stable compared with conventional montmorillonite modified with aliphatic long‐chain quaternary alkyl ammonium salts. The highest thermal stability and interlayer basal spacing were observed for the organoclay obtained from 3,3′‐sulfonyl dianiline (DA2), and therefore it was chosen for preparing clay/polymer nanocomposite materials (CPN). Polyimide/clay nanocomposite materials consisting of benzophenone‐3,3′,4,4′‐tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA) and 2‐(5‐(3,5‐diaminophenyl)‐1,3,4‐oxadiazole‐2‐yl)pyridine (POBD) were also obtained by an in situ polymerization reaction through a thermal imidization. DA2‐Mt was used as filler at different concentrations. Both the thermal stability and the glass transition temperature (T_g) are increased with respect to pure polyimide (PI) at low clay loadings. At high clay concentrations, the organoclay particles make aggregate and as results of this phenomena T_g and thermal stability are decreased. POLYM. COMPOS., 36:613–622, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Phenol Removal from Aqueous Solutions by a Novel Industrial Solvent

This article presents a useful method for the removal of phenolic contaminant from water and wastewaters by a novel industrial solvent using liquid-liquid extraction method. For this purpose, a paraffinic-based solvent (Iso-kerosene) was used. The selected ranges for the parameters were 20–50°C for temperature, 100–500 (mg/L) for phenol concentration, and, 1–6 for aqueous feed pH. In each experiment run, the percentage of extraction was calculated. The percentage of extraction was measured to be in the range of 15–70%. The best percentage of extraction was obtained under the conditions of 100 (mg/L), 50°C, and pH = 6. The results showed that the extraction efficiencies are extremely sensitive to temperature. The ANOVA analysis of the results showed the degree of importance of the parameters and their contribution in the final extraction efficiency as extraction temperature, pH of the feed solution, and feed concentration, with a contribution of 73.47, 24.15, and 0.7, respectively. The contribution of experimental error and F ratios also demonstrated the accuracy of the results.     

Solubility of Fructose in Water–Ethanol and Water–Methanol Mixtures by Using H‐Bonding Models

The solubility of fructose in water–ethanol and water–methanol mixtures and the saturated density of each solution at 20, 30, and 40 °C over a range of water mass percentage have been measured. Also, a new modification of the Wilson model has been proposed to describe solubility data satisfactorily. The H‐UNIQUAC and H‐NRTL models were applied and a comparison between these 3 models was carried out. These 3 models were used to estimate the experimental data which was reported in this study. The comparison of the results showed that the H‐Wilson model has the lowest AAD% between these 3 models in correlating the solubility data and the saturated density.     

Factors affecting the transfer of radionuclides from the environment to plants

Much of our food directly or indirectly originates from plant material; thus, detailed studies on plant contamination processes are an essential part of international environmental research. This overview attempts to identify and describe the most important parameters and processes affecting the behaviour of radionuclide transfer to plants. Many parameters influence these processes. These parameters are related to: (1) plant, (2) soil, (3) radionuclide, (4) climate and (5) time. Often there is no boundary between the factors and they are linked to each other. Knowledge of important factors in radionuclide transfer to plants can help to assess and prevent radiological exposure of humans. This knowledge can also help to guide researches and modelling related to transfer of radionuclides to food chain.     

Mathematical modelling of CO2 facilitated transport through liquid membranes containing amines as carrier

An approximate analytical solution for the facilitated transport of carbon dioxide across a liquid membrane containing aqueous primary and secondary amine solutions has been developed in which the reversible reaction A(CO₂) + 2B(amine) AB(carbamate) + BH(protonated amine) occurs inside the liquid membranes. The current approximate analytical solution predicts the facilitated factor of CO₂ through the membrane and is based on the dimensionless, nonlinear diffusion‐reaction transport problem. The approximate analytical solution predicts the facilitation factors for the range from the moderate reaction rate to the equilibrium chemical reaction regime, allowing unequal diffusivities of complexes and carrier and cases of zero and nonzero permeate side solute concentrations. In the present mathematical model, a constant free carrier concentration is assumed throughout the membrane phase. In comparison with the numerically calculated results, the results obtained were found to be in well agreement.