ESTIMATION OF THE EFFECT OF PRODUCT SHRINKAGE ON THE DRYING TIMES,HEAT INPUT AND CONDENSER LOAD OF THE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY DRYING STAGES OF THE LYOPHILIZATION PROCESS IN VIALS

ABSTRACT

The effects of cake shrinkage on the drying times and energy requirements of the primary and secondary drying stages of the freeze drying process involving the drying of a material in a vial, are estimated through the construction and solution of an extended unsteady state and spatially multidimensional model that accounts for the changes introduced by cake shrinkage on the internal and external mass and heat transfer mechanisms of the freeze drying     

HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER IN THE ADSORBENT BED OF AN ADSORPTION HEAT PUMP

The heat and mass transfer equations governing an adsorbent bed in an adsorption heat pump and the mass balance equation for the adsorbent particles in the adsorbent bed were solved numerically to simulate the cycle of a basic adsorption heat pump, which includes isobaric adsorption, isosteric heating, isobaric desorption, and isosteric cooling processes. The finite difference method was used to solve the set of governing equations, which are highly nonlinear and coupled. The pressures of the evaporator and condenser were 2 and 20 kPa, respectively, and the regeneration temperature of the bed was 403 K. Changes in the temperature, adsorptive pressure, and adsorbate concentration in the adsorbent bed at different steps of the cycle were determined. The basic simulated cycle is presented in a Clausius-Clapeyron diagram, which illustrates the changes in average pressure and temperature of the adsorbent bed throughout the cycle. The results of the simulation indicated that the most time-consuming processes in the adsorption heat pump cycle were isobaric adsorption and isobaric desorption. The high thermal resistance of the bed slows down heat transfer, prolonging adsorption and desorption processes.     

Cellulose templating method for the preparation of La0.8Sr0.2Ga0.83Mg0.17O2.815 (LSGM) solid oxide electrolyte

La_0.8Sr_0.2Ga_0.83Mg_0.17O_2.815 (LSGM) materials are synthesized with a fast and facile cellulose templating method for the first time and characterized by XRD, EIS, Archimedes method and SEM–EDS. LSGM powders with a phase purity of 91.7 mol% are obtained after the calcination at 1300 °C for 12 h. SEM–EDS results indicate possible decomposition and reconstruction of the LSGM phase due to the diffusion of Sr-rich species to the grain boundaries for the sample sintered at 1500 °C for 6 h. Maximum conductivity value is found to be 4.2 × 10^?2 S cm^?1 at 800 °C for the sample calcined at 1300 °C for 12 h and sintered at 1400 °C for 6 h. Phase purity, stability and relative density are the important factors for obtaining high performance LSGM electrolytes. Therefore, cellulose templating method is a promising candidate for the preparation of LSGM electrolytes.     

Off-line optimization and control for real time integration of a three-phase hydrogenation catalytic reactor

In order to develop and test the integration procedure, in this paper a real time process integration involving the optimization and control of the process is presented, in this case, with the two-layer approach. The used optimization algorithms were Levenberg–Marquardt and SQP that solve a non-linear least square problem subject to bounds on the variables. The two-layer approach is a hierarchical control structure where an optimization layer calculates the set points and manipulated variables to the advanced controller, which is based on the dynamic matrix control with constraints (QDMC). The non-isothermal dynamic model of the three-phase slurry catalytic reactor with appropriate solution procedure was utilized in this work (Vasco de Toledo, E. C., Santana, P. L., Maciel, M. R. W., & Maciel Filho, R. (2001). Dynamic modeling of a three-phase catalytic slurry reactor. Chemical Engineering Science, 56, 6055–6061). The model consists on mass and heat balance equations for the catalyst particles as well as for the bulk phases of gas and liquid. The model was used to describe the dynamic behavior of hydrogenation reaction of o-cresol to obtain 2-methil-cyclohexanol, in the presence of a catalyst Ni/SiO₂.     

Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of a Metakaolin-Based Inorganic Polymer Mortar Reinforced with Quartz Sand

Silicon - The synthesis, mechanical behaviour, and microstructure of metakaolin-based geopolymer mortar reinforced with quartz sand are presented in this investigation. Fine sand (quartz sand)...     

Effects of Various Preparation and Polymerization Procedures on the Isospecific Nature of TiCl3-Based Polypropylene Catalysts

Summary As one of a series approaches in using two-component and three-component donor-free Ziegler–Natta catalysts, in this preliminary work, the effects of various preparation and polymerization conditions including catalyst preparation by wet- or dry- grinding, the type of cocatalyst, with or without pretreatment of catalyst by cocatalyst before polymerization, Al/Ti molar ratio and polymerization temperature, etc., on the isospecific nature of active sites of the TiCl₃ catalyst were studied through a systematic characterization of the PPs by a combination of GPC, ¹³C-NMR with TREF method. It was demonstrated that the types of Al-alkyl cocatalysts play the most dominant role in determination of isospecificity of activate sites and its distribution. A plausible mechanism (Scheme 1) regarding the formation of isospecific active sites with different stability in terms of Ti–Al bimetallic complexing depending on the type of cocatalyst had been proposed. Except the catalyst grinding method, other factors eg., pretreatment, temperature, and Al/Ti molar ratio, etc. did not show obvious effects on the isospecific nature of active sites.     

Preparation and characterization of LDPE and PP—Wood fiber composites

Natural fiber reinforced composites is an emerging area in polymer science. These natural fibers are low cost fibers with low density and high specific properties. These are biodegradable and nonabrasive. The natural fiber composites offer specific properties comparable to those of conventional fiber composites. However, in development of these composites, the incompatibility of the fibers and poor resistance to moisture often reduce the potential of natural fibers, and these draw backs become critical issue. Wood‐plastic composites (WPC) are a relatively new class of materials and one of the fastest growing sectors in the wood composites industry. Composites of wood in a thermoplastic matrix (wood–plastic composites) are considered a low maintenance solution to using wood in outdoor applications. WPCs are normally made from a mixture of wood fiber, thermoplastic, and small amounts of process and property modifiers through an extrusion process. In this study, Wood–plastic composites (WPC) are produce by adding a maleic anhydride modified low density polyethylene coupling agent to improve interfacial adhesion between the wood fiber and the plastic. Mixing is done with twin screw extruder. Subsequently, tensile strength, the modulus of elasticity, % elongation, hardness, Izod impact strength, melt flow index (MFI), and heat deflection temperature (HDT) are determined. Thermal transition temperatures and microstructure are determined with DSC and SEM, respectively. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

Nanoenergetic Composites of CuO Nanorods,Nanowires, and Al‐Nanoparticles

This paper reports on the synthesis of the nanoenergetic composites containing CuO nanorods and nanowires, and Al‐nanoparticles. Nanorods and nanowires were synthesized using poly(ethylene glycol) templating method and combined with Al‐nanoparticles using ultrasonic mixing and self‐assembly methods. Poly(4‐vinylpyridine) was used for the self‐assembly of Al‐nanoparticles around the nanorods. At the optimized values of equivalence ratio, sonication time, and Al‐particle size, the combustion wave speed of 1650 m s⁻¹ was obtained for the nanorods‐based energetics. For the composite of nanowires and Al‐nanoparticles the speed was increased to 1900 m s⁻¹. The maximum combustion wave speed of 2400 m s⁻¹ was achieved for the self‐assembled composite, which is the highest known so far among the nanoenergetic materials. It is possible that in the self‐assembled composites, the interfacial contact between the oxidizer and fuel is higher and resistance to overall diffusional process is lower, thus enhancing the performance.