Chemical analyses of shale gas and conventional natural gas

Abstract

Shale gas is essentially non-traditional natural gas (NG). Shale gas can be considered an unusual alternative energy source. Shale gas production is a method of obtaining the NG trapped between deep underground rocks. Shale gas production is not economical, except for horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing methods. Advanced analysis of shale gaseous samples can be done using gas chromatography, mass spectrometry and other modern testing methods. The Orsat apparatus includes three absorption pipettes containing chemical solutions that absorb gases. Absorbents are a 33% by weight aqueous solution of potassium hydroxide (KOH) for carbon dioxide (CO₂), alkali pyrogallol for oxygen (O₂) and ammoniacal cuprous for carbon monoxide (CO) measurement. Oxygen is absorbed in alkaline pyrogallol or in a chromous solution. Shale gas can be analyzed best gas chromatographically. The capillary column can be separated from all the hydrocarbons and their isomers by alumina, which is used as a stationary phase in the gas chromatographic column, because alumina is highly selective for hydrocarbons. Silica is a specific adsorbent that exhibits greater applicability for hydrocarbons. The chemical contents of shale gas are similar to those of the conventional NG. The processing, transfer and storage and distribution of shale gas are assumed to be similar to the conventional NG.     

Computerized analysis of mammographic microcalcifications in morphological and texture feature spaces

We are developing computerized feature extraction and classification methods to analyze malignant and benign microcalcifications on digitized mammograms. Morphological features that described the size, contrast, and shape of microcalcifications and their variations within a cluster were designed to characterize microcalcifications segmented from the mammographic background. Texture features were derived from the spatial gray-level dependence (SGLD) matrices constructed at multiple distances and directions from tissue regions containing microcalcifications. A genetic algorithm (GA) based feature selection technique was used to select the best feature subset from the multi-dimensional feature spaces. The GA-based method was compared to the commonly used feature selection method based on the stepwise linear discriminant analysis (LDA) procedure. Linear discriminant classifiers using the selected features as input predictor variables were formulated for the classification task. The discriminant scores output from the classifiers were analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) methodology and the classification accuracy was quantified by the area, Az, under the ROC curve. We analyzed a data set of 145 mammographic microcalcification clusters in this study. It was found that the feature subsets selected by the GA-based method are comparable to or slightly better than those selected by the stepwise LDA method. The texture features (Az = 0.84) were more effective than morphological features (Az = 0.79) in distinguishing malignant and benign microcalcifications. The highest classification accuracy (Az = 0.89) was obtained in the combined texture and morphological feature space. The improvement was statistically significant in comparison to classification in either the morphological (p = 0.002) or the texture (p = 0.04) feature space alone. The classifier using the best feature subset from the combined feature space and an appropriate decision threshold could correctly identify 35% of the benign clusters without missing a malignant cluster. When the average discriminant score from all views of the same cluster was used for classification, the Az value increased to 0.93 and the classifier could identify 50% of the benign clusters at 100% sensitivity for malignancy. Alternatively, if the minimum discriminant score from all views of the same cluster was used, the Az value would be 0.90 and a specificity of 32% would be obtained at 100% sensitivity. The results of this study indicate the potential of using combined morphological and texture features for computer-aided classification of microcalcifications.     

Rheological characterization of a charged cationic hydrogel network across the gelation boundary

The in situ rheological behavior across the gelation threshold has been investigated for an affine network of a completely charged cationic monomer (3-acrylamidopropyl)-trimethylammonium chloride (APTMAC1) when it is crosslinked with a neutral crosslinker (N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide) to form a fully charged novel cationic hydrogel. The elastic moduli (G′) near the gel point (during the crosslinking or ‘curing’ process) show a power law dependence of the form G′(t)=ε^z, where ε=((t−t_c)/t_c) is the distance from the gel point (t_c). The critical exponent, z, for the hydrogel series investigated is estimated to be 1.5, slightly lower than the predictions based on percolation theory (z∼1.7-1.9). From the equilibrium (after the curing process) rheological measurements of a series of samples, it is inferred that there is a critical crosslinker mole percent (X_c) with respect to the monomer concentration, required to form a well-defined three-dimensional network with a solid-like behavior. The value of this X_c is found to be between 0.5 and 1%. The theoretically predicted value of X_c using the percolation theory (for the percolation of crosslinks, G₀(X)∝[|X−X_c|/X_c]^z) and the exponent estimated from the in situ measurements (z=1.5), is X_c∼0.6, which is in good agreement with the experiments. The results may have applicability in translating from bulk systems to the nanoscale in hydrogel design.     

NaOH modified P(acrylamide) hydrogel matrices for in situ metal nanoparticles preparation and their use in H2 generation from hydrolysis of NaBH4

Crosslinked poly(acrylamide) (p(AAm)) as neutral hydrogel is synthesized via photo polymerization technique, and the amide groups within p(AAm) matrices are converted to strongly ionizable carboxylic acids groups via facile modification route by simple treatment of NaOH to obtained NaOH‐p(AAm) hydrogels. Because of the highly ionizable nature of carboxylate groups within mod‐p(AAm), the swelling and metal ion absorbing capacities are increased tremendously, almost 40 and 7.5 folds, respectively. The Co(II) and Ni(II) metal ions are loaded into NaOH‐p(AAm) hydrogels, and are treated with NaBH₄ to form corresponding metal nanoparticles in situ within mod‐p(AAm) matrices, and used in H₂ generation production from hydrolysis of NaBH₄. Various parameters such as functionality of polymeric matrices, the kinds and the amount of metal nanoparticles, and the temperature effecting the H₂ generation are investigated. Comparable low E_a with the similar researches in the literature, E_a = 20.07 ± 0.05 kJ mol^?1 is obtained in NaBH₄ hydrolysis catalyzed by NaOH‐p(AAM)‐Co composite system. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 41106.     

A comparative analysis of the effects of computer and paper-based personalization on student achievement

The aim of this study is to investigate whether personalization of mathematical word problems affects student achievement; and if it does, to find out whether the outcomes vary depending on computer and class environment in the teaching of mathematics. The sample of the research, conducted in the 2006–2007 fall semester, consists of 90 seventh grade in four sub-groups. During the application in the classroom, paper-based personalized and paper-based non-personalized problems were given. As to the computer environment, web-based personalized and web-based non-personalized problems were presented. After the application, an achievement test was performed as an achievement post-test parallel to the pre-test. The results show no significant difference between the scores of the groups who used personalized materials and the groups who used non-personalized materials. The results also indicate that no significant difference exists between those who studied in the computer-based environment and those in the paper-based environment.     

Core-shell nanohydrogel structures as tunable delivery systems

Poly(acrylonitrile-co-N-isopropylacrylamide) (p(AN-co-NIPAM)) core-shell hydrogel nanoparticles were synthesized by microemulsion polymerization and their feasibility as a drug carrier was investigated. Highly monodispersed nanoparticles with desired size range - i.e., 50-150 nm - were prepared by adjusting the reaction conditions. The hydrophobic core of the composite which consists primarily of poly(acrylonitrile), can be easily made highly hydrophilic by converting the nitrile groups to the corresponding amidoxime groups. This provides a level of tunability in the hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity balance of the composite nanoparticle. The thermo-responsive feature of the shell was utilized for the release of a model drug, propranolol (PPL). It is shown that the loading/release capacity of nanoparticles was increased almost two-fold by the amidoximation of the core material.     

Swelling and dye adsorption properties of radiation induced N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone/acrylonitrile hydrogels

Summary Swollen hydrogels were prepared by γ-radiation copolymerization of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone and acrylonitrile. The influence of radiation dose and feed composition on the swelling properties, diffusional behavior of water and diffusion coefficients of the hydrogel systems were examined. N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone/acrylonitrile hydrogels were swollen in the range 50–850%. Water diffusion to the hydrogels generally was a non-Fickian type diffusion. The hydrogel were used in the studies of adsorption of some water soluble dye such as basic blue 9, tetraethyl rhodamine, xylidine ponceau 2R, indigo carmine, helianthin and erythrosine, and of a vitamin riboflavin (Vitamin B₂). Received: 9 June 1998/Revised version: 23 July 1998/Accepted: 23 July 1998