Performance of Pd composite membrane prepared by organic–inorganic method in WGS membrane reactor

H₂ production via water–gas shift (WGS) reaction in a Pd membrane reactor prepared by the electroless plating technique (ELP) “organic–inorganic” method was investigated. Pd nanoparticles embedded polyethylene glycol (PEG) was used as a polymer template during the activation step. Gas permeation results showed an infinite selectivity for H₂/N₂ with a H₂ flux of 0.004–0.016 mol/m²·s depending on operating conditions while it decreased until 0.0005 mol/m²·s for gas mixtures. Furthermore, WGS membrane reactor experiments showed a maximum CO conversion of 98.5% with a H₂ recovery of 16% at 450°C. The membrane performance was consistent during WGS catalytic membrane reactors (CMR) tests, thereby confirming the stability of the obtained membrane.     

Formation of a robust and stable film comprising ionic liquid and polyoxometalate on glassy carbon electrode modified with multiwalled carbon nanotubes: Toward sensitive and fast detection of hydrogen peroxide and iodate

A robust and stable film comprising n-octylpyridinum hexafluorophosphate ([C₈Py][PF₆]) and 1:12 phosphomolybdic acid (PMo₁₂) was prepared on glassy carbon electrodes modified with multiwall carbon nanotubes (GCE/MWCNTs) by dip-coating. The cyclic voltammograms of the GCE/MWCNTs/[C₈Py][PF₆]-PMo₁₂ showed three well-defined pairs of redox peaks due to the PMo₁₂ system. The surface coverage for the immobilized PMo₁₂ and the average values of the electron transfer rate constant for three pairs of redox peaks were evaluated. The GCE/MWCNTs/[C₈Py][PF₆]-PMo₁₂ showed great electrocatalytic activity towards the reduction of H₂O₂ and iodate. The kinetic parameters of the catalytic reduction of hydrogen peroxide and iodate at the electrode surface and analytical features of the sensor for amperometric determination of hydrogen peroxide and iodate were evaluated.     

利用不稳定压力数据建立碳酸盐岩储集层模型

地质模型通常是根据地质信息,利用地球物理和岩石物理资料来建立.为了建立准确的碳酸盐岩油藏(伊朗海上油田)模型,不仅利用了地震和测井数据,也结合了该油田现有99井次的试井数据.在试井解释过程中观察到了许多特征,如封闭断层、水层、裂缝和分层系统,其中某些特征只能利用压力瞬态数据来识别,如地震数据中观察不到的一条封闭断层在试井曲线上则可识别.除了识别构造特征外,试井解释得到的渗透率数据也可用于绘制渗透率等值线图,而不再采用岩心分析得到的渗透率数据.试井得到的渗透率是泄油区域的有效渗透率,而岩心分析得到的渗透率并不能代表非均质油藏的渗透性.利用非稳态压力分析结果建立油藏模型,可以提高碳酸盐岩油藏建模的准确性.图6表1参8     

Detection of Leakage Freshwater and Friction Factor Calibration in Drinking Networks Using Central Force Optimization

Inverse Transient Analysis (ITA) is a powerful approach for leak detection and calibration of friction factors in pressurized pipes. Through this method, a transient flow is initiated and pressures are measured somewhere in the system. Then, a nonlinear programming (NLP) problem with a least-squares criterion objective function is developed to minimize discrepancies between the measured and calculated pressures at measurement sites. Solving the raised NLP results in the problem’s unknowns being leakage specifications and pipe friction factors. For this purpose, various optimization techniques may be utilized. This issue is a major challenge for ITA-based methods. The present work aims at applying the new method of Central Force Optimization (CFO) to the problem of ITA. CFO is a deterministic metaheuristic inspired by gravitational kinematics in which small objects in space are dragged by bigger ones. Herein, the concept and main structure of CFO are represented as well as of CFO. A reference pipe-network is considered to be solved using the ITA equipped with CFO. The results are then discussed compared to the previous works. It is concluded that CFO is easy to implement, computationally efficient and has a remarkable performance in solving leak detection problem.     

Optimization of the Production of Biosurfactant From Iranian Indigenous Bacteria for the Reduction of Surface Tension and Enhanced Oil Recovery

Abstract

The optimum conditions for biosurfactant production by Iran's isolates were examined. The Taguchi method was used to identify nutritional requirements in the medium using four parameters; that is, carbon source, nitrogen, phosphorous, and salt concentrations. The use of whey, oil, and sucrose as carbon sources; NaCl as salt source; (Na₂HPO₄, NaH₂PO₄) as phosphorous source; and (NH₄)₂SO₄ as nitrogen source was examined to determine bacteria optimum conditions. According to the Taguchi method using the sucrose source, the optimal conditions for Bacillus subtilis were 50 g/L NaCl, 13.53 g/L (Na₂HPO₄, NaH₂PO₄), and 1 g/L (NH₄)₂SO₄; for Bacillus cereus they were 25 g/L NaCl, 13.53 g/L (Na₂HPO₄, NaH₂PO₄), and 1 g/L (NH₄)₂SO₄; and for Pseudomonas putida they were 25 g/L NaCl, 13.53 g/L (Na₂HPO₄, NaH₂PO₄), and 1 g/L (NH₄2_SO. Oil displacement experiments in the micromodel at optimum conditions showed around 25% recovery of residual oil with added supernatant of Bacillus subtilis.     

CONJUGATE HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER IN CONVECTIVE DRYING OF POROUS MEDIA

Abstract

A methodology for the analysis of conjugate problems in the convective drying of porous media is presented. In this study, the interface between porous medium and external convective flow is treated as an internal boundary within a two-phase system rather than a geometric limit. The problems of solid drying and convection boundary layer are connected by expressing the continuity of the state variables and their respective fluxes through the interface. The performance of the proposed methodology is evaluated by applying it to wood-drying problems. The analysis of the drying of porous media as a conjugate problem allows the assessment of the effect of the heat and mass transfer within the solid on the transfer in the adjacent fluid, providing good insight on the complexity of the transfer mechanisms.     

Adaptive Network-Based Fuzzy Inference Systems Coupled with Genetic Algorithms for Predicting Soil Permeability Coefficient

This paper extends hybrid-type optimization models of genetic algorithm adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (GA-ANFIS) for predicting the soil permeability coefficient (SPC) of different types of soil. In these models, GA optimizes parameters of a subtractive clustering technique that controls the structure of the ANFIS model’s fuzzy rule base. Simultaneously, a hybrid leaning algorithm is employed in the ANFIS, as a trained fuzzy inference system (FIS), which optimally determines the parameter sets of the examined FISs in ANFIS. Using an updated large database of SPCs consisting of 338 fine-grained, 178 mixed and 94 granular soil samples, GA-ANFIS framework constructs different models of predicting the permeability coefficient of respectively fine-grained, mixed and granular soils. A fuzzy C-mean technique has been used to cluster the entire data samples of each type of soil and divide them uniformly into training and testing data sets. Different prediction models of SPC have been trained and tested for each of the three soil types, and the appropriate models have been selected. The selected models have been compared with ANN and modified-by-GA empirical prediction models. Results show that the constructed GA-ANFIS models outperform the other models in terms of the prediction accuracy and the generalization capability.     

Intelligent finite element mesh generation

A knowledge-based and automatic finite element mesh generator (INTELMESH) for two-dimensional linear elasticity problems is presented. Unlike other approaches, the proposed technique incorporates the information about the object geometry as well as the boundary and loading conditions to generate an a priori finite element mesh which is more refined around the critical regions of the problem domain. INTELMESH uses a blackboard architecture expert system and the new concept of substracting to locate the critical regions in the domain and to assign priority and mesh size to them. This involves the decomposition of the original structure into substructures (or primitives) for which an initial and approximate analysis can be performed by using analytical solutions and heuristics. It then uses the concept of wave propagation to generate graded nodes in the whole domain with proper density distribution. INTELMESH is fully automatic and allows the user to define the problem domain with minimum amount of input such as object geometry and boundary and loading conditions. Once nodes have been generated for the entire domain, they are automatically connected to form well-shaped triangular elements ensuring the Delaunay property. Several examples are presented and discussed. When incorporated into and compared with the traditional approach to the adaptive finite element analysis, it is expected that the proposed approach, which starts the process with near optimal initial meshes, will be more accurate and efficient.     

CONJUGATE HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER IN CONVECTIVE DRYING OF MULTIPARTICLE SYSTEMS. PART I: THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS

This is the first of two papers concerning conjugate transport in convective drying of multiparticle systems. In this study, a methodology for the solution of conjugate transport problems is proposed. The theoretical aspects and relevant assumptions are briefly discussed and the results for convective heat and mass transfer in assemblages of spheres are presented. It is shown that both heat and mass transfer rates for an assemblage of two spheres in tandem arragement are significantly different from those of a single sphere case, and that care should be taken when modeling multiparticle systems by means of single-particle analysis.