Sharif Digital Repository

In this paper, an extended finite element method is employed to simulate the presence of discontinuities caused by the contact surface. In X-FEM, the need for mesh adaption to interface is neglected and the process is accomplished by partitioning the domain with some triangular sub-elements whose Gauss points are used for integration of the elements. The modified level set technique and the Heaviside enrichment function are employed to approximate the discontinuous displacement field of elements located on the contact surface. The penalty method is used to impose the contact constraints and establish the non-penetration condition. An efficient numerical algorithm is employed to model the... 

Numerical study of flow through random packing of non-overlapping spheres in a cylindrical geometry is investigated. Dimensionless pressure drop has been studied for a fluid through the porous media at moderate Reynolds numbers (based on pore permeability and interstitial fluid velocity), and numerical solution of Navier-Stokes equations in three dimensional porous packed bed illustrated in excellent agreement with those reported by Macdonald [1979] in the range of Reynolds number studied. The results compare to the previous work (Soleymani et al., 2002) show more accurate conclusion because the problem of channeling in a duct geometry. By injection of solute into the system, the... 

An optical amplifier followed by a bistable element has been statistically analyzed before [1]. In this manuscript, output noise analysis represents, then signal to noise ratios (SNR) are calculated either for input or output. It will be shown that noise reduction, can be achieved by a proper selection of parameters  

The present study examines the biorecovery of heavy metals from a spent refinery catalyst obtained from one of the oil refineries in Iran using Aspergillus niger. Bioleaching experiments were carried out in batch cultures using A. niger in the one-step process to mobilize Co, Mo and Ni from hazardous spent catalysts. Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied for the design and analysis of experiments with the optimization of pH, temperature, inoculum percentage, pulp density and rotation speed during the bioleaching of the metals. Experiments were designed as per the central composite design (CCD) technique. Three cubic mathematical models were derived for prediction of the responses.... 

Adaptation of Penicillium simplicissimum with different heavy metals present in a spent hydrocracking catalyst, as well as one-step, two-step, and spent medium bioleaching of the spent catalyst by the adapted fungus, was examined in batch cultures. Adaptation experiments with the single metal ions Ni, Mo, Fe, and W showed that the fungus could tolerate up to 1500. mg/L Ni, 8000. mg/L Mo, 3000. mg/L Fe, and 8000. mg/L W. In the presence of multi-metals, the fungus was able to tolerate up to 300. mg/L Ni, 200. mg/L Mo, 150. mg/L Fe and 2500. mg/L W. A total of 3% (w/v) spent catalyst generally gave the maximum extraction yields in the two-step bioleaching process (100% of W, 100% of Fe, 92.7%... 

Statistically based experimental designs were applied to screen and optimize the bioleaching of spent hydrocracking catalyst by Penicillium simplicissimum. Eleven factors were examined for their significance on bioleaching using a Plackett-Burman factorial design. Four significant variables (pulp density, sucrose, NaNO3, and yeast extract concentrations) were selected for the optimization studies. The combined effect of these variables on metal bioleaching was studied using a central composite design (CCD). Second-order polynomials were established to identify the relationship between the recovery percent of the metals and the four significant variables. The optimal values of the variables... 

In the past, decision making within the energy sector, especially in Iran, was limited to economic analysis. Lately, multiple criteria decision making has gained great popularity. However, this is not enough to make a right decision by considering sustainability. This paper deals with designing an appropriate multiple criteria decision making method to address the multifaceted nature of such problems. This task is the second precondition to make a decision which meets the sustainability criterion. This is done by revealing new facts about quantitative and qualitative data and the degree of compensation between the criteria. Moreover, this paper illustrates the capability of different methods... 

In this study, the ability of Aspergillus niger and Penicillium simplicissimum to extract heavy metals from a spent refinery catalyst was investigated. For the first step, a spent processing catalyst from one of the oil refineries in Iran was physically and chemically characterized. Aspergillus niger and Penicillium simplicissimum were used to mobilize Al/Co/Mo/Ni from hazardous spent catalysts. The fungi were adapted to the mixture of metals at 100-800 mg L -1 with increments in concentration of 100 mg L -1. Bioleaching experiments were carried out in batch cultures. To investigate the production of organic acids in sucrose medium, analyses of the culture medium by HPLC were performed at... 

A spent processing catalyst from an Iranian oil refinery was initially characterized physically and chemically. Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans were used to mobilize Al, Co, Mo and Ni from the spent catalysts under optimized conditions in batch cultures. The characteristics of the bioleach solution (pH, Eh, cell concentration and Fe(II)/Fe(III) concentration) were determined along with the concentration of metal values extracted from the catalyst. The results showed that after bioleaching using A. ferrooxidans in the presence of ferrous sulfate, maximum extractions of 63% Al, 96% Co, 84% Mo and 99% Ni were achieved after 30 days at pH 1.8-2.0. However, the... 

The quantity of spent hydroprocessing catalysts discarded as solid wastes in the petroleum refining industries has increased remarkably due to a steady increase in the processing of heavier feedstock. The adaptation of Penecillum Simplicissimum BBRC1-20019 with different heavy metals present in spent hydrocracking catalysts was studied. Adaptation experiments with single metals showed that the fungus could tolerate ≤ 1500 mg/L Ni, 8000 mg/L Mo, 3000 mg/L Fe, and 8000 mg/L W. In the presence of a mixture of these metals, the fungus tolerated ≤ 300 mg/L Ni, 200 mg/L Mo, 150 mg/L Fe, and 2500 mg/L W. The presence of multi-metals acted cumulatively to enhance the toxic effect in the growth of... 

In this investigation, a spent processing catalyst from one of the oil refineries in Iran was initially characterized physically and chemically. Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans were used to mobilize aluminum, cobalt, molybdenum and nickel from hazardous spent catalysts. Bioleaching experiments were performed in batch cultures. The growth characteristics of the bacteria (pH, Eh, cell concentration and ferrous and ferric iron concentration) were determined during bioleaching along with the concentration of metal values extracted from the catalyst. The results obtained from Inductive coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) showed that after the... 

This study was designed to compare one-step, two-step and spent medium bioleaching of spent catalyst by adapted Penecillum simplicissimum in batch cultures. Penecillum simplicissimum which was adapted to heavy metal ions Ni, Mo, Fe, and W grew in the presence of up to 5 %w/v of spent catalyst in the medium. The main lixiviant in bioleaching was gluconic acid which was produced mainly in present and absence of spent catalyst. A total of 3 %w/v spent catalyst generally gave maximum extraction yields in two-step bioleaching process, which the amounts of leached metals were 100 % of W, 100 % of Fe, 92.7 % of Mo, 66.43 % of Ni, and 25 % of Al. The red pigment produced by fungus could also... 

In this research, cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) electrospun nanofiber membrane (ENM) was prepared by electrospinning method in order to separate the contaminants of an industrial wastewater. The influence of various electrospinning parameters on morphology and average fiber diameter of the membranes were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and image analysis. The permeability of the membranes was evaluated by measuring pure water flux. In order to investigate the performance of the prepared membranes for tomato wastewater treatment, the rejection of the pollution indices and flux were determined. The results demonstrated the potential of using CAB nanofiber membrane for... 

This research aims to expand the body of information that researchers require before starting electronic waste (E-waste) recovery experiments. With this purpose, the basic metal contents, alkalinity, polymer components, iron magnetic separation, metal recovery priority and economic values of different types of waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) were investigated. The selected wastes were computer PCBs (CPCBs), CPCBs with wires, mobile phone PCBs (MPPCBs), television PCBs (TVPCBs), fax machine PCBs (FPCBs), copy machine PCBs (COPCBs) and central processing units (CPUs). These E-wastes were prepared in the three fraction sizes of F1<1 mm, 1 < F2<3 mm, and 3 < F3<8 mm to evaluate the metal... 

Polystyrene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, and polypropylene are the main polymers in E-waste, existing about 31%, 16%, and 13%, respectively. In this research, the effects of the elimination of low-density materials (such as polymers and plastics) were studied using the shaking table method. Bioleaching of Cu and Ni against the original sample (Sample #1) and pre-treated sample without low-density materials (Sample #2) was compared. The amount of bioleached metals and growth characteristics (including pH, Eh, bacterial count) was investigated within 25 days. The analysis of Sample #1 showed that at pulp density of 15 g/l, 94% and 79% of Cu and Ni were recovered maximally, respectively,... 

In some diseases there is a focal pattern of velocity in regions of bifurcation, and thus the dynamics of bifurcation has been investigated in this work. A computational model of blood flow through branching geometries has been used to investigate the influence of bifurcation on blood flow distribution. The flow analysis applies the time-dependent, three-dimensional, incompressible Navier-Stokes equations for Newtonian fluids. The governing equations of mass and momentum conservation were solved to calculate the pressure and velocity fields. Movement of blood flow from an arteriole to a venule via a capillary has been simulated using the volume of fluid (VOF) method. The proposed simulation... 

The present effort is the development of a multiscale modeling, simulation methodology for investigating complex phenomena arising from flowing fiber suspensions. Specific consideration was given to dynamic simulations of viscoelastic fibers in which the fluid flow is predicted by a method that is a hybrid between Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) and Large Eddy Simulation techniques (LES), and fluid fibrous structure interactions (FSI) will be taken into account. Numerical results are presented for which focus is on fiber floc deformation by hydrodynamic forces in turbulent flows. Dynamics of simple fiber networks in a shearing flow of water in a channel flow illustrate that the... 

The physicochemical techniques presently available for treatment of H2S containing gases are many and varied. In near future small gas reservoirs with high concentration of H2S will be explored, therefore the gas processing industry is seeking novel, cost effective, environmentally compatible and operator friendly technologies applicable to the small volume producrs. The continuing search for more economical methods has led to investigations into microbiological processes. The biological process which has been studied in this research is Bio-SR process. Bio-SR process uses thiobacillus ferroxidans bacteria to regenerate gas treating solution (ferrous sulfate). In this way, the effects of... 

Nano-biocomposites are a new class of hybrid materials composed of nano-sized filler (nanofiller) incorporated into a bio-based matrix. Such an association between eco-friendly biopolymers and nano-objects, with the aim to obtain synergic effects, is one of the most innovating routes to enhance the properties of these bio-matrices. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in Starch as an inexpensive and renewable source has been used as a filler for environmentally friendly plastics for about two decades. However, the poor mechanical properties of starch based biopolymers, leads to use of nanoparticles as reinforcing materials. In the present study, the influence of a... 

This paper presents a bi-objective VMI problem in a single manufacturer-single vendor multi-retailer (SM-SV-MR) supply chain, which a redundancy allocation problem is incorporated. In the hybridized problem, a manufacturer produces a single item using several machines that work in series, and stores it in a warehouse to replenish one vendor who delivers it to several retailers using the shortest possible route. A novel meta-heuristic, called hybrid bat algorithm (HBA), with calibrated parameters is utilized to find a near-optimum solution. To show the efficiency of HBA, the results are compared to the ones using the traditional BA and a genetic algorithm