Sharif Digital Repository

Natural and modified clays were applied as adsorbents for the removal of organic contaminants from wastewater. This study presents an investigation on the technical feasibility of using modified minerals that are named organoclay for treatment of dissolved substances, mainly polyphenols in olive mill wastewater. The different parameters such as applied cation dosage were effective on the removal of contaminants by these adsorbents (%CEC), pollutant concentration, pH and particle size of minerals. In this investigation bentonite particles were modified by stirring the clay with a long chain quaternary ammonium cation. Doses of the applied cation varied from zero to 1.5 times the clay CEC.... 

A novel microspherical adsorbent for the removal of uranium from aqueous solutions was developed by immobilizing of natural bentonite in the polymeric matrix of calcium alginate. Different uptake properties of the prepared microspheres were examined using batch, stirred and column methods. The adsorbent showed high affinity toward uranium ions, especially at pHs above 3. Major uptake mechanisms included ion exchange, chelating of the (UO2)2+ ions to the -OH groups of alginate, and surface complexation with bentonite. Surprisingly, the capacity of microspheres was higher than both its constituents, revealing that a synergetic effect occurs. Adsorption kinetics was controlled by slow chemical... 

Despite the various uses of hydrogels, one of their weaknesses is the poor gel strength. To overcome this restriction, the current study has focused on simultaneously employing an interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) structure and nanocomposite hydrogels. Through this approach, the influence of nanofiller in the single network and IPN hydrogel properties was also studied in detail. For this purpose, a novel full interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) hydrogel nanocomposite based on 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS)/acrylic acid (AA)–sodium acrylate (AANa) was synthesized in two steps through a facile solution polymerization with incorporation of modified bentonite (MBE) as... 

Despite various applications of hydrogels, they have poor gel strength and low resistance against crack propagation which lead to the limitation of their applications. For overcoming this inherent weakness, the current study has focused on the simultaneous utilization of interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) structure and nanocomposite hydrogels. It is known that IPN and nanocomposite gels can improve gel strength. The combination of IPN and nanocomposite structure was developed in hydrogels for improving gel strength. For this purpose, bentonite was successfully modified with a cationic surfactant, (3-methacrylamidopropyl) trimethyl ammonium chloride (MAPTAC), as intercalate, and... 

Clay liners are widely used as porous membrane barriers to control solute transport and to prevent the leakage of leachate both in horizontal and vertical flow scenarios, such as the isolated base and ramps of sanitary landfills. Despite the primary importance of saturated hydraulic conductivity in a reliable simulation of fluid flow through clay barriers, there is no model to predict hydraulic conductivity of clayey soils permeated with saline aqueous solutions because most of the current models were developed for pure water. Therefore, the main motivation behind this study is to derive semi-empirical models for simulating the hydraulic conductivity of clayey soils in the presence of... 

Activated clay is an inexpensive substance with massive utilization for removal of unsaturated compounds on an industrial scale. The performance of activated clay in removing such compounds heavily relies on the type of pristine raw clay and acids which are used during the activation process. In this work, olefins removal from aromatic streams is reported by activated clays with two different routes of clay activation. After preliminary tests of four different natural clays, the best clay was selected due to having enhanced swelling index, cation exchange capacity, higher surface area, and better suspension stability, among others. Having activated clay with hydrochloric acid and sulfuric... 

Drilling fluids consist of several components with different physical and structural form which can be assumed as complex fluids. Optimum performance of drilling process could be obtained through the dynamic fluid computation which requires a reliable mathematical model capable to predict transient and steady state rheological behavior of drilling fluid. Generalized Newtonian formulations are the most popular models for drilling fluids due to their simplicity in spite of their inabilities to predict transient and elastic behavior of such fluids. In this paper, we have developed a mathematical model to predict transient and steady state rheological behavior of the complex fluids on the scale... 

A novel superabsorbent composite based on kappa-Carrageenan (κC) was prepared by graft copolymerization of acrylamide (AAm) onto κC in the presence of bentonite powder using methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinking agent, ammonium persulfate (APS) as an initiator, and sodium carbonate as a pore-forming agent. The swelling behavior in distilled water and in solutions with different pH values was investigated. The results indicated that with increasing carrageenan/bentonite weight ratio, the swelling capacity is increased but the gel content is decreased. The swelling rate of the hydrogels was improved by introducing sodium carbonate as pore-forming agent. The prepared superadsorbent... 

The present study investigates the dynamic filtration of concentrated slurry fluids containing colloidal clay particles under different salinity, shear flow, and flux rate conditions. The dynamic filtration study was carried out by the filtration cell equipped with a rotating disk to apply shear stress over the membrane surface. A 3D CFD simulation has been implemented to model the hydrodynamic flows inside the filtration cell to obtain the wall shear stress (WSS) on the membrane surface at different disk rotation speeds. The thickness and surface patterns of fouling were captured utilizing a surface profilometer. First, the cake-filtration model was used to predict the flux rate and fouling... 

Employing an effective rheological model for the flow of drilling fluid that can accurately predict changing conditions is of significant importance in drilling fluid optimization. Traditional generalized Newtonian models cannot predict the time change condition, viscoelastic behavior, role of each component, or microstructural behaviors within the fluid. Consequently, the present research aims to develop constitutive equations in the framework of generalized bracket formalisms and the extra tensor concept that connect the microscopic and macroscopic properties and can overcome the aforementioned problems of traditional rheological models. The developed model is applicable for drilling fluid... 

Employing an effective rheological model for the flow of drilling fluid that can accurately predict changing conditions is of significant importance in drilling fluid optimization. Traditional generalized Newtonian models cannot predict the time change condition, viscoelastic behavior, role of each component, or microstructural behaviors within the fluid. Consequently, the present research aims to develop constitutive equations in the framework of generalized bracket formalisms and the extra tensor concept that connect the microscopic and macroscopic properties and can overcome the aforementioned problems of traditional rheological models. The developed model is applicable for drilling fluid... 

Drilling fluid is a complex fluid, including base fluid and other materials, carrying out the vital functions during drilling operation such as cutting transport and controlling formation pressure. In order to optimize performance of a drilling process, a reliable rheological model is required in the computation of fluid flow dynamics. Time-independent Generalized Newtonian formulation are the most common models for describing the rheological behavior of drilling fluids due to its simplicity and ease of use, in spite the fact that they are not able to predict the normal stresses and could not consider effects of active components on the rheological behavior of the drilling fluid and also... 

This paper is devoted to investigation of morphological and physical-mechanical properties of polyethylene (PE)/clay nanocomposites prepared via in situ polymerization method using bi-supported Ziegler-Natta catalyst. Bentonite type clay and MgCl2 (ethoxide type) were used as the support of TiCl4. Catalyst support and polymerization process have been done in slurry phase using Triisobutylaluminum as the co-catalyst. The microstructure of the nanocomposites was examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). XRD and TEM indicated that almost fully exfoliated PE/clay nanocomposites were produced successfully using this method. According to permeability... 

The morphological, physical and mechanical properties of polypropylene/clay nanocomposites (PPCNs) were prepared by in situ polymerization are investigated. Non-modified scmectite type clay (e.g. bentonite) was used to prepare bi-supported Ziegler-Natta catalyst of TiCl4/Mg(OEt)2/clay. Exfoliated PPCNs were obtained by in situ intercalative polymerization of propylene using produced bi-supported catalyst. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) micrograph were used to assess the clay morphology and dispersion of clay. The crystalline structures of PPCNs were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The mechanical properties of PPCNs were... 

NaY zeolite nanoparticles were synthesized and shaped into the uniform spherical granules using a developed novel and simple two-step granulation technique. First, the alginate/nanozeolite or alginate/nanozeolite-bentonite spherical hybrid was successfully fabricated, and then the alginate was decomposed by calcinations resulting uniform spherical granules. To improve the mechanical stability of the prepared granules, bentonite was added as an inorganic binder at different ratios of 20wt.% to 40wt.%. Moreover, the effect of binder on the ion exchange properties of the prepared granules was studied. Increasing of binder content from 20wt.% to 40wt.% linearly enhanced the mechanical stability... 

Mixture of sandy soil and bentonite clay can be used to seal the sanitary landfills and prevent the spread of leachate. Over time, this mixture may be subjected to different landfill contaminants, including acidic pollutants and shear strength variations. The objective of this research was to study the effects of sulphuric acid pollutant with pH values of 7, 3 and 1 on the shear behaviour and strength of clean sand and sand mixed with bentonite clay using common consolidated undrained triaxial tests. The tests results showed that the presence of acid in the soil pore water changes the shear behaviour pattern of the soil. Acid pollutant decreases the clean sand shear strength. In...