Sharif Digital Repository

Using whole cell as a catalyst of enzymatic transesterification is a method to produce biodiesel with fewer drawbacks and at a lower cost. In the present study, biodiesel was produced by the reaction of waste frying oil with methanol in the presence of Rhizopus oryzae PTCC 5174 in both immobilized and free forms. Effect of four influencing factors including temperature, methanol to oil molar ratio, amount of biomass, and shaking speed was investigated. Response surface methodology was used to find the optimum conditions of the transesterification reaction. Each factor was set at three levels and the yield of the biodiesel was considered as the response. A quadratic equation was well-fitted... 

Aluminum metal matrix composites (MMCs) reinforced with nanoceramics are ideal materials for the manufacture of lightweight automotive and other commercial parts. Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system combined with particle swarm optimization method is implemented in this research study in order to optimize the parameters in processing of aluminum MMCs. In order to solve the problems associated with poor wettability, agglomeration and gravity segregation of nanoparticles in the melt, a mixture of alumina and aluminum particles was used as the reinforcement instead of raw nanoalumina. Microstructural characterization shows dendritic microstructure for the sand cast and non-dendritic... 

Nickel/silicon carbide composite electrodeposits were prepared on a rotating disk electrode (RDE), under pulse current condition. The effect of pulse parameters, current density, SiC content in the electrolyte on the codeposition of SiC were studied. Afterwards, the effect of codeposited SiC amount was investigated on electrochemical behavior and nanomechanical properties of coatings. The coatings were analyzed with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), linear polarization, nanoindentation and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The Ni-SiC electrocomposites, prepared at optimum conditions, exhibited improved nanomechanical properties in comparison to pure nickel electrodeposits. With increasing... 

In this research, a new transient mathematical model based upon tanks-in-series configuration was developed to simulate the direct synthesis of dimethyl ether (DME) from syngas in a commercial-scale slurry bubble column reactor. A comparison between the simulation results and experimental data showed that the applied model might acceptably describe the behavior of the slurry reactor. Furthermore, simulation results in the heterogeneous bubble flow regime indicated that the proposed model with 10 tanks-in-series provided the optimum condition. Utilizing this transient model and considering catalyst deactivation, the effect of operating conditions on DME productivity and CO conversion were... 

Anatase and amorphous TiO2 nanoparticles were used to improve recovery of heavy oil from sandstone cores. Before performing core floods, the stability of nanoparticles at different salinities was tested using ζ potential and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) methods. While water recovered only 49% of the oil in the core flood experiments, 0.01% anatase structure solution recovered 80% of the oil after injecting two pore volumes at optimum conditions. To understand the mechanism responsible for improved recovery, contact angle measurements were performed on the rock surface before and after treatment with the nanoparticle solution. Contact angle measurements showed that the rock wettability... 

To the best of our knowledge, this work presents the first successful effort to fabricate and study nanostructured Ni-based composite coatings using the electrophoretic deposition method with nanostructured SiO2 particles. In this work, Ni/SiO2 nanoparticle composite coatings were prepared by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) [1] and their hardness, wear and corrosion resistances [2] were examined. After studying the morphology of the coatings and finding the optimum conditions for uniform coating, in order to improve the mechanical properties as well as resistance to corrosion, sintering was performed. The Ni/SiO2 nanocomposite coatings show excellent hardness (∼376 HV), reduced Young's... 

4-hydroxycoumarin 2a and 4-hydroxy-6-methyl-pyran-2-one 2b were applied in a one-pot reaction with Baylis-Hillman adduct acetates 1 to form novel 3-benzylpyrano [3, 2-c] pyran-2, 5-diones 3 in high yields (70-85%). The synthesized framework is available in many biologically active moieties. The reaction was carried out under different conditions to achieve optimum conditions. The results indicated that Et3N, as a base under solvent-free conditions, was optimum. The reaction procedure and purification method are mild and straightforward  

For the application of human neural stem cells (hNSCs) in neural regeneration and brain repair, it is necessary to stimulate hNSC differentiation towards neurons rather than glia. Due to the unique properties of graphene in stem cell differentiation, here we introduce reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/TiO2 heterojunction film as a biocompatible flash photo stimulator for effective differentiation of hNSCs into neurons. Using the stimulation, the number of cell nuclei on rGO/TiO2 increased by a factor of ∼1.5, while on GO/TiO2 and TiO2 it increased only ∼48 and 24%, respectively. Moreover, under optimum conditions of flash photo stimulation (10 mW cm-2 flash intensity and 15.0 mM ascorbic acid in... 

The hardness of the Ni-Cr alloy which is electrodeposited in chloride solution, is optimized by design of experiment method (central composite design). Various parameters were evaluated in order to find significant factors in this process. Frequency, duty cycle, current density and temperature were selected as effective factors. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) were performed on the results of the designed experiments. The best model which can predict the hardness of the Ni-Cr alloy electrodeposits was found whereas the frequency and quadratic behaviour of the current density were the most significant model terms. Serious interaction of the current density with frequency and duty cycle also were... 

In this study, some stabilized magnetite based ferrofluids were synthesized using Dextran as a stabilizing agent. In order to achieve optimum experimental conditions for synthesizing ferrofluids as MRI contrast agents, the Taguchi method was used. This approach was employed to design and minimize the number of required experiments. By using the Taguchi orthogonal (L16) array, four parameters including solution temperature and alkalinity, reaction temperature and stirring rate were selected at four predetermined levels for 16 experiments. Synthesizing processes established based on this set of experimental conditions were carried out and the obtained ferrofluids were characterized using PCS,... 

A novel approach for highly sensitive detection of captopril was developed based on the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), in which FITC acts as the donor and Au NPs as the acceptor. The fluorescence intensity of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) was strictly quenched as a result of noncovalently adsorbed on Au NPs. Upon the addition of captopril, the fluorescence intensity of FITC turn-on due to the competition between captopril and FITC towards the surface of Au NPs. Under the optimum conditions, the fluorescence intensity of the released FITC displays a linear relationship in the range of 20 μg L-1 to... 

This work deals with waste heat recovery from a proposed direct internal reforming molten carbonate fuel cell (DIR-MCFC), including an integrated pre-reformer. In this regard, some advantages are attainable over exhaust gas recycling. For instance, due to low temperature in the pre-reformer, carbon deposition and coke formation resulting from higher hydrocarbons can be eliminated. In this study, the cathode outlet provides the heat requirement for the pre-reforming process. After partial heat recovery from the cathode outlet, the stream still has a considerable energy and exergy (352.55 °C and 83.687 kW respectively). This study investigates waste heat recovery from the proposed DIR-MCFC,... 

In this study, the synthesis and characterization of a novel nano-porous superabsorbent hydrogel with high water swelling capacity is described. A nano-porous hydrogel was prepared by employing (2-dimethylaminoethyl) methacrylate (PDMAEMA) as a pH sensitive monomer and sodium alginate (SA) as a water soluble polysaccharide under γ-ray irradiation. The polymerization reaction was performed at room temperature in the absence of chemically toxic crosslinking agent and initiators. The interactive parameters including biopolymer backbone concentration, monomer concentration and γ-irradiation dose were selected as major factors in the synthesis of superabsorbent and three levels for each factor... 

In this research nano γ-Al 2O 3 catalyst was synthesized through precipitation process then characterized and utilized for methanol dehydration reaction in a slurry batch reactor in route to the indirect synthesis of the dimethyl ether (DME). In this venue, effects of the key parameters on methanol conversion and catalyst stability were investigated. Moreover, the internal and external mass transfer resistances were eliminated; hence the intrinsic kinetics controlled the reaction. Therefore, the optimum conditions for temperature, methanol concentration, catalyst mass and stirrer speed were determined to be 300°C, 1.18mol/l, 1.5g and 1100rpm, respectively. Next, different reaction rate... 

Design and operation of three different optical designs based on the light intensity modulation for investigation of the humidity effects on the air index of refraction are described. The measurement variable is the transmitted power, which depends on the refractive index of the medium in the path of a fiber-to-fiber optical design. Three different probes (probe #1, #2, and #3) are tested in which probe #1 and probe #2 can also check the presence of water or any other transparent liquid in the gap between the two axial fibers. Performances of the new systems are tested as a refractive index monitoring mean and experimental results are given. The variations of the modulated powers as... 

Desalting plants are often installed in crude oil production units in order to remove water-soluble salts from an oil stream. Experiments in both the laboratory and field have shown the desalting process parameters to be very complicated. This research reflects the results of a study conducted regarding the impact of operational desalting parameters, including the effects of temperature, injected chemicals and the pH of the crude oil associated water, on an electrostatic desalter on one of the oil platforms owned by the Iranian Oil Offshore Company in the Persian Gulf. The temperature range applied was between 98 to 133 °C, at which the effects on water and oil density as well as salt... 

Ultrafine particles of paracetamol were produced by Rapid Expansion of Supercritical Solution (RESS). The experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of extraction temperature (313353K), extraction pressure (1018MPa), preexpansion temperature (363403K), and postexpansion temperature (273323 K) on particles size and morphology of paracetamol particles. The characterization of the particles was determined by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis. The average particle size of the original paracetamol was 20.8m, while the average particle size of paracetamol after nanonization via the... 

A new unbreakable solid phase microextraction (SPME) fiber coating based on aniline-silica nanocomposite was electrodeposited on a stainless steel wire. The electropolymerization process was carried out at a constant deposition potential, applied to the corresponding aqueous electrolyte containing aniline and silica nanoparticles. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed the non-smooth and the porous surface structure of the prepared nanocomposite. The applicability of the new fiber coating was examined by headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) of some environmentally important polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), as model compounds, from aqueous samples.... 

This work concerns the experimental investigation of surfactant alternating CO 2 injection in carbonate rocks. The core samples provided from a low-temperature fractured light oil reservoir, located in southwest Iran. The experiments were designed to observe the effect of CO 2-foam injection on gas mobility and oil recovery at different surfactant concentrations. The core samples were initially saturated with synthetic/field brine, 5,000 ppm, and then flooded with live oil to reach connate water saturation at reservoir condition, 115F and 1,700 psia. The commercial surfactant used was sodium lauryl sulfate as an anionic surfactant. The results of this work, along with field-scale simulation... 

The vanillin assay is a spectrophotometric method for anthocyanin determination that is simple, quick and inexpensive. The method is preferred because of its high sensitivity, specificity and simplicity; however, the results of this test are influenced by several factors. Hence, a D-optimal experimental design approach was investigated to simultaneously, without loss of information, optimize five factors that influence the vanillin assay: acid normality, vanillin concentration, temperature, time and acid type. Further optimization with a D-optimal design and response surface analysis (RSM) showed that a second-order polynomial model fit the experimental data appropriately. The optimum...