Sharif Digital Repository

The reaction of human societies with environmental limitations such as climate change and the prospect of limited mineral resources has led to the introduction of approaches such as circular economy. The implementation of circular economy requires the development of new assessment methods, technology development and planning. Even though in the economic theories of optimizing the extraction of exhaustible resources such as fossil fuel resources, methods are used to determine the optimal path of resource use, but the optimization of the return flow is less evaluated. In this research, the optimal material circulation model is developed based on material flow analysis and life cycle costing... 

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) products are mostly manufactured as disposable products, designed for a single use after which are recycled or disposed as solid wastes. EPS products are increasingly used specially in form of food containers and packing blocks and most of the time are left in nature without any kind of processing, causing environmental pollution. This project intends to investigate physical characteristics of lighter cement concrete with acceptable compressive strength for non-structural elements, made with different percentages of recycled EPS beads. A group of concrete samples are made by replacing coarse aggregate with equivalent volume of recycled EPS beads. Properties like... 

In this work, synthesized Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles andcoated with SiO2 to prepare magnetic core-shell nanoparticles. Then immobilized Schiff baseof iron and vanadium complexes on magnetic core-shell nanoparticles was prepared as a recoverable magnetic nano catalysts. These catalysts were named Fe3O4@SiO2@L1@Fe, Fe3O4@SiO2@L2@Fe and Fe3O4@SiO2@L3@V. Furthermore,olefines epoxidation, sulfides and alcohols oxidation were studied with using iron and vanadium magnetic nano catalysts. The supported catalysts were characterized by atomic absorption, FT-IR and UV–Vis spectra.The catalytic performance of the synthesized iron catalyst was tested for the epoxidation of cyclohexene, styrene and... 

This study aims to investigate the mechanical properties and performance of cold recycled asphalt mixtures (CRM). So far, several methods have been proposed for designing CRMs, which are mostly based on the volumetric and mechanical properties of the mixtures. In the meantime, few researches have considered performance of those mixes. The main approach of current research is to evaluate and enhance performance characteristics of CRMs regarding common distresses including early-raveling, moisture damage, fatigue cracking by an appropriate additive.Raveling and Cantabro tests were employed to evaluate the resistance of CRM against abrasion and semicircular bending test (SCB) and crack tolerate... 

During the last decades, the exponential population growth as well as the adverse impacts of climate change have brought about serious challenges in supplying freshwater demands. In this regard, buildings account for a considerable portion of freshwater withdrawal. Accordingly, urgent measures should be taken to tackle this crisis. Rainwater harvesting (RWH), Greywater recycling (GWR), and Hybrid rainwater greywater (HRG) systems are considered efficient substitute resources that are able to reduce the consumption of water supplied by centralized networks in buildings. Nonetheless, there is a vital need for the financial and technical assessment of these systems. Additionally, multiple... 

Current study reports a state-of-the-art approach for synthesis of nanocatalyst based on Oxo-vanadium Schiff base complex which itself is, covalently, immobilized on core-shell magnetic nanoparticles of silica-modified magnetite (Fe3O4@SiO2) and the substantial potential it offers as heterogeneous catalyst in selective oxidation of sulfides.Synthesized materials and complexes in this project were characterized by means of modern spectral devices such as FT-IR, XRD and SEM.Unlike routine process of the preparation of heterogeneous catalysts that requires further modification of the core-shell nanoparticles with capping agents, here we have been capable of cutting some time-consuming steps... 

During the last few years, the number of electric devices using lithium-ion batteries as a source of energy has increased drastically. The lifespan of these batteries is very short (2-3 years) and according to the statistics only 25% of which is recycled. However, considering the variety of materials used in these batteries, recycling them can be highly gainful. One of the technical challenges in the way of recycling Li-ion batteries is the presence of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), that besides raising issues during recycling processes causes the production of toxic fluorine or hydrogen fluoride effluents. The second issue is the presence of metals with high oxidation states in these... 

In the present work, large eddy simulation approach was employed to investigate flows such as backward facing step and internal channel flow, using Smagorinsky and explicit algebraic subgrid-scale models (EASSM) in OpenFOAM software. For this purpose, an explicit algebraic subgrid-scale model was added to OpenFOAM. Coupling pressure and velocity fields were applied to the PISO-SIMPLE (PIMPLE) algorithm. The focus of the present study was to assess various subgrid scale models, in order to predict the behavior of several flows, as well as their extensive numerical study. The results were compared to available experimental data showning that the EASSM results were more accurate than... 

The use of polymers is increasing day by day due to low density, reasonable price and ability to produce different products. On the other hand, the accumulation of polymer wastes in nature is one of the environmental concerns in today's world, which is mainly due to the widespread use of polymers in the packaging industry and disposable applications. In order to solve this problem, recycling is recommended as the most appropriate and economical solution. Because in addition to consuming polymer waste, it also saves energy and reduces carbon footprint.Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is one of the polymeric materials which; It has a special place in the packaging industry and is widely used... 

A grid simulator is a system for testing various types of grid-connected devices, such as inverters of renewable energy sources, chargers, power supplies, etc. In this project, the design and implementation of a 3 KVA three-phase regenerative programmable AC current source is presented. In the future, this structure can be used as a grid simulator. The topology used for the current source is a two-level three-phase AC to DC converter. The current source can operate in constant current (CC), constant power (CP), constant impedance (CI), and constant voltage (CV) modes. In the constant current operating mode, the user sets the amplitude and phase of the 1st, 5th, 7th, 11th, and 13th harmonics... 

Programmable AC Power Supply is a part of any Grid Simulator. Grid simulator is a system that, as a voltage source, can produce various power grid voltage waveforms in the output, and as a load, can draw different currents of ordinary loads from the power grid. The application of Grid Simulators is testing many grid connected systems, such as chargers, power supplies, PV inverters and etc. The purpose of this thesis is to design and build a 3 kW Programmable AC power supply, which can be used as a part of a grid simulator in future works. In this thesis, back to back converter topology is used for implementation of the programmable AC power supply. This back to back converter consists of an... 

In recent decades, the use of modifiers has been one of the common methods on major roads to inhibit cracking and permanent deformation in asphalt pavements. Simultaneously, due to the economic and environmental benefits of hot mix asphalt recycling, the consumption of recycled asphalt pavement on all types of roads has been on the rise. However, a significant issue with recycled asphalt mixtures is their susceptibility to various types of cracking, as a result of the increased stiffness and brittleness of the recycled asphalt binders. To address this issue, two main questions need to be answered; a) the potential positive effects of modifiers left in the recycled mixture to be accounted for... 

In this project, a response of a single well in a gas condensate reservoir has been investigated by compositional modeling and implicit numerical method. The most significant goals of this paper are as follows: 1- Examination of the flow produced in a gas condensate reservoir in constant pressure or mass rate. 2- Investigation of variables affecting the productivity of reservoir. 3- The study of effect of injection and gas cycling to the well on the production. A three-zone model has been used in this study as if there is only gas phase in the third and second zones. Condensation occurs since the pressure drops below the dewpoint pressure in the second zone; however, gas phase is only... 

The N-doped rGO/NiFe2O4@Ti-doped ZnO as a novel ternary nanocomposite with magnetic recyclable was obtained by a facile and low-cost hydrothermal method. The structure, morphology, and optical as well as magnetic properties of synthesized nanocomposite were analyzed using the X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectra (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, Emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) with Energy dispersive spectra, Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-vis diffusive reflectance spectra, and Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The photocatalytic activity was determined by the degradation of Methylene blue (MB) and Methylene orange (MO) dyes under visible light... 

Creating sustainable development in today's society is essential, and one of the most important elements to achieve this is the phenomenon of recycling. Lead-acid batteries are one of the sources of environmental pollution, and their separators contain 50% recyclable silica nanoparticles. In this research, impurities in these separators were removed using two methods: washing with water and sandblasting. The purity of recycled nanoparticles was 85.5% in the first method and 98% in the second method. In addition to the importance of recycling, finding a suitable use for recycled materials is also critical. FDM 3D printing is a new method of producing parts, but polypropylene is not commonly... 

Despite major environmental and economic benefits of cold recycled asphalt mixtures, many agencies have not yet made widespread use of this technology due to its so-called poor field performance and lack of accurate information on mechanical properties of cold recycled mixtures. Fiber is one the additives that is sometimes used to enhance asphalt mixture properties. Using fibers to improve the performance of cold recycled asphalt mixture has been studied by a few researchers with somehow contradictory results. In this research, the effects of adding four synthetic fibers (Polypropylene, A-glass, Para-Aramid, and Polyester) and two waste fibers (Waste Polyester and Waste Nylon) with different... 

Creating sustainable development in today's human societies is essential, one of the pillars of achieving this important goal is environmental protection. Thus, waste management as a new challenge is leading engineers. Lead-acid battery waste is one of the sources of environmental pollution. Lead-acid battery separators contain 50% recyclable nanosilica. The main challenge of recycling nanosilica from separators is the presence of significant amounts of 6 to 9% wt.% of lead and 5% by weight of other impurities. Therefore, in the present study, lead trapped in the separating pores is removed using mechanical washing or abrasive washing. Then, the quality of recycled nanosilica is evaluated... 

Selecting a suitable material is crucial for repairing the old concrete structures and joining precast panels of bridges, especially the bond strength between the substrate concrete and the overlay material. In this regard, this research focused on high-performance alkali-activated slag concrete (HPASC) as a new concrete used as an overlay on ordinary Portland cement concrete (OPCC) as a block of old concrete. Approximately four hundred bi-surface shear (BSS) tests were performed to evaluate the interface properties of OPCC and HPASC. HPASC specimens were designed with different NaOH molarity, silica fume (SF) content, steel fiber content, age of repair material, and proportion of grooved... 

In the first part of this thesis, the application of core-shell magnetic nanoparticles supported V(V), Mo(VI) and Mn(III) complexes in the catalytic oxidation and reduction reactions was discussed. A magnetically recyclable vanadium(V) catalyst was synthesized by covalent anchoring of VO(salen)Cl on silica coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles. These nanoparticles were efficient catalysts for selective oxidation of sulfides to corresponding sulfoxides with urea hydrogen peroxide in excellent yields. Leaching and recycling experiments revealed that the nanocatalyst can be applied for nearly complete oxidation of sulfides for at least five successive cycles. A manganese(III) complex was immobilized on... 

Water-energy nexus approach is any water and energy interaction in a system to provide sustainable usage of resources. Quantitative model of interaction of water and energy in analyzing water-energy nexus is not comprehensive approach for solving all challenges facing this section. Qualitative analysis of water-energy nexus provides optimization and prioritization solutions in water and energy systems from other aspects. In present thesis two quantitative and qualitative aspect of water-energy nexus is considered. Initially, for quantitative modeling, interaction and relation of water and energy (watergy) with six principles to form WatErgy Reference System (WERS) was presented. The...