Sharif Digital Repository

Two different approaches of the dynamic optimization for chemical process control engineering applications are presented. The first approach is based on discretizing both the control region and the time interval. This method, known as the Region Reduction Strategy (RRS), employs the previous solution in its next iteration to obtain more accurate results. Moreover, the procedure will continue unless the control region becomes smaller than a prescribed value. The second approach is called Control Vector Parameterization (CVP) and appears to have a large number of advantages. In this approach, control action is generated in feedback form, i.e., a set of trial functions of the state variables... 

4-Aminoperoxybenzoic acid supported on silica gel was found to be a versatile and efficient oxidant for the oxidation of ketones to esters. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC  

Short ZnO nanorods and long ZnO nanowires have been produced on SiO2 and Si substrates by VLS and VS mechanisms via a double tube chemical vapor transport and condensation (CVTC) process. The role of reactants and droplet interfaces on the nucleation and growth of ZnO nanorods have been investigated. A conceptual model for nucleation of ZnO nanorods has been proposed by describing the half-oxidation and reduction reactions at the growth front. The importance of Zn vapor in the nucleation phenomena has been studied by changing starting materials. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and EDX analysis have been used to characterize ZnO nanorods and investigate the... 

Unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine (UDMH) is a strong propellant, which due to its very good physical properties and high power of repellency has been utilized as a liquid fuel for fighter jet engines for so many years. There are different methods for production of this material. One of the more efficient ones which results in higher yields compared to others is the catalytic hydrogenation of Nitroso Dimethylamine (NDMA). In this work hydrogenation of NDMA to UDMH on a 5% Pd/C in aqueous solution of NDMA was studied experimentally. Experiments were carried out in a Semi-batch three phase STR reactor under constant pressure and temperature in the range of 40 to 70°C, pressures of up to 15 bar... 

Nickel-dimethylglyoxime complex (NiDMG) modified nickel electrode (Ni/NiDMG) showed a catalytic activity towards methanol oxidation in NaOH solution. The modified electrode prepared by the dimethylglyoxime anodic deposition on Ni electrode in the solution containing 0.20 mol L-1 NH4Cl + NH4OH (pH 9.50) and 1.0 × 10-4 mol L-1 dimethylglyoxime. The modified electrode conditioned by potential recycling in a potential range of 100-700 mV (vs. SCE) by cyclic voltammetry in alkaline medium (0.10 M NaOH). The results show that the NiODMG film on the electrode behaves as an efficient catalyst for the electrooxidation of methanol in alkaline medium via Ni(III) species formed on the electrode with the... 

This paper outlines a quantitative risk assessment for an 110,000 ton/day ethylene oxide production plant in Iran. After a complete and detailed hazard identification study, done by HAZOP method, the purification column was found to be one of the most hazardous sections in this plant. As ethylene oxide with high concentration and inventory is present there. Fault tree analysis (FTA) technique has been used to identify the basic events responsible for top event occurrence and also calculation of top event frequency of occurrence. Human error has been calculated numerically and probability of human error has been estimated. Failure rate data were collected referring to several sources and... 

(A) Chakraborty and co-workers have developed a green method for the bulk ring-opening polymerization of lactides in the presence of Cu(OAc)2 as a good catalyst to synthesize polymers with different end-terminal groups.3 These polymerizations are highly controlled leading to the formation of polymers with the expected number of average molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distribution. (B) Garden and co-workers have found that the oxidative addition of anilines with 1,4-naphthoquinone to give N-aryl-2-amino-1,4-naphthoquinones can be performed in the presence of catalytic amounts of copper(II) acetate.4 All the reactions are generally more efficient in that they are cleaner, higher... 

In this study by Thermal Chemical Vapor Deposition (TCVD) method, the synthesis of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and temperature affects on the grown CNTs on the NiSio2 catalyst and 304-type stainless steel was investigated. The purification of the grown CNTs on the 304-type stainless steel was also investigated in this study. The synthesis and purification of the samples were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), termogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Raman spectroscopy. Our obtained result by SEM and TEM shows that densities of CNTs growth on the 304-type stainless steel are more than the CNTs growth on the NiSio2 catalyst and both of them have... 

The dependency of amino acid chemical shifts on φ and ψ torsion angle is, independently, studied using a five-residue fragment of ubiquitin and ONIOM(DFT:HF) approach. The variation of absolute deviation of 13Cα chemical shifts relative to φ dihedral angle is specifically dependent on secondary structure of protein not on amino acid type and fragment sequence. This dependency is observed neither on any of 13Cβ, and 1Hα chemical shifts nor on the variation of absolute deviation of 13Cα chemical shifts relative to ψ dihedral angle. The 13Cα absolute deviation chemical shifts (ADCC) plots are found as a suitable and simple tool to predict secondary structure of protein with no requirement of... 

A new method for the fabrication of an electromagnetic nanocomposite based on Fe3O4 and polyaniline (PANI) is offered. The authors focused on improvement of the physical and electromagnetic properties of the nanocomposite using a new synthetic method. Supermagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles were synthesized through coprecipitation method. As a chemical modification, the third generation of poly (amidoamine) dendrimer was grafted on the surface of the nanoparticles. PANI was grafted from -NH2 functional groups of dendrimer via in situ polymerization of aniline. Finally, Au nanoparticles were loaded on the nanocomposite and its catalytic activity for reduction reactions was studied  

A recently developed two-level undercut-profile substrate (2LUPS), containing two levels of plateaus connected by a curved wall with an undercut profile, enables self-forming filaments in a coated conductor during physical line-of-sight deposition of buffer and superconducting layers. In the present study, the 2LUPS concept is applied to a commercial cube-textured Ni-5at.%W tape, and the surface of the 2LUPS coated with two Gd2Zr2O7 buffer layers using chemical solution deposition is examined. Except for narrow regions near the edge of upper plateaus, the plateaus are found to be covered by strongly textured Gd2Zr2O7 buffer layers after dip coating and sintering  

Porous network-like MnO2 thick films are successfully synthesized on a flexible stainless steel (SS) mesh using a simple and low-cost electrodeposition method followed by an electrochemical activation process. Morphology, chemical composition, and crystal structure of the prepared electrodes before and after the activation process are determined and compared by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. The results show that the implementation of the electrochemical activation process does not change the chemical composition and crystal structure of the films, but it influences the surface morphology of the MnO2... 

Bisphenol A (BPA), which is a major component in the production of various consumer products, is one of the most significant endocrine-disrupting chemicals. In this research, the biocatalytic elimination of Bisphenol A using laccase produced by Phanerochaete chrysosporium was examined and optimized. The response surface methodology was used to study the effect of independent variables such as pH, temperature, initial laccase activity, initial Bisphenol A concentration, and the interactive effects of each variable on the removal of Bisphenol A and residual enzyme activity. Based on response surface plots, the maximum Bisphenol A removal (93%) was detected at a pH value of 8, temperature 40... 

The deposition of tetrakis (4-sulonatophenyl) porphyrin (TPPS) thin film on optical fibers presents many possibilities for sensing applications. The J-form aggregation with a narrow and sharp spectral feature at about 490 nm and its sensitivity to humidity have been discussed; a fast change of wavelength occurs according with variation in the humidity level. The reproducibility and high sensitivity of TPPS-coated fibers, along with the capabilities of optical fibers, suggest the device as a good candidate for humidity sensing in harsh environments. © 2018, The Author(s)  

The chemical modification of isotactic polypropylene was performed by the free-radical-promoted grafting of 1,1,1-trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TMPTMA) in the presence of dicumyl peroxide (DCP) as the initiator. The reaction was carried out both in a batch internal mixer and in a corotating twin-screw extruder; the effects of the peroxide and monomer concentrations on the extent of modification in terms of the grafting efficiency and polymer chain structure variations were investigated. The modified samples were characterized with Fourier transform infrared to determine the structure of the grafted groups and the degree of functionalization, with gel permeation chromatography and the... 

Radiopacity is sometimes an essential characteristic of biomaterials that can help clinicians perform follow-ups during pre- and post-interventional radiological imaging. Due to their chemical composition and structure, most bioceramics are inherently radiopaque but can still be doped/mixed with radiopacifiers to increase their visualization during or after medical procedures. The radiopacifiers are frequently heavy elements of the periodic table, such as Bi, Zr, Sr, Ba, Ta, Zn, Y, etc., or their relevant compounds that can confer enhanced radiopacity. Radiopaque bioceramics are also intriguing additives for biopolymers and hybrids, which are extensively researched and developed nowadays for... 

This paper reviews the applications of experimental design to optimize some analytical chemistry techniques such as extraction, chromatography separation, capillary electrophoresis, spectroscopy, and electroanalytical methods  

Shortcut design methods can be valuable tools for rapid screening of different separation process alternatives to assess feasibility and determine minimum energy demand. This work presents a variant of the feed angle method (Kraemer et al., 2011), which applies to single- and double-feed reactive distillation columns. The proposed method relies on pinch point analysis and determines the minimum energy demand from the calculation of a tray at the feed pinch. It is fully algorithmic and insensitive to impurities in product specifications. Its validity and performance is illustrated by a variety of case studies covering multi-component and multi-reaction systems, mixtures with potential... 

Phase identification is an important aspect of flash calculations which can affect the phase and chemical equilibria. A new simultaneous approach for reactive mixtures, based on τ-method which relies on modification equation for mole fraction summation, is introduced in this paper. In the proposed methodology, phase identification and solution of governing equations can be performed simultaneously and effectively. In addition, prior knowledge of the number of phases in advance is not required. Present methodology has been verified with the help of case studies and results are discussed in the present paper. The results indicate that the present method gives us information about presence of...