Sharif Digital Repository

The desulfurization of non-hydrotreated gas oil using oxidation followed by liquid/liquid extraction has been studied. The solvent extraction of oxidized sulfur- containing compounds of gas oil was carried out by utilizing various types of solvents, including acetonitrile, methanol, and 96 vol.-% ethanol. The performance of these solvents was carefully evaluated and compared by considering both desulfurization and gas oil recovery. It was found that their performance follows the order: acetonitrile > methanol > 96 vol.-% ethanol. The influences of operating conditions, such as number of extraction stages and solvent to gas oil ratio, on the desulfurization and recovery of gas oil, were... 

TiO2 nanoparticles were physically attached to chemically synthesized single-layer graphene oxide nanosheets deposited between Au electrodes in order to investigate the electrical, chemical, and structural properties of the TiO2/graphene oxide composition exposed to UV irradiation. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that after effective photocatalytic reduction of the graphene oxide sheets by the TiO2 nanoparticles in ethanol, the carbon content of the reduced graphene oxides gradually decreased by increasing the irradiation time, while no considerable variation was detected in the reduction level of the reduced sheets. Raman spectroscopy indicated that, at first, the photocatalytic... 

Solvatochromic UV-vis shifts of three probes 4-nitroaniline, 4-nitroanisol, and Reichardt's dye in binary mixtures of polyethylene glycol p-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)-phenyl ether (Triton X-100 or TX-100) with methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, and water have been investigated at 298 K. Structural and intermolecular interactions of solvatochromic probes were determined in these systems. Solvatochromic parameters, including normalized polarity (ETN), dipolarity-polarizability (π∗), hydrogen-bond donor (α), and hydrogen-bond acceptor (β) abilities, were measured at a wide range of mole fraction (0 ≤ X ≤ 1) with 0.1 increment. Interestingly, a similar behavior of ETN and α is observed in... 

ZnO–CeO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by microwave combustion and deposited by electrophoretic deposition (EPD). The effect of using two different alcohols, ethanol and methanol, was investigated on EPD behavior and morphology of deposited film. Moreover, the effect of concentration of nanoparticles and applied voltage on the mass of deposit and the variation in the current density were investigated. With a change in the alcohol type, the surface morphology of deposition changed and some voids were observed on the deposition surface in ethanol. In all cases, with increasing concentration of nanoparticles in suspension, the number of developed cracks increased. Besides, a rise in voltage... 

Synchronous heterogeneous catalytic hydrogenation of cyclohexene and acetone, catalyzed by Pt/Al2O3, was carried out in solutions of 2-hydroxy ethylammonium formate (a room temperature ionic liquid, RTIL) with ethanol and propan-1-ol at 25 °C. Rate constants and selectivity of the reaction (relative to cyclohexene hydrogenation) increase with mole fraction of the ionic liquid (IL). The reactants tendency to the catalyst surface increases by addition of the ionic liquid and thus the reaction rate increases, especially for cyclohexene hydrogenation. Consequently the selectivity to cyclohexene hydrogenation was increased. Single-parameter correlations of log k vs. π* (dipolarity/polarizibility)... 

A number of conformational diseases in humans have been associated with protein/peptide fibrillation known as amyloid. Although extensive studies have been conducted in understanding the molecular basis of amyloid formation, a detailed mechanism is still missing. Experimentally, HEWL (hen egg white lysozyme) has been exploited ubiquitously as a model protein for amyloid fibrillation and drug inhibition. However, computational studies investigating fibril formation of HEWL have been a difficult task to perform mainly due to high stability of lysozymes and the absence of crystal structures of HEWL fibril oligomers. In this study, we have examined various conditions of HEWL amyloid formation... 

The effects of liquid environment on nucleation, growth and aggregation of gold nanoparticles were studied. Gold nanoparticles were prepared by pulsed laser ablation in deionised water with various concentrations of ethanol and also in pure ethanol. UV/visible extinction and TEM observations were employed for characterization of optical properties and particle sizes respectively. Preparation in water results in smaller size, shorter wavelength of maximum extinction and stable solution with an average size of 6 nm. Nanoparticles in solution with low concentration ethanol up to 20 vol% are very similar to those prepared in water. In the mixture of deionised water and 40 up to 80 vol% ethanol,... 

A numerical examination is carried out on the experimental MILD turbulent spray burner of Delft Spray in Hot Co-flow, DSHC. The RANS approach is combined with the Lagrangian tracking of droplets for modeling the pressure-swirl atomizer. The EDC combustion model is employed, to take into account detailed chemical mechanisms. Predictions show that the structure of the triple-flame of liquid fuel in the atmospheric condition is different from the conventional gaseous triple-flames. Furthermore, the structure of the MILD spray flame is compared to the non-MILD spray flame. The flame index shows that the triple-flame structure in the conventional spray flame that consists of two outer and middle... 

The bioconversion of abundant and renewable cellulosic biomass into ethanol as an alternative to petroleum is gaining importance due to the realization of diminishing natural oil and gas resources. Agricultural and foresty plant residues are an abundant and renewable source of sugar substrates that could be fermented to ethanol. A thermochemical treatment of biomass in which both cellulose and hemicellulose are hydrolyzed to soluble sugar is necessary before yeast fermentation. After thermochemical treatment, cellulase enzymes must be introduced in the system to hydrolyze any remaining cellulose. The simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF), is a method which converts... 

Y2 O3:Eu3+ nanostructures with bright red emitting phosphors have been synthesized by the combustion method using water and water/ethanol mixture as solvents. The effect of the solvents on nanostructure and luminescence properties of combustion synthesized Y2 O3:Eu3+ was explored. The synthesized nanostructures were calcined at 400 ° C and 1000 ° C to remove the organic phases and enhance the crystallinity. The crystal structures were characterized by an X-ray diffractometer and the particle size and morphology of the synthesized nanostructures were studies using a field emission scanning electron microscope and a transmission electron microscope. We found that the solvent choice has a... 

In order to produce bioethanol from agricultural residues such as wheat straw, the decomposition lignocellulosic materials into soluble sugars is necessary. This work focused on the influence of dilute sulphuric acid pretreatment conditions on sugar removal and the enzymatic saccharification of wheat straw. Response surface methodology (RSM) based on rotatable central composite design (RCCD) was used to optimise H 2SO 4-catalysed hydrothermal pretreatment of wheat straw, in respect to acid concentration (0.75-2.25%), treatment time (10-30min) and temperature (120-160°C). The pretreated wheat straw was hydrolysed by a standard blend of Cellusoft CR ®. Enzymatic hydrolysis was also measured to... 

Rice bran is one of the most important co-products in the rice milling. In this research, antioxidant activity of two Iranian rice bran varieties, Fajr and Tarem, extracted by three different solvents (methanol, ethanol and ethyl acetate) was evaluated. The order of antioxidant activity was evaluated by measurement of total phenolic content, antioxidant activity in linoleic acid system, reducing power and scavenging capacity by DPPH radical. The methanolic extract of Fajr rice bran showed a total phenolic content of 3.31 mg Gallic acid/gr rice bran and a DPPH free radical-scavenging activity of 93.91%, achieved at 50 mg/ml concentration, and a percent inhibition of linoleic acid peroxidation... 

In this work the application of a modified surface nano zero valent iron (NZVI) as bimetallic Fe/Cu particles to remove high concentration of NO3--N through packed sand column has been studied. Dispersed nano-Fe/Cu particles has been synthesized in water mixed ethanol solvent system (1:4v/v) and described by XRD pattern, TEM and SEM images and BET analyze. Batch experiments have been conducted to investigate the effect of percentage coating of Fe0 by Cu on the nitrate removal. Research on packed sand column (120cm length, 6.5cm inner diameter) has been done under conditions of Nano-Fe/Cu concentration (2, 5, and 8gl-1 of solution), high initial NO3--N concentration (100, 200, and 300mgl-1)... 

In this study design and operation of invasive and non-invasive cylindrical capacitive sensor (CCS) designs for the electrical measurements of water, water solutions, and water mixtures are reported. Operation of the capacitance measurement module for such probes is based on the charge/discharge method. The measured capacitances and resistances for distilled water, mineral water, tap water and salt water samples are reported by using two sensor types and results are compared. The measured capacitance by invasive CCS for distilled water is about 2.28 μF and by non-invasive CCS is 31.40 pF, which shows a big difference for different probes. Such a difference is due to the electrical... 

In the present study, titanium nano-particles have been synthesized using chemical vapor condensation (CVC) process. Reaction of sodium and titanium tetrachloride vapors in the tube furnace resulted in the production of titanium nano-particles that were encapsulated in sodium chloride. Dried Argon gas was employed as a carrying agent. Titanium nano-particles were contained in an ethanol bath. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) were employed for analysis and characterization of nano-particles. The size of primary particles was smaller than 100 nm and secondary particles were submicron agglomerations  

Graphene oxide platelets synthesized by using a chemical exfoliation method were dispersed in a suspension of ZnO nanoparticles to fabricate ZnO/graphene oxide composite. Formation of graphene oxide platelets (with average thickness of ∼0.8 nm) hybridized by ZnO nanoparticles (with average diameter of ∼20 nm) was investigated. The 2D band in Raman spectrum confirmed formation of single-layer graphene oxides. The gradual photocatalytic reduction of the graphene oxide sheets in the ZnO/graphene oxide suspension of ethanol was studied by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for different ultra violet (UV)-visible irradiation times. After 2 h irradiation, the relative concentration of the... 

Pulsating heat pipes are complex heat transfer devices, and their optimum thermal performance is largely dependent on different parameters. In this paper, in order to investigate these parameters, first a closed-loop pulsating heat pipe (CLPHP) was designed and manufactured. The CLPHP was made of copper tubes with internal diameters of 1.8 mm. The lengths of the evaporator, adiabatic, and condenser sections were 60, 150, and 60 mm, respectively. Afterward, the effect of various parameters, including the working fluid (water and ethanol), the volumetric filling ratio (30%, 40%, 50%, 70%, 80%), and the input heat power (5 to 70 W), on the thermal performance of the CLPHP was investigated... 

Copper-palladium alloys of different compositions are electrodeposited on nickel from aqueous solutions. These alloys are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). The catalytic activity of these alloys toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline solution is investigated using rotating disk electrode (RDE). The number of electrons transferred per O2 molecule (n) obtained at different potentials is close to 2 at low overpotential indicating HO2- formation and gradually increases to 4 at higher overpotentials indicating full reduction to OH-. It is shown that Cu-Pd alloys are better electrocatalysts than Pd with Pd-Cu-1 having 24.5%...