Sharif Digital Repository

One of the main issues of wastewater treatment is the silica deposition in steam turbines. Evaporation of silica with the steam in adequate concentration is one of the main sources of scale formation in steam turbines. In this study, the authors introduce the utilization of a genetic-based approach—gene expression programming (GEP)—for solubility prognostication of the silica in superheated steam of boilers with respect to water silica content and pressure. The result of GEP mathematical approach is a new algebraic formula to achieve our goals. Developed model predicts the silica solubility in the range of 0.8–22.1 MPa and 1–500 mg/kg for pressure and boiler water silica content,... 

Precipitation and scaling of calcium sulfate have been known as major problems facing process industries and oilfield operations. Most scale prediction models are based on aqueous thermodynamics and solubility behavior of salts in aqueous electrolyte solutions. There is yet a huge interest in developing reliable, simple, and accurate solubility prediction models. In this study, a comprehensive model based on least-squares support vector machine (LS-SVM) is presented, which is mainly devoted to calcium sulfate dihydrate (or gypsum) solubility in aqueous solutions of mixed electrolytes covering wide temperature ranges. In this respect, an aggregate of 880 experimental data were gathered from... 

The remediation of nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) enhanced by surfactant and nanoparticles (NP) has been investigated in numerous studies. However, the role of NP-assisted surfactants in the dissolution process is still not well discussed. Besides, there is a lack of empirical dissolution models considering the effects of initial residual saturation Strap, NAPL distribution, and surfactant concentration in NAPL-aqueous phase systems. In this work, micromodel experiments are conducted to quantify mass transfer coefficients for different injected aqueous phases including deionized water, SDS surfactant solutions, and NP-assisted solutions with different levels of concentrations and flow... 

Water and miscible gas injection scenarios are considered in an Iranian oil reservoir for the purpose of recovery improvement. Firstly reservoir fluid modeling and modeling of a slim tube test were performed. Then, water alternating gas (WAG) injection was evaluated by optimizing the WAG half cycle and WAG ratio. Alternatively, hybrid WAG and separate injection of water and gas in the top and bottom of the reservoir were also investigated. The numerical simulation results showed that the optimum WAG, with half cycle of 1.5 years and WAG ratio of one, gave the highest recovery factor. Moreover, economic evaluation of these scenarios indicated that WAG had the highest net present value and was... 

Water and miscible gas injection scenarios are considered in an Iranian oil reservoir for the purpose of recovery improvement. Firstly reservoir fluid modeling and modeling of a slim tube test were performed. Then, water alternating gas (WAG) injection was evaluated by optimizing the WAG half cycle and WAG ratio. Alternatively, hybrid WAG and separate injection of water and gas in the top and bottom of the reservoir were also investigated. The numerical simulation results showed that the optimum WAG, with half cycle of 1.5 years and WAG ratio of one, gave the highest recovery factor. Moreover, economic evaluation of these scenarios indicated that WAG had the highest net present value and was... 

Aim: In this study, a nanosponge structure was synthesised with capability of encapsulating curcumin as a model polyphenolic compound and one of the herbal remedies that have widely been considered due to its ability to treat cancer. Methods: FTIR, DSC and XRD techniques were performed to confirm the formation of the inclusion complex of the nanosponge-drug. Results: DSC and XRD patterns showed an increasing stability and a decreasing crystallinity of curcumin after formation of inclusion complex. Encapsulation efficiency was 98% (w/w) and a significant increase was observed in loading capacity (184% w/w). The results of cytotoxicity assessments demonstrated no cell toxicity on the healthy... 

In the recent years due to increasing demand for energy and declination of reservoir production, an impressive notice on enhancement of oil recovery has been found. The gas injection especially carbon dioxide injection due to low cost and friendly environmentally of this approach the special attention to CO2 injection increased. The miscibility is known as key factor which effects on enhancement of recovery. The miscibility is controlled by interfacial tension of hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide so the importance of investigation of the interfacial tension becomes highlighted.in this investigation by using radial basis function (RBF) artificial neural network (ANN) as a novel approach the... 

Deposition of barium sulfate (or BaSO4) has already been recognized as a devastating problem facing process industries and oilfield operations, mainly owing to its low solubility in aqueous solutions. Predicting and also preventing the overall damage caused by BaSO4 precipitation requires a profound knowledge of its solubility under different thermodynamic conditions. The main aim of this study is to develop a solubility prediction model based on a hybrid of least squares support vector nachines (LSSVM) and coupled simulated annealing (CSA) aiming to predict the solubility of barium sulfate over wide ranges of temperature, pressure and ionic compositions. Results indicate that predictions of... 

A feed forward multi-layer perceptron neural network was developed to predict carbon dioxide loading capacity of chemical absorbents over wide ranges of temperature, pressure, and concentration based on the molecular weight of solution. To verify the suggested artificial neural network (ANN), regression analysis was conducted on the estimated and experimental values of CO2 solubility in various aqueous solutions. Furthermore, a comparison was performed between results of the proposed neural network and experimental data that were not previously used for network training, as well as a set of data for binary solutions. Comparison between the proposed multi-layer perceptron (MLP) network and... 

Precipitation of strontium sulfate (or SrSO4) has already been distinguished as one of the most costly and critical problems which may occur in process industries and oilfield operations. Costs due to scaling and remedial actions that need to be taken afterward are generally high owing to low solubility of SrSO4 in aqueous solutions. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the SrSO4 thermodynamic behavior under various operating conditions is vital to predict or even avoid the overall damage caused by scaling. The primary aim of this work is to develop a model based on Least Squares Support Vector Machine (LSSVM) and Coupled Simulated Annealing (CSA) referred to as CSA-LSSVM to predict... 

In recent years miscellaneous smart micro/nanosystems that respond to various exogenous/endogenous stimuli including temperature, magnetic/electric field, mechanical force, ultrasound/light irradiation, redox potentials, and biomolecule concentration have been developed for targeted delivery and release of encapsulated therapeutic agents such as drugs, genes, proteins, and metal ions specifically at their required site of action. Owing to physiological differences between malignant and normal cells, or between tumors and normal tissues, pH-sensitive nanosystems represent promising smart delivery vehicles for transport and delivery of anticancer agents. Furthermore, pH-sensitive systems... 

In this research particle trajectory in a bidirectional vortex flow has been numerically predicted and the results experimentally validated. Scale analyses of forces show their order of magnitudes and give a criterion to recognize the order of magnitude of exerting forces on the particle. The particle has been assumed to be a rigid sphere. Initial velocity, diameter, density, and position of entering particle are assumed to be known. If the particle length scale is considered not to be comparable with the chamber length and if particle number density is low, then influence of particle on the flow field is negligible and a one-way solution is applicable. The governing equation is converted to... 

Tetraphenylthiophene diamine (TPTDA) was prepared through a modified three-step route to achieve an improved overall yield. TPTDA reacted with succinic, adipic, suberic, sebasic, and fumaric acids via the Yamazaki phosphorylation method to yield novel partially aromatic polyamides (TPT series). A counterpart polyamide series based on p-phenylene diamine (Ph series) was also synthesized under the same conditions. All of the polymers were characterized by means of spectrochemical (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and 13C-NMR) and thermal (differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric) methods of analysis. Solubility of TPT polyamides was... 

The perturbed chain-statistical associating fluid theory equation of state (PC-SAFT EoS) is one of the state-of-the-art thermodynamic models used in the phase equilibrium calculation of associating mixtures, in particular, in the pharmaceutical industry. Accordingly, parametrization of the PC-SAFT EoS for approved solvents reviewed for use in pharmaceutical process design by the International Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) was done in the present study. First, the PeC-SAFT EoS model parameters for 41 pure solvents were regressed (of 62 solvents). The available high-quality binary vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE)... 

Paclitaxel as one of the most effective anticancer drugs has low aqueous solubility. This inevitably reveals its commercial formulation in Cremophor EL®/ethanol mixture. However, this formulation leads to several severe side effects such as hypersensitivity reactions, neurotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. Inclusion complexation has been introduced as a practical approach in increasing paclitaxel aqueous solubility. To this end, a hybrid nanocarrier system based on hyperbranched polyglycerol and β-cyclodextrin is designed with key components uniquely structured at nanoscale and evaluated according to medical requirements. Paclitaxel is included in the hydrophobic cavity of cyclodextrin as guest... 

Abstract This article studies a submerged membrane electro-bioreactor (SMEBR), an integrated system embracing biological treatment, electrical coagulation, and membrane filtration, all in one individual reactor, by applying an alternating electric field to a membrane bioreactor (MBR). The alternating electric field has been applied with current densities ranging from 5 to 23 A/m2 under eight different electrical exposure modes. The results indicate that under the optimum condition with a current density of 12.5 A/m2 and an exposure mode of (415 s OFF-185 s ON), the COD and phosphate removals would be respectively 4% and 43% more compared to an unmodified MBR system. Also at the same current... 

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... 

In addition to reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emission, the high oil recovery efficiency achieved by CO2 injection processes makes CO2 injection a desirable enhance oil recovery (EOR) technique. Minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) is an important parameter in successful designation of any miscible gas injection process such as CO2 flooding; therefore, its accurate determination is of great importance. The current experimental techniques for determining MMP are expensive and time-consuming. In this study, multi-gene genetic programming has been combined with constrained multivariable search methods, and a simple empirical model has been developed which provides a reliable estimation of MMP in a... 

This article reviews the oil-soluble polymeric drag-reducing agents (DRAs) with an outlook to their large-scale application in petroleum industry. A general discussion on mechanism of the DR phenomenon and mechanical degradation of the drag reducers in turbulent flow is offered with an emphasis on the molecular parameters. Furthermore, low charge density associating polymers, as a new class of oil-soluble flow improvers, are described  

Objective: The objective of this study was to use nano-niosomal formulations to deliver simvastatin as a poor-water soluble drug into breast cancer cells. Significance: Our study focused on the problem associated with poor water-soluble drugs which have significant biological activity in vivo. Methods: Different niosomal formulations of simvastatin were prepared and characterized in terms of morphology, size, encapsulation efficiency (EE), and release kinetic. Antiproliferative activity and the mechanism were assessed by quantitative real-time PCR and flow cytometry. Moreover, confocal microscopy was employed to analyze the cell uptake of simvastatin loaded niosomes to the cancerous cells....