Sharif Digital Repository

In this research, the equilibrium and dynamic adsorption studies of the CO2 upon the MIL-101(Cr) metal-organic framework (MOF) as well as its GNP hybrid composites, the MIL-101(Cr)/GNP, were performed. First, the hybrid composite samples were synthesized by adding various amounts of GNP in an in situ manner during the preparation of the MIL-101(Cr). The prepared materials were characterized through several physicochemical analyses, including powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), adsorption of nitrogen at 77.4 K, Fourier transfer infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, thermal analysis (DTG), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). It was demonstrated that the synthesized MIL-101(Cr)/GNP... 

Dimethyl ether (DME) as a clean fuel seems to be a superior candidate for high-quality diesel fuel in near future. In this study, a comprehensive three-dimensional dynamic heterogeneous model developed to simulate the flow behavior and catalytic coupling reactions for synthesis of the DME from hydrogenation of the CO and CO2, dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether and water gas shift reaction in a fixed bed reactor. For this purpose, a CFD simulation was articulated where the standard k-ε model with 10% turbulence tolerations implemented. Then the concentration and temperature profiles along the reactor were determined. It was revealed that under conditions considered, a single phase... 

V2O5/SiO2 catalyst utilized to oxidize the SO2 to SO3 species in the presence of oxygen mainly for producing sulfuric acid. For this catalyst, the active phase was a mixture of vanadium pentoxide and basic sulfate/pyrosulfate material. This active phase at the reaction temperature behaved as a liquid filling up the pores of the silica support. On the other hand, amounts of the SO3 and V5+ species in the catalyst necessarily varied with the concentration of the feed material and temperature rendering complexity to the kinetics of the SO2 oxidation reaction. In the current research, the catalyst preparation with different amounts of such materials was undertaken. Purified Diatomaceous earth of... 

Samples of V2O5 catalysts supported on nanostructures of TiO2 and γ-Al2O3 were synthesized through the hydrothermal method and used for the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane (ODHP) to propylene. The TiO2 support was utilized in both commercial microstructure and synthesized nanostructure forms. Moreover, the γ-Al2O3 support was synthesized through chemical and precipitation methods. The vanadium catalyst was then deposited onto the hybrid of the TiO2 and γ-Al2O3 materials. All prepared catalysts were characterized through the BET, FESEM, FTIR, XRD and TPR techniques. Performances of the synthesized catalysts were subsequently examined in a fixed-bed reactor. The main products were... 

In this paper, oxidation of H2S into elemental sulfur over synthesized aluminabased nanocatalysts was physiochemically investigated and the results were compared with a commercial Claus catalyst. The wet chemical, co-precipitation, and spray pyrolysis techniques were employed to synthesize several alumina nanostructures. Then, the SEM, XRD, and ASAP analysis methods were utilized to characterize in order to choose the best nanocatalyst. The sulfur and H2S contents were determined through the standard UOP techniques. Amongst the synthesized materials, Al2o3-supported sodium oxide prepared through the wet chemical, and Al2o3 nanocatalysts via spray pyrolysis methods were the most active... 

In this research, mathematical modelling of an anaerobic hybrid bioreactor for effluent treatment of a Poly-Ethylene Terephthalate (PET) unit in a petrochemical complex was performed. The developed model included a combination of a biofilm model for describing the substrate kinetics; a fluidized bed model for determination of species profiles along the reactor length and a bioreactor model for particle distribution inside the reactor. The reactions performed in the bioreactor included; i) the polymers hydrolysis; ii) fermentation of the resulting monomers; iii) the volatile fatty acids fermentation to Acetate and Hydrogen and iv) the Methane formation as the final product. The reactor was... 

A dynamic model of oxidation of methane to methanol has been developed in a fixed-bed reactor applying V2O5/SiO2 as the reaction catalyst. The standard k-? model with 10% turbulence amount performed. The effects of temperature (450- 500°C) and pressure (20-120 bar) with residence time of 3 seconds, on methane conversion and methanol or formaldehyde selectivity examined. Oxygen used as an oxidant and the amount of oxygen in feed was 5% mol/mol of methane amount. The results showed with increasing the conversion of methane from 0.66 to 1.52%, the selectivity to methanol decreased from 93.4% to 91.9%. The CFD modeling results showed reasonable agreement with the obtained experimental data of... 

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... 

Direct conversion of methane to methanol is a more recently developed technique by which the intermediate and expensive process of formation of synthesis gas is eliminated. On the other hand, fluidized-bed technology for heterogeneous reversible reactions posses a couple of key advantages in comparison to the commonly used fixed bed reactors. These include, pore diffusion resistances being largely eliminated due to small catalyst pellet sizes utilized. In other words, industrial fixed bed pellets are in the order of 6-12 mm diameter, whereas fluidized catalyst used may be smaller than 100 μm. In addition, equilibrium limitations induced by the reversibility of the reaction(s) are broken in... 

A tanks-in-series model was applied for mathematical modeling of the unsteady state performance of 70 and 100 liters airlift bioreactor for the production of lactic acid by fermentation. A set of first-order differential equations for the material balances of micro-organism, substrate, product, and dissolved oxygen around hypothetically well mixed stages was solved simultaneously utilizing computer program in MATLAB. The kinetic model utilized considered the effect of two substrates (glucose and dissolved oxygen) on the growth rate. The effect of air velocity on the lactic acid production was investigated. Results of this model have been validated with experimental data  

A mathematical model for a fixed bed radial flow catalytic reactor was developed for dehydrogenation of heavy paraffins over Pt-Sn/Al2O3 catalyst. The model included appropriate kinetic rate expressions for the main dehydrogenation reaction as well as side reactions and catalyst deactivation. The reactor model consisted of a set of partial and ordinary as well as algebraic equations that were solved numerically to determine the concentration of various species along the radius of the bed as a function of time. The Nelder-Mead optimization method was used to obtain the optimum kinetic parameters. The validity of the model was demonstrated by comparing the predicted paraffin conversion and... 

In the present study, a procedure was developed to determine the optimum reaction rate constants in generalized Arrhenius form and optimized through the Nelder-Mead method. For this purpose, a comprehensive mathematical model of a fixed bed reactor for dehydrogenation of heavy paraffins over Pt-Sn/Al 2O 3 catalyst was developed. Utilizing appropriate kinetic rate expressions for the main dehydrogenation reaction as well as side reactions and catalyst deactivation, a detailed model for the radial flow reactor was obtained. The reactor model composed of a set of partial differential equations (PDE), ordinary differential equations (ODE) as well as algebraic equations all of which were solved... 

In this research a mathematical model for controlled drug delivery of Ibuprofen has been developed which accounts for physical kinetics based upon variations of the drug concentration, size and release time for a spherical drug pill. Through this model, the drug release for three sizes of the active ingredient including; 213nm (representing existence of only diffusion limitations), 515nm (representing existence of only solubility limitations) and 367nm (representing both diffusion and solubility limitations) was calculated. Theoretical amounts of the drug after two hours of release are calculated to be 95.3, 99.5 and 95.5 percent, respectively. Comparison of theoretical and experimental data... 

It is well known that the direct synthesis of Di-Methyl Ether (DME) from the Syngas is highly exothermic; therefore, the temperature control for its production and hence a suitable heat transfer pattern is of ought most significance to the success of such process. As such, slurry bubble column reactor is recognized to be a more suitable means for this purpose than other choices including fixed bed reactor which is the usual type of system in which direct DME synthesis takes place. In other words, slurry reactors are desirable due to having suitable heat and mass transfer properties. In this research a mathematical model for direct synthesis of DME from synthesis gas in a slurry reactor for a... 

The petroleum industry suffers from reservoir souring phenomena, which has negative impacts on production facilities, health, and environment. Injection of incompatible water into the reservoir (waterflooding), which is considered as an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method, is one of the most common causes of reservoir souring. In general, injected brine, especially seawater, contains high amounts of sulfate ion (SO42−). A high concentration of sulfate in the presence of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) leads to the microbial reservoir souring. During this phenomenon, sulfide, specifically hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S) appears in the producing fluid of the reservoir. In this paper, a coupled... 

The liver plays a complex role in metabolism and detoxification, and better tools are needed to understand its function and to develop liver-targeted therapies. In this study, we establish a mechanobiological model of liver transport and hepatocyte biology to elucidate the metabolism of urea and albumin, the production/detoxification of ammonia, and consumption of oxygen and nutrients. Since hepatocellular shear stress (SS) can influence the enzymatic activities of liver, the effect of SS on the urea and albumin synthesis are empirically modeled through the mechanotransduction mechanisms. The results demonstrate that the rheology and dynamics of the sinusoid flow can significantly affect... 

A new efficient catalytic system was investigated for the epoxidation of various olefins by cis-dioxo-bis[2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)-oxazolinato]molybdenum(VI), cis-[MoO2(phox)2], and TBHP as oxidizing agent. Using this system as catalyst for the oxidation of aliphatic substrates at 80 °C gives the epoxide as the sole product with yields up to 100% and turnover frequency up to 5000 h-1. The efficiency of the catalyst is strongly influenced by the nature of solvent, reaction time and temperature, and a significant increase in the epoxide yields is observed in higher temperatures and longer reaction times. © 2009 Elsevier B.V  

Implementation of effective cancer treatment strategies requires consideration of how the spatiotemporal heterogeneities within the tumor microenvironment (TME) influence tumor progression and treatment response. Here, we developed a multi-scale three-dimensional mathematical model of the TME to simulate tumor growth and angiogenesis and then employed the model to evaluate an array of single and combination therapy approaches. Treatments included maximum tolerated dose or metronomic (i.e., frequent low doses) scheduling of anti-cancer drugs combined with anti-angiogenic therapy. The results show that metronomic therapy normalizes the tumor vasculature to improve drug delivery, modulates... 

Ostracism has been recognized as conceptually and empirically distinct from harassment. Drawing from theory and research that suggests that employees have a strong need to belong in their organizations, we examine the comparative frequency and impact of ostracism and harassment in organizations across three field studies. Study 1 finds that a wide range of employees perceive ostracism, compared with harassment, to be more socially acceptable, less psychologically harmful, and less likely to be prohibited in their organization. Study 2 surveyed employees from a variety of organizations to test our theory that ostracism is actually a more harmful workplace experience than harassment.... 

This work presents an innovative design for a flow-through dielectrophoretic cell sorting based on silicon bulk microelectrodes featuring sidewall undercuts. The microelectrodes are configured into an interdigitated array with digits extending across the flow chamber at an oblique angle against the flow stream. Target cells under dielectrophoretic forces and hydrodynamic drag can slide along the digits to a dedicated outlet. The design has been showcased for continuous-flow sorting of viable and non-viable mammalian cells, achieving a throughput of 16,600 cells/min, an order of magnitude higher than those reported for existing continuous-flow cell sorting designs using thin-film or...