Search results for: slump flow

Authors: Tawfiq Chekifi, Brahim Dennai, Rachid Khelfaoui

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Over the last few decades, modeling immiscible fluids such as oil and water have been a classical research topic. Droplet-based microfluidics presents a unique platform for mixing, reaction, separation, dispersion of drops, and numerous other functions. For this purpose, several devices were studied, as well as microfluidic oscillator. The latter was obtained from wall attachment microfluidic amplifiers using a feedback loop from the outputs to the control inputs, nevertheless this device have not well used for microdrops applications. In this paper, we suggest a numerical CFD study of a microfluidic oscillator with two different lengths of feedback loop. In order to produce simultaneous microdrops of gasoil on water, a typical geometry that includes double T-junction is connected to the fluidic oscillator. The generation of microdrops is computed by volume-of-fluid method (VOF). Flow oscillations of microdrops were triggered by the Coanda effect of jet flow. The aim of work is to obtain a high oscillation frequency in output of this passive device, the influence of hydrodynamics and physics parameters on the microdrops frequency in the output of our microsystem is also analyzed, The computational results show that, the length of feedback loop, applied pressure on T-junction and interfacial tension have a significant effect on the dispersion of microdrops and its oscillation frequency. Across the range of low Reynold number, the microdrops generation and its dynamics have been accurately controlled by adjusting applying pressure ratio of two phases.

Keywords: fluidic oscillator, microdrops manipulation, VOF (volume of fluid method), microfluidic oscillator

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Authors: Qian Chen, Lin Xu, Ping Ju, Zhuoran Li, Yiping Yu, Yuqing Jin

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The operation of power grid is becoming more and more complex and difficult due to its rapid development towards high voltage, long distance, and large capacity. For instance, many large-scale wind farms have connected to power grid, where their fluctuation and randomness is very likely to affect the stability and safety of the grid. Fortunately, many new-type equipments based on power electronics have been applied to power grid, such as UPFC (Unified Power Flow Controller), TCSC (Thyristor Controlled Series Compensation), STATCOM (Static Synchronous Compensator) and so on, which can help to deal with the problem above. Compared with traditional equipment such as generator, new-type controllable devices, represented by the FACTS (Flexible AC Transmission System), have more accurate control ability and respond faster. But they are too expensive to use widely. Therefore, on the basis of the comparison and analysis of the controlling characteristics between traditional control equipment and new-type controllable equipment in both time and space scale, a coordinated optimizing control method within mutil-time-space frame is proposed in this paper to bring both kinds of advantages into play, which can better both control ability and economical efficiency. Firstly, the coordination of different space sizes of grid is studied focused on the fluctuation caused by large-scale wind farms connected to power grid. With generator, FSC (Fixed Series Compensation) and TCSC, the coordination method on two-layer regional power grid vs. its sub grid is studied in detail. The coordination control model is built, the corresponding scheme is promoted, and the conclusion is verified by simulation. By analysis, interface power flow can be controlled by generator and the specific line power flow between two-layer regions can be adjusted by FSC and TCSC. The smaller the interface power flow adjusted by generator, the bigger the control margin of TCSC, instead, the total consumption of generator is much higher. Secondly, the coordination of different time sizes is studied to further the amount of the total consumption of generator and the control margin of TCSC, where the minimum control cost can be acquired. The coordination method on two-layer ultra short-term correction vs. AGC (Automatic Generation Control) is studied with generator, FSC and TCSC. The optimal control model is founded, genetic algorithm is selected to solve the problem, and the conclusion is verified by simulation. Finally, the aforementioned method within multi-time-space scale is analyzed with practical cases, and simulated on PSASP (Power System Analysis Software Package) platform. The correctness and effectiveness are verified by the simulation result. Moreover, this coordinated optimizing control method can contribute to the decrease of control cost and will provide reference to the following studies in this field.

Keywords: FACTS, multi-space-time frame, optimal control, TCSC

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Authors: Tiyisani L. Chavalala, Nicole B. Richoux, Martin H. Villet

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Rivers and their adjacent ecosystems are linked by reciprocal ecological subsidies. Rivers receive nutrients and energy from land, and these transfers can represent important food subsidies, a phenomenon known as allochthony. Emergence of adult aquatic invertebrates can also provide important food sources to terrestrial consumers. Reciprocal subsidies are influenced by factors such as canopy cover, river flow rate and channel width, which can be highly variable through space and time. The aim of this study is to identify and quantify the main trophic links between adjacent ecosystems (terrestrial and freshwater systems) in several Eastern Cape Rivers with different catchment sizes and flow rates and to develop an understanding of the factors that affect the strength of these links and their spatial dynamics. Food sources and consumers were sampled during four seasons (August 2016, November 2016, February 2017 and May 2017), and stable isotope ratios will serve as tracers to estimate the food web structures. Emergence traps are being used to quantify the rates of emergence of adult aquatic insects, and infall-pan traps are being used to quantify the terrestrial insects falling into rivers as potential food subsidies.

Keywords: emerging aquatic insects, in-falling terrestrial insects, reciprocal resource subsidies, stable isotopes

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Authors: Caroline M. B. De Araujo, Helenise A. Do Nascimento, Claudia J. Da S. Cavalcanti, Mauricio A. Da Motta Sobrinho, Maria F. Pimentel

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Oil production is often followed by the joint production of water and gas. During the journey up to the surface, due to severe conditions of temperature and pressure, the mixing between these three components normally occurs. Thus, the three phases separation process must be one of the first steps to be performed after crude oil extraction, where the water-oil separation is the most complex and important step, since the presence of water into the process line can increase corrosion and hydrates formation. A wide range of methods can be applied in order to proceed with oil-water separation, being more commonly used: flotation, hydrocyclones, as well as the three phase separator vessels. Facing what has been presented so far, it is the aim of this paper to study a system consisting of a three-phase separator, evaluating the influence of three variables: temperature, working pressure and separator type, for two types of oil (light and heavy), by performing two factorial design plans 23, in order to find the best operating condition. In this case, the purpose is to obtain the greatest oil flow rate in the product stream (m3/h) as well as the lowest percentage of water in the oil stream. The simulation of the three-phase separator was performed using Aspen Hysys®2006 simulation software in stationary mode, and the evaluation of the factorial experimental designs was performed using the software Statistica®. From the general analysis of the four normal probability plots of effects obtained, it was observed that interaction effects of two and three factors did not show statistical significance at 95% confidence, since all the values were very close to zero. Similarly, the main effect "separator type" did not show significant statistical influence in any situation. As in this case, it has been assumed that the volumetric flow of water, oil and gas were equal in the inlet stream, the effect separator type, in fact, may not be significant for the proposed system. Nevertheless, the main effect “temperature” was significant for both responses (oil flow rate and mass fraction of water in the oil stream), considering both light and heavy oil, so that the best operation condition occurs with the temperature at its lowest level (30oC), since the higher the temperature, the liquid oil components pass into the vapor phase, going to the gas stream. Furthermore, the higher the temperature, the higher the formation water vapor, so that ends up going into the lighter stream (oil stream), making the separation process more difficult. Regarding the “working pressure”, this effect showed to be significant only for the oil flow rate, so that the best operation condition occurs with the pressure at its highest level (9bar), since a higher operating pressure, in this case, indicated a lower pressure drop inside the vessel, generating lower level of turbulence inside the separator. In conclusion, the best-operating condition obtained for the proposed system, at the studied range, occurs for temperature is at its lowest level and the working pressure is at its highest level.

Keywords: factorial experimental design, oil production, simulation, three-phase separator

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Authors: Reza Sabbagh, Linda Hasanovich, Aleksey Baldygin, David S. Nobes, Prashant R. Waghmare

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The capillary filling process is significantly important to study for numerous applications such as the under filling of the material in electronic packaging or liquid hydrocarbons seepage through porous structure. The approximation of the fluid being Newtonian, i.e., linear relationship between the shear stress and deformation rate cannot be justified in cases where the extent of non-Newtonian behavior of liquid governs the surface driven transport, i.e., capillarity action. In this study, the capillary action of a non-Newtonian fluid is not only analyzed, but also the modified generalized theoretical analysis for the capillary transport is proposed. The commonly observed three regimes: surface forces dominant (travelling air-liquid interface), developing flow (viscous force dominant), and developed regimes (interfacial, inertial and viscous forces are comparable) are identified. The velocity field along each regime is quantified with Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid in square shaped vertically oriented channel. Theoretical understanding of capillary imbibition process, particularly in the case of Newtonian fluids, is relied on the simplified assumption of a fully developed velocity profile which has been revisited for developing a modified theory for the capillary transport of non-Newtonian fluids. Furthermore, the development of the velocity profile from the entrance regime to the developed regime, for different power law fluids, is also investigated theoretically and experimentally.

Keywords: capillary, non-Newtonian flow, shadowgraphy, rising velocity

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Authors: Dharamashi Rabari, Anand Patel

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n-Butanol can be regarded as a potential biofuel. Being resistive to corrosion and having high calorific value, butanol is a very attractive energy source as opposed to ethanol. By fermentation process called ABE (acetone, butanol, ethanol), bio-butanol can be produced. ABE carried out mostly by bacteria Clostridium acetobutylicum. The major drawback of the process is the butanol concentration higher than 10 g/L, delays the growth of microbes resulting in a low yield. It indicates the simultaneous separation of butanol from the fermentation broth. Two hydrophobic Ionic Liquids (ILs) 1-butyl-1-methylpiperidinium bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [bmPIP][Tf₂N] and 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [hmim][Tf₂N] were chosen. The binary interaction parameters for both ternary systems i.e. [bmPIP][Tf₂N] + water + n-butanol and [hmim][Tf₂N] + water +n-butanol were taken from the literature that was generated by NRTL model. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) with the isothermal sum rate (ISR) method was used to optimize the cost of liquid-liquid extractor. For [hmim][Tf₂N] + water +n-butanol system, PSO shows 84% success rate with the number of stages equal to eight and solvent flow rate equal to 461 kmol/hr. The number of stages was three with 269.95 kmol/hr solvent flow rate for [bmPIP][Tf₂N] + water + n-butanol system. Moreover, both ILs were very efficient as the loss of ILs in raffinate phase was negligible.

Keywords: particle swarm optimization, isothermal sum rate method, success rate, extraction

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Authors: William Waddington, M. Jahir Rizvi

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Sail used to propel a vessel functions in a similar way to an aircraft wing. Traditionally, cloth and ropes were used to produce sails. However, there is one major problem with traditional sail design, the increase in turbulence and flow separation when compared to that of an aircraft wing with the same camber. This has led to the development of the solid wing sail focusing mainly on the sail shape. Traditional cloth sails are manufactured as a single element whereas solid wing sail is made of two segments. To the authors’ best knowledge, the phenomena behind the performances of this type of sail at various angles of wind direction with respect to a sailing vessel’s direction (known as the angle of attack) is still an area of mystery. Hence, in this study, the thrusts of a sailing vessel produced by wing sails constructed with various angles (22°, 24°, 26° and 28°) between the two segments have been compared to that of a traditional cloth sail made of carbon-fiber material. The reason for using carbon-fiber material is to achieve the correct and the exact shape of a commercially available mainsail. NACA 0024 and NACA 0016 foils have been used to generate two-segment wing sail shape which incorporates a flap between the first and the second segments. Both the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional sail models designed in commercial CAD software Solidworks have been analyzed through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques using Ansys CFX considering an apparent wind speed of 20.55 knots with an apparent wind angle of 31°. The results indicate that the thrust from traditional sail increases from 8.18 N to 8.26 N when the angle of attack is increased from 5° to 7°. However, the thrust value decreases if the angle of attack is further increased. A solid wing sail which possesses 20° angle between its two segments, produces thrusts from 7.61 N to 7.74 N with an increase in the angle of attack from 7° to 8°. The thrust remains steady up to 9° angle of attack and drops dramatically beyond 9°. The highest thrust values that can be obtained for the solid wing sails with 22°, 24°, 26° and 28° angle respectively between the two segments are 8.75 N, 9.10 N, 9.29 N and 9.19 N respectively. The optimum angle of attack for each of the solid wing sails is identified as 7° at which these thrust values are obtained. Therefore, it can be concluded that all the thrust values predicted for the solid wing sails of angles between the two segments above 20° are higher compared to the thrust predicted for the traditional sail. However, the best performance from a solid wing sail is expected when the sail is created with an angle between the two segments above 20° but below or equal to 26°. In addition, 1/29th scale models in the wind tunnel have been tested to observe the flow behaviors around the sails. The experimental results support the numerical observations as the flow behaviors are exactly the same.

Keywords: CFD, drag, sailing vessel, thrust, traditional sail, wing sail

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Authors: Somnath Bhattacharyya

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The mobile adsorbed surface charge on hydrophobic surfaces can modify the velocity slip condition as well as create a Marangoni stress at the interface. The functionalized hydrophobic walls of micro/nanopores, e.g., graphene nanochannels, may possess physio-sorbed ions. The lateral mobility of the physisorbed absorbed ions creates a friction force as well as an electric force, leading to a modification in the velocity slip condition at the hydrophobic surface. In addition, the non-uniform distribution of these surface ions creates a surface tension gradient, leading to a Marangoni stress. The impact of the mobile surface charge on streaming potential and electrochemical energy conversion efficiency in a pressure-driven flow of ionized liquid through the nanopore is addressed. Also, enhanced electro-osmotic flow through the hydrophobic nanochannel is also analyzed. The mean-filed electrokinetic model is modified to take into account the short-range non-electrostatic steric interactions and the long-range Coulomb correlations. The steric interaction is modeled by considering the ions as charged hard spheres of finite radius suspended in the electrolyte medium. The electrochemical potential is modified by including the volume exclusion effect, which is modeled based on the BMCSL equation of state. The electrostatic correlation is accounted for in the ionic self-energy. The extremal of the self-energy leads to a fourth-order Poisson equation for the electric field. The ion transport is governed by the modified Nernst-Planck equation, which includes the ion steric interactions; born force arises due to the spatial variation of the dielectric permittivity and the dielectrophoretic force on the hydrated ions. This ion transport equation is coupled with the Navier-Stokes equation describing the flow of the ionized fluid and the 3fourth-order Poisson equation for the electric field. We numerically solve the coupled set of nonlinear governing equations along with the prescribed boundary conditions by adopting a control volume approach over a staggered grid arrangement. In the staggered grid arrangements, velocity components are stored on the midpoint of the cell faces to which they are normal, whereas the remaining scalar variables are stored at the center of each cell. The convection and electromigration terms are discretized at each interface of the control volumes using the total variation diminishing (TVD) approach to capture the strong convection resulting from the highly enhanced fluid flow due to the modified model. In order to link pressure to the continuity equation, we adopt a pressure correction-based iterative SIMPLE (Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equations) algorithm, in which the discretized continuity equation is converted to a Poisson equation involving pressure correction terms. Our results show that the physisorbed ions on a hydrophobic surface create an enhanced slip velocity when streaming potential, which enhances the convection current. However, the electroosmotic flow attenuates due to the mobile surface ions.

Keywords: microfluidics, electroosmosis, streaming potential, electrostatic correlation, finite sized ions

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Authors: Jean Yves Trepanier, Sami Ammar, Sagnik Banik

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Lattice Boltzmann Method has been advantageous in simulating complex boundary conditions and solving for fluid flow parameters by streaming and collision processes. This paper includes the study of three different test cases in a confined domain using the method of the Lattice Boltzmann model. 1. An SRT (Single Relaxation Time) approach in the Lattice Boltzmann model is used to simulate Lid Driven Cavity flow for different Reynolds Number (100, 400 and 1000) with a domain aspect ratio of 1, i.e., square cavity. A moment-based boundary condition is used for more accurate results. 2. A Thermal Lattice BGK (Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook) Model is developed for the Rayleigh Benard convection for both test cases - Horizontal and Vertical Temperature difference, considered separately for a Boussinesq incompressible fluid. The Rayleigh number is varied for both the test cases (10^3 ≤ Ra ≤ 10^6) keeping the Prandtl number at 0.71. A stability criteria with a precise forcing scheme is used for a greater level of accuracy. 3. The phase change problem governed by the heat-conduction equation is studied using the enthalpy based Lattice Boltzmann Model with a single iteration for each time step, thus reducing the computational time. A double distribution function approach with D2Q9 (density) model and D2Q5 (temperature) model are used for two different test cases-the conduction dominated melting and the convection dominated melting. The solidification process is also simulated using the enthalpy based method with a single distribution function using the D2Q5 model to provide a better understanding of the heat transport phenomenon. The domain for the test cases has an aspect ratio of 2 with some exceptions for a square cavity. An approximate velocity scale is chosen to ensure that the simulations are within the incompressible regime. Different parameters like velocities, temperature, Nusselt number, etc. are calculated for a comparative study with the existing works of literature. The simulated results demonstrate excellent agreement with the existing benchmark solution within an error limit of ± 0.05 implicates the viability of this method for complex fluid flow problems.

Keywords: BGK, Nusselt, Prandtl, Rayleigh, SRT

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Authors: E. E. S. Uy, T. Noda, K. Nakai, J. R. Dungca

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Cyclic threshold shear strain is the cyclic shear strain amplitude that serves as the indicator of the development of pore water pressure. The parameter can be obtained by performing either cyclic triaxial test, shaking table test, cyclic simple shear or resonant column. In a cyclic triaxial test, other researchers install measuring devices in close proximity of the soil to measure the parameter. In this study, an attempt was made to estimate the cyclic threshold shear strain parameter using full-field measurement technique. The technique uses a camera to monitor and measure the movement of the soil. For this study, the technique was incorporated in a strain-controlled consolidated undrained cyclic triaxial test. Calibration of the camera was first performed to ensure that the camera can properly measure the deformation under cyclic loading. Its capacity to measure deformation was also investigated using a cylindrical rubber dummy. Two-dimensional image processing was implemented. Lucas and Kanade optical flow algorithm was applied to track the movement of the soil particles. Results from the full-field measurement technique were compared with the results from the linear variable displacement transducer. A range of values was determined from the estimation. This was due to the nonhomogeneous deformation of the soil observed during the cyclic loading. The minimum values were in the order of 10-2% in some areas of the specimen.

Keywords: cyclic loading, cyclic threshold shear strain, full-field measurement, optical flow

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Authors: Aina Barcelona, Carolyn Oldham, Jordi Colomer, Jordi Garcia-Orellana, Teresa Serra

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Seagrass meadows increase the sedimentation within the canopy. However, there is still a lack of knowledge about how seagrasses impact the vertical distribution of sediment coming from external sources and reaches the meadow. This study aims to determine the number of particles retained by a seagrass meadow. Based on the hydrodynamics in the vertical direction, a meadow can be separated into different compartments: the blades, the seabed, within the canopy layer, and the above canopy layer. A set of laboratory experiments were conducted under different hydrodynamic conditions and canopy densities with the purpose to mimic the real field conditions. This study demonstrates and quantifies that seagrass meadows decrease the volume of the suspended sediment by two mechanisms: capturing the suspended sediment by the seagrass blades and promoting the particle sedimentation to the seabed. This study also demonstrates that the number of sediment particles trapped by single seagrass blades decreases with canopy density. However, when considering the trapping by the total number of blades, the sediment captured by all the blades of the meadow increases with canopy density. Furthermore, comparing with the bare seabed, this study demonstrated that there is a reduction in the suspended particles within the canopy, which implies an improvement in the water clarity. In addition, the particle sedimentation on the seabed increases with the canopy density compared with the bare seabed, making evident the contribution of the vegetation in enhancing sedimentation.

Keywords: seagrass, sediment capture, turbulent kinetic energy, oscillatory flow

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Authors: Michael Tunde Ajayi, Oluwakemi Enitan Fapojuwo

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The study assessed employees’ perception of organizational communication in Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme and its effect on their job performance. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 120 employees using a structured questionnaire for data collection. Findings showed that 66.7% of the respondents were males and 60.4% were between the ages of 31-40 years. Most (87.5%) of the respondents had tertiary education and majority of the respondents (73.9%) had working experience of 5 years or less. Major perceived leadership styles used in communicating to the employees were that employees were not allowed to send feedbacks (X=3.23), information was usually inadequately passed across to the employees (X=2.52), information are given with explanation (X=2.04), leaders rarely gave information on innovation (X=1.91) and information are usually passed in form of order (X=1.89). However, majority (61.5%) of the respondents perceived that the common communication flow used is downward communication system. Respondents perceived that the effects of organizational communication on their job performance were that they were able to know the constraints within the organization (X= 4.89), solve the problem occurring in the organization (X=4.70) and achieve organization objectives (X= 4.40). However, major constraints affecting organizational communication were that there were no cordial relationship among workers (X=3.33), receivers had poor listening skills (X=3.32) and information were not in simple forms (X=3.29). There was a significant relationship between organizational communication (r= 0.984, p<0.05) and employees’ job performance. The study suggested that managers should encourage cordial relationship among workers in other to ease communication flow in organizations and also use adequate medium of communication in other to make information common within organizations.

Keywords: employees’ perception, organizational communication, effects, job performance

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Authors: Emed Krekshi, Walid Ben Husein

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The Bahr Essalam gas-condensate field is located off the Libyan coast and is currently being produced by Mellitah Oil and Gas (MOG). Gas and condensate are produced from the Bahr Essalam reservoir through a mixture of platform and subsea wells, with the subsea wells being gathered at the western manifolds and delivered to the Sabratha platform via a 22-inch pipeline. Gas is gathered and dehydrated on the Sabratha platform and then delivered to the Mellitah gas plant via an existing 36-inch gas export pipeline. The condensate separated on the Sabratha platform will be delivered to the Mellitah gas plant via an existing 10-inch export pipeline. The Bahr Essalam Phase II project includes 2 production wells (CC16 & CC17) at C-Central A connected to the Sabratha platform via a new 10.9 km long 10”/14” production pipeline. Production rates from CC16 and CC17 have exceeded the maximum planned rate of 40 MMSCFD per well. A hydrothermal analysis was conducted to review and Verify input data, focusing on the variation of flowing well head as a function of flowrate.as well as Review available input data against the previous design input data to determine the extent of change. The steady-state and transient simulations performed with Olga yielded coherent results and confirmed the possibility of achieving flow rates of up to 60MMSCFD per well without exceeding the design temperatures, pressures, and velocities.

Keywords: Bahr Essalam, Mellitah Oil and Gas, production flow rates, steady and transient

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Authors: M. Nadeem, Y. K. Chang, C. Diallo, U. Venkatadri, P. Havard, T. Nguyen-Quang

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Uniform distribution of agro-chemicals is highly important because there is a significant loss of agro-chemicals, for example from pesticide, during spraying due to non-uniformity of droplet and off-target drift. Improving the efficiency of spray pattern for different cropping systems would reduce energy, costs and to minimize environmental pollution. In this paper, we examine the water jet patterns in order to study the performance and uniformity of water distribution during the spraying process. We present a method to quantify the water amount from a sprayer jet by using the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) system. The results of the study will be used to optimize sprayer or nozzles design for chemical application. For this study, ten sets of images were acquired by using the following PIV system settings: double frame mode, trigger rate is 4 Hz, and time between pulsed signals is 500 µs. Each set of images contained different numbers of double-framed images: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100 at eight different pressures 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175 and 200 kPa. The PIV images obtained were analysed using custom-made image processing software for droplets and volume calculations. The results showed good agreement of both manual and PIV measurements and suggested that the PIV technique coupled with image processing can be used for a precise quantification of flow through nozzles. The results also revealed that the method of measuring fluid flow through PIV is reliable and accurate for sprayer patterns.

Keywords: image processing, PIV, quantifying the water volume from nozzle, spraying pattern

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Authors: Seon Tae Kim, Robert Hegner, Goksel Ozuylasi, Panagiotis Stathopoulos, Eberhard Nicke

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High-temperature heat pumps (HTHP) that can supply heat at temperatures above 200°C can enhance the energy efficiency of industrial processes and reduce the CO₂ emissions connected with the heat supply of these processes. In the current work, the thermodynamic performance of 3 different vapor compression cycles, which use R-718 (water) as a working medium, have been evaluated by using a commercial process simulation tool (EBSILON Professional). All considered cycles use two-stage vapor compression with intercooling between stages. The main aim of the study is to compare different intercooling strategies and study possible heat recovery scenarios within the intercooling process. This comparison has been carried out by computing the coefficient of performance (COP), the heat supply temperature level, and the respective mass flow rate of water for all cycle architectures. With increasing temperature difference between the heat source and heat sink, ∆T, the COP values decreased as expected, and the highest COP value was found for the cycle configurations where both compressors have the same pressure ratio (PR). The investigation on the HTHP capacities with optimized PR and exergy analysis has also been carried out. The internal heat exchanger cycle with the inward direction of secondary flow (IHX-in) showed a higher temperature level and exergy efficiency compared to other cycles. Moreover, the available operating range was estimated by considering mechanical limitations.

Keywords: high temperature heat pump, industrial process, vapor compression cycle, R-718 (water), thermodynamic analysis

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Authors: Hee-Chang Lim

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The study aims to understand the surface pressure distribution around the bodies such as the suction pressure in the leading edge on the top and side-face when the aspect ratio of bodies and the wind direction are changed, respectively. We carried out the wind tunnel measurement and numerical simulation around a series of rectangular bodies (40^d×80^w×80^h, 80^d×80^w×80^h, 160^d×80^w×80^h, 80^d×40^w×80^h and 80^d×160^w×80^h in mm³) placed in a deep turbulent boundary layer. Based on a modern numerical platform, the Navier-Stokes equation with the typical 2-equation (k-ε model) and the DES (Detached Eddy Simulation) turbulence model has been calculated, and they are both compared with the measurement data. Regarding the turbulence model, the DES model makes a better prediction comparing with the k-ε model, especially when calculating the separated turbulent flow around a bluff body with sharp edged corner. In order to observe the effect of wind direction on the pressure variation around the cube (e.g., 80^d×80^w×80^h in mm), it rotates at 0º, 10º, 20º, 30º, and 45º, which stands for the salient wind directions in the tunnel. The result shows that the surface pressure variation is highly dependent upon the approaching wind direction, especially on the top and the side-face of the cube. In addition, the transverse width has a substantial effect on the variation of surface pressure around the bodies, while the longitudinal length has little or no influence.

Keywords: rectangular bodies, wind direction, aspect ratio, surface pressure distribution, wind-tunnel measurement, k-ε model, DES model, CFD

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Authors: Hamid El Qarnia

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This study investigates the impact of the eccentricity of the central tube on the thermal and fluid characteristics of a triplex tube used in latent heat energy storage technologies. Two triplex tube orientations are considered in the proposed study: vertical and horizontal. The energy storage material, which is a phase change material (PCM), is placed in the space between the inside and outside tubes. During the thermal energy storage period, a heat transfer fluid (HTF) flows inside the two tubes, transmitting the heat to the PCM through two heat exchange surfaces instead of one heat exchange surface as it is the case for double tube heat storage systems. A CFD model is developed and validated against experimental data available in the literature. The mesh independency study is carried out to select the appropriate mesh. In addition, different time steps are examined to determine a time step ensuring accuracy of the numerical results and reduction in the computational time. The numerical model is then used to conduct numerical investigations of the thermal behavior and thermal performance of the storage unit. The effects of eccentricity of the central tube and HTF mass flow rate on thermal characteristics and performance indicators are examined for two flow arrangements: co-current and counter current flows. The results are given in terms of isotherm plots, streamlines, melting time and thermal energy storage efficiency.

Keywords: energy storage, heat transfer, melting, solidification

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Authors: Alexandre Daliberto Frugoli, Pedro Jose Gabriel Ferreira, Pedro Americo Frugoli, Lucio Leonardo, Thais Cavalheri Santos

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Laboratory classes in Engineering courses are essential for students to be able to integrate theory with practical reality, by handling equipment and observing experiments. In the researches of physical phenomena, students can learn about the complexities of science. Over the past years, universities in developing countries have been reducing the course load of engineering courses, in accordance with cutting cost agendas. Quality education is the object of study for researchers and requires educators and educational administrators able to demonstrate that the institutions are able to provide great learning opportunities at reasonable costs. Didactic test benches are indispensable equipment in educational activities related to turbo hydraulic pumps and pumping facilities study, which have a high cost and require long class time due to measurements and equipment adjustment time. In order to overcome the aforementioned obstacles, aligned with the professional objectives of an engineer, GruPEFE - UNIP (Research Group in Physics Education for Engineering - Universidade Paulista) has developed a multi-purpose stand for the discipline of fluid mechanics which allows the study of velocity and flow meters, loads losses and pump association. In this work, results obtained by the association in series and in parallel of hydraulic pumps will be presented and discussed, mainly analyzing the repeatability of experimental procedures and their agreement with the theory. For the association in series two identical pumps were used, consisting of the connection of the discharge of a pump to the suction of the next one, allowing the fluid to receive the power of all machines in the association. The characteristic curve of the set is obtained from the curves of each of the pumps, by adding the heads corresponding to the same flow rates. The same pumps were associated in parallel. In this association, the discharge piping is common to the two machines together. The characteristic curve of the set was obtained by adding to each value of H (head height), the flow rates of each pump. For the tests, the input and output pressure of each pump were measured. For each set there were three sets of measurements, varying the flow rate in range from 6.0 to 8.5 m 3 / h. For the two associations, the results showed an excellent repeatability with variations of less than 10% between sets of measurements and also a good agreement with the theory. This variation agrees with the instrumental uncertainty. Thus, the results validate the use of the fluids bench designed for didactic purposes. As a future work, a digital acquisition system is being developed, using differential sensors of extremely low pressures (2 to 2000 Pa approximately) for the microcontroller Arduino.

Keywords: engineering education, fluid mechanics, hydrostatic pumps association, multi-purpose stand

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Authors: Mirvat Shamseddine, Issam Lakkis

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We present an efficient, three-dimensional parallel multi-scale Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) algorithm for the simulation of unsteady rarefied gas flows in micro/nanosystems. The algorithm employs a novel spatiotemporal adaptivity scheme. The scheme performs a fully dynamic multi-level grid adaption based on the gradients of flow macro-parameters and an automatic temporal adaptation. The computational domain consists of a hierarchical octree-based Cartesian grid representation of the flow domain and a triangular mesh for the solid object surfaces. The hybrid mesh, combined with the spatiotemporal adaptivity scheme, allows for increased flexibility and efficient data management, rendering the framework suitable for efficient particle-tracing and dynamic grid refinement and coarsening. The parallel algorithm is optimized to run DSMC simulations of strongly unsteady, non-equilibrium flows over multiple cores. The presented method is validated by comparing with benchmark studies and then employed to improve the design of micro-scale hotwire thermal sensors in rarefied gas flows.

Keywords: DSMC, oct-tree hierarchical grid, ray tracing, spatial-temporal adaptivity scheme, unsteady rarefied gas flows

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Authors: Tawfiq Chekifi, Brahim Dennai, Rachid Khelfaoui

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Over the last few decades, modeling immiscible fluids such as oil and water have been a classical research topic. Droplet-based microfluidics presents a unique platform for mixing, reaction, separation, dispersion of drops and numerous other functions. for this purpose Several devices were studied, as well as microfluidic oscillator. The latter was obtained from wall attachment microfluidic amplifiers using a feedback loop from the outputs to the control inputs, nevertheless this device haven’t well used for microdrops applications. In this paper, we suggest a numerical CFD study of a microfluidic oscillator with two different lengths of feedback loop. In order to produce simultaneous microdrops of gasoil on water, a typical geometry that includes double T-junction is connected to the fluidic oscillator, The generation of microdrops is computed by volume-of-fluid method (VOF). Flow oscillations of microdrops were triggered by the Coanda effect of jet flow. The aim of work is to obtain a high oscillation frequency in output of this passive device, the influence of hydrodynamics and physics parameters on the microdrops frequency in the output of our microsystem is also analyzed, The computational results show that, the length of feedback loop, applied pressure on T-junction and interfacial tension have a significant effect on the dispersion of microdrops and its oscillation frequency. Across the range of low Reynold number, the microdrops generation and its dynamics have been accurately controlled by adjusting applying pressure ratio of two phases.

Keywords: fluidic oscillator, microdrops manipulation, volume of fluid method, microfluidic oscillator

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Authors: Nyashadzashe Chiraga, Anthony Walker, Glen Bright

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The manufacturing industry is currently experiencing a paradigm shift into the Fourth Industrial Revolution in which customers are increasingly at the epicentre of production. The high degree of production customization and personalization requires a flexible manufacturing system that will rapidly respond to the dynamic and volatile changes driven by the market. They are a gap in technology that allows for the optimal flow of information and optimal manufacturing operations on the shop floor regardless of the rapid changes in the fixture and part demands. Information is the reduction of uncertainty; it gives meaning and context on the state of each cell. The amount of information needed to describe cellular manufacturing systems is investigated by two measures: the structural entropy and the operational entropy. Structural entropy is the expected amount of information needed to describe scheduled states of a manufacturing system. While operational entropy is the amount of information that describes the scheduled states of a manufacturing system, which occur during the actual manufacturing operation. Using Anylogic simulator a typical manufacturing job shop was set-up with a cellular manufacturing configuration. The cellular make-up of the configuration included; a Material handling cell, 3D Printer cell, Assembly cell, manufacturing cell and Quality control cell. The factory shop provides manufactured parts to a number of clients, and there are substantial variations in the part configurations, new part designs are continually being introduced to the system. Based on the normal expected production schedule, the schedule adherence was calculated from the structural entropy and operation entropy of varying the amounts of information communicated in simulated runs. The structural entropy denotes a system that is in control; the necessary real-time information is readily available to the decision maker at any point in time. For contractive analysis, different out of control scenarios were run, in which changes in the manufacturing environment were not effectively communicated resulting in deviations in the original predetermined schedule. The operational entropy was calculated from the actual operations. From the results obtained in the empirical study, it was seen that increasing, the efficiency of a factory communication system increases the degree of adherence of a job to the expected schedule. The performance of downstream production flow fed from the parallel upstream flow of information on the factory state was increased.

Keywords: information entropy, communication in manufacturing, mass customisation, scheduling

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Authors: Taeho Park, Ming Zhou, Sangryul Shim

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With the emergence of the global economy, today’s business environment is getting more competitive than ever in the past. And many supply chain (SC) strategies and operations have significantly been altered over the past decade to overcome more complexities and risks imposed onto the global business. First, offshoring and outsourcing are more adopted as operational strategies. Manufacturing continues to move to better locations for enhancing competitiveness. Second, international operations are a challenge to a company’s SC system. Third, the products traded in the SC system are not just physical goods, but also digital goods (e.g., software, e-books, music, video materials). There are three main flows involved in fulfilling the activities in the SC system: physical flow, information flow, and financial flow. An advance of the Internet and electronic communication technologies has enabled companies to perform the flows of SC activities in electronic formats, resulting in the advent of an electronic supply chain management (e-SCM) system. A SC system for digital goods is somewhat different from the supply chain system for physical goods. However, it involves many similar or identical SC activities and flows. For example, like the production of physical goods, many third parties are also involved in producing digital goods for the production of components and even final products. This research aims at identifying process flows of both physical and digital goods in a SC system, and then investigating all risk elements involved in the physical, information, and financial flows during the fulfilment of SC activities. There are many risks inherent in the e-SCM system. Some risks may have severe impact on a company’s business, and some occur frequently but are not detrimental enough to jeopardize a company. Thus, companies should assess the impact and frequency of those risks, and then prioritize them in terms of their severity, frequency, budget, and time in order to be carefully maintained. We found risks involved in the global trading of physical and digital goods in four different categories: environmental risk, strategic risk, technological risk, and operational risk. And then the significance of those risks was investigated through a survey. The survey asked companies about the frequency and severity of the identified risks. They were also asked whether they had faced those risks in the past. Since the characteristics and supply chain flows of digital goods are varying industry by industry and country by country, it is more meaningful and useful to analyze risks by industry and country. To this end, more data in each industry sector and country should be collected, which could be accomplished in the future research.

Keywords: digital goods, e-SCM, risk analysis, supply chain flows

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Authors: Humaira Athar, Brajeshwar Singh

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Generally, the brightness of the indoor environment of buildings is entirely maintained by the artificial lighting which has consumed a large amount of resources. It is reported that lighting consumes about 19% of the total generated electricity which accounts for about 30-40% of total energy consumption. One possible way is to reduce the lighting energy by exploiting sunlight either through the use of suitable devices or energy efficient materials like translucent concrete. Translucent concrete is one such architectural concrete which allows the passage of natural light as well as artificial light through it. Several attempts have been made on different aspects of translucent concrete such as light guiding materials (glass fibers, plastic fibers, cylinder etc.), concrete mix design and manufacturing methods for use as building elements. Concerns are, however, raised on various related issues such as poor compatibility between the optical fibers and cement paste, unaesthetic appearance due to disturbance occurred in the arrangement of fibers during vibration and high shrinkage in flowable concrete due to its high water/cement ratio. Need is felt to develop translucent concrete to meet the requirement of structural safety as OPC concrete with the maximized saving in energy towards the power of illumination and thermal load in buildings. Translucent concrete was produced using pre-treated plastic optical fibers (POF, 2mm dia.) and high slump white concrete. The concrete mix was proportioned in the ratio of 1:1.9:2.1 with a w/c ratio of 0.40. The POF was varied from 0.8-9 vol.%. The mechanical properties and light transmission of this concrete were determined. Thermal conductivity of samples was measured by a transient plate source technique. Daylight illumination was measured by a lux grid method as per BIS:SP-41. It was found that the compressive strength of translucent concrete increased with decreasing optical fiber content. An increase of ~28% in the compressive strength of concrete was noticed when fiber was pre-treated. FE-SEM images showed little-debonded zone between the fibers and cement paste which was well supported with pull-out bond strength test results (~187% improvement over untreated). The light transmission of concrete was in the range of 3-7% depending on fiber spacing (5-20 mm). The average daylight illuminance (~75 lux) was nearly equivalent to the criteria specified for illumination for circulation (80 lux). The thermal conductivity of translucent concrete was reduced by 28-40% with respect to plain concrete. The thermal load calculated by heat conduction equation was ~16% more than the plain concrete. Based on Design-Builder software, the total annual illumination energy load of a room using one side translucent concrete was 162.36 kW compared with the energy load of 249.75 kW for a room without concrete. The calculated energy saving on an account of the power of illumination was ~25%. A marginal improvement towards thermal comfort was also noticed. It is concluded that the translucent concrete has the advantages of the existing concrete (load bearing) with translucency and insulation characteristics. It saves a significant amount of energy by providing natural daylight instead of artificial power consumption of illumination.

Keywords: energy saving, light transmission, microstructure, plastic optical fibers, translucent concrete

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Authors: Amr S. Fahil, Eman Ghoneim

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Egypt made significant efforts during the past few years to discover significant renewable energy sources. Regions in Egypt that have been identified for geothermal potential investigation include the Gulf of Suez and the Western Desert. One of the most promising sites for the development of Egypt's Northern Western Desert is Siwa Oasis. The geological setting of the oasis, a tectonically generated depression situated in the northernmost region of the Western desert, supports the potential for substantial geothermal resources. Field data obtained from 27 deep oil wells along the Western Desert included bottom-hole temperature (BHT) depth to basement measurements, and geological maps; data were utilized in this study. The major lithological units, elevation, surface gradient, lineaments density, and remote sensing multispectral and topographic were mapped together to generate the related physiographic variables. Eleven thematic layers were integrated in a geographic information system (GIS) to create geothermal maps to aid in the detection of significant potential geothermal spots along the Siwa Oasis and its vicinity. The contribution of total magnetic intensity data with reduction to the pole (RTP) to the first investigation of the geothermal potential in Siwa Oasis is applied in this work. The integration of geospatial data with magnetic field measurements showed a clear correlation between areas of high heat flow and magnetic anomalies. Such anomalies can be interpreted as related to the existence of high geothermal energy and dense rock, which also have high magnetic susceptibility. The outcomes indicated that the study area has a geothermal gradient ranging from 18 to 42 °C/km, a heat flow ranging from 24.7 to 111.3 m.W. k−1, a thermal conductivity of 1.3–2.65 W.m−1.k−1 and a measured amplitude temperature maximum of 100.7 °C. The southeastern part of the Siwa Oasis, and some sporadic locations on the eastern section of the oasis were found to have significant geothermal potential; consequently, this location is suitable for future geothermal investigation. The adopted method might be applied to identify significant prospective geothermal energy locations in other regions of Egypt and East Africa.

Keywords: magnetic data, SRTM, depth to basement, remote sensing, GIS, geothermal gradient, heat flow, thermal conductivity

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Authors: Jithin S. Kumar, Ramesh Kannan Kandasami

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Geomaterials are generally porous in nature due to the presence of discrete particles and interconnected voids. The porosity present in these geomaterials play a critical role in many engineering applications such as CO2 sequestration, well bore strengthening, enhanced oil and hydrocarbon recovery, hydraulic fracturing, and subsurface waste storage. These applications involves solid-fluid interactions, which govern the changes in the porosity which in turn affect the permeability and stiffness of the medium. Injecting fluid into the geomaterials results in permeation which exhibits small or negligible deformation of the soil skeleton followed by cavity expansion/ fingering/ fracturing (different forms of instabilities) due to the large deformation especially when the flow rate is greater than the ability of the medium to permeate the fluid. The complexity of this problem increases as the geomaterial behaves like a solid and fluid under certain conditions. Thus it is important to understand this multiphysics problem where in addition to the permeation, the elastic-plastic deformation of the soil skeleton plays a vital role during fluid injection. The phenomenon of permeation and cavity expansion in porous medium has been studied independently through extensive experimental and analytical/ numerical models. The analytical models generally use Darcy's/ diffusion equations to capture the fluid flow during permeation while elastic-plastic (Mohr-Coulomb and Modified Cam-Clay) models were used to predict the solid deformations. Hitherto, the research generally focused on modelling cavity expansion without considering the effect of injected fluid coming into the medium. Very few studies have considered the effect of injected fluid on the deformation of soil skeleton. However, the porosity changes during the fluid injection and coupled elastic-plastic deformation are not clearly understood. In this study, the phenomenon of permeation and instabilities such as cavity and finger/ fracture formation will be quantified extensively by performing experiments using a novel experimental setup in addition to utilizing image processing techniques. This experimental study will describe the fluid flow and soil deformation characteristics under different boundary conditions. Further, a well refined coupled semi-analytical model will be developed to capture the physics involved in quantifying the deformation behaviour of geomaterial during fluid injection.

Keywords: solid-fluid interaction, permeation, poroelasticity, plasticity, continuum model

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Authors: Gangacharyulu Dasaroju, Sumeet Sharma, Sanjay Singh

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Heat pipe is characterised as superconductor of heat because of its excellent heat removal ability. The operation of several engineering system results in generation of heat. This may cause several overheating problems and lead to failure of the systems. To overcome this problem and to achieve desired rate of heat dissipation, there is need to study the performance of heat pipe with annular fins under free convection at different inclinations. This study demonstrates the effect of different mass flow rate of hot fluid into evaporator section on the condenser side heat transfer coefficient with annular fins under natural convection at different inclinations. In this study annular fins are used for the experimental work having dimensions of length of fin, thickness of fin and spacing of fin as 10 mm, 1 mm and 6 mm, respectively. The main aim of present study is to discover at what inclination angles the maximum heat transfer coefficient shall be achieved. The heat transfer coefficient on the external surface of heat pipe condenser section is determined by experimental method and then predicted by empirical correlations. The results obtained from experimental and Churchill and Chu relation for laminar are in fair agreement with not more than 22% deviation. It is elucidated the maximum heat transfer coefficient of 31.2 W/(m²-K) at 25˚ tilt angle and minimal condenser heat transfer coefficient of 26.4 W/(m²-K) is seen at 45˚ tilt angle and 200 ml/min mass flow rate. Inclination angle also affects the thermal performance of heat pipe. Beyond 25^o inclination, heat transport rate starts to decrease.

Keywords: heat pipe, annular fins, natural convection, condenser heat transfer coefficient, tilt angle

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Authors: Joudia Akil, Stephane Siffert, Laurence Pirault-Roy, Renaud Cousin, Christophe Poupin

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The CO2 emitted from anthropic activities is perceived as a constraint in industrial activity due to taxes, stringent environmental regulations, impact on global warming… To limit these CO2 emissions, reuse of CO2 represents a promising alternative, with important applications in chemical industry and for power generation. However, CO2 valorization process requires a gas as pure as possible Oxyfuel-combustion that enables obtaining a CO2 rich stream, with water vapor (10%) is then interesting. Nevertheless to decrease the amount of the by-products found with the CO2 (especially CO and NOx which are harmful to the environment) a catalytic treatment must be applied. Nowadays three-way catalysts are well-developed material for simultaneous conversion of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). The use of Pd attracted considerable attention on the basis of economic factors (the high cost and scarcity of Pt and Rh). This explains the large number of studies concerning the CO-NO reaction on Pd in the recent years. In the present study, we will compare a series of Pd materials supported on different oxides for CO2 purification from the oxyfuel combustion system, by reducing NO with CO in an oxidizing environment containing CO2 rich stream and presence of 8.2% of water. Al2O3, CeO2, MgO, SiO2 and TiO2 were used as support materials of the catalysts. 1wt% Pd/Support catalysts were obtained by wet impregnation on supports with a precursor of palladium [Pd(acac)2]. The obtained samples were subsequently characterized by H2 chemisorption, BET surface area and TEM. Finally, their catalytic performances were evaluated in CO2 purification which is carried out in a fixed-bed flow reactor containing 150 mg of catalyst at atmospheric pressure. The flow of the reactant gases is composed of: 20% CO2, 10% O2, 0.5% CO, 0.02% NO and 8.2% H2O (He as eluent gas) with a total flow of 200mL.min−1, in the same GHSV. The catalytic performance of the Pd catalysts for CO2 purification revealed that: -The support material has a strong influence on the catalytic activity of 1wt.% Pd supported catalysts. depending of the nature of support, the Pd-based catalysts activity changes. -The highest reduction of NO with CO is obtained in the following ranking: TiO2>CeO2>Al2O3. -The supports SiO2 and MgO should be avoided for this reaction, -Total oxidation of CO occurred over different materials, -CO2 purification can reach 97%, -The presence of H2O has a positive effect on the NO reduction due to the production of the reductant H2 from WGS reaction H2O+CO → H2+CO2

Keywords: carbon dioxide, environmental chemistry, heterogeneous catalysis, oxyfuel combustion

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Authors: Hasan Taherkhani

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Increasingly accumulation of the solid waste materials has become a major environmental problem of communities. In addition to the protection of environment, the recycling and reusing of the waste materials are financially beneficial. Waste materials can be used in highway construction. This study aimed to investigate the applicability of recycled concrete, asphalt and steel slag powder, as a replacement of the primary mineral filler in asphalt concrete has been investigated. The primary natural siliceous aggregate filler, as control, has been replaced with the secondary recycled concrete, asphalt and steel slag powders, and some engineering properties of the mixtures have been evaluated. Marshal Stability, flow, indirect tensile strength, moisture damage, static creep and volumetric properties of the mixtures have been evaluated. The results show that, the Marshal Stability of the mixtures containing recycled powders is higher than that of the control mixture. The flow of the mixtures containing recycled steel slag is lower, and that of the mixtures containing recycled asphalt and cement concrete powder is found to be higher than that of the control mixture. It is also found that the resistance against moisture damage and permanent deformation of the mixture can be improved by replacing the natural filler with the recycled powders. The volumetric properties of the mixtures are not significantly influenced by replacing the natural filler with the recycled powders.

Keywords: filler, steel slag, recycled concrete, recycled asphalt concrete, tensile strength, moisture damage, creep

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Authors: Kirstin Burger, Paul Watts, Nicole Vorster

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Green chemistry focuses on synthesis which has a low negative impact on the environment. This research focuses on synthesizing novel compounds from an all-natural Eucalyptus citriodora oil. Eight novel plasticizer compounds are synthesized and optimized using flow chemistry technology. A precursor to one novel compound can be synthesized from the lauric acid present in coconut oil. Key parameters, such as catalyst screening and loading, reaction time, temperature, residence time using flow chemistry techniques is investigated. The compounds are characterised using GC-MS, FT-IR, 1H and 13C-NMR techniques, X-ray crystallography. The efficiency of the compounds is compared to two commercial plasticizers, i.e. Dibutyl phthalate and Eastman 168. Several PVC-plasticized film formulations are produced using the bio-based novel compounds. Tensile strength, stress at fracture and percentage elongation are tested. The property of having increasing plasticizer percentage in the film formulations is investigated, ranging from 3, 6, 9 and 12%. The diastereoisomers of each compound are separated and formulated into PVC films, and differences in tensile strength are measured. Leaching tests, flexibility, and change in glass transition temperatures for PVC-plasticized films is recorded. Research objective includes using these novel compounds as a green bio-plasticizer alternative in plastic products for infants. The inhibitory effect of the compounds on six pathogens effecting infants are studied, namely; Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Shigella sonnei, Pseudomonas putida, Salmonella choleraesuis and Klebsiella oxytoca.

Keywords: bio-based compounds, plasticizer, tensile strength, microbiological inhibition , synthesis

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Authors: J. R. Mudakavi, K. Puttanna

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Chromium in the environment is considered as one of the most toxic elements probably next only to mercury and arsenic. It is acutely toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic in the environment. Chromium contamination of soil and underground water due to industrial activities is a very serious problem in several parts of India covering Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh etc. Functionally modified Activated Carbon Fabrics (ACF) offer targeted chromium removal from drinking water and industrial effluents. Activated carbon fabric is a light weight adsorbing material with high surface area and low resistance to fluid flow. We have investigated surface modification of ACF using various acids in the laboratory through batch as well as through continuous flow column experiments with a view to develop the optimum conditions for chromium removal. Among the various acids investigated, phosphoric acid modified ACF gave best results with a removal efficiency of 95% under optimum conditions. Optimum pH was around 2 – 4 with 2 hours contact time. Continuous column experiments with an effective bed contact time (EBCT) of 5 minutes indicated that breakthrough occurred after 300 bed volumes. Adsorption data followed a Freundlich isotherm pattern. Nickel adsorbs preferentially and sulphate reduces chromium adsorption by 50%. The ACF could be regenerated up to 52.3% using 3 M NaOH under optimal conditions. The process is simple, economical, energy efficient and applicable to industrial effluents and drinking water.

Keywords: activated carbon fabric, hexavalent chromium, adsorption, drinking water

Procedia PDF Downloads 337