Sharif Digital Repository

The gas separation properties of polycarbonate (PC) membranes were investigated in this study. These membranes were prepared via dry and dry-wet phase inversion technique. Pure O2, N2, and CO2 gases were permeated through prepared membranes. The effects of membrane preparation conditions, including solvent type, non-solvent type, non-solvent/solvent volumetric ratio, polymer weight fraction, and drying temperature on the gas separation properties of dry PC membranes were investigated using Taguchi experimental design. Taguchi analysis show that polymer weight fraction offers the most important effect on the separation characteristics of the dry PC membranes. To get the highest... 

Low frequency (LF) O2 plasma was used to modify the surface of polysulfone (PSF) gas separation membranes. The effect of treatment time and plasma power input on the membranes was also investigated. Pure CO2 and CH4 gas permeation measurements were performed before and after plasma treatment. The results showed the increase of permeability of the treated membranes due to surface ablation and surface polarization. However, the CO2/CH4 permselectivity of the treated membranes varied from 7.7 to 45.3 depending on the treatment conditions. Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy determined the introduction of oxygen containing polar groups on the surface... 

In this study, the effects of treatment time and power of Low-frequency (LF) O2 plasma has been investigated for the surface treatment of polyethersulfone (PES) gas separation membranes. PES membranes prepared using dry/wet phase inversion using ternary mixtures containing 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) as solvent, water as non-solvent. The optimum polymer concentration was 32 wt.% , 61 wt.% and 7 wt.% for PES,1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and water respectively. Pure CO2 and CH4 gas permeation measurements were performed before and after plasma treatment. After treatment gas permeances of around 0.81 GPU for CO2, and 0.073 GPU for CH4 with selectivities of around 11.23 for CO2/CH4 were obtained.... 

Olefin/ paraffin separation is one of the most important processes in the petrochemical industries.In the last decades, adsorption and membrane processes are a new technology considered significantly for this purpose. In order to synthesizeof zeolite powder (pure silica zeolite STT and CHA), raw materials were made by two methods and their HNMR spectrum was recorded and thenzeolite powder was synthesized. X ray diffraction(XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images were taken,showing the same results as the refference structure.To consider synthesized zeolite powdersand olefin/ paraffin interactions, surface adsorption ofthose gases was accomplished on two zeolite powders. After... 

Regarding decreasing resources of fossil fuels and their increasing costs in addition to their environmental pollutions, today, producing bio fuels from wastes such as lignocellulosic materials is of great interest. A fundamental stage in conversion of lignocellulosic materials into bio fuels, such as bio ethanol, is the enzymatic hydrolysis of these materials to produce reducing sugars. Researches have shown high costs of this stage. Optimization of enzymatic hydrolysisconditions is a major step in economization of this process.In this work corn hull is used to produce glucose. Corn hull is a kind of lignocellulosic material that due to high carbohydrate content is used as substrate. Our... 

In this project, cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) nanofibrous membranes in order to separate the contaminants of an industrial wastewater were prepared. Electrospinning process that is an effective method to fabricate nanofibers was used to prepare the membranes. Since various parameters affect this process and fibers morphology, optimization of these parameters is necessary for preparation of improved membranes. So the effect of parameters of solvent system, polymer concentration, applied voltage, distance between the tip of needle and collector, and rotational speed of collector on morphology and diameter of the nanofibers was investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and image... 

One of the encouraging technologies for resolving the lack of clean water in the world is forward osmosis process (FO). Reaching to a optimized development of FO membranes is essential to make fo process commercially viable.
This study’s aim is to develop a thin film composites (TFC) membrane with high FO performance (good water flux and high salt rejection) in order to seawater desalination.
Polyacrylonitrile (PAN), a hydrophilic polymer, is a less considered polymer in fabricating support layer for TFC FO membranes .TFC membranes consist of a selective polyamide active layer formed by interfacial polymerization on top of a support layer fabricated by non-solvent induced phase... 

One of the most important environmental problem across the world is global warming due to increase in greenhouse gas concentration in atmosphere. The main objective of this thesis is to try to find some ways that lead to stop or decrease, increasing trend in greenhouse gas emission, espicialy CO2. The investigation of the sources of emission of CO2 and proposed methods to decrease the rate of the emission, reveals that sepration of CO¬2 from combustion products and its storage is the only promising solution of this problem. The common feature of all propsed methods for elimination of CO¬¬2 from combustion gas, is the presence of a separation step. The addition of this separation step to... 

In this study nano zeolite was hydrothermally synthesized in order to remove ethyl and methyl mercaptans from propane and butane stream. Fifteen experimental runs were conducted using D-Optimal method experimental design to synthesize NaY, NaX and NaA zeolites. The products were characterized by measuring the morphology, particle and crystal size, surface area, adsorption isotherm, pore size, and pore volume of the products by XRD, FE-SEM, TEM and BET analyses. The pore size for NaA type zeolites is about 4 Angstrom whereas the molecular size for ethyl mercaptan and methyl mercaptan is between 4 and 5 Angtrom, Therefore, NaA zeolite is inappropriate for removing ethyl and methyl mercaptans... 

In the present work, numerical simulation of cross-flow microfiltration of non-alcoholic beer in a tubular membrane has been studied. Finite element analysis was used as a powerful tool for simulation. The feed stream, which flows mainly tangentially to the porous membrane surface, is modeled by the Navier-Stokes equations. Porous wall conditions are described by the Darcy equation that relates the pressure gradient within a flow stream to the flow rate through the permeable wall. A pilot-scale cross-flow membrane filter was developed to verify the model results. Ceramic tubular membranes were used in this study. The cross-flow velocity of the feed solution was controlled at the laminar... 

In this project dynamic effect of changes in gas turbine load on power plant, reforming and Co2 capture section is investigate. The reason for study of effects change of gas turbine load is that gas turbine determines the performance of the other parts in combined cycle including gas cycle and change of gas turbine load can alter the load and the performance of other parts in the power plant and in other process such as production of synthesis gas and carbon dioxide separation unit. One Autothermal reactor and eight sewgs reactor are utilized to produce gas turbine fuel which is mainly consist of Hydrogen. this part of thesis is to be implemented in the gPROMS from process system enterprise... 

The major obstacle in using natural gas as a clean and abundant fuel in transportation industries is the low density of energy obtained from its combustion. Adsorbed Natural Gas (ANG) is a useful method to increase the energy density and store the natural gas. The lower cost and higher safety have made it different from the other storage technologies. In addition, ANG can be useful to solve the lack of gas in the peak of consumption. Among all adsorbents, Activated Carbon (AC) has shown the highest adsorption capacity of natural gas. In the present project, walnut shell has been used as the precursor in the chemical synthesise of AC. The main effective factors in chemical activation, such as... 

Membrane Technology is rapidly growing all over the world because of many applications. In all of this applications , use of adhesive ( between membranes and wall ) is necessary. selection of appropriate adhesive for membrane is very important in order to membrane has best performance and lifetime .Adhesives used in membrane technology must have good adhesion and suitable hardness . One of the newest adhesives used in membrane technology is two-component polyurethane adhesive. PU adhesives make strong and durable bond and have good flexibility which is an advantage for membrane technology.MDI isocyanate is used in most of commercial PU adhesives’ formulation. But in this study , modified MDI... 

Considering the drastical increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide, reduction of these gases seems necessary to combat global warming. Fossil fuel power plants are one of the main sources of CO2 emission. In this paper, CO2 capture from a natural gas fired steam cycle power plant using oxy-fuel combustion technology is studied. The Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) developed by Carnegie Mellon University was used to evaluate the effect of this capture technology on the plant efficiency and economic parameters of the system. Since the oxygen production plant, CO2 capture and transport are cost and energy intensive, the cost of electricity generated... 

In this research incorporation of SAPO-34 zeolite filler into polycarbonate membrane was investigated for fabrication of mixed matrix membrane (MMM). The main purpose of addition of zeolite in polymer matrix is to enhance the separation properties of pure membrane by means of the selective pores of SAPO-34. SAPO-34 possesses pores with proper size for separation of CO2 from CH4 by molecular sieving mechanism. Pure polycarbonate membrane and PC/SAPO-34 MMM was prepared by solvent evaporation method using dichloromethane as solvent. Zeolite loading was varied between 5-30%wt. First of all, polycarbonate was characterized by DSC, FTIR and viscometer analysis in order to determine all the... 

A Novel synthesis method to assemble of nano crystalline SAPO-34 molecular sieves crystalline is successfully developed at a supercritical condition. The environmental and operating conditions are investigated through a Taguchi L-9 orthogonal array and optimum synthesis conditions in order to reach highest crystallinity and smallest crystalline. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), thermal method of analysis (e.g. TG-DTA), and infra red spectroscopy (FT-IR) techniques. In comparison to conventional hydrothermal methods, using a supercritical hydrothermal approach leads to the higher purity, reduced particle size, and change of... 

During the brewing process, beer alternately goes through different chemical and biochemical reactions and solid–liquid separation stages. The clarification at the final step of brewing is a highly critical stage when it comes to producing a clear and bright beer. Recently, membrane technology has been successfully used in beer clarification, wherein Kieselguhr (diatomaceous earth) filtration is replaced by cross-flow microfiltration. The most important disadvantages of using microfiltration in clarification of beer is the fouling and flux decline during the process. The phenomenology of fouling mechanisms is still undefined and selection of an appropriate technique for flux enhancement in... 

Globally energy system is the main source of green house gas emission. 60-90 percent of manmade CO2 is due to energy sector. Pollutants like NOx, CO, Non Methane Hydrocarbons which may cause indirect effect on climate system are mainly emitting from energy sector. Gas, Oil and Coal extraction and transmission are responsible for more than 15% of Methane emission globally. Therefore it is important to consider all types of GHGs emission as well as all sectors of energy system to assess the GHGs mitigation potential throughout the energy system. Considering the significance of energy sector in GHGs emission, in this study we developed an optimized model for Iran’s energy sector in which we ran... 

Textile dyes are a major category of organic pollutants and release of them in the environment causes serious problems. Among the most commonly used methods for colored wastewater, advanced oxidation processes, especially the photocatalytic process, are rapidly developing as a new and effective solution. However, there is still a need for high-level photocatalytic activity and improvement of this process to increase removal efficiency. In this study, we have tried to provide a higher performance for color removal using carbon nitride photocatalyst. Accordingly, two approaches have been proposed to improve the removal of rhodamine b, as one of the common dyes in the textile industries. The... 

Due to the environmental concern for the harmful effect of the release of HFCs on global warming there has been more interest for the use of hydrocarbons as refrigerants in recent years. In this project the performance of these refrigerants have been studied and compared with common refrigerants from the quantitative and qualitative point of view using a real-scale model of Peugeot-405 air conditioning system. Charging amount, inside temperature, cooling load, energy consumption of cycle, coefficient of performance and required time to steady state condition are the important comparative criteria for such a study. After carrying out a series of tests it has been considered that charge...