Sharif Digital Repository

A mesophilic iron oxidizing bacterium, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, has been isolated (33 °C) from a typical, chalcopyrite concentrate of the Sarcheshmeh copper mine in the region of Kerman located in the south of Iran. In addition, a thermophilic iron oxidizing bacterium, Sulfobacillus, has been isolated (60 °C) from the sphalerite concentrate of Kooshk lead and zinc mine near the city of Yazd in the center point of Iran. Variation of pH, ferrous and ferric concentration on time and effects of some factors such as temperature, cell growth, initial ferrous concentration and pH on bioleaching of low-grade complex zinc-lead ore were investigated. The results obtained from bioleaching... 

In this work a modified form of the Ghotbi-Vera Mean Spherical Approximation model (MGV-MSA) has been used to correlate the mean ionic activity coefficients (MIAC) for a number of symmetric and asymmetric aqueous electrolyte solutions at 25 °C. In the proposed model the hard sphere as well as the electrostatic contributions to the MIAC and the osmotic coefficient of the previously GV-MSA model has been modified. The results of the proposed model for the MIAC of the electrolyte solutions studied in this work are used to directly calculate the values of the osmotic coefficients without introducing any new adjustable parameter. In the MGV-MSA model the cation diameter as well as the relative... 

A simple, efficient, and general method has been developed for the conversion of aldehydes to 1,1-diacetates with the use of acetic anhydride and solid LiClO4 under first solvent-free and mild conditions in good yields. This method applies to not only simple but also to conjugated aldehydes. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved  

Catalyst layers are one the important parts of the PEM fuel cells as they are the main place for electrochemical reaction taking place in anode and cathode of the cells. The amount of catalyst loading of this layer has a large effect on PEM fuel cell performance. Non-uniformity of reactant concentration could lead to a variation of current density in anode and cathode catalyst layer. The main reason for this phenomenon is porosity variation due to two effects: 1. compression of electrode on the solid landing area and 2. Water produced at the cathode side of diffusion layer. In this study the effect of variable current density in anode and cathode electrode on cell performance is... 

Thermal management of electronic devices is presently a serious concern. This article investigates the thermal performance of a five-turn open-loop pulsating heat pipe in both start-up and steady thermal conditions. The effects of working fluid, namely water and ferrofluid, heat input, charging ratio, ferrofluid concentration, orientation, as well as application of magnetic field, are explored. Experimental results show that using ferrofluid enhances the thermal performance in comparison with the case of distilled water under certain conditions. In addition, applying a magnetic field on the open-loop pulsating heat pipe charged with ferrofluid improves its thermal performance. Charging... 

Using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the effects of nanotube size, mean flow velocity, ion concentration and temperature of an electrolyte water solution on shearing stress and nominal viscosity. It is shown that the distributed electric field arising from the electrolyte water solution has significant influences on fluid properties. Also, the temperature of the solution, which causes thermal movement, affects nanofluidic transport in nanoenvironments. The nominal viscosity and shearing stress increases as the tube diameter increases. When the temperature of solution increases or ion concentration decreases, the shearing stress and nominal viscosity increase.... 

Continuing an ongoing study, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to investigate the effects of methanol concentration on Nafion morphology, such as the size of solvent cluster, solvent location, and polymer structure via the sandwich model. Our survey shows that high methanol concentrations resulted in increment of solvent cluster size in Nafion membrane. The sulfonic acid clusters also befall much in order as subsequent layers of such ionic clusters are formed. The number of neighbouring hydronium ions around a sulfur atom is independent of methanol concentration, but the first shell of hydronium and water around sulfonic acid clusters is broader. Although methanol would... 

In this paper, we consider termination of probabilistic programs with real-valued variables. The questions concerned are: (a) qualitative ones that ask (i) whether the program terminates with probability 1 (almost-sure termination) and (ii) whether the expected termination time is finite (finite termination); (b) quantitative ones that ask (i) to approximate the expected termination time (expectation problem) and (ii) to compute a bound B such that the probability to terminate after B steps decreases exponentially (concentration problem). To solve these questions, we utilize the notion of ranking supermartingales which is a powerful approach for proving termination of probabilistic programs.... 

The major objectives of this study are to analytically and experimentally determine the residual resistance factor in the fractured medium based on the polymer solution properties and operational conditions. The parameters considered in this study are the polymer concentration, power law constitutive equation parameter, and salt concentration, sulfonation content of polymer, temperature, and molecular weight of the water soluble polymers which are used in polymer flooding for enhanced oil recovery. The results indicated that residual resistance factor in fractured medium is dependent on the coil overlap parameter and power law equation parameter of polymer. The coil overlap parameter is a... 

Forecasting is a challenging problem in highly nonlinear dynamic systems. The main goal in development of forecasting models in complex systems is to produce a model that can accurately behave similar to the main system. In problems such as air pollution forecasting, the presence of uncertainties and nonlinearities affects the model's precision. In this paper, ozone concentration, which is well-known as an index for air pollution is forecasted using neuro-fuzzy models. Causal variables are integrated in the models in order to enhance the model's performance. The results are compared to a fuzzy logic approach to demonstrate reliability and accuracy of the proposed model using real observed... 

Due to inadequacy of the classical continuum theories at the nano-scale when dealing with defects, stress concentrators, and relevant deformation phenomena in solids, a refined approach that can capture the discrete atomic features of solids is essential. The inability to detect the size effect, giving unrealistically high values for some components of the stress field right on the edge of the stress concentrators, and infirmity to address the complex interaction between small inhomogeneities, cracks and as such when they are only a few nanometers apart, are among some of the drawbacks of the classical approach. An atomistic study which employs atomic finite element method in conjunction... 

Platinum extraction from the spent reforming catalysts in iodine-iodide solutions at temperatures from 25 to 95 °C was investigated. The reforming catalyst mostly consists of a porous gamma alumina support with metallic platinum finely dispersed on the walls of the nano-pores of the catalyst support. The effect of a variety of factors, including catalyst particle size, impeller agitation speed, reactant concentrations, liquid to solid mass ratio, temperature and the solution pH on the Pt extraction rate and recovery were investigated. It was found that the catalyst particle sizes less than 106 μm and impeller agitation speed higher than 700 rpm eliminated the effects of catalyst size and... 

Clamp mode snubbers are very well suited for the series structure of the insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) in pulsed power applications. They properly meet the necessities expected from them such as the fast operating of the series IGBTs since they have no effect on the gate side. In addition, they can provide safe voltage condition for the IGBTs in short circuit faults, which are very probable in pulsed applications. The clamp mode snubber can perform its voltage balancing task whenever the power capacity of the snubber can support the injected powers due to the voltage unbalancing factors. This paper initially introduces the main factors injecting power to the snubbers. Then, it... 

A multiscale FD-KMC model has been developed to simulate the cyclic voltammetry test of a copper electrode in simple copper sulfate bath. In this coupled model, the FD code provides the cupric ion concentration on OHP for KMC code, while the KMC code provides the electrochemical properties of the copper electrode (surface activity and rate constants of redox reactions) as an input data for FD code. The changes in the electrode properties due to the atomistic phenomena (deposition dissolution and surface diffusion) have been studied for the present potentiodynamic system. The results showed that the CV process consists of some distinct stages, so that the electrode exhibits a specific... 

Background: The bio-oxidation of ferrous iron is a potential industrial process in the regeneration of ferric iron and the removal of H2S in combustible gases. Bio-oxidation of ferrous iron may be an alternative method of producing ferric sulfate, which is a reagent used for removal of H2S from biogas, tail gas and in the pulp and paper industry. For practical use of this process, this study evaluated the optimal pH and initial ferric concentration. pH control looks like a key factor as it acts both on growth rate and on solubility ofmaterials in the system. Results: Process variables such as pH and amount of initial ferrous ions on oxidation by A. ferrooxidans and the effects of process... 

The present work investigates the thermal performance of a five turn Open Loop Pulsating Heat Pipe (OLPHP). The effects of working fluid namely water and ferrofluid, heat input, ferrofluid concentration, charging ratio, and orientation will be considered. Experimental results show that using ferrofluids can enhance the thermal performance in comparison with the case of distilled water. In addition, applying a magnetic field on the OLPHP charged with ferrofluid reduces its thermal resistance. Variation of the ferrofluid concentration results in different thermal performance of the OLPHP. Best charging ratio for the distilled water and ferrofluid without magnetic field is 60 % in most of the... 

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

In this study, central composite design (CCD) at five levels (-1.63, -1, 0, +1, +1.63) combined with response surface methodology (RSM) have been applied to optimise methanol carbonylation using a ruthenium-promoted iridium catalyst in a homogenous phase. The effect of seven process variables, including temperature, pressure, iridium, ruthenium, methyl iodide, methyl acetate and water concentrations, as well as their binary interactions, were modelled. The determined R 2 values greater than 0.9 for the rate and methane formation data confirmed that the quadratic equation properly fitted the obtained experimental data. The optimum conditions for maximum rate and minimum methane formation were... 

In this work, simultaneous inferential control of particle size distribution (PSD) and molecular weight distribution (MWD) in a semi-batch emulsion polymerization reactor of styrene has been addressed. Using a comprehensive dynamic model for PSD and MWD predictions and performing a sensitivity analysis, it has been revealed that free surfactant and chain transfer agent (CTA) concentrations in the reactor are the most suitable candidates for inferential control of PSD and MWD, respectively. To control concentrations of these species in the reactor, their inlet feed flow rates are used as manipulated variables. It is assumed that the concentration of CTA is measured infrequently and therefore... 

The formation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) during arc discharge in aqueous solutions of Fe2(SO4)3 and FeCl3 was studied. The concentration of iron ions changed from zero (deionized water) to 0.25 M and the cathodic products were examined by transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectrometry, and thermal gravimetric analysis. The experimental results showed that the crystallinity of MWCNTs is improved by increasing the concentration of iron ions. Nevertheless, the process yield and overall quality of the produced CNTs were significantly affected by iron concentration in the aqueous solution. This observation suggested that there should be an optimum iron concentration at which...