The aim of this work is to quantify the concentration of chromic acid (CA) in a saturated solution of chromium trioxide and sodium dichromate using Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). A set of titration curves was obtained by automated acid-base titration according to a factorial experimental design that was developed for this purpose. These titration curves were divided into three subsets, a learning, training and test set for use by ANNs. Once trained, ANNs have the ability to recognize, generalize and relate the input to a particular output. Concentration of chromic acid (CA), total chromium(VI) and/or dichromate was used as the outputs and titration curves as the inputs to ANNs. Our aim here was to establish whether ANNs would be able to predict the concentration of chromic acid with an absolute error below 1%. For real world problem, the neural networks are only given the inputs and are expected to produce reasonable outputs corresponding to that inputs without any prior ‘knowledge’ about theory involved – here, no interpretation of titration curves was performed by ANNs. The test set of data that was not used for learning process, was used to validate the performance of the neural networks, to verify whether the ANNs learned the input-output patterns properly and how well trained ANNs were able to predict the concentrations of chromic acid, dichromate and total chromium. A number of ANNs models have been considered by varying the number of neurons in the hidden layer and parameters related to the learning process. It has been shown that ANNs can predict the concentration of chromic acid with required accuracy. A number of factors that affect the performance of the neural networks, such as the number of points in a titration curve, number of test points and their distribution within the training set, has been investigated. This work demonstrates that ANNs can be used for online monitoring of an electrolytic industrial process to manufacture chromic acid. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Chemistry / unrestricted

Submitted by Maria Medeiros (maria.dilva1@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-07-06T13:50:36Z No. of bitstreams: 1 CARLOS THIAGO CÂNDIDO CUNHA - TESE (PPGCEMat) 2015.pdf: 3145702 bytes, checksum: bad9f1c620f682b0e77a37c797d9bc37 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-06T13:50:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CARLOS THIAGO CÂNDIDO CUNHA - TESE (PPGCEMat) 2015.pdf: 3145702 bytes, checksum: bad9f1c620f682b0e77a37c797d9bc37 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-06-22 / Capes / O hidróxido de sódio (NaOH) e o cloro estão entres os produtos químicos mais importantes na indústria e são produzidos simultaneamente pela eletrólise da salmoura. As células eletrolíticas são compostas de uma câmara catódica e uma anódica, separadas por um diafragma que permite a passagem dos íons por migração iônica. A maioria dos diafragmas se utilizam de amianto e as leis ambientais vigentes direcionam para extinção ou substituição deste material. Assim, foi realizado um estudo sobre o desenvolvimento de diafragmas alternativos à base de materiais poliméricos e aditivos que pudessem substituir o amianto e possibilitassem sua aplicação na indústria de cloro-soda. Para tanto, empregou-se fibras poliméricas, a exemplo do Polietileno de Ultra Alto Peso Molecular (PEUAPM), que resiste as condições severas do processo eletrolítico. Também se fez necessário o emprego da dopagem com carga inorgânica (argilas) para conferir menor permeabilidade aos diafragmas. Diante disso, foram desenvolvidos sistemas para deposição e caracterização dos diafragmas que possibilitam a reprodutividade e análises adequadas comparadas ao âmbito industrial. Partindo de um planejamento experimental de misturas com 5 diferentes fibras pode-se avaliar qual composição de diafragma favoreceu melhores resultados nos parâmetros da eletrólise. Os resultados se mostraram promissores, tendo em vista que dentre as 15 formulações testadas conseguiu-se chegar a uma composição cujas propriedades eletroquímicas atendem todas as especificações podendo inclusive ser aplicado em escala industrial. / Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and chlorine are among the most important chemicals in industry and are produced simultaneously by the electrolysis of brine. Electrolyte cells are consisted by a cathodic and anodic chamber, separated by a diaphragm that allows the passage of ions by ion migration. Most diaphragms using asbestos and environmental laws in use direct to extinction or replacement of this material. In this way, it was done a study on the development of alternative diaphragm based on polymeric materials and additives that could replace the asbestos and could allow its application in chlorine-soda industry. So, polymeric fibres was used, such as, Ultra High Molecular Weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), resisting the harsh conditions of the electrolytic process. Also it was studied the use of doping with inorganic fillers (clays) to provide less permeability to the diaphragms. For this, systems were developed for deposition and characterization of diaphragms that make it possible the reproducibility and suitable analysis compared to the industrial scope. Starting from experimental planning of mixtures with 5 different fibers, it was evaluated which composition of diaphragm given best results in the electrolysis parameters. The results were promising, considering that among the 15 formulations, it was reached a composition whose electrochemical properties meet all specifications and can even be applied on an industrial scale.