<p>This dissertation describes an investigation into the free radical batch polymerization of methyl methacrylate to high conversion. The overall objective was to develop a kinetic model to accurately predict conversion and molecular weight distribution for the polymerization. The dissertation is divided into three self-contained parts.</p> <p>Part I describes the development and testing of the kinetic model. New gel permeation chromatograph (GPC) data interpretation methods (developed in Part I I), the free volume concept of diffusion theory, and newly obtained isothermal kinetic data, are combined with computer implemented optimization techniques, to show that classical kinetics apply to high conversions.</p> <p>Part II details the development of three new GPC interpretation techniques. The two most recent are evaluated in Part I.</p> <p>The third has been used by other workers. Other interpretation methods are also evaluated and discussed. Part I I I describes the development of a high shear concentric cylinder viscometer and its use with Newtonian standards. This is a prelude to future studies in polymer rheology and polymerization under shear conditions.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:55:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Francisco ECS.pdf: 506907 bytes, checksum: 18aec97ada610a2463e9ec18636426e1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-01-25 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico / This work shows a study about the Generalized Predictive Controllers with Restrictions and their implementation in physical plants. Three types of restrictions will be discussed: restrictions in the variation rate of the signal control, restrictions in the amplitude of the signal control and restrictions in the amplitude of the Out signal (plant response). At the predictive control, the control law is obtained by the minimization of an objective function. To consider the restrictions, this minimization of the objective function is done by the use of a method to solve optimizing problems with restrictions. The chosen method was the Rosen Algorithm (based on the Gradient-projection). The physical plants in this study are two didactical systems of water level control. The first order one (a simple tank) and another of second order, which is formed by two tanks connected in cascade. The codes are implemented in C++ language and the communication with the system to be done through using a data acquisition panel offered by the system producer / Este trabalho apresenta um estudo sobre Controladores Preditivos Generalizados com Restri??es e sua implementa??o em plantas f?sicas. Ser?o abordados tr?s tipos de restri??es: restri??es na taxa de varia??o do sinal de controle, restri??es na amplitude do sinal de controle e restri??es na amplitude do sinal de sa?da (resposta da planta). No controle preditivo, a lei de controle ? obtida pela minimiza??o de uma fun??o objetivo. Para poder levar em conta as restri??es, esta minimiza??o da fun??o objetivo ? feita pela utiliza??o de um m?todo para solu??o de problemas de otimiza??o com restri??es. O m?todo escolhido foi o algoritmo de Rosen (baseado na proje??o do gradiente). As plantas f?sicas em estudo s?o dois sistemas did?ticos de controle de n?vel (d?gua), um de primeira ordem (um tanque simples) e outro de segunda ordem, sendo formado por dois tanques acoplados em cascata. Os c?digos s?o implementados em linguagem C++ e a comunica??o com o sistema ? feita por meio de uma placa de aquisi??o de dados fornecida pelo fabricando dos sistemas

La présence d'hétéroatomes et métaux dans des fractions lourdes de pétrole brut peuvent entraîner la désactivation des catalyseurs d’hydrotraitement et d’hydrocraquage. Les composés contenant ces éléments sont connus pour être inclus dans des agrégats macromoléculaires d’asphaltènes, qui sont considérées comme les composants les plus problématiques des produits pétroliers. Ces travaux ont pour objectif d’apporter une meilleure compréhension de l’environnement chimique de ces espèces et des phénomènes d’agrégation pour optimiser les processus de raffinage. Des techniques de séparation comme la chromatographie de perméation de gel ou Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC), Advanced Polymer chromatographie (APC) et la chromatographie sur couche mince d’haute performance ou High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) ont été combinées avec des techniques d’analyse élémentaire comme la spectrométrie de masse à plasma à couplage inductif ou Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) et la spectrométrie de masse moléculaire d’haute résolution pour la caractérisation des fractions pétrolières lourdes. Les profils de distribution en taille d’espèces qui contiennent du vanadium, du nickel et du soufre, les hétéroatomes et métaux les plus abondants dans les produits pétroliers, ont été déterminés par GPC couplé à une détection élémentaire par ICP MS. Les paramètres ayant le plus d’impact sur la distribution en taille et l’évolution des agrégats dans les solutions de différentes coupes pétrolières ont été optimisés. Cela nous a permis de faire différentes comparaisons, entre de nombreuses charges et effluents de procédés, ainsi que d’autres séries d’échantillons ou de mélanges provenant d’unités-pilotes d’hydrotraitement. Les résultats obtenus ont pu être mis en regard de caractéristiques macroscopiques comme la viscosité. Le couplage du nouveau système APC avec l’ICP MS a été mis au point avec succès. Cette technique a permis de réaliser des cartographies d’échantillons pétroliers plus rapides qu’en GPC tout en consommant moins de solvant. Cependant, les différences des chromatogrammes APC obtenus par rapport aux profils GPC suggèrent des interactions indésirables avec la phase stationnaire, qui ont été l’objet d’une évaluation approfondie.Enfin, un dernier type de séparation a été évaluée. L’HPTLC, qui utilise des plaques à usage unique, peut être appliquée à la séparation de produits lourds par polarité, et ce sans étapes de déasphaltage préalable, contrairement aux colonnes de chromatographie liquide qui peuvent être détériorées à cause de l'adsorption irréversible et de la précipitation des asphaltènes. Différents types de plaques et éluants ont été testés afin de développer une méthode simple pour la séparation des fractions SAR (Saturés, Aromatiques et Résines) des échantillons de distillat sous vide ou Vacuum Gas Oil (VGO). Ce travail avait pour but des migrations en une seule étape et analyse UV qui pourrait être mis en œuvre pour l’analyse de routine dans les laboratoires de contrôle avec une adsorption irréversible réduite. Des résultats très prometteurs ont été obtenus avec l’utilisation de plaques de cellulose pour la séparation des familles de polarité différentes au sein des agrégats d’asphaltènes. Des tests sur l'analyse directe des plaques par Désorption-Ionisation par Électronébulisation (DESI) MS, l'analyse directe en temps réel ou Direct Analysis in Real Time (DART) MS et Ablation Laser (LA) ICP MS ont été effectués. / The presence of heteroatoms and metals in heavy fractions of crude oil can cause the deactivation of hydrotreatment and hydrocracking catalysts. Compounds containing these elements are known to be included in macromolecular asphaltene aggregates, which are considered the most problematic components of heavy oil. This thesis aimed for a better understanding of the chemical environment of these species and on the aggregation phenomenon to optimize refining processes. Separation techniques such as Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC), Advanced Polymer Chromatography (APC) and High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) were combined with elementary analysis techniques such as Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP MS) or high-resolution molecular mass spectrometry for the characterization of heavy fractions of crude oil. Here, the size profiles of species that contain vanadium, nickel and sulfur, the most abundant heteroatoms and metals present in petroleum products, were determined by GPC online with elemental detection by ICP MS. The parameters having the most significant impact on size distribution and the evolution over time of aggregates from solutions of different petroleum cuts were optimized. This allowed the comparison between various feeds and effluents and other series of samples and mixtures from pilot units of refining processes by GPC ICP MS. Results obtained could be related to macroscopic characteristics such as viscosity. Hyphenation of the new APC System to ICP MS has been successfully completed. It allowed the mapping of petroleum samples faster than GPC, therefore with less solvent consumption. However, the differences of the APC chromatograms obtained with respect to the GPC profiles suggested significant unwanted interactions of the highly polar compounds of the petroleum samples with the stationary phase, which have been thoroughly studied. Finally, another type of separation was evaluated. HPTLC, of single-use plates, can be applied to the analysis of heavy petroleum products by polarity without prior deasphalting steps while chromatography columns can be deteriorated because of the irreversible adsorption and asphaltene precipitation. To this end, various types of plates and eluents were tested to develop straightforward SAR (Saturates, Aromatics and Resins) separations of Vacuum Gas Oil (VGO) samples. This method, based on single-step migrations with reduced irreversible adsorption and UV monitoring, could be implemented for routine analysis in control laboratories. Very promising results were obtained by the use of cellulose plates for the separation of different families within asphaltene aggregates. Tests on Desorption ElectroSpray Ionization (DESI) MS, Direct Analysis in Real Time (DART) MS and Laser Ablation (LA) ICP MS analyses of the plates have been performed.

The diploma thesis presents the preparation of ,-bisterpyridinylfluorenes (unimers) containing fluorene unit in the central block either directly attached to terpyridine (tpy) end groups or via 1,4-phenylene or thiophene-2,5-diyl linker. Synthesized unimers were subsequently used for the preparation of metallo-supramolecular polymers with Zn2+ and Fe2+ ions. The prepared unimers were characterized by NMR, IR and HR-MS, their optical properties were investigated using absorption and emission spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Molecular weight distribution for the prepared Fe-polymers was determined by GPC. The number-average degree of polymerization equal to 7 for an equimolar ratio between unimer and Fe2+ in a diluted solution was determined for polymers composed of unimer with thiophene-2,5- diyl linker. By using the viscometric measurements the ongoing constitutional dynamics in solutions of metallo-supramolecular polymers was proven. The overstoichiometric amount of metal ions in solution resulted in equilibrium shortening of the polymer chains together with end-capping of terminal tpy ligands by Mt2+ ions. Unimer with thiophene-2,5-diyl linker exhibited unique properties involving significantly red-shifted absorption and emission maxima, as well as the different behavior during assembling...

The objective of this work is to determine the effect of four process variables on the properties of blends composed of bisphenol-A polycarbonate (PC) and poly (butylene terephthalate) (PBT) polymers which are compounded using a large scale commercial extruder. The four variables studied are blend composition, specific energy consumption, residence time and shear rate. The last three factors were varied using the extruder screw speed and feed rate. The PC/PBT blends, commercially known as XENOY, were compounded using a WP ZSK 58 mm co-rotating twin screw extruder at the facility of SABIC Innovative Plastics in Cobourg Ontario. The extruder was instrumented to measure online the die pressure, specific energy consumption and blend temperature. The blends were characterized using differential scanning calorimetry, (DSC), scanning electron microscopy, (SEM), gel permeation chromatography, (GPC), and melt volume flow rate, (MVR). After processing, the blend properties determined were melting temperature, glass transition temperature, crystallinity, amorphous phase weight fraction, amorphous phase composition, phase morphology, PBT-rich-phase size, blend molecular weight distribution, and MVR. Using principles available in the literature, a linear regression model was developed to relate the process variables with the online measured properties and output blend properties. Fitting this model allowed the relative importance of each process variable to be estimated for each property. An attempt was also made to identify the general type of PC/PBT blend studied and how it compares with published PC/PBT blend data. It was found that the blends studied were well stabilized since there was no evidence of significant co-polymer formation during processing. Small decreases in molecular weight were attributed to mechanical degradation. Blending increased the crystallization and melting temperatures, as well as blend crystallinity. No practically significant difference in melting temperatures was observed between the different processing conditions. Analysis of glass transitions indicated that the blend components were partially miscible. The amorphous phase compositions were unaffected by blend composition or processing; however, the weight fraction PC-rich-phase present in the blend was strongly influenced by the screw speed. The phase structure of as-extruded blends could not be resolved using the SEM. Therefore, the blends were annealed to coarsen the phases. After annealing, a continuous PC-rich-phase and a discrete PBT-rich-phase were observed. The PBT phase size increased with increasing PBT content. No other statistically significant effects on phase size were observed but this is not conclusive due to the large scatter in the measurements. MVR was primarily influenced by blend composition and specific energy consumption, with the effects of composition being dominant. Further study using higher imaging resolution is required if the phase structures of as received blend pellets are to be characterized. Contrary to current practice, it is recommended that the Utracki-Jukes equation be used rather than the Fox equation for determining amorphous phase composition from glass transition data in PC/PBT blends.

The objective of this work is to determine the effect of four process variables on the properties of blends composed of bisphenol-A polycarbonate (PC) and poly (butylene terephthalate) (PBT) polymers which are compounded using a large scale commercial extruder. The four variables studied are blend composition, specific energy consumption, residence time and shear rate. The last three factors were varied using the extruder screw speed and feed rate. The PC/PBT blends, commercially known as XENOY, were compounded using a WP ZSK 58 mm co-rotating twin screw extruder at the facility of SABIC Innovative Plastics in Cobourg Ontario. The extruder was instrumented to measure online the die pressure, specific energy consumption and blend temperature. The blends were characterized using differential scanning calorimetry, (DSC), scanning electron microscopy, (SEM), gel permeation chromatography, (GPC), and melt volume flow rate, (MVR). After processing, the blend properties determined were melting temperature, glass transition temperature, crystallinity, amorphous phase weight fraction, amorphous phase composition, phase morphology, PBT-rich-phase size, blend molecular weight distribution, and MVR. Using principles available in the literature, a linear regression model was developed to relate the process variables with the online measured properties and output blend properties. Fitting this model allowed the relative importance of each process variable to be estimated for each property. An attempt was also made to identify the general type of PC/PBT blend studied and how it compares with published PC/PBT blend data. It was found that the blends studied were well stabilized since there was no evidence of significant co-polymer formation during processing. Small decreases in molecular weight were attributed to mechanical degradation. Blending increased the crystallization and melting temperatures, as well as blend crystallinity. No practically significant difference in melting temperatures was observed between the different processing conditions. Analysis of glass transitions indicated that the blend components were partially miscible. The amorphous phase compositions were unaffected by blend composition or processing; however, the weight fraction PC-rich-phase present in the blend was strongly influenced by the screw speed. The phase structure of as-extruded blends could not be resolved using the SEM. Therefore, the blends were annealed to coarsen the phases. After annealing, a continuous PC-rich-phase and a discrete PBT-rich-phase were observed. The PBT phase size increased with increasing PBT content. No other statistically significant effects on phase size were observed but this is not conclusive due to the large scatter in the measurements. MVR was primarily influenced by blend composition and specific energy consumption, with the effects of composition being dominant. Further study using higher imaging resolution is required if the phase structures of as received blend pellets are to be characterized. Contrary to current practice, it is recommended that the Utracki-Jukes equation be used rather than the Fox equation for determining amorphous phase composition from glass transition data in PC/PBT blends.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-08T17:19:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Capa.pdf: 33668 bytes, checksum: d1e9564709d38250640540f84c86c175 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-07-29 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The recycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) can be carried through by different techniques, one of them is the chemical recycling, where new aliphatic-aromatic copolymers are synthesized from melt reaction of the PET post-consumer with aliphatic homopolymers. The aliphatic polyesters, such as the poly(ethylene adipate) (PEA) are biodegradable. The synthesis of aliphatic-aromatic copolymers reveals a good alternative. Varying the composition of each polymer; it can be gotten materials with superior properties to either of the pure components and possibly biodegradable in soil can be obtained. In this work we characterized these aliphatic aromatic copolyesters in different compositions before and after soil biodegradation tests by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetric (DSC), thermal analysis (TGA), gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and proton nuclear magnetic ressonance spectroscopy 1H NMR. In addition a new methodology for GPC analyses to aliphatic-aromatic copolyesters at room temperature is being proposal. The results of FTIR characterization did not show any alteration in the samples composition before and after 7 months of soil biodegradation. The samples were analyzed by DSC and TGA to evaluate the alterations in the thermal behavior. DSC curves of samples without degradation showed, through the values of Tg, that samples with higher percentage of PEA are more flexible, while those with higher PET content are more rigid. The TGA results showed that the thermal stability of the copolymers increase with the PET content. No changes were observed to material after degradation tests. GPC analysis showed a significative change in Mn and Mw results for PET-co-PEA 50-50, indicating that the copolymer suffered greater degradation in this composition. The new methodology proposal for GPC analyses demonstrated excellent performance in the attainment of the molar mass results for aliphatic-aromatic copolymers The 1H-NMR results showed that the adipate and terephthalate composition from copolymers are different from the copolymers before degradation. / A reciclagem do poli(tereftalato de etileno) (PET) pode ser realizada por diferentes técnicas, uma delas é a reciclagem química, em que podem ser sintetizados novos copolímeros alifático-aromáticos através da reação em massa do PET pós-consumo com homopolímeros alifáticos. A síntese de copolímeros alifático-aromáticos mostra-se como uma boa alternativa, pois variando os teores de cada componente, pode-se obter materiais com propriedades mecânicas e térmicas superiores aos polímeros puros, passíveis de sofrerem biodegradação em solo. Neste trabalho foi realizada a caracterização do copolímero PET-co-PEA, nas diferentes composições obtidas antes e após testes de biodegradação em solo compostado, através das análises de espectroscopia no infravermelho (FTIR), calorimetria exploratória diferencial (DSC), análise termogravimétrica (TGA), cromatografia de permeação em gel (GPC) e ressonância magnética nuclear de prótons (1H NMR). Também é proposta uma metodologia alternativa para análises de GPC a temperatura ambiente para poliésteres alifático-aromáticos. Os resultados de caracterização por FTIR não mostraram alterações na composição das amostras antes e depois de 7 meses de biodegradação em solo. As amostras foram analisadas por DSC e TGA para avaliar as alterações no comportamento térmico. As curvas de DSC das amostras sem degradação mostraram, através dos valores de Tg, que as amostras com maior porcentagem de PEA são mais flexíveis, enquanto àquelas com maior conteúdo de PET são mais rígidas. As análises de TGA mostraram que a estabilidade térmica dos copolímeros aumenta com o teor de PET. Não se observa alterações antes e após teste de biodegradação nas amostras que apresentam somente um estágio de degradação.Os resultados das análises GPC mostraram uma diferença significativa nos valores de Mn e Mw para a composição de PET-co-PEA 50-50, indicando que foi nesta proporção que o copolímero sofreu maior degradação. A nova metodologia proposta para análises GPC demonstrou ótimo desempenho na obtenção dos resultados de massas molares para os copolímeros alifático-aromáticos. Os resultados de 1H-NMR obtidos mostraram que a composição em adipato e em tereftalato dos copolímeros é diferente daquela dos copolímeros antes da degradação.

El Control Predictivo Basado en Modelos (CPBM) optimiza un índice que incorpora un parámetro de penalización para las acciones de control lambda, con el fin de que no sean demasiado bruscas, a la vez que se mejora la robustez del sistema. El principal inconveniente radica en que el sintonizado de lambda se suele regir por criterios empíricos, y poco orientados a la mejora de la robustez. De entre las diferentes técnicas de mejora de la robustez en CPBM se destaca la optimización Min-Max de las especificaciones, donde se resuelve el problema de optimización para el peor modelo en una región acotada. Desde otro punto de vista, el principio de mínimos cuadrados está presente en numerosas teorías de identificación y control. De hecho el CPBM se puede plantear como un problema de mínimos cuadrados. Su principal inconveniente radica en que es sensible a los errores en los datos (mal condicionamiento), lo cual se puede mejorar regularizando el problema mediante el parámetro de regularización lambda ajustado empíricamente (análogo al parámetro lambda de penalización del esfuerzo de control en CPBM). La técnica BDU (Bounded Data Uncertainties) es una técnica de regularización de problemas de mínimos cuadrados, originalmente desarrollada para problemas de estimación, y poco usada en control, salvo el controlador lineal cuadrático (LQR) con horizonte de predicción finito considerando incertidumbre paramétrica. Dicha técnica diseña el parámetro de regularización lambda teniendo en cuenta la cota de la incertidumbre presente en el sistema y plantea el problema como una optimización Min-Max. Por lo tanto se puede establecer la analogía con el problema Min-Max de CPBM robusto, así el objetivo principal de la tesis consiste en usar la técnica BDU para sintonizar lambda de modo guiado y con el fin de mejorar la robustez del sistema. Otro objetivo adicional es asegurar la estabilidad. Por tanto, se pretende plantear un LQR robusto y estable, denominado LQR-BDU, robusto por usar / Ramos Fernández, C. (2007). Control predictivo basado en modelos (CPBM) robusto con BDU [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/1844 / Palancia

The major part of my dissertation consists of thin films deposited using atomic layer deposition on flat and powder substrates. It details the various optimization experiments for process parameters like dose time, purge time, temperature, and pressure on silicon shards and powder substrates. Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) was used to characterize these films over a wide wavelength range (191-1688 nm). An optical model with a BEMA (Bruggeman effective medium approximation) layer was used to fit the ellipsometric data to investigate the optical properties of the alumina surface. The optimized process parameters on the flat surfaces were used for coating powder substrates. I propose a set of experiments to optimize the conditions for coating of powders and high aspect ratio structures by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The coated powders were analyzed by surface analytical techniques like X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry, transmission electron microscopy, energy X-ray dispersive spectroscopy (EDAX), and BET. The first chapter introduces the technique of atomic layer deposition, and details its advantages and limitations over conventional thin film deposition techniques like chemical vapor deposition and physical vapor deposition. The second chapter details the initial deposition experiments performed on flat surfaces and characterization of thin films using surface analytical tools. I conducted multi-sample analysis on eleven different thin films for calculation of optical constants of alumina. The third chapter introduces thin film deposition experiments performed on powder substrates, several challenges associated with achieving conformal thin films and characterization. The fourth chapter details the experiments to achieve unilateral ALD achieved on one side of the substrates. The fifth chapter details various unconventional materials including liquid water, Coca-Cola, a coffee bean, nitrogen gas, human tooth, and printed office paper, which were analyzed by near ambient pressure XPS (NAP-XPS). This dissertation contains appendices of other tutorial articles I wrote on obtaining optical constants liquid samples using spectroscopic ellipsometry, and good experimental techniques for maintenance of vacuum equipment.

The major part of my dissertation consists of thin films deposited using atomic layer deposition on flat and powder substrates. It details the various optimization experiments for process parameters like dose time, purge time, temperature, and pressure on silicon shards and powder substrates. Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) was used to characterize these films over a wide wavelength range (191-1688 nm). An optical model with a BEMA (Bruggeman effective medium approximation) layer was used to fit the ellipsometric data to investigate the optical properties of the alumina surface. The optimized process parameters on the flat surfaces were used for coating powder substrates. I propose a set of experiments to optimize the conditions for coating of powders and high aspect ratio structures by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The coated powders were analyzed by surface analytical techniques like X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry, transmission electron microscopy, energy X-ray dispersive spectroscopy (EDAX), and BET. The first chapter introduces the technique of atomic layer deposition, and details its advantages and limitations over conventional thin film deposition techniques like chemical vapor deposition and physical vapor deposition. The second chapter details the initial deposition experiments performed on flat surfaces and characterization of thin films using surface analytical tools. I conducted multi-sample analysis on eleven different thin films for calculation of optical constants of alumina. The third chapter introduces thin film deposition experiments performed on powder substrates, several challenges associated with achieving conformal thin films and characterization. The fourth chapter details the experiments to achieve unilateral ALD achieved on one side of the substrates. The fifth chapter details various unconventional materials including liquid water, Coca-Cola, a coffee bean, nitrogen gas, human tooth, and printed office paper, which were analyzed by near ambient pressure XPS (NAP-XPS). This dissertation contains appendices of other tutorial articles I wrote on obtaining optical constants liquid samples using spectroscopic ellipsometry, and good experimental techniques for maintenance of vacuum equipment.