Biofuels are of particular interest as they have the potential to reduce our dependence on petroleum-derived fuels for transportation. 1-Hexanol is a promising renewable long chain alcohol that can be used in conventional fuel blends or as a cosolvent for biodiesel mixtures. However, the fundamental combustion properties of 1-hexanol have not been fully characterized in the literature. Thus, new experimental results, consisting of temperature and concentration profiles of stable species were obtained for the oxidation of 1-hexanol generated in an opposed-flow diffusion flame at 0.101 MPa. The kinetic model consists of 361 chemical species and 2687 chemical reactions (most of them reversible). This experimental data were compared to the predicted values of a detailed chemical kinetic model proposed in literature to study the combustion of 1-hexanol. Reaction pathway and sensitivity analyses were performed to interpret the results. In addition, several improvements were investigated to optimize the proposed chemical kinetic mechanism.

This thesis presents the mathematical modeling of two new Escherichia coli platforms with economical potential for the production of biofuels and chemicals, namely glycerol fermentation and the reversal of the β-oxidation cycle. With the increase in traditional fuel prices, alternative renewable energy sources are needed, and the efficient production of biofuels becomes imperative. So far studies have focused on using glucose as feedstock for the production of ethanol and other fuels, but a recent increase in glycerol availability and its consequent decrease in price make it an attractive feedstock. Furthermore, the reversed β-oxidation cycle is a highly efficient mechanism for the synthesis of long-chain products. These two platforms have been reported experimentally in E. coli but their mathematical modeling is presented for the first time here. Because mathematical models have proved to be useful in the optimization of microbial metabolism, two complementary models were used in this study: kinetic and stoichiometric. Kinetic models can identify the control structure within a specific pathway, but they require highly detailed information, making them applicable to small sets of reactions. In contrast, stoichiometric models require only mass balance information, making them suitable for genome-scale modeling to study the effect of adding or removing reactions for the optimization of the synthesis of desired products. To study glycerol fermentation, a kinetic model was implemented, allowing prediction of the limiting enzymes of this process: glycerol dehydrogenase and di-hydroxyacetone kinase. This prediction was experimentally validated by increasing their enzymatic activities, resulting in a two-fold increase in the rate of ethanol production. Additionally, a stoichiometric genome-scale model (GEM) was modified to represent the fermentative metabolism of glycerol, identifying key metabolic pathways for glycerol fermentation (including a new glycerol dissimilation pathway). The GEM was used to identify genetic modifications that would increase the synthesis of desired products, such as succinate and butanol. Finally, glucose metabolism using the reversal β-oxidation cycle was modeled using a GEM to simulate the synthesis of a variety of medium and long chain products (including advanced biofuels). The model was used to design strategies that can lead to increase the productivity of target products.

This study applied sputtering technology to prepare composite film photocatalyst TiO2/ITO for investigating the decomposition efficiency of acetone using composite TiO2/ITO made by single- and multi-layer processes. The influences of operating parameters, including sputtering operating parameters and photocatalytic operating parameters, on the decomposition efficiency of acetone were further investigated. Operating parameters investigated for the sputtering process included oxygen to argon ratio (O2/Ar), temperature, substrate, sputtering dutation, and sputtering layers, while operating parameters investigated for the photocatalytic decomposition of acetone included light wavelength, H2O concentration, O2 concentration, initial acetone concentration, and the type of photocatalysts. In the experiments, acetone was degraded by the composite film photocatalyst TiO2/ITO in a self-designed batch photocatalytic reactor. Operating parameters included light wavelength (350~400 nm, 435~500 nm, 506~600 nm), the type of photocatalysts (single-layer film photocatalyst TiO2/ITO with the thickness of 355.3, 396.6, 437.5, 487.5, and 637.5 nm; double- and triple-layer TiO2/ITO), H2O concentration (0, 50, 100, 200, and 300 ppm). The incident light with different wavelength irradiated with three 15-W lamps of near UV light or LED lamps of blue and green lights placed on the top of the photocatalytic reactor. Acetone was injected into the reactor by using a gasket syringe and vaporized for further photocatalytic degradation on the film photocatalyst TiO2/ITO placed at the bottom of the reactor. Air samples were taken to analyze acetone concentration with a GC/FID. The composite film photocatalyst TiO2/ITO was mainly composed of anatase with a few rutile. The thicknesses of the single- and IV double-layer film photocatalyst with the thickness of 473.5 nm and 506.0 nm, respectively. Experimental results indicated that the highest decomposition efficiency of acetone was obtained by using TiO2/ITO, followed by TiO2/ground glass and TiO2/glass. The highest decomposition efficiency of acetone was observed by using TiO2/ITO at 50¢XC, 20% O2, and 100 ppm H2O. In the kinetic model, the acetone decomposition of single-layer TiO2/ITO was zero-order reaction. The acetone decomposition of double-layer TiO2/ITO in high initial acetone concentration was zero-order reaction, while that in low initial acetone concentration was first-order reaction. Thus, the decomposition of acetone exerted by TiO2 film photocatalyst can be enhanced efficiently by ITO. Under the incidence of blue light, the reaction rate of acetone decomposition were 2.353¡Ñ10-5 and 3.478¡Ñ10-5 £gmole/cm2-s for using single- and double-layer TiO2/ITO, respectively. Finally, a bimolecular Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) kinetic model was applied to simulate the influences of initial acetone concentration, temperature, and relative humidity on the promotion and inhibition for the photocatalytic degradation of acetone. This study revealed that the L-H kinetic model could successfully simulate the photocatalytic reaction rate of acetone.

Two separate mechanistic kinetic models have been developed for the hydrocracking of complex feedstocks. The first model is targeted for the hydrocracking of vacuum gas oil. The second one addresses specifically the hydrocracking of long-chain paraffins, but at a more fundamental level as compared to the first one. Both models are based on an exhaustive computer generated reaction network of elementary steps. In the first model, the dehydrogenation/hydrogenation steps occurring on the metal sites to generate/consume the reactive olefinic intermediates are assumed to be very fast so that the acid site steps are considered as the rate determining steps. The frequency factors for acid site steps are modeled using the single-event concept and the activation energies based on the nature of the reactant and product carbenium ions. This model utilizes a detailed composition of the vacuum gas oil characterized by 16 different molecular classes up to carbon number 40. These classes are divided into 45 subclasses by distinguishing the isomers of a class according to the number of methyl branches. The kinetic model is plugged into an adiabatic multi-bed trickle flow reactor model. The model contains 33 feedstock and temperature independent parameters which have been estimated from the experimental data. The model has been used to study the effect of the operating conditions on the yield and composition of various products. A sensitivity analysis of the distribution of isomers of a class among its different subclasses has been performed showing that the total conversion increases when the content of isomers with a higher degree of branching is increased in the feed. In the second model, the dehydrogenation/hydrogenation steps on the metal sites are also assumed to be rate determining. The rate coefficients for the dehydrogenation steps are modeled depending on the nature of the carbon atoms forming the double bond. The frequency factors for the acid site steps are modeled using the single-event concept. A more rigorous approach has been selected to model the activation energies of the acid site steps by implementing the Evans-Polanyi relationship. The 14 model parameters, which are independent of the temperature and feedstock composition, have been estimated from the experimental data. The model elucidates the effect of the relative metal/acid activity of the catalyst on the isomerization/cracking selectivities and on the carbon number distribution of the products.

This study investigated the production of powdered activated carbon derived from carbon black of pyrolyzed waste tires, and their adsorptive capacity on vapor-phase mercury chloride (HgCl2) using both adsorption column and thermogravimetric adsorption systems. The adsorption isotherms and kinetic models were further simulated in the study. In addition, an innovative compositive impregnation process was developed to increase the sulfur content of powdered activated carbon derived from waste tires. The activation of carbon black to form powdered activated carbon was performed in a tubular oven. The operating parameters including activation temperatures, activation time, and water feed rates were investigated in this study. Experimental results indicated that the yield of carbon-black derived powdered activated carbon (CBPAC) decreased with the increase of activation temperature, activation time, and water feed rate, while the BET surface area and pore volume decreased. In the comparison of activation time and water feed rate in the activation process, activation time had an important impact on the production of specific surface area than water feed rate. The optimal operating parameters included activation temperature of 900¢J, activation time of 180min, water feed rate of 0.5 mLH2O/gC-sec, and water injection behind activation process of 17.5 min. From the analysis of carbon surface, the carbon contents of powdered carbon black (PCB), CBPAC, commercial powdered activated carbon (CPAC) were 89.5%, 87.6%, and 88%, respectively. The C (1s) peak region of PCB consisted of 49.8% C-C, 38.9% C-O, 10.5% C=O or O-C-O. Similar analysis results showed that the total area of the C (1s) peak region of CBPAC consisted of 57.5% C-C, 26.8% C-O, 8.1% C=O or O-C-O, and 7.6% O-C=O. Similar to CPAC, the C (1s) peak region consisted of 42.6% C-C, 41.8% C-O, and 15.6% O-C=O. Furthermore, the sulfur contents of PCB and CBPAC were both 0.5%. The S (2p) peak region of PCB consisted of 58.9% ZnS (zinc sulfide) and 41.1% S=C=S. For CBPAC, the S (2p) peak region solely contained S=C=S. The comparison of two sulfur impregnation processes revealed that the innovative compositive impregnation process could simultaneously increased the sulfur content and the BET surface area of powdered activated carbon (PAC), however, the direct impregnation process increased the sulfur content while the BET surface area of PAC decreased linearly. Without the disadvantages of time and energy consumption associated with direct impregnation, the compositive impregnation is an efficient and energy-saving process for producing sulfurized PAC with a high BET surface area and high sulfur content. Experimental results obtained from the adsorption column tests indicated that the influence of the adsorption depth on the adsorptive capacity of CBPAC did not vary much, while the adsorptive capacity of CBPAC increased with HgCl2 concentration. Furthermore, the adsorptive capacity of CBPAC on vapor-phase HgCl2 was less than that of CPAC at the adsorption temperatures of 25~150¢J and high humidity of 12.3 wt %. The difference of adsorptive capacity for CBPAC and CPAC correlated closely with BET surface area and sulfur content. Results form the thermogravimetric adsorption analysis indicated that the adsorptive capacity of CBPAC and initial adsorption rate on vapor-phase HgCl2 increased with HgCl2 concentration and decreased with adsorption temperature. In the kinetic modeling, the deviation of experimental and simulated values simulated by the pseudo-first-order model was lower than those of pseudo-second-order models. Furthermore, the r (correlation coefficient) of pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models were 0.9745~0.9977 and 0.9217~0.9780, respectively. It suggested that the pseudo-first-order model could simulate the adsorption of HgCl2 onto CBPAC better than pseudo-second-order model.

Being at the center of most metabolic pathways and also one of the best known pathways, the glycolytic pathway has been of interest to modeling studies. This study is composed of our attempts to model ethanolic fermentation by yeast through kinetic equations of glycolytic steps and its branches. Model was based totally on experimentally measured kinetics of enzymes and transport steps, either obtained in this study or from the literature. Effect of ethanol on enzyme activities was tested in the range of ethanol 0 to 20% (v/v) in assay mixture. All enzymes were inhibited by ethanol to some degree and these inhibitions started at different ethanol concentrations, the least affected being the pyruvate kinase and the most inhibited ones being glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, phosphogluco kinase, and alcohol dehydrogenase (forward). Effect of temperature on the activities of enzymes was tested within 10-30 &deg / C with five degrees of increments. Activation energies of enzymes were calculated using the Arrhenius equation. Activation energies of upper part of the glycolysis and the glycerol branch (glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase) were relatively higher than that of lower part enzymes as well as the ethanol branch (alcohol dehydrogenase). Results obtained from these in vitro studies were incorporated into the model as mathematical relations. Model output thus obtained was compared with results of experiments conducted at several temperatures and initial ethanol concentrations. Model could estimate general trend in ethanolic fermentation that fermentation is inhibited by increasing concentrations of ethanol. Decrease in glycerol yields at lower temperatures was also estimated by the model. However, model did not fit exactly to experimental results, especially at low temperature and high ethanol concentrations. This could be attributed to stress responses of cells under these conditions, which are not considered in the model.

Rhodobacter capsulatus is a photosynthetic, purple non-sulfur (PNS) bacterium that produces biohydrogen via photofermentation. Nitrogenase enzyme is responsible for hydrogen production / during fixation of molecular nitrogen into ammonium, hydrogen is produced. Since this process is an energetically expensive process for the cell, hydrogen production is strictly controlled at different levels. When ammonium is present in the environment, hydrogen production completely ceases. The key proteins in the regulation of nitrogenase by ammonium are two PII proteins / GlnB and GlnK. &lsquo / Hyvolution&rsquo / , 6th framework EU project, aims to achieve maximum hydrogen production by combining two hydrogen production processes / dark fermentation and photofermentation. In the first stage of the overall process, biomass is used for hydrogen production in dark fermentation process. Then, the effluent of dark fermentation is further utilized by photosynthetic bacteria to produce more hydrogen. However, the effluent of dark fermentation contains high amount of ammonium, which inhibits photofermentative hydrogen production. In order to achieve maximum hydrogen production, ammonium regulation of nitrogenase enzyme in R.capsulatus has to be released. For this purpose, all PII signal transduction proteins of R.capsulatus (GlnB and GlnK) were targeted to be inactivated by site-directed mutagenesis. The internal parts of glnB and glnK genes were deleted individually without using antibiotic cassette insertion. The successful glnB mutant was obtained at the end of mutagenesis studies. In the case of glnK mutation, the suicide vector was constructed and delivered into the cells. However, glnK mutant could not be obtained. The effect of ammonium on glnB mutant R.capsulatus was investigated and compared with wild type. Biomass of the bacterial cultures, pH of the medium and amount of produced hydrogen were periodically determined. Moreover, the concentrations of acetic, lactic, formic and propionic acids in the medium were periodically measured. Both wild type and glnB mutant grew on acetate and effectively utilized acetate. Ammonium negatively affected hydrogen production of glnB mutant and wild type. The ammonium inhibition of hydrogen production did not release in glnB mutant due to the presence of active GlnK protein in the cell / hence, inactivation of one of PII proteins was not enough to disrupt ammonium regulation of the cell. Moreover, kinetic analysis of bacterial growth and hydrogen production were done. Growth data fitted to the Logistic Model and hydrogen production data fitted to the Modified Gompertz Model.

This work begins with a brief overview of heterogeneous, characterization techniques, and current hypotheses about gold mechanisms. This is followed by the initial characterization of custom two-phase-method gold nanoparticles provided by the Interfacial Phenomena and Polymeric Materials research group at USF, the anatase TiO2 support and reference Au/TiO2 catalyst provided by the World Gold Council. In order to verify the ability of the two-phase-method GNP catalyst provided to oxidize CO in excess hydrogen, it was necessary to develop an effluent testing protocol. The first experiments involved 24 hour runs to observe catalyst deactivation. Concerns over cycling effects observed in the absorbance integral calculations lead to the introduction of a reference gas. Corrections were made to the carbon monoxide absorbance integral calculations which allowed the direct comparison of results. These corrections included baseline adjustments for each species and N2 purging to eliminate background CO2 and H2O contamination. After these improvements, the two phase method GNP catalyst CO oxidation ability was investigated. Unfortunately, the supplied two phase method gold catalyst has been unresponsive for CO oxidation applications. One hypothesis for the problems is that the surfactants used to keep the gold nanoparticles from aggregating are preventing carbon monoxide transport to the surface of the particle. Another theory is that the gold may not be adhering to the surface of the TiO2 creating a cohesive metal/support interaction. The kinetics of CO preferential oxidation (PROX) catalyzed by the World Gold Council's nano-Au/TiO2 was studied to evaluate elementary and nonelementary empirical rate expressions. Information is readily available for CO fractional conversion for this catalyst below 0 degrees C. However, a comprehensive CO PROX kinetic model in which three reactions (CO oxidation, H2 oxidation and the water gas shift reaction) occur simultaneously is lacking. The reaction was carried out in a vertical packed bed micro-reactor testing unit; temperature was varied between 25 and 125 degrees C, and a range of feed rates were tested. In-situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) reaction data was analyzed; pre-exponential and activation energies are calculated for each kinetic model. Empirical rate expressions based on power law models were used to fit the experimental data. The reversible water gas shift reaction was found to play an important role when fitting the experimental data precisely and explained the selectivity decrease at higher reaction temperatures. The empirical kinetic model presented will be useful to simulate PROX operation parameters for many applications.

Functional water-soluble polymers find applications in a variety of fields including waste-water treatment, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, drug delivery, and hygiene. Despite the increased demand for these products, understanding of their synthesis by free-radical aqueous-phase polymerization has lagged behind that of polymers produced in organic solvents. In this doctoral work, the free-radical batch and semibatch aqueous-phase polymerization of N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP), N-vinylformamide (NVF), N-vinylimidazole (NVI) and quaternized vinylimidazole (QVI), as well as NVP polymerized in n-butanol, has been studied. Kinetic models are developed to describe monomer conversion and polymer molecular weight (MW) behaviour of these systems. The expressions developed from independent pulsed-laser studies for propagation (kp) and termination (kt) rate coefficients, including their variation with monomer concentration and conversion, are shown to provide an excellent description of aqueous-phase NVP polymerization. Polymerization of NVP in butanol and of NVF in water are well-represented by the base NVP model, with differences in polymerization rate and polymer MWs simply accounted for by the differences in kp for the systems, indicating that the kt behaviour must be quite similar. The NVI/QVI study demonstrates the importance of a pH-dependent degradative addition reaction to monomer for NVI, with polymerization behaviour identical to that of QVI for pH 1, an effect captured in the model developed to describe the system. The aqueous-phase copolymerization of NVP and NVF was also studied, and reactivity ratios were determined to be very close to unity. This information was combined with the kp and kt expressions used to describe NVP and NVF homopolymerizations, with no other additional parameters required to model the copolymerization rate, copolymer composition and copolymer MW. This result demonstrates that the improved homopolymerization knowledge of these water-soluble monomers can be easily extended to understand their behaviour in copolymerization. / Thesis (Ph.D, Chemical Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2011-12-21 16:05:14.904

A celulose das árvores do gênero Eucalyptus é um dos principais elementos de interesse econômico desse vegetal. Suas folhas, apesar de conter óleo essencial (OE), caracterizam-se como um subproduto da indústria de processamento de papel e celulose. Assim, pesquisas com relação à recuperação dessa biomassa tornam-se importantes, principalmente, do ponto de vista ambiental e econômico. Tradicionalmente, a extração de OEs ocorre pelo processo de hidrodestilação (HD), o qual necessita de longos tempos de extração. Visando superar essa restrição, a tecnologia de extração assistida por micro-ondas (Microwave Assisted Extraction - MAE) vem sendo desenvolvida e aplicada. O objetivo principal deste estudo foi avaliar o processo de extração de OE de folhas de eucalipto, empregando os métodos de extração HD e MAE. Para esse processo em escala de bancada, desenvolveu-se um aparato de extração por meio da adaptação de um forno micro-ondas doméstico. Inicialmente, analisou-se o rendimento de OE das matrizes de subprodutos de folhas de eucalipto das espécies Eucalyptus saligna, E. urohpylla e E. urophylla x globulus geradas a partir de uma indústria de celulose. Os resultados apontaram que a espécie E. urophylla x globulus apresentou maior teor de OE (2,16±0,02%), sendo a espécie escolhida para a aplicação da tecnologia MAE. Na segunda etapa do estudo, fez-se uma avaliação dos efeitos dos fatores do processo MAE, avaliando os fatores razão sólido:solvente (1:1; 1:1,5 e 1:2), potência do micro-ondas (680, 850 e 1.020 W) e tempo de extração total (20, 40, 60 min) no rendimento de OE. Desse modo, as condições ideais do processo foram determinadas como: razão sólido:solvente de 1:2, potência de 680 W e tempo de extração total de 60 minutos. Para essas condições, realizou-se o estudo cinético e modelagem matemática com a avaliação dos modelos de primeira ordem, segunda ordem, Peleg e Patricelli. No estudo cinético, o tempo total do processo MAE para a obtenção do rendimento de 1,8±0,1% foi apenas 60 minutos, tempo 57% inferior ao observado no método HD para igual rendimento (140 minutos). Dentre os modelos cinéticos estudados, o modelo de Patricelli foi o que apresentou melhor ajuste aos dados experimentais da extração HD (R² igual 0,9904 e RMSE igual 0,0016) e da extração MAE (R² igual 0,9962 e RMSE igual 0,0006). Por fim, as análises energéticas e de impacto ambiental também indicaram o método MAE como uma tecnologia mais ambientalmente amigável do que a HD, tornando-se atrativa para o setor industrial. Com base nos resultados obtidos, pode-se concluir que a extração de OE da matriz estudada proporcionou a reutilização de um subproduto industrial, sugerindo uma alternativa de exploração e agregando valor ao mesmo. / The cellulose from trees of the genus Eucalyptus is the main industrial product of this species. Its leaves, although containing essential oil (EO), are characterized as a by-product from the pulp and paper processing industry. Thus, researches about the recovery of this biomass are important, mainly from the environmental and ecological point of view. Traditionally, the extraction of EO occurs by hydrodistillation (HD), process that requires long extraction times. In order to overcome this restriction, microwave assisted extraction (MAE) has been developed and applied. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the extraction process of eucalyptus EO, using the HD and MAE methods. For this laboratory-scale process, an extraction apparatus was developed through the adaption of a domestic microwave oven. Initially, the yield of EO by-products of eucalyptus leaves of the species Eucalyptus saligna, E. urophylla and E. urophylla x globulus from a cellulose industry were analyzed. The results showed that the species E. urophylla x globulus presented the highest EO content (2.16 ± 0.02%), being the species chosen for the application of the MAE technology. In the second stage of the study, an evaluation of the effects of MAE process factors was performed, analyzing the factors ratio solid:solvent (1:1, 1:1,5 and 1:2), microwave power (680, 850 and 1.020 W) and total extraction time (20, 40, 60 min) in the EO yield. Thus, the ideal process conditions were determined as: ratio solid:solvent of 1:2, power of 680 W and total extraction time of 60 minutes. For these conditions, a kinetic study and a mathematical modeling were performed evaluating the first-order, second-order, Peleg and Patricelli models. In the kinetic study, the total time of the MAE process to obtain the yield of 1.8 ± 0.1% was only 60 minutes, 57% lower than the HD method for the same yield (140 min). Among the kinetic models studied, the Patricelli model presented the best fit to the experimental data of the HD extraction (R² equal to 0.9904 and RMSE equal to 0.0016) and MAE extraction (R² equal to 0.9962 and RMSE equal to 0.0006). Finally, the energy and environmental impact analyzes also indicated the MAE method more environmentally friendly than HD, being attractive for the industrial sector. Based on the results, it is possible to conclude that the extraction of EO from the studied matrix provided the reuse of an industrial by-product, suggesting an exploration alternative adding value to this residue.