Les matériaux basés sur le système Fe-Ni-Cr utilisés à haute température doivent présenter une bonne résistance à l'oxydation, généralement obtenu par la croissance lente d’une couche d’oxyde de chrome à la surface de ces alliages. Pour prédire la formation d'une couche d’oxyde protectrice la perméabilité de l'oxygène dans l’alliage doit être connue, la perméabilité étant définie comme le produit de la solubilité et du coefficient de diffusion de l’oxygène. L'objectif de nos travaux est de mesurer la perméabilité, la solubilité et la diffusivité de l'oxygène dans des alliages Fe-Ni pour des températures supérieures à 1000°C. Afin d'obtenir les meilleurs résultats,la formation d'une couche externe d'oxyde pendant les expériences doit être évitée. Pour cela, la pression partielle d'oxygène a été fixée à la pression d'équilibre Fe/FeO dans toutes les expériences. En outre, afin d'étudier l'effet de la vapeur d'eau sur la perméabilité, la solubilité et la diffusivité de l’oxygène, deux atmosphères ont été utilisées: l’une considérée comme sèche et l’autre comme humide. L'atmosphère sèche a été obtenue en utilisant la technique du « pack de Rhines »: les échantillons sont oxydés dans des capsules en quartz sous vide qui contiennent un mélange de poudre de fer et de wüstite. L'atmosphère humide a quant à elle été obtenue en utilisant des mélanges gazeux H2/H2O avec un ratio approprié de vapeur d'eau et d’hydrogène afin de fixer la pression partielle d’oxygène à la pression d’équilibre Fe/FeO. Les mesures de solubilité réalisées dans ce travail ont montré que celle-ci atteint son maximum dans le fer pur et diminue avec l’ajout de nickel. Cependant, la dépendance de la solubilité avec la composition de l’alliage Fe-Ni n'est pas idéale et ne peut être prédite à partir de modèles simples. De plus, les résultats obtenus sous atmosphère humide suggèrent que la présence de vapeur d'eau dans l'atmosphère augmente la solubilité de l'oxygène d’un facteur 2 dans les alliages avec une concentration en nickel inférieure ou égale à 60 at.% pour des températures proches de 1000°C,tandis qu'à 1150°C, la solubilité de l'oxygène est indépendante de l'environnement. La perméabilité de l'oxygène a été déterminée en mesurant la cinétique d'oxydation interne d'alliages Fe-Ni-Cr. Les résultats ont montré que la perméabilité de l'oxygène présente les mêmes variations avec la composition de l’alliage que la solubilité de l'oxygène, indépendamment de l'atmosphère.De plus, aucun effet significatif de la vapeur d'eau sur les valeurs de perméabilité de l'oxygène n'a été observé. Le coefficient de diffusion de l'oxygène a également été déterminé en utilisant les résultats précédents, c’est à dire la perméabilité et la solubilité de l’oxygène mesurées dans notre étude. Pour une température supérieure à 1000°C, la variation du coefficient de diffusion de l'oxygène avec la composition de l'alliage est similaire dans tous les environnements testés et un maximum est observé pour les alliages avec une teneur en nickel de 40 at.%. Cependant, la présence de vapeur d'eau dans l'atmosphère diminue les valeurs du coefficient de diffusion de l'oxygène, par un facteur 2-3 à 1000°C, pour les alliages avec une concentration en nickel inférieure ou égal à 60 at.%. De plus, il a été trouvé que la différence entre les coefficients de diffusion mesurés dans l’atmosphère sèche et humide augmente à mesure que la température diminue. En conclusion, il a été constaté que la vapeur d'eau n'a aucun effet sur la manière dont la perméabilité, la solubilité et la diffusivité de l'oxygène varient avec la composition des alliages Fe-Ni. Cependant, la présence de vapeur d'eau dans l'environnement semble augmenter la solubilité de l'oxygène et diminuer sa diffusivité dans les alliages riches en fer. De plus, l’effet de la vapeur d’eau apparaît plus important aux plus basses températures étudiées. / It is a worldwide priority to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO2. One solution for reducing these emissions is to improve the efficiency of energy production units by increasing their operating temperature. However, in order to increase operating temperature, new austenitic materials based on the Fe-Ni-Cr system have to be designed. In addition, these materials need to exhibit good protection against high temperature oxidation, which is achieved by the formation of a slow growing chromium oxide or alumina scale on the metal. However, to predict the formation of a protective scale, knowledge of the oxygen permeability, the product of oxygen solubility and diffusivity, in the base alloy is required. The objective of this study is to measure the permeability, solubility and diffusivity of oxygen in Fe- Ni alloys at temperatures above 1,000°C. In order to obtain the best results, the formation of an external oxide layer during the experiment has to be avoided. To achieve this, the oxygen partial pressure was fixed at the Fe/FeO equilibrium pressure in all experiments. In addition, two types of atmospheres were used: one dry and one wet, in order to investigate the effect of water vapour on oxygen permeability, solubility and diffusivity. The dry atmosphere was achieved using the Rhines Pack technique. The samples were oxidised in vacuum-sealed quartz capsules, which contained a mixture of powdered iron and wüstite. The humid atmosphere was obtained by using H2/H2O gas mixtures with the appropriate water vapour to hydrogen ratio to fix oxygen partial pressure at the Fe/FeO equilibrium. The maximum oxygen solubility was found in pure iron, and decreased continuously with nickel additions to the alloy. The dependence of solubility on alloy composition is non-ideal, and cannot be predicted from simple models. Moreover, the presence of water vapour in the atmosphere seems to increase the solubility by a factor of 2 in alloys with nickel content lower than 80 at.% at temperatures near 1,000°C. However, at 1,150°C the solubility of the oxygen is independent of the environment. The oxygen permeability was determined by measuring the internal oxidation kinetics of Fe-Ni-Cr alloy. These kinetics were evaluated by measuring the internal oxidation zone depth by optical microscopy, or by continuous and discontinuous thermogravimetry. Results showed that the oxygen permeability exhibits the same variation with alloy composition as the oxygen solubility, independent of the atmosphere. In particular, no significant effect of water vapour on oxygen permeability values was observed. In the present study, the oxygen diffusion coefficient was also determined using permeability, in addition to the independent measurement of the oxygen solubility carried out in the present study. For temperature above 1,000°C, the variation of oxygen diffusion coefficient with the alloy composition is similar in all environments tested, and a maximum is observed for alloys with a nickel content of 40 at.%. However, for a given nickel content up to 60 at.%, the presence of water vapour in the atmosphere decreases the value of the oxygen diffusion coefficient by a factor of 2-3 at 1,000°C. In addition, this difference between diffusion coefficients measured in a dry and wet atmosphere increases as the temperature decreases. Overall, it was found that the water vapour has no effect on the way in which oxygen permeability, solubility and diffusivity vary with the alloy composition. However, the presence of water vapour in the environment appears to increase the oxygen solubility and decrease the oxygen diffusivity in iron-rich alloys, the effect being more significant at low temperatures. These results suggest further research into interactions between O, H and metal vacancies, particularly for temperature around 1,000°C and below, as the latter defect is thought to change the diffusion and solubility properties of interstitial species.

No description available.

Des analyses structurales et pétrophysiques ont été menées dans le Massif de Melechov afin d’étudier les structures contrôlant la porosité, la perméabilité et la conductivité thermique de la roche. La structure du massif a été déterminée sur la base d’un jeu étendu de données incluant des mesures d’ASM et des mesures de terrain des structures ductiles et cassantes. Le système de fractures du massif a été décrit par quatre ensembles de fractures. Les données pétrophysiques mesurées ont servi pour caractériser l’effet de la fracturation et de l’altération sur la géométrie de l’espace poreux et en conséquence sur la perméabilité, la conductivité thermique et les propriétés élastiques du granite. Des propriétés pétrophysiques distinctes ont été identifiées pour du granite intact, du granite sain fracturé ainsi que pour du granite fracturé et altéré contenant des oxydes de fer, de la chlorite et des minéraux argileux. Une étude microstructurale détaillée, combinée à des mesures multi-directionnelles de vitesse des ondes P (VP) à pressions de confinement croissantes a été menée sur un échantillon du granite Lipnice aux schlieren. Les résultats indiquent que l’anisotropie des VP à basses pressions de confinement est contrôlée par des fissures inter-granulaires reliant les clivages sous-parallèles aux schlieren des micas et des feldspaths ainsi que par des fissures intra- ou trans-granulaires dans du quartz sous-parallèles aux fractures d’exfoliation. Une importante fermeture de la porosité de fissures à partir d’une profondeur de 500 m a été interprétée en termes d’élasticité des fissures manifestée par une augmentation rapide des VP avec la pression de confinement croissante. / Structural and petrophysical analysis have been conducted within the Melechov massif with focus on structures controlling the porosity, permeability and thermal conductivity of the rock. The structure of the massif has been constrained based on extensive dataset including AMS and field structural measurements of ductile and brittle structures. The fracture system of the massif has been described by four sets of fractures. The measured petrophysical data have been used to characterize the effect of fracturing and alteration on pore space geometry and in turn on permeability, thermal conductivity and elastic properties of the studied granite. Distinct petrophysical properties have been identified for pristine granite, for fractured fresh granite as well as for fractured granite altered by Fe-oxide, chlorite and clay minerals. A detailed microstructural study combined with multidirectional P-wave velocity measurements at high confining pressure and with AMS analysis has been conducted on a schlieren bearing sample of Lipnice granite. The granite VP anisotropy at low confining pressure was controlled by intergranular cracks interconnecting schlieren-subparallel cleavage cracks in micas and feldspars and by exfoliation fracture-subparallel intra- or trans-granular cracks in cleavage-free quartz. Major closing of the crack porosity linked to the schlieren granite below depth of 500 m has been interpreted in terms of crack compliance reflected by rapid increase in VP with confining pressure.

Les céramiques macroporeuses sont largement utilisées dans des applications telles que la filtration, l'isolation thermique, les scaffolds pour la croissance de tissus biologiques, les SOFC, ou encore les OTM. En plus d’une bonne stabilité mécanique, ces céramiques doivent généralement posséder une autre propriété fonctionnelle, comme une perméabilité élevée, une faible conductivité thermique, ou une biocompatibilité. Cependant, la résistance mécanique est généralement augmentée en diminuant le volume total des pores, même si cela peut dégrader d’autres propriétés fonctionnelles. Au-delà de la porosité, des paramètres morphologiques tels que la taille des pores, leur forme ou la tortuosité, peuvent devenir cruciaux pour maximiser les performances, tout en conservant une grande résistance mécanique. Une importante amélioration des propriétés mécaniques peut par exemple être obtenue par des structures anisotropes. Celles-ci renforcent les structures dans la direction de la contrainte principale, de manière similaire aux matériaux naturels tels que l'os trabéculaire, le liège ou le bois. Néanmoins, la plupart des techniques classiquement utilisées pour produire des céramiques macroporeuses ne proposent pas ce niveau de flexibilité. L’ ice-templating est une technique de mise en forme appropriée pour obtenir des matériaux macroporeux anisotropes. Elle est basée sur la congélation de suspensions colloïdales et la séparation ultérieure des particules par le front de solidification. Le solvant congelé est ensuite éliminé, en laissant des pores dont les morphologies sont une réplique des cristaux sublimés. Enfin, le matériau cru est fritté pour consolider la microstructure. Ce processus assure un contrôle indépendant de l'architecture des pores (volume des pores, la taille et la morphologie) à travers la fraction de solides initiale, la vitesse de refroidissement, ou les éventuels additifs. Par conséquent, une bonne compréhension de ces paramètres est essentielle afin d’établir un lien entre les procédés de mise en forme, la microstructure, et les performances de ce type de matériaux et d'étendre leur utilisation dans les applications mentionnées précédemment. L’objectif de ce travail est premièrement, d’adapter l'architecture des pores faits par l’ice-templating pour ensuite, déterminer les principaux paramètres des microstructures qui contrôlent la résistance à la compression, la fiabilité mécanique, et la perméabilité de ces matériaux poreux unidirectionnels. En outre, l'applicabilité des modèles de flux mécanistique et de flux de gaz sera discutée dans le contexte des morphologies de pores structurés. Enfin, nous allons fournir des lignes directrices pour produire des échantillons tubulaires produits par ice-templating. / Macroporous ceramics are widely used in applications such as filtration, thermal insulation, scaffolds for tissue engineering, SOFCs, or OTM’s. They must combine mechanical stability with at least one other functional property such as high permeability, low thermal conductivity, or biocompatibility. However, strength is usually increased by decreasing the total pore volume even though this may degrade the other functional properties. Beyond porosity content, morphological parameters such as pore size, shape, or tortuosity, can become crucial to maximize the performance while maintaining high strength. For example, a significant improvement can be achieved by engineering anisotropic structures to mechanically reinforce the direction of the main stress, similarly to natural materials such as trabecular bone, cork, or wood. Unfortunately, most of the techniques conventionally used to produce macroporous ceramics do not offer this level of flexibility. Ice-templating is a processing technique suitable to obtain anisotropic macroporous materials. It is based on the freezing of colloidal suspensions and the subsequent segregation of particles by the solidification front. After solidification, the frozen solvent is removed, leaving pores whose morphologies are a replica of the sublimated crystals. Finally, the green body is sintered to consolidate the microstructure. This process provides independent control of the pore architecture (pore volume, size, and morphology) through initial solids loading, cooling rate, or additives. Therefore, a good understanding of these parameters is essential to understand the relationship between processing, microstructure, and performance of this type of materials and extend their use in the aforementioned applications.The purpose of this work is first, tailor the pore architecture of specimens processed by ice-templating to then, determine the main microstructural parameters that control the compressive strength, mechanical reliability, and air permeability of unidirectional porous materials. Furthermore, the applicability of mechanistic and gas flow models will be discussed in the context of the structured pore morphologies. Finally, we will provide some guidelines to produce tubular ice-templated samples with controlled porosity.The purpose of this work is first, tailor the pore architecture of specimens processed by ice-templating to then, determine the main microstructural parameters that control the compressive strength, mechanical reliability, and air permeability of unidirectional porous materials. Furthermore, the applicability of mechanistic and gas flow models will be discussed in the context of the structured pore morphologies. Finally, we will provide some guidelines to produce tubular ice-templated samples with controlled porosity.

The endothelial cells lining the inner surface of the tissue capillaries and post-capillary venules form a semi-permeable barrier between the blood circulation and interstitial compartments. The semi-permeable barrier in these vessels is the major site of blood-tissue exchange. A compromised endothelial barrier contributes to the pathological process such as edema, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and tumor metastasis. Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), an endogenous, bioactive lipid present in all cells, is a potential therapeutic agent that can restore compromised endothelial barrier function. On the other hand, S1P also has pleotropic effects and can either increase or decrease arterial tone and tissue perfusion under different conditions. The detailed mechanisms underlining S1P’s endothelial barrier protective effect are still largely unknown, but are suggested to depend on cell spreading termed “lamellipodia”. Therefore, to fully take advantage of the beneficial properties of S1P, it is important to first understand how S1P-induced lamellipodia protrusions correlate with its effect on endothelial barrier function. It is also important to know the underlining mechanisms that S1P enhances endothelial barrier function, including intracellular signaling and receptor signaling. To study local lamellipodia activities, we acquired time-lapse images of live endothelial cells expressing GFP-actin, and subsequently analyzed different lamellipodia parameters. Experiments were performed under baseline conditions, and during endothelial barrier disruption or enhancement. The compounds used in these experiments included thrombin and S1P. Transendothelial electrical resistance (TER) served as an index of endothelial barrier function for in vitro studies. Changes of local lamellipodia dynamics and endothelial barrier function within the same time frame were studied. For mechanistic studies, we combined biochemical, immunological and pharmacological approaches. Rho family small GTPase activities were measured with an ELISA pull-down assay. Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) was also used to study the localization of RhoA activation. Pharmacological compounds targeting intracellular signaling messengers were used to test the involvement of Rac1, RhoA, MLC-2 in endothelial local lamellipodia activity and S1P-mediated endothelial barrier enhancement. Receptor agonists and antagonists were used to study the involvement of S1P receptor signaling. Finally, for cell behavior and cytoskeleton studies, we utilized immunofluorescence labeling that enables direct visualization of changes in cytoskeleton, cell-cell junction and focal adhesions. We found that S1P increases both local lamellipodia protrusions and TER. The rapid increase in local lamellipodia protrusion frequencies also corresponded to the rapid increase in TER seen within the same time frame. Under the microscope, local lamellipodia protrusions from adjacent cells overlapped with each other and extended beyond junctional cell-cell contacts. Strikingly, S1P-induced lamellipodia protrusions carry VE-cadherin molecules to the cell-cell contact, established junctional adhesions. Combined with our previous published studies on thrombin induced lamellipodia activity changes, we think lamellipodia protrusions are a major component that regulates endothelial barrier function. Combined, our imaging studies revealed the mechanisms on how lamellipodia regulates endothelial barrier function: 1) lamellipodia overlap and increase the apical to basal diffusion distance, which in turn decreases permeability and upregulates endothelial barrier function. 2) Local lamellipodia protrusions contain VE-cadherin, which is delivered the to the cell-cell contact by the lamellipodia to increase junctional stability. S1P is effective for rescuing thrombin-induced endothelial barrier dysfunction. The known barrier disruptor thrombin, decreased local lamellipodia protrusions, disrupted VE-cadherin integrity, and caused a drop in TER. S1P increased local lamellipodia protrusions after thrombin challenge, and resulted in faster recovery towards baseline TER compared with vehicle controls. Interestingly, we also found that both thrombin and S1P increased MLC-2 phosphorylation at Thr18/Ser19. We subsequently accessed Rho family GTPase activity after thrombin and S1P. As expected, thrombin rapidly increased GTP-bound RhoA levels, and decreased GTP-bound Rac1 levels. Unexpectedly, S1P not only increased GTP-bound Rac1, but also increased GTP-bound RhoA to a more prominently levels (4-fold). Since Rac1 has been implicated in promoting lamellipodia protrusions, we tested the role of Rac1 on the local lamellipodia activities first. We found that Wild-Type (WT) Rac1 group had the highest local lamellipodia protrusion frequencies, protrusion distances, withdraw time and highest percentage of protrusions that lasted more than 5 min. WT Rac1 overexpression had greatest protrusion frequencies and lowest monolayer permeability to FITC-albumin compared to GFP and DN-Rac1 overexpression monolayers. These results suggest that Rac1 is important for baseline endothelial barrier function. This is also confirmed by the finding that pharmacological inhibition of Rac1 significantly decreased baseline TER. Although Rac1 is important for baseline endothelial barrier function, we noticed that it is dispensable in S1P-mediated endothelial barrier enhancement. Rac1 inhibitors, DN-Rac1 overexpression, and Rac1 siRNA knockdown all failed to abolish the S1P-mediated increase in TER. This is partially explained by the findings that S1P-induced Rac1 activation is short-lived and less pronounced in contrast to RhoA activation. We subsequently tested the role of RhoA in S1P-mediated endothelial barrier enhancement, based on our findings that both S1P and thrombin significantly activated RhoA and induced MLC-2 phosphorylation. Significant RhoA activation was found to be mainly at cell periphery and lamellipodia protrusions in HUVEC on FRET, after S1P was given. In addition, RhoA inhibitors significantly decreased the amplitude of S1P-induced MLC-2 phosphorylation, vinculin redistribution and barrier enhancement. The data suggest that the mechanisms involved in S1P-mediated endothelial barrier enhancement depend on RhoA activation and subsequent cytoskeletal rearrangement. We next investigated which receptor is responsible for the endothelial barrier enhancement of S1P. However, antagonism of S1P1, S1P2 or S1P3 alone with W146, JTE-013 or TY-52156 respectively all failed to attenuate S1P-mediated increase in TER. While agonism of S1P1 with CYM-5442 hydrochloride alone produced significant increase in TER, neither S1P2 nor S1P3 activation (CYM 5520 & CYM 5541) produced any change on TER. Interestingly, S1P1 antagonist failed to block the effect of S1P1 agonist on TER. This could be due to that the S1P1 agonist may not be very selective at concentrations tested. We also identified that S1P4 and S1P5 are present on endothelial cells. Further studies would be necessary to elucidate the roles of newly identified S1P4 or S1P5 alone on endothelial barrier function. It is also worth investigating in the future if multiple S1P receptors are involved in its endothelial barrier enhancing effect. In conclusion, we found that lamellipodia protrusions contribute to the endothelial barrier enhancement of S1P. While Rac1 is important for the maintenance of endothelial barrier function, it is dispensable in S1P-mediated endothelial barrier enhancement. On the other hand, RhoA activation appears to be, at least in part, responsible for the endothelial barrier enhancement of S1P. It is currently still unclear if S1P’s endothelial barrier enhancing effect is through one single receptor activation or activation of multiple receptors. Future studies are needed to elucidate the receptor signaling that contributes to S1P-mediated endothelial barrier enhancement.

Abstract Interactions between the components of papermaking suspensions (e.g. fibres, fillers, fines and polymers) have a remarkable effect on various unit processes in papermaking. The filterability of fibre suspensions, which is a crucial property for example in paper sheet forming and solid recovery, is also known to be depended on particle interactions. However, due to the complex nature of the interactions, the role of these phenomena in fibre suspension filtration is still not fully understood. The focus of this thesis was to find out how phenomena associated to fibre flocculation, fibre deflocculation and filler particle deposition affect the filterability of fibre suspensions in terms of their dewaterability and retention. It was shown that the influence of fibre flocculation on dewatering is closely related to the structure of fibre flocs. More importantly, the internal density of flocs and factors that impacted the packing structure of filter cakes, such as floc size, played a crucial role in fibre suspension dewaterability. Dense flocs with a low internal porosity particularly induces fast water flow by a mechanism termed as the “easiest path mechanism” through the large voids around the flocs. The effect of fibre suspension dispersing on dewaterability and particularly fines retention was found to be associated to the mechanism of action of the deflocculation agent. Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), the deflocculant used in this study, had detrimental effects on the dewatering of a pulp suspension both when being adsorbed on fibre surfaces and when remained in the liquid phase. However, adsorbed CMC causes more plugging of the filter cake because it disperses the fines more profoundly. Thus the adsorbed CMC also reduces fines retention considerably more than CMC did in the liquid phase. Filler deposition and retention was found to be significantly higher on pulp fines fractions of mechanical and chemical pulp than on fibre fractions due to the higher external surface area of fines. The surface charge densities of pulp fractions also affected their ability to adsorb fillers. Cationic charges of filler particles was in turn observed to induce deposition of fillers on fibre surfaces which increased retention but also the dewaterability of a fibre suspension due to a decrease in total surface area of a suspension.

Proprietary mixtures of amines and carboxylic acids are used as volatile corrosion inhibitors (VCIs) for the protection of steel and iron components against atmospheric corrosion during storage and transportation. Interactions between amines and carboxylic acids have been comprehensively reported in the literature. However, little is known about the nature of the vapours these mixtures emit. The present study focused on the development of the evolved gas analysis method which will help in the characterisation of the vapours released by VCIs. In the method, the evaporation of various amine-carboxylic acid binary mixtures was monitored by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The nature and the composition of the released vapours was followed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Mixtures consisting of triethylamine (TEA) and acetic acid were studied as a model compound using TGA-FTIR at 50 °C to validate the TGA-FTIR method. As vaporisation progressed, the composition of the remaining liquid and the emitted vapour converged to a fixed amine content of ca. 27 mol %. This is just above the composition expected for the 1:3 amine: carboxylic acid complex. Mixtures close to this composition also featured the lowest volatility. TGA-FTIR proved to be a convenient method for studying the evaporation of TEA-acetic acid mixtures, and the nature and composition of the released vapours. Amine addition leads to the dissociation of carboxylic acid dimers in favour salt formation. The formation of an ion pair between the amine and carboxylic acid was confirmed by the FTIR spectra of the liquid phase. The resulting amine-carboxylic acid mixtures showed a slow mass loss rate on TGA when compared with the pure amines and pure carboxylic acids. This indicated that the mixtures have low volatility, hence low vapour pressure compared with the pure components. The low vapour pressure of the mixtures was confirmed by the calculated gas permeability values. These values were much higher for the pure amines and the pure carboxylic acids. However, they dropped significantly on amine addition. The strong amine-carboxylic acid interaction is responsible for the suppressed volatility of the mixtures. No interaction is observed between amine and carboxylic acid molecules in the vapour phase at 230 °C. The method developed was applied to characterise the model compounds simulating the amine-carboxylic acid-based volatile corrosion inhibitors. These model systems contained the primary, secondary and tertiary amines (hexylamine, morpholine and triethylamine), as well as carboxylic acids with different chain lengths (acetic, propanoic, hexanoic and octanoic). These systems are usually employed as equimolar mixtures to protect ferrous metals against atmospheric corrosion. The key finding of the study was that the vapours released by such equimolar mixtures initially contain almost exclusively free amine. After prolonged vaporisation, a steady-state “azeotrope”-like composition is approached. It contains excess acid and features impaired corrosion-inhibition efficiencies according to the Skinner test. In part, this behaviour can be attributed to the mismatch between the volatilities of the amine and carboxylic acid constituents. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2013 / Chemical Engineering / unrestricted

[pt] O aproveitamento hidroelétrico de Laúca, está localizado no km 307,5, do rio Kwanza (medido a partir de sua foz), cerca de 47 km a jusante do AHE Capanda, próximo à localidade de N hangueYa Pepe, na província do Kwanza Norte – Angola. A obra teve início no final de 2012 e terminará em 2017. Normalmente, as fundações de barragens são obras projetadas na superfície do globo e apoiadas sobre as rochas, e em muitas dessas rochas encontram-se fraturadas que geram algumas descontinuidades, ocasionando valores elevados da permeabilidade nas fundações de barragens. Esta dissertação tem como principal objetivo avaliar as condições de estanqueidade das fundações do aproveitamento hidrelétrico de Laúca. Esta avaliação foi feita a partir dos resultados de ensaios de perda d água sob pressão e interpretada através da teoria dos ensaios de Maurice Lugeon, que são realizados em maciços rochosos através de furos de sondagens em diferentes estágios. Estes ensaios têm como finalidade indicar os valores da permeabilidade e do comportamento desses maciços, em relação à percolação d água através das descontinuidades. Através da teoria de Lugeon, pode-se definir o tipo de escoamento, comportamento do preenchimento nas fraturas e fissuras que indiquem valor representativo da permeabilidade do maciço, que, por sua vez, orientará uma tomada de decisão sobre a necessidade de se adotar alguma intervenção, bem como a adoção de um programa de tratamento das fundações da barragem. / [en] The Laúca Dam is located at km 307.5 of the Kwanza River (measured from its mouth), about 47 km downstream from Capanda Hydroelectric Project, near the village of Ya N hangue Pepe in the province of Kwanza Norte - Angola. Usually dam foundations are designed and constructed along the eroded channel rivers and supported on the rocks, and many of these rocks are fractured, and generate some discontinuities with a high degree of hydraulic conductivity of the dam foundations .This dissertation aims to assess and to evaluate the seepage conditions throughout the foundations of hydroelectric Laúca. This evaluation is normally made using the tests of loss of water with pressure and interpreted using the proposal of Maurice Lugeon, i.e., the well-known in the practice of dam engineering as the Lugeon test. This test is performed in rock masses through boreholes and different stages, aims to determine the hydraulic conductivity and the behavior of the fractured rock mass, taking into the consideration the water flow through the discontinuities and fractures. Using the Lugeon set of results, it can be estimated important engineering characteristics such as: the volume and the type of flow and representatives values of the equivalent mass of the hydraulic conductivity. All this information is useful to establish the grouting procedure and also to verify the performance of the treatment carried out to reduce leakage through the dam foundation.

La biopharmacie s'intéresse au devenir du médicament au contact d'un épithélium. Cela conditionne la biodisponibilité du principe actif, rendant les études biopharmaceutiques indispensables au développement des médicaments. L'obtention de données biopharmaceutiques in vitro passe par l'utilisation de cellules de diffusion. La variabilité des résultats expérimentaux obtenus nous a conduits à développer un nouveau dispositif nommé VitroPharma, destiné à optimiser l'étude de la perméabilité épithéliale. Son originalité réside dans la possibilité d'employer les milieux récepteurs semi-solides en substitution des milieux liquides habituels.Ce travail propose une exploration des capacités de VitroPharma en vue de sa validation. Le dispositif est testé en modalités de dose (i) finie et (ii) infinie, sur (i) peau porcine et (ii) membrane artificielle de silicone, respectivement. Des milieux récepteurs (i) liquide, (ii) semi-solide (hydrogel d'agarose) et (iii) thermogélifiant (hydrogel de poloxamer) sont évalués. La caféine et la testostérone sont utilisées comme composés modèles. Les résultats sont comparés à une méthode de référence.De plus, deux problématiques expérimentales peu étudiées dans la littérature sont évaluées : (i) la formation de bulles à l'interface milieu récepteur-membrane et (ii) l'altération de l'hydratation des membranes biologiques en cours d'essai. Il ressort que l'utilisation de VitroPharma combinée à un milieu récepteur thermogélifiant permet (i) de limiter la formation de bulles et (ii) de contrôler le contenu en eau des explants cutanés.Ainsi le dispositif VitroPharma apparait comme adapté à la tenue d'essais de perméabilité épithéliale, apportant notamment, (i) une manipulation facilitée, (ii) une optimisation des conditions d'essai et (iii) l'obtention de résultats cinétiques de pénétration. Des exemples de développements cliniques mettant à profit les performances de VitroPharma sont présentés en conclusion / Biopharmacy studies the outcomes of contact between a medicine and its administration site epithelium, thus determining active compound bioavailability. Hence, biopharmaceutical studies are paramount to drug development processes. Biopharmaceutical data are obtained in vitro using experimental devices (i.e., diffusion cells) but show high variability. To overcome this limitation we development a new experimental device, called VitroPharma, meant to optimize the study of epithelial permeability. Distinctiveness of this innovating diffusion cell is due to substitution of classical liquid receptor medium with semi-solid medium.In this work, validation studies of VitroPharma are detailed including (i) finite and (ii) infinite dosing protocols using (i) biological membrane (i.e., pig ear skin) and (ii) artificial silicone membrane, respectively. Three different types of receptor medium are employed: (i) liquid medium, (ii) semi-solid medium (i.e., 2% agarose hydrogel) and (iii) thermogelifying medium (i.e., 20% poloxamer 407 hydrogel). Caffeine and testosterone are used as model compounds. Permeability results are displayed and compared to that obtained using reference Franz static diffusion cell.Furthermore, two experimental pitfalls often mentioned but scarcely studied in literature are evaluated, that is (i) bubble formation at the membrane-receptor medium interface and (ii) biological membrane hydration modification over assay time. VitroPharma combined to thermogelifying receptor medium was found efficient (i) in reducing bubble formation and (ii) enabling control of biological membrane water content.Therefore, VitroPharma appears adapted to the in vitro study of epithelial permeability, enabling (i) easy handling, (ii) optimized experimental parameters and (iii) dual penetration and permeation determination. To conclude this work, examples of clinical outcomes that could advantageously use VitroPharma are presented

The main purpose of this study was to optimise the grain size distribution of the raw material mixture for the production of iron sinter. It well known that the constitution of the sinter mix is based on the knowledge of chemical composition and grain size distribution. Although Mittal Vanderbijlpark has fixed specifications on the physical and chemical properties of the sinter for optimal blast furnace performance, the particle size distribution of the sinter mix has not yet been optimized. This was achieved by using the granulation characteristics of the sinter mix and the green bed permeability tests. The influence of the moisture content of the feed, granulation time, and mean granule diameter on permeability was investigated on Thabazimbi and Sishen iron ore, as well as on their mixture with fluxes and without fluxes. The iron ore results indicated that the mixture containing 20% Thabazimbi iron ore and 80% Sishen iron ore with fluxes where the coke, lime and return fines were sized by removing the – 0.5 mm size fraction of the return fines and coke, and the 1 mm size fraction of lime has the highest permeability of all the studied mixtures. The sintering properties of the mixtures of optimised grain size distributions were also investigated and the results were very similar for all the mixtures and better than the base case mixture, which was not optimised with respect to grain size distribution. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering / unrestricted