Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The photo-mineralization of organic compounds (in the combined presence of a Ti02 based semiconductor catalyst, UV radiation and molecular oxygen) represents an advanced oxidation technology with significant potential for environmental pollution abatement. This oxidation process (generally known as photocatalytic oxidation - PCO) is currently the subject of extensive global research, with the main objective being the oxidative removal of organic and inorganic pollutants from water, air and soil. Presently, many barriers still block the way to commercial implementation of this technology, hence a unique (and effective) configuration of catalyst, light source and reactor design needs to identified. In terms of the water treatment scenario (which is the emphasis of this work) the need exists to develop a practical and affordable PCO reactor for water treatment on a large scale. The two laboratory-scale PCO reactors investigated in this work were based on a "falling film" flow reactor design and were constructed with commercially available materials and components. Degussa P-25 Ti02 was used as semiconductor catalyst and two types of low-pressure mercury lamps as the UV light source. Three modes of operation were investigated in order to determine the practical feasibility of the reactors. These included the recirculation, single pass and sequential single pass modes. The reactors were operated either as a Ti02 slurry-phase reactor (Reactor 1), or with Ti02 immobilized on stationary fiber glass and fibrous activated carbon sheet modules (Reactors 2A and 28 respectively). Extensive parametric evaluations were done using conventional one-factor variation and statistical methods according to optimal experimental design principles. The PCO treatment of two model organic pollutants (para-Chlorophenol and cyanobacterial microcystin YA, YR, LR and RR) were investigated. These pollutants were spiked into various water matrices to the desired concentration level. The combined photocatalyticcarbon adsorption treatment of these two pollutants was also investigated in Reactor 28. The experimental results obtained through this work showed that both model pollutants were successfully degraded in several water matrices by means of treatment in the respective PCO reactors. Moreover, this research was the first ever demonstration of the Ti02 photocatalytic degradation of microcystin toxins in the aqueous phase. The large number of parametric and optimization studies yielded the relative contributions of the various process parameters (in terms of the defined photocatalytic efficiency parameters as responses) very effectively. Furthermore, statistical evaluation of the experimental data provided valuable insight into the scientific phenomena associated with Ti02 mediated PCO processes. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die foto-mineralisasie van organiese verbindings (in die gekombineerde teenwoordigheid van 'n Ti02 gebaseerde halfgeleier katalisator, UV straling en molekulêre suurstof) verteenwoordig 'n gevorderde oksidasie-tegnologie met beduidende potensiaal vir bekamping van omgewingsbesoedeling. Hierdie oksidasie-proses (algemeen bekend as fotokatalitiese oksidasie - FKO) is tans wêreldwyd die onderwerp van ekstensiewe navorsing, met hoofdoel die oksidatiewe verwydering van organiese en anorganiese besoedelingstowwe uit water, lug en grond. Huidiglik bestaan daar nog vele struikelblokke wat die weg na kommersiële implementering van hierdie tegnologie blokkeer, gevolglik moet 'n unieke (en effektiewe) konfigurasie van katalisator, ligbron en reaktor-ontwerp nog identifiseer word. In terme van die waterbehandeling situasie (wat die klem van hierdie werk is) bestaan die nodigheid om 'n praktiese en bekostigbare FKO reaktor te ontwikkel vir watersuiwering op 'n groot skaal. Die twee laboratorium-skaal FKO reaktore in hierdie studie was gebaseer op 'n "vallende film" vloeireaktor ontwerp en is gekonstrueer met kommersieël beskikbare materiale en komponente. Degussa P-25 Ti02 is aangewend as halfgeleier katalisator en twee tipes lae-druk kwik lampe as die UV ligbron. Drie bedryfsmodes is ondersoek met die doel om die praktiese haalbaarheid van die reaktore te bepaal. Hierdie het ingesluit die resirkulasie, enkeldeurvloei en enkeldeurvloei-sekwensie modes. Die reaktore is bedryf as óf 'n Ti02 flodder-fase reaktor (Reaktor 1) óf met Ti02 ge-immobiliseer op 'n stasionêre veselglas en veselagtige ge-aktiveerde koolstof blad-modules (Reaktor 2A en 28 onderskeidelik). Omvattende parametriese evaluasies is gedoen deur gebruik te maak van konvensionele een-faktor variasie en statistiese metodes na aanleiding van optimale eksperimentele ontwerp beginsels. Die FKO behandeling van twee modelorganiese besoedelingstowwe (para-Chlorofenol en siano-bakteriese mikrosistien YA, YR, LR en RR) is ondersoek. Hierdie besoedelingstowwe is ge-ent in verskeie watermatrikse tot die verlangde konsentrasievlak. Die gekombineerde fotokatalitiese - aktiveerde koolstof behandeling van die twee besoedelingstowwe is ook ondersoek in Reaktor 28. Die eksperimentele resultate verkry deur hierdie werk het getoon dat beide die modelbesoedelingstowwe suksesvol gedegradeer is in verskeie watermatrikse deur behandeling in die onderskeie FKO reaktore. Trouens, hierdie navorsing was die eerste demonstrasie ooit van die Ti02 fotokatalitiese degradasie van mikrosistien toksiene in die waterige fase. Die groot aantal parametriese en optimiseringstudies het die bydraes van die verskeie proses-parameters (in terme van die gedefinieerde fotokatalitiese effektiwiteitsparameters as response) baie effektief verskaf. Verder, statistiese evaluasie van die eksperimentele data het waardevolle insig verskaf tot die wetenskaplike verskynsels te assosieer met Ti02 gemedieërde FKO prosesse.

This dissertation presents a method for enhancement of the efficiency and scalability of photocatalytic water purification systems, along with an experimental validation of the concept. A 3-dimensional photocatalyst structure, made from a TiO2-SiO2 composite, has been designed and fabricated for use in a custom designed LED-source illumination chamber of rotational symmetry that corresponds with the symmetry of the photocatalyst material. The design of the photocatalyst material has two defining characteristics: geometrical form and material composition. The design of the material was developed through the creation of a theoretical model for consideration of the system's photonic efficiency. Fabrication of the material was accomplished using a Ti alkoxide solution to coat a novel 3D support structure. The coatings were then heat treated to form a semiconducting thin-film. The resulting films were evaluated by SEM, TEM, UV-vis spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The surface of the material was then modified by implantation of TiO2 and SiO2 nanoparticles in order to increase catalytic surface area and improve the photoactivity of the material, resulting in increased degradation performance by more than 500%. Finally, the efficiency of the photocatalytic reactor was considered with respect to energy usage as defined by the Electrical Energy per Order (EEO) characterization model. The effects of catalyst surface modification and UV-illumination intensity on the EEO value were measured and analyzed. The result of the modifications was an 81.9% reduction in energy usage. The lowest EEO achieved was 54 kWh per cubic meter of water for each order of magnitude reduction in pollutant concentration -- an improvement in EEO over previously reported thin-film based photoreactors.

An overall systems design code was developed to model an advanced in-core thermionic energy conversion based nuclear reactor system for space applications at power levels of 10 to 50 kWe. The purpose of this work was to provide the overall shell for the systems code and to also provide the detailed neutronic analysis section of the code. The design code that was developed is to be used to evaluate a reactor system based upon a single cell thermionic fuel element which uses advanced technology to enhance the performance of single cell thermionic fuel elements. A literature survey provided information concerning how other organizations performed system studies on similar space reactor designs. / Graduation date: 1994

Incore thermionic space reactor design concepts which operate at a nominal power output range of 20 to 50 kWe are described. Details of the neutronic, thermionic, thermal hydraulics and shielding performance are presented. Due to the strong absorption of thermal neutrons by natural tungsten, and the large amount of that material within the reactor core, two designs are considered. An overall system design code has been developed at Oregon State University to model advanced incore thermionic energy conversion based nuclear reactor systems for space applications. The code modules include neutronics and core criticality, a thermionic fuel element performance module with integral thermal hydraulics calculation capability, a radiation shielding module, and a module for the waste heat rejection. The results show that the driverless single cell ATI configuration, which does not have driver rods, proved to be more efficient than the driven core, which has driver rods. It also shows that the inclusion of the true axial and radial power distribution decrease the overall conversion efficiency. The flattening of the radial power distribution by three different methods would lead to a higher efficiency. The results show that only one thermionic fuel element (TFE) works at the optimum emitter temperature; all other TFEs are off the optimum performance and result in 40 % decrease of the efficiency of the overall system. / Graduation date: 1993

Preliminary nuclear design studies have been completed on ten configurations of nuclear reactors for low power (1-30 kWe) space applications utilizing thermionic energy conversion. Additional design studies have been conducted on the TRICE multimegawatt in-core thermionic reactor configuration. In each of the cases, a reactor configuration has been determined which has the potential for operating 7 years with sufficient reactivity margin. Additional safety evaluations have been conducted on these configurations including the determination of sufficient shutdown reactivity, and consideration of water immersion, water flooding, sand burial, and reactor compaction accident scenarios. It has been found, within the analysis conducted using the MCNP Monte Carlo neutron transport code, that there are configurations which are feasible and deserve further analysis. It has also been found that solid core reactors which rely solely on conduction for heat removal as well as pin type cores immersed in a liquid metal bath have merit. The solid cores look attractive when flooding and compaction accident scenarios are considered as there is little chance for water to enter the core and cause significant neutron moderation. A fuel volume fraction effect has also been found in the consideration of the sand burial cases for the SP-100 derived configurations. / Graduation date: 1994

No description available.

Thesis. 1975. Nucl.E.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Nuclear Engineering. / Bibliography: leaves 153-157. / Nucl.E.

Lignin, the second most abundant biopolymer on earth following cellulose, can be described as a million-ton, low cost, under-utilized resource. The use of lignin in polymeric products adds the highest value to the raw material. Production of engineering plastics from lignin is an attractive approach to the utilization of lignin. The use of lignin in structural materials is limited by its insolubility and its failure to undergo melt flow. A promising method to overcome the limitations is to chemically modify lignin by reaction with a low modulus substance, like an aliphatic ether. The reaction of lignin with propylene oxide (PO) produces a copolymer, hydroxypropyl lignin (HPL). Extensive studies have been directed toward the understanding of the chemistry and properties of HPL. A study of the process design is necessary to examine the economics of lignin propoxylation. This work includes the chemical and kinetic analysis of the lignin propoxylation reaction as well as the modelling of a semibatch polymerization process; the design of a lignin propoxylation pilot plant; and a preliminary study of an industrial plant. Two models for the lignin propoxylation reaction are proposed and analyzed to produce a mathematical description of the reaction process. The design of the pilot plant involves (a) the process design, which includes a material balance, a flow sheet, and a listing of the equipment; and (b) the economic analysis in which estimates of capital cost and operating costs are discussed. The scale-up to industrial production gives an estimate of the characteristics of a continuous process. This study constitutes a substantial contribution to the development of a new technology dealing with Engineering Plastics from Lignin. / Master of Science

The Multi-Application Small Light Water Reactor (MASLWR) is a small natural circulation pressurized light water reactor design that was developed by Oregon State University (OSU) and Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) under the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) program to address the growing demand for energy and electricity. The MASLWR design is geared toward providing electricity to small communities in remote locations in developing countries where constructions of large nuclear power plants are not economical. The MASLWR reactor is designed to operate for five years without refueling and with fuel enrichment up to 8 %. In 2003, an experimental thermal hydraulic research facility also known as the OSU MASLWR Test Facility was constructed at Oregon State University to examined the performance of new reactor design and natural circulation reactor design concepts. This thesis is focused on the thermal hydraulics analysis and fuel performance analysis of the MASLWR prototypical cores with fuel enrichment of 4.25 % and 8 %. The goals of the thermal hydraulic analyses were to calculate the departure nucleate boiling ratio (DNBR) values, coolant temperature, cladding temperature and fuel temperature profiles in the hot channel of the reactor cores. The thermal hydraulic analysis was performed for steady state operation of the MASLWR prototypical cores. VIPRE Version 01 is the code used for all the computational modeling of the prototypical cores during thermal hydraulic analysis. The hot channel and hot rod results are compared with thermal design limits to determine the feasibility of the prototypical cores. The second level of analysis was performed with a fuel performance code FRAPCON for the limiting MASLWR fuel rods identified by the neutronic and thermal hydraulic analyses. The goals of the fuel performance analyses were to calculate the oxide thickness on the cladding and fission gas release (FGR). The oxide thickness results are compared with the acceptable design limits for standard fuel rods. The results in this research can be helpful for future core designs of small light water reactors with natural circulation. / Graduation date: 2012

Orientador: Jose Roberto Nunhez / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Quimica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-24T18:12:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Peixoto_SimoneMariaCoimbra_M.pdf: 5964146 bytes, checksum: 8d9dc83b59e8adc5ad07e53b88e1c684 (MD5) Previous issue date: 1998 / Resumo: Os tanques de mistura são muito utilizados nas indústrias químicas para processar produtos de alto valor agregado. No entanto, apesar da sua grande importância nas indústrias químicas, poucas informações estão disponíveis sobre como o desempenho desses equipamentos é influenciado pela configuração mecânica do agitador, pelo tipo de superfície de troca térmica e pelo modo de operação. Um entendimento mais profundo destes fenômenos pode proporcionar meios de se otimizar projetos de reatores que sejam condizentes com uma melhor circulação interna do fluido e uma troca de calor mais eficiente. Este estudo tem o objetivo de estudar o arranjo geométrico de um tanque de mistura com um agitador tipo turbina Rushton e com serpentinas helicoidais para resfriamento conforme o trabalho sugerido por Oldshue e Gretton (1954), visto que até hoje este arranjo é utilizado por muitas indústrias nos projetos desses tanques. Trabalhos anteriores criticaram esta geometria porque este arranjo apresenta serpentinas posicionadas na altura da descarga do fluxo proveniente do agitador. Com as simulações realizadas neste estudo constatou-se que o arranjo do tanque com serpentinas pode sofrer modificações quanto à forma do tanque e ao arranjo do feixe de serpentinas, possibilitando a proposição de geometrias que proporcionam melhor mistura e controle de temperatura. Este trabalho utiliza o pacote computacional CFX-F3D para a realização das simulações. O modelo é bidimensional e o tanque opera em regime laminar. O pacote utiliza o método dos volumes finitos com variáveis colocalizadas e sistema de coordenadas "body-fitted" para resolver as equações do modelo. A comparação dos resultados obtidos, através de várias simulações de arranjos de serpentinas, permitiu a obtenção de um arranjo otimizado de serpentinas que apresenta um controle de temperatura mais eficiente e um melhor coeficiente de transferência de calor com minirnização dos gastos de energia / Abstract: Stirred tank reactors are extensively used in chemical industries to process low volume products of high value. Despite its importance, little is known about the performance of such systems. The mechanical configuration of the internals, in particular the impeller and the heat transfer surfaces, as well as mode of operation, have a deep effect in the flow. A deeper knowledge of the behaviour of such systems may provide ways to improve the mechanical designoThe aim of this study is to analyse the experimentalgeometry of a stirred tank reactor with a Rushton turbine impeller and helical coils according to the work of Oldshue and Gretton (1954), since this kind of configuration is still employed in reactor design in our days. Previous work criticised the experimental apparattus because it employs coils at the same height of the impeller blades. The simulated results showed that it is possible to modify vessel shape and coil helix which lead to designs consistent with better mixing and heat transfer. This work uses the CFX 4.1 fluid dynamics package for the calculations. The model calculates the three velocities in a two dimensional mesh for laminar flow. The software uses fínite volumes with colocalized variables and body fitted coordinates. Simulation results with varying vessel shapes and coil positions led to the determination of optimized designs with more efficient temperature control and better heat transfer coefficient, which allows reduced energy operating costs / Mestrado / Desenvolvimento de Processos Químicos / Mestre em Engenharia Química