Development of alternative cathodes that have high capacity and long cycle life at an affordable cost is critical for next generation rechargeable batteries to meet the ever-increasing requirements of global energy storage market. Lithium-sulfur batteries, employing sulfur cathodes, are increasingly being investigated due to their high theoretical capacity, low cost, and environmental friendliness. However, the practicality of lithium-sulfur technology is hindered by technical obstacles, such as short shelf and cycle life, arising from the shuttling of polysulfide intermediates between the cathode and the anode as well as the poor electronic conductivity of sulfur and the discharge product Li2S. This dissertation focuses on overcoming some of these problems. The sulfur cathode involves an electrochemical conversion reaction compared to the conventional insertion-reaction cathodes. Therefore, modifications in cell-component configurations/structures are needed to realize the full potential of lithium-sulfur cells. This dissertation explores various custom and functionalized cell components that can be adapted with pure sulfur cathodes, e.g., porous current collectors in Chapter 3, interlayers in Chapter 4, sandwiched electrodes in Chapter 5, and surface-coated separators in Chapter 6. Each chapter introduces the new concept and design, followed by necessary modifications and development. The porous current collectors embedded with pure sulfur cathodes are able to contain the active material in their porous space and ensure close contact between the insulating active material and the conductive matrix. Hence, a stable and reversible electrochemical-conversion reaction is facilitated. In addition, the use of highly porous substrates allows the resulting cell to accommodate high sulfur loading. The interlayers inserted between the pure sulfur cathode and the separator effectively intercept the diffusing polysulfides, suppress polysulfide migration, localize the active material within the cathode region, and boost cell cycle stability. The combination of porous current collectors and interlayers offers sandwiched electrode structure for the lithium/dissolved polysulfide cells. By way of integrating the advantages from the porous current collector and the interlayer, the sandwiched electrodes stabilize the dissolved polysulfide catholyte within the cathode region, resulting in a high discharge capacity, long-term cycle stability, and high sulfur loading. The novel surface-coated separators have a polysulfide trap or filter coated onto one side of a commercial polymeric separator. The functional coatings possess physical and/or chemical polysulfide-trapping capabilities to intercept, absorb, and trap the dissolved polysulfides during cell discharge. The functional coatings also have high electrical conductivity and porous channels to facilitate electron, lithium-ion, and electrolyte mobility for reactivating the trapped active material. As a result, effective reutilization of the trapped active material leads to improved long-term cycle stability. The investigation of the key electrochemical and engineering parameters of these novel cell components has allowed us to make progress on (i) understanding the materials chemistry of the applied functionalized cell components and (ii) the electrochemical performance of the resulting lithium-sulfur batteries. / text

In power generation from solid fuel such as coal-fired power plants, combustion efficiency can be monitored by the loss on ignition (LOI) of the pulverised fuel. It is the role of the pulveriser-classifier combination to ensure pulverised fuel delivered to the burners is within the specified limits of fineness and mass flow deviation required to keep the LOI at an acceptable level. However, government imposed limits on emissions have spurred the conversion of many coal fired power plants to convert to the use of Low NOx Burners. To maintain good LOI or combustion efficiency, the limits of fineness and mass flow deviation or inter-outlet fuel distribution have become narrower. A lot of existing pulveriser units cannot operate efficiently within these limits hence retrofits of short term solutions such as orifice balancing and classifier maintenance has been applied. The work performed in this thesis relates to an investigation into coal classifier devices that function to control fineness and inter pipe balancing upstream of the burner and downstream of the pulverisers. A cold flow model of a static classifier was developed to investigate the flow characteristics so that design optimisations can be made. Dynamic similarity was achieved by designing a 1/3 scale model with air as the continuous phase and glass cenospheres of a similar size distribution as pulverised fuel, to simulate the coal dust. The rig was operated in positive pressure with air at room temperature and discharge to atmosphere. The Stokes number similarity (0.11-prototype vs. 0.08-model) was the most important dimensionless parameter to conserve as Reynolds number becomes independent of separation efficiency and pressure drop at high industrial values such as 2 x 10 4 Hoffman, 2008). Air-fuel ratio was also compromised and an assumption of dilute flow was made to qualify this. However, the effect of air fuel ratio was ascertained by its inclusion as an experimental variable. Experiments were conducted at air flow rates of 1.41-1.71kg/s and air fuel ratios of 4.8-10 with classifier vane angle adjustment (30°- 60°) and inlet swirl umbers (S) of 0.49 – 1. Radial profiles of tangential, axial and radial velocity were obtained at several cross sections to determine the airflow pattern and establish links with the separation performance and outlet flow balance. Results show a proportional relationship between cone vane angle and cut size or particle fineness. Models can be derived from the data so that reliable predictions of fineness and outlet fuel balance can be used in power stations and replace simplistic and process simulator models that fail to correctly predict performance. It was found that swirl intensity is more significant a parameter in obtaining balanced flow at the classifier outlets than uniform air flow distribution in the mill. However the latter is important in obtaining high grade efficiencies and cut size. The study concludes that the static classifier can be further improved and retrofit-able solutions can be applied to problems of outlet flow imbalance and poor fineness at the mill outlets.

In this study, new methods and processing equipments for sesame dehulling were investigated. First, water absorption of sesame seed was studied at 20, 30, and 40&deg / C. The data could be modeled using Peleg equation where it was found that the constant k1 was inversely related to temperature but the effect of temperature on k2 was negligible. In the second phase of the work a lab scale continuous screw conveyor as dehuller and two equipments, (1) fluidized bed dryer and (2) hull separator to function as agitator, dryer and separator, for hull separation were designed. Fluidized bed unit was unsuccessful as it caused rapid drying of seeds before hulls can be removed. Using designed dehuller and hull separator, seeds at 30.5, 50.4 and 70.7 % db moisture contents were processed at dehuller speeds of 420, 840, and 1150 rpm. It was found that the percentage of dehulled seeds was linearly dependent on moisture content, optimal speed of designed dehuller was 840 rpm, and results for the efficiency of dehulling the seeds were significantly the same at 420 and 1150 rpm. Repeated passes of seeds through dehuller not only increased the efficiency of dehulling but also the percentage of damaged seeds. A dehulling efficiency of about 92.5 % was attained after four passes. The possibility of soaking seeds in an enzyme solution before dehulling was also investigated. By this means, after soaking in 0.2 % (v/v) Peelzyme-I solution for 15 min, a dehulling efficiency of 95 % was achieved.

Energy storage devices are generally evaluated on two main requirements; power and energy. In supercapacitors these two performance criteria are altered by the capacitance, resistance and voltage. (For complete abstract open document)

abstract: Lithium ion batteries have emerged as the most popular energy storage system, but they pose safety issues under extreme temperatures or in the event of a thermal runaway. Lithium ion batteries with inorganic separators offer the advantage of safer operation. An inorganic separator for lithium ion battery was prepared by an improved method of blade coating α-Al2O3 slurry directly on the electrode followed by drying. The improved separator preparation involves a twice-coating process instead of coating the slurry all at once in order to obtain a thin (~40 µm) and uniform coat. It was also found that α-Al2O3 powder with particle size greater than the pore size in the electrode is preferable for obtaining a separator with 40 µm thickness and consistent cell performance. Unlike state-of-the-art polyolefin separators such as polypropylene (PP) which are selectively wettable with only certain electrolytes, the excellent electrolyte solvent wettability of α-Al2O3 allows the coated alumina separator to function with different electrolytes. The coated α-Al2O3 separator has a much higher resistance to temperature effects than its polyolefin counterparts, retaining its dimensional integrity at temperatures as high as 200ºC. This eliminates the possibility of a short circuit during thermal runaway. Lithium ion batteries assembled as half-cells and full cells with coated α-Al2O3 separator exhibit electrochemical performance comparable with that of polyolefin separators at room temperature. However, the cells with coated alumina separator shows better cycling performance under extreme temperatures in the temperature range of -30°C to 60°C. Therefore, the coated α-Al2O3 separator is very promising for application in safe lithium-ion batteries. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Chemical Engineering 2016

Submitted by ANDERSON INÁCIO JUNQUEIRA JUNIOR null (anderson.inacio@unirv.edu.br) on 2016-10-07T04:28:58Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Anderson Inácio.pdf: 7113990 bytes, checksum: 9e01964850a125e0dfa6f5661554c9ce (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Juliano Benedito Ferreira (julianoferreira@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-10-13T20:07:04Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 junqueirajunior_ai_me_ilha.pdf: 7113990 bytes, checksum: 9e01964850a125e0dfa6f5661554c9ce (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-10-13T20:07:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 junqueirajunior_ai_me_ilha.pdf: 7113990 bytes, checksum: 9e01964850a125e0dfa6f5661554c9ce (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-04 / O presente trabalho apresenta um projeto e construção de um protótipo para separar partículas de desgaste em óleos lubrificantes. Devido à necessidade da confiabilidade de máquinas e equipamentos para a redução de custos fabris, as indústrias recorreram às ações preditivas de manutenção. Dentre as várias ações preditivas de manutenção pode-se citar a análise de lubrificantes. Lubrificantes são materiais colocados entre duas superfícies interativas afim de preencher as irregularidades superficiais, assim reduzindo o atrito e o desgaste. Os lubrificantes podem ser sólidos, semifluidos e fluidos. O óleo é um lubrificante líquido, partículas de desgaste presentes no óleo podem danificar componentes vitais de máquinas. Um método utilizado para analisar as partículas de desgaste presentes no óleo lubrificante é a ferrografia qualitativa. Com base em fundamentos teóricos de obras renomadas no meio cientifico, o objetivo do presente trabalho é projetar e construir um protótipo separador rotativo de partículas de baixo custo, para obter ferrogramas quantitativos de boa qualidade e comparar com os modelos convencionais encontrados no mercado. Através de cinco combinações diferentes de ímãs permanentes foi possível obter ferrogramas, sendo que as combinações 03, 04 e 05 apresentaram melhor qualidade de formação de anéis de partículas ferrosas. A combinação 04 apresentou apenas dois anéis, estes são mais fidedignos em relação aos anéis do aparelho convencional. / This paper presents a project and construction of a prototype to separate wear particles in lubricating oils. Due to the need for reliability of machines and equipment to reduce manufacturing costs, manufacturers have turned to predictive maintenance actions. Among the various predictive maintenance actions can be cited the analysis of lubricants. Lubricants are interactive material placed between two surfaces in order to fill the surface irregularities, thereby reducing friction and wear. The lubricants may be solid, slurries and fluids. The oil is a liquid lubricant, wear particles in the oil can damage critical components of machinery. A method for analyzing wear particles in the lubricating oil is qualitative ferrography. Based on theoretical foundations of renowned works in the scientific environment, the objective of this work is to project and construct a rotary separator prototype low cost particles for quantitative ferrogramas good quality and compare with conventional models available on the market. Through five different combinations of permanent magnets was possible to obtain ferrogramas, and combinations 03, 04 and 05 showed better quality training rings of ferrous particles. The combination 04 had only two rings, these are more reliable with respect to the rings of the conventional device.

Orientador: Aparecido Carlos Gonçalves / Resumo: O presente trabalho apresenta um projeto e construção de um protótipo para separar partículas de desgaste em óleos lubrificantes. Devido à necessidade da confiabilidade de máquinas e equipamentos para a redução de custos fabris, as indústrias recorreram às ações preditivas de manutenção. Dentre as várias ações preditivas de manutenção pode-se citar a análise de lubrificantes. Lubrificantes são materiais colocados entre duas superfícies interativas afim de preencher as irregularidades superficiais, assim reduzindo o atrito e o desgaste. Os lubrificantes podem ser sólidos, semifluidos e fluidos. O óleo é um lubrificante líquido, partículas de desgaste presentes no óleo podem danificar componentes vitais de máquinas. Um método utilizado para analisar as partículas de desgaste presentes no óleo lubrificante é a ferrografia qualitativa. Com base em fundamentos teóricos de obras renomadas no meio cientifico, o objetivo do presente trabalho é projetar e construir um protótipo separador rotativo de partículas de baixo custo, para obter ferrogramas quantitativos de boa qualidade e comparar com os modelos convencionais encontrados no mercado. Através de cinco combinações diferentes de ímãs permanentes foi possível obter ferrogramas, sendo que as combinações 03, 04 e 05 apresentaram melhor qualidade de formação de anéis de partículas ferrosas. A combinação 04 apresentou apenas dois anéis, estes são mais fidedignos em relação aos anéis do aparelho convencional. / Mestre

Triboelectrostatic separation is a physical separation technique that is based on surface electronic property differences among minerals to achieve a separation. Minerals have different surface conductivities and electron affinities. They are charged differently in quantity and/or polarity after a tribocharging process. Particles with different surface charges move discretely under external electric field produce a separation. Electrostatic separation is a dry mineral processing method that does not require any water or chemical reagents. It can greatly simplify the processing circuit and reduce operating cost. Additionally, problems caused by water in conventional wet mineral processing such as water freezing, dewatering, water pollution and water treatment are eliminated. Electrostatic separation has great potential as a fine particle separator (i.e. < 1mm) in industrial minerals processing application, especially in arid areas where water supply is limited. In the current study, particle tribocharging kinetics was evaluated using a model system comprised of copper, pure coal, silica and ceramic. The results of the tribocharging process were recorded and analyzed using an oscilloscope and a signal processing technique. Charge exchange, charge separation and charge relaxation corresponding to tribocharging processes were studied using the generated pulsing signals. The signals provided a method to quantify the charge penetration into the conductor bulk during tribocharging. A new method to measure the particle surface charge using the pulsing was proposed and assessed, which was extremely useful for subtle surface charge measurements which effectively eliminated environmental noise. The interactive forces at the contacting interface, relative displacement, material electronic properties and ambient relative humidity were found to impact particle surface charge. The silica surface sites are 69 times more chargeable than the coal surface, which provides a fundamental explanation for upgrading that is achievable for silica-rich coal using triboelectrostatic separation. The influences of operating and environmental parameters were quantified and compared using an environment controlled chamber. Energy consumption at the interface was found to be positively correlated with the particle charge. Relative humidity has dual effects on the particle tribocharging, excessively low or high humidity levels do not favor particle tribocharging. Finally, a semi-empirical mathematical model of particle tribocharging was developed from the basic tribocharging compression model utilizing the parametric experiment study results. The model provides a more accurate method to predict particle surface charge under exact tribocharging conditions. A novel rotary triboelectrostatic separator (RTS) using the tribocharging mechanism was tested for upgrading fine coal. The particle size influencing the RTS tribocharging and separation process is investigated. A practical method to quantify the particle charging distribution was developed based on the direct particle charge measurement and a Gaussian distribution assumption. The smaller particles were found to have a higher average surface charge and wider surface charge distribution, which provided an opportunity to separate the high grade and the low grade coal particles. However, particles that are too small have weak particle-charger tribocharging effect that reduces particle tribocharging efficiency. The particle separation process was analyzed considering the exact experimental hydrodynamic separating conditions. Smaller particles were found to be more sensitive to the airflow that used to transport the particles as a result of the effect on residence time in the separation chamber. A method combining mathematical and statistical analysis was proposed to theoretically predict RTS separation efficiency based on the particle charging conditions and particle separation conditions. The particle horizontal displacement probability distribution was ultimately derived from this method. The model predictions indicate that a wider horizontal displacement distribution provides improved separation efficiency for the RTS unit. The theoretical analysis indicates that a particle size range between 0.105 and 0.21 mm has widest horizontal displacement distribution and thus represents an optimum particle size range which is in agreement with experimental results. The influences of the RTS operating parameters on separation performance achieved on a pure coal-silica mixture were investigated using a parametric study. The optimum operating conditions were identified. Using the optimum conditions, a five-stage separation process was conducted using the RTS unit to obtain the necessary data for the development of an ideal performance curve. Two stages of RTS separation were found to generate good quality clean coal with acceptable recovery. Particle tribocharging tests were performed using pure coal, pure silica and the coal-silica mixture as model feed materials. The test result found that mixing the pure coal with the sand reduced the particle charge distribution of the coal while increasing the charge distribution of the pure silica particle. The finding explains the inability to produce clean coal products containing ultra-low ash contents. However, the rejection of silica to the tailings stream is very high. The RTS upgrading of low-ash coal sample was tried using experiment design method, which revealed that feed rate was the most significant while the applied charger voltage and the injection air rate were the least significant in regards to product quality. Feed mass flow rate and the co-flow air rate have a significant interactive effect. Considering the theoretical findings, the impact of high feed rates is due to the negative effect on particle tribocharging efficiency resulting from an increase in the particle-particle surface charge relaxation. Under the optimum test conditions, an ultraclean coal was produced with an ash content of 3.85±0.08% with a combustible recovery of 62.97±1.11% using the RTS unit.

The development of the new cathode and anode materials of Lithium-Ion Batteries (LIBs) with high energy density and outstanding electrochemical performance is of substantial technological importance due to the ever-increasing demand for economic and efficient energy storage system. Because of the abundance of element sulfur and high theoretical energy density, Lithium-Sulfur (Li-S) batteries have become one of the most promising candidates for the next-generation energy storage system. However, the shuttling effect of electrolyte-soluble polysulfides severely impedes the cell performance and commercialization of Li-S batteries, and significant progress have been made to mitigate this shuttle effect in the past two decades. Coordination polymers (CPs) or Metal-organic Frameworks (MOFs) have been attracted much attention by virtue of their controllable porosity, nanometer cavity sizes and high surface areas, which supposed to be an available material in suppressing polysulfide migration. In this thesis, we investigate different mechanisms of mitigating polysulfide diffusion by applying a layer of MOFs (including Y-FTZB, ZIF-7, ZIF-8, and HKUST-1) on a separator. We also fabricate a new free-standing 2D coordination polymer Zn2(Benzimidazolate)2(OH)2 with rich hydroxyl (OH-) groups by using a simple, scalable and low cost method at air/water surface. Our results suggest that the chemical stability, the cluster morphology and the surface function groups of MOFs shows a greater impact on minimizing the shuttling effect in Li-S batteries, other than the internal cavity size in MOFs. Meanwhile, the new design of 2D coordination polymer efficiently mitigate the shuttling effect in Li-S battery resulting in a largely promotion of the battery capacity to 1407 mAh g-1 at 0.1 C and excellent cycling performance (capacity retention of 98% after 200 cycles at 0.25C). Such excellent cell performance is mainly owing to the fancying physical and chemical structure controllability of MOFs or CPs, which has substantial potential for future commercial utilizations.

The diploma thesis deals with multitube cyclone changes leading to improve separating efficiency of solid particles. The thesis begins with theoretical part, in which the attributes and types of solid particle separators focusing on cyclones are presented. The practical part begins with separating efficiency and pressure drop calculation of the specific multitube cyclone. Subsequently the separating problem is explained and the changes leading to eliminating this problem are presented and evaluated. In the last and main part of thesis the design project including piping design and fan choice is created.