Nanofluid in Hydrophilic State for EOR Implication Through Carbonate Reservoir

More than 50% of oil is trapped in petroleum reservoirs after applying primary and secondary recovery methods for removal. Thus, to produce more crude oils from these reservoirs, different enhanced oil recovery (EOR) approaches should be performed. In this research, the effect of hydrophilic nanoparticles of SiO₂ at 12 nm size, in (EOR) from carbonate reservoir is systematically investigated. Using this nanoparticle, we can increase viscosity of the injection fluid and then lower the mobility ratio between oil and nanofluid in carbonate reservoirs. To this end, a core flooding apparatus was used to determine the effectiveness and robustness of nanosilica for EOR from carbonate reservoirs. These experiments are applied on the reservoir carbonate core samples, which are saturated with brine and oil that was injected with nanoparticles of SiO₂ at various concentrations. The output results depict that, with increasing nanoparticle concentration, the viscosity of the injection fluid increases and results in decreased mobility ratio between oil and nanofluid. The results confirm that using the nanoparticle increases the recovery. Also, increasing the nanoparticle concentration up to 0.6% increases the ultimate recovery (%OOIP), but a further increase to 1.0 does not have a significant effect.     

Energy and exergy analysis of a novel turbo-compounding system for supercharging and mild hybridization of a gasoline engine

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Number of hybrid vehicles has increased around the world significantly. Automotive industry is utilizing the hybridization of the powertrain system to...     

A novel method for risk assessment of electrostatic sensitivity of nitroaromatics through their activation energies of thermal decomposition

This study presents a novel relationship between electric spark sensitivity of nitroaromatic energetic compounds and their activation energies of thermal decomposition. The new correlation can help to elucidate the mechanism of initiation of energetic materials by electric spark. It can be used to predict the magnitude of electric spark sensitivity of new nitroaromatics, which is difficult to measure. The methodology assumes that electric spark sensitivity of a nitroaromatic energetic compound with general formula C_aH_bN_cO_d can be expressed as a function of its activation energy of thermal decomposition as well as optimized elemental composition and the contribution of specific molecular structural parameters. The new correlation has the root mean square and the average deviations of 1.43 and 1.17 J, respectively, for 22 nitroaromatic energetic compounds with different molecular structures. The proposed new method is also tested for eight nitroaromatic energetic compounds, which have complex molecular structures, e.g., 1,3,7,9-tetranitrophenoxazine, 2,4,6-tris(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)-1,3,5-triazine, and 1-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)-5,7-dinitrobenzotriazole.     

Preparation of ethylene/α-olefins copolymers using (2-RInd)2ZrCl2/MCM-41 (R:Ph,H) catalyst,microstructural study

(2-RInd)₂ZrCl₂ (R:Ph,H) catalyst was supported on MCM-41 and ethylene copolymerization behavior as well as microstructure of copolymers were studied. A steady rate–time profile behavior was observed for homo and copolymerization of ethylene using supported catalysts. It was noticed that increasing the comonomer content can result in lower physical properties. The obtained results indicated that (2-PhInd)₂ZrCl₂/MCM-41 had higher ability of comonomer incorporation than the non-substituted supported catalysts. The CCC, CCE, and ECC (C: comonomer, E: ethylene) triad sequence distribution in backbone of copolymers were negligible, that means no evidence could be detected for comonomer blocks. The polymer characterization revealed that utilizing 1-octene instead of 1-hexene as the comonomer leads to more heterogeneous distribution of chemical composition. The heterogeneity of the chemical composition distribution and the physical properties were influenced by the type of comonomer and catalyst. (2-PhInd)₂ZrCl₂/MCM-41 produced copolymers containing narrower distribution of lamellae (0.3–1 nm) than the copolymer produce using Ind₂ZrCl₂/MCM-41 (0.3–1.6 nm).     

Comparison and Evaluation of Three Diagnostic Methods for Detection of Beet Curly Top Virus in Sugar Beet Using Different Visualizing Systems

To diminish the time required for some diagnostic assays including polymerase chain reaction (PCR), loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP; due to mainly DNA extraction step) and also triple antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (TAS-ELISA) into a minimum level, an innovative immunocapture LAMP (IC-LAMP) and immunocapture PCR (IC-PCR) protocol on the basis of beet curly top virus (BCTV) genome was used and optimized. TAS-ELISA was employed first to validate the existence of the virus. All six IC-LAMP primers (i.e. forward outer primer (F3), backward outer primer (B3), forward inner primer (FIP), backward inner primer (BIP), loop forward (LF) and loop backward (LB)) together with IC-PCR primers were designed on the basis of the replication-associated protein (rep) gene (GenBank accession AF379637.1) of BCTV genome. Also, a novel colorimetric IC-LAMP assay for rapid and easy detection of BCTV was developed here, its potential compared with TAS-ELISA and IC-PCR assays. The method, on the whole, had the following advantages over the two mentioned procedures: (i) fascinatingly, no need of DNA extraction; (ii) no requirement of expensive and sophisticated tools for amplification and detection; (iii) no post-amplification treatment of the amplicons and (iv) a flexible and easy detection approach, which is visually detected by naked eyes using diverse visual dyes.     

Characterization and High Level Expression of Acidic Endoglucanase in Pichia pastoris

Bioconversion of cellulosic material into glucose needs cellulase enzymes. One of the most important organisms that produces cellulases is Trichoderma reesei, whose cellulose enzymes are probably the most widely used in the industry. However, these enzymes are not stable enough at high pH and temperatures. The optimized synthetic endoglucanase II gene with Pichia pastoris codon preferences was secretary expressed in P. pastoris. Recombinant enzyme characterization showed maximum activity at pH 4.8 and temperature 75 °C, and it demonstrated increasing thermal stability in high temperature. The enzyme maintained its activity in a wide pH range from 3.5 to 6.5. The optimization of fermentation medium was carried out in shaking flasks. Recombinant protein expression at optimum conditions (pH 7, temperature 25 °C, and 1 % methanol induction) for 72 h demonstrated 2,358.8 U/ml endoglucanase activity units. To our knowledge, this is the highest acidic thermophilic endoglucanase activity that is reported in crude intracellular medium in P. pastoris. We conclude that P. pastoris is an appropriate host for high-level expression of optimized endoglucanase gene with improved thermal stability.     

Controllable one-step synthesis of ZnO nanostructures using molybdophosphoric acid

ZnO nanostructures were synthesised in a hydrothermal reaction of zinc acetate in the presence of molybdophosphoric acid (H₃[PMo₁₂O₄₀]) as well as its vanadium-substituted acid (H₄[PMo₁₁VO₄₀]) at various times, temperatures, and concentrations. The ZnO nanostructures were characterised by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results demonstrated that the synthesised products are crystalline with a zincite hexagonal phase. Various ZnO nanostructures, such as nanoparticles, microrods, and nanosheets, were produced by changing the experimental conditions. The photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange was also investigated using the ZnO nanoparticles thus prepared. These particles exhibited high performance in the photocatalytic degradation of MO and almost 100 % decolourisation occurred within only 20 min.     

99mTc-radiolabeled imidazo[2,1-b]benzothiazole derivatives as potential radiotracers for glioblastoma

This study presents [^99mTc]BPTG-1 and [^99mTc]BPTG-2 for glioblastoma imaging. In vitro cellular uptakes of these radiotracers were examined in SKOV-3, MCF-7, U87-MG, HT-29, and A549 cell lines. U87-MG cell line displayed the highest radiotracers uptakes. Biodistribution study in U87-MG tumor bearing mice revealed higher uptake of radiotracers in tumor than muscle and brain. Liver, intestine, and kidneys displayed the highest radioactivity uptakes. The main route of radiotracers elimination was hepatobiliary. Due to the brain uptake of these radiotracers, they are promising radiotracers for future studies in the diagnosis of glioblastoma.

     

Non-isothermal pyrolysis of used lubricating oil and the catalytic effect of carbon-based nanomaterials on the process performance

Pyrolysis is a commonly used method for the recovery of used lubricating oil (ULO), which should be kinetically improved by a catalyst, due to its high level of energy consumption. In this research, the catalytic effects of carbon nanotube (CNT) and graphene nanoplatelets on the pyrolysis of ULO were studied through thermogravimetric analysis. First, the kinetic parameters of ULO pyrolysis including activation energy were calculated to be 170.12 and 167.01 kJ mol^?1 by FWO and KAS methods, respectively. Then, the catalytic effects of CNT and graphene nanoplatelets on pyrolysis kinetics were studied. While CNT had a negligible effect on the pyrolysis process, graphene nanoplatelets significantly reduced the temperature of maximum conversion during pyrolysis from 400 to 350 °C, due to high thermal conductivity and homogenous heat transfer in the pyrolysis process. On the other hand, graphene nanoplatelets maximized the rate of conversion of highly volatile components at lower temperatures (<?100 °C), which was mainly due to the high affinity of these components toward graphene nanoplatelets and also the effect of nanoplatelets’ edges which have free tails and can bond with other molecules. Moreover, graphene nanoplatelets decreased the activation energy of the conversion to 154.48 and 152.13 kJ mol^?1 by FWO and KAS methods, respectively.