The effect of starvation periods on the performance of a two-liquid-phase mixed tank bioreactor for removal of n-hexane from air streams

In this research the effect of silicone oil as a heavy organic solvent on the performance of a mixed tank bioreactor was investigated. In the first stage of the experiments, the response of a two-liquid-phase mixed tank bioreactor to periods of n-hexane starvation was compared with that of a control bioreactor. In the control bioreactor, after 3?days of starvation, approximately six days were needed to reach the removal efficiency it had before starvation. This figure was only 10?h for the silicone oil-containing bioreactor. The results confirmed that inclusion of a heavy organic solvent can increase the elimination capacity of a bioreactor and to help sustain high elimination capacity after starvation periods. In the second stage of the experiments, the effect of the amount of silicone oil on the performance of the bioreactor was investigated. Increasing the amount of oil from 5 to 10% (v/v) increased the maximum elimination capacity from 106 to 117?g/m³?h.     

Application of artificial neural networks for formulation and modeling of dye adsorption onto multiwalled carbon nanotubes

In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) has been developed to predict the adsorption amount of dye (methylene blue) onto multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Batch experiments have been carried out to obtain experimental data. Important parameters in the adsorption system such as initial dye concentration, adsorbent dosage, temperature, pH and contact time have been used as the inputs of the network, while the output is the final concentration of dye in aqueous solution after adsorption. The neural network structure has been optimized by testing various training algorithms and different number of neurons in a hidden layer. An empirical equation for determination of final dye concentration in aqueous solutions after adsorption has been developed by using the weights of the optimized network. The results of the optimized ANN have been compared with conventional models in equilibrium and kinetic fields. According to error analysis and determination coefficient, the ANN was found to be the most appropriate model to describe this adsorption process. Sensitivity analysis showed that initial dye concentration, pH and contact time are the most effective parameters in this process. The influence percentages of these parameters on the output were 28, 24 and 24 %, respectively.     

Investigation of double-diffusive mixed convection effect on the particles dissolution in the shear flow using coupled SPM–LBM

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In the present study, double-diffusive mixed convection related to the heat and mass transfer of the solid particles dissolution in a shear flow was...     

Integrating thermal-concentration smoothed profile with lattice Boltzmann methods for simulating sedimentation of nonisothermal circular particles

A thermal-concentration smoothed profile-lattice Boltzmann method is proposed to study the effect of the concentration field on the dynamic behavior of nonisothermal cylindrical particles during the sedimentation process. The velocity, temperature, and concentration equations are solved using the lattice Boltzmann method. Moreover, the smoothed profile method is employed to enforce the nonslip boundary condition as well as constant temperature and constant concentration boundary conditions at the particles surfaces. Moreover, the Boussinesq approximation is used to couple the velocities, temperatures, and concentrations fields. The proposed combined method is validated by comparing the present numerical results with those found in the literature, showing good consistency. Then, the effect of the concentration buoyancy on the behavior of nonisothermal particles is discussed. In addition, the effect of Prandtl, Schmidt, and thermal Grashof numbers on the settling process is investigated. The results show that, by adding the effect of concentration, the maximum settling velocity of hot particles is reduced more relative to the cold ones; accordingly, the cold particles are settled faster than the hot ones. Finally, the sedimentation of two particles in a container at high thermal Grashof is investigated. It is shown that, at high thermal Grashof, there is an intense competition between the buoyancy force and gravity for the hot particles. The buoyancy flow generated leads to the reversal of the drafting-kissing-tumbling motion of the hot particles, making the particles move upward.     

Estimation of sodium bicarbonate crystal size distributions in a steady-state bubble column reactor

Sodium bicarbonate is a substance which is produced in the middle stages of the soda ash production process. In this precipitation process, carbon dioxide gas is continuously injected into the bubble column reactor, which contains carbonate and bicarbonate solutions. This work deals with the study of the gas?Cliquid mass transfer, coupled with chemical reactions, and the liquid?Csolid mass transfer, coupled with crystallization. In this mathematical model, a mole balance has been instituted on flows and components through the bubble column, which also utilized a nucleation and growth formula for the solid phase and the Danckwerts?? theory for mass transfer between the gas and liquid phases. The mathematical model can predict the effects of several parameters on the sodium bicarbonate crystal size distributions. We computed the mathematical simulation model results with the experimental results of the bubble column reactor of the Shiraz Petrochemical Complex for validating the model and investigated the effects of different parameters on the sodium bicarbonate crystal size distributions.     

Numerical study of aerosol particle deposition in simple and converging-diverging micro-channels with a slip boundary condition at the wall

The design of micro-devices involving aerosol transport requires the study of the deposition of aerosols in micro-channels. In this study, the slip and no-slip boundary conditions for the gas flow regime were applied to the Navier-Stokes equations to obtain the particle deposition in simple and converging-diverging micro-channels. The equation of particle motion included inertial, viscous, Brownian, and gravity terms. It was found that the ratio of gravity to inertial effects controls the deposition of particles with diameters of 0.1-1 μm, and the ratio of diffusion to inertial effects controls the deposition of particles with diameters of 0.01-0.001 i~m. Comparison between the no-slip and slip flow regimes showed that the deposition of 0.1- to 1-μm-diameter particles was less and the deposition of 0.01- to 0.001-1μm-diameter particles was greater for the slip flow regime. There was no significant difference between slip and no-slip flow regimes for the deposition of 0.01- to 0.1-μm-diameter particles. Finally, it was shown that the stagnated gas in the corners of the converging-diverging micro-channel produced similar gas velocity profiles under the slip and no-slip flow regimes.