5^th International Conference on Advances in Chemical Engineering & Technology October 4-5, 2018 London, UK

Biography:

Aliénor Chauvin is a 2^nd year PhD student skilled in Chemical Engineering and Applied Microbiology. Graduate chemist engineer (ENSIACET, France), Master degree in Process Engineering and Environment(ENSIACET, France), currently PhD student in Physico-Chemistry of Materials (IMT-Mines Alès, France) Currently, in the framework of the H2020 MSCA-RISE-2015 NANOGUARD2AR project, she is working on germicidal energetically independent dark-operating composite nanomaterials which present an alternative attractive way for the indoor air antimicrobial conditioning. Area of Interest is Interactions between materials and environment.

Abstract:

It is already a well-known fact that on the average, employed men spend 90% of the day (21.7 h) indoors; as for married housewives, they spend 95% of the day (22.8 h) indoors. In this context, the indoor air conditioning (climatic, chemical, and antimicrobial) is currently one of the strategic priorities in the domain of collective hygiene and healthcare. Among modern technologies applied for the indoor air antimicrobial conditioning, the greatest attention is currently drawn to the photocatalytic air recycling procedures. However, all photocatalysts need to be activated by external energy inputs (energetically-dependent materials). For voluminous confined spaces, the energy costs of long-duration recycling photocatalytic processes become very important. The possibilities of application of non-photocatalytic dark-operating active materials for the environmental media germicidal conditioning were already discussed. These species occurring in the majority of cases, as metal or metal oxide-based nanomaterials (M/MO-NMs), including free nanoparticle (NPs), are declared to be energetically independent: no external excitation is needed for their functioning. The oxidative stress provided by reactive oxygen species (ROS) formed in contact of M/MO-NMs and NPs surfaces with humid media is the most widely probed contributory factor to the germicidal ability of the materials under consideration. The second mechanism which can cause important mechanical cellular damages is available for certain fibrous and tube-like shaped species. The dark-operating germicidal materials (DOGM) are applied predominantly in water medium and often in static conditions. The present contribution discusses the results of the implementation of two new DOGM types: a MnO₂-based interactive ROS generator and a ZnO-based blade-needle-shaped cellular destructor, for dynamic indoor air antimicrobial conditioning carried out in recycling operating mode (300 L pilot unit, airborne bacteria, real-time viable particle counter 9510-BD BioTrak, different circulation rates).

Recent Publications

1.    Balikhin I L, V I Berestenko, I A Domashnev, E N Kabatchkov, E N Kurkin, et al. (2016) Photocatalytic recyclers for purification and disinfection of indoor air in medical institutions. Biomedical Engineering 49(6):389–393.

2.    Campos Matias D, Paola C Zucchi, Ann Phung, Steven N Leonard and Elizabeth B Hirsch (2016) The activity of antimicrobial surfaces varies by testing protocol utilized. PLOS ONE 11(8) e0160728.

3.    Saleh Navid B, A R M Nabiul Afrooz, Joseph H Bisesi, Nirupam Aich, Jaime Plazas-Tuttle, et al. (2014) Emergent properties and toxicological considerations for nanohybrid materials in aquatic systems. Nanomaterials 4(2):372–407.

4.    Beyth Nurit, Yael Houri-Haddad, Avi Domb, Wahid Khan and Ronen Hazan (2015) Alternative antimicrobial approach: nano-antimicrobial materials. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 246012:16.

5.    MiaÅ›kiewicz-Peska Ewa and Maria Łebkowska (2011) Effect of antimicrobial air filter treatment on bacterial survival. Fibres Text East Eur 19,1(84):73–77.

Biography:

Dah-Shyang Tsai has been a Researcher and Educator at the Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan (Taiwan Tech) since 1985. His expertise is in the synthesis and characterization of inorganic materials coating and related surface issues. These inorganic coatings are designed to upgrade the performance of device, or simply enhance our knowledge on film growth. For example, his research group worked out the reactive sticking coefficients of silane free radicals in CVD, using the trench thickness profiles grown in a hot-wall reactor (2002). In another instance, they prepared Pt/Sn/SnO₂ nanowires on the carbon paper which served as a combination of CO-tolerant electrocatalysts and gas diffusion layer in fuel cells (2010). Recent interests of his research group are focused on the soft sparking mode of plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO), and improving the electron and ion paths of the porous electrode for electrochemical energy storage device, such as lithium ion hybrid capacitor.

Abstract:

Plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) of an aluminum alloy workpiece enables its surface protection beyond anodizing. One salient attribute of PEO is the micro discharges, which accelerate the growth rate, densify the coating, meanwhile damage the coating microstructure and leave pinholes and cracks which are viewed as a major weakness of this technology. Entering the soft sparking regime may produce a coating with the feature of a dense inner layer and lessens the intrinsic porosity problem. The transition of soft sparking is typically identified through the anodic voltage drop under a constant current mode. Fig. 1a shows three soft sparking transitions with anodic current 1.2 A and negative current 1.4 A (1.5 or 1.6 A) of bipolar pulsed DC. The transitions occur at 66 (1.4 A), 54 (1.5 A), 45 (1.6 A) mins. We long suspected that the output voltage drop of power supply is a belated signal, since the micro arc state has been softened before voltage drop. Indeed, our analysis of V-I transients of positive pulse, points out that the fitted time constants R₁C₁, R₂C₂ are transition precursors, since they plunge before the anodic voltage drops. Figs. 1b and 1c show R₁C₁ and R₂C₂ fall simultaneously at 40 mins for three negative currents 1.4, 1.5, 1.6 A. On the study of frequency dependence, Fig. 2a indicates that the soft sparking transition moves forward with increasing frequency of applied current, 54 (50 Hz), 44 (100 Hz), and 29 (500 Hz) min. Fig. 2b shows R₁C₁ also displays a consistent fall at an earlier time, 40, 38, 28 min. The only exception is R₂C₂ at 500 Hz, Fig. 2c, which falls three times, instead of one time. We have thus found a stratified microstructure of the 500 Hz coating, suggesting that the three falls in R₂C₂ correspond to three intensity decreases in local plasma, an indication of sensitive diagnosis.

Recent Publications

1. Tsai D S and Chou C C (2018) Review of the soft sparking issues in plasma electrolytic oxidation. Metals 8:105.

2. Rogov A B, Yerokhin A and Matthews A (2017) The role of cathodic current in PEO of aluminum. Langmuir 33:11059–11069.

3. Fatkullin A R, Parfenov E V, Yerokhin A, Lazarev D M and Matthews A (2015) Effect of positive and negative pulse voltages on surface properties and equivalent circuit of the plasma electrolytic oxidation process. Surf Coat Technol. 284:427–437.

4. Liu C Y, Tsai D S, Wang J M, Tsai J T J and Chou C C (2017) Particle size influences on the coating microstructure through green chromia inclusion in PEO. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 9:21864–21871.

5. Matykina E, Arrabal R, Skeldon P, Thompson G E and Belenguer P (2010) AC PEO of aluminum with porous alumina precursor films. Surf Coat Technol. 205:1668–1678.

Biography:

Martin P Atkins spent 34 years in the Oil & Gas/Energy industry, mostly with BP and partners and PETRONAS (Malaysia) before moving to Queen’s University Belfast, where he holds the Chair of Chemical Innovation and Sustainability and CEO of Green Lizard Technologies. He spent five years in China building BP’s clean energy centre in Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) where he commercialized five technologies in five years including new catalytic processes for syngas/methanol conversion, zeolite membranes for alcohol purification and hydrogen membrane technologies.

Abstract:

Biography:

Paramespri Naidoo is the Co-Director of the Thermodynamics Research Unit, at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. This research unit specializes in phase equilibrium studies (high-low pressure-temperature measurements and modeling), vapour-liquid, liquid-liquid and solid-liquid equilibrium. She has been specializing in this area, developing new equipment to extend the range and versatility of the experimental capabilities within the research unit. This research is supported by local chemical process industries, and in collaboration with several internationally recognized research groups in the field of Chemical Thermodynamics and Separation Studies.

Abstract:

Recent Pubmications:

Chemical separation methods such as distillation and evaporation are energy intensive and are often not suitable as they can alter the properties of the chemicals within the mixture. Evaporation is the traditional and commonly used method for juice concentration; however, the juice can be very sensitive to heat which can alter its colour and flavour. In the processing of sugar cane to produce sugar crystals, the clarified juice is concentrated in a multi-effect evaporator train to 60% (m/m) sucrose.   The separation of xenon from a gaseous mixture of xenon, krypton and argon remains a difficult and costly industrial process. Although cryogenic distillation, adsorption and membranes are established methods for the separation of these gases, the drawbacks include high energy consumption when using cryogenic distillation, and a low adsorption capacity for the selected adsorbents which makes these options uneconomical. Initial studies within our research unit have reported the dissociation data for the systems mentioned and the proposed separation process via the hydrate method. Gas hydrate separation is an emerging technology which concentrates the mixture by trapping a hydrate former, the gaseous molecule within a lattice cage created by the water molecules. Similarly, a separation is affected within a gaseous mixture when a selective gas component is enclosed in the hydrate clathrate. A gas hydrate reactor vessel, with two viewing windows, and with good agitation of the cell contents was designed to investigate the effect of juice concentration, and separation of gas mixtures. Other design features include sample removal for the gaseous mixture. Hydrate dissociation measurements and kinetic studies performed determine the hydrate boundary condition, the induction time, crystal size, as well as rate of hydrate formation. In this study, the separations via gas hydrate method will be reported and discussed, and its feasibility will be compared to the traditional methods for separation.

1.    Nelson W M, Naicker S, Naidoo P, Ramsuroop S and Ramjugernath D (2018) Experimental phase equilibrium for the binary system of n -pentane +2-propanol using a new equilibrium cell and the static total pressure method. Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data 63(3):732–740.

2.    Tumba K, Mohammadi A H, Naidoo P and Ramjugernath D (2016) Assessing hydrate formation as a separation process for mixtures of close-boiling point compounds: a modeling study. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 35:1405–1415.

3.    Smith A, Babaee S, Mohammadi A H, Naidoo P and Ramjugernath D (2016) Clathrate hydrate dissociation conditions for refrigerant + sucrose aqueous solution: experimental measurement and thermodynamic modelling. Fluid Phase Equilibria 413:99–109.

4.    Babaee S, Hashemi H, Mohammadi A H, Naidoo P and Ramjugernath D (2016) Experimental measurement and thermodynamic modeling of hydrate phase equilibrium for krypton + tetra-n-butyl ammonium bromide aqueous solution. Journal of Supercritical Fluids 107:676–681.

5.    Babaee S, Hashemi H, Mohammadi A H, Naidoo P and Ramjugernath D (2015) Experimental measurements and thermodynamic modeling of hydrate dissociation conditions for the xenon + tbab + water systems, J. Chem. Eng. Data 60:1324–1330.

Biography:

Amarjit Bakshi has a PhD and also Undergraduate Degree, both in Chemical Engineering from University of Surrey, Guildford, UK. He has over 40 years’ experience in Engineering/Consulting Management at senior level in Process Engineering, Technology, Business Development, Licensing, Acquisitions, Alliances and Project Management and Engineering, Operations Management and Process Engineering. He has provided proven leadership and vision with broader perspectives and able to manage multiple tasks and personnel on mega projects. He has worked in all EU countries including UK, Germany and The Netherlands. 

Abstract:

Major advancement in oil and gas production has been in horizontal drilling for the last 25 years; other advancements have been in shale fracking which has released major oil and gas from tight formation. Though with the technologies we have, the recovery is 25 to 55 of the original oil in place (OOIP). With new technologies it is possible to recover 80 to 90 percent of OOIP. Shale fracking and horizontal drilling has revolutionized the fossil fuel and energy industry affecting the petrochemicals and refining industry profits. Shale fracking is coming to Argentina, Brazil, Poland, Slovak Republic, India and with all the Shale formations in China, it has the biggest potential. What is needed is new technology and looking outside the box; also in some countries geology and terrain is difficult. Hydraulic fracking with horizontal drilling might not work in Poland and other options like RHT technology is one of the option to provide solutions. Development of hydraulic shale fracking in USA for gas and oil production has brought major advantages to petrochemical industry with cheap gas to the steam crackers. This has increased the profit of petrochemical industry by reducing ethylene feedstock for petrochemicals. USA is now the net exporter of the gas and couple of terminals for LPG export have been built. With the low gas prices in USA, most of the shale fracking operators are working on wells which provide gas/oil, enhancing the economics and oil production more than it is in Saudi Arabia. The oil and gas industry is going through major shift; however, it does not mean end of oil and gas industry but changes are expected in major ways. Small amount of the energy market share is taken by alternate energy (wind mills, solar panels and alternate fuels, ethanol and biodiesel). Energy efficiency will impact the supply and demand.

Recent Publications

1. Sahoo B B and Sahoo N and Saha U K (2009) Effect of engine parameters and type of gaseous fuel on the performance of dual-fuel gas diesel engines—a critical review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier 13(6-7):1151–1184.

2. Korakianitis T, Boruta M, Jerovsek J and Meitner P L (2009) Performance of a single nutating disk engine in the 2 to 500Â kW power range. Applied Energy, Elsevier 86(10): 2213–2221.

3. Baiju B, Naik M K and Das L M (2009) A comparative evaluation of compression ignition engine characteristics using methyl and ethyl esters of Karanja oil. Renewable Energy, Elsevier 34(6):1616–1621.

4. Saravanan N, Nagarajan G, Kalaiselvan K M and Dhanasekaran C (2008) An experimental investigation on hydrogen as a dual fuel for diesel engine system with exhaust gas recirculation technique. Renewable Energy, Elsevier 33(3):422–427
5. Saravanan N, Nagarajan G and Narayanasamy S (2008) An experimental investigation on DI diesel engine with hydrogen fuel. Renewable Energy, Elsevier 33(3):415–421.

Biography:

Raj Kumar Gupta is Professor of Chemical Engineering, at Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology Patiala. He joined the Department of Chemical Engineering in 1999 and is currently Head of the Department. His research interests are in the areas of modeling and simulation of chemical processes, specifically, FCC modeling and simulation, Reactive distillation modeling and simulation, Multiphase reaction kinetics, RTD modeling, CO₂ capture, Heat transfer enhancement, Water and wastewater treatment.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: It is well recognized that porous carbons have been successfully prepared from novel raw materials and tested for their suitability as adsorbents. Also, many waste materials are used for the preparation of carbon to be used as adsorbent. In this work, carbon prepared from the PET waste is characterized and tested for its adsorption capacity for CO₂ at various concentration levels of CO2 in the feed gas. The carbon was found to maintain stability over several adsorption cycles without significant decrease in adsorption capacity. Further, this carbon adsorbent was activated and tested for adsorption of CO₂. The adsorbent was found to have surface area of about 1400 m2/g and adsorption capacities in the range of 1.3-1.5 mmol/g. The kinetics of the adsorption process was modeled using fraction order model. Further, the fixed bed adsorption process was modeled to estimate the breakthrough profiles at different experimental conditions.

Recent Publications

1. Thakur R, Barman, S, Gupta RK (2017) Kinetic investigation in Transalkylation of 1,2,4 Trimethylbenzene with toluene over rare earth metal modified large pore zeolite. Chemical Engineering Communications 204: 254-264.
2. Thakur R, Gupta RK, Barman S (2017) A comprehensive study of catalytic performance of rare earth metal modified beta zeolites for synthesis of cymene. Chemical Papers 71: 137-148.
3. Kaur H, Bulasara, VK, Gupta RK (2016) Effect of carbonates composition on the permeation characteristics of low-cost ceramic membrane supports. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry 44: 185-194.
4. Singh D, Gupta RK, and Kumar V (2015) Simulation of a plant scale reactive distillation column for esterification of acetic acid. Computers and Chemical Engineering 73: 70-81.

5.   Purandare PS, Lele M, Gupta RK (2015) Investigation on thermal analysis of conical coil heat exchanger. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 90: 1188-1196.

Biography:

Stéphanie D Lambert is a FRS‐FNRS research associate and an associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering (DCE) of the University of Liege (Belgium) since 2009. She obtained her Ph.D. in Applied Sciences in 2003. After an engineer position in a Belgian chemical company (Nanocyl) (2004‐2005), and two postdoctoral stays at the DCE of the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2006, and at the Institute Charles Gerhardt in Montpellier in 2007, she joined the team “Nanomaterials, Catalysis, Electrochemistry” of the University of Liege, in which she develops heterogeneous catalysts for sustainable chemistry (tars reforming, treatments of chlorinated compounds, photocatalysis,..). She is vice‐chair of the DCE since early 2016. SL has published over 80 publications, 12 book chapters, holds 1 patent and has an h‐index of 19. She also received 16 Invited lectures. She is Member of Local Organizing Committee of SOL-GEL 2017, 3-8 septembre 2017, Liege, Belgium.

Abstract:

In this work, an aqueous titania sol-gel synthesis is doped with nitrogen precursor to extend its activity towards visible region. Three N-precursors are used: urea, ethylenediamine and triethylamine. Different molar ratios have been tested for each dopant. Results showed the formation of anatase-brookite TiO2 nanoparticles of 6-8 nm with a specific surface area between 200 and 275 m2g-1 for the urea and triethylamine series. Concerning the ethylenediamine series, the formation of rutile phase is observed when the amount of ethylenediamine increases due to the addition of nitric acid in order to maintain the peptization process during the synthesis [1]. In this series, TiO2 nanoparticles of 6-8 nm are also obtained with a specific surface area between 185 and 240 m2g-1.Combination of XPS and diffuse reflectance measurements suggests the incorporation of nitrogen in TiO2 materials through Ti-O-N bonds allowing absorption in visible region. Catalytic tests showed a marked improvement of performance under visible radiation for all doped catalysts in the remediation of polluted water with p-nitrophenol. In this case, nitrogen doping can reduce the band gap by creating an intermediate band for the electrons below the conduction band or above the valence band, allowing activity in the visible range. The best doping, regarding cost, activity and ease of synthesis (urea precursor with a molar urea/Ti precursor ratio of 2), is up-scaled to a volume of 5 L and compared to commercial Evonik P25 material. This urea-doped large scale catalyst showed analogous properties as the lab-scale corresponding synthesis and a photoactivity 4 times higher than commercial Evonik P25 photocatalyst.

Recent Publications

1.         Mahy J G, Cerfontaine V, Poelman D, Devred F, Gaigneaux E, et al. (2018) Highly efficient low temperature N-doped TiO₂ catalysts for visible light photocatalytic applications. Materials 584.

2.         Benhebal H, Benrabah B, Ammari A, Madoune Y and Lambert SD (2018) Structural and optoelectronic properties of SnO2 thin films doped by group-1A elements. Surface Review and Letters 25:1850007-1-1850007-6.

3.         Ghrab S, Benzina M and Lambert S D (2017) Copper adsorption from waste water using bone charcoal. Advances in Materials Physics and Chemistry 7:139–147.

4.         Mahy J G, Claude V, Sacco L and Lambert S D (2017) Ethylene polymerization and hydrodechlorination of 1,2-dichloroethane mediated by nickel(II) covalently anchored to silica xerogels. Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology 81:59–68.

5.         Claude V, Solís Garcia H, Wolfs C and Lambert S D (2017) Elaboration of an easy aqueous sol-gel method for the synthesis of micro- and mesoporous γ-Al2O3 supports. Advances in Materials Physics and Chemistry 7:294–310.

Biography:

 Catherine Kari Derow has studied Biology and Chemistry up to the MSc level and worked in     industry as well as in a research institute.

Abstract:

It seems that the law regarding nature abhorring voids is actually a higher level gloss on the truth.  The reasoning as to why voids are ‘abhorred’ is that particles in say the gas phase will collide against and crush a container with a void inside as the motion of the particles leads to collisions with the outer walls of the container and there are no matching collisions from inside the container to stop the container being crushed until there is no room for a void inside.  Alternatively if the container is opened then the motion of gas particles leads them to fill the container. So voids being ‘abhorred’ is a higher level interpreation of a rule that follows from the kinetic motion of particles.  Indeed the same would happen if the container with a void inside were placed in liquid and would happen albeit more slowly even if the container were immersed in a solid as eventually the vibrations of the solid particles would most likely crush the container into a state where it could no longer house a void.

Likewise that everything tends to chaos is a higher level interpretation of the fact that particles are always in motion and thus eroding order with vibrations or collisions.  Thus the energy of particles in a solid is likely to cause some erosion of the order in the solid, liquid or gas.  It is the kinetic energy of gas particles knocking against materials that causes them to be eroded into more chaos instead of keeping their ordered structure.  Consider that a liquid at room temperature eventually turns to the more disordered gas phase as kinetic motion of particles leads to evaporation.  At very low temperatures where kinetic motion even of what were at room temperature gas particles slows/stops, the tendency to chaos is very much reduced but the motion within the atoms would still prevail to turn materials to chaos very slowly e.g., isotopes might still disintegrate into the next type of atom it decays to.