Engineering and Technology Journal

Concerns on the environment, health and safety issues posed by synthetic resins have amplified numerous efforts of producing resin from various renewable sources. The use of plant oil as potential source of resin has attracted interest from various researchers. Jatropha Oil is a competitive source to petroleum counterparts due to its availability, biodegradability, low eco-toxicity but exhibit poor mechanical properties among many. The objective of this study is to study the effect of adding nanoparticles as reinforcing fillers to bio-based resin from Epoxidized crude Jatropha Oil (ECJO) to improve its mechanical performance. Various loadings of 0% to 4% of Al2O3 nanoparticles was tested on epoxy bio-resin. Later the specimens fabricated were cured and characterized for its mechanical properties. Addition of 1 wt% of Al2O3 nanoparticles improved the tensile strength of a bio-based epoxy resin to tensile stress of 29.37±2.00 MPa, elastic with an elastic modulus of 840.80±124.53 MPa. Further characterization at optimum addition of nano-Al2O3 resulted a glass transition temperature of 37.95˚C. In overall, the inclusion of nano-Al2O3 has definitely improved the mechanical properties of the material which will be useful for further application material engineering.

The production of straight and helical hollow fibers plays an important role in developing hollow fiber membrane technology that encompasses a broad range of designs. During the last two decades, scientific studies devoted to straight hollow fibers were more abundant than those focused on helical fibers. Several major applications considering side-by-side testing of these two geometries are discussed in this review. For membrane extraction, desalination, and membrane contactor processes, it is observed that permeability rates are 10%-400 % higher for helical fibers compared to straight fibers. This outcome is justified by the presence of Dean-vortices-induced flow turbulences inherent to the geometry of helical membranes. These conditions give rise to an uptake of mass and heat transfer coefficients and a reduction of temperature and concentration polarization phenomena. Aside from enhanced flow properties, helical hollow fiber bundles tend to be more robust by design, thus exhibiting better resiliency over long service operations than straight bundles. One persistent shortcoming of the helical fibers seems to be an increase in pressure drop. However, this does not always translate into a higher energy consumption – i.e., versus straight bundles. Given the performance advantage, product robustness, and adaptiveness to a broad range of applications, the adoption of helical hollow fiber technology deserves growing support from the membrane community in academic and industrial settings.

Recently, the applications of hydrate phenomena in industrial processes have been increasing. A clathrate or hydrate is a solid, ice-like compound that forms when water/guest is mixed under certain conditions. Hydrogen water molecules bond with the guest molecules to form a crystal lattice. Different guests can form the Clathrate (e.g., gases or liquids). Dilute Sulfuric acid is usually generated at different industrial plants, and these dilute acids are considered waste because they cannot be reused again. Many treatment processes handle this environmental problem, like electrochemistry, precipitation, adsorption, membrane filtration, and ion exchange. Although such processes have significant operational advantages, their disadvantage is that many of the high costs of the treatment process and the generated products of treatment are considered toxic pollutants. This work utilized clathrate phenomena experiments to re-concentrate dilute sulfuric acid. The selected clathrate guest was Cyclopentane. Each experiment s consists of a mixture of Cyclopentane and dilute sulfuric acids. The volume ratios of dilute sulfuric acid to Cyclopentane were (6:1, 4: 1, 3:1, and 2:1) with different initial concentrations (12.5%, 10%, 7.5%, 5%, 2.5%) of acid. It was found that the clathrate method was effective in re-concentrate dilute sulfuric acids with a maximum efficiency of 94% at the ratio of acid /cyclopentane (6:1) at 12.5% concentration. It can be concluded that the increase in dilute sulfuric acid /cyclopentane volume ratio leads increasing in removal efficiency while reducing the yield percentage and enriched Factor.

Pervaporation (PV) is one of the distinctive membrane separation processes harnessed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) removal from water. The process is characterized by low cost, ease of installation, lack of chemicals, and operation at moderate temperatures. PV is part of a chain of water treatment processes and has eminent efficiency for pollutant removal, drying processes, and many others. The presence of benzene, toluene and their compounds at high concentrations in water are problematic due to their harmful effects on humans and the environment as many carcinogenic diseases may induce. The present review will investigate the efficiency of the PV process for separating VOCs from water such as benzene and toluene and the troublesome associated with the entire separation process. Besides, reviewing the recent advances in various membrane processes and membrane modification routes targeted to optimizing the process performance along with optimized operational conditions. Besides, reviewing the recent advances in various membrane processes and membrane modification routes targeted to optimizing the process performance along with optimized operational conditions

Road transportation in urban areas may be considered a major source of environmental pollution. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of the oxidation of carbon dioxide gas emitted by an internal combustion engine. This is achieved using an asphaltic pavement coated with Cu/TiO2 nanoparticles by spraying and irradiating with white light under ambient conditions to reduce the air pollution problem (carbon monoxide) caused by vehicles. Using electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, we determined the physicochemical and morphological characteristics of the photocatalyst. Following the characterization study, the photo-catalytic activity of the asphalt materials was determined. Experimental results showed that CO conversion positively depends on different conditions, including Cu loading, light intensity, and relative humidity. However, the gas flow rate showed a different trend. The optimal operating parameters were determined as follows: Cu loading (3.6% by weight), a flow rate of gas (1 L/min), relative humidity (30%), and light intensity (35 W/m2) to ensure the best photo-oxidation efficiency of 56.4% after three hours of operation. A mathematical correlation related to CO2 removal as a function of different operating conditions was found with a correlation factor of 0.975 and a variance equal to 0.964. Moreover, a kinetic pathway for photo-oxidation of CO at various oxygen concentrations was presented.