Nanofluids, liquid suspensions of nanoparticles (Np), are an effective agent to alter the wettability of oil-wet reservoirs to water-wet thus promoting hydrocarbon recovery. It can also have an application to more efficient carbon storage. We present a series of contact angle (θ) investigations on initially oil-wet calcite surfaces to quantify the performance of hydrophilic silica nanoparticles for wettability alteration. These tests are conducted at typical in-situ high pressure (CO2), temperature and salinity conditions. A high pressure–temperature (P/T) optical cell with a regulated tilted surface was used to measure the advancing and receding contact angles at the desired conditions. The results showed that silica nanofluids can alter the wettability of oil-wet calcite to strongly water-wet at all operational conditions. Although limited desorption of silica nanoparticles occurred after exposure to high pressure (20 MPa), nanoparticle adsorption on the oil-wet calcite surface was mainly irreversible. The nanofluid concentration and immersion time played crucial roles in improving the efficiency of diluted nanofluids while salinity was less significant at high pressure and temperature. The findings provide new insights into the potential for nanofluids being applied for improved enhanced oil recovery and carbon sequestration and storage.
Pharmaceuticals have been widely remaining contaminants in wastewater, and diclofenac is the most common pharmaceutical pollutant. Therefore, the removal of diclofenac from aqueous solutions using activated carbon produced by pyrocarbonic acid and microwaves was investigated in this research. Apricot seed powder and pyrophosphoric acid (45 wt%) were selected as raw material and activator respectively, and microwave irradiation technique was used to prepare the activated carbon. The raw material was impregnated in pyrophosphoric acid at 80◦C with an impregnation ratio of 1: 3 (apricot seeds to phosphoric acid), the impregnation time was 4 h, whereas the power of the microwave was 700 watts with a radiation time of 20 min. A series o
... Show MoreBeta-lactamase was purified from local isolate Klebsiella pneumonia by several steps included precipitation with ammonium sulphate at 20-40% saturation, DEAE- ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration on Sephacryl S-200 column. The obtained purification fold and recovery were 32.66; 47.04% respectively. The characterization of the purified beta-lactamase showed that the molecular weight was about 4000 daltons as determined by gel filtration.Purified enzyme had an optimal pH of 7 for activity and an optimal stability between pH 6.5-7.5, results shows that the optimal temperature appear to be 35 ? C .During storage the enzyme retained 72% at -20 ? C and retained 25% of the activity at the same period at 4 ? C.
The possibility of using activated carbon developed from date palm seeds wastes as a permeable reactive barrier (PRB) to remove copper from polluted shallow groundwater was investigated. The activated carbon has been developed from date palm seeds by dehydrating methods using concentrated sulfuric acid. Batch tests were performed to characterize the equilibrium sorption properties of new activated carbon in copper-containing aqueous solutions, while the sandy soil (aquifer) was assumed to be inert. Under the studied conditions, the Langmuir isotherm model gives a better fit for the sorption data of copper by activated carbon than other models. At a pilot scale, One-dimensional column experiments were performed, and an integrated model ba
... Show MoreHydrate dissociation equilibrium conditions for carbon dioxide + methane with water, nitrogen + methane with water and carbon dioxide + nitrogen with water were measured using cryogenic sapphire cell. Measurements were performed in the temperature range of 275.75 K–293.95 K and for pressures ranging from 5 MPa to 25 MPa. The resulting data indicate that as the carbon dioxide concentration is increased in the gas mixture, the gas hydrate equilibrium temperature increases. In contrast, by increasing the nitrogen concentration in the gas mixtures containing methane or carbon dioxide decreased the gas hydrate equilibrium temperatures. Furthermore, the cage occupancies for the carbon dioxide + methane system were evaluated using the Van der Wa
... Show MoreThis research involves studying the mechanical properties and corrosion behavior of “low carbon steel” (0.077wt% C) before and after welding using Arc, MIG and TIG welding. The mechanical properties include testing of microhardness, tensile strength, the results indicate that microhardness of TIG, MIG welding is more than arc welding, while tensile strength in arc welding more than TIG and MIG.
The corrosion behavior of low carbon weldments was performed by potentiostat at scan rate 3mV.sec-1 in 3.5% NaCl to show the polarization resistance and calculate the corrosion rate from data of linear polarization by “Tafel extrapolation method”. The results indicate that the TIG welding increase the corrosion current d
... Show MoreThe excessive permanent deformation (rutting) in asphalt-concrete pavements resulting from frequent repetitions of heavy axle loads is studied in this paper. Rutting gradually develops with additional load applications and appears as longitudinal depressions in the wheel path. There are many causes of the rutting of asphalt roads, such as poor asphalt mixing and poor continuous aggregate gradation. All factors affecting the mixture resistance to permanent deformation must be discussed, and all must be properly considered to reduce the rutting propensity of asphalt-aggregate mixtures. In this study, several mixtures were produced with the most common techniques in rutting resistance (using the most effective additives for each mixture), and
... Show MoreThis study deals with the elimination of methyl orange (MO) from an aqueous solution by utilizing the 3D electroFenton process in a batch reactor with an anode of porous graphite and a cathode of copper foam in the presence of granular activated carbon (GAC) as a third pole, besides, employing response surface methodology (RSM) in combination with Box-Behnk Design (BBD) for studying the effects of operational conditions, such as current density (3–8 mA/cm2), electrolysis time (10–20 min), and the amount of GAC (1–3 g) on the removal efficiency beside to their interaction. The model was veiled since the value of R2 was high (>0.98) and the current density had the greatest influence on the response. The best removal efficiency (MO Re%)
... Show MoreIraqi oil crudes have some of the physical and chemical characteristics that distinguish it from other types of oil crudes in the world. Some of these features such us molecular composition, rheological, viscosity and emulsions are studied carefully by researchers. In this work, a comparative study of the linear and the non-linear optical properties for typical heavy and light crude oils of Iraqi origin was studied utilizing Z-scan technique. The He -Ne laser of wavelength 632.8 nm had been used for this purpose. These samples were collected from Basra and Kut oil fields. The values of the non-linear refractive index (n2), non-linear absorption coefficient (β), and third-order electrical susceptibility (χ3) were e
... Show Moret-Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) reduces environmental noise and has more workability. This research presents an investigation of the behavior of SCC under mechanical loading (impact loading). Two types of cement have been used to produce SCC mixtures, Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and Portland Limestone Cement (PLC), which reduces the emission of carbon dioxide during the manufacturing process. The mixes were reinforced with Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) which is usually used to improve the seismic performance of masonry walls, to replace lost steel reinforcements, or to increase column strength and ductility. Workability tests were carried out for fresh SCC. Prepared concrete slabs of 500×500×50mm were tested for lo
... Show MoreThis research focuses on the synthesis of carbon nanotube (CNT) and Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) (pristine polymer) with Ag doped (CNT/ P3HT@Ag) nanocomposite thin films to be utilised in various practical applications. First, four samples of CNT solution and different ratios of the polymer (P3HT) [0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7 wt.%] are prepared to form thin layer of P3HT@CNT nanocomposites by dip-coating method of Ag. To investigate the absorption and conductivity properties for use in various practical applications, structure, morphology, optical, and photoluminescence properties of CNT/P3HT @Ag nanocomposite are systematically evaluated in this study. In this regard, the UV/Vis/NIR spectrophotometer in the wavelength range of 350 to 7
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