As foams are not thermodynamically stable and might be collapsed, foam stability is defined by interfacial properties and bulk solution. In this paper, we investigated foam injection and different salinity brines such as NaCl, CaCl2, KCl, and MgCl2 to measure cumulative oil production. According to the results of this experiment, it is concluded that sequential low-salinity water injections with KCl and foam flooding have provided the highest cumulative oil production in sandstone reservoirs. This issue is related to high wettability changes that had been caused by the KCl. As K+ is a monovalent cation, KCl has the highest wettability changes compared to other saline brines and formation water at 1000 ppm, which is due to the higher wettability changes of potassium (K+) over other saline ions. The interfacial tension for KCl at the lowest value is 1000 ppm and, for MgCl2, has the highest value in this concentration. Moreover, the formation brine, regarding its high value of salty compo... [more]

The agitation of immiscible liquids or solid suspensions is a frequent operation in chemical and metallurgical industries. The product quality yield and economy of the processes are significantly affected by mixing conditions. Prediction of mean drop size distribution (DSD) during agitation is fundamental for processes in many branches of industry where the mass transfer is crucial. This contribution aims to analyze the homogeneity of a dispersed system in a vessel agitated by a high-shear sawtooth impeller. The homogeneity of liquid−liquid dispersion is determined by comparison of Sauter mean diameters and drop size distribution (DSD) from different measured regions and for various dispersion times. The experiments were carried out in a baffled vessel for various impeller speeds. The sizes of droplets were obtained by the in-situ measurement technique and by the image analysis (IA) method.

Bubble flow is present in many processes that are the subject of chemical engineering research. Many correlations for determination of the equivalent bubble diameter can be found in the scientific literature. However, there are only few describing the formation of gas bubbles in flowing liquid. Such a phenomenon occurs for instance in airlift apparatuses. Liquid flowing around the gas bubble creates a hydraulic drag force that leads to reduction of the formed bubble diameter. Usually the value of the hydraulic drag coefficient, cD, for bubble formation in the flowing liquid is assumed to be equal to the drag coefficient for bubbles rising in the stagnant liquid, which is far from the reality. Therefore, in this study, to determine the value of the drag coefficient of bubbles forming in flowing liquid, the diameter of the bubbles formed at different liquid velocity was measured using the shadowgraphy method. Using the balance of forces affecting the bubble formed in the coflowing liquid... [more]

Polymer-coated silica nanoparticles (PSiNPs) have been experimentally investigated in core- and micro-scale studies for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Wettability and flow rate have a considerable effect on oil displacement in porous media. This work investigates the efficiency of PSiNPs for oil recovery on micro-scale at three wettability states (water-wet, intermediate-wet, and oil-wet). In addition, a cluster mobilization regime is considered in all experiments. A microfluidic approach was utilized to perform flooding experiments with constant experimental settings such as flowrate, pore-structure, initial oil topology, porosity, and permeability. In this study, the wettability of the microfluidic chips was altered to have three states of wettability. Firstly, a micro-scale study (brine-oil-glass system) of each wettability condition effect on flow behavior was conducted via monitoring dynamic changes in the oleic phase. Secondly, the obtained results were used as a basis to understan... [more]

The influence of low-pressure environment on centrifugal fan’s flow and noise characteristics was studied experimentally and numerically. A testbed was established to conduct the experimental test on the performance of a centrifugal fan, and the characteristic curve and power consumption curve of the fan under different pressure were obtained. Then the simulation model of the centrifugal fan was established, which was used to simulate the working process of centrifugal fan under different negative pressures. The results showed that the total pressure and static pressure of the fan decrease with the decrease of the ambient pressure. The total and static pressures of the fan under 60 kPa pressure condition decreased by 42.3% and 38.3%, respectively, compared with those of fan under the normal pressure. The main reason for this phenomenon is that the decrease of the environmental pressure leads to the decrease of air density. Besides, with the drop of environmental pressure, the sound pre... [more]

The electro-hydrostatic actuator (EHA) is one of the most prevalent types of power-by-wire (PBW) actuation systems. With the increase in EHA power density, using the pump’s leakage oil to cool the motor has been gradually adopted to solve the problem of excessive motor temperature. However, the viscous friction loss caused by the liquid viscosity will seriously affect the heat dissipation effect and dynamic performance of the motor. To calculate the motor viscosity loss accurately, a novel calculation method is proposed in this paper. Using the energy gradient theory, the relationship between the fluid flow state and the rotation speed is analyzed. In addition, the lumped parameter model of viscous loss is established by using the conservation of momentum theory and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. A test rig is designed to test the viscous friction loss for various rotation speeds, and the test results show a good agreement with the theoretical analysis. The present resu... [more]

A novel hydrocyclone including a cylindrical screen embedded in a conventional hydrocyclone (CH), named three products hydrocyclone screen (TPHS), has been successfully designed. In TPHS, the combination of centrifugal classification and screening was employed to separate particles. In this paper, Grey theory, as an effective means to the laws of both complex and uncertainty system’s behavior with small samples, was used to investigate the operational (feed concentration and feed pressure) and structural (aperture size, spigot diameter, and vortex finder diameter) parameters on performance evaluation Hancock classification efficiency (HE), imperfection (I), and cut size (d50c). The experiments of coal sample (0−1 mm) show that TPHS with coarser particles in underflow exhibited the absent “fish-hook”. The closeness calculated using the Grey System algorithm indicates that the performance of TPHS was closely related to the operation and structure parameters. Further, the order of grey in... [more]

In this study, the effect of fracturing fluid on the permeability of tight oil reservoirs is analyzed through oil absorption. The mechanism of permeation and absorption in tight oil reservoirs was studied using the molecular dynamics simulation of fluid flow through fractures in porous media containing crude oil. The influence of surfactants on the adsorption characteristics of crude oil formations on rock walls was also examined. The research results show that the introduction of the appropriate surfactant to the fracturing fluid could accelerate the rate of percolation and recovery as well as improve the recovery rate of absorption. The optimal concentration of polyoxyethylene octyl phenol ether-10 (OP-10) surfactant in the fracturing fluid was 0.9%. When the percolation reached a certain stage, the capillary forces in the crude oil and percolation medium in the pore stabilized; accordingly, the crude oil from the pore roar should be discharged at the earliest. The fluid flow through... [more]

There is a growing interest in a fluidized bed particle receiver that directly irradiates sunlight to particles in the fluidized bed as a solar thermal collector for heating. Thermal performance of directly-irradiated fluidized bed gas heater is strongly affected by the physical properties of the particles. The effect of SiC particle size on heat transfer characteristics in the solar fluidized bed gas heater (50 mm-ID × 100 mm high) has been determined. The outlet gas temperatures showed a maximum value with increasing gas velocity due to the particles motion by bubble behavior in the bed, and the maximum values were found at 3.6 times of Umf for fine SiC and less than 2.0 times of Umf for coarse SiC. Heat absorption from the receiver increased with increasing gas velocity, showing with maximum 18 W for the fine SiC and 23 W for the coarse SiC at 4.5 times of Umf. The thermal efficiency of the receiver increased with increasing gas velocity, but was affected by the content of finer par... [more]

The height of water-conducting fracture zones (WCFZs) is vital for the prevention of water, gas, and roof accidents in coal mines. However, its dynamic evolution law and maximum height are difficult to be obtained by traditional prediction methods, especially for conditions in which there is high overburden caving strength and a thick coal seam. Therefore, taking the 150,313 fully mechanized caving working face in Yingying Coal Mine as a background, according to the principle of optimized processes, a new predicting approach based on the Brillouin optical time-domain reflectometry (BOTDR) is proposed. Firstly, we estimated the height through empirical formula calculation, theoretical analysis, and similar model simulation tests. Secondly, we studied the optimized layout of optical cables in the overburden in detail for predicting the maximum height of the WCFZ and keeping the cables in good performance during field prediction. Thirdly, we researched and optimized the borehole parameter... [more]

This is the LAPSE stakeholder report for 2020, including news, interesting statistics, new features, and the plan for the next year.

Dette er det LAPSE interessenter rapport for 2020, inkludert nyheter, interessant statistikk, nye funksjoner, og planen for neste år.

The contact time of droplets on superhydrophobic surfaces is an especially important parameter in many applications, such as self-cleaning, anti-icing, and spray cooling. In this study, we investigate the contact time of two identical droplets simultaneously impacting superhydrophobic surfaces decorated with three different macrotextures, i.e., bathtub-like groove (S1), vertical wall (S2), and rectangular ridge (S3), via lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) simulations. We explore influences of the geometrical parameters of the macrotextures, as well as the center-to-center distance of the two droplets, on the contact time. We found a new rebounding regime with significantly reduced contact times. We demonstrate that, as compared with impacting a smooth superhydrophobic surface, the contact time can be decreased by 41% for macrotexture S1 because of the asymmetric spreading and retraction of droplets motivated by the macrotexture. We also demonstrate that the new regime depends on the center... [more]

The effect of the roll design on the strain distribution of the flat surface, lateral spreading, and the strain inhomogeneity of a flat-rolled wire were investigated during the flat rolling process. Oval-grooved and cambered rolls with various radii were applied to the flat rolling process based on a numerical simulation. The effective strain on the flat surface of the wire increased when using a cambered roll due to the highly intensified contact pressure on the flat surface, while the effective strain on the flat surface of the wire decreased when using an oval-grooved roll. Lateral spreading decreased when using an oval-grooved roll because the spread in the free surface area of the wire was highly restricted by the oval-grooved roll shape. In contrast, the spread in the surface area increased when using a cambered roll due to the less-restricted metal flow at the free surface. Accordingly, a cambered roll with a small radius is highly recommended in order to improve the surface qua... [more]

In this study, the pressure distribution and flow coefficient of a globe valve are investigated with a series of experiments conducted in a flow test loop. The experiments are performed on a three-inch model test valve from an eight-inch ANSI (American National Standards Institute) B16.11—Class 2500# prototype globe valve with various pump speeds and full range of valve openings. Both inherent and installed flow characteristics are measured, and the results show that the flow coefficient depends not only on the valve geometry and valve opening but also on the Reynolds number. When the Reynolds number exceeds a certain value, the flow coefficients are stable. In addition, the pressures at different positions in the upstream and the downstream of the valve are measured and compared with recommendation per ANSI/ISA-75.01 standard. The results show that, in single-phase flow, the discrepancies in pressure between different measurement locations within close range of 10 nominal diameter fro... [more]

In this study, there is 1.42% P2O5 in the P-containing V-Ti magnetite tailings in Miyi Region of China, with the valuable minerals mainly including apatite, and aluminosilicate minerals as the main gangue components. The direction flotation process was used to recover phosphorous from the low-grade phosphorous-bearing V-Ti magnetite tailings. The results showed that an optimized phosphorous concentrate with a P2O5 grade of 31.35% and P2O5 recovery of 88.02% was obtained by flotation process of one roughing, three scavengings, and three cleanings under roughing conditions, which employed pulp pH of 9, grinding fineness of <0.039 mm occupying 90%, flotation concentration of 25%, and dosages of carboxymethylcellulose, oxidized paraffin wax soap, and pine oil of 400 g/t, 300 g/t, and 20 g/t, respectively. Optimized one scavenging, two scavenging, and three scavenging conditions used a pulp pH of 9, and dosages of carboxymethylcellulose, oxidized paraffin wax soap, and pine oil of 200 g/... [more]

We were not aware of some errors made in the proofreading phase; therefore, we wish to make the following corrections to the mathematical equations in the text in [...]

Nitrogenous compounds attract great attention because of their environmental impact and harmfulness to the health of human beings. Various biological technologies have been developed to reduce the environmental risks of nitrogenous pollutants. Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) are considered to be a novel biological technology for removing nitrogenous contaminants by virtue of their advantages, such as low energy requirement and capacity for treating wastewaters with a low C/N ratio. Therefore, increasing attention has been given to carry out biological processes related to nitrogen removal with the aid of cathodic biofilms in BESs. Prior studies have evaluated the feasibility of conventional biological processes including nitrification, denitrification, and anaerobic ammonia oxidation (anammox), separately or combined together, to remove nitrogenous compounds with the help of BESs. The present review summarizes the progress of developments in BESs in terms of the biological process, c... [more]

This paper discusses the results of the influences of subcritical (T = 320 °C; P = 17 MPa) and supercritical water (T = 374 °C; P = 24.6 MPa) on the yield and composition of oil hydrocarbons generated from carbonaceous−siliceous Domanic shale rocks with total organic content (Corg) of 7.07%. It was revealed that the treatment of the given shale rock in sub- and supercritical water environments resulted in the decrease of oil content due to the intensive gas formation. The content of light hydrocarbon fractions (saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons) increased at 320 °C from 33.98 to 39.63%, while at 374 °C to 48.24%. Moreover, the content of resins decreased by almost twice. Insoluble coke-like compounds such as carbene−carboids were formed due to decomposition of kerogen after supercritical water treatment. Analysis of oil hydrocarbons with FTIR method revealed a significant number of oxygen-containing compounds, which are the hydrogenolysis products of structural fragments formed after... [more]

Injection of alkaline (A), polymer (P), and surfactant (S) chemicals in enhanced oil recovery (cEOR) processes increases output by changing the properties of the injected fluid. In this work, micellar fluid interactions were studied via microemulsion rheological analysis. Crude oil and stimulated brine with ASP or SP was used for bottle testing. The results revealed that no microemulsion was produced when ASP (Alkaline, Surfactant, and Polymer) or SP (Surfactant and Polymer) was left out during the bottle testing phase. The addition of ASP and SP led to the formation of microemulsions—up to 29% for 50% water cut (WC) ASP, and 36% for 40% WC SP. This shows that the addition of ASP and SP can be applied to flooding applications. The results of the rheological analysis show that the microemulsions behaved as a shear-thinning micellar fluid by decreasing viscosity with increase in shear rate. As per the power-law equation, the ASP micellar fluid viscoelastic behavior shows better shear-thi... [more]

Various studies to improve the thermal performance of flat plate solar collector (FPSC) solar water heater have been conducted, and more are currently in progress. This study aims to review existing methods on thermal performance enhancement for FPSC and discuss on heat-transfer enhancement using vibration and its potential application for FPSC. Ten methods for improving thermal performance are identified, which include applications of nanofluids, absorber coatings, phase change materials (PCM), thermal performance enhancers, FPSC design modifications, polymer materials, heat loss reduction, mini and micro channel and heat-transfer enhancement using vibration. An examination of heat-transfer enhancement using vibration in low frequency ranges for an evacuated-tube solar collector (ETSC) solar water heater system showed that it can potentially achieve heat-transfer enhancement of up to 78%. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of research on the applications of heat-transfer enhancement... [more]

Post-thickener polymer addition to initiate rapid tailings dewatering has gained considerable interest for tailings storage facility (TSF) management. However, the highly viscous and non-Newtonian rheology of dense suspensions presents unique challenges for mixing with polymer solutions. Such mixing is highly inefficient, often resulting in polymer overdosing and wide variations in deposited tailings characteristics, with the potential to significantly compromise TSF performance. In this study, a new type of mixer based on the principles of chaotic advection was used for treating kaolin suspensions with high molecular weight (MW) anionic copolymer solutions. Chaotic advection imparts efficient mixing by gently stretching and folding flows in a controlled manner, as opposed to random, high-shear flows associated with turbulent mixing, and this lower shear stress allows for the controlled formation of larger aggregate structures with vastly improved dewatering characteristics. A pre-cond... [more]

Many researchers have focused on multi-phase reactor development for improving mass transfer performance. However, solid particle addition in gas−liquid contactor for better oxygen mass transfer performance is still limited. Hence, this study aims to analyze the relative effect of different types of local solid media on the bubble hydrodynamic characteristics towards mass transfer enhancement in bubble columns (BCR) and airlift reactors (ALR). This was investigated by varying solid media types (ring, sphere, cylinder, and square), solid loadings (0%−15%), and superficial gas velocities (Vg) (2.6−15.3 × 10−3 m/s) in terms of the bubble hydrodynamic and oxygen mass transfer parameters. The result showed that bubble size distribution in BCR and ALR with additional plastic media was smaller than that without media addition, approximately 22%−27% and 5%−29%, respectively, due to the increase of the bubble breaking rate and the decrease of the bubble rising velocity (UB). Further, adding med... [more]

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an overwhelming greenhouse gas and agricultural soils, particularly acidic soils, are the main source of its release to the atmosphere. To ameliorate acidic soil condition, liming materials are added as an amendment. However, the impact of liming materials has not been well addressed in terms of exploring the effect of soil pH change on N2O emissions. In the present study, a soil with pH 5.35 was amended with liming materials (CaMg(CO3)2, CaCO3, Ca(OH)2 and CaO) to investigate their effects on N2O emissions. The results indicate that application of liming materials reduced the magnitudes of N2O emissions. The maximum reduction of soil N2O emissions took place for Ca(OH)2 treatment when compared to the other liming materials, and was related to increasing soil pH. Mineral N, dissolved organic C, and microbial biomass C were also influenced by liming materials, but the trend was inconsistent to the soil pH change. The results suggest that N2O emission mitigation is... [more]

Laboratory experiments were conducted to measure entrained air bubble penetration depth and dilution of a dense vertical unconfined plunging jet to evaluate its performance as an outfall to dilute brine from desalination plants as well as a means to aerate water column. Experiments involved neutrally buoyant or dense plunging jets discharging in quiescent receiving water. The density difference between effluent and receiving water, the plunging jet length (height above water surface), and the receiving water salinity were varied in the experiments. Observed penetration depth for neutrally buoyant jets was somewhat greater than previously reported, and increased modestly with jet density. Increasing density also resulted in an increasing number of fine bubbles descending together with the dense plume. These observations can help guide the design of plunging jets to mitigate anoxic conditions in the water column when brine is introduced to a receiving water body, as with seawater desalin... [more]

Based on an experimental system involving a pulsating airflow burner and gliding arc generator, the characteristics of gliding arc plasma at different flow rates and its control effect on the static instability of the swirl flame have been studied. The current, voltage, and power wave forms, as well as the simultaneous evolution of plasma topology, were measured to reveal the discharge characteristics of the gliding arc. A bandpass filter was used to capture the chemiluminescence of CH in the flame, and pressure at the burner outlet was acquired to investigate the static instability. Experimental results showed that there were two different discharge types in gliding arc plasma. With the low flow rate, the glow type discharge was sustained and the current was nearly a sine wave with hundreds of milliamperes of amplitude. With the high flow rate, the spark type discharge appeared and spikes which approached almost 1 ampere in 1 μs were found in the current waveform. The lean blowout lim... [more]