| 1. |
- Chen, Jingjing, et al.
(författare)
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A high efficient heat exchanger with twisted geometries for biogas process with manure slurry
- 2020
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Ingår i: Applied Energy. - : Elsevier. - 0306-2619 .- 1872-9118. ; 279
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Heat-transfer enhancement in manure slurry is crucial for increasing the efficiency and production of biogas during anaerobic digestion in biogas plants. In this study, a novel heat exchanger with an optimal twisted geometry was developed based on the numerical screening of the twisted tubes with equilateral polygons, and experiments were conducted to validate the numerical results. It was observed that the SST k-ω model is more efficient than other turbulence models in representing the heat transfer performance of the twisted tubes, and the numerical model with a thermostatic wall can be used to reliably screen the twisted geometries. The twisted hexagonal tube has the optimal geometry, with enhancement capability of up to 1.4 times compared to that of the circular tube. The formation of high continuity regions with relatively strong heat-transfer rates along the heat-exchange wall is the main reason for the high performance during heat transfer. The external heating process was integrated in a full-scale biogas plant, and the model and algorithm were developed and validated with additional experiments to describe the overall performance of both conventional and screened optimal geometries under different conditions. It was observed that a profit equivalent to 39% of total production for a large-scale biogas plant can be achieved owing to energy conservation in external heating with the twisted hexagonal tubes.
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| 2. |
- Chen, Jingjing, et al.
(författare)
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Heat-transfer enhancement for corn straw slurry from biogas plants by twisted hexagonal tubes
- 2020
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Ingår i: Applied Energy. - : Elsevier. - 0306-2619 .- 1872-9118. ; 262
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Heat-transfer geometries that enhance heat transfer performance for slurries increase the net raw biogas production in the bio-methane process. In this study, the precise temperature-dependent rheologies of corn straw slurry with 6 and 8% total solid were determined, collected, and modeled to conduct a numerical simulation via CFD, the first instance of such research. Subsequently, the reliability of the numerical results was verified with heat-transfer experiments. The heat-transfer performances of the circular, twisted square and twisted hexagonal tubes were estimated numerically, ultimately showing that the twisted hexagonal tube performed optimally with an enhancement factor of up to 2.0 in the turbulent region, compared to the circular tube. Based on the numerical results, the mechanism of heat-transfer enhancement was revealed, showing balanced radial mixing and the near-wall shear effect that leads to a strong and continuous shear rate under a considerable radial-flow intensity. An engineering equation was obtained for the performance evaluation, and the waste-heat recovery from corn straw slurry was analyzed, showing the twisted hexagonal tube can increase the net raw biogas production by up to 17.0% compared to the circular tube.
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| 3. |
- Chen, Jingjing, et al.
(författare)
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Heat-transfer Enhancement with Pulsating Flow in Twisted Hexagonal Tube for Manure Slurry from Biogas Plants
- 2020
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Ingår i: Proceedings of 12th International Conference on Applied Energy. - : Applied Energy Innovation Institute (AEii).
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biogas is one of the most crucial renewable energy and achieving high-efficient heat exchangers is the key to improve its production. In this study, the effect of pulsating flow on heat transfer in a twisted hexagonal tube with manure slurry was investigated for the first time by using computational fluid dynamics CFD. The performances of pulsating flows were simulated under different conditions, including the inlet velocity, frequency, and amplitude of pulsating flow in the twisted hexagonal tube with different torques. Pressure drops at different frequencies were further investigated. Moreover, the mechanism of heat-transfer enhancement was revealed with the evolution of the heat-transfer coefficient over time. It was found the pulsating flow achieves an 18.9% enhancement at low torque.
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| 4. |
- Chen, Yifeng
(författare)
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CO2 separation using ionic liquid-based absorbents : thermodynamics and kinetics
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Ionic liquids (ILs) have shown great potential to be used as absorbents for CO2 separation owing to their unique properties such as immeasurably low vapour pressure, high thermal stability, high CO2 affinity, and tunable structure. A huge amount of researches have been carried out, and most of them focused on developing novel ILs for CO2 separation. However, high viscosity will impede the IL-based absorbents for the large-scale applications in CO2 separation.The goal of this thesis was to develop IL-based hybrid green absorbents (i.e. choline-2-pyrrolidine-carboxylic acid/polyethylene glycol/H2O ([Cho][Pro]/PEG200/H2O) and 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide/titanium dioxide /PEG200 ([Hmim][Tf2N]/TiO2/PEG200)) for CO2 separation, in which H2O and/or PEG200 were used as co-solvents to adjust the viscosity. A systematic study was conducted from pure to multi-component systems convering experimental measurements and theoretical modeling of thermdynmaics and kinetics, and thus the effects of co-solvents on properties, phase equilibria, and kinetics were also analyzed.To provide reliable and systematic properties and study the effect of H2O, the properties of PEG200 and PEG200/H2O were surveyed, evaluated, and correlated. The density and viscosity of [Cho][Pro]/PEG200/H2O were measured and correlated, and the excess mole volume and excess Gibbs energy of activation were estimated to understand the molecular structure and interactions between [Cho][Pro]/PEG200 and H2O. The results showed that H2O and PEG200 could decrease the viscosity of the hybrid absorbent significantly, and H2O interacted strongly with [Cho][Pro]/PEG200.To obtain reliable and systematic gas solibilities and analyze the effect of H2O, the solubilities of pure CO2, CH4, and N2 in PEG200 were surveyed, measured, evaluated, and described with theoretical models. The CO2, CH4, and N2 solubilities in PEG200/H2O were measured and described with the Redlich-Kwong Nonrandom-Two-Liquid (RK-NRTL) model. The CO2 solubilities in [Cho][Pro]/PEG200 and [Cho][Pro]/H2O were also surveyed, measured, evaluated, and described using the RK-NRTL model. Furthermore, CO2 solubility in the hybrid absorbent was predicted with the model and compared with the new experimental results. The further investigation showed that the formation of carbomate dominated the entire CO2 absorption process by [Cho][Pro]/PEG200/H2O, and the presence of H2O resulted in the formation of bicarbonate.To study the kinetics systematically combined with the effect of H2O, the liquid-side mass-transfer coefficients (kL) of [Cho][Pro]/PEG200/H2O were obtained from the CO2 diffusion coefficients () and the kL values in PEG200/H2O, in which was calculated from the density and viscosity of the hybrid absorbents, while the kL values in PEG200/H2O were measured experimentally. The reaction rate constant of CO2 in the hybrid absorbents was also estimated.Based on the systematic studies from experimental measurement and modeling, it showed that 30 wt%[Cho][Pro]/H2O + PEG200 could be promising for CO2 separation with the consideration of both thermodynamic and kinetic properties. In addition, the hybrid absorbent also showed the good recyclability.To use the confinement as the other strategy for further developing IL-based technology, the CO2 solubility in [Hmim][Tf2N]/TiO2/PEG200 with different ratios of [Hmim][Tf2N]/TiO2 was measured, and the Henry’s constant and absorption enthalpy of CO2 in the hybrid absorbent were calculated. The CO2 solubility in the hybrid absorbent was described with the Henry's law, the contribution of the confinement effect on the CO2 solubility was quantified, and the relationship between the roughness of TiO2 and molecular parameters was established. The results showed that the mass ratio of [Hmim][NTf2]/TiO2 in the hybrid absorbent should be lower than 5.72 %, where the contribution of confinement occupied around 20 % of the total CO2 absorption capacity in [Hmim][NTf2]/T500/PEG200. 2.88 wt%[Hmim][NTf2]/T500 + PEG200 could be promising for CO2 separation on aspects of CO2 capacity and absorption enthplay, and further study will be conducted on the properties and CO2 absorption kinetics.
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| 5. |
- Chen, Yifeng, et al.
(författare)
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CO2 separation using a hybrid choline-2-pyrrolidine-carboxylic acid/polyethylene glycol/water absorbent
- 2020
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Ingår i: Applied Energy. - : Elsevier. - 0306-2619 .- 1872-9118. ; 257
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Developing novel hybrid absorbents is essential for CO2 separation. In this study, the density and viscosity of a hybrid absorbent (choline-2-pyrrolidine-carboxylic acid/polyethylene glycol/water ([Cho][Pro]/PEG200/H2O)) were measured experimentally, and its CO2 solubility was also determined. The excess mole volume and excess Gibbs energy of activation of the hybrid absorbent were further estimated to understand the molecular structure and interactions between [Cho][Pro]/PEG200 and H2O. The CO2 solubilities in [Cho][Pro]/PEG200 and [Cho][Pro]/H2O were analyzed and described using the Redlich–Kwong non-random-two-liquid (RK-NRTL) model. Furthermore, the CO2 solubility in the hybrid absorbent was predicted using the RK-NRTL model and was compared with the new experimental results for verification. The effect of H2O on the CO2 absorption performance was further analyzed. The performance and cost of the hybrid absorbent were compared with those of other commercialized CO2 absorbents. In addition, the recyclability of the hybrid absorbent for CO2 separation was studied. The results of this study indicated that the hybrid absorbent could be promising for CO2 separation.
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| 6. |
- Chen, Yifeng, et al.
(författare)
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Thermodynamic study on aqueous polyethylene glycol 200 solution and performance assessment for CO2 separation
- 2020
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Ingår i: Fluid Phase Equilibria. - : Elsevier. - 0378-3812 .- 1879-0224. ; 504
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To develop polyethylene glycol 200 (PEG200) and aqueous PEG200 solutions (PEG200/H2O) as solvents for CO2 separation, in this study, the available thermo-physical properties of PEG200 and PEG200/H2O measured experimentally were surveyed, evaluated, and correlated with empirical equations. The solubility of CO2 in PEG200 was also surveyed, evaluated and described with the Henry's law with the Poynting correction, while the solubilities of CH4 and N2 in PEG200 were determined experimentally and then described with the Henry's law. The CO2, CH4 and N2 solubilities in PEG200/H2O were measured and described with the Redlich–Kwong Nonrandom-Two-Liquid (RK-NRTL) model. In addition, the performances of PEG200, PEG200/H2O and other commercialized physical solvents for CO2 separation were discussed based on the properties, and the biogas upgrading was chosen as the example to quantitatively evaluate the performances of PEG200 and PEG200/H2O with process simulation and compared with the high pressure water scrubbing (HPWS). It shows that the total energy usage and the amount of recirculated solvent for biogas upgrading can decrease by 9.1% and 26.5%, respectively, when H2O is replaced by PEG200 completely.
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| 7. |
- Dong, Yihui, et al.
(författare)
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Excellent Protein Immobilization and Stability on Heterogeneous C–TiO2 Hybrid Nanostructures : A Single Protein AFM Study
- 2020
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Ingår i: Langmuir. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0743-7463 .- 1520-5827. ; 36:31, s. 9323-9332
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Enhancing molecular interaction is critical for improving the immobilization and stability of proteins on TiO2 surfaces. In this work, mesoporous TiO2 materials with varied pore geometries were decorated with phenyl phosphoric acid (PPA), followed by a thermal treatment to obtain chemically heterogeneous C–TiO2 samples without changing the geometry and crystalline structure, which can keep the advantages of both carbon and TiO2. The molecular interaction force between the protein and the surfaces was measured using atomic force microscopy by decomposing from the total adhesion forces, showing that the surface chemistry determines the interaction strength and depends on the amount of partial carbon coverage on the TiO2 surface (∼40–80%). Samples with 58.3% carbon coverage provide the strongest molecular interaction force, consistent with the observation from the detected friction force. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering and electrochemical biosensor measurements for these C–TiO2 materials were further conducted to illustrate their practical implications, implying their promising applications such as in protein detection and biosensing.
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| 8. |
- Dong, Yihui, et al.
(författare)
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Excellent Trace Detection of Proteins on TiO2Nanotube Substrates through Novel Topography Optimization
- 2020
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Ingår i: The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1932-7447 .- 1932-7455. ; 124:50, s. 27790-27800
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- For improving the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) performance of nanomaterials to achieve trace detection of proteins and complex biological systems, structural and topographical control is one of the important strategies. In this work, a facial and effective method to optimize the topography of TiO2 nanotube arrays (TNAs) is demonstrated, together with a significant enhancement of the SERS performance of cytochrome C (Cyt C) on TNAs. An enhancement factor (EF) up to 104, which is obtained with the newly developed method on the basis of the quantification of atomic force microscopy (AFM)-measured interaction force, is achieved, corresponding to a superior detection limit of Cyt C down to 10-7 M. The main reason is that adjusting the fluoride contents in an electrolyte (from 0.4 to 0.1 wt %) can reduce the content and sizes of cracks, as well as the tube ruptures of TNAs, where the fluoride content at 0.2 wt % can successfully provide the excellent and optimized topography of TNAs. The TNAs with the optimized topography, especially those with larger tube diameters, demonstrated the importance of structural integrity on a remarkably excellent SERS performance in the trace detection of proteins. The proposed method will stimulate the development and optimization of the active substrate on the SERS applications in biology, bioanalysis, and nanoscience. © 2020 American Chemical Society.
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| 9. |
- Gao, Qingwei, et al.
(författare)
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Molecular insight into wetting behavior of deep eutectic solvent droplets on ionic substrates : A molecular dynamics study
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Molecular Liquids. - : Elsevier. - 0167-7322 .- 1873-3166. ; 319
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Wetting behavior of droplets made of choline chloride/urea (1:2), an archetypal deep eutectic solvent mixture, is studied using molecular dynamics simulations. The droplets are placed on a smooth model ionic substrate with positive and negative charges of the same magnitude q (0 e ≤ q ≤ 1.0 e), corresponding to a step-by-step change from a hydrophobic to hydrophilic surface. The molecular microstructure of the droplets and their spatial compositions are systematically studied in details on how they both change while gradually moving from hydrophobic to hydrophilic surface. It is observed that urea initially forms a monolayer on the surface with a planar orientation. This layer slowly shrinks while it becomes laterally more and more constrained. It becomes also molecularly more ordered when the surface becomes hydrophilic, at the same time as the contact angles become larger and larger. The anions (Cl-) are continuously pushed further away from the charged surface. While the contact angle increases and wetting decreases, and urea forms even a secondary stable layer where it changes its orientation and turns to have one of its amines facing up and carbonyl down. The average number of urea-urea H-bonds decreases linearly while the number of ion-pair contacts increases when the urea molecules are separating from the mixture. Our analysis gives a clear molecular understanding of the process and can be useful in many applications from membrane separation to catalysis.
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| 10. |
- Gao, Qingwei, et al.
(författare)
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Physicochemical properties and structure of fluid at nano-/micro-interface : Progress in simulation and experimental study
- 2020
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Ingår i: Green Energy & Environment. - : Elsevier. - 2468-0257. ; 5:3, s. 274-285
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- In modern chemical engineering processes, the involvement of solid/fluid interface is the most important component of process intensification techniques, such as confined membrane separation and catalysis. In the review, we summarized the research progress of the latest theoretical and experimental works to elucidate the contribution of interface to the fluid properties and structures at nano- and micro-scale. We mainly focused on water, alcohol aqueous solution, and ionic liquids, because they are classical systems in interfacial science and/or widely involved in the industrialization process. Surface-induced fluids were observed in all reviewed systems and played a critical role in physicochemical properties and structures of outside fluid. It can even be regarded as a new interface, when the adsorption layer has a strong interaction with the solid surface. Finally, we proposed a perspective on scientific challenges in the modern chemical engineering processes and outlined future prospects.
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