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Skip to Search Results- 6Xu, Zhenghe (Chemical and Materials Engineering)
- 3Gupta, Rajender (Chemical and Materials Engineering)
- 3Liu, Qingxia (Chemical and Materials Engineering)
- 3Zeng, Hongbo (Chemical and Materials Engineering)
- 2Amirfazli, Alidad (Mechanical Engineering)
- 2Babadagli, Tayfun (Civil and Environmental Engineering)
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Development of Solvent Selection Criteria Based on Diffusion Rate, Mixing Quality, and Solvent Retrieval for Optimal Heavy-Oil and Bitumen Recovery at Different Temperatures
DownloadFall 2015
Heavy-oil and bitumen recovery requires high recovery factors to offset the extreme high cost of the process. Attention has been given to solvent injection for this purpose and it has been observed that high recoveries are achievable when combined with steam injection. Heavier (“liquid”) solvents...
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Spring 2013
Removal of a drop from its substrate may be gradually (e.g. evaporation) or all at once (e.g. shedding). In this thesis, drop adhesion force as a base for understanding the all at once removal of a drop from its substrate, and drop evaporation in room temperature as one of the gradual removal...
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Dynamic Demulsification Mechanism of Asphaltene-Stabilized Water-in-Oil Emulsions by Ethylcellulose
DownloadFall 2015
In previous studies, nontoxic and biodegradable ethylcellulose (EC) was shown to be capable of breaking water-in-diluted bitumen emulsions. Nevertheless, the demulsification mechanism of EC has not been correlated to its effect on the physical properties of stabilizing interfacial asphaltene...
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Dynamics of spontaneous initial spreading and spreading of a hydrodynamically driven droplet under the influence of surrounding pressure
DownloadFall 2021
We investigate experimentally the early time dynamics of spontaneous spreading of silicone oils with various viscosities at elevated surrounding pressures. The surrounding medium pressure is increased in a monotone fashion starting from atmospheric pressure to a maximum value of 30 megapascal...
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Effect of Temperature, Phase Change, and Chemical Additive on Interfacial Properties and Performance of Steam Applications
DownloadFall 2019
When considering the wettability state during steam applications, we find that most issues remain unanswered. Removal of polar groups from the rock surface with increasing temperature improves water wettability; however, other factors, including phase change, play a reverse role. In other words,...
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Electrocoalescence of Water Droplets in Oil Emulsions: Effect of Electric Fields, Surfactants, and Chemical Demulsifiers
DownloadSpring 2019
Stabilization of water-in-oil droplets during bitumen extraction and refining process poses a major challenge in the oil sands industry. These crude oil emulsions are stabilized by rigid films at water droplet-oil interfaces. The salty water remaining in oil causes equipment corrosion, catalyst...
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Evaluation of Mechanical Performance of Asphalt Emulsion Stabilized Base Course Using Asphaltenes or Cement
DownloadFall 2021
Civilization has become highly reliant on the road industry in recent years for both commercial and personal purposes. A typical road's function is to promote traffic flow comfortably and safely. The pavement is a structure made up of natural ground with varying layers on top that can distribute...
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Extending Depletion Flocculation Phase Behavior Models to Partially Soluble and Aggregating Colloids—Asphaltenes
DownloadFall 2015
Mixtures of colloids + non-adsorbing polymers + good solvents are well known to exhibit multiphase behaviors that are driven by the depletion flocculation mechanism where one phase, designated a colloid gas, is largely comprised of polymer and solvent, while the other phase, designated a colloid...
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Fabrication and Characterization of Photolithographically Patterned Rough Surfaces Demonstrating Extreme Contact Angle Behavior
DownloadFall 2014
This thesis features experimental work done to fabricate and characterize silicon surfaces patterned using photolithographic techniques, both standard and novel, to produce a variety of surfaces with roughness of controlled geometric properties. In specific, one set of the surfaces fabricated...
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Fall 2011
The removal of solid particulates from crude oils and hydrocarbon streams is a common challenge in refining. Finding a method for efficient removal of the suspended solids in the oil streams is the main objective of this work. Paraffinic and aqueous treatment and the combination of these two...