EFFECTS OF REACTION AND PROCESSING PARAMETERS ON ETHYLENE POLYMERIZATION USING DIFFERENT ZIEGLER-NATTA CATALYSTS:EMPLOYMENT OF TAGUCHI EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND RESPONSE SURFACE METHOD

Different Ziegler-Natta catalysts were employed to polymerize ethylene. To investigate the influences of reaction parameters, namely Al/Ti molar ratio, hydrogen and processing parameters, i.e. ethylene pressure and temperature, a Taguchi experimental design was worked out. An L27 orthogonal array was chosen to take the above-mentioned parameters and relevant interactions into account. Response surface method was the tool used to analyze the experimental design results. Al/Ti, ethylene pressure and temperature were selected as experimental design factors, and catalyst activity and polymerization yield were the response parameters. Increasing pressure, due to an increment in monomer accessibility, and rising Al/Ti, because of higher reduction in the catalysts, cause an increase in both polymerization yield and catalyst activity. Nonetheless, a higher temperature, thanks to reducing ethylene solubility in the slurry medium and partially catalyst destruction, lead to a reduction in both response parameters. A synergistic effect was also observed between temperature and pressure. All catalyst activities will reduce in the presence of hydrogen. Molecular weight also shows a decline in the presence of hydrogen as a transfer agent. However, the polydispersity index remains approximately intact. Using SEM, various morphologies, owing to different catalyst morphologies, were seen for the polyethylene.

A Novel Statistical Analysis for Residual Stress in Injection Molding

Residual stresses can reduce the reliability of plastic injection molding parts. This work is an attempt to model the residual stresses as a function of injection molding parameters. More stress is placed on reducing the number of input factors and to include all possible interactions. For this purpose, two-stage experimentation is suggested: a factor screening stage and Response Surface optimization stage. In screening stage Taguchi 3 level experimental design is used to classify the input parameters as significant and non-significant factors. Eight input variables were classified into 3 non-significant and 5 significant factors using this screening stage. Thus for the Response Surface optimization stage: instead of doing 160 experiments in Central Composite, 56 are only needed after the screening stage in half Central Composite Design. The best subset and regression model fitting tools in addition to model verification using randomly selected input setting were used to select a model for predicting residual stresses with a verified Root Mean Square Error (RSME) of nearly 0.93 MPa.

Multi-response optimization of MIL-101 synthesis for selectively adsorbing N-compounds from fuels

In this work,MIL-101,a metal organic framework,has been synthesized and examined in the adsorptive denitrogenation process.Due to the importance of adsorption capacity and selectivity,the effects of synthesis parameters including metal type,reagent ratio,time and temperature on the MIL-101 performance were investigated by measuring quinoline(QUI)separation from iso-octane.The optimum conditions were determined using a Taguchi experimental design and the multiresponse optimization(multivariate statistical)method.Based on the arithmetic mean of normalized QUI adsorption capacity and QUI/dibenzothiophene(DBT)selectivity,as the objective function,the optimum value of synthesis parameters were found to be manganese as metal type in the structure,180°C for synthesis temperature,15h for synthesis time and 1.00 for reagent molar ratio.Under these conditions,QUI adsorption capacity and QUI/DBT selectivity were 19.3 mg-N/g-Ads.and 24.6,respectively.Accordingly,the arithmetic mean between normalized values of these measured parameters was equal to 1.10,which is in good agreement with the predicted value.The MIL-101 produced under optimum conditions was characterized by determining its specific surface area,X-ray powder diffraction patterns and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.Finally,isotherm and kinetic studies indicate that the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-first-order model can successfully describe the experimental data.

Synthesis of Cobalt Chromite Nanoparticles by Thermolysis of Mixed Cr^(3+) and Co^(2+) Chelates of 2-Mercaptopyridin N-Oxide

Pure greenish-blue cobalt chromite(Co Cr/_2O_4) nanoparticles with narrow particle range of 4.1±1.9nm and surface area of 78.2 m2·g-1were synthesized through mixed chelates thermolysis of corresponding metals using 2-Mercaptopyridine N-oxide sodium salt as chelating agent. During the thermolysis procedure,high amount of gases were emitted that led to the formation of nanoparticles with high surface area. The product was characterized by TGA, DTG, XRD, TEM, SEM, LLS, BET and chemical analysis. Design of experiments was performed to fulfill the two levels L_4 Taguchi design. It was found that the temperature and time of thermolysis process have significant effect on the particle size reduction. The Oxidation of trichloroethylene was carried out over Co Cr_2O_4 nanocrystallite. Catalytic activity analysis revealed that the synthesis Co Cr_2O_4 possesses high catalytic activity for this process.