Dynamic Mechanical and Gel Content Properties of Irradiated ENR/PVC Blends with TiO2 Nanofillers

Numerous studies reported on irradiated epoxidized natural rubber/polyvinyl chloride (ENR/PVC) blends and the blends were found miscible at all compositional range thus it offers a broad of opportunity in modifying the blend characteristic. Addition of low loading titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanofillers in the ENR/PVC blends has shown a remarkable increment in tensile strength. Thus, this study was initiated to address the effect of TiO2 nanofillers on ENR/PVC blends dynamic mechanical and gel content properties and its morphology upon exposure to electron beam irradiation. ENR/PVC blends with addition of 0, 2 and 6 phr TiO2 nanofillers were first blended in a mixing chamber before being irradiated by an electron beam accelerator at different 0-200 kGy irradiation doses. The influence of TiO2 nanofillers on the irradiation crosslinking of ENR/PVC blends was study based on the dynamic mechanical analysis which was carried out in determining the glass transition temperature and the storage modulus behavior of ENR/PVC blends incorporated with TiO2 nanofillers. Formations of irradiation crosslinking in the blend were investigated by gel content measurement. While, the TiO2 nanofillers distribution were examined by Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). Upon irradiation, the ENR/PVC/6 phr TiO2 formed the highest value of gel fraction. For dynamic mechanical analysis, it was found that electron beam radiation increased the Tg of all the compositions. The relationship between the crosslinking and the stiffness of the nanocomposites also can be found in this study. The enhancement in the storage modulus and Tg at higher amount of TiO2 in the blend could be correlated to the enhancement of the irradiation-induced crosslinking in the nanocomposites characteristic and also with the higher agglomerations of TiO2 evidence shown from the TEM micrograph examination. Lastly, the dimensions of TiO2 in the blends were found less than 100 nm in diameter which indicates incorporation of TiO2 nanofillers in ENR/PVC blends is potentially to provide the nanocomposites features. Doi: 10.12777/ijse.6.1.24-30 [How to cite this article: Ramlee, N.A., Ratnam, C.T., Alias, N.H., Rahman, M.F.A.. 2014. Dynamic Mechanical and Gel Content Properties of Irradiated ENR/PVC blends with TiO2 Nanofillers. International Journal of Science and Engineering, 6(1),24-30. Doi: 10.12777/ijse.6.1.24-30

Utilization of Agarwood Distillation Waste in Oilwell Cement and Its Effect on Free Water and Porosity

The intent of this research is to utilize the waste produced by distillation process of Agarwood oil and convert it into a profitable oilwell cement additive. Common problem during oilwell cementing is free wáter separation. This problem could weaken cement at the top, gas migration problem and non uniform density of cement slurry that are even worst in cementing deviated well. Another concern on cementing design is the porosity of the hardened cement. If the cement is too porous, it can lead to gas migration and casing corrosion. All tests were conducted according to API Specification-10B. Free water test was determined at different concentrations of Agarwood Waste Additive (AWA), different inclination angles and different temperatures. Based on the findings, it was observed that zero free water was produced when 2% BWOC of AWA was used at all angles. The findings also revealed that AWA can maintain good thermal stability as it could maintain zero free water at increased temperature up to 60˚C. The porosity of AWA cement was comparable with standard API neat cement as the porosity did not differ much at 2% BWOC of AWA. Therefore, it can be concluded that the AWA is suitable to be used as an additive in oil well cement (OWC) with 2% BWOC is taken as the optimum concentration

Photocatalytic nanofiber-coated alumina hollow fiber membranes for highly efficient oilfield produced water treatment

Cost-effective purification technology of oilfield produced water (OPW) is becoming a global challenge for future petroleum exploration and production industry. Energy-efficient operation of membrane separation is potentially promising. However, severe fouling problem of oil droplets demands new robust and fouling-resistant membranes with high permeability and rejection efficiency. Here, we propose a photocatalytic nanofiber-coated inorganic hollow fiber membrane suitable for OPW treatment. The membrane was fabricated by coating polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber incorporated with graphitic carbon nitride (GCN) photocatalyst on an alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) hollow fiber membrane. While the highly porous coating made of smooth hydrophilic nanofibers facilitated water permeation, the coating effectively captured oil droplets in its opening, resulting in a better rejection efficiency of oil contaminants. Its sparse mesh morphology prevented oil contaminants to form dense fouling film on the membrane surface and maintained high permeate flux even after 180 min filtration. The best permeate flux of 640 L·m −2 ·h −1 and oil rejection percentage of 99% were recorded for 180 min crossflow filtration of OPW at 2 bar along with the highest pure water flux of 816 L·m −2 ·h −1 . The photocatalytic activity of GCN enabled the coating to degrade the captured oil contaminants under UV irradiation, demonstrating permeate flux of 577 L·m −2 ·h −1 and oil rejection of 97% after three cycles of 180 min filtration. The excellent fouling resistance and cleaning performances of the membrane are considerably beneficial for a long-term repeated filtration operation. This work will motivate researchers to develop nanofiber-coated hollow fiber membranes for future membrane separation technology