Monitoring Corrosion Of A One Inch Ball Valve In A Hydraulic Loop Using Ultrasonic Technology

ABSTRACT Ball valves with carbon steel bodies that help modulate flow rates are valuable parts in the process chemical industry. While corrosion monitoring is widely studied, there is not much information available regarding corrosion monitoring of control valves, as referenced in the literature review for this dissertation. This research investigated some foundational blocks for how corrosion can be monitored for a carbon steel body ball valve using ultrasonic technology. Topics that were addressed during this research include: Monitoring corrosion in a carbon steel 1inch ball valve in a constant flow rate environment, in the presence of sodium chloride solution, mixtures of sodium chloride and acetic acid with pH ranging from 4 to 8. Monitoring and analysis of the corrosion impact for the inlet and outlet of carbon steel ball valve using handheld ultrasonic thickness meter in constant flow conditions. Embedded ultrasonic transducers on carbon steel control valve body for online corrosion monitoring. Three experiments were conducted under various corrosive environment namely NaCl, acetic acid and NaCl mixtures for a total of 1,872 hours. Flow rates for these experiments were kept constant while process variables such as pressure, temperature, flow rates, total dissolved solids and power of hydrogen were measured. Microscopic images of the inlet and outlet of the valve were reviewed to validate corrosion characteristics of the valve body. Ultrasonic transducers were used to collect thickness data on the valve body in one experiment and embedded permanently for 648 hours while thickness measurements were monitored during the second and third experiments. Statistical tools were used to analyze data from thickness measurements. The tools used are normal distribution, probability and regression. The inlet and outlet thickness measurements for the three experiments were not normally distributed as expected. The thickness loss for both inlet and outlet locations where thickness readings were taken on the valve for all three experiment, showed that the thickness losses were nonlinear in nature as expected, although for the 240 hours of run with the ultrasonic transducer embedded on the valve, the outlet readings were very close to linear. Thickness measurements were tested against ambient conditions and valve positions which include, temperature, air pressure, noise, vibration and varying valve position. Apart from a high temperature at 300℉, which had an impact on the ultrasonic thickness readings, air pressure, noise exposure, vibration and changing valve position did not have adverse impacts on the measured thickness. These investigations have proven that, ultrasonic transducers can be embedded on ball valves with carbon steel bodies, to monitor both corrosion rates and total corrosion. These experiments will build the foundation for the next generation of carbon steel ball valves which have ultrasonic technology embedded to monitor corrosion online and in real time

The impact of digital technologies on sustomer experience in experiential tourism

Masteroppgave i International Business and Marketing - Nord universitet 202

FUNCTIONALIZATION OF FLUORINATED SURFACTANT TEMPLATED SILICA

Surfactant templating provides for the synthesis of ordered mesoporous silica and the opportunity to tailor the pore size, pore structure, particle morphology and surface functionality of the silica through the selection of synthesis conditions and surfactant template. This work extends the synthesis of nanostructured silica using fluorinated surfactant templates to the synthesis of organic/inorganic composites. The effect of fluorinated surfactant templates (C6F13C2H4NC5H5Cl, C8F17C2H4NC5H5Cl and C10F21C2H4NC5H5Cl), which have highly hydrophobic fluorocarbon tails, on functional group incorporation, accessibility, and silica textural properties is examined and compared to properties of hydrocarbon surfactant (C16H33N(CH3)3Br, CTAB) templated silica. Hydrocarbon (vinyl, n-decyl and 3-aminopropyl) and fluorocarbon (perfluoro-octyl, perfluorodecyl) functional group incorporation by direct synthesis is demonstrated, and its effects on silica properties are interpreted based on the aggregation behavior with the surfactant templates. Silica materials synthesized with CTAB possess greater pore order than materials synthesized with the fluorocarbon surfactants. The incorporation of the short vinyl chain substantially reduces silica pore size and pore order. However, pore order increases with functionalization for materials synthesized with the fluorinated surfactant having the longest hydrophobic chain. The incorporation of longer chain functional groups (n-decyl, perfluorodecyl, perfluoro-octyl) by direct synthesis results in hexagonal pore structured silica for combinations of hydrocarbon/fluorocarbon surfactant and functional groups. The long chain of these silica precursors, which can be incorporated in the surfactant micelle core, affect the pore size less than vinyl incorporation. Synthesis using the longer chain fluoro-surfactant (C8F17C2H4NC5H5Cl) template in ethanol/water solution results in highest incorporation of both n-decyl and the fluorocarbon functional groups, with a corresponding loss of material order in the fluorinated material. Matching the fluorocarbon surfactant (C6F13C2H4NC5H5Cl) to the perfluoro-octyl precursor did not show improved functional group incorporation. Higher incorporation of the perfluoro-octyl functional group was observed for all surfactant templates, but the perfluoro-decyl silica is a better adsorbent for the separation of hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon tagged anthraquinones. Incorporating a reactive hydrophilic functional group (3-aminopropyl) suggests further applications of the resulting nanoporous silica. Greater amine incorporation is achieved in the CTAB templated silica, which has hexagonal pore structure; the order and surface area decreases for the fluorinated surfactant templated material

Exposition of Discriminatory Variables in a Family of Hypertensive and Non hypertensive Diabetic Patients: A Case Study of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital – Kumasi, Ghana

This study sought to expose variable(s) capable of predicting hypertensive status of diabetic patients. To this end, data on 260 diabetic  patients at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital’s Diabetic Centre in Ghana were collected using data extraction form. The majority (144) of the 260 diabetic patients representing about 55% were also hypertensive as against 116 (45%) who were not hypertensive. Frequency analysis also revealed female dominance as far as the two diagnoses (Diabetes with hypertension and diabetes without hypertension) were concerned. However, the percentage of females in diabetes with hypertension (77%) was greater than the percentage of females in diabetes without hypertension (67%). The minimum age of hypertensive diabetic patients was 30 years as against 11 years for those diagnosed as non-hypertensive diabetic. A discriminant analysis was adopted to expose the discriminatory variables as far as the two diagnoses were concerned. The study indicated a strong association between diagnosis (diabetes with hypertension and diabetes without hypertension) and body mass index (BMI), and to some extent, also between diagnosis and age. BMI and age were identified as principal discriminating variables for separating patients diagnosed with diabetes with hypertension from those with diabetes without hypertension. The index of discrimination (canonical correlation) associated with the resulting discriminant model was 0.42 (42%). This is good since it is greater than 30. The hit ratio, (or the percentage of cases correctly classified) is 0.654 or 65.4%. Also, leave-one-out cross-validation which was used instead of an independent holdout sample correctly classified 64.2% of the cases. Finally, it was concluded that ageing and extra BMI gained are risk factors for diabetic patients to develop hypertension. Therefore, the model was good for prediction. Keywords: Diabetes, Hypertension, Model, Discriminant Analysis, Ghan

Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS): A Fast-Track Tool in Tomato Breeding

Marker-assisted selection (MAS) is a complementary tool for conventional breeding where a molecular marker linked to a trait is indirectly selected. Many studies conducted have been able to identify and develop markers for traits such as disease and pest resistance and other abiotic stresses. Despite the availability of these markers, the technology has been extensively used in tomato breeding for the identification of some economic traits in particular disease resistance. In developed countries, MAS is utilized routinely in breeding programs, but this cannot be said for developing countries such as Africa. It is high time Africa as a continent looks at the importance of the technology and invests in it. In addition to MAS, other strategies such as marker-assisted backcrossing and recurrent selection have also been employed for breeding in tomato. The use of MAS in crop improvement will not only reduce the cost of developing new tomato varieties but will also increase the precision and efficiency of selection in the breeding program as well as lessen the number of years required to come up with a new crop variety

Global wealth disparities drive adherence to COVID-safe pathways in head and neck cancer surgery

Peer reviewe