Study of Wax Deposition Pattern of High Wax-Bearing Crude Oil Based on Cold Finger Experiment

In order to solve the problem of wax deposition in waxy crude oil from the Daqing oilfield, cold fingers were used in the experimentation. Compared with other methods, the cold finger method is simple, easy to operate, and takes little space. Measurements of wax deposition with temperature, temperature differences between the crude oil and the wall, deposition time, and cold finger rotation rate were made. The results showed that the deposition rate is up to 0.35 g/h at 8–24 h. The maximum deposition rate at 90 rotations/min was 0.26 g/h, which is 3% higher than the minimum deposition rate.

Optimizing Coating Thickness of Electrophoretic Deposition Overlay on Plasma Sprayed YSZ Coating Using Taguchi Method

In this study, nano sized yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) suspension in organic solution was deposited by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) method as a protective layer on substrate that was previously plasma sprayed thermal barrier coating (TBCs). In order to improve the performance of TBC from degradation by melt ingression of fuel impurities. Design of experiments (DOE) by Taguchi method was used to optimize the controlled variables of EPD process. A crack free YSZ overlay coating was carried out at different variables; applied voltage (20, 40, 60) V, deposition time (3, 5, 7) min and suspension concentration (5, 10, 15) g/l using DC current. Morphological appearance and cross section of the investigated coating specimen were done using optical and field emission scanning electron microscope. Optimizing process and analysis of variances (ANOVA) were performed by “Minitab 18” software. The results indicate that best condition of coating thickness can be obtained at 40V, 5min and 10g/l when applying signal-to-noise ratio “Larger is better”.

Investigation of the Optical, Structural and Compositional Properties of Electrodeposited Lead Manganese Sulfide (PbMnS) Thin Films for Possible Device Applications

The properties of PbMnS semiconductor thin films deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate using an electrodeposition method are investigated to determine their possible device applications. Lead acetate, manganese sulfate, and thiourea were used as precursors for sources of lead, manganese, and sulfur ions respectively. The concentration of lead, manganese, and sulfur ions sources with deposition voltage of 1.8 V was kept constant. The films were deposited using three electrodes system of electrodeposition method by varying deposition time. The films were characterized for optical, structural, morphological, and compositional properties and results showed that the absorbance, refractive index, and optical conductivity of the films are high in the visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) regions but decreases in the NIR. These three properties initially increased with an increase in deposition time up to a time of 70 s which has the highest values of these properties before decreasing to lower values. The transmittance and extinction coefficient of the films are low in both VIS and NIR regions. The bandgap energy of PbS was found to be blue shifted with values of 1.51 eV, 1.54 eV, 1.60 eV, 1.45 eV, and 1.35 eV for the films deposited at 30 s, 50 s, 70 s, 90 s, and 110 s respectively. XRD analysis showed that the films are crystalline with sharp peaks positions indexable to crystalline planes of (111), (200), (211), (220), (311) and (400) with average crystallite size in the range of 16.110 nm to 17.218 nm. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) results showed that the films are composed of lead, manganese, and sulfur but there are some impurity elements present mostly as a result of the substrate used. These properties exhibited by the deposited thin films of PbMnS showed that they can be used for many optoelectronic applications such as photovoltaic cells, sensors, photoconductors, etc.

A study of the electrophoretic deposition of polycaprolactone-chitosan-bioglass nanocomposite coating on stainless steel (316L) substrates

In this research, bioglass nanoparticles were synthesized via sol-gel method and a polycaprolactone-chitosan-bioglass nanocomposite coating was formed on SS316L substrate using electrophoretic deposition method. Then, the effects of voltage and deposition time on morphology, thickness, roughness, and wettability of final coating were investigated. Finally, biocompatibility and toxicity of the coating were evaluated. The results showed that increase of both time and voltage enhanced the thickness, roughness, and wettability of coating. Also, increase of deposition time increased the agglomeration. Therefore, it can be concluded that voltage of 20 V and time of 10 min are suitable for the formation of a uniform agglomerate-free coating. The presence of bioglass nanoparticles also led to the increase of roughness and improvement of polycaprolactone hydrophobicity. The results also showed higher bioactivity in polycaprolactone-chitosan-1% bioglass nanocomposite coating sample. This sample had a roughness ( Ra) of 1.048 ± 0.037 μm and thickness of 2.54 ± 0.14 μm. In summary, the results indicated that coating of polycaprolactone-chitosan-bioglass nanocomposite on SS316L substrate could be a suitable surface treatment to increase its in vivo bioactivity and biocompatibility.

Surface Pretreatments of AA5083 Aluminum Alloy with Enhanced Corrosion Protection for Cerium-Based Conversion Coatings Application: Combined Experimental and Computational Analysis

The effects of surface pretreatments on the cerium-based conversion coating applied on an AA5083 aluminum alloy were investigated using a combination of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), polarization testing, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Two steps of pretreatments containing acidic or alkaline solutions were applied to the surface to study the effects of surface pretreatments. Among the pretreated samples, the sample prepared by the pretreatment of the alkaline solution then acid washing presented higher corrosion protection (~3 orders of magnitude higher than the sample without pretreatment). This pretreatment provided a more active surface for the deposition of the cerium layer and provided a more suitable substrate for film formation, and made a more uniform film. The surface morphology of samples confirmed that the best surface coverage was presented by alkaline solution then acid washing pretreatment. The presence of cerium in the (EDS) analysis demonstrated that pretreatment with the alkaline solution then acid washing resulted in a higher deposition of the cerium layer on the aluminum surface. After selecting the best surface pretreatment, various deposition times of cerium baths were investigated. The best deposition time was achieved at 10 min, and after this critical time, a cracked film formed on the surface that could not be protective. The corrosion resistance of cerium-based conversion coatings obtained by electrochemical tests were used for training three computational techniques (artificial neural network (ANN), adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), and support vector machine regression (SVMR)) based on Pretreatment-1 (acidic or alkaline cleaning: pH (1)), Pretreatment-2 (acidic or alkaline cleaning: pH (2)), and deposition time in the cerium bath as an input. Various statistical criteria showed that the ANFIS model (R2 = 0.99, MSE = 48.83, and MAE = 3.49) could forecast the corrosion behavior of a cerium-based conversion coating more accurately than other models. Finally, due to the robust performance of ANFIS in modeling, the effect of each parameter was studied.