Browsing by Subject "rheology"
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Item Analysis of drilling fluid rheology and tool joint effect to reduce errors in hydraulics calculations(Texas A&M University, 2006-10-30) Viloria Ochoa, MarilynThis study presents a simplified and accurate procedure for selecting the rheological model which best fits the rheological properties of a given non- Newtonian fluid and introduces five new approaches to correct for tool joint losses from expansion and contraction when hydraulics is calculated. The new approaches are enlargement and contraction (E&C), equivalent diameter (ED), two different (2IDs), enlargement and contraction plus equivalent diameter (E&C+ED), and enlargement and contraction plus two different IDs (E&C+2IDs). In addition to the Newtonian model, seven major non-Newtonian rheological models (Bingham plastic, Power law, API, Herschel-Bulkley, Unified, Robertson and Stiff, and Casson) provide alternatives for selecting the model that most accurately represents the shear-stress/shear-rate relationship for a given non- Newtonian fluid. The project assumes that the model which gives the lowest absolute average percent error (EAAP) between the measured and calculated shear stresses is the best one for a given non-Newtonian fluid. The results are of great importance in achieving correct results for pressure drop and hydraulics calculations and the results are that the API rheological model (RP 13D) provides, in general, the best prediction of rheological behavior for the mud samples considered (EAAP=1.51), followed by the Herschel-Bulkley, Robertson and Stiff, and Unified models. Results also show that corrections with E&C+2IDs and API hydraulics calculation give a good approximation to measured pump pressure with 9% of difference between measured and calculated data.Item Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs) Associated with Maintenance of Bread Making Quality under Heat Stress in Wheat (Triticum aestivum)(2010-10-12) Beecher, Francis WardThe aim of this study was to identify QTLs associated with the maintenance of grain quality following post-anthesis heat stress. A population of 64 F6Halberd X Cutter recombinant inbred lines (RILs) was exposed to either heat stress or control conditions in the greenhouse, starting ten days after anthesis. Grain quality was determined using the sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) sedimentation test, a significant predictor of bread baking quality. The percent change in SDS sedimentation test scores between the heat and control populations was used to identify QTLs associated with quality stability. Four QTLs were identified, located one each on chromosomes 1B, 1D, 4A, and 7A. Three of the QTLs, those on 1B, 1D, and 4A, were associated with variations in SDS sedimentation level. The QTL on chromosome 7A was associated with the percent change in SDS sedimentation scores between heat-stressed and control conditions. This indicated a relationship between the identified QTL and quality stability. To confirm the detected QTLs, eighty advanced lines grown at three Texas nurseries were genotyped and tested for relationships between QTL-associated markers, quality traits, and stability of the quality traits. Quality trait stability was estimated using the coefficient of variability (CV%) of quality traits between growing sites. Quality characters analyzed in the advanced lines included kernel hardness, mixograph peak time, kernel weight, flour yield, SDS sedimentation, and grain yield. The analysis showed support for the effect of the QTLs on chromosomes 1B, 1D, and 4A. Further analysis will be needed to confirm the QTL on 7A, in particular. The mapping of additional markers will be necessary. However, the potential importance of this QTL and the abundance of other QTLs detected in this region make it worth investigating.Item The nanoporous morphology of photopolymerized crosslinked polyacrylamide hydrogels(2009-05-15) Wang, JianNanoporous polymer hydrogels offer a desirable combination of mechanical, optical, and transport characteristics that have placed them at the core of a variety of biomedical technologies including engineered tissue scaffolds, substrates for controlled release of pharmaceutical compounds, and sieving matrices for electrophoretic separation of DNA and proteins. Ultimately, we would like to obtain a detailed picture of the nanoscale pore morphology and understand how it can be manipulated so that we can rationally identify gel formulations best suited for a specific application. But this goal has proven elusive because the most fundamental descriptors of the pore network architecture (e.g., the average pore size and its polydispersity) are particularly difficult to measure in polymer hydrogels. Here we introduce an approach that enables both the mean pore size and the pore size distribution to be quantitatively determined without prior knowledge of any physical material parameters A novel technique to prepare TEM samples was developed so that the nanoscale hydrogel pore size, pore shape and distribution are clearly visualized and quantitatively studied for the first time. The pore sizes of the hydrogel are also estimated with rheology. A new fixture is used in the rheometer and the whole polymerization process can be directly studied using an in-situ rheology experiment. A series of thermoporometry experiments are also conducted, and suitable methods and equations to study hydrogel pore size and distribution are chosen. The pore size derived from TEM, rheology, DSC is compared and their values are self-consistent. These techniques help us understand how the nanoporous morphology of crosslinked polyacrylamide hydrogels is influenced by their chemical composition and polymerization conditions. It is interesting to find hydrogels with similar pore size but different distribution. For two hydrogels with similar pore size, the broader the distribution, the faster the release rate and the higher the accumulated release percentage. So we can control the release of trapped molecules by simply varying the hydrogel pore size distribution. This discovery would have a very promising potential in the application of pharmaceuticals.Item Tribological Properties of Ionic Liquids Lubricants Containing Nanoparticles(2014-05-14) Lu, WeiRecently, there has been an increase in research in the application of ionic liquids containing nanoparticles as lubricants due to their properties such as thermally stability, non-volatility and non-flammability. The purpose of this thesis is to describe the tribological and rheological properties of mixtures of nanoparticles (NPs) and ionic liquids (ILs), specifically the mixture of bare SiO_(2) (silica) nanoparticles and ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium (trifluoromethysulfony)imide and the mixture of SiO_(2) nanoparticles functionalized by octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) and ionic liquid1-butyl- 3-methylimidazolium (trifluoromethysulfony)imide. Functionalized SiO_(2) nanoparticles dispersion in ionic liquid was compared to that of the bare SiO_(2) nanoparticles, and shown that functionalized SiO_(2) nanoparticles led to improved colloidal stability. Friction force profiles, friction coefficients, viscosity behavior, wear behavior of these mixtures at various nanoparticles concentrations for a tribo-pair of stainless steel ball and a steel surface were also investigated. It was shown that the friction coefficient of the OTS functionalized SiO_(2) nanoparticles for the optimum concentration (0.1 wt.%) was 36% less than that of the pure ionic liquid, while the friction coefficient of the bare SiO_(2) nanoparticles and the ionic liquid mixture at the optimum concentration (0.05 wt.%) was 23% less than that for the pure ionic liquid. Moreover, friction surfaces of the two kinds of silica nanoparticles at the optimum concentration were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and friction traces. Eventually, it has been shown that promising tribological properties of ionic liquids can be further enhanced by incorporating bare SiO_(2) nanoparticles into ionic liquids. Moreover, the tribological performance of the mixture of the OTS functionalized SiO_(2) nanoparticles and ionic liquid could be better than that of the mixture of bare SiO_(2) nanoparticles in the same ionic liquid.