The goal of this thesis was to develop a process of producing small monodisperse
alginate gel beads. The phenomenon of controlled jet break-up of alginate solution jet
with assisted vibration was used to form uniform sodium alginate droplets which were
subsequently crosslinked with divalent calcium ion to form gel beads....
The global motivation for this work comes from the desire to fabricate "plastic lumber" with improved mechanical properties (particularly creep resistance) from recycled plastics and wood composites. The present studies have utilized "virgin plastics" of polystyrene (PS), an amorphous, stiff material that exhibits brittle fracture, and high density polyethylene (HDPE),...
An important by-product of the kraft pulping process, black liquor is currently used in most pulp mills to produce steam in a recovery boiler. Two important black liquor characteristics are viscosity and burning (firing) characteristics, which determine the operating efficiency of the recovery boiler. Kraft black liquor is a complicated...