bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of Drill Mud and Drive Torque Sinusoidal Excitation on Drillstrings Lateral and Torsional StickSlip Vibrations
Authors: Kanzari Meryem
Published: June 2019

Oil and gas drilling companies spend around 20$ billion annually from which 15% is attributed to material and productive time losses. The most prevalent drilling problems are caused by the Bottom-Hole-Assembly failure which includes drill string and drill bit damage or fatigue failure. During normal operation, to achieve penetration that cannot be met by the drilling motor power section, the bit torque generates an increased reactive torque that acts in the opposite direction of the driving rotation. This sudden increase in reactive torque is transmitted through the drill string as torsional ‘stick-slip’ vibration, which is often regarded as one of the most damaging modes of vibration. Due to cyclical rotation acceleration and deceleration of the bit, Bottom-Hole-Assembly, or drill string, this phenomenon produces accumulation and release of energy stored as several turns of twist in the rotor. While downhole vibrations are difficult to prevent and cannot be totally eradicated, implementing of corrective methods may be highly efficient for drilling optimization. In the present work, the effect of drill mud on drilling dynamics is studied, then, a sinusoidal excitation is added to the drive torque and resulting impact on downhole equipment is presented. A laboratory scale arrangement consisting of a flexible rotor and a stator is used, and attention is paid to whirling and stick-slip motions of the drill string. The results are provided in the form of responses in the time and frequency domains. A non-linear coupled dynamic model of a rotor enclosed within a stator and subjected to non- linear mud film force is developed. Comparisons with simulations data are also included. The work is one of the first studies carried out on the influence of adding a sinusoidal excitation to the driving torque with the use of drill mud on drill-string whirling motions in a laboratory environment.
Efficient and fast separation of emulsified oil/water mixtures with a novel micro/nanofiber network membrane
Authors: Liu Zhaoyang
Published: June 2019

Produced water is one of the largest waste streams emanating from oil and gas industries. If inadequately treated, emulsified oil droplets contained in produced water will contaminate the environment and subsequently pose severe threat to human health. Removal of tiny emulsified oil droplets in produced water is very challenging. In this study, we demonstrated a new concept for constructing oil/water separating membranes with ultra-long titanate nanofibers (over 30 μm in length) / cellulose microfibers. An integrated network membrane was achieved with these ultra-long micro/nanofibers. This new membrane demonstrates good mechanical flexibility, which are critical for practical applications. This membrane shows high separation efficiency (99.9%) for oil/water emulsions with oil droplet size down to 3 μm, and at the same time has high water permeation flux (6.8 ×  104 L m-2 h-1 bar-1) at low operation pressure. The high water flux is attributed to the interconnected porous structure throughout the whole membrane, while the nanoporous selective layer contributes to high oil separation. In addition, the low-cost materials and fabrication process for this membrane suggests its great potential for industrial scale-up.
A Systematic Approach for Designing Sustainable Industrial WaterEnergy Integration Network
Authors: Fouladi Jamileh , Linke Patrick
Published: June 2019

Natural resources face growing demands and constraints in many regions as a result of economic, population growth and climate change. Due to those changes, it is extremely essential to invest towards water and energy nexus integration technologies since integrated thinking and actions can led to achieving a sustainable development and global supply of water and energy. The water-energy nexus and integration has been recently proposed to minimize water-energy footprint of an industrial park. It is required to develop a systematic approach for water-energy nexus network and interconnections among the processes. Previous research works mainly have presented the general superstructure and approach to develop economically optimal water networks that achieve a specified footprint target. In this work, one of the previous approach for water network has been extended with cooling systems options in order to capture the linkages between water and energy within industrial cities. The objective of this paper is to develop a framework for optimizing energy and water resources from processes that have a surplus of energy at various qualities. A systematic procedure is developed for optimizing and maximizing the benefits of these nexuses, considering power generation from a net surplus of waste heat energy from each plant by accounting for different sustainability metrics. The developed approach includes the use of composite curve analysis to first identify the potential for excess heat and then used to develop the combined water-energy network. A superstructure is generated to embed various configurations and related optimization formulation is solved to obtain an optimal process that economically satisfies the demand for water and energy considering some environmental metrics. Special emphasis is placed on capturing the synergy potentials from utilizing excess process heat and synergies across cooling and desalination systems, as well as synergies with the surroundings in terms of power and water exports from the industrial cluster. The work considers multiple objectives to explore trade-offs between minimum total annual cost and environmental sustainability metrics. A case study of an industrial cluster of typical processes operating in Qatar is presented to highlight the benefits of integration. It is shown how economically very attractive solutions across the nexus are identified by the proposed optimization-based approach. The results indicate that by water-energy integration the footprint reduction can be significant while economically is attractive too. Therefore, there is a great potential for savings water-energy resources by water-energy integrations. The work is contributed to sustainable development such as less pollution and resource minimization.
تحسين كفاءة الطاقة للاجهزة المنزلية كثيفة الاستهلاك
Authors: Hasanien Alaa Hussien
Published: June 2019

نظرا لزيادة الاستثمارات و التطور الصناعي والتكنولوجي في عصرنا الحديث فقد ازداد الطلب على الطاقة الكهربائية لذا تقوم دول العالم سنويا بإنشاء العديد من محطات إنتاج الطاقة الكهربائية مما يؤدي بدوره الى زيادة الطلب على الوقود المستخدم لتشغيل محطات إنتاج الطاقة الكهربائية وهو ما يؤثر سلبا على صحة الأنسان والحيوان نتيجة انبعاث غاز ثاني اكسيد الكربون و الغازات الضارة الأخرى الملوثة البيئة والتي تعد أحد أكبر أسباب التغيرات المناخية والاحتباس الحراري. وتعتبر كفاءة الطاقة من أهم التحديات التقنية في عصرنا الحديث نظرًا لارتفاع تكاليف إنشاء محطات الطاقة الكهربية وانتاج الطاقة حتى تصل للمستهلك والذي يتحمل تكلفة انتاج الطاقة على عاتقه، لذا فقد اتجه العالم بأثره في البداية إلى استخدام مصادر الطاقة المتجددة و لكنها لم تلبي كمية الطلب المتنامي على الطاقة بالإضافة إلى ارتفاع تكاليف انتاج الطاقة من بعض المصادر المتجددة للطاقة مثل الطاقة الشمسية وطاقة الرياح وندرة أوعدم وجود مصادر الطاقة المتجددة في بعض البلا بالإضافة إلى أن مصادر الطاقة المتجددة لا تلبي إلا قدر بسيط من إحتياج الطاقة الكهربائية. وحديثا تم التوجه وبقوة إلى تحسين كفاءة الطاقة للأجهزة الكهربائية المنزلية كثيفة الاستهلاك والتي تستهلك قدر كبير من الطاقة يذهب جزء كبير منها هدرا بسبب عدم كفاءة هذه الأجهزة و عدم توفيرها للطاقة حيث تفقد حوالي ٩٠ % من الطاقة المستهلكة بواسطة لمبات التنجستين في صورة حرارة ولا يستفاد منها كضوء (الوظيفة الرئيسية للمبة) بل يتم المعاناة بعد ذلك من التخلص من تلك الحرارة عن طريق استهلاك قدر اكبر من الطاقة عن طريق المكيفات مما يتسبب في مضاعفة الاستهلاك. ومع التطور الكبير في أجهزة قياس الطاقة الكهربائية و ما مكنته من القدرة على جمع البيانات من الشبكة الكهربائية و قيمة الاستهلاك في جميع القطاعات سواء التجارية و الصناعية و المنزلية بل و تسجيل جميع العناصر المتعلقة بالاستهلاك للطاقة الكهربائية كالقيمة الفعلية للاستهلاك و معامل القدرة الكهربائية و الطاقة الغير فعالة و الحمال القصوى و فترات الذروة و القدرة على تحليل تلك البيانات بصورة سهلة جعلت من اليسير تحديد كيفية خفض الاستهلاك دون الحاجة انشاء محطات طاقة كهربائية جديدة أو صرف مبالغ كبيرة على صيانة المحطات الموجودة بالفعل. لذا فان البحث في تحسين كفاءة الطاقة للأجهزة المنزلية الكهربائية كثيفة الاستهلاك و انتاج أجهزة كهربائية منزلية و غير منزلية ذات كفاءة طاقة عالية قد يكون محور ارتكاز للعديد من العلماء و الباحثين و دعمت ذلك العديد من حكومات الدول المتقدمة لما له من مردود اقتصادي و بيئي حيث يوفر ملايين الدولارات سواء عن طريق خفض الانتاج و عدم الحاجة لبناء المزيد من محطات توليد الطاقة الكهربائية أو في علاج تأثيرات انبعاثات الغازات مثل غاز ثاني أكسيد الكربون وغيرها من الغازات الضارة و التي لها العديد من الأثار السلبية على البيئة وصحة الإنسان. يساهم الاستثمار في تحسين كفاءة الطاقة للأجهزة المنزلية في تحسين الأقتصاد عن طريق تشجيع الابتكار وخلق فرص عمل للبحث في مجال تحسين كفاءة الطاقة و الحفاظ على موارد الدول من الوقود كما تساهم في تعزيز استقلالية الدول, مما يسهم في الحفاظ على الطاقة إلى جانب تحقيق رضا المستهلكين من خلال توفير منتجات عالية الجودة و موفرة للطاقة و حماية البيئة من أضرار الانبعاثات الكربونية الضارة و تجنيب الحكومات إنشاء المزيد من محطات انتاج الطاقة الكهربائية التي تكلف مبالغ باهظة.
The state of the art prototype design and optimized process conditions for clathrate hydrate based desalination HyDesal process
Authors: Linga Praveen , Babu Ponnivalavan , Nambiar Abhishek
Published: June 2019

Desalination is one of the most promising technologies to mitigate an emerging water crisis. Thermal desalination and reverse osmosis are two of the most widely employed desalination technologies in the world. However, these technologies are energy intensive. In countries like Singapore which lack natural water and energy resources, it is imperative to develop innovative energy efficient technologies to strengthen the energy – water nexus. Clathrate hydrate based desalination (HyDesal) is one such technology. Clathrate hydrate based desalination (HyDesal) process is based on a liquid to solid phase change by employing a suitable guest gas/ gas mixture for the phase change. In the HyDesal process, water molecules form cages around a guest gas/liquid component effectively rejecting salts present in the brine solution at temperatures slightly higher than normal freezing temperature of water. These crystals when dissociated or melted are essentially fresh water and the guest component can be re-used for the process again. While HyDesal process was proposed almost 70 years ago, it was never commercialized primarily due to the high energy requirement for low temperature operation, slow hydrate formation kinetics and inefficient hydrate crystal separation from brine. Recently, we reported an enhanced hydrate formation kinetics in fixed bed reactor with silica sand as porous media when hydrate is formed from gas mixture consisting propane as co-guest. Based on the ability of propane to draw dispersed water from sand bed towards the gas phase for hydrate growth, we proposed a conceptual hydrate based desalination (ColdEn-HyDesal) process employing fixed bed reactor configuration to minimize the energy requirement. The ability of propane as a co-guest to draw water from the silica sand bed can be effectively used for the HyDesal process to address the slow kinetics and effective separation of the hydrate crystals. In this presentation, our state of the art prototype design and optimized process conditions will be presented. With our innovative reactor design, we carried out water recovery experiments to find the suitable guest gas mixture containing propane as co-guest. The other constituent in the gas mixture employed were methane, argon, nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Further kinetic experiments were carried out to optimize the silica sand particle size, bed height. Our recent knowledge on enhancing the kinetics of hydrate formation and innovative approach to offset the refrigeration cost for the HyDesal process can be applied to efficiently desalinate seawater to produce potable water. With our innovative reactor design and utilizing waste LNG cold energy, HyDesal can be a sustainable solution for desalination. The ColeEn-HyDesal process utilizing waste LNG cold energy will have a huge impact globally as well due to the expanding number of LNG terminals and the potential to mitigate the potable water issues.
Selective Catalytic Valorisation of Carbon Dioxide Towards Building Block Molecules
Authors: Dastgir Sarim , Beller Matthias , Anwar Muhammad , Sharif Muhammad , Pathan Soyebkhan , Ferretti Francesco , Jackstell Ralf
Published: June 2019

The development of sustainable technologies for successful exploitation of C-1 feedstock such as carbon dioxide (CO2) is a thought-provoking challenge for effective utilisation of this abundant renewable resource. In an industrial prospective, new catalytic concept are vital to add value stream and to bring sustainability to this resource to mitigate the challenges associated with growing energy demands and increased responsiveness for climate control. Notably, catalysis is a key technology for achieving sustainable processes and the future development of humankind. Our recent efforts in developing catalytic methodologies towards selective valorisation of CO2 towards building block molecules will be discussed.
Efficient Inhibition of SulfateReducing Bacteria in Inject Sea Water by “Green” Chitosan/ZnO nanocomposite
Authors: Rasool Kashif
Published: June 2019

Oil producing companies utilize water injection as a common oil recovery method for decades, especially for offshore fields, where seawater is typically used as inject water. Due to the size and complexity of the injection system and the high salinity of the water (∼55,000 mg/L); several challenges are faced during this process including microbial growth, fouling and corrosion in the pipeline. Biofilms accelerate corrosion in a biologically conditioned metal–solution interface. Oil producing companies including those in Qatar use biocides to disinfect the water and inhibit biofilm formation caused mainly by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB). However, traditional biocides may induce bacterial resistance and/or be detrimental to environment. In this study we synthesized chitosan/ZnO nanocomposite (CZNCs) and evaluated its antimicrobial activity against SRB biofilm in inject seawater. CZNCs showed stable behavior when exposed to higher salt concentrations of inject water. The inhibition of SRB activity was concentration-dependent and more than 73% and 43% inhibition of sulfate reduction and TOC removal, respectively, was observed at 250 μg/mL CZNCs at 10% initial ZnO loading. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay indicated obvious damages to the cellular membrane which resulted in release of cytoplasmic materials from the bacterial cells. Significant decrease in concentration of EPS extracts was obtained. This work has demonstrated that the exposure of synthesized CZNCs could cause significant SRB anti-biofouling properties. This is the first ever study of antimicrobial potential of chitosan based biocides for SRB inhibition. We are confident that this work will make the scientific as well as the industrial communities to appreciate the application of nanomaterials based biocides. This is the first ever study of antimicrobial potential of any ENM generally, and chitosan based biocides, particularly, for SRB enriched biofilm inhibition. Taking into account tremendous interest to nanomaterials as antimicrobial agents, we anticipate a major impact from a much better material reported in his paper.
Dual Stage Pressure Retarded Osmosis: Potential and Applicability
Authors: Altaee ALI Mohammed
Published: June 2019

A dual stage PRO process has been proposed for power generation from a salinity gradient across a semi-permeable membrane. Both closed-loop and open-loop dual stage PRO system were evaluated using 2 M NaCl and Dead Sea as draw solutions, whereas the feed solution was either fresh water or seawater. The impact of feed salinity gradient resource and feed pressure on the net power generation and water flux were evaluated. The results showed that power density in stage one reached a maximum amount at, but the maximum net power generation occurred at. This result was mainly attributed to the variation of net driving pressure in stage one and two of the PRO process. The dual stage PRO process was found to perform better at high osmotic pressure gradient across the PRO membrane, for example when Dead Sea brine or highly concentrated NaCl was the draw solution. Total power generation in the dual stage PRO process was up to 40% higher than that in the conventional PRO process. This outcome was achieved through harvesting the rest of the energy remaining in the diluted draw solution. Therefore, a dual stage PRO process has the potential of maximizing power generation from a salinity gradient resource by 20%. DSPRO can be combined with desalination plant using seawater brine as the draw solution either in closed-loop or open-loop. This hybridization has multiple applications such as reducing the impact of discharging concentrated brine to sea, energy storage, and increase the recovery rate of the desalination. Power generation by DSPRO will reduce the energy consumption by the desalination processes. Waste heat from power plants can be used for the regeneration of the draw solution in the closed-loop DSPRO. Process modelling has been performed and shown promising results for DSPRO application for power generation. The impact of module configuration, area and length, with relation to draw solution concentration have shown to have significant impact on osmotically driven processes and should be counted for.
Accessing dark states optically through excitationferrying states
Authors: Kais Sabre , Hu Zixuan , Engel Gregory S.
Published: June 2019

The efficiency of solar energy harvesting systems is largely determined by their ability to transfer excitations from the antenna to the energy trapping center before recombination. Dark state protection, achieved by coherent coupling between subunits in the antenna structure, can significantly reduce radiative recombination and enhance the efficiency of energy trapping. Because the dark states cannot be populated by optical transitions from the ground state, they are usually accessed through phononic relaxation from the bright states. In this study, we explore a novel way of connecting the dark states and the bright states via optical transitions. In a ring-like chromophore system inspired by natural photosynthetic antennae, the single-excitation bright state can be optically connected to the lowest energy single-excitation dark state through certain double-excitation states. We call such double-excitation states the ferry states and show that they are the result of accidental degeneracy between two categories of double-excitation states. We then mathematically prove that the ferry states are only available when N, the number of subunits on the ring, satisfies (N = 4l+2, l being an integer). Numerical calculations confirm that the ferry states enhance the energy transfer power of our model, showing a significant energy transfer power spike at N = 6 compared with smaller N values, even without phononic relaxation. The proposed mathematical theory for the ferry states is not restricted to this one particular system or numerical model. In fact, it is potentially applicable to any coherent optical system that adopts a ring-shaped chromophore arrangement. Beyond the ideal case, the ferry state mechanism also demonstrates robustness under weak phononic dissipation, weak site energy disorder, and large coupling strength disorder.
Estimation of Groundwater Recharge in Arid Regions Using GIS: A Case Study from Qatar
Authors: Baalousha Husam Musa , Barth Nicolas , Ramasomanana Fanilo H , Ahzi Said
Published: June 2019

Aquifers are important sources of water in arid areas, where no surface water exist. Estimation of groundwater recharge from rainfall is a big challenge for hydrogeologists, due to the high uncertainty involved. It is even harder to estimate recharge in arid areas, due to high variability of meteorological parameters in space and time. Unlike recharge in humid and sub-humid areas, recharge in arid areas occurs indirectly after rainfall-runoff accumulates in low lands such as land depressions and recharges the aquifer. A new method for recharge estimation in arid areas has proposed in this study based on soil-water budget model and utilizing geoprocessing tools in GIS. The method uses Digital Elevation Model (DEM), land-cover and rainfall distribution to estimate runoff accumulation in depressions. The soil-water budget model is then applied to estimate the groundwater recharge in areas of runoff accumulation. The geoprocessing tools in GIS such as flow direction and flow accumulation in Spatial Analyst were utilised. The application of the proposed methodology in GIS makes it easy to cover the entire area of study, and to run maps algebra. The method was applied to the entire area of Qatar. The proposed methodology was applied on Qatar as a case study. The spatial resolution of raster maps was 350 by 350 m and the temporal resolution is one day. Data requirements for this study include daily records of rainfall, Digital Elevation Model (DEM) for topography, soil-moisture holding capacity, land-use map and potential evapotranspiration. Recharge is calculated for each cell and summed to provide the total amount. The proposed methodology was applied on the entire country of Qatar using the hydrological year 2013-2014 and daily time steps. This year was selected because enough daily rainfall data was available for this period, with a good coverage of the entire country. Results obtained in this study for the hydrological year 2013/2014 show the total groundwater recharge is approximately 14 million m3, and concentrated more in the northern part of Qatar. The method can be applied on any arid region.
Power to the People: A New Trend in Regulation
Authors: Hahn Robert
Published: June 2019

See e.g., https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/es_20170531_hahnregulation.pdfPower to the People: A New Trend in Regulation Robert Hahn, Robert Metcalfe and Florian Rundhammer* * Mr. Hahn is Professor and Director of Economics at the Smith School, University of Oxford. Mr. Metcalfe is a Postdoctoral Research Scholar at the Becker Friedman Institute, University of Chicago. Mr. Rundhammer is a doctoral student in economics at Georgia State University. We would like to thank Jonathan Ashley, Harry Bush, Paul Joskow, Clement Lapeyre, Stephen Littlechild, Matthew O'Keefe, Cathryn Ross, Anna Rossington, Jon Stern and Dale Whittington for very helpful feedback. This research was funded by Ofwat and by the Smith School at Oxford. The authors, and not the institutions with which they are affiliated, are responsible for the findings of this research and any remaining errors. © 2017 by the authors. All rights reserved. Abstract This paper traces a new development in regulation that encourages utilities to engage more directly with their customers. We make four contributions: First, we perform the most comprehensive analysis to date of how regulators are using customer engagement, and offer a simple model for understanding different customer engagement initiatives. Second, we review assessments of customer engagement. We find that there are no quantitative, empirically robust assessments of the effectiveness of customer engagement as a regulatory tool. Third, we develop two detailed case studies of an energy regulator and a water regulator that are in the forefront of customer engagement efforts. We find that there is no direct link between the engagement strategy used and the economic incentives received by a firm. Finally, we propose a framework for improving the customer engagement process. The new framework relies on microeconomics, modern tools of program evaluation, and supplying the regulated firm with direct incentives to do customer engagement.
Restoration of saltdegraded marginal lands through cultivation of nutrient enriched quinoa in UAE: impact on growth yield traits and carbon isotope fractionation
Authors: Hussain M. Iftikhar
Published: June 2019

Quinoa is an important nutritive crop that can play a strategic role in the development of marginal and degraded lands. Our aim was to evaluate and select superior salt tolerant quinoa genotypes that are well adapted to the UAE climate. We evaluated the carbon isotope composition, seed yield and other agronomical attributes as indicative of the functional performance of quinoa. Field trial was conducted in the hyper dry arid climate in Dubai, UAE and irrigation treatments comprised of saline water with three different salt concentrations (0, 10, 20 dS m-1) during growth and reproductive phase of quinoa. Plant growth, agro-physiological and isotopic composition responses of 6 quinoa genotypes were measured. Significant variations occurred in dry biomass, seed yield, plant height, number of branches, number of panicles, panicle weight, harvest index, N and C content. The stable isotope composition of carbon values varied among quinoa genotypes. Some genotypes produced yields with values significantly greater than 2.04 t ha-1 (Q12), with average increasing to 2.58 t ha-1 (AMES22157). The present study indicated a large variation in Δ values (3.43‰) among quinoa genotypes for salinity treatments and small amplitude of variations was found among the genotypes (0.95‰). Results from the current study showed that Δ might be used as an important selection index for screening and selection the tolerant stable quinoa genotypes that have high iWUE. The data indicate that some genotypes showed higher photosynthetic accimilation traits (ci/ca, iWUE) and were more productive, stable and higher yielder at various salinities. This study provides a reliable measure of specific responses of quinoa cultivars to salinity and it may be valuable in breeding programs. The development of genotypes having both high yield performance and high WUE would be a very useful contribution for producers in the dry regions like Arabian Desert climate.
Measurements of recycling steel slug at Qatar steel using lowlevel gammaray spectrometry and calculation of risk factors
Authors: Hushari Mohammad Mohammad
Published: June 2019

Measurements of recycling steel slug at Qatar steel using low-level gamma-ray spectrometry and calculation of risk factors. M.S.Al-Kuwari 1, M. Hushari 2 and K E Hassan3 1Environmental and Municipal Studies Institute, Director 2Radiation and chemical protection department Ministry of environment, Doha-Qatar 3Transport Limited company TRL Correspondent author: Mohammad Hushari, P.O.Box7634 , Doha-Qatar. Tel w :(+974)44139476 Fax (+974)44207000 Mob :(+974)77991059 Email: mmhushari@mme.gov.qa. Abstract Steel slug are final by-products in the steelmaking process pose an environmental hazard for worker near slag dumps. The objectives of the study were the employment of high-resolution low-level gamma-ray spectrometry. The measurements of natural occurring radioactive material (NORM) as well as of the artificial isotope 137Cs, in many types steel slug such as Steel Slag loss aggregate, Asphalt Mix (100% steel slag with 4% Bitumen), slag, 50% Gabbro with 4% Bitumen, and Concrete cube (50% steel slag, 50% gabbro have been done using mentioned γ spectroscopy. The value of NORM material was reduced when they mixed with gabbro. The recycling of slag from the steel production industry is a common practice in all over the world. Slag from integrated steel production plants run by Qatar Steel is processed storage in area not far from the factory. It has therefore been assumed in this study that all slag is storage. Different ratio of steel slag, gabbro and asphalt used in road construction, most of this ratio accepted from radiation risk point of view, but the ratio of 50% of Gabbro and 4% of Bitumen with asphalt used as road base was the most acceptable from regulatory body. Construction of 200 m road was done at Mesaieed city at Qatar its mechanical and strain stress measurements was conducted by specialist in civil engineering, then many core sample from the surface to the bottom of road to measure (NORM) radioactivity have been taken and radiation dose at the site were carried out. The measured activity and hazards indices in asphalt mixing with slag lies within the word permissible values. Thus the used of recycling steel slug can replace at least 50% aggregates in highway construction and concrete
The Impact of External Shocks on Qatar's GasExport Earnings
Authors: Basher Syed
Published: June 2019

Qatar is a high income country ($129,700 GDP per capita), where gas and oil accounts for 92% export earnings of the country. The International market for gas is recently going through a major transformation, with both demand and supply growing from numerous quarters. There is hardly any literature that provides sound empirical and quantitative analysis of such impacts on gas exporting countries. The paper contributes to filling this gap by providing an empirical analysis of how demand, supply, price and related product shock can affect gas export revenue for Qatar using a structural Vector Autoregression (VAR) model. Not all shocks are alike; demand and price shocks have a strong positive impact on Qatar gas export revenue, and a supply shock results in short lasting weak negative impact. A U.S. shale gas production shock leads to a positive persistent effect on gas export revenue of Qatar.
Coatings for corrosion protection: What do we need and where are we
Authors: Montemor Fatima
Published: June 2019

Corrosion is the major cause of components, infra structures and equipment failure over the world, affecting seriously various critical sectors, including water and energy security. The direct cost of corrosion may reach 5% of the GDP in some countries, representing an important economic burden for companies and governments. Just to cite an example, operations and maintenance in offshore infrastructures may represent over 50% of the global cost; out of these 80% are due to corrosion. This means that implementation of effective corrosion management strategies is crucial to decrease energy costs, to increase economic competitiveness, to enhance reliability and security and to achieve a more sustainable economy and healthy environment. Concomitantly, countries and decision makers must pay attention to this crucial issue and the existence of dedicated competence centers gathering synergistic efforts to combat corrosion are a step forward to mitigate the problem and to important economic saves. There are very effective corrosion protection solutions that can be put on place. Amongst these multifunctional protective coatings, based on modern nanotechnology approaches, play a pivotal role. Novel functionalities, such as self-cleaning, superhydrophobicity, anti-fouling and self-healing, have been more and more requested in coatings used for corrosion protection of a multitude of materials in a wide array of industrial applications. This trend has imposed many challenges that have been addressed over the last years and that will continue to evolve over the next years, achieving a very high impact on the market. This presentation overviews the impact of corrosion and highlights the relevance of protective coatings to combat corrosion, emphasizing the latest trends on functional coatings and self-healing approaches and its growing use in conventional and new Hi-tech applications. This lecture reviews recent contributions to the field and will provide a critical discussion, identifying successful paths, trends and challenges, answering to important questions “What do we need and where are we?”
Dead Sea Photovoltaic Plant Expansion With Hybrid Storage System
Authors: Kiriakos Ibrahim George , Qutaina Wafa , Saafin Zaher
Published: June 2019

Palestinian energy sector has a big challenges which arises due to rapid increase in electrical demand, limited in traditional energy sources due to unstable conditions and high cost of fuel used to generate electricity. Recently, implementation of renewable energy resources such as photovoltaic systems (PVs) used as a solution to reduce the prices and utilities dependency on suppliers. There is significant potential for the use of the photovoltaic solar energy in countries like Palestine which receive abundant amounts of solar radiation around the year. The radiation in the surface of the sun 3.838*1023, 1400w/m2 at the boundary of atmosphere and 1000w/m2 as global standard test condition (STC).There are many researches concerning photovoltaic systems executed in Palestine by individuals and utikities, the main projects summarized as follows: 1- Dead sea project: in Jericho, established in 2014 as on land project, with power capacity of 708 KW. 2- JICA project: in Jericho, established in 2012 as on land project, with power capacity of 30KW. 3-Coca Cola Co: in Ramallah, established in 2016 as roof top project, with power capcity of 300KW. 4- Al-AHLI Hospital: in hebron, established in 2015 as roof top project, with power capacity of 200KW. 5- Hebron University: in Hebron, established in 2016 as roof top and on land project with power capacity of 230KW. 6- MLR CO: In Bethlehem, established in 2016 as roof top and on land project, with power capacity of 200KW.This paper dicuss modification of implemented Dead Sea PV project in Jericho (-300 below the sea level, latitude 31.86 and longitude is 35.46) that executed by JDECO company in 2014, with power rating of 708KW, constructed on 10000m2 land and consists of 2360 panel and 13 inverter. The goal of this modification is to increase thw capacity of this station up to 1MW on the available limited area and convert it into hybrid station and to increase the overall capacity of the station from 1200MWH/year to 1801MWH/year.
Production of hazardous gas sensors using spinel ferrite nanoparticles
Authors: Ayesh Ahmad Ibrahim
Published: June 2019

This work reports on sensitive and selective gas sensors based on copper ferrite (CuFe2O4) nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were produced different methods including: colloid microwave assisted hydrothermal method, and co-precipitation method. Those methods enable a precise control of nanoparticle size, The produced nanoparticles were annealed at different temperatures. Structural analysis were carried out using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and they revealed that the as-prepared nanoparticle exhibit cubic structure. The nanoparticles undergo crystal structure transformation to tetragonal structure upon annealing. Furthermore, the nanoparticle were found to grow in size upon annealing. The tetrahedral and octahedral absorption bands which are characteristic of the spinel ferrite were determined using Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy (FTIR) measurements. Gas sensors were fabricate by pressing the produced nanoparticle powder into disks. The sensor device was produced utilizing capacitor structure, with the top electrode stainless steel of grid structure. The produced sensors were characterized to be sensitive to both H2S and H2 gases, with greater sensitivity to H2S at low temperatures, where these sensors could detect H2S concentrations of 10 ppm at 80 °C. The low optimal operation temperature reveals the low power requirements for sensor operation. Thus, those sensors exhibit the potential to be used for industrial applications, especially for the petrochemical industry.the Petroleum Institute under a grant number RIFP-14312 and Qatar University
Effect of Trace 100 vppm H2S on the Corrosion Behaviour of Plain Carbon and Microalloyed Steels in a Predominant Sweet Environment in High Flow Regime
Authors: Sk Mobbassar hassan , Abdullah Aboubakr Moustafa , Al-Qahtani Noora Hamad S , Laycock Nick , Ryan Mary P , Williams David E
Published: June 2019

We investigate the effects of the presence of trace (100 vppm) H2S on the corrosion behaviour of plain carbon steel and its various micro-alloyed counterparts in a CO2 saturated (sweet) brine (0.5 M NaCl) environment, in a high flow regime (1000 RPM), at 80oC in a slightly acidic environment (pH 6.6). Potentiostatic current transients indicate that the presence of trace amount of trace H2S in a predominantly sweet regime, where the partial pressure ratio of CO2 and H2S (pCO2:pH2S) is ∼10000:1, shows a very different corrosion behaviour for both plain carbon steels and as well as micro-alloyed steels. In presence of trace H2S, current density starts dropping much earlier compared to H2S free standalone CO2 environment. Trace amount of H2S also induces faster passivation of the corrosion scale, especially for alloys with relatively high Mo (0.7 wt.%) and Ni (1.4 wt.%) content, suggesting that Mo and Ni have a strong effect in presence of trace H2S. On the basis of available literature, we speculate that the effects observed in presence of trace H2S is due to the formation of Mackinawite which forms on the steel surface immediately via solid state reaction and micro-alloying with some specific elements catalyzes the formation of mackinawite and/or assists formation of more stable sulfide phase(s), causing a faster current drop and passivation. Modeling of the hypothesis is currently in progress. Keywords: Micro-alloying, CO2 corrosion, Flow effect, RDE, Plain carbon steel, Cr-Mo-Ni steel. Figure: Potentiostatic current transient for various plain carbon and micro-alloyed steels. Condition - pH: 6.6, Temp: 80oC, Flow: 1000 RPM, @ anodic over potential: Open Circuit Potentials (OCP) +150 mV
Fractal Folding to Develop Highly Expandable Multifunctional Lattice Structures
Authors: Vaziri Ashkan , Ebrahimi Hamid , Haghpanah Babak , Mousanezhad Davood , Ghosh Ranajay , Hamouda AbdelMagid
Published: June 2019

The properties of traditional materials are primarily determined by their atomic or molecular arrangements, which are typically difficult to modify due to constraints on sub-continuum forces in their material lattice and relatively closely packed microstructure. Engineered metamaterials, however, have been shown to allow properties that significantly expand and outperform those of the universe of existing materials. Lattice materials, whose structure is made up through tessellation of a fundamental geometrical unit cell can be seen as analogs of natural crystals and thus serve as an excellent template for metamaterial development. Abundant free space inside cellular structures make imparting real-time geometrical changes in their underlying structure much easier and since the overall properties of lattice materials are directly linked to the geometry of the underlying unit cell, it becomes possible to herald materials capable of reversible change of properties through physical stimuli. In the present work introduce a new class of lattice materials, where a controlled simultaneous folding of the lattice walls results in a significant size reduction while preserving the overall shape of the original lattice. This reversible folding scheme results in 67 and 50% reduction in size at each level for lattices with triangular and square grid topologies, respectively, while the design enables multiple levels of folding to achieve a desired final size. This high degree of geometrical and micro-structural change can yield a correspondingly wide bracket of mechanical and multifunctional behavior. We also study the elastic properties and the phononic band structure of the lattice at different stages of folding, using analytical and finite element methods. This size-changing concept provides an alternate technique for controlling the underlying topology rapidly and reversibly through simple collapse or expansion of the base lattice. Such dramatic change of size points to potential applications for deployable structures, which can simultaneously benefit from the inherent lightweight and multifunctional characteristics associated with lattice architectures.
Comparative Assessment of Conjugated Polymers for High Performance Plastic Electronics
Authors: Al-Hashimi Mohammed
Published: June 2019

Conjugated polymers (CPs) are emerging active materials for electronic and optoelectronic devices, such as organic solar cells, thin-film transistors, light-emitting diodes, as well as optical and amperometric sensors. There has been an intensive worldwide research effort on the development of stable, organic semiconductors as potential replacements for amorphous silicon, the benchmark large area, amorphous semiconductor. ID TechEx, the UK-based market research company, “estimates that over the last two decades global investments into plastic electronics technologies exceed US $10 billion, and predict that this will grow to almost US $25 billion by 2020”.1 The ecological and commercial motivation to implement the use of plastic electronics is compelling. Recently, such efforts have facilitated the development of thin film transistors for backplane applications such as e-paper. The ability to operate in ambient atmosphere without costly and rigorous encapsulation barriers to avoid water and/or oxygen is an important step towards commercialization. Despite ever increasing numbers of newly developed conjugated polymers, the performance of CP thin films in optoelectronic devices prepared by the current fabrication methods has been rather limited largely due to the disordered structure. Liquid crystalline polymers (LCPs) have been widely investigated for various optical, mechanical, and electrical applications due to their unique ordered nature. In general LCP design, rod-like mesogens having a large aspect ratio are connected through somewhat flexible linker units to form a main-chain or as a side chain LCP to a flexible polymer. This design allows good molecular interactions between mesogens, but prevents regularly structured crystal formation. Therefore, it is highly desired to devise a novel and universal molecular design strategy to achieve lyotropic liquid crystalline CPs that can be easily processed to form a macroscopically assembled and aligned structure. The synthesis of well-defined conjugated molecules/polymers is a considerable synthetic challenge that many excellent research groups have addressed over the last decade or so. A particularly promising class of potential donor/acceptor materials for use in organic electronics for solution processed polymers is the promising Indacenodithiophene (IDT) unit. Herein we will report our synthetic efforts in the development of innovative polymeric materials containing a suit of wisely selected side chains and having different bridging atoms by replacing IDT with indacenodithiozole (IDDT) system. When incorporated into small molecules or polymers, this structure affords very narrow band-gaps capable of harvesting a large percentage of the solar flux. References; (1) http://ukplaticelectronics.com, C. G.-U. P. E.
Effect of C1q Tumor Necrosis FactorRelated Protein 11 Ctrp11 On Macrophages
Authors: Bettahi Ilham
Published: June 2019

Bettahi I1-2, Ramanjaneya M1-2, Jerobin J1-2, Sivaraman SK1, Rasha Alsiddig3, Mohammad RM4, Skarulis MC1-2 and Abou-Samra AB2-3. 1Translational Research Institute, Academic Health System, 2Department of Medicine, 3Qatar Metabolic Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar, 4Karmanos Cancer Center, Wayne State University. Background: Obesity is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, increasing the risk of hypertension, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia, recognized as the metabolic syndrome. Adiponectin paralogs designate as C1q/TNF-related protein (CTRPs) have recently emerged as key regulators of metabolism and is a core component in the interrelationship between insulin resistance, adiposity, and inflammation. CTRP-11 functions as an adipose stroma-derived regulator of adipogenesis. Aim and objectives: The aim of this study is to characterize the anti-inflammatory potential of the CTRP-11. Methods: Cell lines differentiation: Human THP1 cells were maintained in RPMI-1640 supplement with 10%FBS. Cells were seeded in 24 well and stimulated with PMA for 48 hours to differentiate them to macrophages and rested for 24 hrs. For all stimulation experiments, cells were grown for overnight in serum-free media. Cells were then treated with CTRP11 for 24 hours and then re-stimulated with LPS for 6 hrs. Cells were collected for RNA extraction and genes expression using Real-Time PCR. FACS analysis: After differentiation and incubation with LPS and LPS/CTRP11, Cells were stained with human anti-CD206 and anti-CD163. Following incubation, cells were washed, and fluorescence compared to unstained. All data were analyzed using FlowJo software. Results: Our preliminary data provide that CTRP11 decreased both IL-6, TNF-α and NF-kb expression of mRNA level in THP-1 macrophages activated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (p < 0.005), compared to (LPS) alone. THP-1 macrophages showed and increased in M2 polarization marker CD206 and CD163 after incubation with LPS/CTRP compared to LPS alone. Conclusion: Future studies are in progress to further assess the effects of adiponectin paralogs (CTRP11) on cytokine excretion by ELISA on Human macrophages M1 and M2. Abbreviation: LPS: lipopolysaccharide; PMA: phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate.
Electrospun polymer nanocomposite scaffolds containing metal oxide nanoparticles for diabetic wound healing
Authors: Augustine Robin
Published: June 2019

Robin Augustinea, Noorunnisa Khanama, Hany Elsayed Mareib, Sabu Thomasc, Ala-Eddin Al Moustafad, Anwarul Hasana a College of Engineering, Qatar university Doha, Qatar bBiomedical Research Centre, Qatar university Doha, Qatar cInternational and Inter University Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam – 686 560, Kerala, India. dCollege of Medicine, Qatar university Doha, Qatar Abstract It is very important to treat diabetic foot injuries at early stage since even minor wounds can turn into serious foot ulcers which can lead to the amputation of the entire foot if not treated early. The management of diabetic foot ulcers requires the use of appropriate wound dressings to provide a moist wound environment and protect from infection. Large number of polymeric materials has been tried for wound coverage applications with many successful outcomes, but the search for an ideal wound dressing material which can enhance diabetic wound healing is still continuing. Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate), commonly known as PHBV has got a lot of attention in biomedical applications due to its biocompatibility and biodegradability Electrospinning is a robust technique that can produce highly porous membranes composed of nano or submicron fibers from polymer solutions. Formation of active blood vessel network through an implanted wound dressing is one of the most important issues in the treatment of diabetic wounds. Ability of metal oxide nanostructures to promote angiogenesis and wound healing is already established. Thus, in the present work, electrospun PHBV wound dressings containing metal oxide nanoparticles were fabricated and characterized. Our results demonstrated that metal oxide nanoparticles in the wound dressings enhanced human cell adhesion and their migration. Further, angiogenic property of the membranes was enhanced as evident from chicken chorioallantoic membrane assay and leads to the enhancement of diabetic wound healing. Present study strongly suggest the potential application of metal oxide nanoparticles incorporated PHBV scaffolds in promoting angiogenesis and their effective use in diabetic wound healing.