bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Membrane Modification Using TiO2, ZnO, and GO Nanoparticles: Challenges and Future Direction in Wastewater Treatment
Authors: Kusworo TD , Nugraheni R E , Aryanti N 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Since a long time ago, membrane technology has been applied in the field of wastewater treatment. This technology is considered effective, environmentally-friendly, and does not require a large amount of space in operation. Fouling, either caused by microorganisms or non-living organisms, are the biggest problems that often occur in this technology. Most of the time, organic compounds can cause cake formation and fouling problems. If left untreated, it can increase the maintenance costs and shorten the durability of the membrane. Hence, a membrane-modification effort is needed to be done. In previous studies, nanoparticles such as TiO2, ZnO, and GO were utilized. They are considered affordable and able to prevent the fouling problem. However, some problems occur due to the addition of nanoparticles. In this paper, we will elaborate on the effect of adding various kinds of nanoparticles towards the modified membrane and evaluate its morphology, performance, and photocatalytic abilities. This article is expected to provide both a new and broad perspective in the future.
Zeolite as a natural adsorbent for nitrogenous compounds removal from water
Authors: Abdulredha M , Kadhim N R , Hussein Ameer H , Almutairi Mohammad , Alkhaddar Rafid , Yeboah David , Hashim K , AlKhayyat Ahmed 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Water is a vital element to the survival of humans and other life forms. Yet, this source is being contaminated due to pollution leading to significantly limited freshwater, which threatens humans’ existence. Nitrates and ammonium are water contaminants and their concentration has vividly increased owing to their applications as farm nourishments. High concentrations of such contaminants in water can lead to health issues. Thus, controlling the concentration levels of these pollutants in water grows into the main task for environmentalist. Thus, a natural zeolite filter was employed in this study to minimize the traces of contaminants from water. Samples of synthetic water have been prepared and used in the laboratory tests that contain 50 mg/l of each contaminant. Using natural zeolite dose ranged from 1-5 g/l at various pH level (between 3-10) showed that the zeolite filter significantly improved the water quality for initial concentrations of each pollutant ranged from 10 to 50 mg/l. The outcomes showed that more than 93 % of both contaminates (nitrate and ammonium) were separated after using 5 g/l dose of zeolite in neutral pH level range for 120 minutes.
Heavy metal pollution removal from water using a cost-effective bio-adsorbent
Authors: Saeed Shaymaa I. , Ahmed Rasha Z. T. , Grmasha Ruqayah Ali , Alenezi Soltan M. , Salman Jasim M. , Al-Sareji Osamah J. , Mubarak Hayfaa A. , AlKhayyat Ahmed 
Published: February 2021

AbstractOne of the worldwide environmental issues is water contamination by toxic heavy metals. Copper is considered one of the most common heavy metals founded in industrial wastes, and it has potential impacts on the ecosystem and human health. In order to remove copper from synthetic water, an economically effective adsorbent is required. Thus, this work evaluated the adsorption of copper by utilizing Westland Irish peat moss. The adsorbent was prepared by washing the Westland Irish peat moss using an acidic bath for half an hour with a continuous shaken process, then the mixture was centrifuged to separate the peat moss particles, which was washed using deionized water and dried using an oven. The dried sample was ground and sieved at 80 mesh screen before it was used as an adsorbent. The experiments were accomplished in a batch system as a function of initial solution pH, contact time as well as peat moss dosage. The maximum copper removal, 94.8%, was obtained at a pH of 6, optimum adsorption-equilibrium time of 80 minutes, and peat moss dosage of 7.5 g/L. Irish peat moss as an economically effective adsorbent was satisfactorily employed to remove copper from synthetic water.
Numerical modeling of seismic performance of gravity quay wall
Authors: Aldelfee Alaa N. , Aldefae Asad H. , Zubaidi Salah. L. 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
The main important factor that has to be considered by the designers during the preliminarily design stage of quay walls in ports is uunderstanding the mechanism of the damages that occurs during earthquakes. Increasing of seismic disasters occurrence during recent decades leads to increase the attention during this stage. For this purpose, Finite element modeling is performed to investigate the seismic performance of gravity quay wall (caisson). Plaxis 2D software is used to simulate seismic behavior of real gravity quay wall (i.e. Kobe harbor quay wall) using single frequency earthquake motion. The response of the acceleration and the seismic displacement of the quay wall are simulated. The shaking table tests of two models of the quay wall in dry and saturated conditions were compared with the results of numerical modeling. The results showed that the seismic wave amplification is increased significantly from the foundation of the gravity quay wall to the surface of the model, in which the highest amplification happened at the top of the quay wall model. It was observed that the Plaxis-2d finite element models is an effective tool to predict the seismic performance of the quay wall and there was clear agreement between both the results of experimental results and numerical modeling.
The Impact of Transit on Sustainable Urban Form
Authors: Jasim Ihsan Abbas , Farhan Sabeeh Lafta , Hasan Haider Majid 
Published: February 2021

AbstractCities suffer from many problems that have led to a decline in the quality of life. A large part of these problems is related to the relationship of the transportation system to the urban form of the city. This represents the research problem, As the study of the relationship between public transport and urban form implicitly deals with the relationship between land uses and transportation in general, as land uses are a generator of traffic and transport in the city. The importance of the research lies in the role of public transport as one of the mechanisms that contribute to directing the urban form towards sustainability. Therefore, the aim of the research tried to present an idea of the extent of support provided by public transport to the sustainability of the urban form of the city. The research assumed that public transport is affected by a set of factors that direct the urban form towards sustainability such as (density in development, diversity in land uses and urban design, and distance from urban centers), and that the urban form of the city can be directed towards sustainability by integrating with different land uses.
Analysing the Transformed Urban Patterns of Al-Najaf Historical Center: Urgent Issues and Possible Solutions
Authors: Farhan Sabeeh Lafta , Alyasari Haider I , Akef Venus S , Zubaidi Salah L , Hashim K S 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
The Old Holy Al-Najaf is the third influential religious center for Shia Muslims in the whole Islamic world after Mecca and Madinah. This historical city embraces a rich tangible and intangible heritage that has long distinguished its architectural identity and enriched its spiritual experience. Along its history, since its establishment around the 8th century AD, the city has faced continues challenges defying its capacity to resist, preserve, and evolve based on the root causes of its formation (Islamic culture and climate requirements). However, since the mid of the 20th century, the city has been challenged with new cultural, economic, and political forces causing radical transformation in its deep organizational urban structures and architectural features. Thus, the paper will include analysing the current structure of the traditional urban morphology of the Old City of Al-Najaf highlighting the major problems that are threatening its unique inherited architectural and urban characteristics. Despite the dramatic heritage loss in the city, there are many trajectories to protect the still existing parts of the historical center. The proposed vision is not to refuse the modernization of the city, but rather to embrace a rational urban preservation.
Review of Abrasion Mechanisms and Influential Variables on The Disintegration Resistance of Concrete
Authors: Ismaeil Rawaa H. , Hilo Ali N. , Al-Gasham Thaar S. 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
In many hydraulic constructions such as dams, spillways and stilling basins, large of amounts concrete can be damaged depending upon the long-term activity of water-borne solids. To a great extent, for hydraulic structures, the durability relies upon the resistance that the concrete surface offers to mechanical wear. The surface damage caused by the uninterrupted material removal process, induced by the impact of the water borne solid particles, is termed hydro-abrasion. In nearly all hydraulic structures, this kind of progressive deterioration of the concrete surfaces is observed, to different intensities. Obviously, such hydro-abrasive concrete wearing normally results in a reduction in the service life of the hydro-technical facility, and consequently because of the repairs necessitated, the non-functioning of the facility during the repair period results in an expenditure spike. The objective of this article is to: understand the mechanisms of concrete abrasion-erosion followed by brief iscussion about the factors remarkably impact the rate of abrasion erosion also through these studies, it was concluded the improvement of the abrasion resistance needstomodify the concrete characteristics also increase the compressive strength.
The Shear Strength Parameters as a Function of the Volumetric Water Content of Baghdad City Soils at Tigris River Bank
Authors: Al-Obaidi A A , Irzooki R H , Al-Dulaimy H F 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
The capital of Iraq, Baghdad city, is considered one of the regions with a diverse soil composition besides the various characteristics of these soils. The subbase layers can be divided into three zones that are fully saturated, partially saturated, and dry state. This research accomplishes the investigation and assessment of the geotechnical attributes of soil layers of the city, where these characteristics are associated with the ground water elevation. The water level disparity of the Tigris River was correlated with variation of the ground water level and with geotechnical results of more than 260 boreholes. The analysis of the output data revealed that undrained shear strength parameters of soil layers near the Tigris river bank is controlled by the flocculation of the water in the river. New relationships were developed associating the volumetric water content (VWC) with shear strength parameters of these soils (cu and ϕ). These empirical equations show that predicting strength compounds of partially saturated soils as a linear relation for the angle of internal friction and nonlinear for soil cohesive function with (VWC). Where is an increase of the amount of saturation in the (VWC) results a decrease in strength properties for the soil (cu and ϕ).
Optimize of emergence speed and productivity of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) by using different cover treatments
Authors: Aied K Y , Ghassan J Z , Abdulrahman H B 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
This study was conducted at Tikrit University, Iraq during the spring season of 2019 to investigate the effect of different cover treatments 1. Plastic cover for 45 days from planting. 2. Plastic cover for 45 days from planting, then cover with saran only 45 days before harvest. 3. Cover with saran only for 45 days before harvesting. 4. Control treatment (without cover) on speed emergence, growth and yield of two potato cultivars (Montreal an Laperla). The obtained data indicated that the highest values for tuber length, tuber weight and tuber hardness were achieved for Laperla. However, Plastic cover gave significantly increment in speed emergence and plant height reach up 37% and 33%, respectively. Whereas, Saran cover showed significantly increment in total yield and percentage of marketable yield reach up 15.57% and 11.60%, respectively. In a view of the interactions between cultivars and the other treatments, saran interacted with Laperla reflected the highest increment in total yield per hectare was 31%, compared to interaction treatment between same cultivar but without cover. In general, results declared that using saran treatment in top side only, during formation of tuber, for Laperla cultivar led to the highest productivity of potato.
Electromagnetism-Like Algorithm-Based Parameters Estimation of Double-Diode PV-Module Model
Authors: Haider H T , Muhsen D H , Mahdi H F 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
An accurate parameters extraction of photovoltaic (PV) module is necessary as it plays an essential role in determining the performance of PV system. Therefore, an electromagnetism-like algorithm (EMLA) is proposed to optimally estimate associated parameters of double-diode PV module model. The parameters are optimized based on a proposed fitness function, which depends on the root mean square error between the experimental and computed PV output current. Seven different experimental data sets of I-V curve are utilized to verify the presented approach under various operation conditions. The results show there is a high fitness between the estimated and realistic I-V curves under different weather conditions. Furthermore, the results are validated with another model that proposed in literature under different statistical indices. Finally, the proposed PV modeling method exhibits under all operation conditions an average root mean square error, average mean bias error and average determination coefficient under all operation conditions were 0.0799, 0.0088, and 0.9863, respectively.
The Optimum PV Panels Slope Angle for Standalone System: Case Study in Duhok, Iraq
Authors: Ibrahim Mustafa Hussein , Ibrahim Muhammed A. 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Due to the high operation and maintenance charges of the photovoltaic (PV) tracking systems, it is better to install the PV panels at a stationary angle which is considered as an optimum slope angle. Usually the optimum annually slop angle equals to latitude. However, Duhok site (latitude 36°50’40.6” N, longitude 43°01’05.3” E) has a special case because it’s located in valley between two mountains where the eastern sides of these mountains block the sunlight at the early morning. This paper aims at finding the optimum annually slop angle that makes the solar panels in this site generate the highest possible amount of electrical energy by capturing largest amount of solar radiation at this period when the sun appears from behind the mountain. HOMER software is used to simulate the suggested standalone PV system at the study site. The optimization outcomes present that the optimum annually slope angle for the PV panels should be equal to 25 °.
The Effect of Using Building Information Modelling (BIM) (Stages: Design, Execution and Post-Execution)
Authors: Raheem Mazin Ismael 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Most applications that already used were not containing enough information to analyse and assess buildings performance, while lately more sophisticated tools appeared representing the building as a perfect basic information from ordered information (in stages: design, execution and post-execution). Despite the fact that the constructional work seems more complicated, albeit the new developments in information sampling techniques of buildings (BIM) made the manners and ways more easy and communications between building information module and analysis tools enable the constructors from evaluating the suggested designs and determination if they can define the intended performance after fine finishing and helping them to perform the projects in more fine, faster and better manners ; that is why BIM represent an effective tool in a frame of international works to reform construction sector more perfect and more developed. This research deals with the effect of using BIM(in stages of design, execution and post–execution) and from here the research problem aroused: which is represented by obvious informational deficiency in academic and practical medias in knowledge of the effect of using BIM (in stages of design, execution and post–execution) in more effective, acceptable and beneficial, and the informational deficiency in technical capabilities to define the challenges and the chances through applying BIM, so this research adopted induction approach to reach the aims in building the theoretical frame and then applying this frame to reach conclusions.
The Importance of Google Maps for Traffic in Calculating the Level of Service for the Road and Traffic Delay
Authors: Ali K S , Abid N M 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Traffic congestion is one of most important problems generated in the modern era, due to the need to move quickly between different sites, technological development, economic and population growth. Led to a significant increase in private transportation vehicles in urban areas. It has even exceeded the capacity of the planned road in some locations, especially those that attract trips significantly, causes cluster of vehicles, traffic congestion, and delay in the trip, which causes material and psychological costs to people. Therefore, this problem needs to be defined accurately and quickly in order to address it. There are many methods, including the traditional and advanced ones, in determining congestion and the amount of delay. Since determining the amount of delay for many sites is very expensive and takes a long time. We assume there is a method to facilitate data acquisition and delay in a fast and cost-effective manner. Through the use of websites on the Internet, one of which is Google traffic maps. Works to provide data on the traffic situation of the roads in any area, and at any time in the world, which can be used to know the amount of delay of the trip in this area. As it was noted that there is a failure in previous studies to convert this data into a data that can be used. Conversion descriptive data to numerical, for processing an accurate measurement.
Dehydration of Methanol in catalytic fixed bed reactor
Authors: hadi Ghassan J 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Dimethyl ether (DME) considered as an important alternative fuel and hence, its production is vital. This study directed to choose suitable catalyst (with high selectivity, high energy conservation and low cost) in catalytic dehydration of methanol to produce DME in fixed bed reactor at gas phase. Three commercial catalysts were used (Alumina, Ziolite 5A and resin) and moderate range of temperature (90-120 0C). Weight ratio of catalyst to molar flow rate (W/FA) from 27 to 81 (gcat.hr/gmol) was selected. Both Alumina and ziolite showed weak activity at this range of temperature while resin was better. Conversion of methanol to dimethyl ether (DME) showed significant dependence on increasing temperature and flow rate (highest conversion was 8% at 120 0C and W/F=81 gcat. hr/gmol). Also, deactivation of resin with time was studied at optimum conditions and the results showed no effect of time on both conversion and selectivity to produce DME. DME production selectivity was 100% at all operation circumstances. In addition, the nature of active sites of resin was studied by using selectivity poison procedure. Accordingly, acidic sites were mainly concerned with the reaction whereas Bronsted acidity has mainly contributed to the acidic sites.
Extraction of prodigiosin using aqueous two phase system
Authors: Jaffer Zahraa Mohammed , Hameed Khalid W. , Imran Sahar Ghazi 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Aqueous two-phase system is a modified and amazing separation process of bioproducts in downstream since it keeps their properties. This method is able to give high recovery yield and high purity in a single step. Prodigiosin pigment was produced by Serratia marcescens in carbohydrate fermentation. It is the first time to extract the prodigiosin by aqueous two-phase system, where two types of system are applied; polymer/polymer and polymer/salt. The parameters studied on the recovery per cent and partition coefficient of prodigiosin are temperature, weight fraction of polymer in solution, molecular weight of polymer, weight fraction of salt in solution, and pH. The maximum recovery and partition coefficient of prodigiosin are obtained in the first system (PEG6000/Dextran) at temperature of 20°C, pH 6, weight fraction of PEG6000 is 0.22, weight fraction of Dextran is 0.15 while in the second system (PEG1500/ammonium sulfate) the maximum recovery and partition coefficient of the prodigiosin are obtained at temperature of 20°C, pH 5, weight fraction of salt is 0.15, and weight fraction of PEG1500 is 0.24.
Performance Evaluation of a Combined Electrocoagulation– Electrooxidation Process for the Treatment of Petroleum Refinery Wastewater
Authors: Abbar Ali H. , Alkurdi Sajjad S. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe present study investigates the application of a combined electrocoagulation-electrooxidation (EC-EO) process for the treatment of wastewater generated from Al-Dewaniya petroleum refinery plant in Iraq. The EC-EO process was examined in terms of its ability to simultaneously produce coagulant and oxidant agents by using a parallel plate configuration system composed of stainless steel plates as cathode and pair of aluminum and graphite plates as anode at two different current concentrations (1.92A/l and 0.96A/l). The results showed that the best conditions for treatment of Al-Dewaniya petroleum refinery wastewater using the combined approach were current concentration of (0.96A/l), current density of (12mA/cm2), NaCl concentration of (2g/l), pH of (7), and electrolysis time of (60 min). In this case COD removal efficiency (93.75%), phenol removal efficiency (96.20%), TDS removal efficiency (6.88%) were obtained with lower specific energy consumption (29.45 kWh/kg COD) and lower aluminum consumption (0.587 x10−3kg/h). The combined process showed to be better than EC process in term of COD and phenol removal efficiencies as well as aluminium consumption. In addition, it was better than EO in term of energy consumption. The combined process also gave buffering effect regarding to pH hence no need for controlling the pH during the operation.
Pre-evaporation of Ethanol as an Effective Method to Improve Single Cell Protein (SCP) Production from Date Palm Residue by Saccharomyces Cerevisiae
Authors: Farhan Salah N. , Mahmood Walaa Abid , Ali Godeib Ali Hussein 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Unicellular proteins or Single cell proteins (SCP) are proteins that can be used for human foods and animal feed. Their source is microorganisms that grow unicellular, such as yeast, bacteria, mold, and algae. There are many carbon sources, which can be used in the production of a single cell protein (SCP). Many processes have been developed to produce SCP at a low cost. However, in all these processes, productivity was low. The current study aims at using a natural material (turnip extract) to increase the extraction of sugar from palm date residues required for yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) fermentation. As well as the use of a vacuum pump to remove ethanol from fermentation broth at a certain time interval to increase the growth of the yeast and prevent its inhibition. From the study, the single-cell protein was increased from 30 gm to range between 60-90 gm, while the time of fermentation reduced from 24hr to 9 hr. The main fermentation experiments were performed using a 2 litter bioreactor at a moderate temperature 30 °C and pH value of 6. The use of residues, in addition to the production of single-cell proteins, allows to reduce of environmental pollution.