بحوث سكوبس — مالك مصطفى محمد

Prediction of in situ minimum horizontal stress (Shmin) is an important task for optimizing many applications related to reservoir geomechanics including wellbore stability analysis, sand production, and well stimulation. Pressure integrity tests are the ideal solutions to accurately determine Shmin, but they provide discrete data points, and they often conducted in a limited number of wells for cost- and time-saving purposes. This study presents an integrated approach to estimating minimum horizontal stress (Shmin) in carbonate reservoirs using a combination of empirical modeling and machine learning techniques. Shmin was calculated using datasets from six wells and calibrated with extended leak-off test (XLOT). The results indicated a strong agreement between the calculated Shmin values and XLOT measurements, achieving high accuracy (R2 = 0.91, RMSE = 0.88). Two predictive models, multiple regression analysis (MRA) and artificial neural networks (ANN), were developed using data from two wells and evaluated using R2 and RMSE metrics. The ANN model outperformed MRA, achieving superior accuracy (R = 0.99, and MSE = 0.435) in all datasets, indicating that true vertical depth (TVD) is the most influential parameter, followed in decreasing order by bulk density (RHOB), gamma ray (GR), and sonic log (∆t). Four additional wells were used to validate the ANN model, confirming its reliability and highlighting its capability to handle geological heterogeneity and stress variations with burial depth. Furthermore, the fivefold cross-validation results confirm that the developed ANN model generalizes well to unseen data, achieving consistently high R2 values across training and test sets and thus indicating strong prediction Shmin with minimal overfitting. However, site-specific calibrations may enhance model accuracy. This study presents the potential of machine learning, as a robust tool for predicting Shmin in complex geological settings, offering valuable insights for future reservoir geomechanics applications in reservoir characterization, wellbore stability analysis, sand production management, and hydraulic fracturing design. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Indian Geotechnical Society 2025.

Drought conditions bring many problems to water resources, especially in areas of low precipitation. This study employs the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) to understand the severity of drought for effective and sustainable utilization and timely response. The research uses image processing techniques to calculate surface water area with its changes for three essential lakes in Iraq (Haditha, Therthar, and Razzazah) during two time periods from 1987 to 2000, and from 2000 to 2014. Furthermore, Support Vector Machine (SVM) method was applied on Sentinel-2 images for 2024 to recognize the current changes in the three lakes. The analysis was based on the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) spatial analyst tool and Landsat images by building and executing a single map algebra expression of NDWI based on Python syntax. A drastic change occurred for the Razzazah lake surface area which increased by 2.5 % from 1987 to 2000 and decreased by 67 % from 2000 to 2014. The total decrease in Therthar and Haditha lakes from 1987 to 2014 was 28 %, and 12.6 %, respectively. There were slight changes in the geomorphological shape of Haditha Lake. While, Razzazah Lake underwent a noticeable change in shape, represented by a decrease in the northern and eastern parts of the lake. Therthar Lake has also been subjected to a reduction and change in the northern part with total drying up of lake parts in the southeast which turned to bare land. The study provides methodological guidelines for effective water management in the areas of Iraq requiring immediate interventions. © 2024

Although biodiesel has attracted much attention because of its ability to reduce engine emissions, its lower performance in diesel engines and the need to find renewable sources for its production limit its adoption. Thus, this work investigated the use of the trans-esterification method to convert waste sunflower oil to biodiesel (BD) and the impact of mixing it with TiO2 and CuO nanoparticles on the performance and emissions of a four-stroke engine at three engine torques (2, 4, and 6 N·m) compared with petroleum diesel (PD). The fuel performance was evaluated by calculating the brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC), brake-specific energy consumption (BSEC), brake thermal efficiency (BTE), and noise intensity of the engine. The exhaust emissions were measured to identify hydrocarbons (HC), CO, particulate matters (PM), CO2, and NOx emissions. The results show that BD reduces the BSFC, BSEC, and BTE up to 20.1%, 6.1%, and 6.9%, respectively. In contrast, when TiO2 is used, the percentages are 11.8%, 0.77%, and 4.4%, and when CuO is used, the percentages are 15.7%, 3.9%, and 5.4%, respectively. In addition, the emission results show that BD reduces HC, CO, and PM up to 91.0%, while the use of TiO2 reduces them up to 93.0%, and CuO reduces them up to 92.0%. However, this decrease is associated with increasing CO2 and NOx emissions by up to 42.9% and 82.9%, respectively, with the use of BD, while the use of TiO2 increases them by up to 53.7% and 65.5%, and the use of CuO increases them by up to 51.5% and 60.6%, respectively. © 2025 The Author(s)

It is important to identify the reaction mechanism of methane interaction with metal oxide surfaces due to the involvement of this reaction in several important processes like the CLC and methane catalytic reforming by CO2. Therefore, the interaction of methane with magnesium oxide nanoparticles was monitored in this study by in situ DRIFT spectroscopy at a temperature ranging from 100 to 700 °C. In addition, MgO nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, HRTEM, BET, and XPS to identify the nanoparticles’ structure, morphology, surface area, and surface composition, respectively, to correlate MgO properties with the DRIFTS results to specify the reaction mechanism of methane oxidation on MgO surfaces. The DRIFTS results indicate that the adsorption of methane molecules on the MgO nanoparticles starts as a methoxy group. Then, the reaction of the methoxy group with the oxygen of MgO results in the generation of di-oxymethylene ((MO)2-CH2) and MOH groups followed by a self-reaction of the di-oxymethylene molecules resulting in the formation of formate and methoxy groups. The interaction of methoxy with MgO lattice oxygen forms a bicarbonate group, which dissociates under the impact of the reaction temperature to carbon dioxide and water vapor. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025.

Water body detection from satellite imagery is still challenging due to spectral confusion and the limitation of traditional water indices. This paper proposes a new approach by incorporating Particle Swarm Optimization with a Spectral Multi-Band Water Index for the enhanced detection of water bodies using Sentinel-2 imagery. The proposed approach optimizes the coefficients of seven Sentinel-2 bands (Blue, Green, NIR, NIR-Narrow, Water Vapor, SWIR1, and SWIR2) using an intelligent PSO with adaptive inertia weight and early stopping mechanisms. This work strategy proposes a new fitness function that applies dynamic thresholding and target-based optimization, allowing it to calibrate precisely to the local characteristics of the water body. The performance of the PSO-SMBWI was evaluated against traditional water indices, including the NDWI, MNDWI, and AWEI. The results indicate that the PSO-SMBWI has the highest accuracy, which exactly coincides with the ground truth of water coverage (12.12%), while the NDWI, MNDWI, and AWEI have deviations of +1.24%, +0.53%, and +12.15%, respectively. The proposed method automatically handles multi-resolution band integration in 10 m, 20 m, and 60 m and eliminates manual threshold tuning. Furthermore, our consensus-based validation approach ensures robust performance verification. Its effectiveness is due to its adaptive optimization framework and comprehensive spectral analysis. Hence, it is most suitable for any geographical context on the ground for highly accurate water body mapping. This research contributes a lot to the area of remote sensing by introducing an automated, highly accurate, and very computationally efficient approach to water body detection. © 2025 by the authors.

The shear failure of reinforced concrete beams (RC) occurs without warning. A new approach for improving the strength of reinforced concrete elements is called near-surface mounting (NSM), which is applied to strengthen or repair RC members. However, limited studies use FRP bars to enhance NSM on RC deep beams. This work investigated the behavior of ten reinforced concrete deep beams strengthened in shear using NSM-CFRP bars. All beams have the same dimensions 450 mm × 140 mm × 1200 mm with a shear span to the effective depth ratio of 0.864. Tow-reinforced concrete deep beams acted as control beams and were tested with and without stirrups. Eight beams acted as strengthened beams and were divided into two categories. Under reinforced shear beams, the first category consists of four strengthened beams with steel stirrups. The second category is unreinforced shear beams, which consist of four strengthened beams without stirrups. The NSM-CFRP technique was experimented with two selected inclination angles of installed CFRP bars at 0°/90° or 45°/135°, and spacing was at 100 mm or 150 mm. All beams were tested using a four-point bending test. The experimental investigation observed that using NSM CFRP bars increased the shear capacity enhancement from 18.3 to 151.3% compared to the control beams. Later, the numerical results are validated with the experimental observations using ABAQUS software. The maximum difference in ultimate shear load was recorded as 10% between the experimental and numerical results. The current study concluded that using NSM CFRP bars increases the shear strength of RC deep beams. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.

In this research, shrinking core model was used to modelling the kinetic of nickel leaching from laterite ore in ammonia/ammonium carbonate solution of the Caron process. The overall behavior of oxidation reactions was monitored using the redox potential (Eh), so a parameter Q was included in the kinetic model, which depends on Eh and temperature according to Nest's equation. The results showed that the ammonia diffusion through ash-layer covering the unreacted core was with high probably the controlling mechanism on the overall reaction rate of nickel leaching. The limiting parameters on the leaching rate were analyzed through a parametric sensitivity analysis, resulting by significance order: CNH3 >> CCO2 > rNi/S > Eh. The maximum efficiency of 92.2 % was obtained after 80 min, at 69.4 g L-1 NH3, 31.7 g L-1 CO2, rNi/S 1.87, and Eh -0.45 V, -0.23 V and -0.049 V in the output stream of the first, second and fifth reactor, respectively. The redox potential facilitates adjusting the specific aeration rate to maintain reductant conditions, control the speciation, and stabilize intermediate solid phases, increasing 1.2 % the nickel extraction. This was analyzed using thermodynamic diagrams Log(Ni) vs. pH and Log(Fe) vs. pH, in M(II)-NH3-SO42--S2O32--CO32--H2O systems at 25 °C and 45 °C. © 2025

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier policy on article withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies-and-standards/article-withdrawal). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor. Post-publication, an investigation conducted on behalf of the journal by Elsevier's Research Integrity & Publishing Ethics team discovered suspicious changes in authorship between the original submission and the revised version of this paper. During revision, the authors Saja Mohsen Alardhi and Malik M. Mohammed were added to the revised paper without explanation and without exceptional approval by the journal editor, which is contrary to the journal policy on changes to authorship. The Editor reached out to the authors for an explanation, but they failed to provide a satisfactory explanation to these changes. The Editor has determined that the authorship and the findings of the article cannot be relied upon, and has decided to retract the article. The authors disagree with the retraction and dispute the grounds for it. © 2025 The Author(s)

Rice husk ash (RHA) is a promising pozzolanic alternative material for partial replacement of ordinary Portland cement to increase the durability and strength of concrete and, at the same time, to decrease the corrosion effect caused by the harsh environment conditions. In this study, the impact of adding RHA in different ratios (0%, 7%, and 14%) as a replacement of ordinary Portland cement with different water–cement ratios (0.3, 0.5, and 0.7) and cured in water for different periods (10, 20, and 30 days) both on the durability and strength of the concrete and on its corrosion was investigated. The prepared specimens were tested by flexural, compressive, and tensile strength tests, slump test, and Rapid Chloride Ion Penetration test to determine the suitability of the partial replacement of ordinary Portland cement by RHA in concrete. The most important findings of this work, which is considered novel in this field, are that adding fine (instead of more extensive) RHA particles enhances the flexural, compressive, and tensile strength values and limits the chloride ion penetration with time. An adverse impact was found to increase the water–cement ratio, which is assigned to the effect of water on RHA and as a result on the porosity of the concrete. © 2023 King Saud University

In this research, successive electro-oxidation (EO) process was utilized to eliminate some of the primary organic contaminants in effluent wastewater, specifically phenol and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The performance of the electro-oxidation process was studied by using two graphite electrodes as anodes and three stainless steel electrodes as cathodes, which is a new strategy in this field. Taguchi method has been used to design experiments to approach the best experimental conditions for phenol and COD removal as significant responses. The best operating conditions that resulted in the maximum reduction of phenol and COD were current density (CD=25 mA/cm2), pH=4, support electrolyte (NaCl=2g/l), the distance between electrodes (Dist.=5mm), and time of 60 minutes. At these operating conditions, phenol and COD removal were 99.27% and 99.96%, respectively. This work provides important insights into a novel water and wastewater treatment method with a detailed analysis of the results. © The Author(s). Publisher: The University of Tehran Press.

Eggshell waste is considered one of the widely disposed materials that need to be utilized sustainably. At the same time, rising cement manufacturing leads to an increase in the emission of CO2, which is a serious environmental issue. Therefore, this work investigated the use of novel eggshell nanoparticles as a partial replacement material for Portland cement for these two issues. This study involves investigating the effect of inserting eggshell nanoparticles in various ratios (0, 5, 10, and 15%) as a concrete ingredient with various initial water content to cement (w/c) (0.2, 0.4, and 0.6) and immersed in water for 7 and 28 days on the workability, strength, and corrosion of the specimens. The prepared specimens were inspected by compressive, flexural, and tensile strength tests. In addition, the impact of adding eggshell on the capability of the concrete mixture to withstand severe situations was investigated by Rapid Chloride Ion Penetration and slump tests. The most significant finding of this investigation is confirming that adding eggshell nanoparticles increases the compressive, flexural, and tensile strengths. A contrary effect was observed to raise the w/c ratio, which is attributed to the obverse effect of the water ratio to eggshell on the concrete’s porosity. The significance of strength improvement by adding eggshell nanoparticles was confirmed by statistical analysis. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.

The majority of the environmental outputs from gas refineries are oily wastewater. This research reveals a novel combination of response surface methodology and artificial neural network to optimize and model oil content concentration in the oily waste-water. Response surface methodology based on central composite design shows a highly significant linear model with P value <0.0001 and determination coefficient R2 equal to 0.747, R adjusted was 0.706, and R predicted 0.643. In addition from analysis of variance flow highly effective parameters from other and optimization results verification revealed minimum oily content with 8.5 + 0.7 ppm when initial oil content 991 ppm, temperature 46.4 °C, pressure 21 Mpa, and flowrate 27,000 m3/day which is nearly closed to suggested oily content 8.5 ppm. An artificial neural network (ANN) technique was employed in this study to estimate the oil content in the treatment process. An artificial neural network model was remarkably accurate at simulating the process under investigation. A low mean squared error (MSE) and relative error (RE) equal to 1.55 × 10‒7 and 2.5, respectively, were obtained during the training phase, whilst the testing results demonstrated a high coefficient of determination (R2) equal to 0.99. © 2024 The Authors.

The blending of biodiesel with petroleum diesel attracts much attention due to its high potential in reducing emissions. In this work, waste sunflower oil was converted to biodiesel by the trans-esterification method, and it was blended with petroleum diesel in three ratios (10, 30, and 50%). The impact of using these blended fuels in a four-stroke engine on engine performance and exhaust emissions at three engine loads (2, 4, and 6 N.m) was investigated and compared with the use of petroleum diesel and biodiesel. The engine performance was evaluated by determining the brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC), engine effective power (Ne), brake-specific energy consumption (BSEC), brake thermal efficiency (BTE), and noise intensity. The evaluation of emissions from the engine exhaust was carried out by measuring the levels of carbon oxides (CO and CO2), hydrocarbons (HC), nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2), and particulate matter (PM). The results show that blending diesel with up to 30% biodiesel can reduce CO, HC, and PM emissions by 29.6 ± 1%, 26.0 ± 4%, and 31.0 ± 3%, respectively. However, this decrease is associated with increasing CO2 and NOx emissions by 18.5 ± 2.5% and 29.0 ± 6%, respectively. In addition, the engine showed acceptable performance when using up to 30% biodiesel, where the increase in fuel consumption was limited to 5.8 ± 0.3%. In addition, the engine’s effective power increased with the blending ratio of 10% by 2.0 ± 0.6%, but then decreased with the blending ratio of 30% by only 2.0 ± 0.6%. The noise intensity was also decreased by 2.4%, while BSEC and BTE were reduced by only 2.9 ± 0.9% and 3.5 ± 1%, respectively. The results of this work provide deep insights regarding the utilization of waste sunflower oil as biodiesel to be blended with petroleum diesel, which is a considerable novel approach in the energy and environmental sectors. © 2024 by the authors.

In the low-temperature range, catalytic combustion results in few emissions of nitrogen oxide and happens without a visible flame. This work investigates the effect of initial pressure (IP) on catalytic methane-air combustion (CMAC) in a microchannel using the molecular dynamics (MD) method. Palladium particles with an atomic ratio of 4 % were used as a catalyst. The study also investigates the CMAC in two environments: excess oxygen (EO) and deficient oxygen (DO). The research investigates the changes in density (Den), velocity (Velo), temperature (Temp) profiles, heat flux (HF), thermal conductivity (TC), and combustion efficiency (CE). The results of the MD simulation indicate that the maximum values of Den and velocity decrease as the IP increases to 10 bar. This reduction was more pronounced in the EO medium than in the DO medium. The maximum values of density and velocity decrease to 0.105 atom/Å and 0.17 Å/ps, respectively, in the EO medium. These values decrease to 0.080 atom/Å and 0.20 Å/ps, respectively, in the DO medium. Additionally, the HF and TC values decrease in both mediums, with the EO medium showing values of 1839 W/m2 and 1.01 W/m.K, and the DO medium showing values of 1869 W/m2 and 1.04 W/m.K. If there was a DO medium, the atoms and particles of the system had a greater ability to heat transfer to different parts. Therefore, TC and HF are more in this case. © 2024 The Authors

The experiment was conducted in 2022 to find out the effect of the amount of fertilizers Spent Mushroom compost (COM) added to the soil in different ratios COM0, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4,(0,1.5,2,2.5,3) kg.m2 respectively under three levels of dripping drainage 2, 3, and 4 L.hr-1 on the soil properties, represented by the density and total porosity of the soil and the okra plant characteristics Lahlouba Cultivar As well as studied the chemical characteristics of some major elements in plant leaves.The experiments were conducted by adopting the Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD), L.S.D 0.05 according to the program Genestat in three replications. The results indicated that the COM4 treatment achieved the best results and was much better than the other treatments in soil properties: soil bulk density (SBD) and total soil porosity (TSP), as well as achieved the best results and was much better than the other treatments significantly in yield characteristics, plant height (PH), plant dry weight (PDW), Pods number for the growing season (PNGS), water use efficiency (WUE), one plant yield (OPY) and proportion of nutrients in plant leaves N, P and K. While dripping discharge 4L.hr-1significantly outperformed to the other two levels of 2 and 3 L.hr-1 in all studied characteristics, except water use efficiency (WUE) which achieved the best results when discharging 2L.hr-1,. © 2024 American Institute of Physics Inc.. All rights reserved.

The management and prevention of hydrates are crucial for the gas industry. This study delves into the intricate challenges associated with gas hydrate formation, with a specific focus on investigating the impact of corrosion by-products on prevention strategies. Employing a distinctive methodology, the sapphire pressure–volume temperature (PVT) cell was utilized. Experimental tests were conducted using sodium chloride (NaCl) concentrations of 1% and 3% to simulate brine solution levels at the wellhead, incorporating 3% filtrate and unfiltered iron carbonate (FeCO3) as corrosion products associated with the production process. The 1% and 3% salt concentrations were chosen to encompass a broad range of temperature depressions, reflecting common industry standards for simulating realistic environmental conditions. PVT cell test conditions ranged from 80 to 200 bar, with increments of 40 bar. The experiments investigate the effects of common pipeline salts on a monoethylene glycol (MEG)/water mixture in the presence of methane gas at typical industry high-pressure conditions. The investigation uncovers that the introduction of salts to water, methane, and MEG solutions serves as a hydrate inhibitor, with inhibitory effects directly correlated to salt concentration. While generally hydrate growth inhibition is beneficial in natural gas pipelines, the findings indicate that elevated salt concentrations and lower pressure conditions contribute to the formation of larger hydrates, heightening the risk of surface adhesion and potentially introducing complications in piping equipment, despite the decreased temperature at which these hydrates form due to the inhibitory effects of the salts. In particular, the mixed condition of 3% NaCl and 3% FeCO3 (filtered) has the strongest effect. Examination of hydrate formation temperature and macroscopic observations suggests that the existence of substantial precipitates, as evidenced in the unfiltered FeCO3 sapphire cell experiment, may have the potential to enhance hydrate growth. © 2024 The Author(s). Asia-Pacific Journal of Chemical Engineering published by Curtin University and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a brain illness that causes cognitive impairment in the elderly, especially females, as a result of genetics, hormones, and life experiences. It becomes more severe with age and is associated with cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes. Beta-amyloid plaques and hyper phosphorylated Tau protein buildup are common clinical findings. Misfiling of amyloid precursor protein (APP) and Amyloid beta peptide (Aβ) proteins contributes to Alzheimer's disease. Enzyme Acetylcholinesterase enzyme interacts with amyloid-beta, enhancing its accumulation in insoluble plaques, leading to successful treatment for Alzheimer's disease primarily based on lowering this enzyme. Treatments include using the Rivastigmine for mild, moderate, or severe Alzheimer's disease, which inhibits acetylcholinesterase, but may cause side effects; Solanine derivatives, nightshade toxin, it is cholinesterase inhibitory, may mitigate Alzheimer's illness is progressing. In this research utilized a molecular docking program, which is a computer's computational ability to determine the optimal position for a specific compound to bind to a protein or target, forming a target-ligand complex and displaying biological activity and aiding in the development of effective anti-AD treatments and understanding AD pathological mechanisms. The study examined complexes of 3LII (Acetylcholinesterase receptor) in the A and B chain with Solanine and Rivastigmine derivatives, using an in-silico approach. PyRx default sorter was used to improve docking accuracy. Four compounds were selected based on their higher binding affinities in chain A and B. The results showed that Solanine derivatives (alpha-Solanine, Beta1-Solanine and Beta2-Solanine) have higher binding strength (−9.0,-9.3 and −8.6) than Rivastigmine (−7.2) in chain A, and also the binding strength was high for the Solanine derivatives (alpha-Solanine, Beta1-Solanine, and Beta2-Solanine) (−9.0,-8.8 and −8.9) is higher than Rivastigmine (−6.0) in the chain B. Solanine derivatives showed higher binding strength with acetylcholinesterase, potentially for to reduce the progression of the disease. © 2024 The Authors

The deep drawing forming process, classified under sheet metal working, is a promising and essential metal forming process that has attracted much interest due to its wide application in micro-production. The process parameters, such as the cross-head speed of the machine, have a significant influence on the quality of the product. The impact of two essential parameters was investigated to minimize or eliminate the product's production defects, such as thinning, tearing, and scratching. The first one was the impact of using two types of lubricating oil (grease and wax), and the products were compared with the dry condition (without using a lubricating oil). The second is the impact of changing the cross-head speed of the machine from 5 to 15 mm/min. This work aims to determine the optimum operating condition that prevents any defect in the product. The results showed that using lubricating oil resulted in better product shape, and the wax is better than grease in eliminating product defects. In addition, the results showed that the lower machine speed is preferred for eliminating production defects, where the final product has no obvious thinning, tearing, or scratching. The final product shape was evaluated visually because eye observation is the only way to judge the product shape. © 2024, Institute for research and design in industry. All rights reserved.

This work compares for the first time the efficiency of peroxi-coagulation (PC) and peroxi-electrocoagulation (PEC) methods for the removal of methyl green (MG) stains from aqueous solutions. Lab-scale, batch electrochemical cells made of an iron anode and porous graphite cathode were used in both processes. In addition, this work aims to identify the optimum operating conditions that resulted in the highest possible removal of MG. Several parameters were investigated such as effect of pH (1–9), temperature (15–60 °C), current density (5–35 mA/cm2), reaction time (10–90 min), electrode gap (1–3 cm), H2O2 concentration (750–900 mg/L, for PEC only), and air aeration (1–3 L/min, for PC only). The results show that both pH and current density have a great influence on MG eliminating efficiency, which implies that the removal processes are controlled by the reaction conditions in the bulk of the solution. The optimum conditions were found to be an initial value of pH equal to four, current density of 10–15 mA/cm2, air aeration equal to two L/min, and reaction time duration of 40–50 min. Maximum MG removal of 98.65% and 99.89% were achieved by PC and PEC, respectively, at the optimum operation values. Experimental data were fitted to 1st-order, 2nd-order, and power law models. This work shows the superior of PEC in the removing of MG from aqueous solutions. © 2023 The Authors

Two types of Bacillus bacteria (Megaterium and Subtilis) were added in different concentrations with different amount of nutrients to concrete mixture to identify their influence in self-healing of concrete. In addition, the impact of exposure to a sulfate environment on the compressive strength of concrete was investigated. This work used two concentrations for each type of bacteria (107 and 108 CFU), four weight percentages of bacteria to cement (1, 5, 10, and 15%), and three weight proportions of calcium lactate as nutrition of bacteria to cement (0.1, 0.6, and 1.2%). Concrete was tested by water permeability, compressive strength, and rapid chloride permeability tests. The outcomes of these tests show a significant improvement in the compressive strength of concrete, water permeability, and resistance to chloride and sulfate penetrations into the concrete. The best performance is recorded for Megaterium bacteria specimen with 15% proportion and 1.2% nutrient. The reduction in the depth of water penetration of this specimen specifically reached 56–59% compared to the control mix. © 2023, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

The interactions of carbon dioxide (CO2) with metal oxides are a significant subject due to the numerous applications in which this reaction is involved. Although this reaction has been extensively studied by various infrared (IR) techniques, only a few (if any) have utilized in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS). DRIFTS has an essential advantage over other traditional IR techniques in that it involves minimal sample preparation before analysis. In this work, CO2 adsorption on CoO, CuO, and α-Fe2O3 nanoparticle surfaces was investigated by using DRIFTS. While the majority of species on CoO and CuO surfaces were observed as carbonate, on α-Fe2O3 bicarbonate was more prevalent. © 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.

Currently, there is a lack of detailed knowledge about methane (CH4) reactions on metal oxide surfaces. This reaction involves in different processes such as chemical looping combustion and catalytic carbon dioxide (CO2) reforming of CH4. In this study, in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy was used to investigate CH4 reaction on three transition metal oxides (CoO, CuO, and α-Fe2O3) which are commonly used in these processes at temperatures ranging from 100 °C to 700 °C. The results show that CH4 is adsorbed on the metal oxide surfaces as methoxy and formate, and then the methoxy group reacts with the metal oxide lattice oxygen forming bicarbonate. Under the effect of the used reaction temperature, the bicarbonate decomposes to CO2 and water vapor. © 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

This work aims to identify the impact of blending diesel fuel with kerosene on the engine performance and fuel consumption. In addition, this work aims to find the optimum blending ratio that would not notably drawback the engine performance. Blended diesel fuel with kerosene in volume percentages between 7 and 20% was investigated in a four-strokes, single-cylinder, and internal combustion engine to evaluate the engine performance and fuel efficiency at three torques (2, 4, and 6 N m) and constant speed (2000 rpm). The study involved determining several operational parameters, which are the brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC Kg/kW.h), brake-specific energy consumption (BSEC MJ/kW.h), brake thermal efficiency (BTE), engine effective power (Ne kW), and the noise intensity (measured in dB). The results show that small volume percentages (up to 14%) do not significantly lower the engine performance and fuel consumption. Specifically, the losing in BSFC from blending ratios of 7% and 14% are only 3.8% and 9.6%, respectively. The blending of diesel fuel with kerosene can help minimizing the pollutant emission and decrease the engine noise intensity. Thus, this work concluded that diesel fuel could be blended with kerosene up to 14% without significantly reducing engine performance and fuel efficiency. © 2022 The Authors

This work aims to investigate the influence of blending diesel fuel with different percentages of methyl alcohol on reducing the emission of exhaust gases. The study was performed using a laboratory diesel engine, which is an internal combustion, single-cylinder, and four-strokes engine. The study involved investigating three volume percentages of methyl alcohol (methanol), which are 7, 14, and 21. The emission results of the blending fuels were compared with that of non-blending fuel. The analysis of the exhaust gases was done under three engine loads, which are two, four, and six N.m, with a constant speed of 2000 rpm. The analysis involves measuring carbon oxides (CO and CO2), unburned hydrocarbons (HC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter (PM). The results showed a positive impact of methanol on reducing the emission of all gases except NOx. Increasing the methanol ratio increases the reduction of the emissions of CO, CO2, PM, and HC, where the highest reductions of the gaseous emissions were observed with the percentage of 21% of methanol under all engine loads. Specifically, the drop recorded by using 21% of methanol was 69-83% for CO, 60-69% for CO2, 80-83% for HC, and 25-30% for PM. These reductions in emissions are assigned to the high oxygen content of methyl alcohol that influences the complete combustion of diesel. On the other hand, the NOx emission increased by 135-346%, but a possible reduction in these emissions can be achieved through a proper engine modification. The results of this investigation provide essential insights that would inspire using methanol as a fuel additive with modifying the diesel engines to be compatible with blending fuel. © 2023 Institut za Istrazivanja. All rights reserved.

The presence of oxygen in pipelines used in power plants and the oil industry requires vigilant attention and utilization of oxygen scavenging to prevent the deleterious effects of corrosion. This study aims to investigate the efficacy of four transition metal catalysts (manganese, copper, nickel, and chromium) on the effectiveness of erythorbic acid as an oxygen scavenger. The experimental approach involved injecting varying concentrations (5 ppm, 10 ppm, and 20 ppm) of transition metal catalyst solutions with erythorbic acid at concentrations of 20 ppm, 50 ppm, and 100 ppm, while maintaining a controlled temperature of 25 °C and a pH of 9.0 at a saturated oxygen concentration. The outcome of the study demonstrated that nickel and chromium did not improve the oxygen removal rate, while copper exhibited notable results compared to the control catalyst (manganese). Specifically, the copper (I) chloride solution proved to be the most efficient in reducing dissolved oxygen content to levels below 20 ppb. © 2023 The Authors

Adding nanomaterials to quenching media is an innovative method to alter alloys' mechanical properties and enhance their resistance to wear. In this work, TiO2 nanoparticles were added to the oil as a quenching media in different mass percentages (0, 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6%) to identify the impact of adding TiO2 nanoparticles on wear resistance (dry sliding) and mechanical properties by microstructure analysis of carbon steel CK45 before and after the addition of nanofluid. The results reveal the critical role of adding nanomaterials in altering steel's mechanical properties and increasing its resistance to wear. Specifically, increasing the TiO2 nanoparticle percentage improves the wear resistance value under different loads (20, 30, and 40 N). Also, the homogenous microstructure and mechanical properties were enhanced after using nanotechnology. That means the nanotechnology can protect CK45 from wear to be used for dies structure parts by quenching process. © 2023, Institute for research and design in industry. All rights reserved.

Citric acid is an essential ingredient for the manufacture of (12) key industrial chemicals. Citric acid use is increasing steadily with a high annual growth rate as a result of the development of ever more sophisticated applications. Citric acid is widely utilized in the food and pharmaceutical industries due to its low toxicity when compared to other acidulous. Other uses for citric acid can be found in cleaning supplies and detergents. Based on information from a review of the literature, Citric acid production substrates and methods for surface fermentation, submerged fermentation, solid-state fermentation, and international market expansion are all covered in the current review study. Finally, there is still much to learn about the circumstances of the production of citric acid from raw materials, microorganisms, and fermentation techniques to achieve the best production in terms of cost and quality. © 2023, University of Baghdad. All rights reserved.

Background: The succinic acid demand accelerated through the years. Thus, the need to improve acid production economically is aggravated. The fermentation process by succinate bacteria showed promising acid production. However, due to different bacteria characteristics, mediums composition and operating conditions, a fixed quantity of succinic acid production cannot be determined or generalized. Recently, raising interest in examining cheap mediums in the fermentation process brought attention to utilizing different raw materials. Nevertheless, its influence on production is not fully comprehended. Methods: This research aims to develop an evaluation of three succinate bacteria on succinic acid production. Also, it aims to demonstrate a comparative analysis of the Succinic acid production by three raw carbon sources (Corn fiber, Cane molasses and orange peel). The flask batch method and the 4-L Bioreactor were employed in the evaluation. Result: The results of the study showed that the Actinobacillus succinogenes is the best succinate bacteria to provide commercial Succinic acid. The presence of 10 g of glucose was satisfactory in improving the fermentation among all bacteria. The highest Succinic acid production was 12.8 g/L provided by the corn fiber. The lowest succinic acid production was 18% less than the glucose medium that the orange peel gave. The results revealed a significant impact of the raw material composition on the production outcomes. At the bioreactor, the cells exhibited an exponential phase with rate growth of 0.175 [g/L.h] and the maximum Succinic acid produced was 25 g/L. © (2023), (Agricultural Research Communication Centre). All Rights Reserved.

Objective: To evaluate the antibacterial activity of emodin isolated from trichoderma longibrachiatum against certain pathogens in patients with bacterial disease. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at Al-Zahraa Teaching Hospital, Wassit, Iraq, from December 2021 to March 2022, and comprised tichoderma longibrachiatum taken from the Wasit University’s garden soil and were subjected to plate morphology, microscopic examination, and polymerase chain reaction-internal transcribed spacer testing. Emodin was extracted by ethyl acetate with final yield of 58mg/L. Using the agar well diffusion method, emodin extract doses of 0.5μg/ml, 1μg/ml, 2μg/ml and 4μg/ml were tested against clinical pathogenic microorganisms. Data was analysed using SPSS 22. Results: Emodin 0.5μg/ml showed high antibacterial activity against proteus mirabilis, with growth inhibition zone of 8.7mm, followed by staphylococcus epidermidis 7mm, streptococcus pyogenes 7.6mm, staphylococcus aureus 7.5mm, escherichia coli 6.7mm and klebsiella species 0.4mm. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was resistant to emodin 0.5μg/ml. Conclusion: Emodin extract of trichoderma longibrachiatum showed high antimicrobial activity against human pathogenic bacteria. © 2023 Pakistan Medical Association. All rights reserved.

In this work, Fe3O4-SiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized, characterized, and applied as adsorbent material to remove methyl blue stain from an aqueous solution. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) to determine the physical surface properties and correlate them to the adsorption efficiency. In addition, this study investigated the influence of several parameters on the removal percentage and adsorption capacity. Specifically, this study investigated the impact of changing the following parameters: pH (1 - 8), agitation speed (Uspeed; 100 - 350 rpm), initial methyl blue (MB) concentration (1 - 100 mg/L), adsorbent dose (0.05 to 0.15 g), and contact time (10 - 100 min). The characterization study reveals that the prepared material has an excellent surface area (385 ± 5 m2/g) and pore volume (0.31 cm3/g) which enhances the adsorption capacity. In addition, the prepared material showed excellent efficiency where the removal percentage reached 99.0±1% at the optimal operating conditions and the maximum adsorption capacity was 40 mg/g. This study delivers a full elucidation of the adsorption of MB dye by Fe3O4-SiO2 NPs which considers a promising inexpensive adsorbent. It also delivers important insight information about the adsorption process and the influence of each parameter, which fill the lack in this field. © 2022 University of Tehran. All Rights Reserved.

Increasing the pollution rate of water sources is one of the most severe issues that the world faces. This issue has stimulated researchers to investigate different treatment methods such as adsorption, chemical precipitation, membrane filtration, flocculation, ion exchange, flotation, and electrochemical processes. Among them, adsorption has gained broad interest due to its ease of operation, low cost, and high efficiency. The critical factor of the successful adsorption treatment process is finding attractive adsorbents with attractive criteria such as low cost and high adsorption capacity. In the last few decades, nanotechnology has attracted much attention, and numerous nanomaterials have been synthesized for water and wastewater treatment. This work provides a quick overview of nanomaterials, which have been investigated for water remediation as adsorbent and photocatalyst. This work reviewed 120 articles to provide a critical review to determine the limitation of using nanomaterials in water treatment at the commercial scale. © 2022 University of Tehran. All rights reserved.

The removal efficiency of sulfur compounds from heavy naphtha with a sulfur concentration of 600 ppm was evaluated using a combination of oxidation and adsorption processes. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was used as an oxygenated agent. At the same time, iron-promoted activated carbon (IPAC) and Cu+2 promoted zeolite 13X (CPZ13X) were used in dual functions (catalysts for the oxidation reaction and adsorbents for sulfur compounds). This study explored the effect of several factors on desulfurization efficiency. These factors are the volume ratio of H2O2 to heavy naphtha (0.01–0.05), agitation speed (Uspeed = 100–500 ± 2 rpm), pH of heavy naphtha (1–5), the weight of solid materials (0.5–2.0 g), process temperature (290–360 ± 1 K), and contact time (30–180 min). The outcomes show that IPAC is superior for the desulfurization process due to its better performance in oxidation and adsorption of sulfur compounds due to its physicochemical properties, such as its high surface area. The maximum desulfurization efficiency of IPAC and CPZ13X reached by this work were 97 and 93%, respectively. The adsorption capacity of IPAC and CPZ13X reached at the optimum conditions were 21.83 and 20.93 mg/g, respectively. © 2022

A simple, rapid, accurate, and sensitive UV–Visible spectrophotometric method has been developed to estimate ephedrine hydrochloride (Eph) in pharmaceutical drugs. This method is based on preparing chelate complex through the reaction between Eph and cobalt ion (Co (II)). Ephedrine identification is done as an Eph – Co (II) complex after extraction by chloroform at λ max 389 nm. In this work, the optimum operation conditions such as pH, buffer volume, Co ion concentration, time of reaction and extraction, temperature, and water to organic volume ratio were determined. The linearity range of Eph has observed in the range between 1 and 80 ppm, at a wavelength of 387 nm with molar absorptivity range between 3.1867 × 103 to 1.6941 × 103(L·mol−1·cm−1) and metal to legend ratio of two. The results obtaind from this study are as follow: relative standard deviation (RSD) percentage is 0.303%, detection limit (D.L) = 0.94 ppm, Sandel's sensitivity (S) = 0.0135, relative error (Erel.) % = 0.039, recovery (Rec.) %=100.039. The results confirmed no interferences of excipients on the detection of Eph, and the proposed method has successfully applied for the determination of ephedrine-HCl in pure and pharmaceutical preparations. This method has several advantages, such as its low cost, high sensitivity, and ease of operation. © 2021

MgO-SiO2 nanoparticle catalyst was prepared, characterized, and evaluated in a fixed-bed reactor for ethanol conversion to 1,3 butadiene (BD) process (ETB). The prepared catalyst was characterized by XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM, EDS, and BET techniques. The data obtained from the surface and bulk characterizations of the prepared catalyst was used to correlate the catalyst morphology and surface chemistry to its performance in ETB. This work investigates the effect of temperature, Hourly space velocity, and water content on ethanol conversion and product selectivity. In addition, MgO-SiO2 pellets with size of 500 μm was prepared and applied into the process to evaluate the impact of the catalyst’s particle size on its efficiency. The catalyst stability was investigated at the optimum reaction conditions for ten hours of the reaction. 1,3-butadiene selectivity of as high as 60% is achieved at the optimum reaction temperature of 400 oC. This high selectivity was attributed to the catalyst’s high surface area and surface functional groups. Increasing the reaction temperature increases the rate of ethylene formation and, therefore, the selectivity for acetaldehyde decreases. Increasing the feed flow rate inhibits the formation of BD and increases the acetaldehyde selectivity. The presence of water was found to be a reducer agent to the BD selectivity due to its emphasis on acetone formation. This work investigated the impact of reducing the MgO-SiO2 catalyst particle size to the nanoscale and provides insightful information about the correlation MgO-SiO2 catalyst properties with its performance in converting ethanol to BD. © 2022, Int. J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. All rights reserved.

Eggshell waste which is a serious issue that faces the authorities of food industries was used to adsorb methyl green stain from aqueous solutions. The impact of pH solution of several parameters on the removal efficiency was investigated. The results show that the maximum percent of removal was 69.38 ± 3% and it was directly proportional with pH, agitation speed, adsorbent dose, and contact time. While the relation with temperature and initial concentration was inverse. The isotherm, kinetic and thermodynamic studies were also done under the system optimum conditions. The results show that the pseudo-second order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model are the best models that describe the adsorption system, while the thermodynamic investigation illustrates that the removal process was endothermic, spontaneous, and less entropic. This work provides detailed information about an innovative method to utilize eggshell waste as an inexpensive adsorbent to remove methyl green stain from aqueous solutions. © 2021

In this work, ZnO-CoO/Al2O3 nanoparticles were synthesized and used as a catalyst for the dehydrogenation of ethanol to produce acetone. The catalyst was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) to identify the particle size and surface area, which were found to be 50 ± 5 nm and 23 ± 2 m2/g, respectively. In addition, Raman Spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to scan the synthesized catalyst to determine the crystallinity of the bulk. The impact of reaction temperature, water/ethanol molar ratio, and inlet flow rate on the ethanol conversion and products’ yields was investigated. The results show that the optimum reaction conditions which give an ethanol conversion of 97% and the highest acetone yield (45%) are as follows: Temp. 400 °C, 7 mol H2O:1 mol ethanol, and liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) 1.2 hr−1. © 2021 The Author(s)

The cooling system of the food is one of the main essential systems to maintain food quality in the food processing plant. The using of corrosion inhibitor for the cooling systems is a familiar practice to control the corrosion which is happening due to a different kind of parameters like water quality and the type of materials for the cooling system, in this work, the case of adding corrosion and scale inhibitor to a cooling system containing carbon steel and stainless steel and copper was investigated. The inhibitor was mixed of two materials which are (Sodium Tripolyphosphate as a scale inhibitor and Sodium Polyphosphate as a corrosion inhibitor). The results demonstrate that there is an improvement in reducing the corrosion rate for iron after adding the inhibitor, and the copper ions in the solution reduced if the PH values below 9.5. © 2020. All Rights Reserved.