The focus of this work is on systematically understanding the effects of packing density of the sand grains on both the internal and bulk mechanical properties for strip footing interacting with granular soil. The studies are based on particle image velocimetry (PIV) method, coupled with a high resolution imaging camera. This provides valuable new insights on the evolution of slip planes at grain-scale under different fractions of the ultimate load. Furthermore, the PIV based results are compared with finite element method simulations in which the experimentally characterised parameters and constitutive behaviour are fed as an input, and a good level of agreements are obtained. The reported results would serve to the practicing engineers, r

Organic permeable‐base transistors (OPBTs) show potential for high‐speed, flexible electronics. Scaling laws of OPBTs are discussed and it is shown that OPBT performance can be increased by reducing their effective device area. Comparing the performance of optimized OPBTs with state‐of‐the‐art organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs), it is shown that OPBTs have a higher potential for an increased transit frequency. Not only do OPBTs reach higher transconductance values without the need for sophisticated structuring techniques, but they are also less sensitive to parasitic contact resistances. With the help of a 2D numerical model, the reduced contact resistances of OPBTs are explained by a homogeneous injection of current acros

Biotreatment using immobilized cells (IC) technology has proved to be the most promising and most economical approach for the removal of many toxic organic pollutants found in petroleum-refinery wastewater (PRW) such as phenol. This study was undertaken to evaluate the degradation of phenol by Pseudomonas cells individually immobilized in two different bio-carrier matrices including polyvinyl alcohol-guar gum (PVA-GG) and polyvinyl alcohol-agar agar (PVA-AA). Results of batch experiments revealed that complete removal of phenol was attained in the first cycle after 150 min using immobilized cells (IC) in both PVA-GG and PVA-AA. Additional cycles were confirmed to evaluate the validity of recycling beads of immob

The presence of antibiotic residues such as ciprofloxacin (CIPR) in an aqueous environment is dangerous when their concentrations exceed the allowable. Therefore, eliminating these residues from the wastewater becomes an essential issue to prevent their harm. In this work, the potential of efficient adsorption of ciprofloxacin antibiotics was studied using eco-friendly ZSM-5 nanocrystals‑carbon composite (NZC). An inexpensive effective natural binder made of the sucrose-citric acid mixture was used for preparing NZC. The characterization methods revealed the successful preparation of NZC with a favorable surface area of 103.739 m2/g, and unique morphology and functional groups. Investigating the ability of NZC for adsorbing CIPR antibioti

This study investigated the feasibility of anaerobic co-digestion of giant reed (GR) inoculated with waste manure as a co-substrate for biogas production. The performance of co-digestion was evaluated in 4 anaerobic digesters operated in batch mode at different conditions. The effects of alkali pretreatment with NaOH (4% w/v) solution, inoculum type, and thermal condition were studied. The results demonstrated that the alkali-pretreatment of GR enhanced the biogas generation by about 15% at mesophilic conditions. Thermophilic conditions enhanced the biogas recovery from both alkali-free and alkali pretreated GR by 15% and 127%, respectively. The kinetic study of the co-digestion process of GR for biogas recovery suggeste

Lead-acid batteries have been used increasingly in recent years in solar power systems, especially in homes and small businesses, due to their cheapness and advanced development in manufacturing them. However, these batteries have low voltages and low capacities, to increase voltage and capacities, they need to be connected in series and parallel. Whether they are connected in series or parallel, their voltages and capacities must be equal otherwise the quality of service will be degraded. The fact that these different voltages are inherent in their manufacturing, but these unbalanced voltages can be controlled. Using a switched capacitor is a method that was used in many methods for balancing voltages, but their respons

Production of fatty acid esters (biodiesel) from oleic acid and 2-ethylhexanol using sulfated zirconia as solid catalyst for the production of biodiesel was investigated in this work.

       The parameters studied were temperature of reaction (100 to 130°C), molar ratio of alcohol to free fatty acid (1:1 to 3:1), concentration of catalyst (0.5 to 3%wt), mixing speed (500 to 900 rpm) and types of sulfated zirconia (i.e modified, commercial, prepared  catalyst according to literature and reused catalyst). The results show the best conversion to biodiesel was 97.74% at conditions of 130°C, 3:1, 2wt% and 650 rpm using modified catalyst respectively. Also, modified c

Global warming and environmental damage have become major problems. The production of Portland cement releases large quantities of gas, which cause pollution to the atmosphere. This problem can be solved via the use of sustainable materials, such as glass powder. This study investigates the effect of partial replacement of cement with sustainable glass powder at various percentages (0, 15, 20, and 25%) by weight of cement on some mechanical properties (compressive strength, flexural strength, absorption, and dry density) of Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC) containing a percentage of Polypropylene fibers (PRPC) of 1% by weight. Furthermore, steam curing was performed for 5 hours at 90oC after hardening the sample directly. The RPC was

Electrodeposition of metal oxides on graphite electrodes can improve their ability to remove organic substances. In this work, multicomponent oxides of Mn, Co, and Ni were electrochemically deposited on both the anode and cathode of graphite electrodes to enhance their performance in removing phenol. Formation of the deposit was achieved within 2 h in current densities of 20, 25, 30, and 35 mA/cm2 for better composite properties. The deposited layer was characterized by testing the surface structure, morphology, composition, and roughness. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and Atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques facilitated these tests. The composite electrodes have synthesized

The presence of heavy metals in the environment is major concern due to their toxicity. In the present study a strong acid cation exchange resin, Amberlite IR 120 was used for the removal of lead, zinc and copper from simulated wastewater. The optimum conditions were determined in a batch system of concentration 100 mg/L, pH range between 1 and 8, contact time between 5 and 120 minutes, and amount of adsorbent was from 0.05 to 0.45 g/100 ml. A constant stirring speed, 180 rpm, was chosen during all of the experiments. The optimum conditions were found to be pH of 4 for copper and lead and pH 6 for zinc, contact time of 60 min and 0.35 g of adsorbent. Three different temperatures (25, 40 and 60°C) were selected to investigate the effect