<p>The polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/polysulfone (PSF) blended polymer membranes were modified by decaethylene glycol monododecyl ether (C<sub>12</sub>EO<sub>10</sub>) as a non-ionic surfactant. Polymeric solutions containing 17 wt.% of both PAN and PSF with a ratio of 80/20, and C<sub>12</sub>EO<sub>10</sub> with a mass concentration of 6 wt.% and aluminium oxide (Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>) nanoparticles with varying concentrations (1, 2, and 3 wt.%) were prepared. Adding 6 wt.% of C<sub>12</sub>EO<sub>10</sub> to the casting solution formed a membrane with distinguished hydrophilicity and fouling resistance, higher porosity, appreciable permeate flux (77.1 L/m<sup>2</sup>.h), and distinct vacuum gas oil rejection (92%) in comparison with the pure PAN ultrafiltration membrane. Further improvement for the PAN/PSF blend membrane using 2 wt.% of γ-Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> in the presence of 6 wt.% of C<sub>12</sub>EO<sub>10</sub> (PPCA-6-2γ membrane) produced an excellent permeate flux of 189.2 L/m²·h, favorable hydrophilicity with a contact angle of 26.55°, and an optimistic COD removal%, expressing the VGO rejection, of 97.15%. The PPCA-6-2γ membrane revealed acceptable separation performance up to four cycles of filtration and exhibited enhanced antifouling properties with an FRR% of 95.4%. The fouling mechanism that determines the flux reduction during crossflow ultrafiltration by the PPCA-6-2γ membrane was studied using the Hermia models. The cake layer formation model provided the best match for the experimental behavior when analyzing the flux reduction with time for the PPCA-6-2γ membrane. The fabrication cost was determined for PPCA-6-2γ membrane to be $1.67/20 g, respectively. So, the local manufacturing costs of the PPCA-6-2γ membrane did not surpass 90 $/m<sup>2</sup> of the membrane.</p>
New polymer blend with enhanced properties was prepared from (80 %) epoxy resin (Ep), (20%) unsaturated polyester resin (UPE) as a matrix material. The as-obtained polymer blend was further reinforced by adding Sand particles of particle size (53 μm) with various weight fraction (5, 10, 15, 20 %). Thermal conductivity and sorption measurements are performed in order to determine diffusion coefficient in different chemical solutions (NaOH, HCl) with concentration (0.3N) after immersion for specific period of time (30 days). The obtained results demonstrate that the addition of sand powder to (80%EP/20%UPE) blend leads to an increase of thermal conductivity, with an optimum/minimum diffusion coefficient in (HCl)/(NaOH), respectively.
A study was performed to evaluate heavy metals removal from sewage sludge using lime. The processes of stabilization using alkaline chemicals operating on a simple principle of raising pH to 12 or higher, with sufficient mixing and suitable contact time to ensure that immobilization can reduce heavy metals. A 0.157 m3 tank was designed to treat Al-Rustemeyia wastewater treatment plant sludge. Characteristics of raw sludge were examined through two parameters: pH and heavy metal analysis. Different lime doses of (0- 25) g CaO/100 g sludge were mixed manually with raw sludge in a rotating drum. The samples were analyzed two hours after mixing. pH and heavy metals results were compared with EPA and National Iraqi Stand
... Show MoreThe study was carried out in plant tissue culture laboratory, University of Baghdad during the period 2017-2019, as factorial experiment in complete randomized design, to study the effect of PEG at (0, 2, 4, 6 and 8%) on physiological and chemical changes in callus of three sunflower (Ishaqi 1, Aqmar and Al-haga) induced by the cultivation of the young stem in vitro under water stress. The content of callus cells of SOD, POD, CAT and APX enzymes as well as content of hydrogen peroxide were determined as indicators to determine the effect of PEG in callus tissue cells cultivated on medium equipped with the PEG concentrations. The results showed that cultivars were differs significantly and Al-hajavariety was superior in increasing SOD to 24.
... Show MoreThe aim of this paper is to identify Nano-particles that have been used in diagnosis and treatment of leishmaniasis in Iraq. All experiments conducted in this field were based on the following nanoparticles: gold nanoparticles, silver nanoparticles, zinc nanoparticles, and sodium chloride nanoparticles. Most of these experiments were reviewed in terms of differences in the concentrations of nanoparticles and the method that was used in the experiments whether it was in vivo or in vitro. These particles used in most experiments succeeded in inhibiting the growth of Leishmania parasites.
The current research was conducted to report the synthesis of alumina powder from Iraqi kaolin. The kaolin was transformed to metakaolin by calcinations at temperature 800 °C for three hours. Then the calcined kaolin was treated with (1.5 M) from H2SO4 for 6 hours to form Al2(SO4)3.12H2O solution. The precipitate was dried at 80oC for 10 hours and calcinations at different temperatures for two hours. The samples which result was characterized by X–Ray diffraction (XRD) and X–Ray fluorescence (XRF). The results indicate to the crystalline hydrate aluminum sulfate for the sample that be as – synthesis and when calcinations at 600 oC transformed into aluminum sulfate phase. The phases of alumina which we obtain consisted of a gamma a
... Show MoreThe sintering behavior of Alumina was investigated by adding TiO2. The addition of TiO2 lowered the sintering temperature of the Alumina compared with those of pure Alumina. The result suggests that TiO2 acts as an activator for sintering of Alumina. Water absorption, apparent porosity and density were examined for both pure and TiO2 added to Alumina samples. The variations of sintering behavior were discussed in terms of shrinkage, porosity, water absorption and density. Thermal shock resistance was also examined. In term of this work, the way of improving the thermal shock resistance in oxide- based materials by adding reactive Titania powder to the Alumina samples. The laboratory results showed an improvement in thermal shock resistance
... Show MoreDetection of early clinical keratoconus (KCN) is a challenging task, even for expert clinicians. In this study, we propose a deep learning (DL) model to address this challenge. We first used Xception and InceptionResNetV2 DL architectures to extract features from three different corneal maps collected from 1371 eyes examined in an eye clinic in Egypt. We then fused features using Xception and InceptionResNetV2 to detect subclinical forms of KCN more accurately and robustly. We obtained an area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) of 0.99 and an accuracy range of 97–100% to distinguish normal eyes from eyes with subclinical and established KCN. We further validated the model based on an independent dataset with
... Show MoreAn evaluation for the performance of model pile embedded in expansive soil was investigated. An extensive testing program was planned to achieve the purpose of this research. Therefore, special manufactured system was prepared for studying the behavior of model pile having different length to diameter ratios (L/D). Two types of piles were used in this research, straight shaft and under reamed piles. The effect of model pile type, L/D ratio and number of wetting drying cycles were studied. It is observed that significant reductions in pile movement when under reamed piles were considered. A proposed design charts was presented for straight shaft and under reamed piles to estimate the length of both types of piles that is requi
... Show MoreEmbedded advertisement constitutes a special kind of communication. As it performs many important roles such as giving information, highlighting the value of the product, and urging the target consumer to buy it by influencing his/ her behavior using an attractive manner of mind and conscience. Both cinema and television are the most prominent and powerful advertising media that enjoy the interest of all audiences and capture most of the advertising spending. As advertisers have paid attention to the importance of indirectly incorporating their products into content that the audience loves and is keen to follow, since the actual impact lies in the inclusion of the product within content that the audience appeals to. Hence, this leads to
... Show MoreLiquid-liquid membrane extraction technique, pertraction, using three types of solvents (methyl isobutyl ketone, n-butyl acetate, and n-amyl acetate) was used for recovery of penicillin V from simulated fermentation broth under various operating conditions of pH value (4-6) for feed and (6-8) for receiver phase, time (0-40 min), and agitation speed (300-500 rpm) in a batch laboratory unit system. The optimum conditions for extraction were at pH of 4 for feed, and 8 for receiver phase, rotation speed of 500 rpm, time of 40 min, and solvent of MIBK as membrane, where more than 98% of penicillin was extracted.