This paper presents an analysis of selected qualitative characteristics of pellets produced from rape straw obtained from cultivations subjected to different fertilization treatments and from mixtures of straw selected for testing with crude glycerol obtained as a by-product from biodiesel production. The assessment focused on the following qualities of the obtained pellets: Moisture content, mechanical durability, heating value and main elements, that is, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur, chlorine and oxygen. The obtained results indicated that the different treatment regimens applied in spring rape cultivations had a significant impact on the physicochemical qualities of the straw. In terms of the heating value, traditional fer

This research discusses application Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Geographical InformationSystem (GIS) models on water quality of Diyala River using Water Quality Index (WQI). Fourteen water parameterswere used for estimating WQI: pH, Temperature, Dissolved Oxygen, Orthophosphate, Nitrate, Calcium, Magnesium,Total Hardness, Sodium, Sulphate, Chloride, Total Dissolved Solids, Electrical Conductivity and Total Alkalinity.These parameters were provided from the Water Resources Ministryfrom seven stations along the river for the period2011 to 2016. The results of WQI analysis revealed that Diyala River is good to poor at the north of Diyala provincewhile it is poor to very polluted at the south of Baghdad City. The selected parameters wer

Duration of each developmental stage of the house dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus together with the mortality percentage were observed at a combination of five different temperatures namely 20C°, 22.5C°, 25C°, 27.5C° and 30C° and four different humidities namely 55%, 75%, 85% and 95% r. h. Results showed that temperature had the greatest effect on the life cycle period. The higher the temperature the shorter the life cycle was aid versa verea. On the other hand, humidity seems to be less effectiveness, though at the higher temperature and humidity no development was occured. Mortality among all temperatures and humidities appeared nearly the same, but at higher temperature and higher humidity and because of mould g

Transparent thin films of CdO:Ce has been deposited on to glass and silicon substrates by spray pyrolysis technique for various concentrations of cerium (2, 4, and 6 Vol.%). CdO:Ce films were characterized using different techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy(AFM) and optical properties. XRD analysis show that CdO films exhibit cubic crystal structure with (1 1 1) preferred orientation and the intensity of the peak increases with increasing's of Ce contain when deposited films on glass substrate, while for silicon substrate, the intensity of peaks decreases, the results reveal that the grain size of the prepared thin film is approximately (73.75-109.88) nm various with increased of cerium content. With a sur

    This work is an experimental study conducted to study the effects of iron oxide dust particles (Fe₂O₃) on the characteristics of DC discharge plasma in argon gas under vacuum. Electron temperature ( ) and electron density (n_e) were calculated by Boltzmann plots and Stark broadening, respectively. The results show that both the electron density and plasma frequency ( ) increased with the operating pressure. While,  and Debye length ( ) decreased with pressure. The glow discharge is more stable with the Fe₂O₃-dust particles; all dust plasma parameters have lower values  than those of the dust-free plasma.

In this research, a sensor for chemical solutions was designed and formed using optical fiber-based on a surface Plasmon resonance technology. A single-mode optical fiber with three different diameters (25, 45 and 65) µm was used, respectively.  The second layer of the low refractive fiber was replaced by gold, which was electrically deposited at 40 µm thickness. For each of the three types of optical fiber, different saline concentrations (different index of refraction) were used to evaluate the performance of the refractive index sensor (chemical sensor) by measuring its sensitivity and resolutions. The highest values we could get for these two parameters were 240mm/RIU, and 6*10^-5 RIU respectively, when the diameter of a

In the current study, CuAl0.7In0.3Te2 thin films with 400 nm thickness were deposited on glass substrates using thermal evaporation technique. The films were annealed at various annealing temperatures of (473,573,673 and 773) K. Furthermore, the films were characterized by X-ray Diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and Ultra violet-visible (UV–vis). XRD patterns confirm that the films exhibit chalcopyrite structure and the predominant diffraction peak is oriented at (112). The grain size and surface roughness of the annealed films have been reported. Optical properties for the synthesized films including, absorbance, transmittance, dielectric constant, and refr