Biodiesel is becoming one of the most attractive alternative biofuels for petroleum-based diesel fuels. The castor plant is one of the abundant non-edible oils found in many countries. This paper aims to study Libyan castor oil and its potential for diesel conversion. Experiments were carried out in the laboratories of the Specific Center for Training in the Oil Industries in Al-Zawiya. The oil was extracted using a Soxhlet extractor and n-hexane solvent at 60 °C. Transesterification reactions were conducted in a batch reactor (a three-neck flask was used, where the middle opening carries a reflux condensation unit) at 65 °C. The methanol-to-castor oil molar ratio was 6:1, with a catalyst concentration of 1 wt.% relative to the castor oil, and the reaction time was 30 min. Castor oil was analysed and found to have a fatty acid content of 0.7%. The productivity of biodiesel exhibited 80% yield. Standard test methods of analysis were conducted to determine the biodiesel’s properties. Results indicated that the kinematic viscosity at 40 °C was 14.24 cSt, the density was 0.924 g/cm3, the cetane number (CN) was 54 and the pour point was −15 °C, indicating that castor oil biodiesel is of high quality, with a high CN and a low pour point.
This paper develops a fuzzy multi-objective model for solving aggregate production planning problems that contain multiple products and multiple periods in uncertain environments. We seek to minimize total production cost and total labor cost. We adopted a new method that utilizes a Zimmermans approach to determine the tolerance and aspiration levels. The actual performance of an industrial company was used to prove the feasibility of the proposed model. The proposed model shows that the method is useful, generalizable, and can be applied to APP problems with other parameters.
Aggregate production planning (APP) is one of the most significant and complicated problems in production planning and aim to set overall production levels for each product category to meet fluctuating or uncertain demand in future. and to set decision concerning hiring, firing, overtime, subcontract, carrying inventory level. In this paper, we present a simulated annealing (SA) for multi-objective linear programming to solve APP. SA is considered to be a good tool for imprecise optimization problems. The proposed model minimizes total production and workforce costs. In this study, the proposed SA is compared with particle swarm optimization (PSO). The results show that the proposed SA is effective in reducing total production costs and req
... Show MoreThe production function forms one of the techniques used in evaluation the production the process for any establishment or company, and to explain the importance of contribution of element from the independent variable and it's affect on the dependent variable. Then knowing the elements which are significant or non-significant on the dependent variable.
So the importance of this study come from estimating the Cobb-Douglas production function for Al- Mansoor General Company for Engineering industries in Iraq during the period (1989-2001)
To explain the importance which effects the independent variable such as
(N
The minimization, treatment and disposal of drilling wastes especially oily wastes are important environmental issues.
In this research two fungal isolates named Pleurotus ostreatus and Trichoderma harzianum were chosen carefully f or the purpose of biotreatment of oily drilled cuttings which resulting from drilling oil wells using oil based muds (OBMs).
A relationship of total petroleum hydrocarbon degradation in oily drilled cuttings with time has been obtained. The results showed that Pleurotus ostreatus and Trichoderma harzianum can be considered hydrocarbon degrading microorganisms and the used biotreatment is cost effective process since most of the materials used in the cultivation and growth of the present f
... Show MoreThis study investigates the treatment of used lubricating oils from AL-Mussaib Gas Power Station Company-Iraq, which was treated with different extractive solvents (heptane and 2-propanol). The performance activity of these solvents in the extraction process was examined and evaluated experimentally. Operating parameters were solvent to oil ratios of (1:2, 1:4, 1:6, and 1:8), mixing time (20, 35, 50, and 65 min), temperatures (30, 40, 50, and 60 ºC), and mixing speed (500 rpm). These parameters were studied and analyzed. The quality is determined by the measuring and assessment of important characteristics specially viscosity, viscosity index, specific gravity, pour point, flash point, and ash content. The results confirm that the
... Show MoreThis study investigates the treatment of used lubricating oils from AL-Mussaib Gas Power Station Company-Iraq, which was treated with different extractive solvents (heptane and 2-propanol). The performance activity of these solvents in the extraction process was examined and evaluated experimentally. Operating parameters were solvent to oil ratios of (1:2, 1:4, 1:6, and 1:8), mixing time (20, 35, 50, and 65 min), temperatures (30, 40, 50, and 60 ºC), and mixing speed (500 rpm). These parameters were studied and analyzed. The quality is determined by the measuring and assessment of important characteristics specially viscosity, viscosity index, specific gravity, pour point, flash point, and ash content. The results confirm that the solve
... Show MoreIn order to reduce the losses due to evaporation in the stored crude oil and minimizing the decrease in °API many affecting parameters were studied (i.e. Different storage system, namely batch system with different types of storage tanks under different temperatures and:or different pressures). Continuous circulation storage system was also studied. It was found that increasing pressure of the inert gas from 1 bar to 8 bar over the surface of the crude oil will decrease the percentage losses due to evaporation by (0.016%) and decrease the change of °API by (0.9) during 96 hours storage time. Similarly using covering by surfactant (potassium oleate) or using polymer (polyurethane foam) decreases the percentage evaporation losses compare
... Show MoreThe Mauddud reservoir, Khabaz oil field which is considered one of the main carbonate reservoirs in the north of Iraq. Recognizing carbonate reservoirs represents challenges to engineers because reservoirs almost tend to be tight and overall heterogeneous. The current study concerns with geological modeling of the reservoir is an oil-bearing with the original gas cap. The geological model is establishing for the reservoir by identifying the facies and evaluating the petrophysical properties of this complex reservoir, and calculate the amount of hydrocarbon. When completed the processing of data by IP interactive petrophysics software, and the permeability of a reservoir was calculated using the concept of hydraulic units then, there
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