Animal fats are a good, promising and ethical alternative source for biodiesel production, but they need more complex treatments than vegetable oils. Iraqi butchery plants waste fats (sheep fat) which are suggested as feedstock to produce biodiesel. This type of fat contains a large quantity of free fatty acids (FFAs) (acid number 49.13 mg KOH/g of fat). The direct transesterification of such fats produce high amount of soap instead of desired biodiesel, so a pre-treatment step (to reduce FFAs) is necessary before transesterification. This step was done by esterification of the free fatty acids in the fat by adding ethanol and using 1% acid catalyst (H2SO4) for 30 minutes. The results showed that the acid number of sheep fat after pre-tr

The present study was conducted to determine the effect of different concentrations of putrescine and spermidine at all stages of regeneration (callogenesis, somatic embryos multiplication, germination and rooting)) of date palm cultivar Barhee. Shoot tips were eradicated from 2-3 years old offshoots, surface sterilized and inoculated onto Murashiege and Skoog, 1962 (MS) medium supplemented with 20 mg/L 2,4-D and 3 mg/L N6-2-isopentyl adenine (2ip). Primary callus was obtained after 24 weeks on the nutrient medium. Calli were then transferred onto fresh MS medium containing 0.0, 50, 100 or 150 mg/L of putrescine or spermidine individually. Results were recorded after 12 weeks. A significant increase in embryonic callus fresh weights reached

Biodiesel is an environmentally friendly fuel and a good substitution for the fossil fuel. However, the purity of this fuel is a major concern that challenges researchers. In this study, a calcium oxide based catalyst has been prepared from local waste eggshells by the calcination method and tested in production biodiesel. The eggshells were powdered and calcined at different temperatures (700, 750, 800, 850 and 900 °C) and periods of time (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 hr.). The effect of calcination temperature and calcination time on the structure and activity of the solid catalyst were examined by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Brunaure-Emmett-Teller (BET). The optimum catalyst performance was obtained at 900 °C

The wastewater arising from pulp and paper mills is highly polluted and has to be treated before discharged into rivers. Coagulation-flocculation process using natural polymers has grown rapidly in wastewater treatment. In this work, the performance of alum and Polyaluminum Chloride (PACl) when used alone and when coupled with Fenugreek mucilage on the treatment of pulp and paper mill wastewater were studied. The experiments were carried out in jar tests with alum, PACl and Fenugreek mucilage dosages range of 50-2000 mg/L, rapid mixing at 200 rpm for 2 min, followed by slow mixing at 40 rpm for 15 min and settling time of 30 min. The effectiveness of Fenugreek mucilage was measured by the reduction of turbidity and Chemical Oxygen Demand

In the present work, a study is carried out to remove chromium (III) from aqueous solution by: activated charcoal, attapulgite and date palm leaflet powder (pinnae). The effect of various parameters such as contact time, and temperature has been studied. The isotherm equilibrium data were well fitted by Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models. The adsorption capacity of chromium (III) that was observed by activated charcoal, attapulgite and date palm leaflet powder (pinnae) increased with the rise of temperature when the concentrations of Cr (III) were 600, 700 and 100mg/L respectively. The greatest adsorption capacity ofactivated charcoal, attapulgite and date palm leaflet powder (pinnae) at 10°C was 7.51, 5.39 and 0.77mg.gˉ¹ respective

In order to reduce the environmental pollution associated with the conventional energy sources and to achieve the increased global energy demand, alterative and renewable sustainable energy sources need to be developed. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) represent a bio-electrochemical innovative technology for pollution control and a simultaneous sustainable energy production from biodegradable, reduced compounds. This study mainly considers the performance of continuous up flow dual-chambers MFC
fueled with actual domestic wastewater and bio-catalyzed with anaerobic aged sludge obtained from an aged septic tank. The performance of MFCs was mainly evaluated in terms of COD reductions and electrical power output. Results revealed that the C

This work deals with thermal cracking of heavy vacuum gas oil which produced from the top of vacuum distillation unit at Al- DURA refinery, by continuous process. An experimental laboratory plant scale was constructed in laboratories of chemical engineering department, Al-Nahrain University and Baghdad University. The thermal cracking process was carried out at temperature ranges between 460-560^oC and atmospheric pressure with liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) equal to 15hr^-1.The liquid product from thermal cracking unit was distilled by atmospheric distillation device according to ASTM D-86 in order to achieve two fractions, below 220^oC as a gasoline fraction and above 220^oC as light cycle o

Mechanical and thermal properties of composites, consisted of unsaturated polyester resin, reinforced by different kinds of natural materials (Orange peels and Date seeds) and industrial materials (carbon and silica) with particle size 98 µm were studied. Various weight ratios, 5, 10, and 15 wt. % of natural and industrial materials have been infused into polyester. Tensile, three-point bending and thermal conductivity tests were conducted for the unfilled polyester, natural and industrial composite to identify the weight ratio effect on the properties of materials. The results indicated that when the weight ratio for polyester with date seeds increased from 10% to 15%, the maximum Young’s modulus decreased by 54%. When the weight rat