The precipitation of calcite induced via microorganisms (MICP) is a technique that has been developed as an innovative sustainable ground improvement method utilizing ureolytic bacteria to soil strengthening and stabilization. Locally isolated Bacillus Sonorensis from Iraqi soil samples were found to have high abilities in producing urease. This study aims to use the MICP technique in improving the undrained shear strength of soft clay soil using two native urease producing bacteria that help in the precipitation of calcite to increase the cementation between soil particles. Three concentrations of each of the locally prepared Bacillus sonorensis are used in this study for cementation reagent (0.25M, 0.5M, and 1M) during the period of treatment. The results showed that the native isolated bacteria have high activity in bindings the soil particles together. The results of unconfined compressive strength tests showed that using MICP helps increase the undrained shear strength of soil by (3-5 times) for C11 types of native isolates, but the D11 was (1.5-2 times) because two types have different activity. This study's main finding is using the native urease-producing bacteria isolated from Iraqi soil in the MICP technique for the biocementation of soil, which is considered one of the sustainable techniques in the construction industry.
In developing countries, conventional physico-chemical methods are commonly used for removing contaminants. These methods are not efficient and very costly. However, new in site strategy with high treatment efficiency and low operation cost named constructed wetland (CW) has been set. In this study, Phragmites australis was used with free surface batch system to estimate its ability to remediate total
petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from Al-Daura refinery wastewater. The system operated in semi-batch, thus, new wastewater was weekly added to the plant for 42 days. The results showed high removal percentages (98%) of TPH and (62.3%) for COD. Additionally, Phragmites australis biomass increased significant
Antibiotics must be fully eliminated before they are released into the environment. In most cases, conventional wastewater treatment systems are not built to handle polar microcontaminants such as antibiotics. Oxytetracycline (OTC) is one of these antibiotics, an environmental hazard contaminant in aqueous solutions. Therefore, an advanced treatment method is needed for wastewater contaminated with antibiotics. In this study, we employed zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO), and the catalytic ozonation procedure was employed to increase the ozonation efficiency. A continuous experiment was carried out to compare the effectiveness of catalytic and single ozonation in degrading OTC in a continuous reactor. The flow rate of OTC solution, the initial
... Show MoreMany researchers have tackled the shear behavior of Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams by using different kinds of strengthening in the shear regions and steel fibers. In the current paper, the effect of multiple parameters, such as using one percentage of Steel Fibers (SF) with and without stirrups, without stirrups and steel fibers, on the shear behavior of RC beams, has been studied and compared by using Finite Element analysis (FE). Three-dimensional (3D) models of (RC) beams are developed and analyzed using ABAQUS commercial software. The models were validated by comparing their results with the experimental test. The total number of beams that were modeled for validation purposes was four. Extensive pa
... Show Morewell log analysis is used to determine the rock properties like porosity, water saturation, and shale volume. Archie parameters in Archie equation, which sometimes considered constants greatly affect the determination of water saturation, also these parameters may be used to indicate whether the rocks are fractured or not so they should be determined. This research involves well logging analysis for Zubair formation in Luhais field which involves the determination of Archie parameters instead of using them as constant.
The log interpretation proved that the formation is hydrocarbon reservoir, as it could be concluded from Rwa (high values) and water saturation values (low values), the lithology of Zubair from cro
... Show MoreThe petrophysical analysis is very important to understand the factors controlling the reservoir quality and production wells. In the current study, the petrophysical evaluation was accomplished to hydrocarbon assessment based on well log data of four wells of Early Cretaceous carbonate reservoir Yamama Formation in Abu-Amood oil field in the southern part of Iraq. The available well logs such as sonic, density, neutron, gamma ray, SP, and resistivity logs for wells AAm-1, AAm-2, AAm-3, and AAm-5 were used to delineate the reservoir characteristics of the Yamama Formation. Lithologic and mineralogic studies were performed using porosity logs combination cross plots such as density vs. neutron cross plot and M-N mineralogy plot. Thes
... Show MoreDust storms are typical in arid and semi-arid regions such as the Middle East; the frequency and severity of dust storms have grown dramatically in Iraq in recent years. This paper identifies the dust storm sources in Iraq using remotely sensed data from Meteosat-spinning enhanced visible and infrared imager (SEVIRI) bands. Extracted combined satellite images and simulated frontal dust storm trajectories, using the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model, are used to identify the most influential sources in the Middle East and Iraq. Out of 132 dust storms in Iraq during 2020–2023, the most frequent occurred in the spring and summer. A dust source frequency percentage map (DSFPM) is generated using ArcGIS so
... Show MoreIn recent years, the search for economic and environmentally friendly alternatives has become a global necessity to achieve sustainability and preserve raw materials. From this concept, natural bitumen (NB) derived from sulphur springs is now one of the most promising alternative energy resources for many applications, especially in asphalt pavement construction. Its low price and abundance characterise NB since sulphur springs produce thousands of tonnes of NB annually and are used in very limited fields. Two main objectives were adopted for this work. The first objective is to examine the virgin NB properties from five sulphur springs and compare them with petroleum asphalt. The second objective is to enhance NB properties by appl
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