This study was done to investigate the impact of different nanoparticles on diesel fuel characteristics, Iraqi diesel fuel was supplied from al-Dura refinery and was treated to enhance performance by improving its characteristics. Two types of nanoparticles were mixed with Iraqi diesel fuel at various weight fractions of 30, 60, 90, and 120 ppm. The diesel engine was tested and run at a constant speed of 1600 rpm to examine and evaluate the engine's performance and determine emissions. In general, ZnO additives' performance analysis showed they are more efficient for diesel fuel engines than CeO. The performance of engine diesel fuel tests showed that the weight fraction of nanoparticles at 90 and 120 ppm give a similar performance, so, for economic aspects, the additives at 90 ppm of two types of nanoparticles gave good performance efficiency and the best reduction of gas emissions. The enhancement for ZnO additives is up to 34.28% compared to pure diesel fuel, while for nano CeO, the maximum enhancement is 20% compared to pure diesel fuel. The brake thermal efficiency increases with additives. The best improvements in brake thermal efficiency were 62% for ZnO and 59% for CeO, respectively, both at 120 ppm. A reduction in NOx, CO2, CO and UHC emissions was observed compared with the diesel fuel that was consumed from pure diesel fuel. The maximum reduction emissions values for NOx, CO, CO2 and un-burn hydrocarbon (UHC) were 63.77, 29.26, 56.41, and 57.37 % for ZnO, and 58.11, 37.80, 61.53, and 50.81 % for CeO additives. Therefore, it is recommended to utilize nanoparticles, especially ZnO, as a fuel additive with diesel fuel and consider them as an enhancer material to increase engine efficiency and reduce exhaust emissions.
In this study, six square reinforced concrete flat plates with dimensions of (1500×1500×100) mm were tested under a concentrated load applied on a column located at the center of the slabs. One of these slabs was the control specimen, whereas, in the others, steel angles (steel collars) were used, fixed at the connection region between the slab and the column to investigate the effect of the presence of these collars on punching shear strength. Five thicknesses were used (4, 5, 6, 8, 10mm) with constant legs of angles (75×75) mm of the steel collars to investigate the effects on the punching shear resistance with respect to the control slab. The results of the experimental study show that the punching shear resistance increased b
... Show MoreLength of plasma generated by dc gas discharge under different vacuum pressures was studied experimentally. The cylindrical discharge tube of length 2m was evacuated under vacuum pressure range (0.1-0.5) mbar at constant external working dc voltage 1500V. It was found that the plasma length (L) increased exponentially with increasing of background vacuum air pressure. Empirical equation has been obtained between plasma length and gas pressure by using Logistic model of curve fitting. As vacuum pressure increases the plasma length increases due to collisions, ionizations, and diffusions of electrons and ions.
Prodigiosin is a ‘natural red pigment produced by Serratia marcescens which exhibits immunosuppressive and anticancer properties in addition to antimicrobial activities. This work presents an attempt to maximize the production of prodigiosin by two different strategies: one factor at time (OFAT) and statistical optimization. The result of OFAT revealed that sucrose and peptone were the best carbon and nitrogen sources for pigment production with concentration of prodigiosin of about 135 mg/ L. This value was increased to 331.6mg/ L with an optimized ratio of C/N (60:40) and reached 356.8 with pH 6 and 2% inoculum size at end of classical optimization. Statistical experimental design based on Response surface methodology was co
... Show MoreThe effect of different Ti additions on the microstructure of Al-Ti alloy prepared by powder metallurgy was investigated. A certain amount of Ti (10wt%, 15wt%, and 20wt%) were added to aluminium and the tests like microhardness, density, scanning electron microscope (SEM), optical microscope (OM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) were conducted to determine the influence of different Ti additives on the Al-Ti alloy properties and microstructure. The results show that the grains of α-Al changed from large grains to roughly spherical and then to small rounded grains with increasing Ti content, the micro-hardness of the alloy increases with increasing Ti, and XRD results confirm the formation of TiAl3 intermetallic co
... Show MoreIn this article, the influence of group nano transition metal oxides such as {(MnO2), (Fe2O3) and (CuO)} thin films on the (ZnO-TiO2) electric characteristics have been analyzed. The prepared films deposited on glass substrate laser Nd-YAG with wavelength (ℷ =1064 nm) ,energy of (800mJ) and number of shots (400). The density of the film was found to be (200 nm) at room temperature (RT) and annealing temperature (573K).Using DC Conductivity and Hall Effect, we obtained the electrical properties of the films. The DC Conductivity shows that that the activation energies decrease while the σRT at annealing temperature with different elements increases the formation of mixed oxides. The Hall effect, the elec
... Show MoreIn this research, the focus was placed on estimating the parameters of the Hypoexponential distribution function using the maximum likelihood method and genetic algorithm. More than one standard, including MSE, has been adopted for comparison by Using the simulation method
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become one of the most common chronic liver diseases worldwide, which characterized by steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis. The aim of this designed study is to evaluate the ability of guggulsterone to prevent high fat diet induced steatohepatitis in mice. Five groups of male mice were selected and treated as the following: group I, mice had free access to standard commercial diet and considered as control group, group II, mice were fed a specially formulated high-fat diet for 12 weeks to induce non-alcoholic liver disease, while groups III, IV and V the mice were administered high fat diet containing guggulsterone at 500, 1000 and 2000 ppm concentration respectively for 12 weeks. Maintaini
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