Ultimate oil recovery and displacement efficiency at the pore-scale are controlled by the rock wettability thus there is a growing interest in the wetting behaviour of reservoir rocks as production from fractured oil-wet or mixed-wet limestone formations have remained a key challenge. Conventional waterflooding methods are inefficient in such formation due to poor spontaneous imbibition of water into the oil-wet rock capillaries. However, altering the wettability to water-wet could yield recovery of significant amounts of additional oil thus this study investigates the influence of nanoparticles on wettability alteration. The efficiency of various formulated zirconium-oxide (ZrO2) based nanofluids at different nanoparticle concentrations (0-0.05 wt. %) was assessed through contact angle measurements. Results from the experiments showed ZrO2 nanofluid have great potentials in changing oil-wet limestone towards strongly water-wet condition. The best performance was observed at 0.05wt% ZrO2 nanoparticle concentration which changed an originally strongly oil-wet (152°) calcite substrate towards a strongly water-wet (44°) state thus we conclude that ZrO2 is a good agent for enhanced oil recovery.
Rapid worldwide urbanization and drastic population growth have increased the demand for new road construction, which will cause a substantial amount of natural resources such as aggregates to be consumed. The use of recycled concrete aggregate could be one of the possible ways to offset the aggregate shortage problem and reduce environmental pollution. This paper reports an experimental study of unbound granular material using recycled concrete aggregate for pavement subbase construction. Five percentages of recycled concrete aggregate obtained from two different sources with an originally designed compressive strength of 20–30 MPa as well as 31–40 MPa at three particle size levels, i.e., coarse, fine, and extra fine, were test
... Show MoreAsthma is a chronic respiratory disease highly prevalent worldwide. Recent studies have suggested a role for microbiome-associated gut–lung axis in asthma development. In the current study, we investigated if Resveratrol (RES), a plant-based polyphenol, can attenuate ovalbumin (OVA)-induced murine allergic asthma, and if so, the role of microbiome in the gut–lung axis in this process. We found that RES attenuated allergic asthma with significant improvements in pulmonary functions in OVA-exposed mice when tested using plethysmography for frequency (F), mean volume (MV), specific airway resistance (sRaw), and delay time(dT). RES treatment also suppressed inflammatory cytokines in the lungs. RES modulated lung microbiota and cause
... Show MoreSludge from stone-cutting (SSC) factories and stone mines cannot be used as decorative stones, stone powder, etc. These substances are left in the environment and cause environmental problems. This study aim is to produce artificial stone composite (ASC) using sludge from stone cutting factories, cement, unsaturated resin, water, silicon carbide nanoparticles (SiC-NPs), and nano-graphene oxide (NGO) as fillers. Nano graphene oxide has a hydrophobic plate structure that water is not absorbed due to the lack of surface tension on these plates. NGO has a significant effect on the properties of artificial stone due to its high specific surface area and low density in the composite. Its uniform distribution in ASC is very low due to its hydropho
... Show MoreAlthough allowable amounts of glycol contamination in diesel engine oil, no research has been conducted on how these levels and varying loads affect engine performance. The research used a four-stroke diesel engine to investigate the effect of different glycol contamination levels (0, 120, and 220 ppm) under two engine loads (4.5 and 9 kW). Brake specific fuel consumption, brake thermal efficiency, friction power, and exhaust gas temperature were measured to determine the engine performance. The experiment used the factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replicates. Increasing the contamination levels from 0 to 120 and then to 220 ppm under constant engine load significantly increased brake specific fuel con
... Show MoreThe diesel oil type S-3 specified for diesel engine has limited the suitability for diesel trucks for 8000 km, but didn't clarify its suitability if used in tractor engines.It is known that the work style of farm tractor differs from that of other vehicles where tractors are used for all the activities in sever conditions and under the complete usage of the available power and capability, so there is no sign or indication of the usage period of this oil in tractor's engine. The oil has been used on Cirta C6806 tractors. The manual book of the tractor's engine, Deutz recommends changing the oil every 100 hrs. Therefore the main goal of this research is to give the recommended working hours for S-3 diesel oil when used in farm tractor engines
... Show MoreThis study was aimed to investigate the effect of essential oil extracted from the yellow peels of Citrus aurantium on the growth of four species of fungi: Penicillium expansum, Penicillium oxalicum, Fusarium oxysporum and Fusarium proliferatum and effect of one fungicide: Aliette (fosetyl-aluminum) against these fungi. The results showed that the essential oil of C. aurantium inhibited the radial growth of P. oxalicum at concentration 4.5% while P. expansum and F. oxysporum at concentrations 5% and F. proliferatum at concentrations 5.5% additionally the one fungicide tested showed inhibitory effect on radial growth of these fungi. So that there is a negative relationship between the increasing of concentration and radial growth of fungi.