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

     A novel, safe and efficient method was developed to encapsulate a blend of essential oils (EOs) into biodegradable nanoparticles (NPs). The biodegradable and biocompatible nanoparticles were made from chitosan (CH) and lecithin (LE) . The quality of the essential oils was verified using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The synthesis of nanoparticles included emulsification, followed by sonication, homogenization, and extrusion. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that the nanoparticles were spherical in shape with sizes ranging from 25 to 70 nm, while dynamic light scattering (DLS) showed high negative zeta potentials. The stability of the final formula was evaluated in gastric and intes

Background: Oil refinery workers are continuously exposed to numerous hazardous materials. Petroleum contains the heavy metals as a natural constituent or as additives. These metals induce the production of ROS which associated with an oxidative damage to DNA, proteins, and lipids. This study was conducted to assess the salivary levels of heavy metals, salivary oxidative status, oral immunological activity (salivary sIgA) and assessment of the oral findings among the workers of Al-Daura oil refinery in Baghdad city. Subjects, Materials and Methods: This study was done in Al-Daura oil refinery; samples consist of 60 workers involved in refinery processes (study group) and 20 non-workers (control group). Oral examination and saliva collection

This study focused on treatment of real wastewater rejected from leather industry in Al-Nahrawan city in Iraq by Electrocoagulation (EC) process followed by Reverse Osmosis (RO) process. The successive treatment was applied due to high concentration of Cr3+ ions (about 1600 ppm) rejected in wastewater of this industry and for applying EC with moderate power consumption and better results of produced water. In Electrocoagulation process (EC), the effect of NaCl concentration (1.5, 3 g/l), current density (C.D.) (15-25 mA/cm2), electrolysis time (1-2 h), and distance between electrodes (E.D.) (1-2 cm) were examined in a batch cell by implementing Taguchi experimental design. According to the results obtained from multiple regression and signa

A compact microstrip six-port reflectometer (SPR) with extended bandwidth is proposed in this paper. The design is based on using 16-dB multi-section coupled line directional couplers and a multi-section 3-dB Wilkinson power divider operating from 1 to 6 GHz. The proposed SPR employs only two calibration standards: a matched load and an open load. As compared to other dielectric substrates, fabricating the proposed SPR involves using a low-cost (FR4) substrate. A novel algorithm is also proposed to estimate the complex reflection coefficient over the frequency ranges at which the standard performance of the circuit components is not fully satisfied. The new algorithm is based on the circles’ intersection points, which have been de

Object tracking is one of the most important topics in the fields of image processing and computer vision. Object tracking is the process of finding interesting moving objects and following them from frame to frame. In this research, Active models–based object tracking algorithm is introduced. Active models are curves placed in an image domain and can evolve to segment the object of interest. Adaptive Diffusion Flow Active Model (ADFAM) is one the most famous types of Active Models. It overcomes the drawbacks of all previous versions of the Active Models specially the leakage problem, noise sensitivity, and long narrow hols or concavities. The ADFAM is well known for its very good capabilities in the segmentation process. In this

     The current study examined the use of Sansevieria plant leaves extract as an environmentally acceptable, inexpensive, and safe green approach for creating titanium dioxide nanoparticles (NPs). Batch studies have been used to test the particles' capacity to bind to the azo dye congo red (CR), which has been adsorbed from its aqueous solution. The effects of many factors, including the weight of TiO2 NPs, the contact duration to reach equilibrium, the concentration of CR, temperature, and pH, have been investigated. Both the Freundlich and Langmuir models were used to analyze experimental results. According to the high values of the Freundlich model's correlation coefficient R², it is discovered that th

Abstract

The aim of the present work is to control of metal buried corrosion by alteration the media method. This method depended on the characteristics of each media. The corrosion rates in different media (soil, sand, porcelanite stone and gravel) for specimens of low carbon steel were measured by two methods weight loss method and polarization method, weight loss measured by buried specimens in these medias separately for 90 days. The polarization method includes preparing of specimen and salt solutions have electrical resistivity equivalent electrical resistivity of these media. The corrosion rate of two method results in (soil > sand> porcelainte stone> gravel). The lower corrosion rate happene

Diverting river flow during construction of a main dam involves the construction of cofferdams, and tunnels, channels or other temporary passages. Diversion channels are commonly used in wide valleys where the high flow makes tunnels or culverts uneconomic. The diversion works must form part of the overall project design since it will have a major impact on its cost, as well as on the design, construction program and overall cost of the permanent works. Construction costs contain of excavation, lining of the channel, and construction of upstream and downstream cofferdams. The optimization model was applied to obtain optimalchannel cross section, height of upstream cofferdam, and height of downstream cofferdamwith minimum construction cost