The current study examines the combined impacts of ultrasonic waves and nano silica (NS) on reducing the viscosity Sharqy Baghdad heavy crude oil with an API gravity of 20.32. NS of an average particle size of 59.93 nm and 563.23 m²/g surface area were produced utilizing the sol-gel technique from Iraqi sand. The XRD analysis indicates the existence of an amorphous silica, the SEM analysis showed that NS tends to agglomerate, and the FTIR spectra exhibited the presence of siloxane and silanol groups. In addition, the TGA analysis demonstrated a total weight loss of 15.62%, validating the thermal stability of the NS. The experiments included a study of the impact of ultrasonic power, exposure time, duty cycle, temperature, and the c

Air-conditioning systems (ACs) are essential in hot and humid climates to ensure acceptable ambient air quality as well as thermal comfort for buildings users. It is essential to improve refrigeration system performance without increasing the effects of global warming potential (GWP) and ozone depletion potential (ODP). The main objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of an air conditioning system that operates with a liquid suction heat exchanger (LSHX) through implementing refrigerants with zero OPD and low GWP (i.e., R134a and R1234yf). Liquid suction heat exchanger (LSHX) was added to an automobile air conditioning system (AACS).When Liquid suction heat exchanger was added to the cycle, primary results indicated t

Recently, microalgae have become a promising source in the production of biofuel. However, the cost of production is still the main obstacle to develop of this type of source. Although there are many extensive studies on the requirements provided for the cultivation of the microalgae, the study of the process, via the variables that affect the cultivation of microalgae, being still one of the important tasks to improve the production of biofuel. The present article is a serious attempt to investigate of use commercial fertilizer NPK (20:20:20+TE N: P: K) as considered a cheap nutrient medium in growth Chlorella vulgaris by comparison with traditional nutrient (Chu.10 medium). In addition, the current study addresses effect of different spar

For structural concrete members that may expose to serious earthquake, overload or accident impact, the design of ductility must be given the same importance as the flexural strength. The aim of this investigation is to study the change in ductility of structural concrete flexural members during their exposure to limited cycles of repeated loading. Twenty full-scale beam specimens have been fabricated in to two identical groups; each group consisted of ten specimens. The first group was tested under monotonic static loading to failure and regarded as control beams, while the specimens of the second group were subjected to ten cycles of repeated loading with constant load interval, which ranged between 40% and 60% of ultimate load. S

For structural concrete members that may expose to serious earthquake, overload or accident impact, the design of ductility must be given the same importance as the flexural strength. The aim of this investigation is to study the change in ductility of structural concrete flexural members during their exposure to limited cycles of repeated loading. Twenty full-scale beam specimens have been fabricated in to two identical groups; each group consisted of ten specimens. The first group was tested under monotonic static loading to failure and regarded as control beams, while the specimens of the second group were subjected to ten cycles of repeated loading with constant load interval, which ranged between 40% and 60% of ultimate load. S

Refrigerant R134a has been widely utilized in automotive air conditioning systems (AACSs); R134a has a high global warming potential (GWP) of 1430 despite having zero ozone depletion potential (ODP). Coming refrigeration systems must include refrigerants with low GWP and zero ODP. The aim of this experimental study is to evaluate the thermal performance of an (AAC) with different values of compressor speeds, i.e., (1000, 1700, and 2400 rpm) and two thermal loads, i.e., (500 and 1000 Watt) with the absence and presence of liquid suction heat exchanger (LSHX) using R134a. The results showed that adding LSHX enhanced the COP cycle by 7.18%, 10.7%, and 3.09% for the first, second, and third speed, respectively, at 500 Watt, while the en

In this research the results of applying Artificial Neural Networks with modified activation function to perform the online and offline identification of four Degrees of Freedom (4-DOF) Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm (SCARA) manipulator robot will be described. The proposed model of identification strategy consists of a feed-forward neural network with a modified activation function that operates in parallel with the SCARA robot model. Feed-Forward Neural Networks (FFNN) which have been trained online and offline have been used, without requiring any previous knowledge about the system to be identified. The activation function that is used in the hidden layer in FFNN is a modified version of the wavelet function. This approach ha

Many problems are facing the installation of piles group in laboratory testing and the errors in results of load and settlement are measured experimentally may be happened due to select inadequate method of installation of piles group. There are three main methods of installation in-flight, pre-jacking and hammering methods. In order to find the correction factor between these methods the laboratory model tests were conducted on small-scale models. The parameters studied were the methods of installation (in-flight, pre-jacking and hammering method), the number of piles and in sandy soil in loose state. The results of experimental work show that the increase in the number of piles value led to increase in load carrying capacity of piled raft

This paper describes the geotechnical properties of Al-Ammarah soil of Ammarah city in Messan Governorate-southern parts of Iraq. Data and other information taken from numbers of geotechnical reports that performed under the supervision of Consulting Engineering Bureau of Baghdad University. This research is devoted to study the correlation between different physical properties such as (LL, PI, LI, n,t, e) with different mechanical properties such as (qu, cc, cs, SPT). The correlation is verified using simple regression analysis. From the regression results it was found that there is direct correlation between different parameters. By using the correlation-with some information- preliminary investigation stages and studies of any s

Gypseous soil is considered as a problematic soil for embankment construction, however, implementation of emulsified asphalt as a stabilization agent could be a proper solution for enhancing its properties as a subgrade soil. In this work, the sustainability of asphalt stabilized soil has been assessed in terms of its resistance to cyclic (freezing-thawing) and (heating-cooling) processes. Specimens have been prepared at optimum fluid content (moisture and emulsion) and tested under direct shear stresses while subjected to 30 cycles of (freezing-thawing) and (heating-cooling). Both of dry and soaked testing conditions have been implemented. Data have been observed after each 10 cycles, and compared with that of reference mix. It was conclud

Highway embankments stability during its service period represents an important factor for the safety of highway users and vehicles. Consequently, the cost of construction of these embankments should be adequate to maintain the safety and durability during this period through proper estimation of the loading on asphalt pavement, slope stability, horizontal and vertical deformation, etc. Slope stability of the embankment mainly depends on the shear strength of the soil layers materials; this shear strength is affected by the water table level through the contribution of the capillary water. Negative pore water pressure above the water table level evolves matric suction in the unsaturated zone above water table; this matric suction increases

This paper studies the behavior of reinforced Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC) two-way slabs under static and repeated load. The experimental program included testing six simply supported RPC two-way slabs of 1000 mm length, 1000 mm width, and 70 mm thickness. All the tested specimens were identical in their material properties, and reinforcement details except their steel fibers content. They were cast in three pairs, each one had a different steel fibers ratio (0.5 %, 1 %, and 1.5 %) respectively. In each pair, one specimen was tested under static load and the other under five cycles of repeated load (loading-unloading). Static test results revealed that increasing steel fibres volume fraction from 0.5 % to 1 % and from 1% to 1.5%,

Tanuma and Zubair formations are known as the most problematic intervals in Zubair Oilfield, and they cause wellbore instability due to possible shale-fluid interaction. It causes a vast loss of time dealing with various downhole problems (e.g., stuck pipe) which leads to an increase in overall well cost for the consequences (e.g., fishing and sidetrack). This paper aims to test shale samples with various laboratory tests for shale evaluation and drilling muds development. Shale's physical properties are described by using a stereomicroscope and the structures are observed with Scanning Electron Microscope. The shale reactivity and behavior are analyzed by using the cation exchange capacity testing and the capillary suction test is

Hygienic engineering has dedicated a lot of time and energy to studying water filtration because of how important it is to human health. Thorough familiarity with the filtration process is essential for the design engineer to keep up with and profit from advances in filtering technology and equipment as the properties of raw water continue to change. Because it removes sediment, chemicals, odors, and microbes, filtration is an integral part of the water purification process. The most popular technique for treating surface water for municipal water supply is considered fast sand filtration, which can be achieved using either gravity or pressure sand filters. Predicting the performance of units in water treatment plants is a basic pri

Concrete is widely used in construction materials since early 1800's. It has been known that concrete is weak in tension, so it requires some addition materials to have ductile behavior and enhance its tensile strength and strain capacity to improve their uses. In this study reactive powder concrete (RPC) was used with steel fiber by using different types of cement; (Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and/or Portland- Limestone cement (PLC)) with three types of mixtures (OPC at the first mix, 50 % OPC and 50 % PLC at the second mix and PLC at the third mix). The behavior of RPC with steel fibers on compressive strength and tensile strength of concrete with different ages of curing (7, 14, 28 and 60) days and shrinkage have been studied. The clo

Contemporary architecture has witnessed a new innovative trend in design characterized by the creation of interesting free-flowing structures that reflect expressiveness of form and design, as well as the uniqueness of structure and approaches of construction. These fascinating structures are often perceived as landmarks that blend harmoniously into their surroundings. In the last two decades, parametric design and advanced computational tools, with prefabrication and construction techniques, enabled architects and engineers to explore new materials and methods to create such impressive structures, breaking the obsolete ways of thinking. Several examples of free-form structures lack obviously to explore architectural potentialities,

Multilayer reservoirs are currently modeled as a single zone system by averaging the reservoir parameters associated with each reservoir zone. However, this type of modeling is rarely accurate because a single zone system does not account for the fact that each zone's pressure decreases independently. Pressure drop for each zone has an effect on the total output and would result in inter-flow and the premature depletion of one of the zones. Understanding reservoir performance requires a precise estimation of each layer's permeability and skin factor. The Multilayer Transient Analysis is a well-testing technique designed to determine formation properties in more than one layer, and its effectiveness over the past two decades has been

There are still areas around the world suffer from severe shortage of freshwater supplies. Desalination technologies are not widely used due to their high energy usage, cost, and environmental damaging effects. In this study, a mathematical model of single-bed adsorption desalination system using silica gel-water as working pair is developed and validated via earlier experiments. A very good match between the model predictions and the experimental results is recorded. The objective is to reveal the factors affecting the productivity of fresh water and cooling effect in the solar adsorption system. The proposed model is setup for solving within the commercially-available software (Engineering Equation Solver). It is implemented to so

This paper presents the results of experimental investigations to predict the bearing capacity of square footing on geogrid-reinforced loose sand by performing model tests. The effects of several parameters were studied in order to study the general behavior of improving the soil by using the geogrid. These parameters include the eccentricity value, depth of first layer of reinforcement, and vertical spacing of reinforcement layers. The results of the experimental work indicated that there was an optimum reinforcement embedment depth at which the bearing capacity was the highest when single-layer reinforcement was used. The increase of (z/B) (vertical spacing of reinforcement layer/width of footing) above 1.5 has no effect on the re