Biodiesel is an environmentally friendly fuel and a good substitution for the fossil fuel. However, the purity of this fuel is a major concern that challenges researchers. In this study, a calcium oxide based catalyst has been prepared from local waste eggshells by the calcination method and tested in production biodiesel. The eggshells were powdered and calcined at different temperatures (700, 750, 800, 850 and 900 °C) and periods of time (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 hr.). The effect of calcination temperature and calcination time on the structure and activity of the solid catalyst were examined by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Brunaure-Emmett-Teller (BET). The optimum catalyst performance was obtained at 900 °C and 3 hr. The characterization tests revealed a crystalline phase of CaO, a specific surface area 12.5m2/gm and good distribution of the active component. The effects of different transesterification reaction variables on the catalyst performance were also investigated. The highest conversion, 96.11% was obtained at 30:1 methanol-to-waste cooking oil molar ratio, 65°C, 3 wt. % catalyst loading and 3 hr reaction time. Additionally, durability of CaO was examined. It was found that high activity and durability were obtained by washing with n-hexan. It found that the use of eggshell as a heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production provides a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way of green fuel production.
The efficiency of attapulgite liners as anti-seepage for crude oil is examined. Consideration is given to the potential use of raw attapulgite and mixture attapulgite with prairie hay and coconut husk as liners to prevent crude oil seepage. Attapulgite clay used in this study was brought from Injana formation /Western Desert of Iraq. Two types of Crude oil brought from Iraqi oil fields were used in experiments; heavy crude oil from East-Baghdad oil field and light crude oil from Nassiriya oil field. Initially the basic properties of attapulgite and crude oils were determined. The attapulgite clay was subjected to mineralogical, chemical and scanning electron microscope analyses. Raw Attapulgite 150µm, 75µm, and 53µm were tested
... Show MoreEfficient cuttings transport and hole cleaning are very important factors for obtaining an effective drilling operation. In an inclined and horizontal drilling, hole cleaning issue is a common and complex problem.
The scope of this research is to study the drilling parameters which affect hole cleaning in Iraqi directional wells through studying and analyzing some drilled wells ( vertical , directional (30 degree) , directional (60 degree) and horizontal ).An excel sheet is prepared to calculate carrying capacity index which represents an indicator for good hole cleaning in different sections. The study indicated through the field investigations, practical experiences and theoretical calculations tha
... Show MoreOil/water emulsions are one of the major threats to environment nowadays, occurs at many stages in the production and treatment of crude oil. The oil recovery process adopted will depend on how the oil is present in the water stream. Oil can be found as free oil, as an unstable oil/water emulsion and also as a highly stable oil/water emulsion. The current study was dedicated to the application of microbubble air flotation process for the removal of such oily emulsions for its characters of cost-effective, simple structure, high efficiency and no secondary pollution. The influence of several key parameters on the process removal efficiency was examined, namely, initial oil concentration, pH value of t
Changing oil-wet surfaces toward higher water wettability is of key importance in subsurface engineering applications. This includes petroleum recovery from fractured limestone reservoirs, which are typically mixed or oil-wet, resulting in poor productivity as conventional waterflooding techniques are inefficient. A wettability change toward more water-wet would significantly improve oil displacement efficiency, and thus productivity. Another area where such a wettability shift would be highly beneficial is carbon geo-sequestration, where compressed CO2 is pumped underground for storage. It has recently been identified that more water-wet formations can store more CO2. We thus examined how silica based nanofluids can induce such a wettabil
... Show MoreThe implementation of nanotechnology in all industries is one of most significant research fields. Nanoparticles have shown a promising application in subsurface fields. On the other hand, various surfactants have been used in the oil industry to reduce oil/water interfacial tension and also widely used to stabilize the nano-suspensions. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the improvements of surfactants ability in term of interfacial tension (γ) reduction utilizing addition of silicon dioxide nanoparticles at different temperatures and salinity. The pendant drop technique has been used to measure γ and electrical conductivity has been used to measure the critical micelle concentration (CMC). The synergistic effects of
... Show MoreThe study of surface hardness, wear resistance, adhesion strength, electrochemical corrosion resistance and thermal conductivity of coatings composed from sodium silicate was prepared using graphite micro-size particles and carbon nano particles as fillers respectively of concentration of (1-5%), for the purpose of covering and protecting the oil distillation towers. The results showed that the sodium silicate coating reinforced with carbon nano-powder has higher resistance to stitches, mechanical wear, adhesive and thermal conductivity than graphite/sodium silicate composite especially when the ratio 5% and 1%, the electrochemical corrosion test confirmed that the coating process of stainless steel 304 lead to increasin
... Show MoreNew Schiff base [3-(3-acetylthioureido)pyrazine-2-carboxylic acid][L] has been prepared through 2 stages, the chloro acetyl chloride has been reacting with the ammonium thiocyanate in the initial phase for producing precursor [A], after that [A] has been reacting with the 3-amino pyrazine-2-carboxilic acid to provide a novel bidentate ligand [L], such ligand [L] has been reacting with certain metal ions in the Mn(II), VO(II), Ni(II), Co(II), Zn(II), Cu(II), Hg(II), and Cd(II) for providing series of new metal complexes regarding general molecular formula [M(L)2XY], in which; VO(II); X=SO4,Y=0, Co(II), Mn(II), Cu(II), Ni(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), and Hg(II); Y=Cl, X=Cl. Also, all the compounds were characterized through spectroscopic techniques [
... Show MoreThe removal of direct blue 71 dye from a prepared wastewater was studied employing batch electrocoagulation (EC) cell. The electrodes of aluminum were used. The influence of process variables which include initial pH (2.0-12.0), wastewater conductivity (0.8 -12.57) mS/cm , initial dye concentration (30 -210) mg/L, electrolysis time (3-12) min, current density (10-50) mA/cm2 were studied in order to maximize the color removal from wastewater. Experimental results showed that the color removal yield increases with increasing pH until pH 6.0 after that it decreased with increasing pH. The color removal increased with increasing current density, wastewater conductivity, electrolysis time, and decreased with increasing the concen
... Show MoreThe kinetic of atropine pertraction from seeds of Datura Metel Linn plant was studied. Diisopropyl ether, n-hexane and n-heptane were used as membranes for atropine recovery. The effect of speed of agitation and time in the range of 200-300 rpm and 0-3.5h, respectively were studied using the proposed membranes. The pertraction experiments were carried outs in a batch laboratory unit. The liquid-liquid pertraction was found to be very suitable for atropine recovery from its liquid extracts of Datura Metel seeds. A high purity (94-96%) can be obtained in the receiver phase. The pertraction process was found to be very selective for atropine recovery with diisopropyl ether membrane. As the speed of agitation increases the efficiency of pertrac
... Show MoreIn the present work, it had been measured the concentration of radon gas (CRn) for (10) samples of cement used in constructions before and after painting them using enamel paint, purchased from the local markets, to see the extent of its ability to reduce emissions of Rn-222 in the air. These samples were obtained from different sources available in the local markets in Baghdad and other provinces. The measurements were done by the American-made detector (RAD7). The results showed that the highest CRn in the air emitted from cement samples after coating was in the cement sample (Iranian origin) where the concentration was (58.27 Bq/m3) while the lowest CRn was found in building material samples
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