Portland Cement is manufactured by adding 3% gypsum to clinker which is produced by grinding, pulverizing, mixing, and then burning a raw mix of silica, and calcium carbonate. Limestone is the main source of carbonates, while clay collected from arable land is the main source of silica. The marl in the Euphrates Formation was studied as an alternative to arable lands. Nine boreholes drilled and penetrated the marl layer in selected locations at the Kufa cement quarry. Forty-one samples of marl from boreholes and four samples of limestone from the closed area were collected. The chemical content of the major oxides and the hardness of the marl layer was very encouraging as a raw material for Portland Cement as they are SiO2 (17.60), CaO (37.89), MgO (1.94), Fe2O3 (2.47), Al2O3 (4.21), K2O (0.731), SO3 (0.35), and Na2O (0.062). The marl was used in designing a raw material mix suitable for rotary kiln feed and produced a clinker conforming to the approved specifications. The designing a raw mix consisting of 80.30% of marl with 19.70% of limestone. The investment of the marl layer can be used as an ideal alternative to the arable clay giving fit quality to the international specifications, reducing production costs during quarry operations, reducing the energy consumption and equipment wearing.
This paper analyses the relationship between selected macroeconomic variables and gross domestic product (GDP) in Saudi Arabia for the period 1993-2019. Specifically, it measures the effects of interest rate, oil price, inflation rate, budget deficit and money supply on the GDP of Saudi Arabia. The method employs in this paper is based on a descriptive analysis approach and ARDL model through the Bounds testing approach to cointegration. The results of the research reveal that the budget deficit, oil price and money supply have positive significant effects on GDP, while other variables have no effects on GDP and turned out to be insignificant. The findings suggest that both fiscal and monetary policies should be fo
... Show MoreFlexible molecular docking is a computational method of structure-based drug design to evaluate binding interactions between receptor and ligand and identify the ligand conformation within the receptor pocket. Currently, various molecular docking programs are extensively applied; therefore, realizing accuracy and performance of the various docking programs could have a significant value. In this comparative study, the performance and accuracy of three widely used non-commercial docking software (AutoDock Vina, 1-Click Docking, and UCSF DOCK) was evaluated through investigations of the predicted binding affinity and binding conformation of the same set of small molecules (HIV-1 protease inhibitors) and a protein target HIV-1 protease enzy
... Show MoreStereolithography (SLA) has become an essential photocuring 3D printing process for producing parts of complex shapes from photosensitive resin exposed to UV light. The selection of the best printing parameters for good accuracy and surface quality can be further complicated by the geometric complexity of the models. This work introduces multiobjective optimization of SLA printing of 3D dental bridges based on simple CAD objects. The effect of the best combination of a low-cost resin 3D printer’s machine parameter settings, namely normal exposure time, bottom exposure time and bottom layers for less dimensional deviation and surface roughness, was studied. A multiobjective optimization method was utilized, combining the Taguchi me
... Show MoreThe intelligent buildings provided various incentives to get highly inefficient energy-saving caused by the non-stationary building environments. In the presence of such dynamic excitation with higher levels of nonlinearity and coupling effect of temperature and humidity, the HVAC system transitions from underdamped to overdamped indoor conditions. This led to the promotion of highly inefficient energy use and fluctuating indoor thermal comfort. To address these concerns, this study develops a novel framework based on deep clustering of lagrangian trajectories for multi-task learning (DCLTML) and adding a pre-cooling coil in the air handling unit (AHU) to alleviate a coupling issue. The proposed DCLTML exhibits great overall control and is
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Shear and compressional wave velocities, coupled with other petrophysical data, are vital in determining the dynamic modules magnitude in geomechanical studies and hydrocarbon reservoir characterization. But, due to field practices and high running cost, shear wave velocity may not available in all wells. In this paper, a statistical multivariate regression method is presented to predict the shear wave velocity for Khasib formation - Amara oil fields located in South- East of Iraq using well log compressional wave velocity, neutron porosity and density. The accuracy of the proposed correlation have been compared to other correlations. The results show that, the presented model provides accurate
... Show MoreThis study presents, for the first time, an innovative Jet Plasma-assisted technique for the green synthesis of TiO₂@Ag core–shell nanoparticles using chard leaf extract as a natural reducing and stabilizing agent. The Jet Plasma provides a highly energetic environment that accelerates nucleation and core–shell formation at low temperatures without toxic precursors. The synthesized nanoparticles exhibited uniform and stable structures, as confirmed by comprehensive characterization techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and zeta potential analysis. XRD patterns confirmed the crystalline anatase
... Show MoreMammals are under threat worldwide due to deforestation, hunting, and other human activities. In Iraq, a total of 93 species of wild mammals have been recorded including species with global conservation concern. Bamo Mountain is situated within the Zagros Mountains in northern Iraq which is a suitable habitat for wild mammals. Due to scarcity of the field survey efforts and cryptic behavior, monitoring of the wild mammals fauna in Zagros Mountain seems challenging. Therefore, we used a camera trap which seems to be an ideal way to determine species diversity of wild mammals in Bamo Mountain. Moreover, interviews with local villagers were performed. The mammalian diversity of Bamo Mountain is not fully explored but seemed threatened by lo
... Show MoreA cost-effective and efficient detector was created to conduct thorough turbidimetric measurements by reaction of Co (II) ion with calcium ferro cyanide to form bright green particulate, using the method of continuous flow injection analysis, the use of NAG-5SX1-1D-SSP Analyzer in determining cobalt (II) ion in a test for the validity of the new design. The NAG-5SX1-1D-SSP Analyzer is composed of five irradiation sources of white snow leds having the diameter of 10 mm with one solar cell of 55 mm length, 13.5 mm width. Using a selector switch to select the optimum voltage to be used which was 2.7 VDC. Under conditions of optimization, cobalt (II) ion was determined at 0.005–20 mmol. L–1(n = 23) while linearity dynamic range 0.005–7 mm
... Show MoreEach organization struggles to exploit each possible opportunity for gaining success and continuing with its work carrier. In this field, organization success can be concluded by fulfilling end user requirements combined with optimizing available resources usage within a specified time and acceptable quality level to gain maximum profit. The project ranking process is governed by the multi-criteria environment, which is more difficult for the governmental organization because other organizations' main target is maximizing profit constrained with available resources. The governmental organization should consider human, social, economic and many more factors. This paper focused on building a multi-criteria optimizing proje
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