The present work concerns with simulating unsteady state equilibrium model for production of methyl oleate (biodiesel) from reaction of oleic acid with methanol using sulfuric acid as a catalyst in batch reactive distillation. MESHR equations of equilibrium model were solved using MATLAB (R2010a). The validity of simulation model was tested by comparing the simulation results with a data available in literature. UNIQUAC liquid phase activity coefficient model is the most appropriate model to describe the non-ideality of OLAC-MEOH-MEOL-H2O system. The chemical reactions rates results from EQ model indicating the rates are controlled by chemical kinetics. Several variables was studied such as molar ratio of methanol to oleic acid 4:1, 6:1

Fabrication of porous clay refractory insulating specimens from Iraqi kaolin with different percentage of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) waste crumbs additions were investigated. After mixing and forming by hand molding, the specimens was dried and fired at 1300 oC. The structural, physical, mechanical and thermal properties of the refractory insulating products were measured. Maximum addition of EPS (1.25 wt%) lead to reduce the linear shrinkage to less than 1.7% and increased apparent porosity up to 50 %. As well as, the density, Modulus of rupture and thermal conductivity were reduced to 1.39 g/cm3, 4.1 MPa and 0.21 W/m.K, respectively. The final outcome, addition of EPS showed good results in the formation of pores without distorting the

Lactiplantibacillus plantarum‎, one of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), is found in various foods, ‎‎including dairy products, meat, and vegetables, and most of these bacteria offer beneficial ‎‎effects to humans and animals as potential probiotics with broad-spectrum antimicrobial ‎‎activities. The aim of this study was evaluating the antibacterial efficacy of L. ‎plantarum‎ ‎against ‎some foodborne bacteria isolated from dairy products. This research involved 34 dairy ‎products, ‎including local and imported milk, cheese, and yogurt sold locally in Baghdad ‎province, Iraq, during May ‎‎2022. For the isolation of L. ‎plantarum‎, a special medium called ‎MRS (de Man Rogosa and ‎Sharpe) was applied. Colonie

The problem of water scarcity is becoming common in many parts of the world, to overcome part of this problem proper management of water and an efficient irrigation system are needed.  Irrigation with a buried vertical ceramic pipe is known as a very effective in the management of irrigation water.  The two- dimensional transient flow of water from a buried vertical ceramic pipe through homogenous porous media is simulated numerically using the HYDRUS/2D software.  Different values of pipe lengths and hydraulic conductivity were selected.  In addition, different values of initial volumetric soil water content were assumed in this simulation as initial conditions.  Different value

The electrospun nanofibers membranes have gained considerable interest in water filtration applications. In this work, the fabrication and characterization of the electrospun polyacrylonitrile-based nonwoven nanofibers membrane are reported. Then, the membrane's performance and antifouling properties were evaluated in removing emulsified oil using a cross flow filtration system. The membranes were fabricated with different polyacrylonitrile (PAN) concentrations (8, 11, and 14 wt. %) in N, N-Dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent resulted in various average fiber sizes, porosity, contact angle, permeability, oil rejection, and antifouling properties. Analyses of surface morphology of the fabricated membranes before and after oil removal revealed

Klebsiella pneumoniae causes lethal nosocomial infections, mostly affecting patients with severe burns. More than 80% of its isolates have shown resistance to routinely used antibiotics in parallel with increased infection rates. The study aimed to determine the molecular typing and genetic relatedness of K. pneumoniae. Therefore, 20 multidrug resistant (MDR) K. pneumoniae already isolated from infected burned wounds in two major hospitals of Al-Kut city east Iraq were subjected to genotyping analysis. The random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique was used along with three oligonucleotide primers (P13, OPX-04, and OPY-01). The amplicons’ patterns of the electrophoresis-gel were analyzed by the

Pharmaceutical-instigated pollution is a major concern, especially in relation to aquatic environments and drugs such as meropenem antibiotics. Adsorbents, such as multi-walled carbon nanotubes, offer potential as means of removing polluting meropenem antibiotics and other similar compounds from water. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of multi-walled carbon nanotubes in this capacity, various experimental parameters, including contact time, initial concentration, pH, temperature and the dose of adsorbent have been investigated. The Langmuir and the Freundlich isotherm models have been used. The data obtained using a modified Langmuir model have been consistent with the experimental ones; the best pH value has been obtained to have the