Morphologies of ceramic hollow fiber membranes prepared by a combined phase-inversion and sintering method were studied. The organic binder spinning solution containing suspended Al₂O₃ powders was spun to a hollow fiber precursor, which was then sintered at elevated temperatures( 300 ˚C, 1400 ˚C, 25 ˚C) in order to obtain the Al₂O₃ hollow fiber membranes. The spinning solution consisted of polyether sulfone (PES), N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), which were used as polymer binder, solvent, respectively. The prepared Al₂O₃ hollow fiber membranes were characterized by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). It is believed that finger-like void formation in asymmetric ceramic membranes is initiated by hydrodynamically unstable viscous fingering developed when a less viscous fluid (non-solvent) is in contact with a higher viscosity fluid (ceramic suspension containing invertible polymer binder). The effects of the air-gap (0 cm, 2 cm, 15 cm) on fibre morphology have been studied and it has been determined that viscosity due to change in air-gap is the dominating factor for ceramic systems.
Mode filtering technique is one of the most desired techniques in optical fiber communication systems, especially for multiple input multiple output (MIMO) coherent optical communications that have mode-dependent losses in communication channels. In this work, a special type of optical fiber sensing head was used, where it utilizes DCF13 that is made by Thorlabs and has two numerical apertures (NA’s). One is for core and 1st cladding region, while the 2nd relates the 1st cladding to the 2nd cladding. Etching process using 40 % hydro-fluoric (HF) acid was performed on the DCF13 with variable time in minutes. Investigation of the correlation between the degree of etching and the re
Polypyrrole/silver (PPy/Ag) nanocomposites was synthesized via a chemical oxidative method. The AFM analysis is performed to study the surface roughness, morphology and size distribution of the PPy particles and PPy-ag nanocomposites. The results indicated that as the concentration of Ag in the nanocomposite increases, the roughness also increases. The size of nanoparticles was also evaluated and found in the range of 15 nm to 125 nm. The PPy/Ag nanocomposites exhibited an effectiveness against Gram-negative Escherichia coli showing an inhibition zone of 4mm and displayed poor efficacy against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus. Based on given adequate antibacterial characteristics of PPy/Ag nanocomposites, it can be identified as a pro
... Show MoreThis work deals with the preparation of a zeolite/polymer flat sheet membrane with hierarchical porosity and ion-exchange properties. The performance of the prepared membrane was examined by the removal of chromium ions from simulated wastewater. A NaY zeolite (crystal size of 745.8 nm) was prepared by conventional hydrothermal treatment and fabricated with polyethersulfone (15% PES) in dimethylformamide (DMF) to obtain an ion-exchange ultrafiltration membrane. The permeate flux was enhanced by increasing the zeolite content within the membrane texture indicating increasing the hydrophilicity of the prepared membranes and constructing a hierarchically porous system. A membrane contain
In this work, laboratory experiments were carried out to verify direct contact membrane distillation system’s performance in highly saline water desalination. The study included the investigation of various operating conditions, like feed flow rate, temperature and concentration of NaCl solution and their impact on the permeation flux were discussed. 16 cm2 of a flat sheet membrane module with commercial poly-tetra-fluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane, which has 0.22 μm pore size, 96 µm thickness and 78% average porosity, was used. A high salt rejection factor was obtained greater than 99.9%, and the permeation flux up to 17.27 kg/m2.h was achieved at 65°C for hot feed side and 20°C for cold side stream.
Industrial wastewater containing nickel, lead, and copper can be produced by many industries. The reverse osmosis (RO) membrane technologies are very efficient for the treatment of industrial wastewater containing nickel, lead, and copper ions to reduce water consumption and preserving the environment. Synthetic industrial wastewater samples containing Ni(II), Pb(II), and Cu(II) ions at various concentrations (50 to 200 ppm), pressures (1 to 4 bar), temperatures (10 to 40 oC), pH (2 to 5.5), and flow rates (10 to 40 L/hr), were prepared and subjected to treatment by RO system in the laboratory. The results showed that high removal efficiency of the heavy metals could be achieved by RO process (98.5%, 97.5% and 96% for Ni(II),
... Show MoreTo evaluate the disposal effluent from the Al-Daura refinery in Iraq, which comprises oily wastewater, a mathematical model has been developed for both forward osmosis (FO) and osmotic membrane bioreactor (OsMBR). The procedure is explained mathematically, accounting for both the concentration and polarization aspects. As a result of mathematical modeling, the water flux was determined by the osmotic pressure, the concentration, and the polarization of the feed and draw solutions. Based on traditional methods of predicting water flux using external and internal concentration polarizations, it is determined that water flux will occur in the first model (Model-1). To increase the accura
Flexible paving is the most popular type of paving used in road building and one of the biggest problems facing the world's paving business is the rising demand for scarce natural resources. Uncontrolled. Numerous studies have shown that secondary materials reduce the need for traditional materials, offer efficient waste disposal technology and lower the overall cost of paving. The current study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of both fibers and dust on the sustainability and cost of flexible pavement by studying each of polyester fibers as a waste of the textile industry and fibers or rubber particles as one of the rubber waste products, in addition to studying the efficiency of using cement dust and marble dust on the paving proc
... Show MoreGlass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars have gained popularity as a corrosion-resistant alternative to traditional steel reinforcement in Reinforced Concrete (RC) elements. This study investigates the flexural behavior of PRC panels reinforced with GFRP bars. The study variables included the GFRP reinforcement ratio and the number of embedded steel section distributions. Six concrete panels were fabricated, each measuring 2500 mm in length, with a rectangular cross-section of 750 mm in width and 150 mm in thickness. All panels were reinforced with GFRP bars and divided into two groups based on the reinforcement ratios of 0.532% and 0.266%. For each group, one panel served as the control specimen, while the remaining two were inte
... Show MoreThe adopted accelerated curing methods in the experimental work are 55ºC and 82ºC according to British standard methods. The concrete mix with the characteristics compressive strength of 35MPa is design according to the ACI 211.1, the mix proportion is (1:2.65:3.82) for cement, fine and coarse aggregate, respectively. The concrete reinforced with different volume fraction (0.25, 0.5 and 0.75)% of glass, carbon and polypropylene fibers. The experimental results showed that the accelerated curing method using 82ºC gives a compressive strength higher than 55ºC method for all concrete mixes. In addition, the fiber reinforced concrete with 0.75% gives the maximum compressive strength, flexural and splitting tensile strength for all types of
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