Drastic threat to the natural system is caused by the uncontrolled release of synthetic pollutants, including azo dyes. This study centered on the decolorization and biodegradation of water soluble azo dye reactive blue (RB) in a batch mode sequential anaerobic-aerobic processes. A local sewage treatment plant was the source where activated sludge was collected to be used as non-adapted mixed culture with both free and the alginate immobilized cells for RB biodegradation. Under anaerobic conditions, the free and immobilized mixed cells were proved to completely decolorize 10 mg/ L of RB within 20 and 30 h, respectively. Alginate- immobilized mixed cells, resulted in 88%, 87%, and 87% maximum COD removals with samples con

This paper presents an experimental study of cooling photovoltaic (PV) panels using evaporative cooling. Underground (geothermal energy) water used to extract heat from it during cooling and cleaning of PV panels. An experimental test rig was constructed and tested under hot and dusty climate conditions in Baghdad. An active cooling system was used with auxiliary an underground water tank to provide cold water as a coolant over both PV surfaces to reduce its temperature. The cellulose pad has been arranged on the back surface and sprays cooling on the front side. Two identical PV panels modules used: without cooling and evaporative water cooling. The experiments are comprised of four cases: Case (I): backside cooling, Ca

An analytical approach based on field data was used to determine the strength capacity of large diameter bored type piles. Also the deformations and settlements were evaluated for both vertical and lateral loadings. The analytical predictions are compared to field data obtained from a proto-type test pile used at Tharthar –Tigris canal Bridge. They were found to be with acceptable agreement of 12% deviation.

               Following ASTM standards D1143M-07e1,2010, a test schedule of five loading cycles were proposed for vertical loads and series of cyclic loads to simulate horizontal loading .The load test results and analytical data of 1.95

This paper presents thermal characteristics analysis of a modified Closed Wet Cooling Tower (CWCT) based on heat and mass transfer principles to improve the performance of this tower in Iraq. A prototype of CWCT optimized by added packing was designed, manufactured and tested for cooling capacity of 9 kW. Experiments are conducted to explore the effects of various operational and conformational parameters on the thermal performance. In the test section, spray water temperature and both dry bulb temperature and relative humidity of the air measured at intermediate points of the heat exchanger and packing. Heat exchangers consist of four rows and eight columns for an inline tubes arrangement and six rows and five columns f

To accommodate utilities in buildings, different sizes of openings are provided in the web of reinforced concrete deep beams, which cause reductions in the beam strength and stiffness. This paper aims to investigate experimentally and numerically the effectiveness of using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips, as a strengthening technique, to externally strengthen reinforced concrete continuous deep beams (RCCDBs) with large openings. The experimental work included testing three RCCDBs under five-point bending. A reference specimen was prepared without openings to explore the reductions in strength and stiffness after providing large openings. Openings were created symmetrically at the center of spans of the other specimens

In the present study, advanced oxidation treatment, the TiO₂ /UV/H₂O₂  process was applied to decolorisation of the reactive yellow dyes in aqueous solution. The UV radiation was carried out with a 6 W low-pressure mercury lamp. The rate of color removal was studied by measuring the absorbency at a characteristic wavelength. The effects of H2O2 dosage, dye initial concentration and pH on decolorisation kinetics in the batch photoreactor were investigated. The highest decolorisation rates were observed (98.8) at pH range between 3 and 7. The optimal levels of H₂O₂ needed for the process were examined. It appears that high levels of H₂O₂ could reduce decolori

Development and population expansion have the lion's share of driving up the fuel cost. Biodiesel has considerable attention as a renewable, ecologically friendly and alternative fuel source. In this study, CaO nanocatalyst is produced from mango leaves as a catalysis for the transesterification of waste cooking oil (WCO) to biodiesel. The mango tree is a perennial plant, and its fruit holds significant economic worth due to its abundance of vitamins and minerals. This plant has a wide geographical range and its leaves can be utilized without any negative impact on its growth and yield. An analysis was conducted to determine the calcium content in the fallen leaves, revealing a significant quantity of calcium that holds potential fo

A Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) is a collection of mobile nodes, that forms on the fly a temporary wireless multi-hop network in a self-organizing way, without relying on any established infrastructure. In MANET, a pair of nodes exchange messages either over a direct wireless link, or over a sequence of wireless links including one or more intermediate nodes. For this purpose, an efficient routing protocol is required. This paper introduced performance study of three of MANET protocols (AODV, GRP and OSPFv3). This study was one of the newer studies because wireless communication played an important role in today’s application and the field of mobile ad hoc network becomes very popular for the researchers in the last years. This study w

To damp the low-frequency oscillations which occurred due to the disturbances in the electrical power system, the generators are equipped with Power System Stabilizer (PSS) that provide supplementary feedback stabilizing signals. The low-frequency oscillations in power system are classified as local mode oscillations, intra-area mode oscillation, and interarea mode oscillations. Double input multiband Power system stabilizers (PSSs) were used to damp out low-frequency oscillations in power system. Among dual-input PSSs, PSS4B offers superior transient performance. Power system simulator for engineering (PSS/E) software was adopted to test and evaluate the dynamic performance of PSS4B model on Iraqi national grid. The res