Journal of Engineering and Sustainable Development (JEASD)

A mixed methodological approaches including field investigation, questionnaire survey, and structured and face-to-face interviews were employed in the gathering of data to obtain Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generation rate and physical compositions data. Samples were taken from different neighborhoods through a two sampling periods in 1/ 8 / 2015 to 1/ 9 / 2015 and in 1 / 12 / 2015 to 1 / 1 / 2016.Based on the results of the preliminary survey for 99% confidence interval and 5% standard error, the optimum size, n, was 100. A stratified random sampling procedure was applied, in which sampling sites were allocated to high, middle, and low-income socio-economic categories. The research concluded that the average generation rate of organic waste were 0.396 kg/capita. per day, cellulosic waste was 0.072 kg/ capita. per day, and total waste was 0.673 kg/per capita. per day.

The turbogenerator is one of the mean important parts of the thermal power station, which is the most famous used as a generation power plant since the serving of electricity till now. The turbogenerator unit behavior is a non-linear and complicated system, for this causation, the identification models are used for the best and close optimization to have the highest and most accurate controller. In this paper, we will use the conjunction of data by intelligence techniques called "Genetic algorithm" to have the optimum behavior without using complex mathematical equations. The result we have from the genetic algorithm is showing the capability to reach the highest accuracy in system work identity, which are dependent on real data registered from no-load in the second unit of the Mussiab thermal power station.

Biodiesel, or alkyl ester, is an alternative renewable, biodegradable and non-toxic diesel fuel produced by catalytic transesterification of oil. It can be successfully employed in diesel engines and liquid fuel burners. The present work deals with a system for transesterification of vegetable oil using a stirring reactor. Used cooking oil is employed for this purpose due to its availability and cost-effectiveness. The transesterification of oil was carried out using molar ratios (oil: methanol) of (1:9, 1:7, 1:5, 1:3) and reaction temperatures of (45, 55, 60, 70 oC). Sodium Hydroxide NaOH was used as a catalyst by an amount of 1% of oil weight and a stirring speed of 500 rpm was applied for 2 hours. The results showed that the production of biodiesel depends on the molar ratio of (oil: methanol) and on the reaction temperature. The optimal values that gave the highest productivity of biodiesel occurred at the molar ratio of (1:7) (oil: methanol) at a reaction temperature of (60 oC) in the presence of NaOH as a catalyst by an amount of 1% of the oil weight.

Decolonization of azo dye Reactive Black 5 (RB-5) from synthetic wastewater was studied using Electrocoagulation (EC) technique. The effect of operating parameters such as initial pH, conductivity, inter-electrode distance, current density, and time of electrolysis was studied in an attempt to reach higher removal efficiency. Initially, a simple electrochemical cell was prepared with an anode and a cathode made from iron. Then the effect of each variable was studied separately using synthetic wastewater in a batch mode. Under the conditions of an initial dye concentration of 100 mg/L, initial pH of 4, the current density of 250 A/cm2, conductivity 6 ms/cm, the temperature of 25±2oC, the interelectrode distance of 0.6 cm, and time of electrolysis 10 min the color removal efficiency reached 99.4%. Electrical energy consumption in the above conditions for the decolorization of the black dye was 0.75 kWh/m3.

This paper presents experimental work including the investigation of seven composite modified reactive powder concrete (MRPC) I- beams, 1300mm length, 100mm web width, and 320mm height, with and without opening tested under pure torsion. The first beam was the control beam without steel plate and the second beam was solid with steel plate the five of these beams were cast as composite beams and opened in the web. The main variable was the location, shape, and size of the opening on the web. The experimental results show that the web opening decreases the ultimate torque of composite beams in the range of 17.6% to 30.8% for the tested specimens. As well as, the results show that the used steel plates increase the ultimate torque of composite beams by 7.7%.

During the entire life cycle of a pavement, highway agencies are expected to monitor and preserve an appropriate surface roughness (i.e. texture) to facilitate friction between pavement surface and vehicle tires. The resistance of pavement surface to sliding and skidding of the traveling vehicles is measured by skid resistance. There is of prime importance to provide skid resistance to preserve adequate surface roughness for pavement and prove resistance to polishing due to the traffic effects. The skidding resistance of asphalt pavement essentially depends on aggregate properties in the surface wearing course. Depending on the shape, size, and gradation of aggregate in the paving mixture of the wearing surface, the skid resistance performance of the road surface varies differently with environmental and traffic operating conditions. Field experience in Iraq has indicated that wearing surfaces with different aggregates differed in their skid resistance at different stages of their service life. This research reports the findings of an experimental study for investigating the effects of aggregate properties on skidding resistance for three common types of local aggregates used in Baghdad for road construction, they are brought from Al-Nebae quarry in Salahdin governorate, Al-Sedoor quarry in Diala governorate and Chlatt quarry in Misan governorate. However, this study was designed to characterize the polishing properties of the three types of aggregates in an attempt to explain their different skid resistance performance...

This work introduces an experimental and numerical study of the heat transfer coefficients of a double pipe helically coiled heat exchanger. It tested for both parallel and counter flow arrangements. Water is used as a working fluid on the inner tubes side and annulus tube side. The mass flow rate has range between (0.032-0.0721) kg/s for cold water while hot water is kept constant at (0.0724 kg/s). Also, the range of inlet temperatures of cold and hot water are (20-25°C), and (40-70°C), respectively. All experiments were performed at the Dean Number for annulus tubes side range of (1250-1700). The study was directed to focus on influencing the inlet mass flow rate of annulus tubes-side, and inlet temperatures of inner tubes-side over the effectiveness, axial temperature distribution of heat exchanger, efficiency, and heat transfer coefficient. All experimental data were performed under steady-state conditions. The results show that the mass flow rate ratio ((m.r) affects the axial temperature distribution of the heat exchanger also, the effectiveness and efficiency decreased by increasing the mass flow rate ratio. Likewise, comparisons between numerical and experimental results have been made. Empirical correlations between the Nusselt Number with Dean and Prandtl Numbers for the annulus tube have been found.

An accurate precipitation forecast can reflect a positive impact in several areas. It provides helpful data in hydrological projects designs, such as constructing dams, reservoirs, and rainfall networks, as well as taking some precautionary measures that can overcome the flooding problems. This paper proposes a monthly quantitative precipitation forecasting model that covers the total land area of Iraq. The model is based on the use of Nonlinear AutoRegressive with eXogenous input neural network (NARX). This type of network is considered one of the most important dynamic networks that can deal with time-series data. It is a type of recurrent network with feedback connections between its layers and tapped delay lines. The data used to train and test the network are real data obtained by NASA GES DISC which represents monthly quantitative precipitation of more than 1350 sites uniformly distributed to cover the land of Iraq for a historical period of ten years. The designed forecasting network model showed good performance, in which the total calculated MSE for the testing data set is about (2.8×10-3), and its correlation coefficient R is about (0.95). The correlation of the predicted error with time has been checked also; it showed that almost all the autocorrelation function values fall within the bounds of the confidence interval.

This study aimed to determine noise sources and levels on the campus of the University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq, using SounPlan7.2 software for noise mapping for different situations. Models were used to investigate the impact of different situations on on-campus development, including constructing new buildings and parking lots, and removal of noise protection walls. Noise mapping for these modeled situations showed potential variations of 10dB(A) in noise levels. The main noise sources on the campus are electrical generators, traffic roads, parking lots, and workshops with open doors which emitted high noise levels exceeding 85dB(A). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), when noise levels exceed 55dB(A), the campus noise environment can be classified as an unpleasant, annoying, and uncomfortable environment.

FACTS, STATCOM, VSI, d-q theory, park transformation, FLC, Pulse Width Modulation PWM

The objective of this work is to compare the results obtained by modeling flexural strength test (Three-Point Bending Test) of steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) beam specimens using a numerical 3D modeling introduced by the computer code "ABAQUS" after conducting the (SFRC) beam specimens of (0.0, 0.4 and 0.8) % volume fraction of steel fiber (vf) to three-point bending test using a hydraulically increasing universal testing machine under monotonic loads up to ultimate load with two different rates of loading (0.5 and 1) kN/sec. Deflection, stress, and strain were obtained and the test is simulated using the computer code "ABAQUS". Test results show that deflection, stress, and strain magnitudes are directly proportioned to the increment of steel fiber and a good agreement can be seen between the experimental results and the analytical approaches, finally, a comparison using "ABAQUS" is carried out between horizontal tensile stress and strain at bottom of concrete pavement for (0.0, 0.4, and 0.8) % (vf) of steel fiber and results in analysis shows that the ability of concrete pavement to withstand higher magnitudes of tensile stress and strain without deterioration increase as steel fiber content increase due to high tensile strength of steel fiber.

The current study is interested in investigating the effect of replacing 50% of sand with textured rubber (Crumb Rubber) that reduced 10% of the specimen's weight, then using the CFRP to strengthen the flexural efficiency of beams. Five specimens with 200x300x2000mm dimensions are investigated. The variables are studied in the installation of CFRP. Three situations of fixing the CFRP, the first is in the area exposed to flattening, the second in both regions of tension and compression, and the last one covered all faces by CFRP. Laboratory results showed that when replacing 50% of sand with crumb rubber the weight of beams decreased by 9% and increased the ductility by 74% also the crack width is reduced by 9% and 38% at yield and ultimate loads respectively. Strengthening by CFRP strips is increase the yield and ultimate load by 40% and 35% on average respectively, but by covering all faces the ratios were increased by 60% and 63%. Using the crumb rubber decreased the deflection by 27% on average and by using CFRP the defection was decreased by 36%, and 19% on average at yield and ultimate load respectively. CFRP increases the strain in the compression face of concrete and the value was greater than the maximum strain of concrete (0.003). Also, the crack width was decreased by 45%, and 23% on average at yield and ultimate loads, respectively.

Decolorization of blue azo dye (Cibacron Blue FN-R) from simulated wastewater has been investigated as a function of the solar photocatalysis process. The photocatalysis activity using different catalysis was compared. Different parameters that affected the removal efficiency, including an initial concentration of dye, pH of the solution, catalysis dosage, and H2O2 concentration, were evaluated to find out the optimum operating conditions. The results proved that the optimal pH value for TiO2, V2O5, and ZnO were 2, 2, and 8, respectively and the best catalysis dosage was 500mg/L for TiO2, V2O5, and ZnO. In addition, the most efficient H2O2 concentration was 300,100, 100 mg/L for TiO2, V2O5, and ZnO respectively. The theoretical relationships described in the photocatalysis process have been predicted for the three catalyzes. It can be concluded, from these experiments, that the use of ZnO as a photocatalysis was found to be more efficient than TiO2 and V2O5 to remove blue azo dye from an aqueous solution.

In this study, the short-term stability of an embankment on soft has been improved by reinforcing the embankment with a geosynthetic fabric and reinforcing the foundation with stone columns. The behavior of the embankment is numerically modeled, and the finite element analysis for the reinforced embankment on soft clay (with and without stone columns) is presented. The principle of this improvement is that the geotextile as the geosynthetic fabric is used to increase the factor of safety for the short-term stability of the embankment, then the stone columns are used to maintain the side slope stability with a minimum factor of safety.

Glass fibers reinforced mortar is a modern composite material in the field of construction. This composite consists of the cementitious matrix including cement, sand, water, and reinforcement which is represented by glass fibers. This study aims to show the effect of the addition of randomly dispersed glass fibers and layers of glass fibers on water absorption, the velocity of ultrasound wave passing through the reinforced mortar and acoustic impedance of mortar. Mixtures of 1:2 cement/sand ratio and 0.5 water/cement ratio were prepared to make the mortar. Two series of mortars reinforced by glass fibers (random and layers) were prepared. Each series were reinforced with different percentage (0.54, 0.76, 1.1, and 1.42)wt.%. Glass fibers reinforced mortar exhibit better properties than plain mortar. The increase in glass fibers addition caused an improvement in mortar by reduction of water absorption, ultrasound wave velocity, and acoustic impedance. The addition of glass fibers layers showed better properties than random addition after curing for 7 and 28 days.

In this paper, a new approach is introduced to detect the edges of any kind of grayscale image by using the k-means clustering algorithm, where three novel features are proposed by taking the advantage of the similarity of the image pixel with its eight surrounding neighbors through feeding these features as attributes to the clustering system. This method of edge detection does not use either any smoothing filter or threshold values. The experimental results show that an acceptable detection of the edges is done.

إن الهدف الرئيسي من الدراسة هو تحديد العوامل البشرية المؤثرة على أدارة وحجم المخلفات الصلبة في مدينة بعقوبة (منطقة الدراسة) والتي من خلالها يمكن تحديد أماكن الضعف والثغرات الموجودة في نظام الادارة الحالي وبالتالي إيجاد الحلول الموضوعية لها. ومن ابرز تلك العوامل الاجتماعية والسلوكية والثقافية والتعليمية حيث ترتبط المشكلة بحجم الأسرة والحالة التعليمية وحالة المسكن والحالة المهنية ومستوى الدخل والعادات والاتجاهات السائدة لسلوك المواطنين والوضع الأمني للمدينة. ان نظام الإدارة الحالي بالمدينة غير كفوء لإدارة المخلفات الصلبة بكافة تصنيفاتها لأنه لا يلبي احتياجات المجتمع بسبب تراكم النفايات الصلبة داخل الكثير من أزقة وشوارع المدينة، ومن خلال المسح الميداني وباستخدام استمارة الاستبيان والتي وزعت على عينة من المجتمع في مدينة بعقوبة، تضمنت العينة عدد من الأسر في الأحياء السكنية وعلى مختلف مستوياتهم المعاشية والتعليمية والكثافة السكانية و تم تحليل البيانات باستخدام الحقيبة الإحصائية للعلوم الاجتماعية(SSPS).ومن أهم الاستنتاجات أن عدد أفراد الأسرة ومستوى الدخل أهم عاملين مؤثرين في حجم التولد للنفايات الصلبة مقارنة مع بقية العوامل كالتحصيل العلمي للأسرة الواحدة إضافة للجوانب السلوكية للسكان حيث لها تأثير مباشر على أدارة المخلفات الصلبة حيث أن قلة الوعي البيئي للسكان يسبب الكثير من المشاكل البيئية للمدينة إضافة الى ذلك فان السبب الرئيسي هو ضعف الكادر البشري للبلدية وضعف الإمكانيات المادية ساهم في تلكؤ أدارة النفايات الصلبة في المدينة.