Qatar Foundation Annual Research Conference Proceedings Volume 2016 Issue 1

With growing climate change concerns, depleting natural resources and decrease in oil and gas prices, it is more vital than ever to efficiently manage natural resource allocation. Methane, the key component in natural gas and a raw material for numerous chemicals, is Qatar's more abundant resource. Natural gas can be monetized through many alternative paths. It can be sold as natural gas, either through pipeline Read More

The surge in the field of renewable energy aiming to develop clean energy technology is continuing to rise. Quest for a H2-based economy derived from non-fossil resources remains at the forefront of future fuels. During the past few decades there has been intense research on the utilization of electrical energy to produce H2 in an energy efficient and environmentally benign way. Electrocatalytic hydrogen generation via water e Read More

Background Chlorine is extensively used as a powerful oxidizing agent in the countries surrounding the Arabian Gulf for water treatments and biofouling control. The usage has been increasing significantly as demand for water grows considerably both in industry and domestic use. This is due to the fact that it is a well-tested technology, has had a history of long-term worldwide industrial use and is of acceptable cost. Sodi Read More

The amount of water below 1000 m3 per capita per annum is considered as the water poverty zone. With business as usual scenario it is estimated that by the year 2025 half the world's people will live in countries with high water stress. Based on Global averages irrigation water demands accounts for about 70% of all water uses. Meanwhile water use efficiencies of irrigated projects are generally very low particularly those Read More

Atmospheric concentration of CO2, which is considered as one of the major greenhouse gases (GHGs), has increased up to 398 ppmv as of 2015. CO2 concentration in atmosphere was 280 ppmv in pre-industrial era, and due to the continuous discharge, it is expected to increase up to 550 ppmv by 2050. Many of the major industrial sources of CO2 emissions are natural gas fired power plants, synthesis gas used in integrate Read More

Lithium ion batteries (LIB) are widely applied to energy storage systems, like electric vehicles, ships. While limited reserves of lithium and cost of lithium enforced to explore new materials. Hence, Low cost and abundance of sodium has made Sodium ion batteries (SIBs) an attractive alternative for energy storage. Li ion replacement with Na ion will not require change of design in present LIBs, except change of cathod Read More

Environmental conditions such as irradiance, temperature, humidity and dust accumulation have impact on PV performance and reliability. In this paper, we will focus on the effect of temperature and how to mitigate this effect by using passive cooling approach. Qatar is rich with solar irradiance favored for photovoltaic; however, the high temperature (a module temperature of 50°C was measured during summer mon Read More

The main target of membrane technologies such as the Ultrafiltration (UF), Nanofiltration (NF) and Reverse osmosis (RO) is to produce better filtration and separation of organic and inorganic substance from water as well as for longer life of the membrane. The phase inversion method is a well-known method to fabricate UF, NF and RO membranes for different application. The UF membrane is widely used in separation of Read More

With around 60–80% of electricity used for air conditioning, and around 99% of potable water production being supplied by desalination plants, sustaining life in Qatar, as well as GCC and hot arid countries around the world, is uniquely energy intensive. As District Cooling Plants (DCPs) have a potential to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions, Qatar and GCC are continuously shifting paradigm towards adoption of DC Read More

Abstract The present paper evaluates the composite risk of anthropogenic and climate change on the future water status in Jordan during the period 2030–2050. The projected water status in the country is evaluated based on the more likely population growth and climate change scenarios. The most likely figure for the population of Jordan, excluding refugees from neighboring countries, in 2040 would be ∼15 milli Read More

Buildings represent one of the most significant sources of negative impacts to the natural ecosystems on which Qatar's inhabitants health and environmental quality depend. The market has identified Qatar as one of the busiest construction areas in the world (Ibrahim 2011), While rapid economic development, population growth, and construction boom are positive indicators of growth, they may also present issues relat Read More

Qatar is the biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, LNG, in the world and is a main oil-producing member of The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC. A fossil fuel-based industry emerged around the ports of Ras Laffan and Mesaieed, Qatar's industrial cities, perusing industrial diversity and maximising the huge fossil fuel reserves that serve as the primary feedstock for the industrial sector. LNG, crude Read More

Non-Linear loads such as Compact Fluorescent lamps (CFLs), Light Emitting diodes (LEDs),Solid state voltage regulators, and variable speed electric drives are increasingly being added tothe domestic, residential and industrial power network. These light sources and other house-hold appliances using power electronic converters are termed as non-linear loads and they introduce distortion in the power network by generating har Read More

Drilling in deeper formations and in high pressure and high temperature (HPHT) environments is a new frontier for the oil industry. Fifty years ago, no one would have imagined drilling in more than 10,000 feet of water depth like we do today. However, more issues need to be researched, tested, and studied in order to maintain a good drilling efficiency as deeper depths are drilled. One of these issues is the great effect tha Read More

Torsional vibrations experienced by drill strings can be detrimental to drilling operations. With a goal of understanding torsional vibrations experienced by drill strings and determining means to attenuate undesired vibrations, the authors have studied the effect of adding a sinusoidal modulation to a constant rotation speed of a drill string. A combination of modeling, analysis, and experiments is used to explore the infl Read More

The growing energy demand across the globe has resulted in an increase in the deep water oil exploration activities which in turn has increased the risk of occurrence of associated accidental oil releases. Oil and Gas offshore businesses are important to Qatar's economy. Further, the country is heavily dependent on its marine water resources for fulfilling its potable water needs through the desalination process. So, it is imperati Read More

Due the movement of the sun throughout the day, the insolation level incident on the fixed panel surface varies largely. The maximum level of insolation occurs only around noon. This leads to the panel to be under-utilised. To maximise the utilisation of the panel during the day, mechanical solar tracking is used. This method not only increases the utilisation of the, but increases the power being extracted from the panel. Sol Read More

In this paper an open ended seven phase stator winding drive is considered for analysis that is to be fed from matrix converter controlled by space vector pulse width modulation scheme. Open-end winding variable speed drives with dual matrix converter supply have been extensively investigated for various applications in the past, based on a three-phase machine configuration. This topology is relatively simple for pra Read More

Abstract Objective: In this era of increasing antibiotic resistance (WHO)[1], we are running out of time as common bacterial infections are progressively rejecting drugs that would be standard for treatment. It is due to these reasons that research regarding bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria has seen a sudden revival. The Science Education Alliance- Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science Read More

Nanocrystalline metals -with grain sizes less than 100 nm- have proven to attain exceptional mechanical properties such as strengths that exceed those of coarse-grained and alloyed metals with grain size greater than 1 μm. As a result, such materials are to be acknowledged as the new class of high-performance engineering materials and to be implemented in various structural applications. The main reason behind the ultrahi Read More

Thermoelectric (TE) is the science associated with converting the thermal energy into electricity based on the Seebeck effect. The attractive features of thermoelectric devices are their long life, low maintenance, highly reliable and they do not produce emissions harmful to the environment. Thermoelectric generators are used to provide electrical power in medical, military, and space applications where their de Read More

There is considerable investment in construction industry in Qatar for civil infrastructures and taking into account the severe environmental conditions, they would entail for proper maintenance, repair and strengthening for safe, continuous, uninterrupted, and efficient functionality. Reinforced concrete (RC) structural members, which constitute majority of construction works in Qatar, can be easily deteriorated by th Read More

Introduction: Pathogen attacks impose natural selection on plants to evolve complex arrays of defensive strategies. Among the diverse defensive mechanisms evolved by plants to withstand pathogen attack, the ability to synthesize an arsenal of low-molecular weight volatile and non-volatile chemicals including phenolics helps them to prepare a robust defense response against pathogen entry. Systemic induction and accumu Read More

Automotive researchers attempts to simulate combustion of fuels in order to improve engine performance.[1] Conventional fuels are difficult to represent in these simulations due to their complex composition. Surrogates that meet American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards are a good alternative to conventional fuels. This study aims at design and analyzing surrogate mixtures for both gasoline and diesel. Su Read More

Hybrid Perovskites (HP) recently emerged as alternative light harvesting layer to fabricate high efficiency thin film solar cells. The perovskite based solar cells took advantage of the experience gained in the field of the dye sensitizes solar cells and the extremely thin absorber (ETA) solar cells. It is worth mentioning that the structure of the perovskite solar cell is very similar to a dye sensitized solar cell and ETA solar cell. These ce Read More