Qatar Foundation Annual Research Conference Proceedings Volume 2018 Issue 1

Concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) is advantageous as compared to a conventional non-concentrated photovoltaic (PV) system due to its ability to increase PV cell efficiency and replacing expensive PV material with an abundant and inexpensive reflective or refractive concentrator material. In this work, an overall solar to electrical and thermal conversion efficiencies between a concentrated photovoltaic system thermally regulated by a phase change material (CPVPCM) and a PV system is compared for Qatar climatic conditions. The electrical and thermal behavior of both, CPVPCM and PV, systems are simulated using an already developed and validated coupled electrical-thermal and optical model. A crystalline silicon PV cell is selected which has an electrical conversion efficiency of 14% and temperature dependent maximum power loss coefficient of -0.45% K-1 at standard test conditions. The width of the PV cell is 0.015 m for the CPVPCM system while a 6” ×  6” PV cell is considered for the conventional PV system. The same footprint of 1 m2 is selected as a physical equivalency criterion for both systems to compare their electrical and thermal output. Therefore, 36 PV cells, connected in series, represents footprint of 1 m2 for conventional PV system while the length and configuration of the PV cell for a CPVPCM system depend on the concentration ratio and type of concentrator to achieve equal footprint of 1 m2. The CPVPCM system uses a parabolic trough concentrator to focus sunlight onto a PV cell. The concentration ratios of 10 × , 15 ×  and 20 ×  are considered in this work, which results in lengths of 5.34 m, 3.56 m and 2.67 m to achieve 1 m2 footprint. An increase in incident irradiance density due to concentration instantaneously generates more power from a PV cell in any CPV system. However, it also increases the PV cell temperature and reduces power output because of the temperature dependent negative power coefficient of PV cells. The electrical power output loss due to temperature diminishes the gain in the electrical output due to the concentration of the irradiance. Furthermore, the elevated PV temperature also results in associated degradation mechanisms such as thermal aging, delamination, and mechanical damages. Therefore, cooling of a PV cell in a CPV system is essential to prevent the net power loss and gain the advantages of increased incident irradiance density. Four different commercially available solid-liquid phase change materials (PCM) are investigated for passive cooling of the CPVPCM system. The PCMs absorb and store excess heat during solid to liquid phase change and thereby, regulate the temperature of the PV cell. The heat storage by PCMs also leads to a potential utilization of thermal energy trapped within the PCM. The selection of a PCM depends on its several thermophysical properties such as melting temperature, latent heat of fusion, density, congruency, and stability. In this work, the selected PCMs are Lauric acid, RT42, S-series salt, and ClimSelTM C48 which are reported to have congruency and cyclic thermal stability as per manufacturers' data sheet. The PCMs have melting temperatures ranging from 41 oC to 54 oC and latent heat of fusion in the range of 178 kJkg-1 – 220 kJkg-1. The PCMs are encapsulated inside an aluminum container behind the PV cell. The aluminum container is made of 3 mm thick aluminum sheet having outer dimensions of 0.105 m ×  0.042 m and inner dimensions, to contain PCM, of 0.099 m ×  0.036 m. The lengths of the aluminum container are 2.67 m, 3.56 m and 5.34 m for concentration ratio of 20 × , 15 ×  and 10 ×  respectively. Two consecutive days of each month of a year are selected to simulate the optical, thermal and electrical behavior of both systems. The direct beam irradiance is obtained using the clear sky Bird's model while weather conditions such as ambient temperature and wind conditions are obtained from experimentally measured data from Qatar meteorological department. Since single axis tracking is a pre-requisite for parabolic trough concentrator; therefore, single axis tracking for PV system is considered as well to achieve equivalency regarding input conditions as well. The temperatures of the PV cells, IV curves to calculate maximum power point, the instantaneous power produced over a day using maximum power point tracking, total power produced over a day, and thermal energy storage in the PCMs are predicted by performing simulations of the electrical, thermal and optical behavior of both systems. It is found that the salt performs better than all other selected PCMs due to its high-energy storage density. The electrical output of the CPVPCM for concentration ratio of 10 ×  and 15 ×  is greater than the PV system and comparable at a concentration ratio of 20 × . However, the CPVPCM also store thermal energy, therefore, achieves higher overall solar to the electrical and thermal conversion efficiency as compared to the conventional PV system. Further studies are required, using experimentally measured irradiances instead of using a clear sky model, to investigate and compare the overall conversion efficiencies of the CPVPCM and conventional PV systems.

Redox Flow Batteries (RFBs), among other options, is uniquely suited for large-scale Electrical Energy Storage (EES) due to many advantages over the conventional sealed batteries (e.g., lead-acid and Li-ion batteries). Owing to its design flexibility, flow batteries can meet a wide range of commercial-scale EES applications with varying power-to-energy ratios. In addition, flow batteries have excellent energy efficiency and competitive life-cycle cost and are considered to be inherently safer compared to conventional sealed batteries. Despite its attractiveness and demonstrated performances, flow battery technology still suffers from high system capital cost (which limits its potential deployment into grid storage applications) and low energy density of the reactant fluids (which leads to large footprint and makes it impractical for EES applications with confined spaces). These challenges can be addressed if higher energy density and cheaper battery materials are developed. An attractive approach has been recently proposed, where the active materials are mixed with carbon to create a flowable electrode (otherwise known as slurry electrode). This system helps to operate flow battery with increased concentration of redox species and as a result the energy density is significantly improved.Slurry electrode (shown in Fig. 1) has been defined as “a suspension of particles with large double-layer capacity, such as activated carbon, in an electrolyte solution” [1]. These particles transfer charge from an electrochemical cell to an external reactor, where a substance is oxidized or reduced, and are recharged in the cell [1]. Unlike conventional RFB system, the semi-solid technique uses fluid electrodes that are electronically conductive [2]. Slurry electrodes are characteristically dynamic, particles continuously move and continuously make and break contact with one another. Percolation theory defines a critical loading, fc, above which there are enough particles in the slurry that, at any point in time, a constant network of particles is formed that spans the distance from one boundary to another [3]. It is due to these networks of percolated particles that slurries (with sudden increase in conductivity and viscosity at percolation) are able to conduct electrons out into the electrode and away from the current collector to utilize the high surface area of the particles for electrochemical processes [4, 5]. Other advantages of slurries involve their ability to have high surface areas, simple assembly and ease of maintenance through filtering (for example the carbon materials can be recycled without necessarily opening up the cell). The performance of slurry-electrode-based flow batteries highly depends on the features of the interaction between the particles and current collectors. Parameters such as storage duration or maximum power can be tuned by adjusting the properties of the slurry, being extremely important are the ionic and electrical conductivities of the slurries. Figure 1 In this presentation, the performance of slurry electrodes, based on carbon and redox systems (Vanadium/CNTs and Vanadium/Graphene), focusing in particular on electrochemical performance, conductivity, corrosion, and cell performance will be presented. We achieved high electrochemical activities in the case of Vanadium/CNTs as compared with Vanadium/Graphene as shown in Fig. 2. According to the structural features of the CNTs; the oxygen functional groups improve the hydrophilicity of the electrode. The O = C-OH groups on the CNTs probably behave as active sites, and facilitate the reactions of VO2+/VO2+ redox couple. Figure 2 References [1] B. Kastening, et al., «Design of a slurry electrode reactor system,» Journal of applied electrochemistry, vol. 27, pp. 147-152, 1997. [2] Z. Li, et al., «Aqueous semi-solid flow cell: demonstration and analysis,» Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, vol. 15, pp. 15833-15839, 2013. [3] L. Gao, et al., «Effective thermal and electrical conductivity of carbon nanotube composites,» Chemical Physics Letters, vol. 434, pp. 297-300, 2007. [4] T. J. Petek, et al., «Characterizing Slurry Electrodes Using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy,» Journal of The Electrochemical Society, vol. 163, pp. A5001-A5009, 2016. [5] H. Parant, et al., «Flowing suspensions of carbon black with high electronic conductivity for flow applications: Comparison between carbons black and exhibition of specific aggregation of carbon particles,» Carbon, vol. 119, pp. 10-20, 2017/08/01/ 2017. [6] H. Yoon, et al., «Pseudocapacitive slurry electrodes using redox-active quinone for high-performance flow capacitors: an atomic-level understanding of pore texture and capacitance enhancement,» Journal of Materials Chemistry A, vol. 3, pp. 23323-23332, 2015.

Urban air pollution is an inevitable consequence of the urbanization representing a growing concern to scientists, policymakers and an increasing fraction of the population. Air pollution is an acute problem especially in the developing countries, where the growing population, developing industry and improving life standards are generating environmental challenges. The State of Qatar has witnessed unprecedented rapid economic growth, and fast development and urbanization during the last few decades, accompanied as usual, by heavy construction and mega scale projects, resulted in adverse environmental effects. Air pollution represent one of these major effects and challenges. Direct exposure to volatile organic compounds VOCs implies public health concern. Even low concentrations of VOCs have been associated with damage to the central nervous system (CNS). The CNS is the primary target organ for toluene toxicity in both humans and animals for acute (short-term) and chronic (long-term) exposures (HMDB, 2014). Benzene is a known human carcinogen and is linked to an increased risk of developing lymphatic and hematopoietic cancers, acute myelogenous leukemia, as well as chronic lymphocytic leukemia (EPA, 2004). Information regarding ambient VOCs exposure is limited in Qatar and in the whole Gulf region in terms of values and types of compounds; however, it can be expected that the concentration values are elevated as they are regarding the other combustion related components such as CO, NOX, SO2 and black carbon (Qatar Environment Statistics Annual Report, 2014). The ozone concentration is also often exceeding the limit value due to the intensive photochemical processes induced by the strong sun radiation and the presence of ozone precursors. The main sources of the critical VOC pollutants in the atmosphere- Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylenes- referred to as BTEX, are the motor vehicle exhausts, emissions from the use of solvents, and emissions from the chemical and petroleum industries. This study was an attempt to assess and evaluate the impact of traffic and nearby industry on the air quality of Doha by studying the most important combustion related volatile organic compounds such as BTEX, and atmospheric trace gases (NO, NO2, O3 and NH3). The research aims have been accomplished by conducting two sampling campaigns across the area of Greater Doha with 14 different locations at the main access roads and remote areas during two weeks sample collection period; from February 29, 2016 to March 15, 2016; and from March 16, 2016 to March 31 2016, to quantify the ambient air levels of these pollutants. Passive absorption (diffusion) tubes were used in this campaign because of their mobility, applicability and affordability for outdoor air sampling, as they are easy to handle and require cheap and user-friendly equipment (Buczynska, 2009). Concentrations from most components indicated hot spots roads at the south more than the north of Doha in which BTEX ranged from 7.68-40.5 μg/m3, NO from 7.97-170.4 μg/m3, NO2 from 41.5-105.5 μg/m3 and NH3 was ranged from 8.87-30.4 μg/m3. On the other hand, ground level ozone (O3) depleted at the air pollution hotspots showing higher concentrations at the northern part of the city with a range from 12.1-70.9 μg/m3. Among the samples, the maximum NO2 level was lower than Qatari environmental executive law of 150 μg/m3 on average period of 24-hours. Also, the maximum benzene concentration was 3.15 μg/m3 less than the standard of 5 μg/m3 established by European Community (EC). Visualization of the results has been performed using demonstration hotspot multilayers maps, overlaid in Google-Earth, showing the geographical distribution of the concentration of each individual component. The anticipated continuation of this research will be accomplished by increasing the sampling points and conductive more extensive survey in order to get more representative data with higher spatial resolution. The resulted air quality maps will be essential tools in the hands of policy and decision makers, as a contribution to the current efforts to improve air quality in urban areas. The authors would like to thank Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) for funding and supporting this project under the National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) award number NPRP 8-202-3-043. Refreneces: Buczynska, A. J. (2009). Atmospheric BTEX-concentrations in an area with intensive street traffic. Atmospheric Environment, 311–318. Committee on Tropospheric Ozone, N. R. (1991). Rethinking the Ozone Problem in Urban and Regional Air Pollution. Washington, D.C.: NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS. EPA. (2004). EPA Air Toxics. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/toluene.pdf HMDB. (2014). Human Metabolome Database. Retrieved from http://www.hmdb.ca/metabolites/HMDB0001505

The World Health Organization (WHO) attributes air pollution to 1 in 8 deaths worldwide, where exposure to indoor air pollutants is a significant contributor to incidences of heart disease, respiratory problems, and cancer (WHO, 2014). Since people spend the major part of the day indoors - especially in Qatar -, indoor air quality (IAQ) is a significant factor affecting their overall pollutant exposure via the respiratory-inhalation pathway. IAQ is mainly determined by the geographical location of a building, its proximity to outdoor pollutant sources such as industry, construction activities, traffic or natural pollutant sources (e.g. desert sand particulates), as well as the building characteristics itself (building envelope, air tightness, ventilation/air conditioning system). Indoor sources like decoration and furniture, as well as indoor activities like cleaning and cooking also affect IAQ. Recently, the WHO ranked Qatar second position worldwide of countries with the highest ambient PM2.5 exposure (WHO, 2014). The issue can therefore be regarded as of great significance to public health for the citizens of Qatar, and therefore warrants scientific study and potential mitigation of excessive PM2.5 exposure. In particular, the young citizens of Qatar are especially susceptible to the impacts of PM2.5 inhalation due to their early stage of physiological development. A building can function as a protective shelter for poor outdoor air quality, but without a dedicated IAQ enhancement strategy, buildings may not automatically lead to a reduced indoor exposure to air pollutants, including PM2.5, as well as other potentially harmful pollutants including: oxides of nitrogen and sulphur (NO2, SO2); ozone (O3), natural radiation (radon, Rn); microorganisms (bacteria and fungal spores); a range of volatile organic compounds, and hydrocarbons. This study aimed to characterise IAQ of Qatar's indoor environments, with a particular focus on schools and residences with consideration of outdoor air quality (OAQ) conditions. Simultaneous IAQ/OAQ measurements have been conducted using established reference methods and sampling techniques specifically developed for IAQ studies. PM10, PM2.5 and ultrafine particle concentrations, aerosol size distribution and particle elemental composition have been measured. Volatile organic compounds, aldehydes, NO2, SO2 and O3 were monitored. CO2, temperature and relative humidity were also monitored, and the air exchange rate between indoor and outdoor environments has been assessed. Semi-volatile organic compounds, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, phthalates and flame retardants have been quantified in order to identify specific sources of contamination as derived from combustion and/or building material emission sources. Three school classrooms and associated school-pupil homes were selected for conducting IAQ assessments in order to determine pupil exposure levels to air pollutants over a 24-hour period. Volunteers were equipped with personal exposure monitors for determining their location and activity-dependent air pollutant exposure levels. The first measurement campaign of the research project was conducted in May, 2017. Three classrooms were monitored and five residences, as well as the outdoor location in the school's garden. The results indicate that the indoor concentrations of VOCs, aldehydes and PAHs exceeded the outdoor levels, and that pollutants concentration in residences were consistently higher than in the school classrooms. In terms of particulate matter (PM2.5) the opposite trend was observed. The indoor PM2.5 levels were far lower than the reference outdoor concentration. Regarding the comparison of school class rooms and homes, the same trend as in the case of VOCs was observed. Namely, the PM2.5 levels in homes were consistently higher than in the school classrooms. Overall, the results show that indoor environments represent a protective shelter against the outdoor particulate air pollution ion Qatar. The indoor air quality is determined mainly by pollution sources indoors – particularly in residences due to the presence of more intensive and versatile emission sources – including furniture, decorations, use of air refreshers; as well as activity generated emissions by the inhabitants like cooking, cleaning, or smoking. The second measurement campaign will be conducted in December 2017, when new data will be collected under different seasonal conditions i.e. mild temperatures, where buildings typically have more ventilation with the outdoor environment, and where higher ingress of outdoor air pollution may be expected. The authors would like to thank Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) for funding and supporting this project under the National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) award number NPRP 8-202-3-043.

The worldwide continuous increasing of population provokes an increasing awareness about the food security. Qatar is one of the first countries establishing a Food Security Strategy Program to satisfy the demand of food and feed. Microalgae is considered as one of the most promising solution based on its ability to produce the essential elements needed for food and feed such as lipids, carbohydrates, proteins... In Qatar University, a diverse collection of Microalgae and Cyanobacteria strains isolated from different environments was established (QUCCCM). Microalgae, These photosynthetic microorganisms are capable of converting solar energy into useful compounds. Microalgae accumulate several kinds of metabolites such as proteins (6-52%), lipids (7-23%), carbohydrates (5-23%). In addition, microalgae produce have the ability to produce high-value metabolites. The aim of our work was to screen the QUCCCM and identify potential strains with high nutritional value for use as feed for poultry and livestock. In this study, Microalgal isolates belonging to 12 different species were investigated for their eligibility to be used as a feed. All strains were cultivated over a period of 10 to15 days depending on species. Optical Density and Dry weights were recorded every three days to follow the algal Growth. The results showed the presence of three categories of isolates (fast, medium and slow growing). Among them, the species Chlamydomonas sp. presented the highest growth rate (μ) with 0.89day − 1 ± 0.27 and a doubling time of 1.28/ day. Based on this result, the fast-growing strains were subjected to metabolite investigations in terms of lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, amino acids and Fatty acids to select the ideal strain(s) presenting high growth rate along with metabolites valuable for algae-based feed supplement. The highest protein and Lipid content was observed in the case of a freshwater strain belonging to the Mychonastes sp.with ∼ 50% w/w and 40.7% ± 0.015 respectively. Carbohydrates were seen highest in Chlorococcum sp.with a value of 30% ± 0.009%. Considering the marine strains, the isolates had a similar range of protein, Lipids and Carbohydrates content of (22%-34%), (32%-39%) and (8%-20%) respectively. Based on this study, one marine strain (Pichochloris sp.) having 33% ± 0.021 content of protein and 32.7% ± 0.036 as lipid, and one freshwater (Mychonastes sp.) holding the highest amount of metabolites were selected for deeply investigations in terms of FAME and Amino acid profiling which are crucial parameters that determine the feed quality. The results showed the presence of different essential Amino acids in the total protein fraction. Fatty acid profiling comprised saturated and unsaturated fats for all strains; most of them being rich with C18:0; C16:0 and C16:3. For the selected strains, the metabolite content during the growth period was followed by sampling every 3 days in order to identify the stage having high productivity and rich metabolite content. The analysis of the isolates showed an increase in the production of each metabolite during the growth, wherein lipids and protein amounts are relatively high while carbohydrates were comparatively low. These two selected strains will be improved in terms of lipid and protein production using media and salinity stress in order to enhance the production of essential nutrients such as omegas, amino acids and used for animal bioassay. In Conclusion, this study showed the existence of a diverse and rich collection of valuable strains with important metabolites that can support the country's food security program, by providing microalgae to supplement animal feed. Additionally, the potential candidates can be used for commercial applications.

Membrane Filtration technique is being accepted worldwide as an environment friendly and energy efficient technique in Desalination Industry as compared to Thermal Desalination techniques. However, the performance of membranes which include permeate flux and rejection is affected by the membrane fouling. The properties of membrane and surface features such as porous structure, hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity charge, polymer characteristics, surface roughness determine the fouling potential of the membrane. The hydrophilic and smooth membrane surface is usually considered desirable in tackling membrane fouling issues. Therefore, many studies have focused on to enhance surface characteristics of membranes by surface coating with polymers and nanomaterials. Since, membrane coating is not done during fabrication of the most commercially available membranes, therefore, it is also important to determine the surface features of the commercially available membranes to investigate their membrane fouling potential. Thus, the objectives of this study were (1) to perform membrane surface characterization of commercial Reverse Osmosis (RO) and Nanofiltration (NF) membranes using techniques such as SEM, AFM, FTIR and XPS; (2) to measure hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of commercial RO and NF membranes through water contact angle measurement using sessile drop method and (3) to measure the flux and percentage rejection of NF and RO membranes using Dead end filtration technique. Here, the characterization of membrane surface in terms of surface roughness, using SEM and AFM, showed that the commercial RO membrane had more ridge and valley structures and higher average surface roughness i.e. 71.24 nm as compared to NF membranes (6.63 nm). In addition, water contact angle measurements showed that the NF membrane was more hydrophilic as compared to RO membrane. The average contact angle found for RO membrane was 59.94°. On the other hand, it was observed that NF membrane is extremely hydrophilic in nature. Due to which, contact angle value was not obtained for most of the runs. The droplet could diffuse in less than 5 seconds. In addition, the dead-end filtration experiments showed that the RO membrane had much lower flux as compared to NF membrane. This can be associated with the pore structure of these membranes. Since, the NF membrane has porous structure, in oppose to RO membrane, the flux of the NF membrane is usually higher than the RO membranes. As the membrane surface roughness and hydrophobicity makes it more susceptible to the fouling leading to reduction in membrane flux and performance, it can be concluded from this study that there is a need for surface coating of RO membrane with suitable nanomaterials such as graphene oxide to improve its hydrophilicity and surface smoothness. This will eventually make the membrane more resistant to membrane fouling and will establish the use of membrane filtration technique in desalination industry in Qatar in the future. Microorganisms have been isolated from Gulf sea water, identified and differentiated and are being used to study the biofouling of RO and NF membranes, that would be coated to limit the fouling problems. Acknowledgement: This research was made possible by NPRP grant # [9-318-1-064] from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The findings achieved herein are solely the responsibility of the author[s].

Qatar focused on economic development since independence in 1971. The government has over the time established many developments oriented institutions and authorities, including the Supreme Planning Council, General Secretariat for Development Planning and Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics. Since the launch of QNV 2030 in 2008 with its four pillars (human development, social development, economic development and environmental development), this vision aimed to change the face of life in Qatar. Qatar is upgrading its speculation and development systems with indications of recuperation in worldwide markets in 2017. New patterns keep on emerging crosswise over esteem chain influencing supply, request and speculation situations in the nation. Both conventional players and new participants are reevaluating their arranged undertakings with updated estimates. As Qatar and worldwide markets move towards rebalancing, this article gives definite bits of knowledge into basic short and long haul factors set to shape the eventual fate of Qatar oil and gas markets. This work as a necessary manual for organizations wanting to extend and put resources into Qatar oil and gas advertises in close to medium term future. Openings and difficulties of growing new undertakings, evolving supply-request situations, development in developing markets, approach bolsters, new supplies and request sections, venture benchmarking are talked about in the exploration. For Qatar, gas costs are considerably more imperative than oil costs in light of the fact that the estimation of gas sends out surpass that of oil trades. The estimation of LNG sends out surpassed the estimation of all other hydrocarbon items in 2015, speaking to roughly 46% of aggregate ware trades. Around a fourth of Qatar»s fares of LNG is sold at spot conveyance costs, and the rest is sold as per contracts identified with oil costs (with a deferral of a half year). Concerning the dissemination of LNG sends out, in 2015, 66% were sent out to Asia, where higher costs win. Global LNG costs dropped amid the most recent a half year because of creation surplus in the area. Qatar has kept up its creation limit since 2011, however new fares from Australia and the Assembled States have started to develop. Since the vast majority of Australia»s fares goes to Asia and as Japan resumes operation of certain atomic plants, costs in Japan saw the best decay however are as yet the most noteworthy in the locale. Unrefined petroleum costs incorporating traditions charges in Japan diminished by 40.1% between November 1, 2015 and May 1, 2016. Costs related to the American Henry Center just diminished by 8.5% in a similar period. For the most part, in the US, where most gas is sold at spot costs, bring down costs win, while Japan has the most astounding costs since gas is sold by method for long haul fates related to rough costs including custom expenses. Given the abundance in delivery limit and the expected wealth in LNG supplies, Qatar is creating and restoring its showcasing strategy with a specific end goal to ensure it offers in the market, particularly supporting long haul supply assentions for LNG trades. Because of the lower allure of LNG costs and its foreseen opulence, the World Monetary Standpoint report issued by the IMF in April, 2016, tempered its desires at gaseous petrol normal costs in 2016 (the weighted normal cost in the Japanese, American and European markets), by 10.8% against a similar report»s estimate in October 2015. It is additionally conjectured value steadiness on an extensive scale in 2017 and 2018. Economy in Qatar is relied upon to stay versatile in 2017, regardless of a frustrating Gross domestic product development of 2.7% in the primary quarter (QoQ), after a 4.1% development in the last quarter of 2016. Swelling should level off in 2017. Be that as it may, costs are diminishing for lodging, amusement and eateries, which could cultivate utilization. In any case, the presentation of a uniform 5% VAT rate over all GCC nations, endorsed on May, third 2017, is relied upon to build costs subsequent to being actualized in 2018. The oil and gas segments, experiencing the fall in vitality costs, were working in the red in 2016, however they should help bolster development in 2017 with the begin of creation at the Barzan office (increment fluid gas generation by 21%). The non-oil and gas parts were dynamic in 2016, and they will keep on being, driven by development (+11.7% QoQ in the main quarter of 2017) and the administrations divisions. Development segment stays one of the main recipients of the Qatari government»s speculation arrangement for the FIFA World Container 2022. In spite of the fact that a ban has been forced on new undertakings, officially planned speculations are significant and assessed at what might as well be called nearly USD 180 billion. The administrations area (money related administrations, property and broadcast communications) should see solid development in 2017. Qatar is right now experiencing gigantic change under the rubric of the 2030 National Vision, which intends to build up a propelled, learning based, and enhanced economy, no longer dependent on the hydrocarbon area. The administration is intensely associated with Qatar»s economy, in spite of the fact that it firmly energizes private interest in numerous areas. Interests in different parts including medicinal services, instruction, tourism and money related administrations, among others,. The principle monetary boosts in Qatar are oil, gas, and related enterprises, specifically the advancement of the North Field, the biggest non-related gaseous petrol field on the planet. Qatar»s condensed flammable gas (LNG) industry has pulled in several billions of dollars in remote speculation and made Qatar the world»s biggest exporter of LNG are relied upon to offer more prominent open doors for outside venture. Qatar»s LNG conveyance cost is about $5.20/mBtu, which is near the Russian pipeline gas breakeven cost, yet $2 to $3 underneath full-cycle cost for US LNG at the present Henry Center point costs of about $3/mBtu. This implies at current costs, US LNG makers could take care of their peripheral expenses yet not long haul breakeven costs. «With its great reputation of LNG venture execution and the co-creation of condensate and LPG from the North Field, Qatar is the most minimal cost LNG maker on the planet. As of now, the seven parts concentrating on those are anticipated to have a general positive effect on the social and financial way of life in Qatar. These areas are horticulture, training, medicinal services, mechanical improvement, domesticated animals, fishery, and tourism.

Degrading effect of energy generation from fossil fuel are extensively discussed and debated leading to paradigm shift to renewable energy generation. Energy generation from PV panels is the best alternative for state of Qatar which gets abundant sunlight throughout the year. Development of energy generation from PV panels helps in achieving the notion of “Energy Security”. Energy security refers to availability of reliable, cheap and quality power for consumption from customer point of view. Development in power electronics helps in achieving this idea by developing and operating converters circuits with good efficiency, efficacy, reliable, robust and free from maintenance. Encouraging the nurture and development of local energy suppliers will help in minimizing the cost of installation and maintenance. Including these economic constraints in the design of converters has become a crucial factor in developing industry oriented products through academic research. Suitability of several power converters for synchronizing the power generated from PV panels to utility grid. Recently developed Impedance source based converters are highly suitable for synchronizing the power generated from renewable energy to the utility grid. They eliminate the need for extra dc-dc converter by boosting the input voltage supplied from PV panels. Impedance source based converters are categorized as: Z Source Inverter and quasi Z Source Inverter (qZSI). qZSI is preferred due to its higher performance and continuous input current. Several methods are discussed in the literature to achieve boosting of input voltage. Inverter control requires modification in conventional Sine-Triangle compared based PWM. Operation of qZSI at different MPPT algorithms is also discussed. Cascaded qZSI operation to achieve higher power rating are also discussed. Implementation of advanced control techniques such as Model predictive control is also presented. Energy efficient qZSI achieved through different methods are also discussed. This paper presents novel control algorithm for control of qZSI as Front-End Converter (FEC) during non-sunshine hours. During sunshine hours, qZSI is controlled to inject active and reactive power into the grid. In absence of sunlight, qZSI can be operated as FEC to control reactive power management with the utility grid. To validate the proposed control algorithm, simulation results are presented for grid-connected qZSI powered from solar panel as shown in Fig. 1. Simulation results are formulated into following three sections: (a) Control of qZSI for active and reactive power management, (b) Transient response for qZSI to FEC transition and (c) Control of FEC for reactive power management.Control Algorithm: Control algorithm must satisfy the following requirements: a) When controlled as qZSI, i) Boosting of input voltage must be controlled to achieve the desired output rms voltage ii) Current injected into the grid can be at any power factor – unity, lagging or leading. b) Smooth transition from qZSI to FEC. c) When operated as FEC, i) DC Bus Voltage must be maintained constant and ii) Controlled reactive power management must be achieved. Proposed control algorithm is as shown in Fig. 2. It consists of two types of control blocks. Control blocks which are specific to a type of control algorithm and other which are common for both. Converter reference voltage generation and conventional Sine – Triangle comparison is common to control algorithms of both the inverters. For control of the inverter as qZSI, condition of Vin>Vth must be satisfied which means voltage generated from PV panels is sufficient for grid synchronization. During this mode, S1 and S3 are closed and S2 is opened. qZSI control consists of grid current control and dc bus voltage (Vdc) control. Active and reactive power demand is converted to current proportional and passed through PI controller to generate the converter voltage reference. DC Bus voltage controller gives the shoot-through duty cycle (D). Based on the value of D, shoot-through pulses are ORed with conventional pulses generated by sine-triangle comparison. When Vin>Vth is not satisfied, then the position of relays is changed. S1 and S3 are opened and S2 is closed. Due to this, the solar panel is disconnected from the inverter. The dc bus formed due to series connection of C1 and C2 must be controlled from the grid voltage. The dedicated control block shown in Fig. 2 for FEC generates the active current reference and add it up with required reactive current reference to give the grid current reference. This is passed through PI Controller to give the converter voltage reference. Conventional Sine-triangle comparison is performed to generate switching pulses.SIMULATION RESULTS To verify the control algorithm, the simulation results are shown in Fig. 3. Up to t = 2 sec, the inverter is operated as qZSI injecting controlled active power into the grid. At t = 2 sec, the relays are operated disconnecting the solar panel at the input and now inverter is controlled as FEC. Due to this, the dc bus voltage shoots up which is controlled with the control algorithm. To maintain the dc bus voltage, active current is drawn from the grid. Active current drawn is negligible compared to reactive power managed with the utility grid. Figure 3(a) shows the response of dc bus tracking during the operation. In qZSI mode, active power injection is controlled as shown in Fig. 3(b) and Fig. 3(c). When the inverter is controlled as FEC, reactive power absorbed and supplied are shown in Fig. 3(d) and Fig. 3(e) respectively.

Sustainability is one of the major challenges faced by the industrial sector as it is driven by both environmental and economic factors. Energy demands are increasing and, to date, most of the supply is generated via fossil-fuel combustion, such as coal, gas or oil. However, these processes release greenhouse gases, mainly CO2, that contribute to global warming and other environmental issues. Of the three fossil fuels, for a given amount of energy released, natural gas produces the least amount of CO2, making it the most vital energy source. The most practical way of transporting this natural gas over long distances is via liquefaction. However liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants consume substantial amounts of energy; thus, releasing significant amount of CO2. Therefore, enhancing the efficiencies of LNG plants is essential especially for large producer such as Qatar. As of today, Qatar is the largest producer of LNG in the world, with a capacity of near 78 Million tons per annual (MTA). Since the LNG industry in Qatar is a major contributor to the country's economy and development, there is a continuous need to improve and optimize existing LNG systems to extract more value out of them. Optimization of such complex system is; however, not a straight forward technique requiring different expertise ranging from engineering/process oriented insights to mathematical and thermodynamics techniques. Thus, it is deemed essential to identify plant sections that must be given priorities for optimization. This requires quantifying losses and efficiencies and one of the effective tools is exergy analysis. Identifying the areas of exergy losses within LNG plants emphasizes the areas where optimization is necessary. This project aims to foster the transition to cleaner LNG plants that operate more efficiently, in terms of energy consumption, towards an active contribution to the protection of the environment. The primary focus of the study is to identify exergy losses across a baseload LNG plant producing more than 3 MTA of LNG. In this research, a rigorous and detailed exergy analysis was performed on an entire actual LNG process that was simulated using ProMax® and Aspen Plus® simulation software. In order to carry out the thermodynamic analysis, exergy loss across each component of the entire plant was determined. Exergy analysis was not limited to process units, as it was extended to quantify exergy loss across the utility section. Results revealed that the main contributors to the exergy loss are the utility section, accounting for 49% of the total exergy loss. Within the LNG process, significant amounts of losses were found to occur in the liquefaction, sweetening and sulfur recovery units; corresponding for 37%, 30% and 21% of the total exergy loss, respectively. Components responsible for the highest exergy consumption were also highlighted, with the main consumers being the compressors and their drivers, stream generators, LNG flashing and storage, columns (absorbers, distillations) and heat exchangers. The contribution to the total exergy loss provided some insight on locations where improvements are needed to translate into more environmental and energy benefits. For example, most of the losses within the liquefaction section was attributed to compressors and the drivers responsible for the generation of the required shaft work; almost 19 MW exergy loss in the gas turbine corresponds to 1 MW exergy loss in the associated compressor. Thus, significant energy savings can be achieved via minimizing the compression energy. *Corresponding author. +974 44034148 Eamil address: [email protected] (E. Al-musleh) References [1] «2016 World LNG Report - International Gas Union,» Chevron, USA2016, Available: www.igu.org/download/file/fid/2123.

Direct methanol fuel cell has attracted worldwide attention as a promising alternative clean energy source due to growing environmental problems. A number of scientific groups are working to develop the fuel cells and make it a viable clean energy option. For fuel cells to be a feasible and economic viable innovation in the materials development, such as new electrocatalyst and polymer electrolyte membranes are required. Significant advancements in materials developments are required for fuel cells to be feasible for a wide range of portable, automotive and stationary applications. For DMFC, there are some challenges that need to be addressed before this technology become competitive, for example- slow kinetics of methanol oxidation, high methanol permeation resulting drop in fuel cell performance and the high cost of the catalyst. In the present work we focus on the electrocatalyst materials development for methanol electro-oxidation on the anode surface of DMFC. Platinum (Pt) and/or copper (Cu) based multi composition low cost electro-catalyst have been synthesized and characterized by impregnating onto the carbon nano-tubes (CNT) composites. These nanocomposite electrocatalyst materials have been characterized for their morphology by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), structure by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), element mapping and other chemical and thermal properties by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The results of the characterization confirmed successful formation of the desired electrocatalyst material. The electrochemical activity of these electro-catalysts for methanol electro-oxidation have been studied by cyclic voltametry (CV) and chronoamperometery (CA) at various concentrations of methanol and current density. The characterization and electrochemical activity tests showed good performance for the electro-oxidation of methanol for DMFCs. The present study opened up new avenues for developing lower cost Pt-based catalysts with better performance. These nanomaterials have potential to be used as electrocatalyst for DMFC applications. Keywords: Electrocatalyst, nanocomposite;direct methanol fuel cells, electro-oxidation. Acknowledgements: This publication was supported by Qatar university Internal Grant No. QUUG-CAM-15\16-2. The findings achieved herein are solely the responsibility of the author[s].