Qatar Foundation Annual Research Conference Proceedings Volume 2018 Issue 1

Nowadays, many electrical utilities are moving towards self-healing distribution grid. This is realized by adding to distribution system various sensors, intelligent electronic devices (IEDs), phasor measurement units (PMU), sequence of event recorders (SERs), reclosers, detectors, measurement units, automated controllers, and other automation equipment. Those elements provide a continuous stream of data to s Read More

In this work, a new dc-ac converter is proposed for grid integration purposes, namely, capacitor-tapped multi-module dc-ac voltage source converter. The main advantages of the proposed converter when compared with the conventional dc-ac modular multilevel converter (assuming the same voltage rating of semiconductor devices) are: (i) employment of a lower number of semiconductor devices, but with a higher c Read More

Climate change is the most pressing global environmental issue today, with a potentially devastating impact on human development. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, Qatar is ranked as the highest CO2 per capita emitter globally. Qatar is contributing to the reductions of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) by supplying the world with Liquid Natural Gas (LNG), yet Qatar is being negativ Read More

The fluid flow and solute transport through fractures in rocks are processes that have importance for many areas of the geosciences, ranging from groundwater hydrology to petroleum engineering. It is well known that fractures play an important role in flow and transport processes through geologic formation and number of environmentally relevant problems require the analysis of mass transport in subsurface systems. As Read More

The geographical and hydrological characteristics and industrial activities of the Arabian/Persian Gulf contribute to its classification as a stressed marine environment. The persistency of some contaminants released by human activity is putting additional pressure on this already fragile system. Several studies have assessed the chemical contamination levels in Qatari coastal sediments but this is one of a few studies tha Read More

The State of Qatar and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region are located in a hyper-arid area with no rivers, over-abstracted groundwater supply and limited rainfall. Consequently, with the discovery of oil and gas and the associated economic prosperity, the State of Qatar and the GCC region have relied on desalination of seawater from the Arabian Gulf. As of 2013, the GCC region held a 70% share of total global desali Read More

Sulfate Reducing Bacteria (SRB) cause significant damage to marine oil pipelines necessitating the use of biocides for reducing the Microbial Induced Corrosion (MIC) and potential for great environmental harm. Currently, oil companies pump frequent batches of biocides to these under water pipelines without proper quantification of the bacterial population. This is primarily because the existing method for quantifying th Read More

Carbonates and evaporites of Paleogene-age form the shallow-aquifer rocks that mantle most of Qatar, including the Paleocene and Lower Eocene Umm er Radhuma, and the Middle Eocene Rus and Dammam Formations. Nearly complete 10-cm-diameter rock cores have been recovered from boreholes in central and northern Qatar to depths of greater than 120 m. A 40-m section of exposed Rus and Dammam Formation from Read More

Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) have completely captured the portable electronics and electric vehicle market due to their tempting performance. However, due to limited reserves of lithium, the price for lithium is constantly increasing which necessitates to trace out some decent alternative to lithium ion batteries. In this regard, sodium ion batteries are considered one of the best substitutes for lithium ion batteries due to inheri Read More

A common source of contamination of soil and groundwater in arid and (semi)-arid coastal regions are accidental spills of petroleum products, such as crude oil, gasoline, and diesel fuel. Groundwater pollution by petroleum hydrocarbons is a serious pollution problem that poses hazards to water resources and living organisms including humans. After release to the sub surface, hydrocarbons move downward through the aerobic v Read More

Background A range of natural factors, invasive animals and human activity have been severely affecting stability of the ecosystem, resulting in the annihilation of plants habitats and so plant endangerment or even extinction. In Qatar, urgent action needs to be taken to stop decline of desert plant species as well as an effective strategy should be applied to reverse and save these wild endangered plants. Otherwise, they will b Read More

A significant global environmental opportunity of today is finding beneficial reuse for industrial and domestic wastewater through appropriate treatment, redistribution and application. Although industrial wastewater may present various challenges in terms of exotic or hard to treat constituents, finding effective and efficient treatment options and subsequent reuse opportunities will be beneficial for many facets of th Read More

In the recent decades there has been an unprecedented globalization of trade. One of the most important factors that made this possible is the containerization of the supply chain. As a consequence container terminals have become essential for todays globalized economy. The trend of containerization has further extended to the cold supply chain through the use of reefers (refrigerated containers), resulting in a tremen Read More

Fischer Tropsch Synthesis (FTS) is an exothermic chemical reaction in which synthesis gas (or ‘syngas’- a mixture of H2 and CO) is converted into hydrocarbons or value-added chemicals. In this process, a catalyst (typically cobalt based or Iron based) is used in a Fixed Bed (FB) or Slurry Bed (SB) reactor for the conversion process. Qatar hosts both the technologies in its world's largest Gas to Liquid (GTL) facilities (Shell Pearl Read More

Advances in catalyst and electrolyte materials for hydrogen fuel cells are driving performance gains and cost reductions that are helping to bring hydrogen fuel-cell technology to market. Research on new materials is always a combination of synthesis and characterization, where characterization must eventually include incorporation of materials into an operating fuel cell. It is at this stage that research on leading Read More

The response of plant tissue to standard growth media varies widely due to the genetic diversity of the plant cultivars studied. The objective of this research was to determine the effects of micronutrients on date palm growth and which of these micronutrients are critical for improving growth combined with Paclobutrazol or without on in vitro of elongation stage. In vitro growth of two cultivars was determined by varying five tr Read More

This study was carried out to assess hygiene conditions, food handling practices, food safety knowledge of food service providers (FSPs), and the microbial quality of food served in different food service establishments in Doha. Fifty-three FSPs were randomly selected among 200 FSPs. Face-to-face interviews with the food safety managers at each participating FSP were conducted using a survey consisting of 40-questions (dem Read More

Identification of biological agents which is thermo- tolerance is a key success for biological control in the arid regions such as Arabian Peninsula. Date palm is one of the indigenous plants in this region. It can tolerate high temperature and survive the drought. It is expected that microbial communities associated with date palms would have similar characters. It would be reasonable to search for bio-agents from such micr Read More

Energy security is one of the main national concerns, with population's growth and energy demand increase it becomes critical for countries to address the issue. Increasing energy production is extremely costly and could require investments to modify the power network infrastructure that is also expensive. Demand Side Management is a collection of methods and strategies that helps modifying the demand of consumers in Read More

Oil and gas drilling companies spend around 20$ billion annually from which 15% is attributed to material and productive time losses. The most prevalent drilling problems are caused by the Bottom-Hole-Assembly failure which includes drill string and drill bit damage or fatigue failure. During normal operation, to achieve penetration that cannot be met by the drilling motor power section, the bit torque generates an increased Read More

With the increased demand in energy resources, great efforts have been keen to develop advanced energy storage systems. A redox flow battery is a type of rechargeable battery where rechargablity provided by two chemical components dissolved in liquids and separated by a membrane. Energy is stored in the liquid electrolyte in external tanks, rather than in the battery cell. Flow batteries are technically similar to fuel cell Read More

Natural resources face growing demands and constraints in many regions as a result of economic, population growth and climate change. Due to those changes, it is extremely essential to invest towards water and energy nexus integration technologies since integrated thinking and actions can led to achieving a sustainable development and global supply of water and energy. The water-energy nexus and integration has bee Read More

Haloxylon persicum Bunge ex Boiss &Buhse native and rare plant in the state of Qatar known as Ghada, Qadha, Rimth, it's endangered, high palatable species, a favored plant to stabilize sand dunes, conserve water and soil, prevent soil desertification, and improve environmental conditions. It's small tree or shrub to 3 m, trunk 10- 25 cm in girth; stem richly branched, glabrous; young branches slender, green; leav Read More

Electrocatalytic properties of Pt nanoparticles grown on MXene surface Sifani Zavahira, Jaroslav Filipb, Khaled A. Mahmoudc, Jan Tkacd Peter Kasaka,* a Center for Advanced Materials, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713 Doha, Qatar bDepartment of Environmental Protection Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Vavreckova 275, 76001 Zlín, Czech Republic c Qatar Environment and Energy Resea Read More

نظرا لزيادة الاستثمارات و التطور الصناعي والتكنولوجي في عصرنا الحديث فقد ازداد الطلب على الطاقة الكهربائية لذا تقوم دول العالم سنويا بإنشاء العديد من محطات إنتاج الطاقة الكهربائية مما يؤدي بدوره الى زيادة الطلب على الوقود المستخدم لتشغيل محطات إنتاج الطاقة الكهربائية وهو ما يؤثر سلبا على صحة الأنسان والحيوان نتيجة انبعاث غاز ثاني اكسيد الكربون و الغازات الضارة الأخرى الملوثة البيئة والتي تعد أحد أكبر أسباب التغيرات المناخية والاحتباس الحراري. وتعتبر كفاءة الطاقة من أهم التحديات التقنية في عصر Read More