Qatar Foundation Annual Research Conference Proceedings Volume 2018 Issue 1

Acute shortage of water has become one of the biggest problem facing many countries in the world. Safe and drinkable water is a basic necessity for survival. Hence, water resource management has become need of the hour. Since, seawater is the most abundant source of water available on the earth, desalination is one of the most promising technology to produce potable water. Desalination is the process of removal of salts Read More

The development of sustainable technologies for successful exploitation of C-1 feedstock such as carbon dioxide (CO2) is a thought-provoking challenge for effective utilisation of this abundant renewable resource. In an industrial prospective, new catalytic concept are vital to add value stream and to bring sustainability to this resource to mitigate the challenges associated with growing energy demands and increased re Read More

Dry Reforming of Methane (DRM) is one of the CO2 utilization processes in which CO2 reacts with methane to produce syngas (a mixture of CO and H2). The DRM process faces 3 major challenges. Firstly, the highly endothermic nature of DRM (ΔH°298 K =  247 kJ/mol) is much higher than that of the conventional Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) which produces a higher quality syngas (higher H2/CO ratio). Secondly, due to low O/ Read More

The purpose of this work is to identify challenges associated with the treated sewage effluent (TSE) reuse in Qatar and the region. Ultimately this work aims to create a thorough knowledge base for policy makers and end users to maximise the reuse of TSE for non-potable applications. The role of TSE reuse as an alternative source of water supply is well acknowledged in Qatar. TSE generation has increased more than 3.5 ti Read More

Introduction The research developed strategies to be adopted in Qatar to enhance agricultural production and improve the food security situation of the country. The government of Qatar has instituted plans to boost its food security and, as part of the wider food security plan, the country needs improved agricultural technologies and in-country farming techniques to increase crop yields. This QNRF-funded food security pro Read More

The efficiency of solar energy harvesting systems is largely determined by their ability to transfer excitations from the antenna to the energy trapping center before recombination. Dark state protection, achieved by coherent coupling between subunits in the antenna structure, can significantly reduce radiative recombination and enhance the efficiency of energy trapping. Because the dark states cannot be populate Read More

Modeling the diffusion of residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in their social, political and economic context is crucial to help policymakers assess which policies may best support adoption. Current models of renewable energy adoption [1, 2, 3, 4] assume regulatory and incentive frameworks that do not apply to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, where energy tariffs are strongly subsidized, tax credits are not Read More

About one third of the oil and gas extracted worldwide comes from offshore sources. There is currently thousands of large-scale oil and gas platforms spread across the seas and coastal oceans, from the North Sea to the seas of South Asia. Although their primary purpose is not related to enrichment of biodiversity, gas and oil platforms can act as large and complex artificial marine habitats for a wide range of marine or Read More

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations top the world in CO2 emissions/ capita. However, plummeting oil prices and increasing energy demands necessitate rethinking on thermal comfort delivery. This region has warm desert climate throughout. In GCC states, the adaptive comfort standard or the precursor field studies to develop one are non-existent. We carried out thermal comfort field studies in Qatar for thirteen months. Read More

Quinoa is an important nutritive crop that can play a strategic role in the development of marginal and degraded lands. Our aim was to evaluate and select superior salt tolerant quinoa genotypes that are well adapted to the UAE climate. We evaluated the carbon isotope composition, seed yield and other agronomical attributes as indicative of the functional performance of quinoa. Field trial was conducted in the hyper dry a Read More

Qatar is a high income country ($129,700 GDP per capita), where gas and oil accounts for 92% export earnings of the country. The International market for gas is recently going through a major transformation, with both demand and supply growing from numerous quarters. There is hardly any literature that provides sound empirical and quantitative analysis of such impacts on gas exporting countries. The paper contributes Read More

Known to be one of the most arid regions in the world, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is particularly vulnerable to climate-induced impacts on water resources and food production. Despite this alarming situation, promoting adaptive governance strategies to deal with such increased hydrological risk remains a low priority for most of political leaderships in the region. It is increasingly clear that adaptation to Read More

Corrosion is the major cause of components, infra structures and equipment failure over the world, affecting seriously various critical sectors, including water and energy security. The direct cost of corrosion may reach 5% of the GDP in some countries, representing an important economic burden for companies and governments. Just to cite an example, operations and maintenance in offshore infrastructures may represent Read More

Palestinian energy sector has a big challenges which arises due to rapid increase in electrical demand, limited in traditional energy sources due to unstable conditions and high cost of fuel used to generate electricity. Recently, implementation of renewable energy resources such as photovoltaic systems (PVs) used as a solution to reduce the prices and utilities dependency on suppliers. There is significant potential for the use of t Read More

This work reports on sensitive and selective gas sensors based on copper ferrite (CuFe2O4) nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were produced different methods including: colloid microwave assisted hydrothermal method, and co-precipitation method. Those methods enable a precise control of nanoparticle size, The produced nanoparticles were annealed at different temperatures. Structural analysis were carried out Read More

Conventional seawater desalination processes like the multi-stage flash (MSF) and multi-effect distillation (MED) are environmentally unsustainable. They consume large amounts of fossil fuels which are a major cause of climate change. Further, desalination plants discharge highly concentrated brine which can cause eutrophication and damage the marine life. Qatar, being a country that faces freshwater scarcity, is highly depen Read More

Transmission grid topology control (TC) is an emerging technology proposed in recent years to improve power system performance by using e xisting transmission lines more efficiently. Incorporated into the optimal power flow (OPF) with different objective functions, TC can be used for various purposes, such as operational cost reduction and corrective actions. As a leader of employing TC in the power industry, the Penn Read More

Introduction Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) defines food security as stable access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food. Food waste is a global and complex problem that affects each of three pillars of sustainable development: environment, economic, and social (FAO, 2013). Food loss is defined as the decrease in quantity or quality of food, whereas food waste is the removal from the food supply chain of food whic Read More

Coral reefs are one of the most biologically diverse and complex marine ecosystems that are being degraded at rapid rates. This consistent steadily trend is especially critical in coastal areas that have experienced an impressive coastal development, as has been occurring in the Arabian Gulf. This Gulf harbours the coral reefs subjected to one of the most extreme environmental conditions worldwide, i.e. high salinities (often > Read More

Qatar is emerging as one of the most dynamic and innovative economies in the Middle East over the last decades. The rapid expansion in the industrial sector, as the key economic driver, in addition to, the strong growth in construction sector, driven by large government investments, alongside the rapidly increasing population and rising living standards put continuously increasing pressures on domestic energy consum Read More