Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum Volume 2013 Issue 1

Multi-phase IM drive systems are nowadays seen as a possible alternative to the three-phase drives due to their features that are especially suited for high power applications such as Oil & Gas industries, electric vehicles, traction drive, ship propulsion, robotics and mining and huge number of application. The main advantages of the multi-phase machines are higher power density with reduced volume, lower torque pulsation at Read More

The United Nations (UN) estimated that over 600 million people in urban areas were exposed to dangerous levels of traffic-generated air pollutants worldwide. Currently, there is no published literature available on the levels of air pollutants, specifically NO2, due to traffic in Doha-Qatar. According to the recent reports there are more 800,000 cars registered in Qatar. This relatively high number of cars brings in problems Read More

Accessible fresh water in rivers and lakes represent only 0.03 % of Earth's total water reservoir [1]. The protection and efficient utilization of this precious and limited resource is one of the most pressing issues in the 21st century. Today, it is estimated that 22 % percent of urban water resources is lost in the infrastructure due to leakage [2]. This article proposes a next-generation smart-sensing platform aimed at provid Read More

With the world's current high output of industrial goods, hundreds of millions of tons of manufacturing by-products end up amassing in landfills each year. Steel-slag is not recycled to any significant degree, and even banned as a construction material in certain countries, such as Canada. Like many industrial waste residues, this limitation is mainly attributed to a lack in performance criteria permitting its economic and safe reu Read More

This paper presents a new device [TypoSoilTM] for characterizing the hydrostructural properties of the soil medium organization. It intended to simultaneously and continuously measure both the shrinkage [V(W)] and the water potential [h(W)] characteristic curves for 8 cylindrical soil samples (~100 〖"cm" 〗^"3" ) at the same time during evaporation from the saturation to dry state. No other device makes similar mea Read More

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the leading cause of death worldwide, including Qatar. Hypertension is one of the most common CVDs that contribute to this mortality. Cadmium is a well-known pollutant that has been suggested to be a risk factor for hypertension. However, the underlying mechanisms are still lacking. Very little is known about the effect of cadmium on the expression of vascular alpha- 1 adrenoc Read More

As part of the biodiversity surveys conducted recently in Qatar, we studied the darkling beetles of the family Tenebrionidae (Coleoptera). We have started the analyses of the geographic distribution of the species, followed by studies on systematics, genetics, and evolution of the most diversified group of Coleoptera in desert environments. We have already produced relevant new results such as the discovery of the presence of S Read More

Exothermic reactions that undergo uncontrolled self-heating as a result of loss of cooling lead to a thermal runaway. Such reactions can present a serious hazard in the petrochemical (e.g. polymerisation processes) and chemical industries. They can reach excessively high rates of temperature increase, either due to production of gaseous reaction products, or the boiling of reactor contents. This temperature rise in effect leads Read More

Depending on their physical properties, aerosols in the atmosphere can scatter and/or absorb solar radiation and thus reduce the amount of solar radiation reaching the surface. Under cloud free conditions, the extinction of the Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) is primarily caused by aerosols in the atmosphere. DNI data in locations where ground measurements are not available can be derived or estimated using satellites. Howe Read More

Gas-To-Liquids technology is increasingly becoming an attractive source of ultra clean fuels, such as synthetic jet fuel. However, these synthetic fuels still face challenges in acquiring certification based on their properties. The focus of our current activities revolve around the experimental measurement of physical properties of fuel blends as per the aviation industries and ASTM guidelines [1], along with statistical analysis a Read More