Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum Volume 2013 Issue 1

Existing solar technology can convert only limited bandwidth of solar rays into electricity due to the Shockley-Queisser limit of the solar diodes. Rest get wasted by heating up the solar array or reflected back. This proposed method increases this bandwidth range significantly. Thus produces high yield of electricity. Thin organic solar panel sheet is coated for reflecting non-absorbed bandwidth of sun rays. This sheet can be bend int Read More

The boiling of binary hydrocarbon mixture on water exhibits a special immiscible liquid-liquid heat transfer phenomenon where the heat transfer parameters change rapidly in a short duration of time. The boiling of hydrocarbon mixtures involves a process called ageing where the vaporization of most volatile component takes place faster leaving behind the less volatile component. This process establishes a concentration gradi Read More

The Gulf sand gecko (Pseudoceramodactylus khobarensis Haas, 1957) is a nocturnal gecko endemic to the Arabian Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Iran). The species is easily recognizable, being a medium sized ground dwelling gecko with no enlarged tubercles on the dorsum nor lamellae beneath toes, like Stenodactylus species, but Pseudoceramodactylus khobarensis has at Read More

The “multi-agent systems” approach allows to model the interaction between various entities (agents), through an organization that helps to simplify problems with a high number of freedom degrees. An agent is a semi-autonomous entity that interacts with the surrounding reality through its own system of decision, cognition, communication and organization. The research project aims to define a relationship between the Read More

Background Hotspot over the surface of the Photo Voltaic (PV) Modules due to partial shading through dust deposition can cause a p-n junction breakdown leading to temperature rise over the surface of the modules. When the PV module operating current exceeds the reduced short circuit current(Isc) of the shaded cell, it cannot produce energy, rather starts to consume power from the other PV cells connected in series. R Read More

Methane steam reforming is a carbon-intensive process with high energy requirements. The addition of a CO2 sorbent in the reformer has been proposed as an alternative process to reduce heat demands (since the carbonation reaction is exothermic) and at the same time capture CO2, drive the thermodynamic equilibrium and obtain high-purity hydrogen. In a QNRF funded project, AUTH and TAMUQ are investigating sor Read More

The rejection efficiency of boron by RO membranes is poor, especially when a large proportion of boron in feedwater exists as uncharged boric acid which can diffuse through most of the available RO membranes.1,2 Among the methods suggested for boron removal from water and wastewater, adsorption is a very useful and economical technique. Magnetic adsorbents containing chelating precursors that are selecti Read More

Pollution, due to activities related to the oil industry, represents a serious threat to the natural environment. The application of biotechnological methods provides much safer and sustainable alternatives for bioremediation of polluted areas, using microorganisms. Several techniques for the isolation of hydrocarbon degrading bacteria have been investigated and published worldwide. A wide range of biological activities was s Read More

Migration of phthalates into bottled water

Reactive Nanoparticle-Supported Dead-End Flow Ultrafiltration for Removal of Mercury from Water: Effect of Solution Composition

Anchu Ashok*, Arya Arackal, George Jacob, Gargi Raina Centre for Nanotechnology Research, VIT University, Vellore, India - 632014 * anchuashok@gmail.com Keywords: Surface Plasmon, Localization, Propagating surface plasmon, Coupling. Surface Plasmons (SPs) are collective electron oscillations at metal dielectric interface. They are often categorized into localized surface plasmon resonance and propagating Read More

I. INTRODUCTION The utility-scale Photovoltaic (PV) system experienced a tremendous growth to satisfy the fast increase of world's power demand. Nowadays, focus has been placed on innovative and cheap inverter solutions and system configurations. Among them, The Cascaded Multi-level Inverter (CMI) structure is more preferable to reach utility-scale power ratings and medium-voltage levels due to transformer Read More

Vehicles at Qatar university road networks are subject to pass through multiple roundabouts and intersections in order to reach their destination. Since the traffic volume is relatively low, unsignalized controlled intersections are used to regulate the flow of vehicles (sign-controlled) .T shaped intersections and multiple lane roundabouts are utilized throughout Qatar University closed loop system. This study has been conducted Read More

Meeaad Y. Al-Jassim1, Noof M. Al-Korbi1, Fatima A. Al-Naemi1 1Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar The mycobiota of soil was investigated in ninety soil samples collected from three different localities in Qatar, biology field2, biology field 3 and University farm. Biology field 2 and biology field 3 are located at longitude and latitude 549350.32 M.E and 286 Read More

Reduced Switch Count Asymmetrical Flying Capacitor Multi-level Inverter for Variable Speed Drives Application

The aim of this study was to determine the levels of traffic-related particulate matters (PMs) and their elemental compositions in Doha, Qatar. The PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were measured using DPS monitors. The elemental composition of PM samples was determined by an ICP-MS. Electron beam microscope was also used to confirm the size of particles collected on filters from select sites. During the study period, it Read More

ABSTRACT Biodiversity is a natural quality that must be measured to be understood. It is the measurement of the quantity and diversity of the biota in an area. Each area of the world has its own unique biodiversity as defined by its' species diversity index number (SDIN) including the state of Qatar. This study was designed to add to the base knowledge on the ground fauna data of Qatar that can be used to compute this speci Read More

Biodiversity Atlas of animals and plants are very popular in many countries and constitute an essential tool for species management and regional planning. Many coordinate systems and spatial resolutions are used depending on the surface area covered in an Atlas. The 10x10Km resolution is considered standard in other Atlases conducted in geographic areas of similar size than Qatar. The standardization of different tools abo Read More

The State of Qatar is a major oil/gas producer in the world which renders its local environment vulnerable to carcinogenic and toxic chemical species resulting from direct and indirect contact with petroleum products. The current level of environmental contamination as direct result of oil/gas industry in Qatar is unknown and there is an urgent need to understand the associated risks on the local population and natural w Read More

Bioinformatics coupled with tandem mass spectrometry for unknown compound analysis in Shisha water

More than 70% of the global population finds its fresh water from aquifers, rivers, and lakes. Global population estimated to approach 9 billion by 2050 and the standard of living of fast developing countries, such as Qatar, increases and the demand for fresh water is increasing dramatically. Qatar is located in an arid region where there is no source of surface fresh water give the very low precipitation per year. Qatar's prima Read More

Risk Assessment of the thermal decomposition of organic peroxide hybrid and gassy systems by calorimetry and computational techniques

A large number of aluminum alloy plates, which are mainly used as the decks, the shell plates and the cabin reinforcing plates, are used in the construction applications. Al-6063 high strength aluminum alloy and its weldment are widely utilized in such applications due to the high specific strength, good fracture toughness, low cycle fatigue properties and easy-welding properties. The main aim of this article is to determine Read More

A comprehensive analytical and numerical study on the elastic response of a series of novel 2D cellular structures including chiral, anti-chiral, and hierarchical honeycombs with square, and hexagonal unit cells are performed. The elastic properties of the cellular lattices are obtained through the energy method. The method leads to closed-form relations for the elastic response of the structures under general 2D state of stres Read More