Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum Volume 2011 Issue 1
- تاريخ المؤتمر: 20-22 Nov 2011
- الموقع: Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC), Doha, Qatar
- رقم المجلد: 2011
- المنشور: ٢٠ نوفمبر ٢٠١١
251 - 281 of 281 نتائج
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Evaluation of Acid Stimulation Performance in Oil Wells in Qatar Using Skin Characterization
المؤلفون: Mashhad Fahes, Mohammed Al-Jubouri, Mohammed Al-Sammarraie, A. Dan Hill and Pascal CheneviereAbstractAcid stimulation is widely used in carbonate reservoirs to stimulate wells and enhance productivity. Almost every well in Qatar undergoes acid stimulation before production starts. The main purpose is to remove any damage in the near well-bore region from drilling fluids. Successful stimulation jobs result in a skin factor between -4 and -6.
During acid injection, the value of injection rate and pressure is recorded. Real-time monitoring of this data can be very helpful in evaluating the performance of the stimulation process and in guiding its progress. In some cases, wells can be over stimulated resulting in damage to well productivity. In other cases, the volumes injected might not be enough to establish proper displacement of the acid into the formation.
As a part of the research collaboration efforts between Texas A&M University and Total Research Center at Qatar, a software that was developed by the research team in the College Station campus was used to analyze the performance of three acid stimulation jobs that were conducted in Qatar. Records of the stimulation data were collected and the skin was analyzed. The performance of the software was evaluated by comparing its predictions to the actual performance of the well. The results show that skin characterization during acid injection is capable of predicting well performance and in some cases it can be used to ensure the success of the acid stimulation job.
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The Carbon Conundrum: Challenges and Road Map to Feasible Solutions
المؤلفون: Farid BenyahiaAbstractThe debate around carbon emission reduction seems to be hinging on capture and storage despite limited information about suitable sites and associated risks. It is unfortunate that alternatives to underground storage have not been discussed and disseminated for public opinion. This presentation aims at demystifying the broader picture on carbon management and the associated issues. Given the current lack of progress on a large-scale carbon management, it is important to look at alternative carbon sequestration methods that carry less risk but may require further development work. In this context, carbon mineralization using a special chemical reaction approach that aims to solve two environmental problems in one solution has been studied. This approach stems from the fact that the GCC states produce fresh water from desalination processes and therefore reject huge amounts of concentrated brine into the sea and at the same time emit large amounts of CO2 from the massive hydrocarbon industries. These challenging environmental problems are the subject of a qatar national research fund project undertaken at Qatar University. The results obtained indicate that it is feasible to convert a significant amount of captured CO2 into a stable bicarbonate and at the same time reduce concentrated brine reject into the Arabian Gulf. Details of the proposed process will be presented. This is considered as a major contribution given the current status of the carbon conundrum.
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Toxicity of Chlorine-Produced Oxidants to Arabian Killifish Embryos for Acute Developmental Stages Exposures
المؤلفون: Suhur Saeed, Nayla Al-Naema and Eric FebboAbstractBackground: Fish embryos are excellent models for studies aimed at the understanding of toxic mechanisms and the indication of possible acute and chronic effects. Therefore, we present the use of Arabian killifish (Aphanius dispar) embryos, an indigenous species to the Arabian Gulf, to study the effect of chlorine-produced oxidants to marine organisms in the Qatari coastal area.
Objective: The objective of this study is to develop chlorine toxicity data for the marine Fish Embryo Toxicity (mFET) test. The test is designed as a means to replace or refine the use of marine juvenile and/or adult fish in standard approaches evaluating toxicity of chemicals and effluents.
Methods: Embryos were collected from a breeding stock of sexually mature Arabian killifish. Testing was initiated as soon as possible after fertilization of the eggs with exposure to aqueous concentrations of calcium hypochlorite (0.10 – 12.3 mg/l) for up to 240 hours. The investigated endpoints included; coagulated eggs, somite development, heartbeat, tail detachment, hatchability and post hatch mortality.
Results: The results showed a developmental stage-dependent response to chlorine. During earlier developmental stages, chlorine had reduced effects on the embryos and the survival rate and hatchability were high, even at relatively high concentrations. In later developmental stages (pre to post hatch, eleutheroembryo), the embryos were significantly more sensitive to chlorine than in the early stages of development. The chorion, (membrane surrounding the egg), is believed to provide a barrier against chlorine in early stages of embryo development.
Conclusions: Taking into account the findings presented here, Killifish embryos exhibit the ability to be an indicator organism for environmental risk assessments of the Qatari coastal area. Benefits include, animal alternative, ease of fish breeding, clarity of the embryos, reduced sample size, reduced waste generation and shorter study duration.
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Air Quality Management System for Qatar
AbstractClean air is an essential requirement to protect human health and the ecosystem. Achieving acceptable air quality requires the monitoring of ambient air quality, the setting of standards by the Ministry of Environment (MoE), and the implementation of control technologies.
Air quality is a national priority for Qatar. The Qatar Energy and Environment Research Institute (QEERI) and TOTAL Research Center-Qatar, with their knowledge of local conditions, have set up a joint research pilot project to assess air quality within a 15–20 km radius circle centered on Qatar Foundation. This project will provide the policy maker with air quality monitoring data and real-time pollutant concentration mapping, so that they may develop air quality management strategies.
The pilot project will encompass most of Doha, as well as “background” areas, thus providing valuable information towards understanding the dynamics of air pollution. Although limited in geographic scope, the pilot project will help to understand the potential issues that would be associated with a full-scale project. These issues include assessing the quality of existing data, testing of various research tools and methods, identification and communication with the stakeholders involved. Importantly, the success of this project relies on data availability and quality from existing and forthcoming air quality monitoring stations.
To account for the small-scale variability of concentrations, typically not represented by fixed monitoring stations, a network of micro-sensors is being built. It will provide additional data to assess the influence from specific emission sources, in particular traffic, on air quality. A number of sensors will be deployed at varying distance along the roads. Data from the micro-sensors will be evaluated against fixed monitoring stations data as a performance benchmark.
Kriging is used to produce real-time concentrations maps. This advanced interpolation technique uses auxiliary data such as emissions inventory, land use, or model outputs in order to derive concentration information between measurement points. Kriging output consists of real-time concentration maps constrained by all the available information.
Training and capacity building will be also an important outcome of this pilot project between QEERI and TOTAL, thanks to the participation of students from Qatari universities to the project.
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Flare Reduction Options and Simulation for the Qatari Oil and Gas Industry
المؤلفون: Majeda Khraisheh, Farid Benyahia and Noora Al GhanimAbstractFlaring and venting are two activities associated with oil and gas production. Qatar is a world leader in the production and exporting of liquid natural gas (LNG). Flaring is a combusting process used to dispose of natural gas (sweet, sour acid gas or otherwise other hydrocarbon vapors) through a vertical stack. Facilities in the oil and gas industry may routinely flare small volumes of natural gas that are technically difficult and uneconomic to conserve. It is estimated that flaring of gas associated with these industries is around 100 billion cubic meters per year worldwide; emitting around 400 million tones of CO2 and wasting 1600 Trillion Btu of energy each year. The reduction of flaring is gaining momentum globally and the Qatari industries are paying increased attention to this international focus on energy conservation and global climate change mitigation measures. The reduction of the volume of gas flared each year is an important issue for the gas industry for health, safety and environmental impacts, as well as conservation of energy resources.
Qatar Ministry of Environment (MoE) cap targets flaring rate to 0.3% of inlet feed gas, which is usually met in QG from the existing trains in operation today. However, sustaining the overall flaring rate within the 0.3% governmental target value will pose a new challenge with the commissioning and operation of the new “Mega Trains” which will produce the world largest amount of LNG in a one given facility. This paper will present an initial engineering feasibility study to explore the minimization of routine and non-routine flaring in the Qatari Gas industries by carrying out a flare reduction assessment study and simulation using FlareNet.
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Analysing the Resilience of Qatar National Food Security Program
المؤلفون: Tareq Al-AnsariAbstractA limestone-plateau of 11,400 sq. km, Qatar continues to import approximately 90% of its food. By establishing a position of foreign dependence, Qatar's food security is at risk due to fluctuating prices (as experienced in 2008) and potential disruptions in supply. The total arable land in the GCC is in the order of 1.7%, resulting in an industry that only accounts for 1–4% of total revenue (0.1% in Qatar). As such, Qatar is only 23% self-sufficient in vegetables, 0.76% in cereal, 23.1% in fruits and 12.5 % in livestock.
At present production outputs, Qatar's self-sufficiency will be further reduced as demand increases. For instance, Qatar's population increased linearly at 14.3 % per year from 2003 (0.71 million) to 2009 (1.6 million) and is expected to reach 3.2 million by 2020 and 4.9 million by 2030 Moreover, inevitable domestic vulnerabilities could hinder the productivity of the domestic system. For instance, temperatures in the Gulf are forecasted to increase by 1.8°C by 2040 leading to desertification, whilst increasing water scarcity in a region already heavily water stressed. It is estimated that 73% of aquifers in the GCC have depleted, whilst locally, aquifers are used 9 times faster than their replenishing rate.
The development of a domestic food system, agro-investment and continued activity in the global market should be considered as critical constituents in any final food security strategy. Sustainable local production presents the core of the Qatar National Food Security Program, which is centred on solar-desalination as a means for water supply. Agro-investment is essential because it allows the importer to benefit from virtual water through the import of water intensive crops. Finally, enhancing purchasing power and diversifying suppliers allows the importer to establish a stronger position in the global market. The proposed food program faces the tough challenge of achieving food security whilst preserving the natural environment. As such, this paper will discuss the dynamic relationship between the food system and its environment, explore its resilience and ultimately put forward a series of recommendations which are aimed at enhancing Qatar's food security whilst considering its environment.
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Green Home: Designing and Fabricating Occupancy Sensors
المؤلفون: Manir Al-Faisal and Abdullah KayyaliAbstractThis project targets the design and fabrication of a door-mounted sensing unit that will detect room occupancy. The unit will communicate with control devices via different protocols enabling the control of lighting and air conditioning (AC) systems.
As the world witnesses a global change of attitude towards energy consumption, notions of energy conservation become more prevalent. Consequently, industries concerned with Building Management Systems directed their attention to energy-efficient solutions. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the residential sector was responsible for 38% of total power consumption in 2009. Home Automation solutions came under the spotlight when world-leading firms started focusing on reducing energy consumption in houses. The best example of this is the use of sensors that detect room occupancy & respond accordingly therefore saving energy.
A number of Electrical Engineering Technology students at the College of the North Atlantic started researching a Home Automation project. The project has utilized off-the-shelf motion sensors to detect room occupancy and hence perform ON/OFF operations on lighting & AC loads. An issue was encountered concerning the Passive Infrared technology used in those sensors, as they are optimized for office applications.
To eliminate the need for constant motion in a room for occupancy detection, a new sensing unit can be used on the frame of a door. The unit will employ infrared emitters, receivers & a microprocessor. The microcontroller will be programmed to communicate in different protocols.
Detect occupancy
Send signals over different networks.
Ensure that the unit is compatible with standard size residential doors.
Integrate with other application.
Methodology:
Researching Technology
Sketches and Drawings
Components Selection
Microcontroller Programming
Prototype Design and Fabrication
Integration and Testing
The outcome of the project will be a new standalone sensing unit for implementation in Home Automation systems, and with components from different manufacturers. The new proposed unit will be more practical than its counterparts, by eliminating the need for constant motion, it can find a way into larger scale applications. In this project, the unit is to be limited to standard-sized single-leaf residential doors, while the basic concept can be enhanced to cover a variety of residential and/or commercial doors.
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Environmental Life Cycle Impact Assessment of Gas-to-Liquid processes: SOx , NOx and CO2 Emissions
المؤلفون: Majeda Khraisheh, Farid Benyahia, Layal Baninaser, Enas Omar, Ahmad Fard and Yahia ManawiAbstractCompared with conventional diesel refining process, GTL diesel offers significant environmental advantages such as less carbon emissions and improvement of air quality. However, the GTL technology often requires intensive energy and resources input.
This paper applies Life cycle assessment (LCA) method to quantify the environmental impacts of gas-to-liquid fuel processes. LCA is a tool for the analysis of environmental impacts of a product or a system, taking into account the complete life cycle of a product. Data are collected from the literature for the current “common practice”. Impact assessment was carried out considering 18 impact categories classified into three damage categories: human health, ecosystem quality and resources.
This paper will present results of environmental burdens of GTL diesel in comparison with biomass biodiesel processes. The results indicate how much of each process's contribution to environmental burdens, thus suggesting where efforts shall be placed in order to improve the environmental performance. Source of the environmental burdens will also be identified and suggestions will be made how the environmental impacts of GTL technology can be minimize through improved design and energy integration.
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Qatari Truffles
المؤلفون: Asmaa Yousuf Alqaradawi, Salem Sassi Shamekh and Sara Hani Al-HadidiAbstractDesert Truffles, belonging to the genus Terfezia and Tirmania, are native to Qatar and known locally as “Al-Fag’a or Al-Kamaa”. Desert truffles have a long history of use for food and medicine in Qatar and in the neighboring states too. They are adapted to heat stress and drought conditions. The white color truffles belonging to the genus Tirmania, locally called Zubaidi are more appreciated in Qatar than the dark brown color truffles, which called locally Ikhlasi (belonging to the genus Terfezia). In season 2011 in Doha, Qatar Tirmania (Zubaidia) was selling for 1000 rayal/kg. These fungi are also mycorrhizal - they grow in a mutualistic association with the roots of the desert sunflower, Helianthemum spp. Both the soil and vegetative attributes of truffle beds are being characterized in order to increase our understanding of the habitat in which desert truffles naturally grow. Qatari truffle sites soil have been evaluated for both physical and chemical properties such as: soil texture and pH. The approximate compositions of the Qatari truffle grown wild in Qatar were determined and their genetic maps will be explored. Increasing the wild Qatari truffles crop in their natural habitat was planned last season.
Germination and inoculation of Qatari Helianthemum spp and tree seedlings with truffles will be applied.
The overall aim of this study is to conduct research that will support the development of a sustainable desert truffle agro-industry in Qatar, capable of withstanding the effects of climate change.
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Amidoximes: Promising Candidates for CO2 Capture
المؤلفون: Cafer Tayyar Yavuz, Mert Atilhan, Erhan Deniz, Sonia Zulfiqa and Ferdi KaradasAbstractAmidoximes are an important class of organic compounds featuring a fused amide and oxime functionality and their use as starting materials for the synthesis of valuable heterocyclics and related intermediates enabled wide applications in novel pharmaceuticals, antitumor agents, antimalarial agents, nitric oxide synthase (NOS) substrates, enhanced textile materials, synthetic polymers, and chelating resins. In this work, amidoxime functionality dependent CO2 adsorption behavior is presented. It is showed that amidoxime groups offer new chemical terminals for selective CO2 binding and such previously unknown behavior puts this well-known class of organic building blocks into spotlight for the pursuit of commercial scale CO2 capture and storage. In an attempt to quantify their performance, four representative amidoximes with varying amidoxime content were screened by using high-pressure magnetic suspension sorption apparatus. The highest percent amidoxime functionality present in acetamidoxime was found to show the highest capacity with 2.71 mmol/g. Acetamidoxime also featured a dimerization, which leads to an enhanced adsorption with an increase in temperature. Moreover, polymeric amidoxime showed superior adsorption per surface area when compared to a well-known activated carbon.
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Integrated Pest Management (IPM) as Alternative to Chemical Pesticides with Low Environmental Impact
المؤلفون: Emad Hussain Al TuraihiAbstractDuring the last four decades, synthetic chemical pesticides have provided many benefits to agriculture and food production, but they posed some hazardous problems to humans, animals and environment. Chemical pesticides leave undesirable residues in food, water and environment where they are not used properly. It is estimated that one million people are affected by chemical pesticides poisoning every year and more than 20,000 die as a result of being unaware of the risks involved in handling or using of chemical pesticides.
This study showed that Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was an effective alternative to synthetic chemical pesticides. Also the study revealed that the components of IPM such as cultural practices, biological control, pheromone traps, soil solarisation and plant extracts provided cost effective and environmentally sound methods to control agricultural pests and diseases. As a result many growers and researchers are applying IPM approach to maintain the pest populations at the levels below those causing economically unacceptable damage or loss.
Besides this, the study showed the practice of IPM methods in Qatar to manage some insects and diseases affecting date palm trees. The main goal of IPM is to reduce any harmful impact of chemical pesticides may have on humans, wildlife, soil and water quality. The usage of chemical pesticides in the IPM Programme should be rational, judicious and applying at the most vulnerable time in an insect/disease life cycle.
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Experimental and Environmental Investigation on Natural and Polymer Fiber Reinforced Concrete
المؤلفون: Nesibe Gozde Ozerkan, Mariam A. Al-Maadeed and Ramazan KahramanAbstractThis paper presents the results of an experimental work and life cycle analysis of reinforced mortar samples retrofitted with natural, and virgin and recycled polymers. The objectives of this study were to investigate the behavior of retrofitted concretes experimentally, and to compare the defined fiber reinforced concrete samples from environmental point of view using life cycle analysis. The mixtures of reinforced concretes was prepared as control mixture which includes no fibers, natural (palm) fiber reinforced mixture, virgin and recycled polypropylene (PP) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) reinforced concrete mixtures, natural fiber and virgin and recycled PP reinforced concrete mixtures, and natural fiber and virgin and recycled LDPE reinforced concrete mixtures. The experimental tests were performed to investigate the behavior of reinforced concrete samples in such a way that either durable or not. Moreover, those concrete mixtures were also compared using life cycle assessment method according to their environmental effects. Within the scope of the study, GaBi software was used for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis. Landfilling was considered as reference scenario and compared with filled recycled plastics. A quantitative impact assessment was performed for four environmental impact categories, global warming (GWP) over a hundred years, human toxicity (HTP), abiotic depletion (ADP) and acidification potential (AP) were taken into consideration during LCA. At the end of the study, according to the compressive strength tests results, it was seen that natural fiber reinforced concrete did not perform well at each testing age, and also according to the pore definition test, permeability of natural fiber reinforced concrete was higher than that of the control mixture which means that durability of natural fiber reinforced concrete against harsh environment is very low. Moreover, according to life cycle analysis, recycled polymer fibers reinforced concrete mixtures have lower environmental effect for all impact assessment categories. On the other hand, natural fiber reinforced concrete mixtures has the worst environmental effect, but when the natural fiber mixed with recycled or virgin polymers those concrete mixtures have better environmental effect.
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Effect of Nano-Size Al2O3 and Elemental Ca Addition on the Microstructural and Mechanical Properties of AZ41 Magnesium Alloy
المؤلفون: Md Ershadul Alam, Rowshan Ara Rima, Abdel Magid Salem Hamouda and Manoj GuptaAbstractLight weight structural materials are in high demand these days due to the limited oil and gas reserves and global inclination to reduce the green house gas (CO2) emission. Magnesium based materials are the lightest engineering materials in the earth. Magnesium alloys that contain aluminium and zinc are known as AZ alloys. These alloys are reasonably priced, easily available, and used in many engineering applications. Various attempts have been made in recent years to further improve the properties of these alloys through the addition of rare earth elements, calcium (Ca), silicon (Si) as well as adding different types of nanoparticles. The addition of Ca has been shown to assist in grain refinement and enhancing corrosion resistance as well as thermal and mechanical properties of magnesium alloys while Nano-sized particles helps to improve ductility, in general.
In the present study, new AZ41/1.5Al2O3-1Ca magnesium Nano composite was successfully synthesized by simultaneously adding 1 wt. % aluminium, 1 wt.% Ca and 1.5 vol.% Nano-sized Al2O3 (50 nm) into AZ31 matrix using an innovative disintegrated melt deposition technique. AZ41/Al2O3 Nano composite was also developed following the same processing route except adding Ca. All Nano composite samples were then subsequently hot extruded at 400 °C and characterized. Microstructural characterization studies revealed uniaxial grain size, reasonably uniform distribution of intermetallic and minimal porosity. Addition of Ca helped to reduce the average grain size of AZ41-Al2O3 Nano composite. Physical properties characterization revealed that the addition of Nano-sized alumina helped to reduce the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of AZ41 alloy and the CTE value further reduced with Ca addition. The presence of Ca also assisted in improving overall mechanical properties including micro hardness, 0.2% yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and work of fracture without compromising ductility when compared to AZ41 alloy and its alumina Nano composite.
The results suggest that these newly developed magnesium Nano composites have significant potential in diverse engineering applications in weight critical industries, especially such as for automobile sector.
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Environmentally Responsible Behavior: A Study of Critical Factors in Qatar
المؤلفون: Mohd. Nishat Faisal and Sheeba KhanAbstractDue to exponential growth of population and consumption of natural resources at an even faster pace, the impact of human behavior on the natural environment is becoming readily apparent. Resources are becoming less abundant, space is becoming more limited, and pollution of air, water, and land are beginning to have a direct impact on the inhabitants of the planet. This paper presents the findings of the study that was undertaken to understand the environmentally significant behavior. The study analyzes the factors that have been found to have some influence, positive or negative, on pro-environmental behavior such as demographic factors, external factors (economic, social and cultural) and internal factors (motivation, pro-environmental knowledge, awareness, values, attitudes, emotion, responsibilities and priorities). The study consist of two parts, part one was a questionnaire-based exploratory study to elicit responses from citizens and other residents. Utilizing suitable sampling technique, responses were collected from a multitude of respondents. This was done to provide representation of various groups residing in Qatar. Based on the findings of the questionnaire study and exhaustive literature review the second part of the study focused on developing an interpretative structural model of the barriers to pro-environmental behavior. The research shows that not all barriers of require the same amount of attention. There exists a group of barriers that have a high driving power and low dependence requiring maximum attention and are of strategic importance and another group that have a high dependence but low driving power. This classification provides a useful tool to policy makers developing strategies to conserve environment so as to differentiate between independent and dependent variables which would further help them to focus on those variables that are most important for inculcating environmentally responsible behavior in the people residing in the state of Qatar.
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A Novel Approach for Targeting and Optimal Design of Efficient Seawater Reverse Osmosis Desalination Networks
المؤلفون: Patrick Linke and Sabla Yahya AlnouriAbstractSeawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination processes are widely used. The optimal design of such systems resembles a network synthesis problem and has been addressed using superstructure optimization approaches. However, to date these approaches suffer from a limited ability to identify structurally distinct design alternatives, despite requiring significant computational times to determine globally optimal solutions, even for simple cases involving superstructures of only two membrane units. Moreover, existing approaches do not adequately take into consideration water quality information to keep the optimization problems solvable within reasonable times. However, SWRO design strongly depends upon the quality of the feed water and the product water specifications. This casts doubt about the relevance of the results obtained from current superstructure optimization approaches. This paper introduces a novel approach to optimal SWRO design that addresses the major shortcomings of previous approaches.
We introduce a novel SWRO synthesis approach, based on the coordinated use of process superstructure representations and global optimization. The approach determines globally optimal solutions to the SWRO network synthesis problems from optimization of full superstructures. It further supports design engineers with a better understanding of the design space and trade-offs between complexity and efficiency. This is achieved through reduced superstructures of distinct design classes. The approach takes into consideration all relevant process conditions and constraints typically associated with SWRO systems. Thermodynamic insights have led to lean superstructure representations throughout which can be solved within short computational times.
In contrast to previous approaches that consider sea water to consist of two components only, i.e. “water” and “salt (TDS)”, our superstructure models account for detailed water quality information to ensure practicality. The models capture the performance of the most commonly used membrane elements, as predicted by commercially used simulators including ROSA (Dow) and IMSDesign (Hydranautics) and allow tracing of individual components throughout the system. A detailed economic assessment captures all the significant capital and operating costs associated in SWRO processes, including intake, pre and post treatment.
The approach is illustrated using a case study involving four different seawater qualities for which design targets and optimal designs are obtained within short CPU times.
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Advanced Reduction Processes for Hazardous Waste Treatment
المؤلفون: Sun Hee Yoon, Ahmed Abdel-Wahab and Bill BatchelorAbstractA new class of treatment processes called Advanced Reduction Processes (ARPs) has been developed and employed for destroying persistent organic contaminants in wastewater. ARPs combine reducing reagents with activating methods to produce highly reactive reducing free radicals. These ARPs have the potential to effectively destroy a wide range of oxidized contaminants such as chlorinated organics, perchlorate, nitrate, nitrite, chromate, arsenate, selenate, bromate and a number of radionuclides. Sponsored by Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) under the National Priorities Research Program (NPRP), this research is the first effort to chart the boundaries of this new group of treatment processes applied to degrading chlorinated organics by reductive dechlorination. ARPs were applied for destroying 1,2-dichloroethane (DCA) which is detected in industrial wastewaters and sludges in several petrochemical and oil and gas industries. The literature indicates that DCA is very difficult to destroy using conventional treatment processes. This novel approach of ARPs has the potential to effectively destroy this persistent contaminant because ARPs overcome kinetic limitations of conventional processes by producing highly reactive reducing free radicals that can rapidly destroy chlorinated contaminants.
Batch experiments were conducted with all combinations of reducing reagents (4) and activating methods (3) resulting in 12 potential ARPs being evaluated against one target compound (DCA). The reagents evaluated are dithionite, sulfite, sulfide, and ferrous iron. The activating methods evaluated are UV light generated by medium-pressure lamps (UV-M), UV light generated by narrowband lamps (UV-N), and microwave irradiation (MW). Over 90 % degradation of DCA was accomplished using S2O42- as the reducing agent and medium-pressure UV lamp as the activating method. The rate of DCA degradation was rapid indicating that the kinetics would not limit the practical application of ARPs for efficient removal of DCA from wastewater.
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Removal of Natural Organic Matter from Wastewater by Electrocoagulation Using Aluminum Electrodes
المؤلفون: Nasr Bensalah, Khaled Mansouri and Ahmed Abdel-WahabAbstractElectrocoagulation is a promising alternative to the conventional chemical coagulation in water treatment systems. In electrocoagulation, coagulants are generated in situ by anodic dissolution of sacrificial electrodes, usually aluminum or iron electrodes. Anodic dissolution of the sacrificial anodes leads to the formation of hydrolysis products (hydroxo-metal species) that involve the destabilization of suspended, emulsified or dissolved pollutants and/or the formation of insoluble particles that adsorb and enmesh the pollutants. Furthermore, the formation of hydrogen bubbles as a result of water reduction at the cathode surface promotes the flocculation process by the soft turbulence in the system and produces a soft mix. The electrogenerated gaseous bubbles help the destabilized particles to colloid and generate larger particles which facilitate separation of the flocculated pollutants by carrying the particles to the top of the solution where they can be more easily removed by electroflotation. Electrochemical coagulation was successfully applied for turbidity, heavy metals, dyes and phenols removals from synthetic and real wastewaters and for breaking oil/water emulsions at both laboratory scale and pilot plant scale.
In this work, effects of some experimental parameters (supporting electrolyte, current density, and initial pH) on anodic dissolution of aluminum and on electrocoagulation of tannic acid aqueous solutions as well as real industrial wastewaters containing tannic acid were investigated. Experimental results indicated that both chemical and electrochemical dissolution play an important role in the formation of hydroxo-aluminum species. The chemical dissolution of aluminum is strongly influenced by the solution pH.
Electrocoagulation using aluminum electrodes achieved high removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand from aqueous solutions containing tannic acid. The primary mechanism for removing tannic acid from water by electrocoagulation using Al electrodes involves the adsorption of tannic acid molecules on the aluminum hydroxide surface. Also, results of the treatment of real wastewater obtained from pulp and paper industry with initial COD concentration of 1450 mg/L have shown that more than 60 % of COD can be removed by electrocoagulation using Al electrodes under optimized experimental conditions. The specific energy required for the electrochemical process with Al electrodes was estimated to range from 1 to 2 kWh m-3.
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A Case Study of CO2 Sequestration Potential of a Saline Aquifer in Qatar
المؤلفون: Hadi Nasrabadi and Tausif AhmedAbstractCO2 is one of the byproducts of natural gas production in Qatar. High rate of natural gas production in Qatar has led to significant amounts of CO2 production. Release of CO2 into the atmosphere may be harmful from the global warming standpoint. Recent increase in CO2 concentration in atmosphere due to burning of fossil fuels and deforestation may be one of the main causes for acceleration in global warming. Since fossil fuels will be a critical component of world energy supplies for the coming decades, methods for disposal of CO2 that do not involve long residence of CO2 in the atmosphere should be studied.
One of these methods is injection of CO2 in underground saline aquifers. It is generally believed that saline aquifers provide the largest potential for CO2 sequestration. However, the effort required to screen and select saline aquifers for safe and long-term storage is significant. It is also important that screened CO2 storage sites are exploited to their full potential.
In this work, we studied CO2 sequestration potential in Qatar's Aruma aquifer. Aruma aquifer is a saline aquifer in the southwest of Qatar. It occupies an area of about 1985 km2 on land, which is approximately 16% of Qatar's area. We developed a compositional model for CO2 sequestration in the Aruma aquifer. Our model is based on available log data and flow test data from the Qatar Department of Agricultural and Water Research. We modeled CO2 injection at a constant rate for a period of 30 years and monitored the CO2 propagation for 200 years. We identified a suitable CO2 injection rate to keep pore pressure below formation fracturing pressure. We also studied water production at some distance from CO2 injection wells as a possible way to control pore pressure. This method resulted in significant increase in CO2 sequestration potential of the Aruma aquifer. The water produced from this aquifer is less saline than seawater and could provide a good water source in the desalination process. The main source of current Qatar's water usage is desalination of seawater.
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Predictive Emission Monitoring System
المؤلفون: Diane Lecoeur, Mohsen M Raja, James Baldwin and Claude SadoisAbstractQatargas and TOTAL Research Center-Qatar (TRC-Q) have established a joint project to study Predictive Emissions Monitoring Systems (PEMS). PEMS are an emerging software solution designed to partially or fully replace online analyzers such as Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS) by deriving emissions concentrations from process data. The pilot project that is being undertaken based at Qatargas is focused on NOx emissions for a particular study selected turbine, which is already equipped with a CEMS. In the set up and establishment of a system different approaches can be used: calculations based on thermodynamics, statistical relationships and neural networks. Four PEMS system suppliers have been selected representing these different approaches, and have built their PEMS solutions based on a full year of turbine operating data. The results and performances are compared in a blind benchmarking as well as against in-house calculations.
There are several expected advantages in the use of PEMS. CEMS are an expensive solution with difficulties related to their installation and maintenance (need to shut down the installation, potential for unreliable performance in harsh conditions) whereas PEMS are purely based on software and process data already available and therefore can have more robust operation. By providing a relationship between the process and the emissions, PEMS help the understanding of the behavior of the installation with regards to its emissions, and thus enables better emission control. This pilot project is expected to serve as a showcase for this new technology to local authorities and industries.
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The Combined Impact of Environment Heat Stress and Exercise on Immune Function
المؤلفون: Wade KnezAbstractBackground: The impact of heat stress alone on immune function is complex in nature; however, it appears a core temperature within the range of 37–39±C has little impact on neutrophil, lymphocyte and natural killer cell function. However, during passive heating where core temperature increases outside of this range there is a proliferation in leukocytes and cytokines with the magnitude dependent upon the extent and the duration of the heat stress.
Laboratory and field-based experiments investigating the effect of exercise on immune function have shown moderate levels of training enhances the immune function; however, both high intensity acute and chronic exercise can result in immune suppression. Research has shown that immune suppression is at least partly responsible for the reported increase incidence of infection in athletes, which is influenced by a number of factors including, and possibly a combination of intensity and duration of exercise; and the psychological stress of training and competition.
Given that both passive heating and exercise can have significant effects on the immune function that are based upon the stress experienced, it seems plausible that combined impact of heat stress and exercise stress may have an accumulative effect.
Conclusion: Unfortunately, relatively little is known about the immunosuppressive effect of exercising in extreme temperature. This is an important consideration to individuals completing physical labour or athletes training and playing in an extreme environment such as that experienced during the summer months in Qatar.
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Distinguishing Date Palm Gender Using DNA Based Assays
المؤلفون: Yasmin Mohamoud, Maryam A Al Mahmoud, Eman K Al Dous, Eman K Al Azwani and Joel A MalekAbstractThe date palm is one of the oldest cultivated trees and is critical to the development of arid land. The date palm is a dioecious monocot with separate male and female trees, however only the female trees produce the fruit that is sought after in farming. This presents a challenge in crop development, as it is impossible to distinguish trees until they flower approximately 5–8 years after planting. We have developed two Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) based assays capable of sex differentiation in multiple date palm cultivars. The primers are designed across gender specific polymorphisms and demonstrated greater than 90% accuracy in distinguishing date palm gender across multiple varieties. These assays should be helpful in rapidly distinguishing date palm gender from the earliest stages that DNA can safely be collected. As the sex-linked region is fine mapped these assays will be refined to take into account this information. For now, our assays provide a vast savings in time and effort over existing approaches.
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Advanced Treatment Process for Brackish Water Desalination
المؤلفون: Krishnapuram Karthikeyan, Linchen Han, Ahmed Abdel-Wahab and Marc AndersonAbstractWe aim to develop an energy-efficient, low-cost desalination technology for creating new, affordable water sources from brackish waters. Since Qatar has extremely limited rechargeable water sources, technologies facilitating safe use of impaired and unconventional water sources are needed. Capacitive deionization (CDI) technology can meet the unique, logistical and economic needs for inland desalination. CDI technology, unlike reverse osmosis and nanofiltration, operates under ambient pressure and can be sustained with renewable energy sources. In this process, ions move to the electrode surface and build up an electrical double layer (EDL) when an external potential is applied. Metal oxide nano-particle coatings are widely used in super-capacitors to increase the capacitance. We are employing fourth-generation CDI technology (i.e., alumina, silica nano-particle coated porous carbon) for brackish water treatment. The presence of oxides together with the functional groups on the carbon surface enhances the ion removal process. Sorption capacity of up to 0.05 mM/g electrode has been achieved for monovalent ions with high reversibility and no obvious loss of capacity in long-term operation. During regeneration, up to 50% of the charge can be harvested. Preliminary results indicate that higher sorption capacity exists for divalent cations compared to monovalent ions. Comprehensive tests are underway for various electrolytes (1:2, 2:1, 2:2) and brackish water samples to cover a wide gradient in salt concentration and ionic composition. This project will lead to the development of low-cost inland desalination systems and can be expected to boost Qatar's scientific profile in global and regional water industry.
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Environmental Research Robots: A Student-Driven Initiative
المؤلفون: Sarah Anne Inkpen, Kerry Suek and Stephen MonkAbstractThe College of the North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) is a satellite campus of a Canadian comprehensive technical college based in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. CNA-Q is in its tenth year with over 2000 students and 500 faculty members.
In 2008, we began Phase I of our research programme. The main objective was to create a student-driven interdisciplinary learning environment. CNA-Q received a grant to design a prototype of an autonomous environmental research robot (ERR). The students agreed on an environmental issue and then worked as a team to design robots that would improve the situation. Their first ‘mission’ involves the endangered Hawksbill Turtle, which is indigenous to the Gulf region. In Qatar, the female Hawksbill turtle lays her eggs on the beaches of one of the largest industrial cities in the world, Ras Laffan, a producer of natural gas. The Hawksbill turtle is at risk for many reasons including: turtle meat and turtle eggs are considered a delicacy, natural predators and, our concern, the contaminated nesting beaches through toxic waste, excessive noise and distracting lights.
Using Mindstorm robotic kits, students from Engineering, IT, Business and Health Sciences built over 100 robots looking for the best-designed and programmed robot, capable of withstanding the harsh environment as well as being sophisticated enough to collect and store data at given intervals and locations. To ensure that the students had the background necessary to understand the turtle's plight, they spent a week in Malaysia working with Dr. Nicholas Pilcher, founder of the Marine Research Foundation, Sabah including a stay at Borneo`s Turtle Island. In addition, for the past two years CNA-Q students have assisted with the satellite-tracking project at Fuwayrit Beach, Qatar.
Phase II began in the fall of 2010. The first Environmental Research Robot was built, programmed and equipped with sensors. The robot did trial readings in the Spring of 2010. A second ERR, a cleanup robot, is in the planning stages.
This paper will discuss the innovative teaching and learning practices that resulted from the melding of the research, technology and environmental aspects of this project.
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Green Home: Sustainable Energy Management and Home Automation
المؤلفون: Ovaise MurtuzaAbstractWhile much has been made of sustainable living, green architecture and home design, the vast majority of green home technologies and related environmental innovations have been developed and tested in countries that do not possess the harsh climate found in Qatar. Systems and equipment designed and tested in the UK, for example, would not have been exposed to the heat, humidity and dust commonly found here, and, therefore, their suitability is uncertain. Similarly, there is a data vacuum on the subject of how green home technologies actually do perform in Qatar. Exactly how efficient are some of these technologies and should they be considered as viable alternatives in the support of sustainability planning?
The Green Home Automation Project (GHAP) is an environmental research in which data was collected on the electricity and water usage of a faculty member's villa for a one-year period. The same villa was then theoretically analysed for energy savings using green home automation technologies, energy efficient LED lighting and improved HVAC systems.
A comparative study was performed between the Old Current System (OCS) and the New Proposed System (NPS). Results of the theoretical comparative study showed significant energy savings when compared to the operation of the test villa. Using the suggested improvements, the NPS used 70% less energy for lighting and 40% less energy for HVAC than the OCS. These savings were calculated and compared for a “typical year” per villa.
Phase II of GHAP involved automating the same test villa to determine additional savings that could make the test villa greener. Both the lighting and the air-conditioning was controller via a central controller. Data has been collected over the last six months and indicates a 45% savings in electricity over the previous year.
This real world data supports the conclusion that (1) home automation can substantially reduce energy consumption in the State of Qatar and (2) and that further investigations into other green home innovations that can be automated should be undertaken.
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Fish Model for Toxicity Screening Studies for Qatar: Killifish Breeding & Developmental Stages
المؤلفون: Nayla Mohammed Al-Naema, Suhur Saeed and Eric FebboAbstractBackground: The use of Arabian killifish embryos is proposed as an alternative to using juvenile or adult fish for environmental risk studies. Fish embryo toxicity (FET) methods can provide many benefits; they are considered animal alternatives, they require relatively small sample size and reduced time to determine toxicity endpoints.
Objective: The establishment of a laboratory fish culture to provide embryos and identification of early developmental stages for the FET method. Arabian killifish are not a widely cultured organism for breeding purposes. Laboratory method development to produce quality embryos was initiated in early 2010.
Methods: The standard FET approach that uses Zebrafish (Daniorerio) or Medaka was adapted to the Arabian Gulf killifish. The Arabian killifish (Aphaniusdispar) are small fish (5–6 cm) from the family of cyprinodontidae. Behavioral patterns, feeding optimization, diurnal cycle, male to female ratio as well as other factors were studied in the laboratory. Specially designed breeding chambers and egg collection traps were necessary to eliminate egg predation and facilitate collection. Once fertilized eggs were obtained, the developmental stages were documented in order to identify eco-toxicity study endpoints.
Results: The Arabian killifish exhibits the traits needed for FET testing. They are able to be cultured in the laboratory and produce a sufficient number of eggs to perform eco-toxicity studies. The eggs are transparent with rapid developmental stages that are easily identified by light microscopy.
Conclusion: We have been successful in the production of quality embryos for testing, both in terms of viability (fertilization) and quantity released. The developmental stages of the Arabian killifish have been identified to provide an array of potential endpoints for eco-toxicity studies.
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Plant Diversity in the Diet of the Lizard Uromastyx Aegyptia Microlepis in Qatar: The Effect of Zone, Sampling Date and Faeces Size
AbstractResource distribution among and within habitats affects the abundance, richness and composition of communities. Yet, the role of resource distribution on species interactions is rarely studied. Generalist predators have the ability to survive extreme conditions by using a variety of foods that allows the population to grow during times of low food availability. Most lizard species are generalist predators, including those of the genus Uromastyx which are mainly herbivores but consume a large variety of plants. To date very few quantitative studies exist on the food and feeding habits of the spiny-tailed lizard worldwide.
The aims of this study are 1) to identify the diet of the lizard Uromastyx aegyptia microlepis, one of the biodiversity flagship species as well as of cultural relevance for Qatar, 2) to report the first data available on the plants consumed by this lizard in Qatar, 3) to help translocation programs directed to the conservation of this species in Qatar.
We examined 371 faecal samples that were collected between March and April 2010 in the Al-Kharrara desert in the south of Qatar. Our results show that in a single month these lizards consumed 34 different plant taxa belonging to at least 17 families, 29 genera and 18 species. Plant diversity was high with up to 19 different taxa found in one single faeces. Animal remains were also found in 26 % of the faeces. We explored the effect of faeces size, sampling day and study zone on the diversity of plants consumed by the lizards and found that all three variables were significantly correlated with plant diversity. Lizards consumed 31% of the plants present in the study area, suggesting that some plants are likely preferred or that grazing-impact by ungulates may affect food availability for lizard populations.
Competition between livestock and native herbivores is a global environmental problem, and livestock management should be implemented for the conservation of native vegetation in Qatar. Conservation efforts in Qatar are constrained by a lack of basic data on the distribution, abundance and population dynamics for nearly all species, and more scientific contributions are needed in the near future.
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Produced Water from Oil and Gas Fields: Sampling and Analytical Protocols
المؤلفون: Nabin Upadhyay, Isik Riza Turkmen, Samir Gharfeh and Samer AdhamAbstractThe oil and gas industries are one of the major producers of wastewater streams. Most of this water is disposed either through subsurface reinjection or surface discharge after some treatment. There is a growing interest in the reuse of produced water from oil and gas fields due to limited availability of freshwater resources. However, the poor quality of the produced water is a big challenge for its reuse. The characteristics of produced waters are highly complex, variable, and are dependent on field location, nature of reservoir, type of hydrocarbons produced, and field chemicals added. Good sampling and analytical methodology are required to better understand the needs for water treatment options, to evaluate environmental impact, and to explore feasibility of produced water reuse. In addition to that, quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) protocols are essential for wastewater characterization. The presentation will address the importance of proper sampling and analytical protocols that are relevant to produced water recycling. Also, analytical data validation, which is a critical component of QA/QC, will be discussed.
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Evaluation and Application of Membrane Distillation for Seawater Desalination
المؤلفون: Samer Adham, Altaf Hussain, Joel Minier Matar, Raul Dores, Mary Katebah and Arnold JansonAbstractThermal desalination process is proven to be robust for large scale installation and meet specific water quality requirement, but it needs high energy cost with serious environmental concerns related to discharge of brine. On the other hand, membrane processes have started gaining market acceptance due to improvement in membrane chemistry, efficient pre-treatment and smaller foot print, but still face many challenges when implemented in high salinity and bio-fouling sea water conditions, like the Arabian Gulf. Current desalination research trend include increasing the top brine temperature in thermal process, combating algal blooms for membrane process, and introducing innovative hybrid processes.
Membrane Distillation (MD) is one of the innovative emerging techniques for desalination of sea water. The driving force in MD is due to vapour pressure difference. The potential advantage of MD process is that feed solutions having temperature much lower than its boiling point under atmospheric pressure can be applied. MD process produces high quality effluent and leverages low grade waste heat and can also be coupled with renewable energy systems. Thus, MD can be efficiently used to recover additional product water from RO and thermal desalination process brines. This will augment the production of water from existing desalination facilities (RO and Thermal) as well as reduce the brine volume discharge and minimize impact to environment. The key challenges in improving the MD process are membrane, process modelling, design, module optimization and recovery of low grade waste heat. A consortium of industry, academic institution, technology providers and water utilities was recently formed in Qatar to evaluate the suitability of MD technology for sea water desalination in the region. The research study is carried out in multi phases including bench scale studies, model development, low grade waste heat evaluation and pilot scale demonstration. Bench scale studies results and evaluation of various technologies will be presented. The project outcome would be sustainable augmentation of water production, reduced environmental impact and capacity building in the State of Qatar.
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Bacteriocins from Qatari Bacillus Thuringiensis Crystal Producing Strains
المؤلفون: Al Zahraa Attar and Samir JaouaAbstractAntimicrobial agents are very useful and have been the subject of intense research. Amongst these compounds, bacteriocins are defined as peptide antibiotics which do not harm the producer strain but have the ability to kill closely related bacteria. Bacillus thuringiensis is a friendly bacterium best known for the production of bioinsecticides, but is also considered as a source of bacteriocins active against the closely related pathogenic species harmful for food products, and many organisms.
The major goal of this project is to evidence and characterize novel Bacillus thuringiensis bacteriocins synthesized by Qatari Bacillus thuringiensis strains. In order to obtain that, many approaches have been adopted:
- Screening of delta-endotoxin producing strains of Bacillus thuringiensis.
- Screening of bacteriocin producing strains of Bacillus thuringiensis.
- Study of the antagonistic effects among bacteriocin producing strains.
- Study of the effect of medium composition on bacteriocin synthesis.
- Screening by PCR of Bacthuricin F4 like producing strains.
In order to screen the bacteriocin producing strains of Bacillus thuringiensis, many techniques have been utilized such as: Direct Antagonism on Solid Media and Well Diffusion Method to check the bacteriocin activity. Bacteriocin production was studied on different growth media and against various indicator strains.
The screening of 192 Bacillus thuringiensis strains isolated from Qatar, allowed the evidence of strains having different crystal forms. In fact, these strains produce parasporal crystals that have pyramidal, bipyramidal, cubical, spherical and amorphous forms. Among these Bacillus thuringiensis strains, about 70% produce spherical crystals and 30 % bipyramidal. Similar results were obtained in the laboratory by Sara Zakzok and Duha Rabah. This could be considered as a contribution to the establishment of Qatari bacterial gene bank. Screening the collection for bactericidal activities against indicator strains, revealed a variability in the size and aspect of the inhibition zones. About 76% of the collection were bacteriocin producing strains and only 24% were negative.
There have been noticed many signs of novelty among our local bacteriocin producing strains. These results are very encouraging and in favour of the use of B. thuringiensis local strains for bacteriocin production.
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Qatari Bacillus T huringiensis Strains: Gene Bank and Molecular Investigation of the Insecticidal d-endotoxins and Coding Genes Towards a Sustainable Qatari and Gulf Environment Free from Chemical Pesticides
المؤلفون: Duha Mohammad Rabah, Samir Jaoua, Roda Al-Thani and Sara ZakzokAbstractB. thuringiensis is a gram-positive bacterium which produces, during sporulation, crystalline inclusions containing one or more delta-endotoxins. The latter are selectively toxic against a wide variety of insects, including important pests. Formulations based on B. thuringiensis have been used safely in developed countries as bioinsecticides for agriculture, forestry and disease vector control. This kind of bioinsecticides occupies the first place in the biopesticides world market and is essential for crop protection. The importance of such bioinsecticides and the emergence of new insect resistance cases, promoted worldwide isolation and screening programmes of new strains with particularly high insecticidal activities.
This project aims to develop an integrated approach that will explore activities of new B. thuringiensis isolates from Qatar and the Gulf region, an unexplored region, by performing an important programme of B. thuringiensis strains isolation from Qatar, screening using modern molecular techniques, gene investigation and bioassays.
The screening of 151 B. thuringiensis strains isolated from Qatar, allowed the evidence of strains having different crystal forms. In fact, these strains produce parasporal crystals that have pyramidal, bipyramidal, cubical, spherical and amorphous forms. These results demonstrate the heterogeneity and the fact that they produce different bioinsecticides acting on different insect families. Among these B. thuringiensis strains, only 58 strains produce bipyramidal crystals (38 %).
Similar results were obtained in the laboratory by Al-Zahra Attar and Sara Zakzouk who have screened respectively 199 and 87 other strains and obtained about the same ratio of bipyramidal crystal producing strains. The latter plasmid DNAs were analyzed showing different plasmid patterns. These results demonstrate that the bipyramidal crystal producing strains belong to different families. By PCR and electrophoresis of the amplified DNA fragments, we could predict the nature of the delta-endotoxin coding genes and the delta-endotoxin insecticidal activities. All the studied strain has protease activities except one that is protease minus. Such is very rare among Bacillus thuringiensis strains, but exists in Qatar. This strain is of high industrial value, since preventing proteolysis of delta-endotoxin and secreted active proteins and enzymes and could be considered as a suitable host for stable heterologous gene expression and protein secretion.
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Hydrotalcites: High Pressure and High Temperature CO2 Adsorption
المؤلفون: Mert Atilhan, Aysha Al-Mohannadi, Enas Azhar, Layal BaniNaser, Ashar Diab and Ferdi KaradasAbstractThe use of promising solid-state adsorbents is an emerging field in carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) owing to their promising sorption capacity and facile regeneration behaviour. Hydrotalcites, a class of layered double hydroxides (LDHs), are specifically suitable for high capacity CO2 sorption studies at high temperatures since they have a robust structure and their structures could easily be modified. Herein this work, derivatives of layered double hydroxides were prepared by substituting the Al ion systematically with Ga, Ce, Y, and La in specific percentages followed by characterization with powder X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Infrared (IR) spectroscopy, and the TGA analysis. The samples were then tested for their CO2 adsorption behaviour by using two different apparatus, first at high temperatures (∼30°C) using the Rubtotherm Thermal Analysis Sorption Device and through magnetic suspension sorption device at pressures up to 200 bars. Presented data is a part of a student project at Qatar University, Chemical Engineering Department.
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