M.H. Abdel-Aziz

Assessment and Analysis of Wind Power Resource Using Weibull Parameters

In this study, wind data of eleven years (2002–2012) has been used to determine wind characteristics of Saudi Arabian city Jeddah. These characteristics include the daily, monthly and annual wind speed, wind probability density distribution, shape (k) and scale (c) parameters at 10 m height. The analysis revealed that yearly values of k ranged from 1.398 to 1.763 with a mean value of 1.590 and values of scale parameter c varied from 3.146 to 4.329 with mean value of 3.95. Furthermore, the results showed that maximum and minimum wind power potential was observed in the month of March and February, respectively. The wind was found to be blowing predominantly from south east direction. It was found that wind potential of the region can be used for small scale off-grid wind applications.

Removal of Cyanide from Liquid Waste by Electrochemical Oxidation in a New Cell Design Employing a Graphite Anode

Removal of CN− from liquid solutions was studied experimentally by an anodic oxidation technique under various operating conditions. A new cell configuration was used, the cell consists of four vertical graphite rod anodes distributed at 90° on the circular circumference at a distance of 3 cm from the wall and surrounded by two cylindrical stainless steel screen cathodes from the inner and the outer side. Parameters investigated are the initial concentration of cyanide ions, applied current density, initial pH of the electrolyte, and electrolyte conductivity. All parameters were investigated at an operating time of 3 h. The % removal increased upon increasing the applied current density, increasing the electrolyte conductivity, and decreasing the initial concentration of CN−. Increasing initial pH from 4 to 8 increased the % removal by a factor ranging from 55 to 73%, further increase of pH up to 12 slightly increased the % removal (3–8%). Application of the present electrochemical reactor in treating cyanide containing effluents from different industries was highlighted.

Assessment of Blend PVDF Membranes, and the Effect of Polymer Concentration and Blend Composition

In this work, PVDF homopolymer was blended with PVDF-co-HFP copolymer and studied in terms of morphology, porosity, pore size, hydrophobicity, permeability, and mechanical properties. Different solvents, namely N-Methyl-2 pyrrolidone (NMP), Tetrahydrofuran (THF), and Dimethylformamide (DMF) solvents, were used to fabricate blended PVDF flat sheet membranes without the introduction of any pore forming agent, through a non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) technique. Furthermore, the performance of the fabricated membranes was investigated for pressure and thermal driven applications. The porosity of the membranes was slightly increased with the increase in the overall content of PVDF and by the inclusion of PVDF copolymer. Total PVDF content, copolymer content, and mixed-solvent have a positive effect on mechanical properties. The addition of copolymer increased the hydrophobicity when the total PVDF content was 20%. At 25% and with the inclusion of mixed-solvent, the hydrophobicity was adversely affected. The permeability of the membranes increased with the increase in the overall content of PVDF. Mixed-solvents significantly improved permeability.

Characterization of Vinyl Ester/Jute Fiber Bio-Composites in the Presence of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

In this study, vinyl ester –Jute fiber biocomposites were prepared using vacuum-assisted resin infusion (VARI) process. Woven Jute fibers were used with mass fraction 0.68. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are added to the resin with weight ratio 0.5: 99.5 to investigate the thermo-mechanical properties of bio-composites. Storage and loss modulus of vinyl ester bio-composites were investigated in the presence MWCNTs over a range of temperature (25 to 160 oC) to measure the capacity of bio-composite to store and dissipate energy. Damping properties of vinyl ester bio-composites were studied in terms of tan (d). Viscoelastic test using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) showed that the glass transition temperature increases with the addition of MWCNTs up to 112.4 oC. Addition of jute fiber reinforcements improves the storage modulus value of vinyl ester more than 65% at room temperature. Significant improvement in storage modulus was found in the presence of MWCNTs.