Muhammad Sagir

Comparative Life Cycle Analysis of Different Lighting Devices

In the modern era, tremendous technological and sustainable development has forced the societies to adopt modern energy efficient lighting devices instead of old fashioned less efficient incandescent lamps. The examples of such new lamps compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamps. These devices can provide similar light output at the expense of only 20 % electricity consumption in comparison to incandescent lamps due to less energy lost as heat during luminance phenomenon. CFLs convert about 45 % energy into visible light, while incandescent lamp converts only 10 % (Tosenstock, 2007). The ecological footprint evaluation for street lighting network in Veszprem County, Hungary has been carried out utilising Sustainable Process Index (SPI) methodology (Narodoslawsky and Krotscheck, 1995). The analysis was carried out considering three different light bulbs i.e. conventional or old fashioned less energy efficient incandescent lamps and high tech more energy efficient CFLs and LED lamps. The analysis results reveal that there is a potential to decrease environmental impacts by 2 to 4 times by changing lamps from conventional incandescent to CFL and LEDs. These results are in coherence with the ecological assessment study conducted by the Department of Energy (DOE, 2012) for replacement of incandescent lamps with more efficient CFLs and LED lamps.

Biodiesel production potential from fat fraction of municipal waste in Makkah

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), millions of Muslims come to perform Pilgrimage every year. Around one million ton of municipal solid waste (MSW) is generated in Makkah city annually. The collected MSW is disposed of in the landfills without any treatment or energy recovery. As a result, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and contamination of the soil and water bodies along with leachate and odors are occurring in waste disposal vicinities. The composition of MSW shows that food waste is the largest waste stream (up to 51%) of the total generated MSW. About 13% of the food waste consists of fat content that is equivalent to about 64 thousand tons per year. This study aims to estimate the production potential of biodiesel first time in Makkah city from fat/oil fractions of MSW and highlight its economic and environmental benefits. It has been estimated that 62.53, 117.15 and 6.38 thousand tons of biodiesel, meat and bone meal (MBM) and glycerol respectively could be produced in 2014. A total electricity potential of 852 Gigawatt hour (GWh) from all three sources based on their energy contents, Higher Heating Value (HHV) of 40.17, 18.33 and 19 MJ/kg, was estimated for 2014 that will increase up to 1777 GWh in 2050. The cumulative net savings from landfill waste diversion (256 to 533 million Saudi Riyal (SAR)), carbon credits (46 to 96 million SAR), fuel savings (146 to 303 million SAR) and electricity generation (273 to 569 million SAR) have a potential to add a total net revenue of 611 to 1274 million SAR every year to the Saudi economy, from 2014 to 2050 respectively. However, further studies including real-time data about annual slaughtering activities and the amount of waste generation and its management are critical to decide optimum waste management practices based on life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) methodologies.

Oleate Ester-Derived Nonionic Surfactants: Synthesis and Cloud Point Behavior Studies

The synthesis and cloud point behavior of high oleate ester-derived nonionic surfactants are now reported. The effect of various polyethoxylate chain lengths (polyethylene glycol with 7, 11, and 16 units of ethylene oxide (EO) monomer) as the surfactants hydrophilic head on the cloud point was investigated. The effect of varying amounts of sodium chloride and five different ionic surfactants on the cloud points of the synthesized nonionic surfactants were also presented. When the chain length of polyethoxylate increased, the cloud point of the synthesized nonionic surfactant also increased, ranging from 16°C, 43°C, and 64°C for 7, 11, and 16 EO units, respectively. Increments in sodium chloride concentration depressed the cloud point values of the synthesized nonionic surfactants linearly. The addition of ionic surfactants elevated the cloud points of the synthesized nonionic surfactant. However, in the presence of sodium chloride, the cloud point of the mixed ionic-nonionic solution was suppressed and anincrease in ionic surfactant concentration was required to elevate the cloud point. It was also found that the cloud points of synthesized surfactants can be raised up to 95°C in the presence of 4wt% NaCl solution.

Techno-economic feasibility of waste biorefinery: Using slaughtering waste streams as starting material for biopolyester production

The utilization of industrial waste streams as input materials for bio-mediated production processes constitutes a current R&D objective not only to reduce process costs at the input side but in parallel, to minimize hazardous environmental emissions. In this context, the EU-funded project ANIMPOL elaborated a process for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biopolymers starting from diverse waste streams of the animal processing industry. This article provides a detailed economic analysis of PHA production from this waste biorefinery concept, encompassing the utilization of low-quality biodiesel, offal material and meat and bone meal (MBM). Techno-economic analysis reveals that PHA production cost varies from 1.41 €/kg to 1.64 €/kg when considering offal on the one hand as waste, or, on the other hand, accounting its market price, while calculating with fixed costs for the co-products biodiesel (0.97 €/L) and MBM (350 €/t), respectively. The effect of fluctuating market prices for offal materials, biodiesel, and MBM on the final PHA production cost as well as the investment payback time have been evaluated. Depending on the current market situation, the calculated investment payback time varies from 3.25 to 4.5years.

Novel Surfactant for the Reduction of CO2/Brine Interfacial Tension

The synthesis of novel CO2 philic surfactant using maleic anhydride and dipropylene tertiary butyl alcohol is reported. The synthesis involved the esterification of maleic anhydride to produce bis(2-(2-(tert-butoxy)propoxy)propyl) maleate and subsequent sulfonation of the esterified product. Para toluene sulfonic acid was employed as catalyst for the esterification reaction. The esterification reaction was optimized for the maximum yield of 98% of bis(2-(2-(tert-butoxy)propoxy)propyl) maleate. The esterification reaction kinetics employing heterogeneous catalyst were also studied. Although this is a bimolecular reaction, a first order reaction kinetics with respect to acid has been observed. The activation energy was found to be 58.71 kJ/mol. The diester was followed by the sulfonation process and a yield of 85% of surfactant was achieved. The synthesized surfactant successfully lowered down the IFT between CO2/brine to 1.93 mN/m. This surfactant has a great potential to be used for CO2-EOR applications.

Synthesis of a New CO2 Philic Surfactant for Enhanced Oil Recovery Applications

The synthesis of CO2 philic surfactant using maleic anhydride and 4-tert-butylbenzyl alcohol is reported. We reacted maleic anhydride with 4-tert-butylbenzyl alcohol to form bis(4-(tert-butyl)benzyl) fumarate and sulfonated the produced diester. The esterification reaction was optimized for a maximum yield of 98% of bis(4-(tert-butyl)benzyl) fumarate. First-order reaction kinetics with respect to acid was observed. The activation energy was found to be 55.62 kJ/mol. The sulfonated product of diester was obtained by the sulfonation reaction and the yield of 82% of surfactant was achieved. The in-house developed surfactant effectively lowered down the IFT between CO2/brine to 4.2 mN/m. This surfactant is targeted for CO2-EOR applications.

TESTING OF NICKEL-CHROME ALLOY AS A TIP MATERIAL FOR MULTI-TIP LANGMUIR PROBES

The electrostatic probes are considered to be the most powerful and experimentally simplest technique for plasma characterization. The objective of the work was to test the nickel-chrome alloy as probe tip material for characterization of RF discharge plasmas. In order to meet the objective, a triple Langmuir probe diagnostic system and associated driving circuit was designed and tested in inductively coupled plasma (ICP) generated by a 13.56 MHz radio frequency (RF) source. Using this probe diagnostic, the electron temperature, electron number density and ion saturation current were measured as a function of input RF power and filling gas pressure. An increasing trend was noticed in electron temperature and electron number density with input power whilst a decreasing trend was evident in these parameters for increasing nitrogen gas pressure. The overall variations in electron temperature and electron number density after repeated measurements were ranging from 5% to 12% and 3% to 13%, respectively.

CO2 Mobility and CO2/Brine Interfacial Tension Reduction by Using a New Surfactant for EOR Applications

The synthesis and use in enhanced oil recovery applications of a novel CO2-philic surfactant derived from maleic anhydride and 2-butyl-1-octanol is reported. The synthesis involved the esterification of maleic anhydride to produce diester followed by sulfonation of the esterified product. The esterification reaction parameters were optimized for the maximum yield of 98.4%. By employing a silica sulfuric acid catalyst, the reaction kinetics of esterification were also investigated. The activation energy was found to be 45.58 kJ/mol. The sulfonation reaction of the esterified product was performed by using sodium bisulfite, and a yield of 82% of surfactant was achieved. The synthesized surfactant lowered the interfacial tension between CO2/brine to 3.1 mN/m and effectively reduced the CO2 mobility. This surfactant has a great potential to be used for CO2 mobility control for CO2−EOR applications.

Influence of PZC (Point of Zero Charge) on the Static Adsorption of Anionic Surfactants on a Malaysian Sandstone

Static adsorption studies of two anionic surfactants produced in our lab are reported. The adsorption of surfactants on the rock samples was investigated with and without the presence of alkali. The point of zero charge (PZC) values were determined for the sandstone samples employing three titrimetric methods and it was found to be at pH 7.98. The relationship between the adsorption degree and pH value of brine below and above the PZC is discussed. It was found that at the pH of solution exceeds the PZC of the rock, the adsorption was 0.43 and 0.86mg/g of rock for the two surfactants. However, at pH values below PZC, the adsorption as high as 3.66 and 4.49mg/g for the two surfactants. The synthesized surfactants are found to be suitable for the EOR applications at pH values higher than the PZC of the rock sample.

Kinetics and Equilibria of Synthesized Anionic Surfactant onto Berea Sandstone

We present static adsorption studies of anionic surfactants on crushed Berea sandstone. The maximum adsorption density was 0.9604 mg/g. The kinetics of adsorption process was modeled using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order rate equations at 25°C and 70°C. The equilibrium adsorption process was validated using Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models. In addition, the effects of different parameters that govern the effectiveness of these surfactants such as pH and temperature were also investigated. The kinetic study results show that the surfactant adsorption is a time dependent process. The apparent rate constant of adsorption process determined by the first-order kinetic model at 25°C and 70°C were 0.11768 and −0.04513, respectively. The rate constant for pseudo-second-order kinetic model was 0.0086 at 25°C and 0.0101 at 70°C. The adsorption of anionic surfactant followed pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The Freundlich and Langmuir model constant were 1.6509 × 10−4 and −9.775 × 10−5, respectively. The equilibrium results showed that the adsorption of anionic surfactant onto Berea sandstone was well described by Langmuir adsorption model. It was concluded that anionic surfactants performed better at higher pH and temperature.