The concept of sustainability was developed in the last years and included the construction industry to solve the issues that pertaining by high consumption of natural sources, environmental pollution and high amount production of solid wastes. On the other hand, the plastics generation is growing exponentially every year, especially, types of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) that are used to produce soft drinks bottles, this study attempts to apply the concept of sustainability and reduce the environmental pollution by cutting the plastic bottles (PET) as small fibers added to the ordinary concrete to improve the shear and tensile strength of reinforced concrete beams. For this purpose, the experimental work was carried out to study the effect of waste plastic fibers (PET) on the shear behavior of seven reinforced concrete beams with dimensions of (100×150×1200) mm that were designed to fail in shear, the fibers percentages that were used in this study are (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.25 and 1.5%). Also, the influence of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) fibers on the mechanical properties of concrete was studied such as: workability, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, static modulus of elasticity and ultrasonic pulse velocity.
The current study includes application of QUAL2K model to predict the dissolved oxygen (DO) and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5) of lower reach of the Diyala River in a stretch of 16.90km using hydraulic and water quality data collected from Ministry of Water Resources for the period (January-April 2014). Google Earth and Arc-GIS technique were used in this study as supported tools to provide some QUAL2K input hydro-geometric data. The model parameters were calibrated for the dry flow period by trial and error until the simulated results agreed well with the observed data. The model performance was measured using different statistical criteria such as mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE) and relative error (RE). The results showed that the simulated values were in good agreement with the observed values. Model output for calibration showed that DO and CBOD concentration were not within the allowable limits for preserving the ecological health of the river with range values (2.51 - 4.80 mg/L) and (18.75 – 25.10 mg/L) respectively. Moreover, QUAL2K was used to simulate different scenarios (pollution loads modification, flow augmentation and local oxygenation) in order to manage the water quality during critical period (low flow), and to preserve the minimum requirement of DO concentration in the river. The scenarios results showed the pollution loads modification and local oxygenation are effective in raising DO levels. While flow augmentation does not give significant results in which the level of DO decrease even with reduction in the BOD5 for point sources. The combination of wastewater modification and local oxygenation (BOD5 of the discharged effluent from point sources should not exceed 15 mg/L and weir construction at critical positions 6.67km from the beginning of the study region with 1m height) is necessary to ensure minimum DO concentrations.
There are various means of recycling agricultural wastes to maximize economic benefit from it. According to environmental statistics, agricultural wastes is one of the most dangerous types of wastes, especially in villages, because it is disposed of by burning. In this study, production of natural ash from agro wastes was carried out. Two types of agro waste ash were produced through burning and grinding process. waste date tree and waste reeds ash. The waste date ash (WDA) and waste reeds ash (WRA) were included in concrete by replacement of a specific portion of cement weight (5%, and 10%). Moreover, a blend of the two types of ashes were also considered. Furthermore, the natural ash was utilized in production of green concrete. Hardened density and compressive strengths at various ages (7, 28 and 56 days) were evaluated. The results in this research showed an excellent increase in compressive strength at ages (7,28 and 56) days. When measuring the compressive strength at the late age (56 days), DPA + WRA it was the best model used if it recorded the highest increase in it. Also, the use of WRA10% gave a good result, increasing its strength of the reference mixture and the rest of the mixtures also gave good and remarkable results in increasing the resistance, as the use of ash in these mixtures protects the environment from pollution and gives mixtures of higher resistance and can be used as a partial substitute for cement, except for DPA10%, so the usual mixture was better than it.
Transport is a vital part of urban life and a foundation for society's growth. It is a wonderful indication of the growth and development of cities. It protects the free flow of people, commodities and the economy. . Despite the great advancement in technology, it still has many difficulties in developed and developing nations, particularly in our country, such as environmental issues, where congestion leads to traffic pollution, noise and a rise in cars which is a problem in itself.. So transportation is an issue. And it became a subject of attention, requiring consideration of sustainability in the planning and development of transportation systems. Ramadi has been chosen as a model in this study because of its significant impact on sustainable development and the approach that thins our study. Using the data from the study area, which included 27 neighbourhoods, were analyzed by the SPSS statistical program , the results showed that the indicators of the environmental dimension had a direct and strong relationship. For Ramadi and other Iraqi cities, a sustainable development system may be developed based on based on the two indicators of pollution and green areas (0.794 and 0.776), on which a choice can be made about sustainable urban environmental transport.
The present research focuses on the evaluation of the Tigris river water quality within the city of Baghdad. Thirty samples were collected monthly from ten sites (each site contains three positions center of river, Rasafa side, Karkh side) on the Tigris river within Baghdad city along one year (from Feb.2010 to Feb. 2011). Samples were analyzed for eleven water quality variables including physical, chemical, and biological parameters. The results showed increases in pH, TDS, TSS, Cl-1, SO4-2, and BOD values in some of the sites through study area, but all values remain within the allowable Iraqi and WHO limits except of SO4-2, it was exceeded the allowable limits in multiple sites.
ABSTRACT. Hospitals pose a significant risk to human health due to the contamination of their environment with chemical elements. Exposure to these elements can have adverse health effects, such as neurological and developmental problems, cancer, and endocrine disruptors. To prevent and mitigate the risks associated with contamination, it is important to identify and control the sources of contamination. This study intends to investigate how chemical elements are contaminating hospitals, including the sources of contamination, possible health impacts of exposure, and preventative and remedial actions that may be done to lessen the dangers. To reach the aims of this study, water samples from three different spots at two different seasons (winter and summer) of the water flow through the hospitals (Hospital water on its first entry inside, Wastewater after use inside and around the hospital and Wastewater after passing through the treatment unit inside the hospital) have been collected. Magnetic suspended matter (TS), Total materials (T.D.S), Electrical Conductivity, and Turbidity tests have been done to the collected water samples. Additionally, heavy materials have been detected in the collected samples. The results showed that the pH function increased slightly and insignificantly for the alkaline after using the water, while the water conductivity, Alkalinit, hardness, and percentage of suspended solids (T.S.S) and dissolved solids (TDS) reached the highest in wastewater. From the results of this study, we can conclude that the stages of treatment are slow and inefficient.
The main objective of the present study is to maintain clear environment by using natural fibers that not cause pollution. Two types of Jute fibers as mat were used to produce ratting polyester composites after treating these fibers with Iraqi dolomite of 0.2, 0.5, 0.7, and 0.9 percentages % where, eight specimens were prepared. Manual casting used to prepared these specimens by using fibers of 2.8 mm diameter between two layers of Resin for all specimens. Mechanical properties tests includes creep, tensile, and hardness by Shore method where best results of creep and tensile strength reduction are given with 0.9% of Iraqi dolomite. Hardness proportional with concentration of dolomite. Physical properties tests includes color, yellowness of color, were the samples exposed to U.V of 254 nm short length wave for 150 hours. The Jute fibers affected the color while the dolomite effects were inconsiderable, also the absorption of acidic and base solutions were proportionate reversely with increasing of dolomite and fibers' mat percentage. In biological tests, the Fungus growth on composite body decreased with increasing dolomite percentage and no great lost of weight. The present study shown that the Jute fibers in the composite body and concentration of Iraqi dolomite improve the mechanical, physical, and biological properties of polyester Resin composites with Jute fibers.
In this paper, the laboratory experiments works were conducted to study the effect of adding recycle waste plastic as polyethene terephthalate PET fibers on the fresh properties as the slump test and hardened properties as a compressive strength, splitting strength, elastic modulus, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), density, absorption, voids, flexural toughness and flexural rupture for the normal concrete. The parameter of this paper included percentage of fibers content (0%, 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5%). The geometric design of the PET fibers was a strip with dimensions 4mm width, 70mm length, and 0.035mm thickness. The aspect ratio of the PET fibers in this work was about 50. The results showed that the PET fibers improving the most properties of the normal concrete and on the other hand there is negative effect on some properties of concrete. There is a significant increase in flexural toughness, about 21.2%, while the compressive strength and splitting were increased by 5% and 18.8%, respectively. Besides this improving, using PET fibers conform to the principle of sustainability, which is reducing the pollution and the cost of waste plastic disposal. It’s observed that properties of concrete as a static modulus of Elasticity and density were decreased with the fiber percentage increased
In recent years, Iraq suffers from exacerbation of the deficit of electrical energy as well as the great environmental pollution resulting from the use of traditional fuels. This called for serious thought to search for using clean and renewable energy sources may available in Iraq.In the present study; small hydropower (i.e. Archimedes screw turbine) are specifically used with a low head at Ramadi Barrage in Iraq. This type of small hydropower station is suitable to apply because not need high storage water or high head in Barrage. The power production in this technology depends on the parameters of the location in which it is placed such as (length L, angle of inclination α, Diameter D,….). The physical model of the Archimedes screw turbine is applied to determine the optimal α. The solid work package with a combination of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis by ANSYS have been used to simulate numerically a three dimensions model to determine the value of power that could be produced by the Archimedes turbine in the Ramadi Barrage. The turbine's performance are tested on two cases which represent low and high discharge investigations with different α (18⁰, 23⁰, 30⁰, 35⁰) based on different flow conditions and different water head between upstream and downstream of the barrage. The results showed that the maximum power production from the barrage is 280,000 watts with α=35° and efficiency η=89.9% for case 1; while; this power becomes 400,000 watts with α=30° but of efficiency η=84.9% for case 2. It is concluded from this research that power production from Ramadi Barrage could be investment to eliminate the deficit in the electrical energy in Iraq.