Environmental Service Learning Programs in the United Arab Emirates: Impacts on Environmental Awareness and Civic Engagement

Environmental Service Learning Programs in the United Arab Emirates: Impacts on Environmental Awareness and Civic Engagemen

Prospecting for geothermal energy through satellite based thermal data: Review and the way forward

© 2015 Iran Solid Waste Association. Geothermal investors need to be confident with the methods and results of exploration programs. Also cutting the upfront cost of geothermal exploration will further encourage investors to consider investment in this emerging clean energy field. Hence, it is of paramount importance to improve prospecting techniques in order to explore where economic concentrations of geothermal energy are to be expected. The current study evaluates different approaches for downscaling thermal data from remote sensing images together with factors in surface and subsurface environment. The paper discusses case studies, the challenge and the way forward for geothermal prospecting as well as practical solutions to discrepancy that faces the mapping and documentation of spatial geothermal anomalies. It also discusses main criteria that should be considered while prospecting for geothermal energy

Evaporation losses and dispersion of volatile organic compounds from tank farms

© 2015, Springer International Publishing Switzerland. The present study is an application of a Gaussian dispersion model to evaluate volatilization losses from tank farms. It reports methodology to estimate evaporation losses of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from organic liquid in storage tanks. This study used fixed roof and floating roof equations for breathing and working losses. Total loss, the breathing loss, vapor pressure, molecular weight of the product, tank diameter, diurnal temperature, paint factor, tank capacity, and number of turnovers were considered and factored in the calculation. AERMOD and ALOHA softwares were used to simulate the dispersion of VOCs under normal and accidental scenarios. For the modeling purposes, meteorological data such as annual average ambient temperature, annual average atmospheric pressure, daily minimum ambient temperature, daily maximum ambient temperature, solar insulation factor, and average wind speed were included as input in the calculation and modeling activities. The study took place in Sharjah Emirate in United Arab Emirates, which borders Dubai to the south and Ajman to the north, and the three form a conurbation. The reported method was used to estimate evaporation losses for baseline and hypothetical leak scenarios. Results of this research show that liquid storage tanks in the study area emit a low concentration of VOC under the studied and assumed conditions, e.g., new tanks with high performance sealing as well as the noted earlier climatic conditions. The dispersion of those concentrations is controlled by the prevailing wind direction. The predicted VOCs concentrations were within the range of the measured VOCs values in air. The study found that the spatial distributions of the predicted concentration attenuate with time and distance. Under the reported accidental spill scenario, the Gaussian model indicates that the danger area starts within the zone of less than 10 m. The danger area is subjected to flame pockets, and the VOC concentrations in this area will exceed 19,800 ppm

Hydrochemical evaluation of Rio Grande water transport options from Elephant Butte, New Mexico to El Paso, Texas, US–Mexico border

© 2015, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. The quantity of water from the Rio Grande is important to the socio-economic sectors and development of the United States of America and Mexico border. Degrading the quality and quantity of the main groundwater aquifers in the study area raised the need for alternative water sources like the Rio Grande. This study evaluated the hydrochemistry and management options to convey water from the main dam on the Rio Grande, Elephant Butte Dam, to El Paso del Norte Region. The study used hydrogeochemical approach to: (1) describe the behavior of ions concentrations and flux in the Rio Grande, and (2) assess the quality of water conveyed by three proposed water-conveying scenarios. EXTEND visualization environment and JMP-SAS software packages were the main tools of this study. The reported results indicate that the measured value of the majority of the studied ions increase from the upper to the lower reaches. The study also found that delivering water from the Elephant Butte Dam through the river canal itself and narrows engineering conveyance are amomg the proper methods. The study demonstrated that the presented simple method is useful for scoping the conveying and routing options for water along the Rio Grande

On The future of energy and resource security in the United Arab Emirates

The UAE is making notable progress in diversifying its economy through tourism, trade, and manufacturing. However, in the near term, oil, natural gas, and associated industries will continue to account for the majority of economic activity. Rising gas demand from power stations and industrial users such as petrochemical makers and steel manufacturers has turned the UAE into a net gas importer in the past decade, triggering multi-billion dollar investments into nuclear power and renewables. This paper looks into the patterns of energy production and consumption in the UAE in the context the changing nature of global energy markets. The paper will analyze current and proposed national energy initiatives, and assess their impacts on the future of the country. The research analyzed a wide range of statistics obtained from various sources to highlight the current situation and predicts some future scenarios. The study also adhered SWOT analyses of the energy scene in UAE and examined the impact of some external factors. The demand for electricity in the UAE, which is almost exclusively generated from natural gas-fired power plants, is set to rise at a rate of about 9 percent per annum through to 2020

Calculating Thermal Coefficients Using a Hybrid Method

In this paper we study the problem of determining two thermal parameters of a cylindrical metal sample. This is an inverse problem in heat conduction where boundary conditions are determined on the basis of temperature measurements taken at the selected internal points in the sample. A hybrid method is used to find the parameters based on the experimental data of the temperature of a metalic sample. Both the direct and inverse problems are described and numerical results are given

Environmental service-learning in the United Arab Emirates: Is it mediated by the effects of biographical and demographical variables?

© 2018, © 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This study evaluates environmental service-learning in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in relation to demographic variables and students\u27 characteristics. A diverse group of school and community sites were recruited. Statistical analysis was performed between the final attitude index scores and demographic variables. UAE citizens were found to have a more positive attitude toward the environment than others. Educational level and age were also significantly associated with final attitude index scores. Participants aged 18–22 years scored significantly higher (p \u3c 0.003) than those who were younger than 18 years and older than 22 years

Statistical analysis and estimation of the regional trend of aerosol size over the Arabian Gulf Region during 2002-2016

© 2018 The Author(s). In this article, we present the results of the regional estimation of the evolution of monthly mean aerosol size over the Arabian Gulf Region, based on the data collected during the period July 2002 - September 2016. The dataset used is complete, without missing values. Two methods are introduced for this purpose. The first one is based on the partition of the regional series in sub-series and the selection of the most representative one for fitting the regional trend. The second one is a version of the first method, combined with the k-means clustering algorithm. Comparison of their performances is also provided. The study proves that both methods give a very good estimation of the evolution of the aerosol size in the Arabian Gulf Region in the study period

Magnetized suspended carbon nanotubes based nanofluid flow with bio-convection and entropy generation past a vertical cone

© 2019, The Author(s). The captivating attributes of carbon nanotubes (CNT) comprising chemical and mechanical steadiness, outstanding electrical and thermal conductivities, featherweight, and physiochemical consistency make them coveted materials in the manufacturing of electrochemical devices. Keeping in view such exciting features of carbon nanotubes, our objective in the present study is to examine the flow of aqueous based nanofluid comprising single and multi-wall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) past a vertical cone encapsulated in a permeable medium with convective heat and solutal stratification. The impacts of heat generation/absorption, gyrotactic-microorganism, thermal radiation, and Joule heating with chemical reaction are added features towards the novelty of the erected model. The coupled differential equations are attained from the partial differential equations by exercising the local similarity transformation technique. The set of conservation equations supported by the associated boundary conditions are worked out numerically by employing bvp4c MATLAB function. The sway of numerous appearing parameters in the analysis on the allied distributions is scrutinized and the fallouts are portrayed graphically. The physical quantities of interest including Skin friction coefficient, the rate of heat and mass transfers are assessed versus essential parameters and their outcomes are demonstrated in tabulated form. It is witnessed that the velocity of the fluid decreases for boosting values of the magnetic and suction parameters in case of both nanotubes. Moreover, the density of motile microorganism is decreased versus larger estimates of bio-convection constant. A notable highlight of the presented model is the endorsement of the results by matching them to an already published material in the literature. A venerable harmony in this regard is achieved