Future of clay-based construction materials – A review

Sustainability in the manufacture of different construction materials raises many important issues. Nowadays, there is increasing demand for such materials to be produced using environmentally friendly, low energy consuming production methods. This paper presents a review of the current research relating to the use of various production techniques for clay-based construction materials. The techniques which will be reviewed are: blending and stabilising, alkali activation (geopolymerisation) and the use of microwave heating as an innovative sintering, curing and drying method. The advantages and disadvantages of each technique will be discussed. Additionally, a comparison between the environmental and economic aspects of the studied production techniques along with some suggestions to improve the sustainability of different production techniques will be discussed

Non-destructive Electromagnetic Wave Sensor for Hazardous Biological Materials

A novel non-destructive electromagnetic wave (EM) sensor for rapid identification of biological material is presented in this paper. Biological treats could be defined as biological agents such as bacteria spores, viruses and toxins. Spores can disable or kill people, animals and crops. Therefore, it is important to identify the hazard in rapid and non destructive manner to make a safer environment. In this research, a 2.45 GHz microwave resonator was used to detect the dipliconic acid (DPA), which is the bio-maker of bacillus spores. A promising results were obtained by detecting the DPA from 0.001M – 0.3M concentration at frequency of 2.4 GHz, which are the fundamental mode (TM101) of the designed cavity. In addition, different species of bacillus spores was detected at frequency approximate at 2.36 GHz. The results concluded that electromagnetic wave sensors may have the potential for use as a non-destructive and real time sensor to detect bacillus spores. The EM principle could be extended to detect different hazardous biological materials by identify the “finger print” of specific biological materials on different surfaces

Benchmarking of the Current Solid Waste Management System in Karbala, Iraq, Using Wasteaware Benchmark Indicators

Solid waste management (SWM) poses severe problems to the authorities of the city of Kerbala, one of the main tourism centres in Iraq. Due to the city’s limited funds, it is crucial to evaluate the priorities for improvements in SWM services to tackle this problem efficiently. This paper employed Wasteaware benchmark indicators for integrated and sustainable solid waste management to evaluate the city SWM system performance. The data used in this evaluation was collected by in-depth interviews with the management authorities and field observations over two months in 2016. The outcomes showed that the SWM system in the city is weak. It therefore requires several improvements in physical infrastructure and management. Disposal and recycling were the highest priority to be improved among SWM physical components. While, in the management, the authority should have clear strategy for SWM and stakeholders such as public, private waste sector, and informal waste collectors should be included in SWM planning to improve the management services. This study can provide a starting point for the city authorities to prioritise their actions to improve the current SWM system

Investigating municipal solid waste management system performance during the Arba’een event in the city of Kerbala, Iraq

Every year, many religious events attended by 300 million pilgrims take place in many holy cities and sites around the world. However, research on municipal solid waste is limited despite the reputation of religious events to generate substantial amounts of waste. This research aims to address this gap and contribute to new knowledge on municipal solid waste management at religious events by investigating and evaluating the municipal solid waste management system applied at the Arba’een event in Kerbala, one of the largest religious events in Iraq. Field observations and in-depth interviews with nine senior managers from Kerbala’s municipalities were conducted during the event in 2016, to develop an overall picture of the municipal solid waste management system applied during the event. The data were analysed using thematic analysis and fed to the ‘Wasteaware’ benchmark indicators framework to evaluate the performance of the event system. The results indicated that the system suffers from operational and governance weaknesses. Despite a focus on municipal solid waste collection and transportation, the collection coverage is only ~ 70%. There is no controlled landfill site in Kerbala. It is estimated that currently ~ 5% of the event municipal solid waste is recycled by informal recyclers: there is no formal recycling scheme. Kerbala does not perform well regarding governance. The inclusivity of providers and users of the municipal solid waste management services is minimal during the event, as the majority of stakeholders are not included in decision-making processes. Municipal solid waste management services are delivered free of charge, thus significantly influencing the financial sustainability of the system. This study recommends that MSW recycling should be encouraged through integrating the informal sector, improving public awareness and introducing a formal recycling scheme to make the event municipal solid waste management system effective and financially sustainable

The feasibility of using electromagnetic waves in determining the moisture content of building fabrics and the cause of the water ingress

In this paper, the feasibility of using electromagnetic (EM) waves is determining the moisture content of building fabrics and the case of water ingress in experimentally assessed. This paper will concentrate on investigating the propagation of EM waves through typical structures and their interaction with concealed pipework, wiring and timber. All current methods are overviewed and analysed. Novel microwave sensor described in this paper operates in 6 GHz to 12 GHz frequency range using Marconi 6200A microwave test set. Results of experimental test confirm that microwaves can be used as an alternative nondestructive method for identifying different object behind the walls

Estimating solid waste generation by hospitality industry during major festivals: a quantification model based on multiple regression

Mega-religious festivals hosted in the city of Kerbala, Iraq, annually generate huge quantities of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) which negatively impacts the environment and human health when poorly managed. The hospitality sector, specifically hotels, is one of the major sources of MSW generated during these festivals. Because it is essential to establish a proper waste management system for such festivals, accurate information regarding MSW generation is required. This study therefore investigated the rate of production of MSW from hotels in Kerbala during mega festivals. A field questionnaire survey was conducted with 150 hotels during the Arba’een festival, one of the largest festivals in the world, attended by about 18 million participants, to identify how much MSW is produced and what features of hotels impact on this. Hotel managers responded to questions regarding features of the hotel such as size (Hs), expenditure (Hex), area (Ha) and number of staff (Hst). An on-site audit was also carried out with all participated hotels to estimate the mass of MSW generated from these hotels. The results indicate that MSW produced by hotels varies widely. In general, it was found that each hotel guest produces an estimated 0.89 kg of MSW per day. However, this figure varies according to the hotels’ rating. Average rates of MSW production from two and five star hotels were 0.83 and 1.22 kg per guest per day, respectively. Statistically, it was found that the relationship between MSW production and hotel features can be modelled with an R2 of 0.799, where the influence of hotel feature on MSW production followed the order Hs > Hex > Hst

English for Computing II

Навчальний посібник містить фахові тексти, лексичні та граматичні вправи комунікативного спрямування. Посібник також укомплектований аудіокурсом, що дає змогу використовувати автентичні записи зі спеціальності з метою формування навичок аудіювання. Призначається для студентів, що вивчають комп’ютерні науки