Chemical Engineering

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Tensile Properties of Used Paper/Recycled LDPE Blends
(2009) Ayat Ata-Allah; Hayfa Mubarkeh; Shadi Sawalha
The objective of this project is to improve the properties of both paper and Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE). So; this will tend to minimize the amount of the waste paper and LDPE which are harmful to the environment. Recycling of paper was one of the main objectives of this work because there are huge quantities of waste paper produced.During the project period, many experiments were done in order to obtain recycled paper with modified properties. Two statistics were done; the first was about the waste office paper at An-Najah National University which indicates that about 30 tons of waste papers are produced yearly from academic staff offices. The second was about LDPE, where approximate numbers were obtained from local plastic industries; for each 30 ton of LDPE used as raw material for plastic bags; one ton of waste is recycled at the same industrial site, while another ton is discarded because it needs treatment and other processes to be suitable for recycling and reuse.The objectives were achieved through three categories: the first was the recycling of waste paper with or without using of modifying agents, the second by adding the paper to the (LDPE) as filler, and finally by making composite of multiple sheet layers of both materials. In this research it was obvious that:Collected papers can be recycled with a recovery of (77-80) %, and the density was equal to (276.7 Kg/m3).Paper can be used as filler to recycled low density polyethylene up to 10wt% with a slight improvement of modulus of elasticity.Composite sheets of multiple layers with different arrangement give different modulus of elasticity; it could be used in different applications according to its characteristics and shape as in packaging and different constructions.Physical properties of recycled paper (i.e. appearance, coherent, density, modulus of elasticity, etc.) can be improved by different agents, for example modulus of 436 Mpa can be increased to 512Mpa by the use of whey which is a byproduct from dairy products industry.
Recycling and Rreinforcing of PP from White Board Markers
(2011) Fedaa Jitawi; Hidaya Shaker; Ismaiel Manasrah; Mays Shadeed; Shadi Sawalha
The use of polymer recyclates has been increasing over the past decade due to economic, political, environmental and social factors. It was observed that a large amount of white board markers in universities were consumed yearly (670 kg/year). By performing the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) test, it was found that polypropylene (PP) is the major constituent of these markers. The idea of this project was to recycle and reinforce PP at same time. The Reinforcement was using recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPETFs) from the marker itself, and using E-glass fiber (electrical class). The main goal of this research is to see if it is possible to prepare a composite from the mentioned material and then to find some properties for these composites such as tensile modulus and yield strength. Experimentally this was achieved by preparing sheets using Home Made Thermal Press. Different compositions of r-PP, rPETFs and glass fiber were used at different processing temperatures in order to prepare different composites. As a result it was found that the optimum composition of GF (short fiber) for GF/r-PP composite was 15% with an optimum temperature 220C, there was a slight improvement in tensile modulus and yield strength. For r-PP/rPETFs composite the optimum rPETFs composition was 10% with optimum temperature of 220C. But for a mat of GF the optimum temperature was 280C. Finally for rPETF sand r-PP/GF composite the optimum compositions for PET and glass fiber were 4% and 10% respectively at 220C. And also it was observed that as content of fibers increases, the modulus efficiency factor (KE) decreases, and this factor was determined at the optimum temperature. The modification in properties for r-PP/GF was noticed compared with r-PP/rPETFs as the rPETFs act as a bridge into matrix rather than reinforcement.
Bioconversion of Whey to Lactic Acid Using Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB)
(2011) AMER, BARAA; SARSOUR, HIBA; ESHTAYA, MOUNTAHA; YASEEN, NOOR; SHHADI, : Dr.MAJD
Lactic acid is a natural organic acid, which is an industrially important product. It is used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and chemical, textile and food industries. Novel applications in synthesis of biodegradable plastics have increased the demand for lactic acid. Microbial fermentations are preferred over chemical synthesis of lactic acid due to many factors. The whey is highly pollutant to environment and disposal of whey may causes number of problems. But whey is potential source of lactose and other beneficial minerals. This characteristic makes the whey to be a main substrate for production of lactic acid from whey and other biological products. In this project cheese whey was used as a raw material for microbial lactic acid production with Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB). In the first part of this study LAB was isolated from dairy by- product whey. After that the growth rate of the isolated LAB was studied. Finally the effect of whey concentration on lactic acid production was investigated using batch fermentation which is carried out in 500 ml Erlenmeyer flask and the temperature was maintained at 37oC throughout the fermentation. As a result of intensive experiments for LAB isolation, nearly pure LAB was obtained. While in the second part the growth rate constant was 0.64 h-1 and the generation time is about 1.09 h. In the third part of this study, first the whey was concentrated by vacuum evaporation to be used for lactic acid production. The total solid (TS) obtained after evaporation process was about 117 g/l. Two different initial whey concentrations were used 10 g/l and 20 g/l. It was found that the lactic acid concentration is about 0.342 (w/w)% when initial whey concentration 10 g/l is used, while about 0.401 (w/w)% of lactic acid was formed in case of 20 g/l after 5 hours of cultivation. The results obtained in this work confirmed that it is possible to increase the value of residues from the dairy industry for the production of value-added products such as lactic acid, which has important industrial applications. This could reduce the cost of the culture media used for lactic acid production when scaling up the process.
remove ammonia from fish water
(2011) asya jatem qasem; Eman; Bayan; Mahasen; Amer el_Hamouz
Aquaculture is an important business in many countries around the world, high density fish with less amount of land and water resources is the core of every person or company they look after aquaculture as business, but high density of fish with limited area cause rapidly degradation of pollutants in water as result of fish by products, these by product harmful to fish up to the point of death. The great importance given to the concentration of ammonia in the fish pond, after the proportion of soluble oxygen in the basin because high concentration has caused deterioration in water quality in aquarium which would require treatment in order to maintain a better aquaculture environmental and enhance its economic feasibility. In spite of being fish aquariums dont have enough interest in Palestine but there are some people who consider this type of work is of benefit. According to fish keeper, in comparison with other pets, fish need very little of our time and attention, it is important to keep the level of fish wastes in a low level by using filter but it cannot extract all waste materials that accumulate, when the water becomes cloudy or yellow, the best way to keep fish alive is to change water, every week quarter amount of water is removed and replaced by clean one in order keep the useful bacteria which converts ammonia to nitrite and nitrate. Recently many studies have developed to remove ammonia by using electrochemical cell. Ammonia test kits determine ammonia levels by comparing water sample mixed with pre measured reagents against color standards. Always measure pH and temperature when measuring ammonia, without these other measurements it will be difficult to evaluate the true value of ammonia sample. The efficiency of ammonia removal from aquarium by using electrochemical cell was investigated in this project using aluminum and stainless steel electrodes. The experiments were designed to study the effect of oxidizing agent, concentration of the solution, initial concentration of ammonia, current density input, and number of electrodes on removal of ammonia from aquarium. The apparatus consisted of two pairs of anodes and cathodes electrodes situated approximately 5 cm apart to each other and dipped in the ammonia solution. The current and voltage measured by using ammeter and voltmeter respectively. The solution was prepared by dissolving ammonium sulphate (NH4)2SO4 in distilled water and increase the pH by using 1M NaOH to change all ammonium to liquid ammonia in the solution. The concentration of ammonia after and before treatment was measured by using test kit (Prodac Test Kit) and pH box because of their availability. Current variation causes opposite trends, while an increase in current would increase the oxidizing efficiency of the system, the highest ammonia removal (95 %) was achieved at a current of 3 mA, the efficiency of removing ammonia was directly proportional to the quantities of oxidizing agent and 95 % of ammonia was removed using 10 ml of oxidizing agent. The efficiency was inversely proportional to the number of electrodes without using oxidizing agent and the highest removal achieved using five aluminum electrodes, volume of the solution didnt have significant effect on removal, the percentage of ammonia removal was equal (95 %) for seven and five liter of solution.
Design and Development of Microemulsion Drug Delivery System for Improvement of Oral Bioavailability
(2011) Mohamad Shanaa; Bassem Abo-3amer; Husni Odeh (Department Head)
The aim of the present study was to design o/w microemulsion of Glimepiride and to study its dissolution behavior by raising its solubility. Pseudoternary phase diagrams were developed at different ratios of Tween 80 to determination the microemulsion zone. Glimepiride exhibits very poor solubility (at 370C, <0.004 mg/ml) which may cause poor dissolution and unpredicted bioavailability for that the Solubility of Glimepiride at the O/W microemulsion was increased by 1625 times to that of pure water . Three Microemulsion system with tween 80 as surfactant are designed and developed for oral delivery of glimepiride, these systems are: Ethyl Oleate / Turmic oil / Tween 80 / MilliQ water Ethyl Oleate / Clove Oil / Tween 80 / MilliQ water Oleic acid / Tween 80 / MilliQ water Microemulsions are excellent candidates as potential drug delivery systems because of their improved drug solubilization, long shelf life, and ease of preparation and administration. Conclude that microemulsion could be used as a possible alternative to traditional oral drug formulation This report include on the specification of microemulsion , advantage and dis-advantage, the parts of microemulsion , types of drug delivery, result of our experiments and many other things.
Conversion of Used Engine Oil into Lubricating Grease
(2011) Atheer Shayeb; Israa Bani Odeh; Marehan Tameem; Sahar Barahma; Shadi Sawalha
The main objective of this project was to convert used engine lubricating oils into lubricating greases. Lubricating oil was an important resource and a petroleum base product. The high price of lube oil and objective of saving valuable foreign exchange had resulted in efforts for regeneration of used engine lube oil and converted it for useful products. Mismanagement of waste engine lube oil was a serious worldwide environmental problem, unfortunately, most of used oil was handled improperly, and some is emptied into sewers for going directly into waste water. Some was dumped directly into the ground to kill weeds or was poured into dirty roads or is dumped in deserts, where it could contaminate surface and ground water, and some garages may be sold it for wood painting, or it may be used in heating resulting in air pollution. So all of these ways were adversely affecting the environment. Large quantities of used engine lubricating oil were produced yearly in Palestine which was approximately about 2.3 million kg. And all of these amounts were disposed in a wrong ways. So that the idea of this project was found in order to protect the environment from pollution, and to make a profitable project. The production of the greases with various viscosities were done using different types of thickening agents such as calcium soap, sodium soap or complex soap, and different tests were performed to the grease in order to examine the effectiveness of the grease for different applications. From the results of grease tests, it was found that the optimum soap-thickened grease was 15% Na bases soap, 15% Na+10% Ca of complex soap-thickened grease, and 10% Na+ 2% polyethylene grease. A detailed economic study was done for the project, in order to see the profitability of project, it was found that the total investment cost was about (3.5 million NIS/ year), and the total fixed cost of production was nearly equal (481,000 NIS/ year), the total variable cost of production was approximately equal (6 million NIS/ year), then the net profit was to about (959,000 NIS/ year) with nearly 3.5 year payback period.
Design of Desalination System for Brackish Water by RO-Membranes Powered by Solar Photovoltaic Cells
(2011) Noor Al-Huda; Marwan Mahmoud; Abdelrahim Abusafa
Water is the source of human life, where it contributes in different areas such as domestic, industry, and agriculture. The main aim of this study is to design of desalination system powered by solar energy, also to investigate the water sources and quality in Palestine. Water in Palestine is very limited and suffers from high salinity, which reaches to 5000 mg/L in some places. The sources of water in Palestine are from rain fall which represents 700 mm/year in the central high lands, the running springs which reach about 300 springs produce annually 52.72 million cubic meters, and the ground water which represents about 30% of the total rain fall. As high portion of water in Palestine is brackish water, there is a need to treat this water. The selected site is Zbaidat village which has a brackish water well of salinity of 2636ppm. The desalination process is used to convert brackish water in to fresh water. In this project Reverse Osmosis membrane powered by photovoltaic system (PV) was designed for that purpose. The system operates 10 hour daily, and produces 10 m3/d fresh water of salinity 123 ppm. Rapid gravity filter and cartridge filter are used in pretreatment system. Two pumps are required to pressurize saline water through the filters, of total energy needed daily 24420 Wh/d. Under Palestinian solar radiation conditions a PV peak power Wp of 530 is necessary for desalination of 1 m3/d fresh water. Block batteries (Lead acid) cells are used as energy storage system rated at 2V/831Ah. One of the most important factors for selecting the most appropriate power source of a desalination system is the economics of different possible power sources. Based on the calculations, the estimated cost of potable water produced by RO-PV powered system is 2 $/m3. This cost is less than the cost of water usually transported by Tractor-tanks. It is also less than the cost of extending the electric side for supplying the desalination system.
Recycling and Rreinforcing of PP from White Board Markers
(2011) Jitawi, Fedaa; Shadeed, Mays; Shaker, Hidaya; Manasrah, Ismaiel; Sawalha, Eng. Shadi
The use of polymer recyclates has been increasing over the past decade due to economic, political, environmental and social factors. It was observed that a large amount of white board markers in universities were consumed yearly (670 kg/year). By performing the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) test, it was found that polypropylene(PP) is the major constituent of these markers. The idea of this project was to recycle and reinforce PP at same time. The Reinforcement was using recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPETFs) from the marker itself, and using E-glassfiber (electrical class). The main goal of this research is to see if it is possible to prepare a composite from the mentioned material and then to find some properties for these composites such as tensile modulus and yield strength. Experimentally this was achieved by preparing sheets using Home Made Thermal Press. Different compositions of r-PP, rPETFs and glass fiber were used at different processing temperatures in order to prepare different composites. As a result it was found that the optimum composition of GF (short fiber) for GF/r-PP composite was 15% with an optimum temperature 220˚C, there was a slight improvement in tensile modulus and yield strength.For r-PP/rPETFs composite the optimum rPETFs composition was 10% with optimum temperature of 220˚C. But for a mat of GF the optimum temperature was 280˚C. Finally for rPETFsand r-PP/GF composite the optimum compositions for PET and glass fiber were 4% and 10% respectively at 220˚C. And also it was observed that as content of fibers increases, the modulus efficiency factor (KE) decreases, and this factor was determined at the optimum temperature. The modification in properties for r-PP/GF was noticed compared with r-PP/rPETFs as the rPETFs act as a bridge into matrix rather than reinforcement.
Extraction of Essential Oils
(2011) Yazid Husni Odeh; Mohammad Jarrar; Mohammad Yaseen; Tareq Bourini; Husni Odeh (Department Head)
The aim of this project is to extract the essential oil from different plants which are Thyme, Lavender, Sage, Rosemary, Mint, Jasmine, Lemon leaves and Lemon peels and from different seeds which are aniseeds, pumpkin seeds, lemon seeds and grape seed. These oils are used in different fields of industry such as pharmaceutical, cosmetics, food and soap. The oils from the seeds are extracted by solvent extraction method by ethanol and n-hexane with solid liquid ratio of 1:3; the seeds are cleaned, grinded, mixed with solvent, filtered, and the solvent was separated by rotary evaporator. The oils from plants are extracted by steam distillation method; the process is operated at 1 bar, the steam is operated at low flow rate and three condensers were used. The amount of oil which was achieved from lemon seeds, aniseeds, pumpkin seeds and grape seeds by using ethanol is (10 ml / 150 g), (7 ml / 100 g), (14 ml / 100 g) and (10 ml / 150 g) respectively. And by using n-hexane is (28 ml / 150 g), (13 ml / 100 g), (34 ml / 100 g) and (12 ml / 150 g) respectively. The amount of oil which was achieved from Sage is (3.5 ml / 1500 g), Thyme oil is (2 ml / 1600 g), and Rosemary oil is (4.5 ml / 1400), Mint oil is (1.5 ml / 1200 g), Lavender oil is (3.2 ml / 1600 g), Jasmine oil is (1.8 ml / 200 ml), Lemon leaves oil is (3 ml / 1300 g) and Lemon peels oil is (2.5 ml / 1100 g).
Bioconversion of Whey to Lactic Acid Using Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB)
(2011) BARAA AMER; HIBA SARSOUR; MOUNTAHA ESHTAYA; NOOR YASEEN
Lactic acid is a natural organic acid, which is an industrially important product. It is used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and chemical, textile and food industries. Novel applications in synthesis of biodegradable plastics have increased the demand for lactic acid. Microbial fermentations are preferred over chemical synthesis of lactic acid due to many factors. The whey is highly pollutant to environment and disposal of whey may causes number of problems. But whey is potential source of lactose and other beneficial minerals. This characteristic makes the whey to be a main substrate for production of lactic acid from whey and other biological products. In this project cheese whey was used as a raw material for microbial lactic acid production with Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB). In the first part of this study LAB was isolated from dairy by- product whey. After that the growth rate of the isolated LAB was studied. Finally the effect of whey concentration on lactic acid production was investigated using batch fermentation which is carried out in 500 ml Erlenmeyer flask and the temperature was maintained at 37oC throughout the fermentation. As a result of intensive experiments for LAB isolation, nearly pure LAB was obtained. While in the second part the growth rate constant was 0.64 h-1 and the generation time is about 1.09 h. In the third part of this study, first the whey was concentrated by vacuum evaporation to be used for lactic acid production. The total solid (TS) obtained after evaporation process was about 117 g/l. Two different initial whey concentrations were used 10 g/l and 20 g/l. It was found that the lactic acid concentration is about 0.342 (w/w)% when initial whey concentration 10 g/l is used, while about 0.401 (w/w)% of lactic acid was formed in case of 20 g/l after 5 hours of cultivation. The results obtained in this work confirmed that it is possible to increase the value of residues from the dairy industry for the production of value-added products such as lactic acid, which has important industrial applications. This could reduce the cost of the culture media used for lactic acid production when scaling up the process.
Microemulsion In Drug Delivery Systems
(2011) Alaa Badran; Ibtihaj Awwad; Hadeel Suliman; Hanaa Tareq; Husni Odeh (Department Head)
Microemulsions are excellent candidates as potential drug delivery systems because of their improved drug soluiblization, long shelf life, and ease of preparation and administration. The formulation of microemulsions for pharmaceutical use requires thorough understanding of the properties, uses, and limitations of microemulsions. The microemulsions formulation depending on the type of surfactant, co surfactant, and oil . In this project, microemulsion drug delivery system (MEDDS) has been developed to enhance bioavailability of curcumin. After conducting hundreds of experiments the microemulsion was obtained, moreover all the experiments were represented in triangle phase diagram. The formation of microemulsion is shown in shaded circle in the constructed phase diagram. The best microemulsion composition is (60%water, 25% surfactant, 15% oil) The curcumin solubility was checked in different oils, for same surfactants/co-surfactants composition. Triangle phase diagrams were constructed to evaluate the microemulsion domain. The curcumin drug was prepared using microemulsion consists of Jojoba with clove and pure clove (oil), Tween 20 (surfactant), and span 80 (co-surfactant).
Microemulsion in drug delivery Systems
(2011-05) Badran, Alaa; Suliman, Hadeel; Tareq, Hanaa; Awwad, Ibtihaj; Odeh., Dr. Husni
Microemulsions are excellent candidates as potential drug delivery systems because of their improved drug soluiblization, long shelf life, and ease of preparation and administration. The formulation of microemulsions for pharmaceutical use requires thorough understanding of the properties, uses, and limitations of microemulsions. The microemulsions formulation depending on the type of surfactant, co surfactant, and oil . In this project, microemulsion drug delivery system (MEDDS) has been developed to enhance bioavailability of curcumin. After conducting hundreds of experiments the microemulsion was obtained, moreover all the experiments were represented in triangle phase diagram. The formation of microemulsion is shown in shaded circle in the constructed phase diagram. The best microemulsion composition is (60%water, 25% surfactant, 15% oil) The curcumin solubility was checked in different oils, for same surfactants/co-surfactants composition. Triangle phase diagrams were constructed to evaluate the microemulsion domain. The curcumin drug was prepared using microemulsion consists of Jojoba with clove and pure clove (oil), Tween 20 (surfactant), and span 80 (co-surfactant).
Design and Development of Microemulsion Drug Delivery System for Improvement of Oral Bioavailability
(2011-05) Shana’a, Mohamad; Abo-3amer, Bassem; Odeh, Dr. Husni
The aim of the present study was to design o/w microemulsion of Glimepiride and to study its dissolution behavior by raising its solubility. Pseudoternary phase diagrams were developed at different ratios of Tween 80 to determination the microemulsion zone. Glimepiride exhibits very poor solubility (at 370C, <0.004 mg/ml) which may cause poor dissolution and unpredicted bioavailability for that the Solubility of Glimepiride at the O/W microemulsion was increased by 1625 times to that of pure water . Three Microemulsion system with tween 80 as surfactant are designed and developed for oral delivery of glimepiride, these systems are: Ethyl Oleate / Turmic oil / Tween 80 / MilliQ water Ethyl Oleate / Clove Oil / Tween 80 / MilliQ water Oleic acid / Tween 80 / MilliQ water Microemulsions are excellent candidates as potential drug delivery systems because of their improved drug solubilization, long shelf life, and ease of preparation and administration. Conclude that microemulsion could be used as a possible alternative to traditional oral drug formulation This report include on the specification of microemulsion , advantage and dis-advantage, the parts of microemulsion , types of drug delivery, result of our experiments and many other things.
Conversion of Used Engine Oil into Lubricating Grease
(2011-05-21) Shayeb, Atheer; Bani Odeh, Israa; Tameem, Marehan; Barahma, Sahar; Sawalha, Shadi
The main objective of this project was to convert used engine lubricating oils into lubricating greases. Lubricating oil was an important resource and a petroleum base product. The high price of lube oil and objective of saving valuable foreign exchange had resulted in efforts for regeneration of used engine lube oil and converted it for useful products. Mismanagement of waste engine lube oil was a serious worldwide environmental problem, unfortunately, most of used oil was handled improperly, and some is emptied into sewers for going directly into waste water. Some was dumped directly into the ground to kill weeds or was poured into dirty roads or is dumped in deserts, where it could contaminate surface and ground water, and some garages may be sold it for wood painting, or it may be used in heating resulting in air pollution. So all of these ways were adversely affecting the environment. Large quantities of used engine lubricating oil were produced yearly in Palestine which was approximately about 2.3 million kg. And all of these amounts were disposed in a wrong ways. So that the idea of this project was found in order to protect the environment from pollution, and to make a profitable project. The production of the greases with various viscosities were done using different types of thickening agents such as calcium soap, sodium soap or complex soap, and different tests were performed to the grease in order to examine the effectiveness of the grease for different applications. From the results of grease tests, it was found that the optimum soap-thickened grease was 15% Na bases soap, 15% Na+10% Ca of complex soap-thickened grease, and 10% Na+ 2% polyethylene grease. A detailed economic study was done for the project, in order to see the profitability of project, it was found that the total investment cost was about (3.5 million NIS/ year), and the total fixed cost of production was nearly equal (481,000 NIS/ year), the total variable cost of production was approximately equal (6 million NIS/ year), then the net profit was to about (959,000 NIS/ year) with nearly 3.5 year payback period.
IMPROVING OF HAIR CARE PRODUCT
(2011-12) Abu Hijleh, Ameer Nasser; Sawalha, Shadi
This project aims to design a new formulation for hair care products as styling gel will be through the modification and improvements of existed products ,to reach to best economical effective formula which can be used safely for hair and scalp. The properties of hair gel according to costumer need: quality as the adhesion and dryer time on hair the most important quality characteristics of the product, appearance as homogenous, smooth texture, shining and viscous gel .Stability as two to three month at least ,and desired color was white (milky). The addition of vitamins and natural substances instead of chemicals, contribute working to strengthen and smoothness of hair, and prevent hair from loss and lake of brittleness as much as possible. The proposed and designed formulation will be tested to insure their suitability for use. The methodology was choosen formulation from comparison of percentage of Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone and carbopol ,then choose the best formula that acceptable pH (6-8) and viscosity , good adhesion and ability. Next, modified it by addition cactus oil, paraffin oil ,and special perfume, to have white gel with good properties and total cost of raw material approach to 3 NIS/kg. Finally, survey was distributed for 30 person and take their suggestions on the new product . overall ,the total of the result : 82 % was very good, 13% was excellent , 4% was normal ,and 1 % was not good .
Effect of Using Different Types of Coagulant on Sludge Conditioning at Different Temperatures
(2012) Juman Aqra'; Nahla Salameh; Rawan Nummor
Sludge dewaterability is an important process in wastewater treatment before disposal. Solids removal is a primary objective of wastewater treatment. There are many coagulants that are commonly used in this process and the most widely used is aluminum sulfate (alum). Filtration without coagulation will not remove the fine particles if the filter medium is too coarse. Coagulation is required to agglomerate the fine particles, thus making the wastewater more suitable for filtration and also resulting in much of the coagulated matter to settle out prior to filtration. This project aims to study the effect of sludge conditioning using two types of sludge conditioning, Aluminum sulfate and cationic polymer (PRAESTOL). Possible effect of temperature is also studied. Sludge samples were collected from local municipal wastewater treatment plant and were stored at 4C. Then conditioning of these samples was investigated using two types of conditioners: aluminum sulfate and cationic polymer (PRAESTOL) at three different temperatures (10, 20, 30 C). The optimal dose of each type of conditioner was estimated at each temperature. Physical and chemical properties were measured including chemical oxygen demand(COD), Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total solid (TS), total suspended solid (TSS), pH, flock structure, turbidity and viscosity. The conditioned samples were dewatered using capillary suction time test (CST). The data was analyzed using statistical methods, such as t-test and regression. The results showed that the optimum alum conditioner dosages at 30, 20, 10 C were, 300, 150, and 120 mg/L, respectively. Similarly, the optimum polymer conditioner concentrations were 0.236, 0.634, and 0.72 mg/L at 30, 20, and 10 C, respectively. The relationship between optimal conditioner concentrations and temperature was quadratic for both alum and polymer but in opposite direction. So the optimum concentration of alum increased with the increase of the temperature but optimum concentration of polymer decreased with temperature increase.
THE EFFECT OF TEMPRETURE AND pH ON SETTLE ABILITY OF ACTIVATED SLUDGE
(2012) Sabren Yahya; Sahar Khalid; Sondos Saleh
The efficient and economical treatment of waste waters requires great attention to the settle ability of activated sludge. Efficient settlement in the secondary sedimentation tank is required to keep the desired effluent quality and to sustain the necessary amount of microorganisms in the aeration tank. The settle ability of microorganisms in the secondary clarifier dependents to great extent on the physiological and biochemical nature of activated sludge floc, which is mostly determined by the conditions of the aeration tank. Research about various treatment processes in water and wastewater treatment and dewater ability showed that temperature and pH are important factors affecting efficiency of flocculation and settling properties. The floc formation is completed by release of the natural poly electrolytes. These poly-electrolytes consist mainly of proteins and polysaccharides, and lipids that may be affected by temperature. Therefore, variation in temperature may results in change in polymer structure and bacterial cell wall. Also, the pH in biological systems affects the enzymatic activities of microbial community. This study will be performed to determine the effects of pH and temperature on the settle ability of sludge. In this research, effects of temperature and pH of sludge samples from a local municipal wastewater were studied. Floc-structure, turbidity; BOD, and settleability, evaluated using Sludge Volume Index (SVI), were measured following standard method. The study was run in two phases. The first one was to study the effect of changes in pH (5 to 9) on settleability and dewater ability of sludge samples at a constant temperature. The second phase was to study the effect of temperature (5 to 35) on settle ability and dewater ability at constant pH value. The data were analyzed using statistical techniques including linear regression. This research study shows that the temperature and the pH affect the settle ability of activated sludge, and the lowest sludge volume index (SVI ml/g) was at 35 C and at pH = 6. The relationship between SVI and temperature was best described by a linear regression . The linear regression line seems to fit the data very closely with very high coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.91. The relationship between pH and SVI was tested and found to be a perfect fit of cupic curve with coefficient of determination of 0.99. A prediction equation was derived and it was SVI = 16,992 - 7,170X + 1014.9X2 - 46 X3. The SVI decreased when pH increased from 5 to 6 but increased when pH increased from 6 to 9 at decreasing rate.
Preparation Of Biodegradable Polycaprolactone Microcapsules by Membrane Emulsification
(2012) Alaa Kaabneh; Amani Abd-Allah; Aysha Hilo; Olfat Khatatbeh; Hassan Sawalha (on leave)
Polymeric biodegradable microcapsules have received much attention in the recent years because of their potential applications in the pharmaceutical field. The objective of the current study is to prepare biodegradable polymer microcapsules using premix membrane emulsification. In this method, a polymer solution consists of biodegradable polymer (polycaprolactone) /solvent (dichloromethane) /poor solvents (decane) mixed with continuous phase that consists of non-solvent (water) and surfactant to get primary (premix) emulsion. The premix emulsion is then pressed through aporous bed of sand beads for several cycles. This causes large droplets to divide inside the porous media and slowly reduce the size. The size of the resulting microcapsules was analyzed using optical microscope and the results showed that the size of the capsules decreased after passing the premix emulsion through the sand beads. The effect size of the sand particles and the thickness of the sand bed were investigated and the results showed that decreasing the size of the sand particles or increasing the bed height decreases the size of the microcapsules. The resulted average sizes of microcapsules at different sizes of sand 150 m, 300 m, 600 m were (4.7 m), (6.1m), (3.9 m) respectively. In another way, mixtures of the three different sizes of the beads were used to make a bed of 4 cm total height., where size of particles gradually increased or decreased(i.e 3layers with 1.3 cm for each, bottom layer of 150 m and the upper one of 600 micro) or a random mixture of the 3 sizes. it was found that the average size of the microcapsules prepared with a bed of random mixture of sand beads was ( 5.9m), and for the beads which arranged by gradual decrease configuration was (7.3m) while for and gradual increase configuration was (3.5m).
Production and Characterization of Marble Glue
(2012) Asmhan Tomeh; Haneen Alama; Shadi Sawalha
Marble glue is an adhesive compound used to join parts of marble, granite and other stones in addition to fill holes and cavities that might exist. The objective of this project is to produce local marble glue according to local and international specifications and with competitive cost. This aim was blossomed from the non- existence of a local product to improve the Palestinian economy. The First step was started with execution a lot of trials to produce the local marble glue, followed by doing tests to determine the suitable sample. A layout for the plant was done; finally the cost of the plant was analyzed. The optimum sample which gives the best performance was composed from (38.835 % Polyester, 24.272% Pure CaCOs24.272% Cutting stone, and 12.6213% Talc); with 9.3015 (Mpa) average stress. The selling price of one kilogram of local marble glue is 19.998 NIS. The payback period of the project is 4 years with 12 years as project life.
Modification and Testing the Performance of Floor Surface Cleaning Gel
(2012) Azza Abu-Asab; Doa Al-Shiekh; Ola Abd-Elhadi
The project is based on a previous project The Preparation of Palestinian Standard for Floor Cleaning Gel taking the recommendations and findings on the ratio of pine oil/LABS as a start concentrations for the project. According to the rapid increase in the cost of the pine oil, there is a necessity to produce the floor cleaning gel with a lower cost and with same or better efficiency, and finding a suitable replacement of pine oil if any exist. This need is based on the actual market volume of floor cleaning gel which is approximately 6700 tons per year; so it is worth to study how one can lower cleaning gel main ingredients cost. To achieve this, a systematic experimental approach was carried out where cleaning gel samples were produced in the laboratory at different LABS to pine oil ratio. To modify the floor cleaning gel, abrasive materials were added. A pine oil free cream hard surface cleaner was prepared but proved to be separable. In order to evaluate the cleaning efficiency and performance of the gel for contaminated soil tile a straight line apparatus was used and the surface tension of cleaning gel solution was measured. The surface activity concept was used to test the performance of the gel at different cleaning cycle times. All modifications carried out on all samples were based on information taken from open literatures and the Palestinian Standard Institute (PSI) for any regulations and information of a standard floor cleaning gel. Results out of this project show that the concentration of the pine oil can be reduced to a half of what was found in the previous project (5wt% to 2.5 wt %). This was supported by measuring the critical micelle concentration cmc of the gel which was found to be 310 ppm. A comparison of the cleaning efficiency of the prepared sample with a commercial product was carried out under variable cleaning cycle times. It was found that if number of cycle time increases, more reduction of surface tension were found.

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