Research Title: Green synthesis of Size-Controlled copper oxide nanoparticles as catalysts for H2 production from industrial waste aluminum

Author: Firas Abdullah Obeidat, Published Year: 2022

International Journal of Energy Research-Wiley,

Faculty: Engineering and Technology

Abstract: Extensive research and development in the processes of production and generation of hydrogen are needed to make renewable hydrogen cost-competitive with fossil hydrogen. As a result, developing hydrogen energy from low-cost components and synthesizing it from renewable resources is an important issue that can be considered a global challenge. The current research provided a continuous H2 energy production from waste aluminum in a water medium using copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) as catalysts in the reaction. CuO NPs have been prepared by a green, easy, inexpensive, and systematic method using Catha edulis L. (Khat) extract as reducing and capping agents. Separately, CuO NPs prepared in an alkaline media using the conventional hydrothermal process have been described and reported for comparison. Multidisciplinary tools were used to characterize the powders for structural, morphological, and surface aspects. CuO NPs were homogeneous, well-dispersed, and have fine diameters with an average of 6 nm, owing to the abundant biomolecules in the plant extract. The synthesized samples were utilized as catalysts for H2 production from industrial waste aluminum with a 1/0.02 ration of Al/CuO by weight. The primary results revealed a higher H2 production yield and rapid rate in alkaline than acidic mediums. Under all conditions, the CuO NPs prepared from the extract had better catalytic activity than those prepared by a conventional method. The results proved that the reaction temperature prompts the reaction kinetics more than other parameters. The optimum H2 yield could be optimized at a temperature of 70C, 1/50 ratio of CuO/waste Al, and near-neutral solutions. The above conditions are ideal for designing a continuous production reactor. The hydrogen generated using industrial waste aluminum in the present system is a cost-effective and sustainable approach.

Keywords: aluminum waste, catalysts, clean energy, copper oxide, hydrogen production, nanomaterials

Research Title: Solar Hot Water Heating and Electricity Generation Using PV/T Hybrid System

Author: Firas Abdullah Obeidat, Published Year: 2022

Journal of Ecological Engineering, 23(5):226–236

Faculty: Engineering and Technology

Abstract: Experimental work has been carried out to study the possibility of combining a conventional solar water collector with a hybrid device, developed previously and known as PV/T system, in order to obtain hot water with temperature above 40 °C. The effect of the combination on the productivity of hot water and the produced electricity was found. The formerly developed device, in which there was a multi-purpose solar collector, can produce hot water and electricity. It was connected to the conventional fn-tube collector in series in order to raise the product temperature to a higher level. This development was achieved for the frst time as a combination between a PV/T and a conventional fn-tube collector. Instrumentation to measure temperatures, solar radiation, wind speed and flow rate was installed on the system. It was found that the water temperature was raised from 29 °C to 32 °C in the PV/T collector system and, after flowing through the conventional collector, it was raised to 50 °C and above. It was also found that the power efciency in the case of water flow is always higher than in the case of no water flow.

Keywords: solar energy systems, water heating system, PV Module, flat-plate solar collector

Research Title: One Year Real Data Rooftop PV System Performance Analysis of a University Academic Campus

Author: Firas Abdullah Obeidat, Published Year: 2021

International Journal on Energy Conversion (I.R.E.CON.), Vol. 9, N. 4

Faculty: Engineering and Technology

Abstract: This paper presents the details of 13 rooftop PV systems installed at Philadelphia University (PU) in Amman-Jordan and gives an assessment of these PV systems in terms of the , and also in terms of energy generated compared with the university energy consumption using real data of the year 2019. Technoeconomic performance metrics and socio environmental assessment of the PV systems are also performed. The analysis shows that more than 99% of the energy needs of the university are met by solar energy. This energy generated is equivalent to 1587 metric tons of CO2 eq. This amount of CO2 avoided is equivalent to 26,236 tree seedings grown for 10 years. This emphasizes the main conclusion that Philadelphia University has taken the right decision with the installation of these systems that represent a great step towards the university sustainability

Keywords: Academic Campus Sustainability, PV Systems Assessment, PV Systems Performance Metrics, Socio-Environmental Impact

Research Title: Future Energy Mix Mapping for Jordan using Multi Criteria Decision Analysis

Author: Firas Abdullah Obeidat, Published Year: 2021

12th International Renewable Engineering Conference – IREC2021, jordan

Faculty: Engineering and Technology

Abstract: Jordan is one of the most hydrocarbon-poor countries in the Middle East, with neither significant production of oil nor natural gas. It relies heavily on imported oil and gas for power generation. This let energy remains Jordan’s top challenge. In its future energy strategy, Jordan pledged to diversify its energy supply by increasing domestic sources contribution to the total energy mix. The available alternatives vary from conventional energy sources including natural gas power plants, nuclear power, and oil shale to renewable energy comprising PV power plants, wind energy, and concentrated solar power plants. This makes it a very challenging task for the decision makers to choose in which track to invest more heavily than others. This paper uses Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to accomplish this goal. MCDA are techniques used to compare a number of alternatives using monetized, quantitative or qualitative criteria. Six options were compared; new CCGT plants, nuclear power plants, oil shale direct combustion, wind turbines, PV technology, and Concentrating Solar Power (CSP). The value tree of the objectives was constructed with five high level factors that each option is evaluated against that include the aspects of environmental, economic, political, social, and technical. These factors are then broken down into 15 performance criteria. Criteria used for the evaluation were CO2 emissions, external costs, visual impact, noise, capital cost, operation and maintenance costs, fuel costs, cost of generated electricity, water requirements, promotion of renewables, jobs creation, capacity factor, predictability, and hybridization. Results show that renewable energy technologies outperform conventional ones in terms of the overall weighted score. In the renewables; PV technology come first with overall weighted score of 84.89 out of 100. CSP energy come second with this score of 64.61 while wind energy scored 61.14. The overall weighted score for the conventional technologies of natural gas, nuclear, and oil shale power plants were 31.57, 324.17 and 26.94 respectively. Conclusions withdrawn from this research work are that power supply systems based on renewable technologies, will play a greater role in generating electricity in Jordan and are the most preferred options to invest more heavily in to diversify the future energy mix and that MCDA is a great tool serving decision makers in their energy sector policies that can handle complex decision-making problems.

Keywords: energy mix, multi criteria, decision making

Research Title: Optimization of Kumada-Corriu-Tamao cross-coupling reactions of tri- and tetra- bromothiophenes and symmetrical di-bromo-2, 2' bithiophene with cyclohexylmagnesium bromide: Synthesis, DFT studies and nonlinear optical analysis

Author: Adnan Dahadha, Published Year: 2022

Faculty: Science

Abstract: Tri-, tetra-bromothiophene and symmetrical dibromo-2,2'-bithiophene derivatives were coupled efficiently with cyclohexylmagnesium bromide in the presence of iron, nickel and palladium as catalysts under optimized mild reaction conditions. Additives such as lithium chloride and bromide were employed to enhance the efficiency of the Grignard reagent. The corresponding coupled products, which were widely used as precursors or additives in photonic industries were studied by DFT method at B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory using Gaussian 09W to explore the global chemical reactivity descriptors and nonlinear optical activities ( NLO). According to the results of NLO analysis, polarizability (α), anisotropy hyperpolarizability (Δα) and first order hyperpolarizability (β) exhibited higher value than the standard urea, which reflect a promising molecular non-linear susceptibility, indicating that the compounds 4a-4f are good candidates in the potential photonic applications.

Keywords: Iron; nickel; palladium; thiophene; nonlinear optical analysis

Research Title: Polyethylene Glycols Catalyzed Reaction of Catechol and Resorcinol with Cerium Ammonium Sulfate in the Aqueous Medium: Kinetic and Mechanistic Study

Author: Adnan Dahadha, Published Year: 2022

Chemistry Africa,

Faculty: Science

Abstract: The reaction kinetics of catechol or resorcinol with cerium (Ce) ammonium sulfate were spectrophotometrically investigated in polymer media containing polyethylene glycol (PEG 200, 600, 1500, and 4000). Kinetic runs for Ce(IV) were performed under pseudo-first-order reaction conditions. The reaction was found to be first-order for Ce(IV) and fractional orders for catechol, resorcinol, and H+. The presence of PEG caused considerable acceleration of the oxidation of the two substrates. Of note, PEG 4000 presents a distinguished catalytic activity when compared with PEG 200, 600, and 1500 in an acidic medium. The kinetic results were modeled using the Benesi–Hildebrand and Menger–Portnoy equations to explain the nature of the catalytic effects of both PEG forms and substrates. Hence, the efficiency of the reaction was optimal in the presence of resorcinol as a substrate. Based on kinetic features and thermodynamic parameters, probable mechanisms and expected final products are suggested and discussed.

Keywords: Catechol · Resorcinol · Cerium(IV) · Polyethylene glycols · Spectrophotometry

Research Title: The Catalytic Influence of Polymers and Surfactants on the Rate Constants of Reaction of Maltose with Cerium(IV) in Acidic Aqueous Medium.

Author: Adnan Dahadha, Published Year: 2022

Journal of Chemistry, 2022

Faculty: Science

Abstract: Kinetics of the reaction of maltose with cerium ammonium sulfate were analyzed spectrophotometrically by observing the decrease of the absorbance of Cerium(IV) at 385 nm in the presence and absence of polyethylene glycols (600, 1500, and 4000) and Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), in addition to anionic micelles of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), cationic micelles of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and nonionic micelles of Tween 20 surfactants. Generally, there are few literatures about using the polymers (PEGs and PVP) as catalysts in the oxidation-reduction reactions, therefore the major target of this work was to investigate the influence of the nature of polymers and surfactants on the oxidation rates of maltose by Cerium(IV) in acidic aqueous media, as well as employing the Piszkiewicz model to explain the catalytic effect. The kinetic runs were derived by adaptation of the pseudo first-order reaction conditions with respect to the Cerium(IV). The reaction was found to be first-order with respect to the oxidant and fractional-order to maltose and H2SO4. The reaction rates were enhanced in the presence of polymer and micellar catalysis. Indeed, the surfactants were found to work perfectly close to their critical micelle concentrations (CMC). The electrostatic interaction and H-bonding appear to play an influential role in binding maltose molecules to polymer/ surfactant micelles, while oxidant ions remain at the periphery of the Stern layer within the micelle.

Keywords: Polymer catalysis, Micellar Catalysis, Surfactants, Cerium(IV), Maltose, Oxidation reactions

Research Title: An Acoustic Account of Prosodic Competence through Shadowing

Author: Abdu Al-Kadi, Published Year: 2022

Journal of English Studies in Arabia Felix, 1

Faculty: Arts

Abstract: Adopting an acoustic framework, this experimental study elucidates the effect of the shadowing technique on the prosodic competence of learners of English whose L1 (Arabic) and English have quite dissimilar phonological systems. It appertains to prosodic aspects such as pauses, stress, and sound length that cause challenges to non-English native speakers. Two individuals of heterogeneous linguistic background participated in a pre-test and a post-test before and after five weeks of shadowing sessions. The data was analyzed acoustically using Praat Software. Findings showed that the participant with the elementary level outperformed the other participant whose level was intermediate, partially because the former was highly motivated to improve her English. The study concluded that shadowing per se is in no way a panacea for improving supra-segmental features unless it is coupled with a motivation to do so, regardless of the level of proficiency.

Keywords: Pauses, Pronunciation, Prosody, Shadowing, Supra-segmental Features

Research Title: Towards Green Driving: Efficient Driving Techniques

Author: Maram Bani Younes, Published Year: 2022

World Electric Vehicle Journal, 13

Faculty: Information Technology

Abstract: The exponential increase in the number of daily traveling vehicles has exaggerated the global warming and environmental pollution issues. These problems directly threaten the continuity and the quality of life on the planet. Several techniques and technologies have been used and developed to reduce the fuel consumption and gas emissions of traveling vehicles over the road network. In this paper, we investigate some solutions that assist drivers to follow efficient driving tips during their trips. Advanced technologies of communications or vehicle manufacturing have considered enhancing the traffic efficiency over road networks. Besides, several advisory systems have been proposed to recommend drivers with the most efficient speed, route, or other decisions to follow towards their targeted destinations. These recommendations are selected according to the real-time traffic distribution and the context of the road network. In this paper, first different highly fuel consumption reasons and scenarios are investigated over the road networks. Then, the details of efficient driving techniques that were proposed to tackle each case accordingly are reviewed and categorized over downtown and highways. Finally, set of remarks and existed gaps are reported to researchers in this field.

Keywords: Green driving; Road context; Driving Assistance; Traffic situation.

Research Title: Towards Green Driving: Efficient Driving Techniques

Author: Maram Bani Younes, Published Year: 2022

World Electric Vehicle Journal, 13

Faculty: Information Technology

Abstract: The exponential increase in the number of daily traveling vehicles has exaggerated the global warming and environmental pollution issues. These problems directly threaten the continuity and the quality of life on the planet. Several techniques and technologies have been used and developed to reduce the fuel consumption and gas emissions of traveling vehicles over the road network. In this paper, we investigate some solutions that assist drivers to follow efficient driving tips during their trips. Advanced technologies of communications or vehicle manufacturing have considered enhancing the traffic efficiency over road networks. Besides, several advisory systems have been proposed to recommend drivers with the most efficient speed, route, or other decisions to follow towards their targeted destinations. These recommendations are selected according to the real-time traffic distribution and the context of the road network. In this paper, first different highly fuel consumption reasons and scenarios are investigated over the road networks. Then, the details of efficient driving techniques that were proposed to tackle each case accordingly are reviewed and categorized over downtown and highways. Finally, set of remarks and existed gaps are reported to researchers in this field.

Keywords: Green driving; Road context; Driving Assistance; Traffic situation.