The Public Authority for Applied Education and Training

About: The Public Authority for Applied Education and Training is a education organization based out in Kuwait City, Kuwait. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Heat transfer & Nusselt number. The organization has 692 authors who have published 1442 publications receiving 26407 citations.

Production, characterization and performance of biodiesel as an alternative fuel in diesel engines – A review

Abstract: Due to the finite stock of fossil fuels and its negative impact on the environment, many countries across the world are now leaning toward renewable sources energies like solar energy, wind energy, biofuel, hydropower, geothermal and ocean energy to ensure energy for the countries development security. Biodiesel is one kind of biofuel that is renewable, biodegradable and has similar properties of fossil diesel fuel. The aim of this paper is to provide the substantial information on biodiesel to the researchers, engineers and policy makers. To achieve the goal, this paper summarizes the information on biofuel development, feedstocks around the world, oil extraction technic, biodiesel production processes. Furthermore, this paper will also discuss the advantages of biodiesel compared to fossil fuel. Finally, the combustion behavior of biodiesel in an internal combustion engine is discussed and it will help the researchers and policy maker and manufacturer. To determine the future and goal of automotive technology the study found that, feedstock selection for biodiesel production is very important as it associates 75% production cost. Moreover, the test of fuel properties is very important before using in the engine which depends on the type of feedstocks, origin country, and production process. Most of the researchers reported that the use of biodiesel in diesel engine reduces engine power slightly but reduces the harmful emission significantly. Finally, the study concludes that biodiesel has the potential to be used as a diesel fuel substitute in diesel engines to solve the energy and environment crisis.

From 1D and 2D ZnO nanostructures to 3D hierarchical structures with enhanced gas sensing properties

Abstract: Facile and low cost hydrothermal routes are developed to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical ZnO structures with high surface-to-volume ratios and an increased fraction of (0001) polar surfaces. Hierarchical ZnO nanowires (ZNWs) and nanodisks (ZNDs) assembled from initial ZnO nanostructures are prepared from sequential nucleation and growth following a hydrothermal process. These hierarchical ZnO structures display an enhancement of gas sensing performance and exhibit significantly improved sensitivity and fast response to acetone in comparison to other mono-morphological ZnO, such as nanoparticles, NWs, or NDs. In addition to the high surface-to-volume ratio due to its small size, the nanowire building blocks show the enhanced gas sensing properties mainly ascribed to the increased proportion of exposed active (0001) planes, and the formation of many nanojunctions at the interface between the initial ZnO nanostructure and secondary NWs. This work provides the route for structure induced enhancement of gas sensing performance by designing a desirable nanostructure, which could also be extended to synthesize other metal oxide nanostructures with superior gas sensing performance.