Showing papers by "King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals published in 2020"

The Rock Physics Handbook

Abstract: Responding to the latest developments in rock physics research, this popular reference book has been thoroughly updated while retaining its comprehensive coverage of the fundamental theory, concepts, and laboratory results. It brings together the vast literature from the field to address the relationships between geophysical observations and the underlying physical properties of Earth materials - including water, hydrocarbons, gases, minerals, rocks, ice, magma and methane hydrates. This third edition includes expanded coverage of topics such as effective medium models, viscoelasticity, attenuation, anisotropy, electrical-elastic cross relations, and highlights applications in unconventional reservoirs. Appendices have been enhanced with new materials and properties, while worked examples (supplemented by online datasets and MATLAB® codes) enable readers to implement the workflows and models in practice. This significantly revised edition will continue to be the go-to reference for students and researchers interested in rock physics, near-surface geophysics, seismology, and professionals in the oil and gas industries.

Nanomaterials: Classification, properties, and environmental toxicities

Abstract: Nanomaterials (NMs) are gaining significance in technological applications due to their tunable chemical, physical, and mechanical properties and enhanced performance when compared with their bulkier counterparts. This review presents a summary of the general types of NMs and provides an overview of the various synthesis methods of nanoparticles (NPs) and their functionalization via covalent or noncovalent interactions using different methods. It highlights the techniques used for the characterization of NPs and discusses their physical and chemical properties. Due to their unique properties, NMs have several applications and have become part of our daily lives. As a result, nanotoxicity research is gaining attention since some NPs are not easily degraded by the environment. Thus, this review also highlights research efforts into the fate, behavior, and toxicity of different classes of NMs in the environment.

A Survey of Rate-Optimal Power Domain NOMA With Enabling Technologies of Future Wireless Networks

Abstract: The ambitious high data-rate applications in the envisioned future beyond fifth-generation (B5G) wireless networks require new solutions, including the advent of more advanced architectures than the ones already used in 5G networks, and the coalition of different communications schemes and technologies to enable these applications requirements. Among the candidate communications schemes for future wireless networks are non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) schemes that allow serving more than one user in the same resource block by multiplexing users in other domains than frequency or time. In this way, NOMA schemes tend to offer several advantages over orthogonal multiple access (OMA) schemes such as improved user fairness and spectral efficiency, higher cell-edge throughput, massive connectivity support, and low transmission latency. With these merits, NOMA-enabled transmission schemes are being increasingly looked at as promising multiple access schemes for future wireless networks. When the power domain is used to multiplex the users, it is referred to as the power domain NOMA (PD-NOMA). In this paper, we survey the integration of PD-NOMA with the enabling communications schemes and technologies that are expected to meet the various requirements of B5G networks. In particular, this paper surveys the different rate optimization scenarios studied in the literature when PD-NOMA is combined with one or more of the candidate schemes and technologies for B5G networks including multiple-input-single-output (MISO), multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO), massive-MIMO (mMIMO), advanced antenna architectures, higher frequency millimeter-wave (mmWave) and terahertz (THz) communications, advanced coordinated multi-point (CoMP) transmission and reception schemes, cooperative communications, cognitive radio (CR), visible light communications (VLC), unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) assisted communications and others. The considered system models, the optimization methods utilized to maximize the achievable rates, and the main lessons learnt on the optimization and the performance of these NOMA-enabled schemes and technologies are discussed in detail along with the future research directions for these combined schemes. Moreover, the role of machine learning in optimizing these NOMA-enabled technologies is addressed.

COVID-19: A Global Challenge with Old History, Epidemiology and Progress So Far.

Abstract: Humans have witnessed three deadly pandemics so far in the twenty-first century which are associated with novel coronaviruses: SARS, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and COVID-19. All of these viruses, which are responsible for causing acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs), are highly contagious in nature and/or have caused high mortalities. The recently emerged COVID-19 disease is a highly transmittable viral infection caused by another zoonotic novel coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Similar to the other two coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 is also likely to have originated from bats, which have been serving as established reservoirs for various pathogenic coronaviruses. Although, it is still unknown how SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted from bats to humans, the rapid human-to-human transmission has been confirmed widely. The disease first appeared in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and quickly spread across the globe, infected 48,539,872 people, and caused 1,232,791 deaths in 215 countries, and the infection is still spreading at the time of manuscript preparation. So far, there is no definite line of treatment which has been approved or vaccine which is available. However, different types of potential vaccines and therapeutics have been evaluated and/or are under clinical trials against COVID-19. In this review, we summarize different types of acute respiratory diseases and briefly discuss earlier outbreaks of coronaviruses and compare their occurrence and pathogenicity with the current COVID-19 pandemic. Various epidemiological aspects of COVID-19 such as mode of spread, death rate, doubling time, etc., have been discussed in detail. Apart from this, different technical issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic including use of masks and other socio-economic problems associated with the pandemic have also been summarized. Additionally, we have reviewed various aspects of patient management strategies including mechanism of action, available diagnostic tools, etc., and also discussed different strategies for the development of effective vaccines and therapeutic combinations to deal with this viral outbreak. Overall, by the inclusion of various references, this review covers, in detail, the most important aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Latest Developed Strategies to Minimize the Off-Target Effects in CRISPR-Cas-Mediated Genome Editing.

Abstract: Gene editing that makes target gene modification in the genome by deletion or addition has revolutionized the era of biomedicine. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 emerged as a substantial tool due to its simplicity in use, less cost and extraordinary efficiency than the conventional gene-editing tools, including zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) and Transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs). However, potential off-target activities are crucial shortcomings in the CRISPR system. Numerous types of approaches have been developed to reduce off-target effects. Here, we review several latest approaches to reduce the off-target effects, including biased or unbiased off-target detection, cytosine or adenine base editors, prime editing, dCas9, Cas9 paired nickase, ribonucleoprotein (RNP) delivery and truncated gRNAs. This review article provides extensive information to cautiously interpret off-target effects to assist the basic and clinical applications in biomedicine.

Grid Integration Challenges of Wind Energy: A Review

Abstract: The strengthening of electric energy security and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions have gained enormous momentum in previous decades. The integration of large-scale intermittent renewable energy resources (RER) like wind energy into the existing electricity grids has increased significantly in the last decade. However, this integration poses many operational and control challenges that hamper the reliable and stable operation of the grids. This article aims to review the reported challenges caused by the integration of wind energy and the proposed solutions methodologies. Among the various challenges, the generation uncertainty, power quality issues, angular and voltage stability, reactive power support, and fault ride-through capability are reviewed and discussed. Besides, socioeconomic, environmental, and electricity market challenges due to the grid integration of wind power are also investigated. Many of the solutions used and proposed to mitigate the impact of these challenges, such as energy storage systems, wind energy policy, and grid codes, are also reviewed and discussed. This paper will assist the enthusiastic readers in seeing the full picture of wind energy integration challenges. It also puts in the hands of policymakers all aspects of the challenges so that they can adopt sustainable policies that support and overcome the difficulties facing the integration of wind energy into electricity grids.

Recent Advances in Functionalized Carbon Dots toward the Design of Efficient Materials for Sensing and Catalysis Applications

Abstract: Since the past decade, enormous research efforts have been devoted to the detection/degradation and quantification of environmental toxic pollutants and biologically important molecules due to their ubiquitous necessity in the fields of environmental protection and human health. These fields of sensor and catalysis are advanced to a new era after emerging of nanomaterials, especially, carbon nanomaterials including graphene, carbon nanotube, carbon dots (C-dots), etc. Among them, the C-dots in the carbon family are rapidly boosted in the aspect of synthesis and application due to their superior properties of chemical and photostability, highly fluorescent with tunable, non/low-toxicity, and biocompatibility. The C-dot-based functional materials have shown great potential in sensor and catalysis fields for the detection/degradation of environmental pollutants. The major advantage of C-dots is that they can be easily prepared from numerous biomass/waste materials which are inexpensive and environment-friendly and are suitable for a developing trend of sustainable materials. This review is devoted to the recent development (since 2017) in the synthesis of biomass- and chemical-derived C-dots as well as diverse functionalization of C-dots. Their capability as a sensor and catalyst and respective mechanism are summarized. The future perspectives of C-dots are also discussed.

Numerical study on mixed convection of a non-Newtonian nanofluid with porous media in a two lid-driven square cavity

Abstract: In the present numerical study, mixed flow of the non-Newtonian water/Al2O3 nanofluid with 0–4% nanoparticles volume fractions (φ) inside a two-dimensional square cavity with hot and cold lid-driven motion and porous media is simulated at Richardson numbers (Ri) of 0.01, 10 and 100 and Darcy numbers (Da) of 10−4 ≤ Da ≤ 10−2 using Fortran computer code. The obtained results for temperature domain, velocity, Nusselt number and streamlines indicate that by increasing Richardson number and decreasing axial velocity parameter of walls and similarity of flow behavior to natural flow mechanism, variations of velocity are reduced, which is due to the reduction in fluid momentum. By increasing Darcy number, penetrability of fluid motion enhances and fluid lightly moves along the cavity. Figuration of streamlines at lower Richardson numbers highly depends on the Darcy number changes. In case (2), due to the counterflow motion and buoyancy force, distinction of flow domain profiles is more obvious. On the other hand, this issue causes more velocity gradients and vortexes in special sections of cavity (central regions of cavity). In case (2), the behavior of streamlines is affected by some parameters such as variations of Darcy number, nanoparticles volume fraction and Richardson number more than case (1). By increasing Darcy number, flow lightly passes among hot and cold sources and leads to improve the heat transfer. Moreover, reduction in flow penetrability in cavity results in the reduction in fluid flow in its direction, sectional distribution and regions with higher temperature. Consequently, in these regions the growth of thermal boundary layer is more significant. In case (2), at lower Richardson numbers compared to higher ones, the affectability of lid-driven motion contrary to buoyancy force caused by density variations is less because of higher fluid momentum. At Ri = 0.01, because of the strength of lid-driven motion, flow direction is compatible with lid-driven motion. Also, temperature distribution is not uniform, and in these regions, fluid has the minimum velocity which leads to the enhancement of dimensionless temperature. In both studied cases, the increment of nanoparticles volume fraction as well as Darcy number and reduction in Richardson number result in the improvement of temperature distribution and decrease in dimensionless temperature.

Configuration and Optimization of a Minichannel Using Water-Alumina Nanofluid by Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm and Response Surface Method.

Abstract: Nanofluids in minichannels with various configurations are applied as cooling and heating fluids. Therefore, it is essential to have an optimal design of minichannels. For this purpose, a square channel with a cylinder in the center connected to wavy fins at various concentrations of an Al2O3 nanofluid is simulated using the finite volume method (FVM). Moreover, central composite design (CCD) is used as a method of design of experiment (DOE) to study the effects of three input variables, namely the cylinder diameter, channel width, and fin radius on the convective heat transfer and pumping power. The impacts of the linear term, together with those of the square and interactive on the response variables are determined using Pareto and main effects plots by an ANOVA. The non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II), along with the response surface methodology (RSM) is applied to achieve the optimal configuration and nanofluid concentration. The results indicate that the effect of the channel width and cylinder diameter enhances about 21% and 18% by increasing the concentration from 0% to 5%. On the other hand, the pumping power response is not sensitive to the nanofluid concentration. Besides, the channel width has the highest and lowest effect on the heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and pumping power, respectively. The optimization for a concentration of 3% indicates that in Re = 500 when the geometry is optimized, the HTC enhances by almost 9%, while the pumping power increases by about 18%. In contrast, by increasing the concentration from 1% to 3%, merely an 8% enhancement in HTC is obtained, while the pumping power intensifies around 60%.

Potential of MXenes in Water Desalination: Current Status and Perspectives.

Abstract: MXenes, novel 2D transition metal carbides, have emerged as wonderful nanomaterials and a superlative contestant for a host of applications. The tremendous characteristics of MXenes, i.e., high surface area, high metallic conductivity, ease of functionalization, biocompatibility, activated metallic hydroxide sites, and hydrophilicity, make them the best aspirant for applications in energy storage, catalysis, sensors, electronics, and environmental remediation. Due to their exceptional physicochemical properties and multifarious chemical compositions, MXenes have gained considerable attention for applications in water treatment and desalination in recent times. It is vital to understand the current status of MXene applications in desalination in order to define the roadmap for the development of MXene-based materials and endorse their practical applications in the future. This paper critically reviews the recent advancement in the synthesis of MXenes and MXene-based composites for applications in desalination. The desalination potential of MXenes is portrayed in detail with a focus on ion-sieving membranes, capacitive deionization, and solar desalination. The ion removal mechanism and regeneration ability of MXenes are also summarized to get insight into the process. The key challenges and issues associated with the synthesis and applications of MXenes and MXene-based composites in desalination are highlighted. Lastly, research directions are provided to guarantee the synthesis and applications of MXenes in a more effective way. This review may provide an insight into the applications of MXenes for water desalination in the future.

A study on the structural behaviour of functionally graded porous plates on elastic foundation using a new quasi-3D model: Bending and free vibration analysis

Abstract: This work investigates a new type of quasi-3D hyperbolic shear deformation theory is proposed in this study to discuss the statics and free vibration of functionally graded porous plates resting on elastic foundations. Material properties of porous FG plate are defined by rule of the mixture with an additional term of porosity in the through-thickness direction. By including indeterminate integral variables, the number of unknowns and governing equations of the present theory is reduced, and therefore, it is easy to use. The present approach to plate theory takes into account both transverse shear and normal deformations and satisfies the boundary conditions of zero tensile stress on the plate surfaces. The equations of motion are derived from the Hamilton principle. Analytical solutions are obtained for a simply supported plate. Contrary to any other theory, the number of unknown functions involved in the displacement field is only five, as compared to six or more in the case of other shear and normal deformation theories. A comparison with the corresponding results is made to verify the accuracy and efficiency of the present theory. The influences of the porosity parameter, power-law index, aspect ratio, thickness ratio and the foundation parameters on bending and vibration of porous FG plate.

Investigation of MPPT Techniques Under Uniform and Non-Uniform Solar Irradiation Condition–A Retrospection

Abstract: A significant growth in solar photovoltaic (PV) installation has observed during the last decade in standalone and grid-connected power generation systems. The solar PV system has a non-linear output characteristic because of weather intermittency, which tends to have a substantial effect on overall PV system output. Hence, to optimize the output of a PV system, different maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques have been used. But, the confusion lies while selecting an appropriate MPPT, as every method has its own merits and demerits. Therefore, a proper review of these techniques is essential. A “ Google Scholar ” survey of the last five years (2015-2020) was conducted. It has found that overall seventy-one review articles are published on different MPPT techniques; out of those seventy-one, only four are on uniform solar irradiance, seven on non-uniform and none on hybrid optimization MPPT techniques. Most of them have discussed the limited number of MPPT techniques, and none of them has discussed the online and offline under uniform and hybrid MPPT techniques under non-uniform solar irradiance conditions all together in one. Unfortunately, very few attempts have made in this regard. Therefore, a comprehensive review paper on this topic is need of time, in which almost all the well-known MPPT techniques should be encapsulated in one paper. This article focuses on classifications of online, offline, and hybrid optimization MPPT algorithms, under the uniform and non-uniform irradiance conditions. It summarizes various MPPT methods along with their mathematical expression, operating principle, and block diagram/flow charts. This research will provide a valuable pathway to researchers, energy engineers, and strategists for future research and implementation in the field of maximum power point tracking optimization.

Exponential increase of plastic burial in mangrove sediments as a major plastic sink

Abstract: Sequestration of plastics in sediments is considered the ultimate sink of marine plastic pollution that would justify unexpectedly low loads found in surface waters. Here, we demonstrate that mangroves, generally supporting high sediment accretion rates, efficiently sequester plastics in their sediments. To this end, we extracted microplastics from dated sediment cores of the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf mangrove (Avicennia marina) forests along the Saudi Arabian coast. We found that microplastics <0.5 mm dominated in mangrove sediments, helping explain their scarcity, in surface waters. We estimate that 50 ± 30 and 110 ± 80 metric tons of plastic may have been buried since the 1930s in mangrove sediments across the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, respectively. We observed an exponential increase in the plastic burial rate (8.5 ± 1.2% year-1) since the 1950s in line with the global plastic production increase, confirming mangrove sediments as long-term sinks for plastics.

CeO2 Nanostructures Enriched with Oxygen Vacancies for Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction

Abstract: Synthesizing nanomaterials at the expense of solar energy and the associated energy generation have utmost significance as far as environmental sustainability is concerned. Here, sunlight-assisted ...

Swimming of Motile Gyrotactic Microorganisms and Nanoparticles in Blood Flow Through Anisotropically Tapered Arteries

Abstract: In the present article, we have presented a theoretical study on the swimming of migratory gyrotactic microorganisms in a non-Newtonian blood-based nanofluid via an anisotropically narrowing artery. Sutterby fluid model is used to understand the rheology of the blood as a non-Newtonian fluid model. This fluid pattern has the ability to show Newtonian and non-Newtonian features. The mathematical formulation is performed via continuity, temperature, motile microorganism, momentum, and concentration equation. The series solutions are obtained using the perturbation scheme up to the third-order approximation. The resulting solutions are discussed with the help of graphs for all the leading parameters. The graphical results are also presented for non-tapered, diverging, and converging artery. We further discuss the velocity, temperature, swimming microorganism and temperature distribution. Moreover, the variation of impedance and the impact of wall shear stress are discussed and presented through the graphs.

Abundant solitary wave solutions to an extended nonlinear Schrödinger’s equation with conformable derivative using an efficient integration method

Abstract: The prevalence of the use of mathematical software has dramatically influenced the evolution of differential equations. The use of these useful tools leads to faster advances in the presentation of numerical and analytical methods. This paper retrieves several soliton solutions to the fractional perturbed Schrodinger’s equation with Kerr and parabolic law nonlinearity, and local conformable derivative. The method used in this article, called the generalized exponential rational function method, also relies heavily on the use of symbolic software such as Maple. The considered model has prominent applications in water optical metamaterials. The method retrieves several exponential, hyperbolic, and trigonometric function solutions to the model. The numerical evolution of the obtained solutions is also exhibited. The resulted wide range of solutions derived from the method proves its effectiveness in solving the model under investigation. It is also recommended to use the technique used in this article to solve similar problems.

Cyber Security Threats and Vulnerabilities: A Systematic Mapping Study

Abstract: There has been a tremendous increase in research in the area of cyber security to support cyber applications and to avoid key security threats faced by these applications. The goal of this study is to identify and analyze the common cyber security vulnerabilities. To achieve this goal, a systematic mapping study was conducted, and in total, 78 primary studies were identified and analyzed. After a detailed analysis of the selected studies, we identified the important security vulnerabilities and their frequency of occurrence. Data were also synthesized and analyzed to present the venue of publication, country of publication, key targeted infrastructures and applications. The results show that the security approaches mentioned so far only target security in general, and the solutions provided in these studies need more empirical validation and real implementation. In addition, our results show that most of the selected studies in this review targeted only a few common security vulnerabilities such as phishing, denial-of-service and malware. However, there is a need, in future research, to identify the key cyber security vulnerabilities, targeted/victimized applications, mitigation techniques and infrastructures, so that researchers and practitioners could get a better insight into it.

Buckling and dynamic behavior of the simply supported CNT-RC beams using an integral-first shear deformation theory

Abstract: In this work, the buckling and vibrational behavior of the composite beam armed with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SW-CNT) resting on Winkler-Pasternak elastic foundation are investigated. The CNT-RC beam is modeled by a novel integral first order shear deformation theory. The current theory contains three variables and uses the shear correction factors. The equivalent properties of the CNT-RC beam are computed using the mixture rule. The equations of motion are derived and resolved by Applying the Hamilton\'s principle and Navier solution on the current model. The accuracy of the current model is verified by comparison studies with others models found in the literature. Also, several parametric studies and their discussions are presented.

Effects of different shapes of nanoparticles on peristaltic flow of MHD nanofluids filled in an asymmetric channel

Abstract: An innovative approach to escalate the heat generation in peristalsis flow of MHD nanofluids filled in an asymmetric channel is proposed. Three different shapes of nanoparticles, namely (1) spherical, (2) disc and (3) cylindrical are utilized. Results for temperature, velocity and concentrations have been obtained analytically. The physical features for heat generation, concentration, pressure gradient, pressure rise and magnetic parameter have been elaborated graphically, whereas effects of Nusselt number and skin friction have been numerically computed by using the MATLAB software. For bolus features, trapping phenomena are also inspected by dint of stream lines. It is found that cylindrical shapes of nanoparticles have very low thermal conductivity as compared to spherical and disc shapes. Moreover, it is seen that the heat generation parameter always increases the temperature of nanofluid, and consequently, the trapping phenomena produce more boluses for larger values of heat source parameter.