Sonatrach

About: Sonatrach is a company organization based out in Algiers, Algeria. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Hydraulic fracturing & Structural basin. The organization has 460 authors who have published 494 publications receiving 6339 citations. The organization is also known as: Sonatrach SPA.

Enhanced photocatalytic performance of CuAl2O4 nanoparticles spinel for dye degradation under visible light

Abstract: Environmental problems on a global scale have become more prominent with the population growth. For the removal of organic contaminants, the solar energy and environmentally friendly photocatalysis are needed to substitute the fossil fuels. In this contribution, we report the synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic capability of CuAl2O4 nanoparticles. The spinel was elaborated by nitrate route and characterized physically and electrochemically for their correlations and application in photocatalysis through the degradation of Basic Red 46 (BR 46), a hazardous dye under visible illumination. The effects of several operational factors like the pH, catalyst dose and initial dye BR 46 concentration were optimized. The results revealed that the photocatalytic performance reached 93% at pH 10, 1 g/L of catalyst dose at a concentration of 10 mg/L of BR 46 within 120 min of irradiation. The quasi-total mineralization was confirmed by the total organic carbon (TOC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Additionally, the prepared photocatalyst possesses a good cyclability with no significant change after five successive photocatalytic cycles. Furthermore, the radical scavenger tests revealed that the specie O2·− and the holes h+ have the significant effects on the removal of BR 46. Based on the latest results, a photocatalytic mechanism was proposed.

An Examination of the International Natural Gas Trade

Abstract: Recent developments in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry, particularly the ongoing projects of liquefaction and regasification and the increasing number of LNG-carriers to be delivered in forthcoming years, have led some specialists to argue that LNG is today at the crossroads between regionalisation and globalisation. Other specialists think that, by 2010, LNG's share of the total international trade of natural gas will be predominant, compared with that of pipelines. All these assumptions are based on an examination of the duration of existing and ongoing international gas projects. The objective of our article is to examine the historical patterns of the international trade of natural gas and discuss the conditions for the globalisation of LNG trade. Using some statistical evidence on the international trade of natural gas from 1970 to 1997, we show the following. 1) A strong correlation exists between the international trade of gas by pipeline and LNG. Before LNG becomes predominant, we need a delinking of these two means of trading gas. 2) Globalisation of the LNG trade is not only linked to an increase in the relative share of the LNG trade; it is also and primarily linked to an increase in the inter-area trade of LNG. 3) There is a negligible change in the pattern of inter-area and intra-area trade of natural gas, even during the late 1990s; this is due to the contracted nature of the LNG international trade that resulted in a stickiness of LNG routes. 4) The emergence of a global LNG market requires the satisfaction of four conditions: natural, economic, technical and institutional conditions - therefore, it will certainly take more than ten years to make LNG a global commodity.