Journal of Engineering and Applied Science

Diesel oil contamination is a threat to environment and human health. Many technologies have been developed to address this issue; however, they are costly to be deployed in real-world oil remediation. Adsorption remains to be one of the most economical methods to remove oil from water. Here, we used banana peel biochar (BPBC) immobilized in teabags as an adsorbent for the removal of diesel oil in water. We investigated the adsorption behavior of BPBC under different conditions, examining the influence of adsorbent loading, pH, salinity, and contact time on its efficiency for removing diesel oil in water. Our results show that the sorption capacity of BPBC is significantly affected by the amount of adsorbent used. Lower biochar loadings enhance the sorption capacity due to greater surface area accessibility, while higher loadings lead to decreased efficiency due to pore blockage and reduced surface exposure. Interestingly, the pH of the solution was found to have minimal impact on the sorption process. This is attributed to diesel oil’s hydrophobic and non-polar nature, which leads to its interaction with BPBC being predominantly governed by hydrophobic forces instead of pH-sensitive electrostatic interactions. Salinity emerged as a crucial factor in the adsorption process. An increase in salinity enhances the sorption capacity, likely due to the “salting-out” effect, where higher salt concentrations decrease the solubility of diesel oil, promoting its adsorption onto the biochar surface. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of contact time, with longer exposure resulting in increased sorption capacity. This trend is explained by the adsorption kinetics, initially characterized by rapid adsorption, followed by a slower, progressive occupation of the biochar’s adsorption sites. The kinetic analysis of the process suggests that the pseudo-second-order model is more suitable, indicating a chemisorption mechanism. The Harkins–Jura isotherm model was identified as the best fit for explaining the isotherm behavior, owing to its capacity to account for the heterogeneous nature of the biochar surface and the formation of multiple adsorbate layers. The optimum conditions for maximum diesel oil removal are as follows: BPBC loading of 0.50 g, a solution pH of 5.00, a salinity concentration of 12,656.57 mg/L, and a contact time of 240 min. Under these conditions, BPBC exhibited an adsorption capacity of 19.04 g/g. In summary, our research establishes BPBC, particularly when contained within teabags, as an efficient and practical adsorbent for diesel oil removal in water. Its effectiveness, superior to other biochar, is mainly due to its porosity and hydrophobic properties. These findings not only enhance our understanding of BPBC’s adsorption capabilities but also underscore its potential for environmental remediation. • Different environmental conditions affect the sorption capacity of banana peel biochar (BPBC) in teabags for diesel oil removal from water: adsorbent loading, pH, salinity, and contact time. • The solution environmental conditions were optimized to achieve maximum oil adsorption efficiency. • Diesel oil adsorption on biochar follows the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Harkins-Jura isotherm model.

The long stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic implied that most people had to perform all their daily activities at home. That raised the need for special home features related to the health, safety, and well-being of residents. This study aimed to explore the most essential features of home design during the pandemic and to measure the perception of their importance by Cairenes (Egypt) and construction industry experts for their further implementation in the future home design as part of the buyers’ preferences and house quality features. The study employed an exploratory survey, identifying eight design features, followed by a quantitative questionnaire to measure the importance of each feature among the stakeholders. The results showed that all eight indicators were of a certain degree of importance. It was found that the availability of natural ventilation and natural light were the most essential features, followed by the availability of a private outdoor space, such as a terrace with a good-looking view or a private garden, and the availability of at least one bedroom with an enclosed bathroom for the isolation needs. In contrast, the availability of an extra storage space for food and supplies, as well as the availability of an indoor family entertainment space was reported as the least important.

Local scour is the major cause of bridge water damage. The sediment in the riverbed around the pier is eroded and transported by water flow, leading to a loss of bridge foundation stability. In this study, a horn-shaped collar was proposed to mitigate local scour around bridge piers. The three design parameters (bottom diameter, vertical height, and curvature shape index) of the horn-shaped collar were studied under clear water condition, and the number of experimental tests was reduced to 25 by using Taguchi’s method. Main effect analysis was used to determine the optimum design parameters for the horn-shaped collar. The results show that the three design parameters have a significant effect on the scour reduction capacity of the horn-shaped collar, with the bottom diameter of the collar making the greatest contribution. The optimum values for the bottom diameter, vertical height, and curvature shape index are 5D, 0.25D, and 4, respectively (D represents the diameter of the pier), and the optimized shape of the horn-shaped collar reduces the maximum scour depth around the pier by 100% compared to the unprotected case. Based on the experimental data, prediction equations are developed for the maximum scour depth protected by a horn-shaped collar.

In this study, numerical models were developed to predict the behavior of steel extended end-plate moment connections subjected to static and blast-like loading. Two types of extended end-plate connections were considered, stiffened, and unstiffened, with pretensioned bolts. The models were verified by comparing the results with published experimental data. The models were used to compute the moment-rotation curves for the connection under static loading, and then under different blast durations. The pressure impulse diagram and the energy dissipation for the connection under dynamic loading were determined. The failure modes were examined, and the numerical results were compared with the simplified models presented in codes and standards. Improvement in the performance of the connection by adding one or two stiffeners was demonstrated. For the configuration studied, introducing a stiffener increased plastic dissipation energy for blast loading by 45% compared to the unstiffened connection, whereas under static loading, the plastic energy dissipation for stiffened connection, SC2, was higher than the unstiffened connection by 30%. A conservative estimate for the dynamic increase factor (DIF) was found to be 1.2 for steel yield stress and 1.05 for bolt failure.

Physical activity has a great impact on the development and overall health of children. Urban parks, which generally feature both green areas and playgrounds, offer children a wide range of opportunities to be physically active. However, previous studies have shown that a significant number of children are sedentary during park visits, rather than engaging in vigorous activities. In addition, children’s physical activities in urban parks have not been sufficiently studied in the Egyptian context. Accordingly, the main objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between the design characteristics of urban parks and children’s physical activity in the Egyptian context. To achieve its objective, the study relied on a mixed qualitative-quantitative approach to investigate six settings in a large urban park east of Cairo, three green areas, and three playgrounds. Methods of data collection included field documentation of the design characteristics of the six settings investigated, structured observations, behavioral mapping, and semi-structured interviews with 16 children. Study results show that the presence of both green areas and playgrounds is important in the design of parks. The study also identifies the design features that need to be considered in the design of parks to promote children’s vigorous activity. These features are the presence of wide-open green spaces, the presence and variety of vegetation, the presence of water bodies, the presence of challenging age-appropriate play equipment in playgrounds, the availability of pathways, the availability of shading, the variety and appropriate use of ground surface materials, and the variety in topography. Findings of the study can help designers and decision-makers in efforts to create urban parks that promote the active play of children.

Collaboration among disciplines is becoming a standard practice in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. However, limited studies have addressed the involvement of interdisciplinarity into architectural undergraduate curricula. The study seeks to expand the literature on this topic, namely by offering an alternative model for teaching an Interdisciplinary Design Course (IDC), mainly in architectural engineering departments, with the participation of engineering departments. The authors hypothesize that by the adoption of the IDC, architecture students would have a better understanding of the nature of AEC interdisciplinary design knowledge. The study aims to highlight the value of the IDC and to test the hypothesis. A qualitative research methodology has been adopted, including the design of an experiment and then the application of a case study comprising four instructors and 24 students from four departments in the Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University. Students’ design process, teamwork attitude, and own experiences on the IDC have been recorded using direct observation, interviews, and surveys. Data have been analyzed using descriptive statistics to identify the effectiveness and challenges of the experiment, in addition to the comparison with the traditional design studio. The results have shown the students’ satisfaction with collaboration with their peers from other disciplines, as it boosted their understanding of the integrated design process and increased their knowledge about each other’s discipline. In addition, architecture students commended the IDC much more than the traditional design studio.

Climate change, global energy demand, and greenhouse emissions from energy (formerly CO2 emissions from fuel combustion) have emerged as the most serious threats to humans, particularly in densely populated cities. As a result, there are calls to reconnect with nature and draw inspiration from its mechanisms as well as to use clean renewable energy resources. Thus, this paper presents a biomimicry approach—a strategy for achieving ecological balance—to biofuel using algae in a building facade, and considers a case study building in Giza city as an example of a populated city in Egypt for retrofitting its skin with a nature-inspired solution. Using mathematical calculation, energy load analysis, and interviews with interested specialists, architects, and building occupants about this technology, then compared the performance of the case study commercial building facade with the proposed algae facade for energy generate. The results indicate that electrical energy consumption can be reduced by 45 to 50%, and carbon emissions could be reduced. In addition, other benefits for the building environment and societal acceptance were revealed. The study concluded that using algae as an element of the building skin in densely populated cities as a biomimicry architecture strategy contributes to an innovative environmental approach.

There are a lot of welded joints in the shale gas collection pipeline, so the failure risk of the shale gas production line is very high. A leak has occurred in the gas collection pipeline of a dewatering station, and in order to find out the causes of failure and provide technical support for safe shale gas transmission, macroscopic analysis, non-destructive testing (X-ray flaw detection), mechanical properties, and metallurgical analysis were performed on the failed pipe section, and CFD method was used to further analyze the failure mechanism of the ring weld pipe. The macroscopic analysis yielded the weld height is significantly greater than the standard minimum requirement. Non-destructive testing showed a large number of cracks with varying degrees of extension along the weld circumference on the inner surface of the weld. The chemical composition and mechanical properties of the pipe and the weld met the requirements. The microstructure of the base metal met the standard. There are no inclusions, holes, unfused areas, or other welding defects in the weld zone. The cracks originate from the weld fusion zone, and there are a large number of intergranular microcracks. CFD simulation results show that although the stress concentration caused by the height of the weld does not directly lead to weld cracking, under the influence of the stress concentration, cracks tend to sprout at the coarse grain organization of the fusion zone on the inner surface of the weld and can easily propagate throughout the weld and pipe wall thickness, leading to crack damage. Several suggestions to prevent such a failure were proposed to avoid the occurrence of similar accidents.

In the context of energy crisis challenges, climatic changes, rising temperatures, and the disappearance of green areas, all these have led to emerging thermally uncomfortable indoor spaces because their envelopes did not prevent the harmful effects of the outdoor climate. Hence, the urgent need to adopt the most effective methods to treat thermal performance and rationalize energy consumption in buildings has emerged. Consequently, the research aims to improve the environmental and thermal performance of building envelopes affecting their indoor environments by employing the systems of green walls. Accordingly, their types, design considerations, characteristics, technical elements, and indicators of sustainability aspects related to them were collected and investigated to ensure their success. Also, these systems’ indoor and outdoor effects on buildings and two international experiments were analyzed for benefit when dealing with these systems. An analytical comparison was performed concerning their applications to guide understanding and utilization. The study devised a seven-stage framework to choose, design, evaluate, and attain the most appropriate green wall system according to the state and circumstances of the studied building. Finally, inspecting this framework was by the chi-square test, thus fostering the integration of the natural environment with the built environment, human comfort, and energy conservation.

The challenge of urban growth and land use land cover (LULC) change is particularly critical in developing countries. The use of remote sensing and GIS has helped to generate LULC thematic maps, which have proven immensely valuable in resource and land-use management, facilitating sustainable development by balancing developmental interests and conservation measures. The research utilized socio-economic and spatial variables such as slope, elevation, distance from streams, distance from roads, distance from built-up areas, and distance from the center of town to determine their impact on the LULC of 2016 and 2019. The research integrates Artificial Neural Network with Cellular Automta to forecast and establish potential land use changes for the years 2025 and 2040. Comparison between the predicted and actual LULC maps of 2022 indicates high agreement with kappa hat of 0.77 and a percentage of correctness of 86.83%. The study indicates that the built-up area will increase by 8.37 km2 by 2040, resulting in a reduction of 7.08 km2 and 1.16 km2 in protected and agricultural areas, respectively. These findings will assist urban planners and lawmakers to adopt management and conservation strategies that balance urban expansion and conservation of natural resources leading to the sustainable development of the cities.