Mortar Based on Dune Sand and Substitute Wood Sawdust: Physico-Mechanical Characterization and Relationship Between Properties in Young Age

The South of Algeria is known for these immense sand dunes, which cover part of its territory (Sahara). The main objective of this study is the recovery of sands dune and wood waste (sawdust). The latter, which constitutes a potential source of several environmental and economic problems. The objective of this present work is to characterize the physico-mechanical properties at a young age of a dune sand-based mortar lightened by wood waste and to examine the suitability of using it for various applications in the construction of buildings. The improvement of the characteristics of these sands, which essentially formed of sand untapped to date and with the sole aim of enhancing this national sand wealth. The formulation of the mixtures is based on the substitution of dune sand by sawdust, at different weight contents 0, 10, 20 and 30%. The quantity of cement is fixed at 450 g. The results obtained show firstly that the introduction of sawdust improves the characteristics of the mixture (grain size tends to be spread out, reduction in densities), and secondly the physico-mechanical characteristics, especially at 30% substitution (reduction absorption by total immersion of 20.50%, porosity of 28.32%, wet density of 1.73% and dry density of 14.94% and increase in tensile strength of 61.43% and in compression of 63.87%). The effect of sawdust on the relationships between the properties of mortars was clearly noted either for the relationships between early strengths or between compressive and tensile strengths.

Conduction Band Offset Effect on the Cu2ZnSnS4 Solar Cells Performance

Among the causes of the degradation of the performance of kesterite-based solar cells is the wrong choice of the n-type buffer layer which has direct repercussions on the unfavorable band alignment, the conduction band offset (CBO) at the interface of the absorber/buffer junction which is one of the major causes of lower VOC. In this work, the effect of CBO at the interface of the junction (CZTS/Cd(1-x)ZnxS) as a function of the x composition of Zn with respect to (Zn+Cd) is studied using the SCAPS-1D simulator package. The obtained results show that the performance of the solar cells reaches a maximum values (Jsc = 13.9 mA/cm2, Voc = 0.757 V, FF = 65.6%, ɳ = 6.9%) for an optimal value of CBO = -0.2 eV and Zn proportion of the buffer x = 0.4 (Cd0.6Zn0.4S). The CZTS solar cells parameters are affected by the thickness and the concentration of acceptor carriers. The best performances are obtained for CZTS absorber layer, thichness (d = 2.5 µm) and (ND = 1016 cm-3). The obtained results of optimizing the electron work function of the back metal contact exhibited an optimum value at 5.7 eV with power conversion efficiency of 13.1%, Voc of 0.961 mV, FF of 67.3% and Jsc of 20.2 mA/cm2.

Hydrophobic Properties of CuO Thin Films Obtained by Sol-Gel Spin Coating Technique-Annealing Temperature Effect

The adhesive characteristics of sol-gel copper oxide (CuO) film surfaces at annealing temperatures ranging from 350 to 550°C were examined in this work. Hydrophobic properties of these oxide film surfaces were studied by contact angle measurements. The surface energy was calculated from contact angle data using harmonic mean method. The structural, morphological and chemical analysis of the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). The increase in annealing temperature induces a reduction in the hydrophilic properties of the films (adhesive properties). The rise in the hydrophobicity of the CuO surface has been claimed to be explained by a change in interfacial tension. The FTIR spectroscopy analysis revealed that the increase in the annealing temperature eliminates activated neutral species (hydroxyl groups) reacting with the surface of the sample responsible for the wettability. SEM analysis showed that the morphology of the samples is nanostructured containing agglomerates of various forms, a few hundred nanometers in size, randomly dispersed across the surface. The enhanced roughness of the produced film is primarily responsible for the increased hydrophobicity of the films. The XRD data reveal that the films are highly textured and that increasing the annealing temperature induces better layer crystallization and confirms the development of copper oxide CuO.

Combined Effect of Marble Waste as Powder and Aggregate Form on the Proprieties of the Mortar

Recycling and recovery of waste are now considered as a solution for the future to protect the environment. The marble processing workshops on the other hand, generate a large amount of waste in the form of powder and small parts. Due to these facts, the aim of this study is to valorize marble waste in the form of powder and crushed aggregates (sand) as additions in cementitious matrix building materials. The characterization of the materials used to formulate mortars based on natural dune sand with marble powder and mortars based on mixed sand (dunes sand and crushed sand) and marble powder was measure. In this sense, several series have been studied, varying the addition rate of the marble powder in order to reduce the porosity of the cement matrix, using crushed marble sand to increase the granular cohesion and using of a reducing water admixture (MEDAPLAST SP40) for more performance mortars. Very appreciable results were observed for a dosage of 15% of marble powder and for the combination of 15% of marble powder with 20% of crushed marble sand. This research recommends recycling 35% of marble waste in the cement matrix that contribute effectively to the preservation of the environment.

Torrefaction of Palm Kernel Shell and Petcoke Blends for Various Mixing Ratios and Temperatures

In the present study, torrefaction of palm kernel shell (PKS) and petcoke blends was performed for the production of solid biofuels with high energy density. The torrefaction process was performed for mixtures with various mixing ratios (by weight) from 90:10 to 60:40 (PKS:petcoke). For torrefaction under various temperatures of 250℃ to 300℃, the mixing ratio of 60:40 was used. Meanwhile, residence time and nitrogen flow rate were fixed at 30 minutes and 1 l/min, respectively. In general, the fixed carbon and ash contents increased, while the moisture and volatile matter contents decreased after torrefaction. It has been elucidated that mass yield is a dominant factor that affects the energy yield of torrefied mixtures rather than the higher heating value (HHV) ratio. Based on the energy yield and ultimate analysis, it was found that a higher amount of petcoke and higher temperature give better performance, thus causing the torrefied mixture to become very close to coals region in Van Krevelen diagram. In this case, the mixture with a mixing ratio of 60:40 torrefied under the temperature of 300℃ gives the best performance. It was also found that this mixture is thermally stable than the mixture torrefied at 250℃.

Behavior of Cementitious Materials under the Effect of an Eco-Cement Based on Dredged Sludge

This paper attempts to simulate the use of green materials from the silt in a dam, and reduce the harmful impacts of siltation on Algerian dams affected by frequent droughts and irregular rainfalls, which are resulted from climate change. These harsh weather conditions are the main cause of water erosion in Algeria, leading to a high silting level in many dams across the country. Therefore, it is necessary to dredge the considerable volumes of sludge in the dam areas. This paper treats the sludge dredged from the K’sob dam, and adds the treated sludge into cement, creating a hybrid binder that can be used in composition of cementitious materials. Specifically, the sludge extracted from the K’sob dam was characterized chemically, physically, mineralogically, and mechanically, and introduced both as a substitute of cement and a component in the mixture of ordinary concrete/mortar. The sludge was firstly activated through calcination, and added to cement at the mass dosages of 10%, 15%, and 20% separately. The mechanical behavior, especially that under compression, of cementitious materials (concrete/mortar) based on the treated sludge was studied through lab tests. The test results show that this technical innovation gives the finished product three major properties, namely, high strength, economy, and a beneficial ecological impact. The results obtained are encouraging and promise an optimal exploitation of the sludge from similar dam areas.

Environmental Function Evaluation and Preparation of Green Decorative Materials in Indoor Design

With the growing environmental awareness, there is a rising demand for green decorative materials in furniture and indoor design. However, the existing studies lack the overall evaluation of environmental functions for green decorative materials in indoor design. To make up for the gap, this paper evaluates the environmental function and explores the preparation method of green decorative materials in indoor design. Firstly, the types and purchase principles of green decorative materials were expounded, and the preparation flow of wood product coating was given for green decorative materials in indoor design. Then, an evaluation model was established for the environmental functions of green decorative materials, the stochastic dominance matrix was constructed for the indices, and the order value of each index was computed. Finally, fuzzy Dempster–Shafer (D-S) evidence theory was adopted to develop a prediction algorithm for the environmental function of indoor decorations, and thus realize the evaluation of the greenness of decorative materials in indoor design. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm, and the good performance of the prepared super-hydrophobic and oleophobic coatings.

Identification Material Distribution Process to Improve Material Handling Performance Using Risk Matrix Analysis (Case Study at Paper Manufacturing)

Material handling activities within a company have a very important role, especially in warehousing activities ranging from the process of receiving goods, storing goods to product distribution. To reduce the waste that occurs in material handling, a lean manufacturing approach is used with the Value Stream Mapping (VSM) method for mapping the flow of material handling activities and the flow of information on material handling activities. Waste that occurs in the material handling work process in the printing sheets area includes waiting, excess processing, and transportation. With Root Cause Analysis and Risk Matrix, it is known that the most influential root causes of waste are inadequate human resources, material handling tools in preparing goods and process break quantity from standard pallets, and distribution of areas far from the printing sheets warehouse area. Recommendations for improvement proposals offered are, providing additional material handlers, material handling tools for activities within one department by considering distance and time, reducing break quantity requests and temporary locations for receiving printing sheets in the production area, as well as collaborating with suppliers to arrange the arrival schedule of printing sheets material by communicating and updating regularly with the forwarder if the frequency of delays is too frequent. So that if it is repaired and applied it will improve the performance of the material handling.

Acoustic Emission Features of Anthracite under the Influence of Loading Rate

Loading rate is an important impactor of the mechanical properties, as well as the deformation and failure mode of coal and rock. Using an RMT-301 rock mechanics tester and a Soft Island acoustic emitter, uniaxial compression and acoustic emission (AE) tests were carried out on coal samples under different loading rates. The results show that uniaxial compressive stress-strain curves of the rock samples each consist of four segments: compaction, elasticity, yield, and failure. As the loading rate increased from 0.01mm/s to 0.02mm/s, the peak strength rose, the post-peak deformability dropped, the brittle failure features of anthracite became more obvious, more AE events took place, and AE frequency increased. Energy analysis shows that, the faster the loading rate, the larger the AE count, the faster the energy accumulation, but the fewer the total energy accumulation.

Evaluation of Concretes Made with Marble Waste Using Destructive and Non-Destructive Testing

The present study aims primarily to investigate the possibility of assessing the physico-mechanical behavior of concrete incorporating marble waste or marble powder as a partial replacement for cement using destructive and non-destructive testing methods. Indeed, in this work, cement was partially replaced with marble powder at six different substitution levels, i.e. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30% by weight, with 1.5% adjuvant (super plasticizer) for each mixture. The samples prepared were then analyzed. In addition, the physico-mechanical properties, in the fresh and hardened states, water-to-cement ratio, absorption and compressive strengths of the concrete samples were examined as well. Moreover, the compressive strength of concrete was assessed through non-destructive testing methods such as the ultrasonic pulse velocity and rebound hammer. Likewise, the relationship between the ultrasound velocity and compressive strength of concrete were also estimated after 3, 7, 28 and 90 days of curing. The findings of the study indicated that, at early age of curing, the values of the compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity were quite small for all replacement levels, of cement with marble powder, between 15 and 30%. Nevertheless, when the curing period was increased, the compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity of all the samples went up as well. In the end, a linear relationship was observed between the ultrasonic pulse velocity and compressive strength for all substitution levels of cement with marble powder.