Mona Gamal Ibrahim | Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST) (original) (raw)

Papers by Mona Gamal Ibrahim

Journal of Engineering Research, Feb 16, 2022

In coastal groundwater aquifer, seawater intrusion is seen as a significant issue. Increasing the... more In coastal groundwater aquifer, seawater intrusion is seen as a significant issue. Increasing the groundwater pumping rate enhances seawater intrusion into groundwater in the coastal aquifers. In Egypt, the Nile Delta aquifer (NDA) is extremely vulnerable to Mediterranean Sea seawater intrusion. The study's major goal was to create a three-dimensional groundwater model that included main branches of the irrigation system and their groundwater recharges into the NDA. The NDA model was built by using the SEAWAT program. The model validation was achieved by comparing its results with the observation data and results from previous models. Three scenarios were proposed considering: 1) sea level rise, 2) changes in the rate of groundwater abstraction, and 3) a combination of the conditions of the two previous scenarios' conditions. A rise in Mediterranean Sea levels by 25, 50, 75 and 100 cm caused additional saltwater intrusion to distances of 5.11 km, 7.10, 7.62 and 8.2 km, respectively. Moreover, in comparison to the base situation, a decrease in the lower boundary's groundwater head by 25, 50, 75 and 100 cm caused the saltwater to advance further inland to distances of 5.30, 5.47, 5.52 and 5.75 km, respectively. The third scenario proved to be the worst case, in which saltwater intrusion increased to a distance of 7.22, 7.73, 8.20 and 10.20 km, respectively. Compared with previous model studies, the results showed that saltwater intrusion length decreases by 4.0 km after including all branches of the irrigation network.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a useful tool for assessing the environmental impacts of a system,... more Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a useful tool for assessing the environmental impacts of a system, product or service. Cleaner production and pollution prevention opportunities for the cement sector include: 1) use of alternate fuels in cement kilns; 2) NOX reduction; 3) reduction of dust emissions; 4) reuse of bypass dust; and 5) treatment of hazardous waste. Nowadays, Egypt faced energy scarcity inducing political, social and environmental factors putting pressure on the cement industries to obtain their energy from coal instead of the natural gas, solar and mazzut. Therefore, this paper focuses on assessing the environmental impacts of cement producing facilities in Egypt with regard to their environmental compliance if coal is used compared to other sources by using the LCA tool. A comparative analysis among various fuel types of typical cement plant in Egypt is conducted. Results show that the decision of replacing the existing used fuels in cement industry by coal will carry an...

ECP 2023

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery

Orange peel is a fruit-based biomass produced in huge quantities worldwide, requiring an appropri... more Orange peel is a fruit-based biomass produced in huge quantities worldwide, requiring an appropriate management strategy to meet the waste-to-wealth approach. In the current study, this agricultural waste was used (as an adsorbent) to treat dye-laden wastewater, followed by its regeneration and recyclability for dual biogas and biochar production. An adsorbent material was prepared by mixing orange peel powder (OPP) with biochar (1:1, w/w) and used to remove various pollutants from textile wastewater (TWW) within 30 min. This adsorption system achieved chemical oxygen demand (COD), total dissolved solids (TDS), turbidity, and color removal efficiencies of 38.56±1.73%, 29.31±1.25%, 91.92±4.75%, and 74.81±3.96%, respectively. The spent adsorbent was cleaned and mixed with cow dung (as inoculum) to generate biogas via anaerobic co-digestion. This system maintained a bio-CH4 of 411.5±21.7 mL/g volatile solids (VS), equivalent to 14.3±1.1% of CODinitial. Because the digestate of the co-d...

Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery

This study investigates the utilization of petrochemical and domestic wastewater (PCW and DW) for... more This study investigates the utilization of petrochemical and domestic wastewater (PCW and DW) for dual biogas and biochar production, focusing on the economic and sustainable development criteria. Biogas yield by anaerobic co-digestion of a 0:1 (PCW:DW) feed was 306.4±11.8 mL per g chemical oxygen demand (COD) removed, which dropped by 12.7% with changing PCW:DW to 1:0. The results indicated that increasing the DW fraction in the feed encouraged the conversion of COD into more biogas and sludge amounts. The anaerobic sludge was subjected to pyrolysis to generate biochar with a yield of 0.6 g/g dry sludge. The delivered biochar showed appropriate surface morphology, elemental composition, physical properties, and surface functional groups, as demonstrated by SEM/EDX, XRD, and FTIR characterizations. The COD mass balance estimation of the anaerobic digestion system, with biochar yield, was used to determine the economic feasibility of treating 30 m3/day of wastewater. The 1:0 (PCW:DW)...

Sustainability

This study evaluated the performance of a downflow hanging sponge (DHS) in reducing the concentra... more This study evaluated the performance of a downflow hanging sponge (DHS) in reducing the concentrations of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia (NH3), total suspended solids (TSS), and total dissolved solids (TDS) in high-strength organic wastewater (HSOW). The DHS unit was composed of three segments connected vertically and operated under different organic loading rates (OLRs) between 3.01 and 12.33 kg COD/m3sponge/d at a constant hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 3.6 h. The results demonstrated that the DHS system achieved COD, NH3, TSS, and TDS removal efficiencies of 88.34 ± 6.53%, 64.38 ± 4.37%, 88.13 ± 5.42%, and 20.83 ± 1.78% at an OLR of 3.01 kg COD/m3sponge/d, respectively. These removal efficiencies significantly (p < 0.05) dropped to 76.39 ± 6.58%, 36.59 ± 2.91%, 80.87 ± 5.71%, and 14.20 ± 1.07%, respectively, by increasing the OLR to 12.33 kg COD/m3sponge/d. The variation in COD experimental data was well described by the first-order (R2 = 0.927) and modified Stover–K...

Journal of Water Process Engineering, 2020

In this study, photocatalytic degradation of trimethoprim by synthesized S-TiO2 and Ru/WO3/ZrO2 c... more In this study, photocatalytic degradation of trimethoprim by synthesized S-TiO2 and Ru/WO3/ZrO2 catalysts was investigated. Both photocatalysts have been immobilized on

Applied Environmental Research, 2021

Wadi Qena is one of the Nile Valley areas particularly at risk of severe flash flooding, located ... more Wadi Qena is one of the Nile Valley areas particularly at risk of severe flash flooding, located in Egypt. The study aims to verify TRMM rainfall data (TRMM 3B42), using eight stations across Egypt as well as relies on morphometric analysis to generate a flood risk map based on the ranking method. Three process could be recognized through the study, calibration, correction and verification processes. The results discuss the match daily rainfall trends of TRMM and observed data, producing a correction equation for TRMM data with root mean square error (RMSE) value of 0.837 mm d-1 and R2= 0.238 (calibration process). On the other hand, a verification process, using the developed correction equation, obtain RMSE value of 1.701 mm d-1 and R2= 0.601. The morphometric analysis shows 32 sub-basins with a hazard degree from moderate to high, amounting to 50.3% of the watershed area. Conclusively, this study confirms that the current monitoring system is not enough to cover the whole area, e...

2019 International Conference on Sustainable Energy Engineering and Application (ICSEEA), 2019

Since buildings and their construction materials exploit natural resources as well as the effect ... more Since buildings and their construction materials exploit natural resources as well as the effect on energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, evaluating building materials is needed to have more sustainable buildings. This study proposes a methodology to define the proper selection of green building materials that can be used for building façades; whilst taking its thermal performance and energy efficiency into account. Additionally, the study compared the energy consumption for six conventional materials for two types of buildings (Educational, Residential) in four climate zones using a simulation program (DesignBuilder). It included also the embodied carbon and equivalent CO2 for different types of used external façades materials. The evaluation and results is an important step to identify the suitable material that could be replaced with green material and determine how it performs in terms of simulation results and matching with the proposed criteria. The results show enhancement of thermal comfort when replacing a conventional material Brickwork with an environmentally friendly one (Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Block). Moreover, it has a positive impact regarding sub-criteria (from the proposed framework). However, the proposed green material couldn't achieve the expected performance regarding energy performance (as it achieved a minor enhancement from 3245.07 to 3239.1 KWh, U-value for both materials is close) or embodied energy (as the increase of kgCO2 from 758 to 1649.3 due to cement which is one of its ingredients).

Adsorption Science & Technology, 2022

Petrochemical industrial wastewater (PIW)contains toluene and xylene (TX), and various organic an... more Petrochemical industrial wastewater (PIW)contains toluene and xylene (TX), and various organic and inorganic pollutants, causing severe risks to human health if improperly released into the environmental matrices. For the long-term reliability of environmental conservation, this study illustrates the interlinkage between PIW treatment and the three pillars of sustainable development. Sewage sludge biochar was modified with eggshell, showing a relatively high fixed C content (increase in carbonization degree), and small O/C and N/C ratios. The prepared biochar was employed for TX adsorption in mono-component solutions, giving removal efficiencies of 79.1% (T) and 86.6% (X), at pH =10, adsorbent dosage =2 g/L, and Co =40 mg/L within 60 min. The main adsorption mechanism was physisorption, including precipitation/pore-filling, π-π dispersive interaction, and van der Waals force. The modified biochar also treated real PIW under five adsorption/regeneration cycles, providing essential st...

Buildings, 2021

The need to enhance the performance of building façades and mitigate adverse environmental impact... more The need to enhance the performance of building façades and mitigate adverse environmental impacts has promoted the hypothesis of integrating green materials towards sustainable buildings. Façade designers tend to select building materials based on their green characteristics (origin) or green performance; however, this study highlights the importance of integrating both into the decision process. The main objective is to develop a new assessment process for selecting green building façade materials based on green performance and green originality. Furthermore, the evaluation framework considers four green building rating systems as a reference to allocate credits for the relevant criteria. Applying the proposed criteria in this study helps maximize the points for accreditation when incorporating green building materials in building façades. Moreover, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to assign the proposed criteria’s weighting importance based on the four rating systems’...

SN Applied Sciences, 2020

In this study, the pyrolysis of sewage sludge was employed to prepare a biochar (BC) adsorbent th... more In this study, the pyrolysis of sewage sludge was employed to prepare a biochar (BC) adsorbent that was modified using eggshell wastes, obtaining eggshell-modified biochar (EMBC). The adsorbent material was used for the removal of monoethylene glycol (MEG) from aqueous solutions under various adsorption conditions. Results showed that the specific surface area of EMBC (i.e., 3.95 m 2 /g) was approximately twofold higher than that of BC, implying that the application of eggshell waste would improve the surface adsorption performance. The optimum adsorption pH value was 7, achieving MEG removal efficiencies of 29.9% for BC and 89.9% for EMBC using adsorbent dosage = 2 g/L, initial MEG concentration = 100 mg/L, and 25 °C within 60 min. The adsorption mechanisms were illustrated regarding XRD, FTIR, and SEM, demonstrating that surface adsorption, pore-filling, precipitation, and complexation contributed to the adsorption process. The adsorption data fitted well to the Langmuir isotherm model with the maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 12.20 mg/g, implying a reversible physisorption mechanism. Based on a techno-economic feasibility assessment, the preparation of BC and EMBC adsorbents for the treatment of 1 m 3 of wastewater-containing ethylene glycol would require capital costs of 4.80 and 6.50 US$, respectively. The selling of adsorbents and the economic benefit of tertiary treated water showed adequate annual profitability with payback periods of 12.97 and 6.79 years for the BC and EMBC scenarios, respectively. Hence, the study succeeded in preparing efficient and low-cost adsorbents that could be used for the tertiary treatment of petrochemical industrial wastewater containing toxic environmental pollutants.

Sustainable Cities and Society, 2020

Abstract Thermal sensation of users in outdoor spaces is an important aspect for an effective ope... more Abstract Thermal sensation of users in outdoor spaces is an important aspect for an effective open space design. Vegetation is a serious component of the urban environment to alleviate the negative impacts of Urban Heat Island. In a hot city, the suitable plantation of trees is an essential parameter that can reduce heat stress. The objective of this study is to examine how the arrangement of trees and terrestrial materials can affect the outdoor microclimate and thermal comfort in business parks. This research focuses on optimizing the arrangement of trees with specific spatial location, in order to create green business park`s landscapes. Moreover, substituting high emission thermal terrestrial materials by low emission ones plays a key role in modifying the outdoor microclimate. In order to reach the goal, the current situation of an Egyptian business park called “Silicon Waha” was simulated, as a case study, using ENVI_MET software to investigate the levels of human thermal comfort. Afterwards, nine scenarios considering various tree layouts with specific pavement improvements were conducted. The results obtained were then compared with the actual design to determine the best alternatives for ameliorating the outdoor microclimate and enhancing human thermal comfort. Therefore, the paper develops a methodology of a relation between selecting trees location and the environmental parameters in Business Parks located in hot-arid climate. Eventually, the findings of this research provide the stakeholders with better guidelines for improving thermal comfort in outdoor workspaces and developing sustainable cities.

Chemical Engineering Journal, 2020

Innovative photocatalytic reactor for the degradation of chlorpyrifos using a coated composite of... more Innovative photocatalytic reactor for the degradation of chlorpyrifos using a coated composite of ZrV 2 O 7 and graphene nanoplatelets,

Journal of Advanced Research, 2020

of anaerobes exposed to cyanuric acid contaminated wastewater and achieving efficient removal via... more of anaerobes exposed to cyanuric acid contaminated wastewater and achieving efficient removal via optimized codigestion scheme,

Applied Environmental Research, 2018

Flash flooding is one of the periodic geohazards in the eastern desert of Egypt where many parts ... more Flash flooding is one of the periodic geohazards in the eastern desert of Egypt where many parts of Upper Egypt, Sinai, and Red Sea areas were hit by severe flash floods, for example in 1976, 1982, 1996 and January 2010. The hazard degree for each sub-basin was determined using the approach developed by El-Shamy for assessing susceptibility of sub-basins to flash flooding risk. To identify at-risk sub-basins, two different methods were applied. The first method is based on the relationship between the drainage density and bifurcation ratio, and the second one uses the relationship between drainage frequency and bifurcation ratio. The three morphometric parameters (the bifurcation ratio, drainage density, and stream frequency) were extracted and calculated for each sub-basin of the watershed. Based on the final hazard degree resulting from the two methods, a detailed hazard degree map was extracted for all sub-basins. The results illustrate that there are no sub-basins with low risk ...

Ecosystems and Sustainable Development XI, 2017

The world cities have an increasing task to provide a convenient habitat for most of the world's ... more The world cities have an increasing task to provide a convenient habitat for most of the world's human population. Cities are generally responsible for most of the global carbon emissions. The sustainability concept has continued to be a top priority on the governmental agenda across the world. Business parks are designed to be environmentally sustainable, which will help reduce air pollution and develop social health and lifestyle. Besides many ecological and environmental services, business parks provide significant social and spiritual benefits to human societies. Green business parks aim to decrease the huge negative effect of business on both nature and society. The main purpose of this paper is to address the importance of green business parks for employees' and users' well-being, and for the sustainability of the city they inhabit. The paper introduces an evaluative framework for the sustainability of green business parks in Egypt. Therefore, the paper discusses the idea of the sustainable city and the connection between human well-being and the constructed environment in business parks. It also studies some cases that have appeared in the Egyptian cities; to show whether they achieve the aspects of sustainability or need redesign and upgrading plans. The study shows a concrete relationship between the indoor environment of business parks and human well-being. This endorses the fact that the more sustainable the place of work, the less its tendency to impose bad health effects on the building's occupants. Highlighting the important role of green business parks for employees' well-being and for a healthy environment can be a step towards future sustainable green cities in Egypt.

Water Science and Technology: Water Supply, 2017

The main objective of this study is to evaluate the potential impact of Grand Ethiopian Renaissan... more The main objective of this study is to evaluate the potential impact of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and pumping scenarios on groundwater level by a three-dimensional groundwater model of the Nile Delta using MODFLOW software. The Nile Delta has highly intensive irrigation canal networks that share yearly about 35.5 km3 of water. In this study, an integrated three-dimensional groundwater model is built considering the actual condition of the irrigation canals and their recharges of the Nile Delta aquifer. The model was calibrated for estimating the vertical and hydraulic conductivity. The model was run for three scenarios: (1) reduction of water depth in canals, (2) increasing pumping discharge from the aquifer and (3) combination between the first and second scenarios. Results reveal that the effect of increasing the pumping discharge on groundwater level in the Nile Delta is more significant than decreasing the water depth of the canals network due to the fact of the exi...

Sustainable Development and Planning VIII, 2016

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 2016

Egypt in 2015 announced the alteration of the fuels used in cement plants without the least regar... more Egypt in 2015 announced the alteration of the fuels used in cement plants without the least regard to minimizing the environmental burden (EB) excesses. This study conducts a life-cycle assessment (LCA) of Egyptian cement-manufacturing unit, which is considered as the first one on LCA cement analysis to be conducted in Egypt. This study investigates the LCA of the cement industry in Egypt compared to the Swiss industry, using two methodologies. The first one has been done on-site, surveying the most common types of cement used in the construction industry in Egypt. Meanwhile, SimaPro software has been used to assess the environmental impacts, and three different cement plants were selected for this study: an Egyptian cement plant (ECP) which uses electricity, natural gas, and diesel as energy sources; a Swiss cement plant (SCP) which depends mainly on electricity, natural gas, and coal; and an Egyptian hypothetical plant (EHP) in which electricity and coal are assumed to be the main energy feeds, and comparisons of different strategies including midpoint and endpoint methods are outlined. Regarding the midpoint method, ETP recorded higher respiratory inorganics, aquatic acidification, global warming, and nonrenewable energy impacts than ECP, because of using coal, while for SCP, global warming and respiratory inorganics achieved the highest adverse impacts compared to ECP and EHP-due to the different manufacturing technology used. With regard to the endpoint method, the peak possibility of human health deterioration has been recorded due to the use of coal as fuel. This possibility was reduced by 46 % in the case of SCP as a result of the technology applied, which interestingly represents a reasonable reduction in terms of technological application.

Journal of Engineering Research, Feb 16, 2022

In coastal groundwater aquifer, seawater intrusion is seen as a significant issue. Increasing the... more In coastal groundwater aquifer, seawater intrusion is seen as a significant issue. Increasing the groundwater pumping rate enhances seawater intrusion into groundwater in the coastal aquifers. In Egypt, the Nile Delta aquifer (NDA) is extremely vulnerable to Mediterranean Sea seawater intrusion. The study's major goal was to create a three-dimensional groundwater model that included main branches of the irrigation system and their groundwater recharges into the NDA. The NDA model was built by using the SEAWAT program. The model validation was achieved by comparing its results with the observation data and results from previous models. Three scenarios were proposed considering: 1) sea level rise, 2) changes in the rate of groundwater abstraction, and 3) a combination of the conditions of the two previous scenarios' conditions. A rise in Mediterranean Sea levels by 25, 50, 75 and 100 cm caused additional saltwater intrusion to distances of 5.11 km, 7.10, 7.62 and 8.2 km, respectively. Moreover, in comparison to the base situation, a decrease in the lower boundary's groundwater head by 25, 50, 75 and 100 cm caused the saltwater to advance further inland to distances of 5.30, 5.47, 5.52 and 5.75 km, respectively. The third scenario proved to be the worst case, in which saltwater intrusion increased to a distance of 7.22, 7.73, 8.20 and 10.20 km, respectively. Compared with previous model studies, the results showed that saltwater intrusion length decreases by 4.0 km after including all branches of the irrigation network.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a useful tool for assessing the environmental impacts of a system,... more Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a useful tool for assessing the environmental impacts of a system, product or service. Cleaner production and pollution prevention opportunities for the cement sector include: 1) use of alternate fuels in cement kilns; 2) NOX reduction; 3) reduction of dust emissions; 4) reuse of bypass dust; and 5) treatment of hazardous waste. Nowadays, Egypt faced energy scarcity inducing political, social and environmental factors putting pressure on the cement industries to obtain their energy from coal instead of the natural gas, solar and mazzut. Therefore, this paper focuses on assessing the environmental impacts of cement producing facilities in Egypt with regard to their environmental compliance if coal is used compared to other sources by using the LCA tool. A comparative analysis among various fuel types of typical cement plant in Egypt is conducted. Results show that the decision of replacing the existing used fuels in cement industry by coal will carry an...

ECP 2023

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery

Orange peel is a fruit-based biomass produced in huge quantities worldwide, requiring an appropri... more Orange peel is a fruit-based biomass produced in huge quantities worldwide, requiring an appropriate management strategy to meet the waste-to-wealth approach. In the current study, this agricultural waste was used (as an adsorbent) to treat dye-laden wastewater, followed by its regeneration and recyclability for dual biogas and biochar production. An adsorbent material was prepared by mixing orange peel powder (OPP) with biochar (1:1, w/w) and used to remove various pollutants from textile wastewater (TWW) within 30 min. This adsorption system achieved chemical oxygen demand (COD), total dissolved solids (TDS), turbidity, and color removal efficiencies of 38.56±1.73%, 29.31±1.25%, 91.92±4.75%, and 74.81±3.96%, respectively. The spent adsorbent was cleaned and mixed with cow dung (as inoculum) to generate biogas via anaerobic co-digestion. This system maintained a bio-CH4 of 411.5±21.7 mL/g volatile solids (VS), equivalent to 14.3±1.1% of CODinitial. Because the digestate of the co-d...

Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery

This study investigates the utilization of petrochemical and domestic wastewater (PCW and DW) for... more This study investigates the utilization of petrochemical and domestic wastewater (PCW and DW) for dual biogas and biochar production, focusing on the economic and sustainable development criteria. Biogas yield by anaerobic co-digestion of a 0:1 (PCW:DW) feed was 306.4±11.8 mL per g chemical oxygen demand (COD) removed, which dropped by 12.7% with changing PCW:DW to 1:0. The results indicated that increasing the DW fraction in the feed encouraged the conversion of COD into more biogas and sludge amounts. The anaerobic sludge was subjected to pyrolysis to generate biochar with a yield of 0.6 g/g dry sludge. The delivered biochar showed appropriate surface morphology, elemental composition, physical properties, and surface functional groups, as demonstrated by SEM/EDX, XRD, and FTIR characterizations. The COD mass balance estimation of the anaerobic digestion system, with biochar yield, was used to determine the economic feasibility of treating 30 m3/day of wastewater. The 1:0 (PCW:DW)...

Sustainability

This study evaluated the performance of a downflow hanging sponge (DHS) in reducing the concentra... more This study evaluated the performance of a downflow hanging sponge (DHS) in reducing the concentrations of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia (NH3), total suspended solids (TSS), and total dissolved solids (TDS) in high-strength organic wastewater (HSOW). The DHS unit was composed of three segments connected vertically and operated under different organic loading rates (OLRs) between 3.01 and 12.33 kg COD/m3sponge/d at a constant hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 3.6 h. The results demonstrated that the DHS system achieved COD, NH3, TSS, and TDS removal efficiencies of 88.34 ± 6.53%, 64.38 ± 4.37%, 88.13 ± 5.42%, and 20.83 ± 1.78% at an OLR of 3.01 kg COD/m3sponge/d, respectively. These removal efficiencies significantly (p < 0.05) dropped to 76.39 ± 6.58%, 36.59 ± 2.91%, 80.87 ± 5.71%, and 14.20 ± 1.07%, respectively, by increasing the OLR to 12.33 kg COD/m3sponge/d. The variation in COD experimental data was well described by the first-order (R2 = 0.927) and modified Stover–K...

Journal of Water Process Engineering, 2020

In this study, photocatalytic degradation of trimethoprim by synthesized S-TiO2 and Ru/WO3/ZrO2 c... more In this study, photocatalytic degradation of trimethoprim by synthesized S-TiO2 and Ru/WO3/ZrO2 catalysts was investigated. Both photocatalysts have been immobilized on

Applied Environmental Research, 2021

Wadi Qena is one of the Nile Valley areas particularly at risk of severe flash flooding, located ... more Wadi Qena is one of the Nile Valley areas particularly at risk of severe flash flooding, located in Egypt. The study aims to verify TRMM rainfall data (TRMM 3B42), using eight stations across Egypt as well as relies on morphometric analysis to generate a flood risk map based on the ranking method. Three process could be recognized through the study, calibration, correction and verification processes. The results discuss the match daily rainfall trends of TRMM and observed data, producing a correction equation for TRMM data with root mean square error (RMSE) value of 0.837 mm d-1 and R2= 0.238 (calibration process). On the other hand, a verification process, using the developed correction equation, obtain RMSE value of 1.701 mm d-1 and R2= 0.601. The morphometric analysis shows 32 sub-basins with a hazard degree from moderate to high, amounting to 50.3% of the watershed area. Conclusively, this study confirms that the current monitoring system is not enough to cover the whole area, e...

2019 International Conference on Sustainable Energy Engineering and Application (ICSEEA), 2019

Since buildings and their construction materials exploit natural resources as well as the effect ... more Since buildings and their construction materials exploit natural resources as well as the effect on energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, evaluating building materials is needed to have more sustainable buildings. This study proposes a methodology to define the proper selection of green building materials that can be used for building façades; whilst taking its thermal performance and energy efficiency into account. Additionally, the study compared the energy consumption for six conventional materials for two types of buildings (Educational, Residential) in four climate zones using a simulation program (DesignBuilder). It included also the embodied carbon and equivalent CO2 for different types of used external façades materials. The evaluation and results is an important step to identify the suitable material that could be replaced with green material and determine how it performs in terms of simulation results and matching with the proposed criteria. The results show enhancement of thermal comfort when replacing a conventional material Brickwork with an environmentally friendly one (Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Block). Moreover, it has a positive impact regarding sub-criteria (from the proposed framework). However, the proposed green material couldn't achieve the expected performance regarding energy performance (as it achieved a minor enhancement from 3245.07 to 3239.1 KWh, U-value for both materials is close) or embodied energy (as the increase of kgCO2 from 758 to 1649.3 due to cement which is one of its ingredients).

Adsorption Science & Technology, 2022

Petrochemical industrial wastewater (PIW)contains toluene and xylene (TX), and various organic an... more Petrochemical industrial wastewater (PIW)contains toluene and xylene (TX), and various organic and inorganic pollutants, causing severe risks to human health if improperly released into the environmental matrices. For the long-term reliability of environmental conservation, this study illustrates the interlinkage between PIW treatment and the three pillars of sustainable development. Sewage sludge biochar was modified with eggshell, showing a relatively high fixed C content (increase in carbonization degree), and small O/C and N/C ratios. The prepared biochar was employed for TX adsorption in mono-component solutions, giving removal efficiencies of 79.1% (T) and 86.6% (X), at pH =10, adsorbent dosage =2 g/L, and Co =40 mg/L within 60 min. The main adsorption mechanism was physisorption, including precipitation/pore-filling, π-π dispersive interaction, and van der Waals force. The modified biochar also treated real PIW under five adsorption/regeneration cycles, providing essential st...

Buildings, 2021

The need to enhance the performance of building façades and mitigate adverse environmental impact... more The need to enhance the performance of building façades and mitigate adverse environmental impacts has promoted the hypothesis of integrating green materials towards sustainable buildings. Façade designers tend to select building materials based on their green characteristics (origin) or green performance; however, this study highlights the importance of integrating both into the decision process. The main objective is to develop a new assessment process for selecting green building façade materials based on green performance and green originality. Furthermore, the evaluation framework considers four green building rating systems as a reference to allocate credits for the relevant criteria. Applying the proposed criteria in this study helps maximize the points for accreditation when incorporating green building materials in building façades. Moreover, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to assign the proposed criteria’s weighting importance based on the four rating systems’...

SN Applied Sciences, 2020

In this study, the pyrolysis of sewage sludge was employed to prepare a biochar (BC) adsorbent th... more In this study, the pyrolysis of sewage sludge was employed to prepare a biochar (BC) adsorbent that was modified using eggshell wastes, obtaining eggshell-modified biochar (EMBC). The adsorbent material was used for the removal of monoethylene glycol (MEG) from aqueous solutions under various adsorption conditions. Results showed that the specific surface area of EMBC (i.e., 3.95 m 2 /g) was approximately twofold higher than that of BC, implying that the application of eggshell waste would improve the surface adsorption performance. The optimum adsorption pH value was 7, achieving MEG removal efficiencies of 29.9% for BC and 89.9% for EMBC using adsorbent dosage = 2 g/L, initial MEG concentration = 100 mg/L, and 25 °C within 60 min. The adsorption mechanisms were illustrated regarding XRD, FTIR, and SEM, demonstrating that surface adsorption, pore-filling, precipitation, and complexation contributed to the adsorption process. The adsorption data fitted well to the Langmuir isotherm model with the maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 12.20 mg/g, implying a reversible physisorption mechanism. Based on a techno-economic feasibility assessment, the preparation of BC and EMBC adsorbents for the treatment of 1 m 3 of wastewater-containing ethylene glycol would require capital costs of 4.80 and 6.50 US$, respectively. The selling of adsorbents and the economic benefit of tertiary treated water showed adequate annual profitability with payback periods of 12.97 and 6.79 years for the BC and EMBC scenarios, respectively. Hence, the study succeeded in preparing efficient and low-cost adsorbents that could be used for the tertiary treatment of petrochemical industrial wastewater containing toxic environmental pollutants.

Sustainable Cities and Society, 2020

Abstract Thermal sensation of users in outdoor spaces is an important aspect for an effective ope... more Abstract Thermal sensation of users in outdoor spaces is an important aspect for an effective open space design. Vegetation is a serious component of the urban environment to alleviate the negative impacts of Urban Heat Island. In a hot city, the suitable plantation of trees is an essential parameter that can reduce heat stress. The objective of this study is to examine how the arrangement of trees and terrestrial materials can affect the outdoor microclimate and thermal comfort in business parks. This research focuses on optimizing the arrangement of trees with specific spatial location, in order to create green business park`s landscapes. Moreover, substituting high emission thermal terrestrial materials by low emission ones plays a key role in modifying the outdoor microclimate. In order to reach the goal, the current situation of an Egyptian business park called “Silicon Waha” was simulated, as a case study, using ENVI_MET software to investigate the levels of human thermal comfort. Afterwards, nine scenarios considering various tree layouts with specific pavement improvements were conducted. The results obtained were then compared with the actual design to determine the best alternatives for ameliorating the outdoor microclimate and enhancing human thermal comfort. Therefore, the paper develops a methodology of a relation between selecting trees location and the environmental parameters in Business Parks located in hot-arid climate. Eventually, the findings of this research provide the stakeholders with better guidelines for improving thermal comfort in outdoor workspaces and developing sustainable cities.

Chemical Engineering Journal, 2020

Innovative photocatalytic reactor for the degradation of chlorpyrifos using a coated composite of... more Innovative photocatalytic reactor for the degradation of chlorpyrifos using a coated composite of ZrV 2 O 7 and graphene nanoplatelets,

Journal of Advanced Research, 2020

of anaerobes exposed to cyanuric acid contaminated wastewater and achieving efficient removal via... more of anaerobes exposed to cyanuric acid contaminated wastewater and achieving efficient removal via optimized codigestion scheme,

Applied Environmental Research, 2018

Flash flooding is one of the periodic geohazards in the eastern desert of Egypt where many parts ... more Flash flooding is one of the periodic geohazards in the eastern desert of Egypt where many parts of Upper Egypt, Sinai, and Red Sea areas were hit by severe flash floods, for example in 1976, 1982, 1996 and January 2010. The hazard degree for each sub-basin was determined using the approach developed by El-Shamy for assessing susceptibility of sub-basins to flash flooding risk. To identify at-risk sub-basins, two different methods were applied. The first method is based on the relationship between the drainage density and bifurcation ratio, and the second one uses the relationship between drainage frequency and bifurcation ratio. The three morphometric parameters (the bifurcation ratio, drainage density, and stream frequency) were extracted and calculated for each sub-basin of the watershed. Based on the final hazard degree resulting from the two methods, a detailed hazard degree map was extracted for all sub-basins. The results illustrate that there are no sub-basins with low risk ...

Ecosystems and Sustainable Development XI, 2017

The world cities have an increasing task to provide a convenient habitat for most of the world's ... more The world cities have an increasing task to provide a convenient habitat for most of the world's human population. Cities are generally responsible for most of the global carbon emissions. The sustainability concept has continued to be a top priority on the governmental agenda across the world. Business parks are designed to be environmentally sustainable, which will help reduce air pollution and develop social health and lifestyle. Besides many ecological and environmental services, business parks provide significant social and spiritual benefits to human societies. Green business parks aim to decrease the huge negative effect of business on both nature and society. The main purpose of this paper is to address the importance of green business parks for employees' and users' well-being, and for the sustainability of the city they inhabit. The paper introduces an evaluative framework for the sustainability of green business parks in Egypt. Therefore, the paper discusses the idea of the sustainable city and the connection between human well-being and the constructed environment in business parks. It also studies some cases that have appeared in the Egyptian cities; to show whether they achieve the aspects of sustainability or need redesign and upgrading plans. The study shows a concrete relationship between the indoor environment of business parks and human well-being. This endorses the fact that the more sustainable the place of work, the less its tendency to impose bad health effects on the building's occupants. Highlighting the important role of green business parks for employees' well-being and for a healthy environment can be a step towards future sustainable green cities in Egypt.

Water Science and Technology: Water Supply, 2017

The main objective of this study is to evaluate the potential impact of Grand Ethiopian Renaissan... more The main objective of this study is to evaluate the potential impact of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and pumping scenarios on groundwater level by a three-dimensional groundwater model of the Nile Delta using MODFLOW software. The Nile Delta has highly intensive irrigation canal networks that share yearly about 35.5 km3 of water. In this study, an integrated three-dimensional groundwater model is built considering the actual condition of the irrigation canals and their recharges of the Nile Delta aquifer. The model was calibrated for estimating the vertical and hydraulic conductivity. The model was run for three scenarios: (1) reduction of water depth in canals, (2) increasing pumping discharge from the aquifer and (3) combination between the first and second scenarios. Results reveal that the effect of increasing the pumping discharge on groundwater level in the Nile Delta is more significant than decreasing the water depth of the canals network due to the fact of the exi...

Sustainable Development and Planning VIII, 2016

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 2016

Egypt in 2015 announced the alteration of the fuels used in cement plants without the least regar... more Egypt in 2015 announced the alteration of the fuels used in cement plants without the least regard to minimizing the environmental burden (EB) excesses. This study conducts a life-cycle assessment (LCA) of Egyptian cement-manufacturing unit, which is considered as the first one on LCA cement analysis to be conducted in Egypt. This study investigates the LCA of the cement industry in Egypt compared to the Swiss industry, using two methodologies. The first one has been done on-site, surveying the most common types of cement used in the construction industry in Egypt. Meanwhile, SimaPro software has been used to assess the environmental impacts, and three different cement plants were selected for this study: an Egyptian cement plant (ECP) which uses electricity, natural gas, and diesel as energy sources; a Swiss cement plant (SCP) which depends mainly on electricity, natural gas, and coal; and an Egyptian hypothetical plant (EHP) in which electricity and coal are assumed to be the main energy feeds, and comparisons of different strategies including midpoint and endpoint methods are outlined. Regarding the midpoint method, ETP recorded higher respiratory inorganics, aquatic acidification, global warming, and nonrenewable energy impacts than ECP, because of using coal, while for SCP, global warming and respiratory inorganics achieved the highest adverse impacts compared to ECP and EHP-due to the different manufacturing technology used. With regard to the endpoint method, the peak possibility of human health deterioration has been recorded due to the use of coal as fuel. This possibility was reduced by 46 % in the case of SCP as a result of the technology applied, which interestingly represents a reasonable reduction in terms of technological application.