Search

Port constructions (quay and dike) require an enormous consumption of materials, in particular concrete and its components, as well as sand, hence the need to develop alternative solutions by using port dredging sand, which is evaluated by thousands of tons by its use in the concrete that forms the blocks of quay walls. After having demonstrated in a previous work the possibility of using the dredged sand from the port of Agadir in concrete formulations, the present work consists to show the possibility of using the dredged sand from the port of Agadir in concrete formulations that can be used in the construction of quay wall blocks, by studying the stability of a quay wall at −18 mZH made from concrete blocks derived from a concrete formulation based on the dredged sand, more specifically 50% of the sand used in the formulation is a dredging sand extracted from the port of Agadir, the quay wall stability study will consist of a deep analytical and detailed study of the sliding stability, the overturning and the bearing capacity of the foundation, taking into account the different calculation limit states, the structure of the quay wall studied is the quay wall of the port of Tangier Med II located in the north of Morocco. The eventual use of dredged sand in the concrete of the quay wall will provide enormous gains in the quantities of sand and therefore allow less consumption of construction materials, and will also play a more important role in the preservation of the marine environment by avoiding the dumping of dredged materials, which has a negative impact on the marine fauna and flora.

The growth of infrastructure has automatically led to a decrease in the deposits of concrete constituents since concrete is considered the world’s leading construction material. This is why it is necessary to move towards the development of alternative solutions, in particular the replacement of sand by dredged port sediments, which are assessed by thousands of tonnes of products considered as waste, the dredging of these products impacts the ecological system and negatively influences the marine environment. Through this article, we will study the possibility of requalifying the dredging sand of the port of Agadir in Morocco considered as waste through its use in concrete formulations by examining its behaviour with a sea-set cement and a 3rd generation admixture.

The knowledge of the mechanical parameters of the materials is important for characterization of new structures. In this context, our work is devoted to the development of a new inverse approach, which consists of identifying the mechanical parameters of a linear coaxial constitutive law material, based on the force-displacement pairs obtained by the finite element method. Indeed, we have translated this inverse problem, on the one hand, into a problem of minimization of a functional by the conjugate gradient method. On the other hand, into a problem of optimization by means of the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker optimality conditions. Finally, we illustrate the study with some numerical examples.

The degraded outdoor air quality in Morocco has become for decision makers a topic of major concern. However, taking into account the purchase and maintenance costs for monitoring network, air quality modeling is a primordial tool to predict the air quality evolution scenarios all over the Moroccan territory. Accordingly, a first air quality modeling based on CHIMERE/WRF was for the first time implemented and tested within Agadir-City. The present study allowed obtaining preliminary spatial distribution mapping of 5 relevant pollutants concentration all over the city. Furthermore, model evaluations were compared to available data from ground-based monitoring station installed within Agadir City.

International audience; A detailed investigation of the physicochemical properties and thermal characteristics of argan fruit residues (AFRs) was carried out to identify their potential application as biofuels. This experimental study covered the four main by-products of argan fruit: argan pulp (AP), argan nut shell (ANS), argan oilcake (AOC) and argan deoiled cake (ADC). Physicochemical analysis was performed to characterize biomass-based materials. Thermogravimetric techniques (TG, DTG and DTA) were applied to assess structural decomposition, biomass reactivity and combustion parameters. Lastly, thermal conductivity and diffusivity between 25 and 100 °C were measured using the transient plane source technique (TPS). The study shows that heating values were in the range of 17–22.5 MJ kg−1, which is comparable to those of wood pellets and lignite coal. The maximum ash content was found in AP and the minimum in ANS. The residual oil of AOC was found to affect the drying process and calorific value. Thermal analysis showed that ANS has the highest ignition temperature and thermal conductivity values and therefore appears to be the most reactive material. Our data show that ANS has a good potential to produce heat through direct combustion. A pretreatment appears to be necessary to improve the characteristics of AP and AOC in order to make them suitable biofuels in the near future.

International audience; Argan shell is one of the main by-products during argan oil production. It is considered as an attractive, cheap and renewable biomass source for sustainable energy utilization. The present paper reports on combustion characteristics of argan shell in order to evaluate their potential for thermochemical conversion. Combustion studies using thermogravimetry (TG) are performed at four different heating rates of 5, 10, 15 and 20 degrees C.min(-1). Kinetic parameters under non-isothermal condition are calculated using FWO (Flynn-Wall-Ozawa method) and KAS (Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose) model free methods. From the results obtained, it was revealed that when the conversion level (alpha) fluctuates between 0.1 and 0.55, the average activation energy were 154 and 145 KJ/mol for FWO and KAS methods, respectively. Then, it decreases drastically with alpha >= 0.6, reflecting the kinetic complexity of the combustion process characterized by a faster reaction caused by the intense devolatilization stage. Overall, the results highlight the potential use of argan shell as a biomass product for thermal conversion through combustion.