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Selection of the most significant variables, i.e. the wavenumber, from an infrared (IR) spectrum is always difficult to be achieved. In this preliminary paper, the feasibility of genetic algorithms (GA) in identifying most informative wavenumbers from 150 IR spectra of papers was investigated. The list of selected wavenumbers was then employed in Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). GA procedure was repeated 30 times to get different lists of variables. Then the performances of LDA models were estimated via leave-one-out cross-validation. A total of six to eight wavenumbers were identified to be valuable variables in the GA procedures. All the 30 LDA models achieve correct classification rates between 97.3% to 100.0%. Therefore the GA-LDA model could be a suitable tool for differentiating white papers that appeared to be highly similar in their IR fingerprints.

We successfully developed a method utilizing colloidal CdSe nanocrystalline quantum dot for anti-counterfeiting label on a piece of glossy paper. We deposited numbers and lines patterns of toluene soluble CdSe quantum dot using rubber stamper on a glossy paper. The width of line pattern was about 1-2 mm with 1-2 mm separation between lines. It required less than one minute for deposited CdSe quantum dot on glossy paper to dry and become invisible by naked eyes. However, patterned quantum dot become visible using long-pass filter glasses upon excitation of UV lamp or blue laser. We characterized photoluminescence of line patterns of quantum dot, and we found that emission boundaries of line patterns were clearly observed. The error of line size and shape were mainly due to defect of the original stamper. The emission peak wavelength of CdSe quantum dot was 629 nm. The emission spectrum of deposited quantum dot has full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 30-40 nm. The spectra similarity between deposited quant...

Infrared (IR) spectral data are always influenced by undesired random and systematic variations. As such, pre-processing of spectral data is normally required before chemometric modeling. Two most widely used pre-processing techniques, i.e. scatter-correction methods and spectral derivatives, were used to pre-process 150 IR spectral data of paper. The algorithms investigated in this preliminary study are Standard Normal Variate (SNV), Multiplicative Scatter Correction (MSC), Savitzky-Golay (SG) and Gap-Segment (GS). The visual examination of the clustering among three studied varieties of paper, i.e. IK Yellow, One Paper and Save Pack, is accomplished via Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Overall, separation of the three varieties of paper is greatly enhanced after pre-processing. The most significant improvement is obtained with pre-processing via 1st derivative using SG algorithms.

Graphene is one atom thick two dimensional material with unusual mechanical, electrical, thermal and optical properties. Graphene, on larger scale is produced through reduction of graphene oxide which in turn is synthesized by chemical oxidation of graphite. Generally large area graphene oxide paper can be easily fabricated by solution filtration process, spin casting method and Langmuir-Blodgett assembly. In present study graphene oxide was synthesized by modified Hummers method. Free standing graphene oxide paper (GOP) was developed by simple drying of graphene oxide suspended in water followed by reduction by thermal treatment to synthesize free standing conducting graphene paper (Thermally Reduced Graphene Paper, TRGP). Thermal reduction was carried out for 30, 60, 90 and 120min and samples referred as TRGP_30, TRGP_60, TRGP_90 and TRGP_120 respectively. XRD results show decrease in inter layer spacing (d002) from 0.87 nm to ∼0.35 nm after reduction of GO paper. This shows gradual removal of oxygen fu...

Polyaniline thin film has been prepared on paper by aniline vapor deposition technique. Ferric chloride has been used as polymerizing agent in this approach. The prepared films were studied through electrical resistivity and optical properties measurements. The electrical resistivity of the polyaniline film shows significant temperature dependence. The resistance sharply falls with the increase in temperature. The optical absorbance measurements shows characteristics absorbance peak indicating the formation of conducting emeraldine salt form of polyaniline. The optical energy band gap of the film was calculated from the transmittance spectra. The optical energy band gap and electrical conductivity of the polyaniline film is well suited for their applications in electronic devices.

Recycled glass powder was added with ball clay and feldspar using ratio 90:5:5. The blend were mixed into different amount of paper fiber and cast into porous ceramic. Samples prepared with different compositions (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 wt % of paper fiber) were heat treated at constant temperature (750 °C) for an hour. Samples with high percentage of paper fiber gave the largest pore size in the ceramic body, meanwhile lower percentage of paper fiber produced ceramic body with smaller pore size.

In the present paper, the effects of cake thickness and time on the efficiency of brown stock washer of the paper mill are studied by using mathematical model of pulp washing for the species of sodium and lignin ions. The mechanism of the diffusion‐ dispersion washing of the bed of the pulp fibers is mathematically modeled by the basic material balance and adsorption isotherm is used to describe the equilibrium between the concentration of the solute in the liquor and concentration of the solute on the fibers. To study the parametric effect, numerical solutions of the axial domain of the system governed by partial differential equations (transport and isotherm equations) for different boundary conditions are obtained by the “pdepe” solver in MATLAB source code. The effects of both the parameters are shown by three dimensional graphical representation as well as concentration profiles.

The Fourier Transform Raman and infrared spectra of cheque paper document have been recorded and analyzed. The wavenumbers corresponding to normal modes of vibration of cellulose were calculated at HF/6‐31G(d) level for comparison with the cheque paper sample. The appearance of a carbonyl stretching band at 1654 cm−1 clearly shows that the cheque paper is subjected to ageing. The broadening of O–H stretching wavenumber confirms the presence of inter and intra molecular O–H⋯O Hydrogen bonds. Also the presence of Kaolin and Rosin are unambiguously identified.

Soft plate‐like membranes find application e.g. as pill or paper coatings, bio‐filter membranes, and gas seals in food products. For these applications the integrity and the mechanical properties of the membrane are important. Mechanical properties of these products can be determined by stretching or bending tests, but such methods can damage these fragile products. We propose a rapid nondestructive acoustic method to estimate mechanical film characteristics with shear horizontal (in‐plane shear) waves. A 23 kHz, 1‐cycle square signal was excited into a thin foil with a piezoceramic pickup and received with an inductive pickup. The SNR (power) was 20 dB in 1 kHz –50 kHz bandwidth. This actuation‐detection scheme can be used to excite in‐plane longitudinal, shear and even elliptic waves in a thin foil. The method was validated by measuring in‐plane shear wave and longitudinal wave time‐of‐flight TOF at different actuator‐receiver separations and calculating the corresponding longitudinal and shear modulus. The samples were Mylar® sheet and coated paper. The anisotropy of MOE for Mylar sheet was close to the manufacturer specifications. For coated paper a maximum shear modulus anisotropy of 5% and a shear modulus dependence on temperature of 0.7 MPa/°C were found. Laser doppler vibrometry showed that the excited waves were confined in‐plane.

The Young’s modulus of buckypaper (BP) was improved via the addition of carbon nanocoils (CNCs). The Young’s modulus was the highest when the added amount of CNCs of the mass of the bucky paper was 11.9%. It is likely that the improved Young’s modulus was due to the higher Young’s modulus of the CNCs, compared with the multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) bundles. The helical structure of the CNCs also contributed to the improvement in the Young’s modulus. In the BP containing CNCs, the CNCs were anchored in the MWCNT matrix with superior entanglement, and this effect improved the Young’s modulus of the BP.

Today, oil pollution is a major problem that harm our environment. In this paper, the application of Casuarina Equisetifolia needle as an adsorbent for oil removal was studied. The Casuarina Equisetifolia needle were experimented to adsorb two categories of oil which are heavy and light oil. Light oil which are petrol and diesel while heavy oil are lubricant and used vegetable oil (UVO). There are three types of adsorbent used which are untreated, treated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and treated with hydrochloric acid (HCl). The adsorbents were treated with NaOH and HCl in order to increase the efficiency of oil adsorption because when it is already treated, the lumen or the pore size will increase. The objective of our study is to evaluate the performance of using Casuarina Equisetifolia needle in removing heavy and light oil waste from water. Next, the Casuarina Equisetifolia needle also experimented in oil retention, percentage of oil removal and reusability of it usage in oil absorption. In oil dynamic retention capacities at lowest packing density 0.002 g/cm3 for natural, NaOH treated and HCl treated were 33.80%, 31.14% and 31.1% respectively. While for highest packing density 0.009 g/cm3 for natural,NaOH treated and HCl treated were 77.61%, 10.37% and 7.91% respectively. The lowest packing density is better than high packing density because the result shown the stabilization of percentage of dynamic oil retention for treated adsorbents. For oil percentage removal, the results for the lowest mass which is 0.2g for natural, NaOH treated and HCl treated were 700%, 632% and 600% respectively. While for highest mass which is 1.0g for natural, NaOH treated and HCl treated were 106%, 200% and 165% respectively. In adsorbent reusability, the experiment showed the ability of Casuarina Equisetifolia needle for continuous absorption process which continuously occur for five stages in petrol, lubricant and UVO while four stages in diesel. In the conclusion, Casuarina Equisetifolia needle are effective and suitable as a natural adsorbent in removing oil.

A recent technology has been introduced into the paper industry that makes possible to produce paper materials by replacing the cellulose fibres by a mineral powder, achieving a more environmentally friendly product compared with conventional paper. The purpose of this work is to determine the possibilities of an air-coupled ultrasonic technique to study this kind of new materials in order to develop an ultrasonic system useful for quality control for this industry. In particular, air-coupled ultrasonic spectroscopy is specially well suited to this kind of materials because of the fact that no coupling liquid and no direct contact with the sample is employed. A through transmission technique is employed and Fourier analysis is performed to obtain both magnitude and phase spectra of the transmission coefficient. Properties in the thickness direction as well as in the paper plane are investigated. Different paper grades (from 120 to 400 g/m2) provided by Terraskin have been studied. Very high attenuation coeficientes and very low propagation velocities (and hence elastic constant) are obtained, this can be explained by considering the large porosity of this material (about 50%) and the microstrucutre: solid grains in contact with a variable amount of polymeric resin partially filling the pore space.

Prior work has established the existence of a color-performance relationship in achievement contexts and has demonstrated its presence in some undergraduate course examinations. This study examines the manifestation of such a relationship in an introductory, 430-student, calculus-based electricity and magnetism course during which the paper color used in examinations was varied. In this report, we analyze three separate exams and differentiate between students’ multiple choice, written response, conceptual, and computational performances. Also considered are factors such as the time students require to complete exams and their confidence levels prior to and immediately following assessment. Performance in all categories appears to be independent of paper color.

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has been developing sensors for the pulp and paper industry that use a magnetic field. The applications for magnetic sensors that have been studied include 1) sensors for the measurement of the water and ice content of wood chips entering the pulping mill, 2) sensors for measuring the water content and other constituents of the black liquor leaving the paper digester, and 3) sensors for measuring paper thickness and water content as the paper is being processed. These tasks can be done using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The magnetic field used for doing the NMR can come from either permanent magnets or superconducting magnets. The choice of the magnet is dependent on a number of factors, which include the size of the sample and field strength needed to do the sensing task at hand. This paper describes some superconducting magnet options that can be used in the pulp and paper industry.

Organic catalyst has recently been identified as the potential substitution for expensive platinum electrocatalyst for fuel cell application. Numerous studies have shown that the nitrogen-containing carbon nanotubes (N-CNT) can be synthesized through spray pyrolysis or floating chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique using various type of organometallic as precursors. This paper presents the method of synthesis and the initial findings of the growth of N-CNT directly on carbon paper using a modified CVD technique. In this research, nickel (II) phthalocyanines (Ni-Pc) as precursor was dissolved in ethanol solvent, stirred and sonicated to become homogenized. The solution was poured into a bubbler and heated up to allow the mixture to vaporize. Subsequently, the solution vapor was flowed into the tubical reactor maintained at 900°C. Carbon paper sputtered with nickel nanoparticles was used as the substrate. The synthesized sample was examined through Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), At...

Most domestic wastewater produced that are untreated before discharge, is a major threat to the ecosystem, environment, and human health. As the sewerage generation increases with the population and economic growth in developing countries, the existing plants are undersized to cater and treat the sewerage discharges while outpacing the investments. Altogether, this study is focused on determining the feasibility of utilising the aerobic sequencing batch reactor (SBR) to remove the organic (COD, TSS) and nutrient (nitrate NO3−N, ammonia NH3−N, phosphorus PO43−) of synthetic domestic wastewater. The SBR was designed and fabricated with an active volume of 1.5 L, consisting of 66 % wastewater and 33 % sludge inoculum. It was operated in a fixed 48.0 h cycle time to assess the organic and nutrient removal. The operational parameters of the SBR reaction system per cycle were set at: fill 0.17 h, react 46.5 h, settle 1.0 h, decant 0.17 h and idle 0.17 h. The removal efficiencies of COD, TSS, NO3-N, NH3−N and PO43− were found to be 62 - 93%, 93 – 97%, 55 – 78%, 62 – 83%, and 76 – 100%, respectively. The bench-scale SBR meets the effluent discharge limit of COD, TSS, and NH3−N. Regardless, the discharge limits of NO3−N and PO43− were not met due to the destabilisation of denitrifiers and lack of anaerobic environment in the SBR. The denitrifiers were able to function better than nitrifiers under the aerobic environment as no anoxic condition was adequately provided. The obtained results will be useful for future expansion of this study, which the feasibility of textile wastewater treatment is focused.

The study focused on the treatment of real oilfield produced water from the East Baghdad field affiliated to the Midland Oil Company (Iraq) using an oil skimming process followed by a coagulation/flocculation process for zero liquid discharge system applications. Belt type oil skimmer was utilized for evaluating the process efficiency with various operating conditions such as temperature (17-40 °C) and time (0.5-2.5 hr.). Polyaluminum chloride (PAC) coagulant and polyacrylamide (PAM) flocculant was used to investigate the performance of the coagulation/flocculation process with PAC dosage (5-90 ppm) and pH (5-10) as operating conditions. In the skimming process, the oil content, COD, turbidity, and TSS decreased with an increase in temperature and time. The best temperature and time for oil skimming are 40 °C and 2.5 hr. which gives 95.8%, 94.9%, 31.5%, and 33.2% removal for oil content, COD, turbidity, and TSS respectively. In the coagulation/flocculation process, the optimum PAC dosage and pH are 55 mg/l and 6.4 which gives 100%, 96.5%, and 97.7% removal for oil content, turbidity, and TSS respectively.

The production of activated carbon using heat from microwave processing for activation time was successfully conducted and its performance in treating textile dye effluent was observed through various factors such as phosphoric acid loading used, contact time, dosage of activated carbon and pH. Activated carbon with phosphoric acid loading of 60% shown highest BET surface area that was 213.52 m2/g however, it obtained least thermal stability. The result indicated that about 97.11% of dye from textile effluent can be removed in only 90 minutes of contact time at pH 3 with the use of 2.0 g of produced activated carbon. The production of activated carbon using microwave processing can be an alternative way for activation process using conventional furnace heating. The used of rubber wood sawdust as the raw material for activated carbon production can solve the waste issue from sawmill as an example.

A petrochemical plant in Malaysia released Ammonia-nitrogen contamination beyond the allowable standard limit. It is Standard B, based on Environment Quality Act (EQA) 1974, to uphold the integrity of discharged water. Extended aeration activated sludge process (ASP) was proposed to treat Ammonia-nitrogen contamination in this study. Aligned objectives are to determine the impact of treating wastewater generated from the petrochemical plant using bench scale extended aeration activated sludge system at 20 percent of contamination, diluted with domestic wastewater of an average of 500 mg/L chemical oxygen demand concentration. Bench scale ASP was set up using 5000 mg/L initial biomass, a 20 liters’ influent tank with a heavy-duty mixer, connected to a pump via 10 mm tube at 0.1 rpm which is equivalent to 5 liters of water infused into the aeration tank for 24 hours consistently, and finally discharged into an effluent tank. Influent and effluent samples were monitored for Nitrate (NO3-1), Ammonia (NH3), and Total Phosphorus (PO43-).

In this paper we present an application of two Computational Intelligence Algorithms, namely Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) Algorithm and Differential Evolution (DE) for finding and optimal solution to two optimization problems that occur in a paper industry. The first problem deals with the economic optimization of a hypothetical but realistic Kraft pulping process and in the second problem we have considered the optimization of Boiler load allocation problem. Both the problems form an integral part of paper making process. The simulation results show the efficiency and time effectiveness of DE and PSO.

Due to the rising difficulty of developing complex systems a lot of research has gone into the multi‐agent paradigm over the past decades, during which a vast array of approaches for developing such systems have been proposed. Despite this fact there seems to be a gap in the MAS community between solutions that provide for expressivity and those that offer generality. It is our opinion that embedding the MAS language into a functional language we can have the best out of both worlds: we can implement the desired semantics in an abstract way, allowing us to focus on the problem domain, i.e. complex, distributed MAS. Our approach is going to be layered: (i) we start from a statically typed functional language and build an EDSL that acts as an executable specification language for single agent entities; and (ii) develop a framework for workflow‐oriented coordination on top of the previous layer and investigate its use as a means of implementing agent organizations, focusing on coordination and communication.

Deviations of the electron function velocity distribution from Maxwellian behavior in the high energy range have been extensively studied during the past two decades. A brief review of the experimental techniques and findings on the subject is given in this paper. There are indications that the electron distribution function in thermonuclear plasmas could be significantly different from the Maxwellian one even near the thermal velocity range when particular circumstances occur. These reasons motivate a renewed effort in the measurements that could detect low energies distortions, among which is the new Oblique Electron Cyclotron Emission diagnostics that has entered operations during 2006 experimental campaign at JET and aims to resolve relatively small differences in the ECE spectra taken at three toroidal angles. Such measurements allow insight into the characteristics of the electron distribution function. First results of such experimental system are discussed in this paper, along with emission simulations.

Human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is pandemic. It has affected nearly 60 million people since the detection of the disease in 1981 to date. In this paper basic deterministic HIV/AIDS model with mass action incidence function are developed. Stability analysis is carried out. And the disease free equilibrium of the basic model was found to be locally asymptotically stable whenever the threshold parameter (RO) value is less than one, and unstable otherwise. The model is extended by introducing two optimal control strategies namely, CD4 counts and treatment for the infective using optimal control theory. Numerical simulation was carried out in order to illustrate the analytic results.

In response to published reports about the decline in funding for space nuclear power, the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) approved a position paper in March 1995 that recommends (1) development and support of an integrated space nuclear power program by DOE, NASA and DoD; (2) Congressional support for the program; (3) advocacy of the program by government and industry leaders; and (4) continuation of cooperation between the U.S. and other countries to advance nuclear power source technology and to promote safety. This position paper has been distributed to various people having oversight of the U.S. space nuclear power program.

We verify simulation results indicating that carbon ion irradiation increases the stiffness of single wall carbon nanotube bucky paper (SWCNT). 4 MHz longitudinal and 15 MHz shear ultrasonic signals were transmitted by means of dry‐coupled acoustic horns through 40±4 μm thick samples and the time‐of‐flight (TOF) through the samples was measured. From the TOF the velocity of the wave was determined and the out‐of‐plane elastic and shear moduli were calculated. The nonlinearity parameter B/A for the irradiated and reference sample was measured. The results indicated a significant increase both in the shear modulus (90 %) and in the longitudinal modulus (69 %) for certain irradiation doses as predicted by simulations. In addition, a 36% increase in the acoustic nonlinearity parameter (B/A) was observed. The investigated fluence range was 1⋅1013 to 3⋅1014 cm−2.

At the 2007 Physics Education Research Conference, a workshop on publishing and refereeing was held with a panel of editors from four different publishing venues: the physics education research section of the American Journal of Physics, the Journal of the Learning Sciences, Physical Review Special Topics–Physics Education Research, and the Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings. These editors answered questions from participants regarding publishing in their respective venues, as well as writing referee reports that would be useful to both journal editors and authors. This paper summarizes the discussion.

It has been hypothesized that high triggering doses of hyperoxaluria induce crystal formation, while lower maintenance doses promote crystal growth. We confirmed this using minipumps secreting 30 to 60 μmol potassium oxalate per day to induce modest, continuous hyperoxaluria for 28 days after the triggering dose (288 μmol oxalate) was given as an i.p. injection or infused over 24hr. Calcium oxalate crystal deposition was induced in 6/6 rats. This hypothesis could explain the modest clinical correlation between oxalate excretion and calcium oxalate stone disease.

Photobioreactor have been a prominent way to produce biomass in case of biofuel production. One of the most important procedure in this line of production is harvesting. Nowadays, microalgae biomasses are harvested by using many methods such as flocculation, filtration, centrifugation, and the other methods. Those methods are the commonly used by many bioenergy companies to accumulate their biomass before extraction phase. This process requiring a lot of cost and times. In order to increase cost and time efficiency, examination of ultrasound wave trapping method has been done. A harvesting module was assembled as a system consisted of two piezoelectric circuit (ultrasound wave generator) in a transparent box. Data shown by generating 1.7 MHz wave for 20 minutes, turbidity of Synechococcus (coccoid cyanobacteria) biomass was decreased from 56.3 NTU to 55.6 NTU. The other data also shown decreased turbidity of mixed culture biomass from 46.5 NTU to 16.4 NTU. This results also followed by weight measurement for both biomasses. This module capable to accumulating microalgal biomass a number of 0.0138 gram for Synechococcus and 0.8544 gram for mixed culture. The difference in biomass accumulation results are caused by cell size and density. Synechococcus cell size range between 0.5-2 µm with a very low density. This phenomenon makes any kind of small-sized coccoid cyanobacteria are need more time to be accumulated. Meanwhile mixed culture of microalgae is easier to accumulated due their variety of size and density.

Activated carbon is one of the solutions to overcome the cigarette smoke problem where durian shell waste is chosen as the base material. Durian shell waste is chosen because it has a high cellulose, lignin and starch content, plus its production reaches 746.805 thousand tons per year. Activated carbon from Durian shell waste will be firstly processed with cleaning, drying, and semi-carbonizing at 200°C for 3 hours with 12.5% yield. The step continued with chemical activation by K2CO3 with variations in impregnation, which are 1:1, 3:2, and 2:1. Next, the activated carbon is physically activated by using a temperature of 600°C with N2 stream of 200 ml/min. Activated carbon as a result of activation and modified activated carbon are then characterized by Iodine Number test and SEM test. As a result, activated carbon with K2CO3 3:2 had the largest iodine number with 414.43 mg/g and after it was physically activated, the 3:2 variation was still had the largest iodine number with 579.49 mg/g.

This research aimed to determine the effects of catfish meat addition to the fulfillment of protein and vitamin A (beta-carotene) and to study physicochemical properties (density, iron, beta-carotene, and proximate) in instant baby porridge using the drying method of the freeze dryer. Fish meat is added to fulfill the content of instant baby pulp protein in accordance with SNI. Baby porridge is dried using a freeze dryer tool which then becomes a form of instant baby pulp. The baby porridge sample was compared with baby control porridge (without fish meat addition) which was the result of previous studies. This research used a completely randomized design with one factor, namely variation in the percentage of catfish as 7.5%, 10%, and 12.5%. The results showed the addition of catfish meat with variations in the concentration of fish meat influenced the nature of the content both physically and chemically. The best baby porridge in terms of chemical properties in meeting the needs of protein and vitamin A (beta-carotene) was found in instant baby porridge with 10% concentration of catfish meat for protein and baby porridge and 7.5% concentration of catfish meat for vitamin A. The addition of catfish meat provided good chemical properties than control sample.

Successful research has been done to extract oil from Ketapang seeds that are converted to biofuel. The method used is Soxhletation and evaporation to get Ketapang seed oil which is continued with conversion to biofuel by catalytic hydrocracking method. Characterization of ZnO catalyst was performed by XRD instrument. From this study, it was found that Ketapang seeds can produce oil by 50.2% and after being tested with the GC-MS instrument found that Ketapang seed oil contains several compounds such as palmitic acid, ethyl oleate, etc. From the content, it can be concluded that Ketapang seed oil can be converted into biofuel. Biofuel produced through catalytic hydrocracking stages using ZnO with a ratio of 10:1 between Ketapang seed oil and catalyst which is seconded by hydrogen gas flow rate of 30ml/minute. The oil conversion results in the form of light and heavy fractions of gasoline such as n-hexane, heptane, octane, nonane, decane, undecane and, dodecane.

Cement plays a major role in the production of paver blocks. Cement manufacturing industries pollutes the surrounding areas. The main objective of this work is to reduce the use of cement in the concrete paver block by partial replacement with rice husk ash. An experimental investigation is conducted to analyze the compressive strength, water absorption and flexural strength of paver blocks with partial replacement of cement by rice husk ash dumped near Chengapalli, Tiruppur. Rice husk ash were collected from the dump yard and utilized for experimental investigation after doing the initial cleaning process and property study of material. Cement replacement with Rice husk ash were done in proportions of 10% 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% in volume of concrete. Various strength parameters like compressive strength, flexural strength and water absorption were determined. Weight of concrete blocks is considerably reduced with increase in the amount of rice husk ash.

Gasoline used in an Otto engine can be substituted by pure Bioethanol or Gasoline-Bioethanol blends. The engine performance can be affected by the mixture. Specifically, the blends can affect (Increasing or decreasing) power, torque, and emission produced by the engine. It is caused by the different characteristic of the Gasoline-Bioethanol blends depending on the volume percentage of the Bioethanol. Theoretically, as the increasing of the volume percentage of Bioethanol to the mixture, the power and torque produced would be decreased because of the lower energy contained rather than gasoline. As a biofuel, Bioethanol is a natural product and created by the fermentation of plants containing sugar and starch which has a similar physical and chemical characteristic to gasoline. The objective of this experiment was to determine the effect of Bioethanol-gasoline blended fuels on the performance of an engine. In this case, the performance includes specific fuel consumption, power, and torque. The experimental test was using gasoline with octane number 88, 92, 98, and 30%, 40% Bioethanol blend. The effect carried out by increasing the volume number of Bioethanol to the gasoline is the increasing of the power and torque produced by the engine. Keywords: Gasoline, bioethanol, research octane number, engine performance.

Wastewater of the laterite hydrometallurgy process which still contains nickel more than 0.25 % and other metals. One method which able to treat wastewater is the electrocoagulation process. In this work, the electrocoagulation process using batch recycle methods has been successfully coagulated nickel and other metals from the wastewater of the laterite hydrometallurgy process. In this work, a tubular aluminum electrode was used in the electrocoagulation reactor. Sodium hydroxide is used to increase the pH of waste. Taguchi design of experiment has been used to analyze and optimize the electrocoagulation process using batch recycle methods. Taguchi analysis results show that the optimum conditions are at 21 of voltage, 5 of pH, 5 hours of time operation, and 0.53 liters/minute of flow rate.

The adverse environmental degradation created by various plastics produced from petroleum products is a major concern for the world nations. The developed and developing nations have adopted various strategies on the production and usage of highly hazardous conventional plastics. Various research works have been undertaken to formulate a sustainable alternative for the conventional plastics. In this regard, an effort was made to synthesis a biodegradable polymer for large scale commercial usage in packaging applications. Biodegradable polymers can be produced from various resources. The study involves the production of bio-plastic from Banana peel and Prosopis juliflora. Cellulose, a major component required for biopolymer synthesis was extracted from Prosopis juliflora which then combined and processed with dried banana peel. Additives and preservatives that contributes to the polymer characteristics were added in suitable proportions and processed under defined conditions. The mixture was then dried at a temperature of 130 ℃ to yield the final product. The biopolymers thus produced were tested for its water absorption capacity, thermal resistance, tensile strength, biodegradability and microbial attacks. It was observed that water absorption capacity of the biopolymer was lower for lesser starch and higher cellulose concentrations. The tensile strength was found to be 0.67 N/mm2 which was due to the addition of zinc oxide. No microbial attack was observed during storage and it was also found that the biopolymer was able to withstand high temperature up to 130 °C during its usage.

The level consumption of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) as a packaging of colored beverage bottles occupies the fourth largest in the world. In Indonesia, PET consumption increased reaches 7% per year so that it can cause environmental impacts. This study aims to process the recycling PET waste by obtaining a simple potential process to remove the color from PET waste. The decolorized PET waste will be an alternative carbon source for Carbon Nanotube (CNT) synthesis. The colors of PET waste are blue and green bottles. The selected color removal agent is hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) because it is inexpensive reagent and has lower toxicity to environment. The colored PET waste and H2O2 will be heated in the oil bath system at temperature 110°C and pressure 1 atm. The result showed that color removal time for blue PET waste faster than the green PET waste, 72 and 115 minutes per 15 grams PET waste. The quality of color removal of blue PET waste is better than the green PET waste because it has a reflectance value closer to colorless PET waste, namely 80%. The CNT synthesis process from decolorized blue PET waste produce 8.58% yields. The average diameter of CNT crystals from its process is obtained at 37 nm. This shows that PET waste plastic which has been discolored can be used as a carbon source in CNT synthesis.

Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has established in Navi Mumbai region an industrial estate which spreads over 2562 hectares with about 3,450 industries. The industrial units cover various categories such as textile, chemical pharmaceuticals, dyes, pesticides and plastic moulding and fabrication, foundry etc. with varying sizes. All the major & medium industries have provided full-fledged effluent treatment plants and the small industries have only primary effluent treatment units. Thane Belapur Industries Association initiated and promoted formation of Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) with 12 MLD capacity in 1997, which was further expanded to 15 MLD in 2006. The partially treated effluents from the industries are carried through closed pipelines to CETP for further treatment. In the present study, treatment efficiencies of CETP at the outlets of primary and secondary stages were determined based on one-year data. Analysis of values of BOD, COD and TSS at discharge point conform to the discharge standards of Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) throughout the year.

Batik industry in Indonesia frequently dispose liquid waste containing high level of toxic and carcinogenic dyes to the drainage without being treated. In accordance with it, plasma electrolysis has been proved as the efficient method to degrade dyes waste, yielding higher hydroxyl radicals than other methods. The experiment was conducted by generating plasma in circulated reactor using stainless steel cathode and tungsten anode with 2 cm depth immersed in 0.02 M Na2SO4 electrolyte solution added by 20 mg/L Fe2+ and 100 mg/L of Remazol Red initial concentration, with addition of varying air injection rate at maintained power. The results show that 1 L/min is the optimum air injection rate value to operate this reactor effectively at 450 W of optimum operating power so that it could lower the breakdown voltage, reduce energy consumption, produce more OH radicals and other reactive species, and elevate the degradation percentage. The experiment conducted in optimum operating condition provide result of 99.61% in degradation percentage for 60 minutes with final concentration of dye is 0.39 mg/L, 41.55 mg/L of COD, and 3177.16 kJ of energy consumption.

Disposal of untreated waste in the environment leads to the creation of harmful diseases, greenhouse gases and climate change. So the demand arises to eliminate or avoid these kinds of risks to both the society as well as environment. Because of this there are enormous solutions and ideas that are playing a crucial role in this risk avoiding activity. In this study, adsorbent has been synthesized by hydrothermally treating the horse manure. The effect of this synthesized adsorbent produced from horse manure was studied for the removal of toxins like methylene blue, ethyl orange, azo dyes and crystal violet dyes which is presented in the textile effluent. These dyes can create severe illness to both the people as well as aquatic species while it is mixed with natural water bodies.

The increasing of scarce of petroleum availability, unstable prices, and potential environmental damage due to the use of fossil fuel encourage the development of alternative fuels that can replace fossil fuels, including jet fuel. Bio-jet fuel is a renewable fuel that has similar characteristics to jet fuel. The potential raw material for bio-jet fuel production in Indonesia is coconut oil. The composition of fatty acids in coconut oil corresponds to the range of carbon atomic chain of jet fuel. Indonesia is also the country with the second-largest share of coconut oil exports in the world which shows that the use of coconut oil in Indonesia is very less. In this study, bio-jet fuel was synthesized from coconut oil through hydrodeoxygenation reaction to convert fatty acids to hydrocarbons by removing oxygen. The catalyst used in this reaction was NiMoP/Al2O3 catalyst. The hydrodeoxygenation reactions were carried out with variations of pressure and temperature, at pressures of 10, 15, and 20 bar, and temperatures of 375, 385, and 400°C. The reactions were stopped if they had reached equilibrium based on GC-TCD analysis of the gas product. The hydrodeoxygenation reaction at 400°C and 20 bar was able to produce high conversion (92.56%), much hydrocarbon content (91.91%), high selectivity and also yield of bio-jet fuel (82.93% and 54.34%). Liquid products were distilled to obtain jet fuel fraction products. From the results of the density, viscosity, acid number, heating value, and freezing point analysis of the bio-jet fuel distillate, good values were obtained.

Biogas is one of promising renewable fuel produced from several numbers of organic substrates. In fact, biomass as the organic matters has an opportunity to generate a cheaper and cleaner energy than using other resources. Therefore, many researchers have been studied about the production of biogas from various kinds of biomass. In Indonesia, there are many cows and lemongrass in nature. Therefore, this study is focused on the utilization of cow manure and lemongrass as the substrate for the production of biogas. The purpose of this study is to obtain the optimum condition of biogas production, including composition of the substrate and temperature of the bio digester. Besides, the addition of rumen bacteria was also investigated in this study. The composition of cow manure and lemongrass were varied at the ratio of 1:0, 3:1, 1:1, 1:3 and 0:1 in weight. The temperature of bio digester was also varied at room temperature, 39℃, and 50℃. Result shows that the volume of biogas produced by using lemongrass was less than using cow manure. However, the mixture of cow manure and lemongrass improved the quality and quantity of biogas produced. Based on the results, the highest volume of biogas at 890 mL and the highest percentage of methane at 14.90 % were produced from the composition of substrate with the ratio of 1:1 at the temperature of 50℃ with the addition of rumen bacteria. It was revealed that the higher temperature of bio digester was better for the production of biogas in the range of room temperature to 50℃. It was also proved that rumen bacteria are important for the production of biogas.

Quality control of cocoa is an important matter to ensure safe consumption of cocoa products. Conventional elemental analysis of cocoa beans uses chromatography that requires extensive sample preparations. This poses a problem for Indonesian cocoa farmers who have limited resources. Laser Induced breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is one of the best techniques for elemental analysis owing to its distinct features such as inherent rapidity and simple sample preparation methods with small quantities of samples. This means that LIBS can be used as an alternative technique for elemental analysis of cocoa beans. We report a study of elemental composition of fermented cocoa beans from Flores Island, Indonesia.

One of the main factors that cause the earth that we live in is not as clean as it was before is the utilization of fossil fuel. Motorized vehicles still utilize fossil fuel as energy sources, and the number of motorized vehicles is growing every year. Biomass energy are one of the alternative energies currently being developed. Bioethanol are one of the technologies for fuel in motorized vehicles to utilize biomass as an alternative energy. The addition of bioethanol to gasoline will certainly change the fuel properties, the fuel will be more difficult to self-ignite so the pressure generated in the combustion chamber will be more consistent. Coefficient of variation (COV) represent the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean of a set of data, in this study in cylinder pressure data (IMEP) is used. Based on previous research that discussed the analysis of emission gas and fuel consumption on SI engine fueled with low-grade bioethanol and oxygenated additive, the authors examined further to analyze the characteristic of ethanol blend and oxygenated additive to COVIMEP and Heat Release Rate (HRR) of various fuel mixture as well as COVIMEP correlation with HRR at variable engine speed were investigated. The result show that compared with pure gasoline, ethanol blend decreases HRR. When oxygenated additive added to gasoline – ethanol blend, it increases its maximum heat release rate especially on fuel mixture E5 about 6.2% compared to E0. And the Correlation of COV and HRR; as COV value increases, HRR decreases. Whereas, when COV value decreases, HRR increases.

Microbial Desalination Cell (MDC) is a developed technology for reducing salt concentration of seawater, so it could be used for people’s daily needs. Since there were many tofu industry in Indonesia, so that the substrate in this research came from model of tofu wastewater. For increasing MDC performance, there was modification in reactor design, whereas the IEM (Ion Exchange Membrane) was arranged in two stacked design, yet in the end of desalination cycle there was a recirculation through anolyte-catholyte solution to maintain pH level. The variations of flowrate recirculation were 0.5 and 5 mL/ min. The result showed that the optimum flowrate for anolyte-catholyte recirculation was 0.5 ml/minute with TDR (Total Desalination Rate) of 2.447 g/h and it showed that recirculation process could increase the salt removal of desalination process.

Biogas has been one of the promising renewable fuel produced from organic substrates. Cocoa husk has a potential to be a substrate for biogas production. Based on various studies, cocoa husk has the potential as a substrate for methane production from anaerobic co-digestion. However, lower biodegradation efficiency of anaerobic co-digestion of cocoa husks was affected by high cell wall content of cellulose and association between cellulose and lignin, which would hinder the anaerobic microbes to convert cocoa husk into methane. Cow rumen fluid has been proposed for method for biodegradation of lignocellulosic biomass, since it has advantages in degradation of plant material by the Fiblolytic enzymes from the rumen ecosystem. The ratio of cocoa husk to cow manure are as follows, 1:3, 1:1, 3:1, and 1:0, where the substrate used for all four variations is 100g, the variation of substrate to cow rumen fluid is also applied with the following ratio 1:1, 1:0, 2:1, 1:2, and incubation operating temperature is as follow 25°C, 37°C, 50°C, and 70°C. This research would see the potential of cocoa husk as a substrate, and the effect that will happen if cow rumen fluid is used as its inoculum, and to know if there is an increase in efficiency of digestion, in form of higher solids degradation and higher biogas methane composition. The purpose of this research is to know the optimum ratio between cow manure and cocoa husk and feasibility of rumen fluid as inoculum. Based on the results of the research, the following can be concluded: The optimum ratio of cocoa husk to cow manure is 1:1, the optimum ratio of substrate to cow rumen fluid is 1:1, and the optimum temperature for biogas production incubation is 37°C or mesophilic condition.