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The palm oil industry is one of the most important agro-based industries in Malaysia, with more than 400 palm oil mills nationwide. These mills are generally self-sustained in energy by converting empty fruit bunch (EFB), palm mesocarp fibre (PMF) and palm kernel shell (PKS), into energy. However, palm fuel burned in boilers have caused severe air pollution problems due to improper boiler operation and inefficient air pollution control systems. This results in emission of bottom ash particulates from multicyclone and electrostatic precipitator (ESP) hopper after combustion. This paper discusses the characteristics of palm fuel, namely PMF, PKS and EFB, based on proximate analysis, gross calorific value, ultimate analysis and element composition. Morphology of bottom ash emitted from multicyclone and ESP was also examined using scanning electron microscope (SEM). EFB was found to have the ' highest moisture content of 63.1% among others, while mixture of PMF and PKS had the highest volatile matter of 54.5% and fixed carbon of 18.5%. PMF has the highest calorific value of 2993 kcals/kg among others. The bottom ash from multicyclone and ESP exhibited particulate sizes ranging from 18.4 to 68 µm and 10.9 to 44.6 µm, respectively. These were considered as preliminary results which require further future research. The outcomes of this study are useful for mitigation of fine particulate emission from air pollution control system in the palm oil mill. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fertilizer industries are one of the most critical industries to support agriculture industries in Malaysia. A significant amount of wastewater also producing along with fertilizer production. The wastewater contains ammoniacal nitrogen, NH3−N, and causes a real treat to fish due to its toxicity. Thus, this study aims to determine the performance of ultrafiltration process removal of ammoniacal nitrogen from fertilizer wastewater incorporated with bio-adsorption process by using different feed solution chemistry and temperature. The sample was obtained from a fertilizer company located at Gurun, Kedah. The obtained sample contains NH3-N and solely used for this study only. Membrane material of polyethersulfone (PES) was used for this study. As for the bio-adsorption process, bio-adsorbent which made from banana peel was used. The removal of NH3-N was investigated at solution pH values of 10.30 and 7 for different temperature. The results showed the highest NH3−N removal was 80.07% obtained under condition of p. 10.30 and 30°C. Hence, this combined process is feasible for significantly removing NH3−N from fertilizer wastewater. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used for surface membrane morphology characterization. Atomic force microscope (AFM) was employed to investigate membrane surface roughness. Results of AFM indicated that membrane fouling becomes more severe when surface roughness increasing, which was measured by the surface area difference where magnitude and frequency of surface peaks were taken to accounts. Flux decline was correlated to the surface roughness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fish oil are currently high in demand due to its wide range of therapeutic benefits. High content of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) derived from various sources of marine life in fish oil are essential in human mental developments and metabolism. Swamp Eel Fish, scientifically known as Monopterus Albus is a freshwater fish that highly in demands across South-East Asia and can easily be found in Malaysia. This paper presents the study on the extraction of fish oil from the Monopterus Albus eel fish using microwave assisted extraction (MAE) process with ethanol as a solvent. The yield, acid value and free fatty acid (FFA) content of the Monopterus Albus eel fish oil were studied at different solvent concentrations (0 % v/v-100 % v/v) and solid-to-solvent ratios (0.04 g/ml-0.13 g/ml) with constant time, temperature and power of 30 min, 60 °C and 800 W, respectively. Concentrated Monopterus Albus fish oil was analyzed using 785 DMP Titrino Metrom and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results showed that the oil yield increases with the increases of solvent concentration and solid-to-solvent ratios with the highest yield of 14.60 % at 100 % v/v and 0.13 g/ml, respectively. Acid values and free fatty acid content recorded was 2.19 mg KOH/g and 1.14 %. Morphology of the before and after extraction process displayed significant structural changes on the surfaces of the sample indicated effectiveness of microwave-assisted extraction in extracting fish oil. The findings from this study suggested the best operating conditions to extracts fish oil from the Monopterus Albus eel fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firmiana malayana also known as “Bullocks eye or Mata Lembu” in Malaysia and can be found along riverbanks and open forests in Peninsular Malaysia and seldom planted in populated areas. The flowers of the Firmiana malayana are vivid orange in colour, on tassels up to 12 cm long. Usually this species will shed its leaves after a dry period and remains bare for six to eight weeks. The objective of this study is to determine the pollen morphological characteristics of the Firmiana malayana in order to add more information on the species under the family of Sterculiaceae in Malaysia. Methods for this study includes acetolysis technique for the pollens and viewed under light microscope and scanning electron microscope. Results shown that the pollens of the species Firmiana malayana appeared to be monad and dyad with tricolporate class with both porate and colpus present. The shape of this species is prolate with P/E index of 1.49. This species was considered as medium-size pollens as the pollens ranges from 26 – 36 µm. The ornamentation of the pollen is reticulate where the ornamentation is network-like pattern formed by exine elements of lumen and murus. Based on the results obtained, pollen morphology is a great tool that can aid in plant identification and classification as well having taxonomic values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]