Search

The injection molding process is used to produce thin-walled plastic products for a wide variety of applications. However, the difficulty in adjusting optimum process parameters setting may cause defects on injected moulded parts such as shrinkage. A study was conducted for the determination of the optimal injection moulding process parameters which will minimize the shrinkage defect on a thin-shell plastic product for cell phone housing component. The machine process setting in use currently caused shrinkage where variations in the dimensions of the length and width below the specification limit. Therefore the experiment is needed to identify the optimal process parameters that could be set to maintain the length and width dimensions closest to the target value with smallest possible variation. The process parameters selected in this study are the mould temperature, injection pressure and screw rotation speed. The Response Surface Method (RSM) of analysis was used for the determination of the optimal moulding process parameters. The significant factors affecting the responses were identified from ANOVA. Statistical results and analysis are used to provide better interpretation of the experiment. Verification runs with the optimal process parameter setting found by RSM determined that the shrinkage defect can be minimized.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) among other air pollutants is a major culprit to the greenhouse gases that is fueling global warming. To mitigate global warming, Kyoto Protocal urges 37 industrialized nations and European Union to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to a level of 5.2% on average lower than those of 1990 during the period of 2008-2012. It is therefore essential to develop the CCS technologies to cope with the global demand of CO2 reduction. In this study the technologies of CO2 removal are reviewed.

In this study, soot was used as adsorbent for the removal of 2,5-dichlorophenol (2,5-DCP) in aqueous medium. The adsorption kinetic and isotherm were studied using a variety of adsorption models. Soot, obtain from the exhaust pipe of vehicles, was a poor adsorbent with a very limited surface area. As such, the adsorption of 2,5-DCP had to be conducted for 7 hours in order to achieve equilibrium, which was between the 240th and 360th minutes. The highest percentage of removal of 2,5-DCP achieve was 43.9%. This showed that soot was a weak adsorbent. The experimental data showed that the adsorption kinetics and adsorption isotherm of 2,5-DCP by soot obeyed the pseudo-second order kinetic model (R2=0.9985) and Freundlich isotherm (R2=0.9825) respectively indicating that both physisorption and chemisorptions were instrumental in the adsorption process. Characterization of the soot recovered from the exhaust pipe showed that the ash content and moisture content in soot were quite high at 4.62% and 2.50% respectively. SEM indicated that the soot was nanoparticle in size (>100nm) with non-visible pores. The soot had spherical shape and tend to cluster together forming aggregates. FTIR showed that the functional groups such as O-H, C-H, and C=O groups, may have contributed to the adsorption process. BET isotherm indicated that soot obey the type III isotherm without the presence of hysteresis loop. Although this material is not a good adsorbent, it adsorptive ability may be improved by altering its structure chemically providing a waste to wealth opportunity.

The use of chlorine bleaching in study and pulp industry has resulted in chlorinated phenol contaminated wastewater from that industry. A new wastewater treatment process, sonophotodegradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) in a heterogeneous aqueous system was investigated and reported in this study. TCP was degraded with ultrasonic or ultraviolet irradiation or a combination of both, in the presence of titanium dioxide semiconductor catalyst (anatase and/or rutile), in order to study the effectiveness of sonocatalysis, photocatalysis and sonophotocatalysis oxidation in a batch sonophotoreactor system. Preliminary studies presented in this study suggested that rutile worked well under sonocatalysis, anatase was the preference for photocatalysis and sonophotocatalysis benefited from a combined rutile and anatase mixture catalyst. Sonophotocatalysis oxidation of TCP demonstrated a degradation that was higher than sonocatalysis or photocatalysis individually while the first-order kinetics rate constants indicated that sonophotocatalysis degradation of TCP was synergistic with a positive value of 0.0203 in the presence of the mixture catalyst.

Supercritical fluid carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) at pressure 19.8 MPa and temperature 51°C with different amount of ethanol (0-100 mL) was studied the extraction of palm kernel oil from palm kernel cake. The amount of oil produced from SFE and Modified ethanol-CO2 are proportional to the amount of ethanol. It was found that I±-tocopherol, I±-tocotrienol, sterols and fatty acid such lauric acid, myristic acid and oleic acid were present in all of the palm kernel oil sample.

Palm kernel cake is a by-product of palm kernel oil industry. The production of palm kernel cake is more than 5000 million tons annually in the past few years. This quantity is expected to rise further in the future due to production of bio-diesel. Currently palm kernel cake is used for animal feed supplement such as cattle and goat. Due to indigestible compounds in palm kernel cake, it is less suitable for animals such as poultry, fish and swine. However palm kernel cake contains about 20% protein, with this protein composition palm kernel cake can be used as ingredient of protein based resin. Unlike soya bean which contain higher protein composition and can be used directly as ingredient of protein based resin, palm kernel cake require protein enhancement before it can be used for this purposes. In this study, wood adhesive was produced using palm kernel cake with protein content enhancement as a base ingredient. Soya protein extract was selected as a protein enhancement of palm kernel cake. Here the enhanced protein content palm kernel cake was reacted with polyetheleneimine and maleic anhydride at alkali environment. The experimental study was conducted at various compositions and various strength of alkali. The wood adhesive produced was tested on type II plywood. Japanese Agriculture Standard of strength and durability test was employed for the characterization of the adhesive produced. Results show that, palm kernel cake can be used as ingredient of protein based wood adhesive. In certain condition the mixture of palm kernel and soya protein show that the wood adhesive produced better strength and reliability compared to unmixed soya protein extract.

Channa Striatus is known as snakehead fish or local name as haruan, has been always associated with its medical value especially in wound healing. This fish is rich in protein as well as others biochemical compounds such as polyunsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants. Usually, the haruan is extracted and marketed in the form of liquid concentrated as health food supplement. In this study, encapsulated haiuan extract were produced using spray drying process. The main purpose is for easy handling and the preservation of the biochemical compounds. The biochemical compound in the powder produced is expected to have properties such as more stable and longer shelf life. K-carrageenan was used as coating material for the encapsulzation during the spray drying process. The properties of encapsulated powder produced were observed in term of particle size distribution, Fish Protein Hydrolysates (FPH) and moisture content. The process parameters of spray drying process studied were hot air inlet flow rate, temperature and the liquid feed flow rate. The experimental run and optimization were designed using Box-Been method as suggested by Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The optimum operation conditions for highest protein extracted with lowest moisture content and smallest particle size distribution were obtained at hot air inlet temperature and flow rate of 144.51°C and 400 mL h-1, respectively; whereas, the liquid feed flow rate is at 47 m-3 h-1. The optimal properties of encapsulated powder obtained were 5.2850 pm, 91% of protein and 8.7% in moisture content. © 2010 Asian Network for Scientific Information.

Most of fish feed pellet in market is low in terms of water stability and easily swell when it is immersed in water. Thus, the soluble vitamins and minerals will be easily leached out from the pellet. These will lead to the nutrient deficiency and environmental problems in fish tanks or ponds. Therefore, a study was conducted to minimise the degree of swelling and mineral leaching while the floating time is maximised. For these purpose several formulations of fish feed were made and tested. The formulation was based on common resources such as corn flour, soy flour and tapioca flour. To get water stability which is better floating time and lower leach ability, palm oil stearin was added as a main subject compound for this study. Statistical method, D-optimal crossed design of response surface methodology was used for the analysis and optimisation of the properties of fish feed pellet produced. In the statistical analysis, the physical properties such as degree of swelling, leaching and floating ability were chosen as the responses whereas pellets composition and processing temperature as the independent factors. The result shows there is a relationship between fish feed formulation and properties of fish feed pellet produced. The optimum of the floating time, leach ability and stability of fish feed pellet also can be obtained. © 2010 Asian Network for Scientific Information.

The application of Artificial Neural Networks in chemical engineering field is being under immense research. One of the physical properties of every material has its own intensity to absorb the sound waves. Carrageenans are water-soluble gums, which occur in certain species of red seaweeds. They are sulfated natural polymers made up of galactose units. Carrageenan consists of a main chain of D-galactose residues linked alternately I± - (1→3) and I² - (1→4). The decibel frequency analyzer dbFA - 32 has been used for this analysis. The sound signals are captured using the hydrophone. The analog signals are then digitized at different octave frequencies. These are used to generate the frequency power spectrum. The change in the spectrum is proportional to the concentration of the material in the solution. The normalized data is used as a input to a feed forward neural network model. In this study, a simple scheme is proposed to estimate the amount of carrageenan present in a solution using under water acoustics and Artificial Neural Networks. This method is useful for the direct estimation of carrageenan in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. It can be useful for online measurement of compound in the industries. © 2010 Asian Network for Scientific Information.

Fatty acids have long been recognized for their commercial value in the absence of glycerol. Chemicals derived from fatty acids are widely used in the formulation of detergents, lubricant, surfactants and in pharmaceutical industries. In addition, fatty acids also play a vital role in human metabolism and are widely used as catalyst in some chemical reactions. Commercially produced fatty acids are derived from naturally occurring fats and oils through the process of hydrolysis. Most of these raw materials result in nature as complex mixtures of triglycerides, alcohols and other esters. Alternatively, common edible oils used are sunflower oil, com oil, soybean oil, palm and palm kernel oil. Crude fatty acids can be obtained from the process of hydrolysis and will be purified through total distillation. Due to fatty acid market demand, the purity requirement of distillated fatty acid products is increasing greatly. Since desired purity of fatty acid is achievable through the most common and most efficient means of fractionation distillation process, study on simulation of fatty acids distillation has a significant contribution to the oleo chemical industry. In this simulation study, the optimization of the tray specification, feed stream pressure and temperature on the purity performance of the fatty acid composition are investigated. In South East Asia, palm tree fruit ripen continuously and can be harvested all year round. Therefore, palm based fatty acids are selected to be used as the feed components. In the present study, binary and multi-component distillations of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids are studied. This simulation model is developed by using HYSYS simulator with suitable thermodynamic package chosen. A shortcut simulation method is built in advanced for preliminary estimations and for determining rigorous operating limits. Eventually, parametric optimization is performed to obtain the optimum operating conditions of the rigorous distillation column. 2010 Asian Network for Scientific Information.

The aim of this investigation was to study the morphology and sorption kinetic studies of an L-type activated carbon prepared from Oil Palm Shells (OPS) by way of the two stage activation method in self-generated atmosphere using a muffle furnace. Both L-type dehydrating agents, zinc chloride and phosphoric acid were used as the chemical activation agent. For the ZnCl2 samples, the optimum adsorption capacity was obtained when the samples were subjected to semi-carbonization of 400°C, 5 M ZnCl2 impregnating solution, followed by pyrolysis at 400°C. Whereas for the H3PO4 samples, semi-carbonization of 400°C followed by 4.5 M H3PO4 impregnating solution and pyrolysis at 400°C has shown to produced the optimum adsorption capacity. All activated carbons were fitted well in the Langmuir adsorption isotherm and the pseudo-second-order kinetics. These results demonstrated that this agricultural waste has the potential to be converted into high-capacity adsorbent for the remediation of waste waters. © 2009 Asian Network for Scientific Information.

Palm Kernel Meal (PKM) is a byproduct of palm kernel oil industry. In the last few years, Malaysia produced over two million tons of PKM annually and the byproduct is available throughout the year. Palm kernel meal contains biomaterials such as protein, cellulose and organic acids. Generally, palm kernel meal contains about 20% protein. Palm kernel protein can be extracted and purified and used as animal feed supplement or as raw material for other processes. However, with the current trend of green processes and products, palm kernel protein can be utilized for the production of formaldehyde- free wood glue. Palm kernel protein based wood glue is non-toxic as compared to conventional wood glue which is based on melamine-urea-formaldehyde resin. The extraction and utilization of palm kernel protein will definitely enhance the current usage of palm kernel meal. In this study, palm kernel protein extraction and purification were studied. The extraction of palm kernel protein was conducted using saline and alkali treatment method. For saline treatment, the extraction of protein was done under various conditions such as variation of solvent to palm kernel meal ratio, pH and salt concentration. For alkaline treatment, variation of solvent to palm kernel ratio, extraction time and extraction temperature was applied. Central composite designs of response surface methodology were used for identification of the best condition and extraction yield optimization. Result shows that over 80% of palm kernel protein can be extracted. Alkaline treatment produces better extraction yield compared to saline treatment. © 2009 Asian Network for Scientific Information.

In the present study a steady state simulation for the fluid catalytic cracking was investigated. A mathematical model for the reactor and regenerator was developed and they were coupled using enthalpy balance between the reactor and the regenerator. The reactor was modelled as a plug flow reactor incorporating the 4-lump model for cracking reactions whereas the regenerator was modelled as a fluidised incorporating the coke burning kinetics. For the regenerator, the reaction taking place in the free board was also taken into consideration. The developed model has been validated using the operating data of an industrial FCCU reported in the literature. Some of the model parameters have been estimated. The predicted data coincide reasonably with the experimental data. © 2007 Asian Network for Scientific Information.

Wood base industries are among the dominant players in Malaysia economic activities. In this research, by using Response Surface Method (RSM), studies of bonding between Disodium Tetraborate Decahydrate (DTD) pesticide and various formulation of wood adhesive i.e., Mclamine-Urea-Formaldehyde (MUF) resin is carried out. The RSM formulated twenty-five MUF formulations, consisting combination of different amount of formaldehyde, melamine, urea added in stage-1 and stage-2 of resin synthesis and DTD pesticide. The liquid products of resin are then hardened and tested using Fourier Transformation Infra-Red (FTIR) and visible spectrophotometer (VIS), to analyse the bonding of the resin and pesticide. The data from the FTIR and VIS analysis were then compiled and analysed using Response Surface Method. The results show that, different arnount of the formaldehyde, melamine, urea and DTD pesticide, gives specific impact to the strength of MUF resin-pesticide bonding. © 2007 Asian Network for Scientific Information.

The cosmetic industry in Malaysia is proven to be one of the important economy sources. Lipstick is one of the decorative cosmetic products that command a unique market. The quality of lipstick is directly linked to the basic material used in the formulation. The ratio of the ingredients used determines the final product characteristics. In previous researches, statistical mixture design has been proved to be effective tool to investigate the relationship between variables in formulation work. Contour graphics were formed to assess the change in the response surface in order to understand the relationship between the product cost and consumer acceptance of the lipsticks. In this work, natural waxes, solvents and colorant were used to prepare lipstick formulation. Statistical mixture design has been applied for experimental setting for the components system. The effects of the mixture components on the physical properties and consumer acceptance of the lipstick have been investigated. The results indicate that the physical properties of the lipstick can be manipulated by changing the composition of the base ingredient used in the formulation. It was found that the variation of the mixture component affected the consumer acceptance on lipstick's rub-off characteristic. © 2007 Asian Network for Scientific Information.