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Noise is one of the problems that often occur in urban areas due to the traffic condition. Noise in a building design depends on the choice of materials as sound absorbers. The type of sound dampening material that already exists is a porous material, a resonator, and a panel. The material often used as an absorber is porous materials, because it is relatively cheaper and lighter, especially to reduce the noise in the narrow spaces such as housing and offices. Various substitutes are made from cheap materials, such as the use of recycled materials of egg tray paper with the size of 40 x 40 centimeters. This is a quantitative research that will measure the place of egg tray paper in reducing noise, using a Sound Level Meter. The use of the egg tray paper is able to show an adequate acoustic quality as noise absorbers, with the average value of NR 22-26 dB.

The aim of this research was to produce three-layer Medium Density Particleboard (MDP), with the addition of impregnated paper, in the inner layer, in proportions of 1; 5 and 20%. In this study, MDP was composed with particles of small size in outer layers, and larger particles in internal layer. After panel manufacturing, physical and mechanical tests based on Brazilian Code ABNT NBR 14.810 were carried out to determine moisture content; density; thickness swelling; water absorption; modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE) in static bending and internal adhesion. Test results were compared to commercial panels, produced with 100% Eucalyptus, considering the requirements specified by Brazilian Code. Properties presented values close to normative specifications, indicating positively the possibility of production of MDP using addition of waste paper impregnated.

[EN] This paper shows the possibility of reutilize paper sludge waste as supplementary cementing material for the cement manufacture. This industrial waste consists essentially of a mixture of organic matter (30%) and inorganic compound, such as calcite and clay minerals. The raw paper sludge does not present pozolanic properties, but once calcined at 650ºC during 2 hours, exhibits a good pozolanic activity. Calcined paper sludge was used as partial Portland cement replacements of 0 and 10%. It was a sligth increment in compressive strength for 10 % of substitution from 7 days on. Furthermore, calcined paper sludge reduces the initial and final setting times of cement paste.

Cellulose and lignocellulose have great potential as nanomaterials because they are abundant, renewable, have a nanofibrillar structure, can be made multi¬functional and self-assemble into well-defined architectures. New methods for liberating these materials, including nanodimensional cellulose fibrils, macromolecules and nanominerals will be needed in order to use the techniques developed for other nanomaterials as platforms for creating new wood-based materials and products. Research findings showed promising results in application of nanotechnology at different aspects of papermaking. Electrospinning; chemical treatment followed by mechanical techniques; or mechanical isolation methods were applied by different research groups to prepare cellulose nanofibres.

Paper has been retracted. Welding parameters such as current intensity, voltage, number of passes can affect the mechanical properties of the weld. In this paper the effect of these parameters on structure and mechanical properties of welded A105 and A106 steels has been evaluated. According to the mechanical and microstructure test results, increasing in welding pass number causes reduction in grain size and increasing in average hardness of HAZ. Also inter-pass slag inclusion defect occurred in high number of passes.

Biocomposites sheets were prepared by compression molding from mixtures of corn starch plasticized by glycerol as matrix and cellulose fibers, extracted from used office paper, as reinforcement filler with contents ranging from 0 to 8% wt/wt of fibers to matrix. Properties of composites were determined by mechanical tensile test, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, water absorption measurement, and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that higher fibers content raised the tensile strength and elastic modulus up to 109% and 112%, respectively, when compared to the non-reinforced thermoplastic starch (TPS). The addition of the fibers improved the thermal resistance and decreased the water absorption up to 63.6%. Scanning electron microscopy illustrated a good adhesion between matrix and fibers.

This paper describes simulation of combustion characteristics under high ambient and high injection of biodiesel combustion by using CFD simulation. Diesel engine performance and emissions is strongly couple with fuel atomization and spray processes, which in turn are strongly influenced by injector flow dynamics. The principal objective of this research is to seek the effect of temperature and pressure on the spray characteristics, as well as fuel-air mixing characteristics. Experiments were performed in a constant volume chamber at specified ambient gas temperature and pressure. This research was continued with injecting diesel fuel into the chamber using a Bosch common rail system. Direct photography technique with a digital camera was used to clarify the real images of spray pattern, liquid length and vapor penetration. The method of the simulation of real phenomenon of diesel combustion with optical access rapid compression machine is also reviewed and experimental results are presented. The liquid phase of the spray reaches a maximum penetration distance soon after the start of injection, while the vapor phase of the spray continues to penetrate downstream. The condition to which the fuel is affected was estimated by combining information on the block temperature, ambient temperature and photographs of the spray. The increases in ambient pressure inside the chamber resulting in gain of spray area and wider spray angle. Thus predominantly promotes for a better fuel-air mixing. All of the experiments will be conducted and run by using CFD. The simulation will show in the form of images.

Taking 2062 scientific papers supported by the TIF between 2000-2010 for sample, we define variables and coding for those papers’ external characteristics, and analyze the industry-university-research cooperation of MSTEs. The results show that: through the use of external resources, MSTEs completed the innovation projects, IURC are active; the papers jointly completed mainly belong to engineering technology and basic research level; the universities are the most important external intellectual resources of MSTEs; most MSTEs cooperates with universities and research institutions in the field of engineering technology; MSTEs in Jiangsu, Beijing, Sichuan, Shanghai, Guangdong are more likely to cooperate with universities or research institutions in other provinces. At last, we propose some suggestions.

Treated dredged sediment by using Hi Biah System (HBS) was used for the construction of five different artificial tidal flats (E1-E5) in Ago Bay, Japan. AGOCLEAN-P which is mainly made from paper sludge ashes was used as a coagulant and hardener. After the construction, continuous monitoring for the physico-chemical and biological parameters was carried out quarterly for 28 months from May 2005 to August 2007. Physico-chemical parameters measured were; particle size, loss on ignition (LOI), total organic carbon (TOC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), water content (WC), chlorophyll a, and acid volatile sulphide (AVS). At the end of the experiment, physico-chemical parameters for the artificial tidal flats along with the sandy natural flat (S2) were almost similar. In regards to the natural muddy flats (S1) the results showed remarkable increase in the particle size

In connection with the 100th anniversary of Stoney’s equations, some historical remarks are made with respect to the development of these equations. As an example of the extension of Stoney’s equations, a unique algorithm of the layer growing/removing methods is presented for de­termination of residual stresses in isotropic inhomogeneous coated plates. Using a computer pro­gram based on this algorithm, residual stresses are computed in the galvanic steel coating on the copper plate substrate.

The usage of agricultural waste in form of ashes as one of the constituent materials in concrete has been studied in recent years. Palm Oil Fuel Ash (POFA) is one of the largest agricultural wastes produced in Malaysia that contain high amount of silica with pozzolanic properties. The mass production of POFA are typically disposed to open area and in turn can generate environmental issues and health hazards. Due to the waste disposal problem, a number of initiatives have been done by utilizing POFA into various construction materials including as substitute to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) in concrete production. This paper discusses on the water absorption properties and compressive strength of concrete by utilizing POFA in several series of cement replacement. OPC was replaced by POFA at 2.5%, 5%,7.5% and 10% in these series of mix design. Control OPC concrete sample was also prepared for comparison. The samples were prepared in 100 mm cubic moulds and tested for compressive strength and water absorption for 7, 14 and 28-day curing ages. Three replicates were prepared for each concrete mix and for each test conducted. The results stipulated that the higher percentage of POFA replacement decreased the compressive strength and increased the water absorption amount of concrete mixture over different concrete ages.

To be properly used in the textile industry, the natural materials are subject to different pretreatments. During the scouring, the non-cellulosic attendants (wax, pectin, pigments) are removed. The enzymes have proved their efficiency in this regard but also in terms of being friendly with the environment. The textile industry is a water large consumer, comprising many wet processes: bioscouring, bleaching, mercerizing, and dyeing. The water quantity needed for each step is very high. The resulted wastewater comprises different types of chemicals, most of them non-biodegradable: acids, sodium hydroxide, hypochlorites, peroxides, etc. The actual trends and legislation require the change of classical methods used with ecological ones. One particular reason for this tendency is also related to the economic issue, the use of eco-friendly treatments leading to significant economical savings. The present study was focused on enzymatic treatments with the use of two chelating agents (sodium citrate and EDTA) to remove the flax/cotton fabric impurities. The new proposed scouring treatment, with sodium citrate as a chelating agent, presents less aggressivity to the environment compared with the classical one. The temperature used was lower (55 °C), the pH close to the neutral point, and biodegradable chemicals were used. The chosen technology included a series of independent steps which they assumed: washing of flax/cotton fabric at 100 °C for dust and physically linked impurities removing, dried at room temperature, and conditioning at 105 °C in the oven for 2h. Afterward, the samples were immersed in the reaction bath which contained a mixture of pectinolytic products, the chelating agents (sodium citrate or EDTA), and the surfactant. The hydrolytic reaction was optimised following the influence of a pair of parameters: enzyme concentration/exposure time. Water samples from each reaction bath were collected and different physicochemical parameters were analysed: pH, salinity, TDS, conductivity, DO, CCOMn, turbidity and dry residue. The results obtained were following the legislation. In the case of the classical treatment, the data was up to 100 % higher compared with the new proposed treatment were complexing agent sodium citrate was used. Analysing from different points of view the results obtained, we can say that the considered treatment could be a promising alternative to the current one. It might contribute to less wastewater pollution and technological economical improvement.

In Nigeria Arable land covers approximately 745,000km2 of the total land area and at present organic farming is not prevalent, encouraged or facilitated despite its sustainability advantages. The anaerobic digestion process produces two main outputs (biogas and digestate). The digestate when properly harnessed can be used as a substitute for inorganic fertilizer. The digestate retains a high content of organic matter such as Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (K), as well as a range of other macro-and micronutrients like Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Manganese, Zinc and ammonium. In this research work, a developed grass shredding machine for the composting of a digestate was evaluated for performance. Preliminary studies were undertaken to determine the liquid absorbability of non-shredded grass vise-visa dry shredded grass, the moisture content of fresh elephant and spear grass. An internal combustion powered shredding machine was developed to shred dry and sieve crushed grasses to be used as absorbent of digestate. The machine was evaluated for performance using different samples of properly dried elephant and spear grass. The shredded grasses samples were mixed with discharge digestate collected from a bio-digester to produce organic fertilizer. The shredding time, machine throughout capacity efficiency, mass of fibre and liquor were determined. The results of performance evaluation with elephant grass sample revealed that an average value of efficiency (90.97%), machine through put capacity (1.225g/sec), shredding time (126.54seconds), percentage loss (8.393%), fibre (288.58g) and liquor (119.83g) were established. Similar result were obtained with spear grass; efficiency (90.50%), machine through-put capacity (1.225g/sec), shredding time 126.54 seconds), percentage loss (8.32%), fibre (294.12g), and liquor (118.85g). The outcome of the results revealed that both solid fertilizer (fibre) and liquid fertilizer (liquor) were extracted from the digestate, and an average mass of 138.86g dried grass can absorb 269.55g of liquid digestate to produce organic fertilizer.

The wheat husk pulp epoxy resin composites were prepared by compression Molding Method and their physical and Mechanical Properties were studied by universal testing Machine. The composites were tested by tensile strength testing and impact strength tester. The content of Wheat husk pulp is varied (35%, 45%, 55%) weight percentage whereas the epoxy resin is varied (50%, 40%, 30%) percentage is kept constant 15% in hardener. Composites have been fabricated using hand layup technique using a suitable mold developed in industry. All the sample have been tested in Universal testing machine as per ASTM standard for tensile strength and impact strength it is observed that composite with 35% wheat husk pulp is having highest tensile strength of 4mm (4.29MPa) and 8mm (6.31Mpa). The impact strength of Composite with 35% wheat husk pulp was highest than 35%to 45% wheat husk pulp.

Peat water is an abundant water resource in Sarawak where some of the coastal areas in Sarawak still utilize peat water for domestic usage. Peat water contains natural organic matters especially humic substances which include humic acids. Humic acids contribute to the brown color of peat water and can cause diseases such as stomach cancer, blackfoot disease and etc. if consumed by human. Electrocoagulation is an alternative to conventional water treatment methods which have the advantages of being environmental friendly, minimal sludge production and no addition of chemical substances. The aims of this study are to fabricate a desktop scale electrocoagulation system with galvanised iron electrodes and to investigate the effects of the operating parameters such as inter-electrode distance, applied current density, number of electrodes, and treatment time on peat water in the system. The performance of batch electrocoagulation system in term of their removal efficiency of several parameters such as total organic carbon (TOC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), color and turbidity are evaluated. Through experimental tests conducted, this system successfully removes 98.44% of COD, 92.02% of TOC, 97.92% of turbidity and 99.91% of color by using galvanized iron as an electrode at current density of 25 A/m2in 30 minutes with 10 galvanized iron electrodes. Despite the fact that there is a small amount of iron ions and zinc ions remained in the treated peat water which are 0.001mg/l and 0.0442mg/l respectively, these concentrations are far below the standard limits imposed by Malaysia Ministry of Health (MOH). Generally, all the parameters studied meet the standard limit imposed by MOH except for total organic carbon. This is particularly due to the improper filtration system adopted in this study. The total operating costs for 252 in 30 minutes treatment time of 10 electrode plates is RM 8.75 per . Overall, the study have successfully designed a batch electrocoagulation system to treat peat water by using galvanized iron for domestic usage.

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of beating process to the characteristics of pulp and paper produced from oil palm oil male flower spikes (OPMFS). OPMFS pulp was prepared according to chemical Soda-AQ pulping process. 60 gsm handsheet of oil palm male flower spikes paper were prepared from OPMFS pulp with four different beating times which are 0 revolution, 1000 revolutions, 2000 revolutions and 3000 revolutions. All physical and mechanical characteristics were investigated according to TAPPI and MS ISO standards. The results show that overall physical and mechanical characteristics of POMFS paper were influenced and enhanced by beating process between 0 until 3000 revolutions. This research demonstrate some potential characteristics of palm oil male flower spikes (OPMFS) paper to be investigated as a newly explored non-wood based raw material for papermaking raw material for papermaking.

This study considered the production of composite ceiling boards from both agricultural and industrial wastes. Boards with different blending proportions by weight of cement, corncob and sawdust (Cem:Ccb:Swd) were produced and tested. Physical and mechanical tests such as Water Absorption (WA), Thickness Swelling (TS), Modulus of Elasticity (MOE) and Modulus of Rupture (MOR) were carried out on the products. The findings revealed that the board with Cem:Ccb:Swd blending proportion 50:10:40 gave the highest values of MOE and MOR and also had the lowest values of WA and TS. The MOE and MOR values of 3.432 are both higher than the minimum values of 550 N/mm2 and 3 N/mm2 specified for MOE and MOR respectively by the American National Standard Institute, for general-use particle boards. The cement content is inversely proportional to the physical properties and directly proportional to the mechanical properties.

Current pulp-processing in pulp and paper based industries are inefficient in removing the lignin as this compound is recalcitrant towards degradation. Transitioning from conventional pulping process into bio-delignification through utilisation of ligninase enzymes is one of the alternatives to improve the ability to fully utilize all components of wood to produce high quality fibres. Extensive research efforts have been focused on increase the production of ligninase enzymes from white rot fungi as a whole organism for industrial applications. However, enzymes activity produced from fungi are rather low as lignin modification is a secondary metabolism in which the enzyme only be expressed under particular conditions. Using genetic manipulations to incorporate genes associate for delignification isolated from different organisms such as tropical Asian wood-feeding insect into bacteria expression system will allow rapid enzyme production. This theoretical framework aims to produce an enzyme with high ligninase activity that will be used for removal of lignin during pulp-processing. These enzymes are thought to be more economically efficient in degrading lignin and involves less use of chemicals thus make this processing more environmentally friendly.Keywords: Biodelignification, Asian wood tropical insect, fungi, ligninase enzyme, bacterial expression system

Excess deposits of phosphorus into surface waters have caused a lot of devastating effects on both human and aquatic lives and, of course, ecosystem disruption. Ox-eye seed (OES), an agricultural biomass, has been explored as a coagulant to remove phosphorus from aqueous solution through coag-flocculation process. The seeds were prepared into a coagulant and a proximate analysis was carried out on the prepared OES. Nephelometric analysis was employed to investigate the effects of settling time, coagulant dosage and pH on phosphate removal efficiency of OES. The process parameters were optimized using Response Surface Methodology. OES’s performance was compared with Alum’s, a conventional coagulant, and the results obtained reveal Alum as having a global minimum of zero turbidity, global optimum values for pH (7.4103) and dosage (301.6501mg/l) but a local optimum of 80min for settling time, while the optimum operating parameters for OES are 7.3740 (global), 500mg/l (local), 80min (local) and 11.2266mg/l (local) for pH, dosage, settling time and turbidity respectively. It is evident that, by increasing settling time and dosage , OES can effectively compete with Alum. The main attribute to effective performance of both OES and Alum is pH. The interactions pH-dosage and pH-settling time are significant. The model accuracy is confirmed by the values of R2 >0.99 and is validated by the closeness of the experimental data to the predictions. Keywords: Phosphorus, wastewater, turbidity, Coagulant, ox-eye, flocculation

Biodegradable plastic are renewable packaging technology that are bio-based made of starch. The use of starch as a manufacture of bioplastic has great potential due to in Indonesia has various biodiversity of starch-producing plants. The objective of this research was to determine effect of cassava starch addition to hardness, density, moisture absorption, and biodegradability of bioplastic. The methods is a synthesis of bioplastic using a casting procedure ie mixing cassava starch at various concentrations 2%, 3%, 4%, and 5% (b/v) into the glycerol. This was demonstrated of bioplastic hardness and density of 31.56; 46.78; 52.34; 67.99 Shore A and 1.164; 1.178; 1.184; 1.191 g/cm3. Revealed that complete decomposition could be achieved on the 12, 13, 14, and 15 days. It shows that the cassava starch addition can improve hardness, density, moisture, and accelerate the decomposition process.

In recent years, there have been a number of interests on the Palm Oil (PO) and Coconut Oil (CO) as a potential alternative dielectric insulating fluid in transformers which stimulate different types of studies on these oils properties. Among the important studies is the lightning impulse properties. This paper presents the investigation on the lightning impulse breakdown voltage of PO and CO under non-uniform electric field. The PO used in this study is Refined, Bleached and Deodorized Palm Oil (RBDPO) Olein type. The influence of the testing methods, rising-voltage and up-and-down are investigated at 2 gap distances for both oils. It was found that the lightning breakdown voltage performance for some of the RBDPO and CO are comparable to MO.

Sugarcane bagasse (SCB) was subjected to a single-step fractionation and hydrolysis reaction in the presence of various organic solvents. The reaction was performed at 170 °C for 3 h when sodium hydroxide was used as catalyst. The results showed that suitable solvents significantly enhanced the yield of lignin fractionation and simultaneous hydrolysis reaction took place indicated by an increase of hydroxyl groups in lignin molecules. Lignin-based polyurethane (LPU) from SCB organosolv lignin polyols had relatively better mechanical and thermal resistant properties compared to LPU from liquefied Kraft lignin from pulp and paper industry.

This paper presents the results of heat and compression effects on moisture content and water absorption properties in the manufacturing of disposable plate made from Pineapple Leaf Fiber-based material (PALF). The plate was made of PALF and sugarcane bagasse waste as an alternative to polystyrenes, designed to promote the green technology effort on food packaging material. Two different specimens were produced with different compositions of PALF/sugarcane bagasse series N2T8 ( 20 wt% of Pineapple leaf fiber and 80 wt% of sugarcane bagasse ) and series N8T2 ( 80 wt% of Pineapple leaf fiber and 20 wt% of sugarcane bagasse). The specimens were produced using a hot press machine set at compressing temperatures of 50°C, 100°C and 150°C with constant pressure of 0.024 MPa for 10 minutes. Moisture content and water absorption tests were carried out on the specimens to determine the moisture content and water absorption properties. The lower water absorption was obtained for specimen N8T2 because PALF potential to water resistance. This range of properties is expected to be good enough for the requirement of disposable plate and it has the potential as a suitable raw material for strength and lightweight in the manufacturing of disposable plates.

In this paper, storage effect on biodiesel properties for high blending ratio and the emission are evaluated. The blend level of biodiesel is denoted as B, followed by the percentages of pure biodiesel. The samples used are conventional diesel (STD), B80, B90 and B100 were stored at ambient temperature (24 °C) for nine week. The properties of biodiesel, acid value, flash point, viscosity, density and water content were measured according to ASTM D6751 biodiesel fuel standard. Results show there are no significant effects on it properties while stored in long duration at ambient temperature. Meanwhile, increasing biodiesel ratio is found to enhance the combustion process, resulting in decreased the HC for emissions.

This paper represents the results of using phycoremediation technology in treating the wastewater produced from food stall activity by using microalgae of Scenedesmus sp. in removal of heavy metals. Phycoremediation has advantages over physic-chemical approaches as it is can completely degrade organic pollutants without destroy the surrounding flora and fauna. Aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of microalgae Scenedesmussp to assimilate the pollutant load based on the optimum time and concentration. Characteristics of food stall wastewater need to be identified and analyse before phycoremediation process taken place. The wastewater sampling was collected at food stall during peak time i.e. at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Microalgae Scenedesmus sp. to be injected to the batch reactor based on five (5) different concentration cells. The results shows that the optimum removal of heavy metals are dominant by concentration no. 1 (C1) compare to other concentration in the treatment i.e. removal of Ferum by 88.22% and 69.63%, Copper by 60% and 53.85% at both sampling time while removal of zinc is dominant by concentration no.4 (C4) by 75.61% and 76.63% respectively.

Biomediated soil improvement, a promising new branch of microbial geotechnology; which involved multi disciplines has successfully attracted abundant attentions among researchers, geotechnical engineers, and other industries practitioners. Few of the researches were conducted to examine the potential implementation of this technique on tropical residue soil. However, the uncertainties outcomes and inconsistency of bio mediated soil improvement, especially on the clayed soil have made this technique remained at the laboratory stage. Therefore, this paper intended to provide better understanding of this technique by investigating the relation between the bacteria, cementation reagents, and tropical residue soil. The residual soil was mixed with facultative anaerobe bacteria, Bacillus Subtilis before it was compacted into a prefabricated PVC mould. The soil samples were treated with different treatment condition such as (1) control or untreated, (2) treated with cementation solution, (3) treated with bacteria only, and (4) treated with bacteria and Cementation reagent. A worth noting finding showed that the sample treated with bacteria and nutrient only has produced the highest increment of shear strength. This phenomenon might have been caused by the effect of the chemical reagent to the mineralogy of residue soil. The presence of the chemical reagents is believed to have weakened the shear strength of the tropical residual soil.

Malaysia has an abundance of agro waste material that have not been fully utilized to a maximum production. Thus, the finding of a new alternative fiber in non wood material will be favorable in paper production. Pineapple (Ananas Comosus) is the common tropical plant, which consists of coalesced berries. This pineapple is leading member of the family of Bromeliaceae and it came from genusAnanas. Fiber bundle from pineapple leaf can be separated from the cortex where it reveals the pineapple leaf fiber in multi-cellular and lignocelluloses pattern. This leaf has a ribbon-like structure and cemented together by lignin, pentosan-like materials, where it contributes to the strength of fiber [7]. All parts in pineapple from fruits to leaves could be consumed to give a health benefit for human life. Pineapple had been used as textile fiber, anti-inflammatory and also anti-helminthic agent. According to the FAO online database, the Malaysian country had consumed 255,000 tones per year and in third position in the world of consuming pineapple production. Pineapple is mainly produced as canned fruits and also coarse textiles in some Southeast Asian countries. Leaves of pineapple had been used as coarse textiles because of the fiber composition and structure inside the leaves [3]. All fibrous in non wood materials especially pineapple leaf consists of cellulose, holocellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin along with some extraneous material called extractives such as gum and resin. Previous research indicates pineapple leaf fiber contained higher cellulose content than wood fiber. Pineapple leaf fibers also consist of lignin [23], an adhesive component that binds the cellulose and hemicellulose. Pineapple leaf fiber had the lowest lignin content than other alternative fiber, which is favorable during chemical processing [12]. The chemical composition aspects have been considered in the previous literature, such as banana stem, coconut and oil palm and had been reported extensively. Pineapple leaf reported has a lowest lignin (10.5%) rather than banana stem (18.6%), oil palm (20.5%) and coconut (32.8%) that suggest can undergo bleaching more easily and have high fiber strength [12]. Besides that, pineapple leaf contains high holocelulose content (87.6%) than banana stem (65.2%), oil palm (83.5%) and coconut (56.3%) [11]. Those properties depend on the content of chemical composition in the pineapple leaf fiber, which is cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin content [15].

This research studied the electricity production from organic wastes fermentation by microbial fuel cell by using a single chamber microbial fuel cell (SCMFC). Two sizes (1 L and 10 L) of simple SCMFC were fabricated by using a cylindrical plastic tank which anode compartment and cathode compartment separated by plastic plate with hole and covered with cotton fabric. The anode electrode contacted with organic matter and microorganisms where anaerobic reaction occurred to generate electron and proton. The electrons transferred through an external circuit while the protons diffused through the solution to the cathode electrode for reducing oxygen to water. From the study of the effect of different electrode types (carbon graphite rod, zinc metal, and copper metal) to the electricity generation using the SCMFC size 1 L in fermentation with synthetic sweetness solution (22%Brix) and the effective microorganism (EM) for 36 hrs, it found that the fuel cell which used copper metal as electrode produced electricity increasing over the times and has more efficient than the other electrode types. The study of electricity generation from organic waste fermentation by using the SCMFC size 10 L and using copper metal as electrode, the results showed that the fermentation of pineapple waste produced the current density, potential density, and power density higher than the fermentation of bananas and the fermentation of food garbage with EM. An optimal period of time for the production of electricity from this microbial fuel cell is the first five days of fermentation that the cells has voltage »500 mV, the current density 25.52 mA m-2, potential density 104.69 V m-2 and power density 12.59 mW m-2, and then decline over time five days (120 hrs). Moreover the bio-liquid fertilizer and the residues from the fermentation can be further used in agricultural because of the nutrient content (N, P, K), organic carbon and organic material contents available.

Graphene has attracted wide interest across a range of applications due to its electrical, mechanical and optical properties. The use of a low-cost, table-top chemical vapour deposition system to deposit few-layer graphene onto copper is reported in this work. Characterisation of the graphene is performed using Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. The results show that few-layer graphene can be deposited at 1000 °C using CH4 as a carbon precursor, and 5% H2, 95% N2 forming gas as a diluent. The effects of deposition temperature, deposition time, and forming gas addition on graphene film quality was studied experimentally. An increase in graphene quality was observed when forming gas was added during deposition.

This paper reports the investigation of epitaxial graphene growth on 4H-SiC substrates. Growth has been performed under ultra high vacuum (UHV) conditions at temperatures ranging from 1150 to 1250°C, and the formation of the graphene layer has been monitored using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A gradient of 100°C in temperature was introduced across the sample in order to grow a wide range of thicknesses along the sample. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) of the surface shows that the epitaxial graphene layer follows the topography of the bulk material and introduces very little surface roughness. This paper also reports the electrical characterisation of the graphene layers.

Fly ash is a waste from coal burning, that are generated with fluctuation both in its physical and chemical characteristics. This characteristics of fly ash when used in the making of geopolymer concrete will greatly affect the final products obtained. The pH value measured in fly ash, according previous research, can influence the setting time of geopolymer and fly ash with high pH values can cause flash-setting in the concrete. Understanding more clearly about the factors that affect the setting time of fly ash based geopolymer is important for further progress and development of the material. It was found that factors that influence the setting time of geopolymer was not only from the physical and chemical properties of the fly ash itself. Other factors such as composition and mix design, manufacturing process and environmental conditions can also affect its setting time. The experimental results showed that fly ash particle size, CaO and MgO content, in addition to ratio of sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide in the alkali solution, molarity of NaOH, initial temperature of the mixture, curing temperature, and mix volume could potentially influence the setting time of the geopolymer mixture.

Literature often concludes that the drop in mechanical properties of recycled concrete, compared to concrete made with natural aggregates, is unfavourable for concrete durability in aggressive environments. The agricultural industry is one of these environments where concrete floorboards and walls are confronted with weak organic acids. A research program was undertaken to determine the resistance of concrete, made with coarse recycled concrete aggregates (0-75%), against these acids. In this research two different qualities of recycled aggregates were used: while the first originated from road demolition and contained porphyry as main aggregate, the latter originated from mixed demolition and contained mostly limestone. One reference concrete mixture and six different recycled mixtures were made. These seven concretes were exposed to three different acids: acetic, tartaric and citric acid. Beside the acidic resistance tests, workability, density (fresh and hardened) and water absorption (both by capillarity and submersion) were also determined for each mixture. The results show that the increase of acid soluble material increases the resistance of concrete against erosion due to weak acids.

The construction industry is responsible for high energy and raw materials consumption. Thus, it is important to minimize the high energy consumption by taking advantage of renewable energy sources and reusing industrial waste, decreasing the extraction of natural materials. The mortars with incorporation of phase change materials (PCM) have the ability to regulate the temperature inside buildings, contributing to the thermal comfort and reduction of the use of heating and cooling equipment, using only the energy supplied by the sun. The simultaneous incorporation of PCM and fly ash (FA) can reduce the energetic consumption and the amount of materials landfilled. However, the addition of these materials in mortars modifies its characteristics. The main purpose of this study was the production and characterization in the fresh and hardened state of mortars with incorporation of different contents of PCM and FA. The binders studied were aerial lime, hydraulic lime, gypsum and cement. The proportion of PCM studied was 0%, 20%, 40% and 60% of the mass of the sand. The content of fly ash added to the mortars was 0%, 20%, 40% and 60% of the mass of the binder. It was possible to observe that the incorporation of PCM and fly ash in mortars caused differences in properties such as workability, microstructure, water absorption, compressive strength, flexural strength and adhesion.

The wet market wastewater may lead to pollution, odour and aesthetic problems to the environment and society if not treating properly. Thus, this research was conducted to culture microalgae Scenedesmus sp. and to identify the optimal concentration of microalgae Scenedesmus sp.due to the nutrient and heavy metal removals from wet market wastewater based on laboratory scale. The samples were taken from Public Market Parit Raja, Batu Pahat at 9a.m. in the morning using grab sampling technique. The characteristics of raw wastewater and microalgae Scenedesmus sp. were determined. There are five sample wastewater (used 625ml for each five sample wastewater) with five different sample concentrations of microalgae which are 6.50x105, 49.88x104, 34.75x104, 19.63x104 and 49.88x104 cell/ml with 16 days as duration for period study. The microalgae were cultured by BBM for eight days and another eight days for treatment with replicates three times for each sample. The analysis were measured due to the nutrient and heavy metal removals which are TN, TP, TOC, Fe and Zn during eight days treatment process. Based on experimental result, the optimum efficiency removals for each concentration were achieved 45.6-86.4% of nutrients and heavy metals removal. The highest amount of nutrient and heavy metal removals after wastewater treatment by microalgae are TN 74.77%, TP 82.17%, TOC 86.36%, Fe 65.76% and Zn 84.14%. As conclusion for this experiment, Sample 2 (concentration 49.88x104 cell/ml of microalgae Scenedesmus sp.) is the optimum concentration due to the highest percentage of nutrients and heavy metals removal which achieved 65.3-82.1% which TN 65.32%, TP 76.77%, TOC 80.34%, Fe 65.76% and Zn 82.12%.

Dairy wastewater are usually much polluted due to the high level of nutrient content such as phosphate, nitrate, sulfate etc. The pollution level are indicated by few characteristics such as BOD (243 mg/L), COD (324 mg/L), pH (9.08), Total Nitrogen (65.06 mg/L), Total Organic Carbon (143.3 mg/L), Total Carbon (312.9 mg/L) and Inorganic Carbon (169.6 mg/L). In this study, Botryococcus sp., a species of green microalgae are used to determine whether it can purify dairy wastewater. In spite of that, the microalgae growth over phycoremediation process also determined daily based on hemocytometer counting. From 100% concentration of dairy wastewater, Botryococcus sp. was capable to reduce the parameters such as BOD of 73.3%, TOC of 65.1%, TC of 61.4%, IC of 58.3% and COD of 48.8% on the 15 days of phycoremediation. Meanwhile, for the 50% of dairy wastewater, the same microalgae be able to remove the parameter such as phosphate of 78.7%, BOD of 73.8%, TOC of 70%, TC of 68,8%, IC of 59.4% and COD of 50%. The overall result from this study shown that the Botryococcus sp. is useful to reduce the inorganic and organic pollutant in dairy wastewater and could be potential to be used for any different wastewater.

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) represents a new method for producing electricity from the oxidation of organic matter. In addition, MFC offers an effective wastewater treatment. The feasibility of using POME wastewater as a substrate was investigated through a two-chambered MFC operated in batch mode for 12 days. The performance of MFC was evaluated under three different anode pH microenvironments of acidic (pH 4), neutral (pH 7) and alkaline (pH 8). Results of experiments indicated that the MFC reactor was able to generate electricity and treat POME wastewater that acted as substrate for MFC. The performance of MFC was found to be dependent on the anode pH microenvironments. Higher power density was observed at neutral condition compared to acidic and alkaline conditions. Furthermore, significant reductions in chemical oxygen demand (COD) in anode chambers were found due to the changes of pH in anode microenvironment. This indicated that effective wastewater treatment of POME in MFC batch experiments. In conclusion, MFC provides an alternative, sustainability and effective method to generate electricity and effectively treat wastewater.

Malaysia is located on the equator has resulted in having two seasons wet and dry. Both of the seasons can influence indoor air quality of buildings promoting the growth of fungal. Fungal growth can occur with the combinations of temperature, relative humidity, substrate and others. Indoor and outdoor air quality is essential for building occupants to prevent the infection diseases caused by fungal. The goal of this study is to remediate the growth indoor fungal after treated with biocides on different types of wall finishing and evaluate the efficiencies of biocides to treat indoor fungal. In this study, the biocides are utilized as a coating for coating bio-resistance. The measurements of the fungal growth are made by growing the samples on realistic wood substrates on the different wall finishing such as paints and wallpapers. The mold that grew are affecting most of the rooms is selected. The air sampler that have been used to isolate the samples of indoor fungal according to NIOSH Manual Analytical Method (NMAM 0800), a guideline provided by National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The fungal growth was evaluated using the ASTM D5590-00 standard measuring on the surface of substrate. The results show that potassium sorbate as biocide was able to reduce the indoor fungal growth depending on the type of material used in the building.

The process of combustion in coal fired power plant generates ashes, namely fly ash (FA) and bottom ash (BA). In addition, coal ash generated from coal combustion generally contains heavy metals within their compositions. These metals are toxic to the environment as well as to the human health. Fortunately, treatment methods are available for these ashes and the use of FA and BA in concrete mix is one of the few. As such, this study presents the work in determining the leachability of self-compacting concrete (SCC) incorporated with FA and BA. The ashes were obtained from Kapar Energy Ventures power plant in Kapar, Selangor. SCC mixtures incorporated with 10%, 20% and 30% FA (replacing cement) and BA (replacing sand) respectively was formulated and casted. The samples were then crushed to be extracted using Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) and heavy metals content within the samples were identified accordingly using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS). From the results, it was found that incorporation up to 30% of the ashes were safe as the leached heavy metals concentration did not exceed the regulatory levels, except for arsenic (As). On the other hand, incorporation of 20% FA and BA each in SCC provided the most economically viable product, with high strength and low leachate concentrations. In conclusion, this study will serve as a reference which suggests that FA and BA are widely applicable in concrete technology and its incorporation in SCC constitutes a potential means of adding value with appropriate mix and design.

The preliminary tests is physically and visually observed to estimate the concentrations of contaminants that can give negative effects on plants growth and at which concentration the plants can tolerate and survive. In this study, bulrush of Lepironia articulate was subjected to diesel to assess its ability to survive when exposed to diesel contaminants with different concentrations (0, 5, 10, 20, 30, 35 and 40 mL diesel/L water). The investigation was conducted in 30 days with two flow systems, free surface (FSF) and sub-surface flow (SSF), were adopted to observe in which system the plant can tolerate to diesel better. These findings will be applied in future study of phytotoxicity test to assess its ability to phytoremediate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) contamination in wastewater. At the end of diesel exposure, the result indicated that the plant growth in SFS was better compared to FSF system. The plant had shown that it could only grow and survive in concentrations of 5, 10, 20, 30, 35 and 40 mL diesel/L water in SSF and in concentrations of 5, 10 and 20 mL/L in FSF system. The results of this study will be a basis for future study that aims to study PAHs removal from water using L. articulate plants.

Dyes represent one of the persistent pollutants, which are difficult to remove from wastewater by the conventional treatment methods. Low cost adsorbents prepared from tire rubber waste were used to remove cresol red dye from liquid solution. In order to save energy no agitation or activation were made on the adsorption process. This will naturally slow down the process, but time was compared to cost. The adsorbent weight, particle diameter and duration time were explored to measure the effectiveness of these parameters on adsorption rate. The best removal reached more than 81% at adsorbent weight 12 g, particle diameter 2 mm, and duration of 21days. Experimental data were correlated well by the adsorption isotherm of Langmuir with R2value of 0.8799. It is concluded that cresol red dye is physically adsorbed into the tire rubber waste.

As the key process of weaving, sizing is one of the processes which are of great costly and serious pollution in the whole cotton-textile production chain. Great efforts had been made to study new sizing to reduce costs and environment pollution. In this paper, Methyl cellulose ether (MC) and hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose ether (HPMC) were prepared by the hemp core and further used as a textile sizing. The chemical structure of the hemp cellulose ether was characterized by the FTIR analysis. The paste viscosity was tested by the Viscometer. The sizing properties of hemp cellulose ether were evaluated by the weaving process. The results indicated that the wrap breakage rat, weft breakage rate and loom efficiency of MC and HPMC blended sizing was similar to those of PVA sizing. Compared to COD in the desizing wastewater of 3600 mg/L of PVA, the COD of hemp sizing was very small. It was 330 mg/L. Therefore, it is concluded that the hemp core ether is a new and environment-friendly textile sizing, which has low cost and contributes a healthier ecosystem.

The transformation is implemented from short message to feature vector in this paper based on the ICTCLAS system. Then we use the kNN method to come to carry on the classified recognition to the message content, thus realizing to filter bad message effectually. The method has been testified effective in experiment.

This paper applies super-heated steam drying technology to improve the quality of lignite. A unique experimental system was built up. In order to obtain the optimum operation conditions, the drying kinetics was measured. The temperature range of super-heated steam was from 120 to 200°C. The results showed that the drying process of super-heated steam drying of lignite can be well depicted by two stages, as a constant drying rate stage followed by a falling drying rate stage. The comparison of drying process to the hot air drying showed the superior advantages of super-heated steam drying on safety, drying capacity and energy conservation. Analysis shows the huge application potential of lignite in power plants by means of the super-heated steam drying.

Studies have been conducted to investigate biomass accumulation of earthworms (Eisenia fetida andrei), cultivated in the soil media under various concentrations of the slaked lime. The group, which is cultivated on the media with lime concentration 0.1% is characterized by maximum biomass accumulation (average – 120 %). As a result we have discovered two phase kinetic dependence between biomass accumulation of earthworms and the amount of the slaked lime.

In this research the aim was produce a particleboard with alternative materials and evaluated its physical and mechanical characteristics. The raw materials used are residues from sucarcane bagasse (SC) (Saccharum officinarum) and stem leaves of bamboo (B) (Dendrocalamus giganteus), bonded with a bi component adhesive based on castor oil. It was produced particleboards with five different traces: 100% SC, 75% SC+25% B, 50% SC+50% B, 25% SC +75%B and 100 % B. Their physical and mechanical characteristics were evaluated accordingly to Brazilian standard NBR 14810-3. Regarding the results obtained, it can be detached that for physical and mechanical evaluation it is evident a negative relation among the amount the sugarcane bagasse and their physical and mechanical characteristics, that is particleboards with low concentrations of sugarcane bagasse had better results. However all particleboards could be recommended for use as sealing particleboards in the segment of civil construction.

The paper “Bacterial succession in bioheap leaching” [1] initiated the search for methods to analyze the microbial dynamics in bioleaching industrial processes as a key to advancing commercial bioheap applications. “Chemical and physical conditions within bioheaps change radically from the time the bioheap is stacked and inoculated until bioleaching is completed.” The results from a comprehensive monitoring program by culturing and molecular techniques in an industrial bioleaching process for Run-of-mine (ROM) low grade copper sulfide ore in Chile will be summarized. The analysis of the compiled information permits an understanding of changes in microbial substrates availability, chemical and physical conditions. The impact of other aspects on microbiology, such as the mining programme and the industrial design are also considered. The bacterial succession in bioheap leaching solutions allowed the leaching cycle stages to be describe as: i) Acid conditioning and soluble copper releasing, ii) Chalcocite Bacterial leaching (ferrous oxidation); iii) Chalcocite Bacterial leaching (ferrous and reduced sulfur compounds –RSC- oxidation); iv) Bacterial leaching of sulphide minerals with higher rest potentials (pyrite and covellite ), v) Bacterial oxidation of remnant sulfide minerals and RSC.

Nowadays, consumers are concern about the quality of water that being supplied in order to ensure the water supplied is free from any harmful substances for example like Humic Substances (HS). High concentration of HS in drinking water can cause disease for human such as stomach cancer. Thus, it is important to develop a new technique to improve the quality of drinking water. Therefore, the objective of this research is to investigate the potential of using coconut copra treated with citric acid as activated carbon in adsorbing HS contained in wastewater collected from Asajaya Treatment Plant situated in district of Samarahan, Sarawak. In this research, the optimum condition of adsorption process need to determined. As such, there are two types of parameters which are considered as constant; temperature and pH of activated carbon and variable; solid liquid ratio and residence time. As a result, this research has shown that coconut copra possess the capacity to adsorp 97.5% of HS contained in wastewater.

The problem of proper disposal of solid waste generated in different industrial processes is one of worldwide environmental concerns nowadays. Thus, this study aimed to establish a new alternative for the disposal of two agro-industrial residues employing them to produce particleboard for different purposes in building construction. The focus was given to the reuse of the sugarcane bagasse (SB) originated during the processing ofSaccharum officinarumfor sugar and ethanol production, and bamboo stem leaves ofDendrocalamus giganteus(BB). For this, six particleboards were produced in the following compositions: with 100% SB, 75% SB + 25% BB, 50% SB+50% BB, 40% SB +60 BB, 25% SB+ 75% BB and 100% BB in the total mass of the composites. The particleboards physical characterization followed Brazilian Standard ABNT NBR 14810-3 to density, moisture content and water absorption. Results showed these raw materials are compatible to particleboard production.