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The mechanical properties of oxo-biodegradable high-density polyethylene (oxo-HDPE) composites reinforced betel nut husk (BNH) fibre were studied in this research. A neat oxo-HDPE laminate and four betel nut fibre reinforced oxo-HDPE composites were fabricated using hot press compression moulding method. The composites contain 7%, 12%, 17%, and 22% fibres volume fraction respectively. The cross section of the composite was observed under scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and all five laminates are put through tensile test and hardness test. The result of the study shows that adding betel nut husk (BNH) fibres as reinforcement increases its tensile strength, specific tensile strength, and hardness of the composites. The good lamination observed under scanning electron microscopy (SEM) enable good transfer and distribution of stresses from the matrix to the fibres.

Most rural locations in East Malaysia are not electricity grid connected. These places rely heavily on high-cost diesel fuels for generating electric power, which can be environmentally unfriendly. Most of all, this situation hampered the potential growth in terms of economic productivity and developments in these rural locations. However, with the vast network of streams and rivers available in Sarawak, there are high prospective of constructing micro-hydro power plant as electricity generating alternative. Efforts and studies on micro hydro power plants have been put in place. However, there exists a gap in the field of study of optimized design and construction of micro-hydropower system. This project proposed a Value Engineering (VE) study in the civil and structure sections of micro-hydro plant in Kampung Assum, Sarawak in order to achieve high functional value for the facility. Based on the literature review several VE methodologies are adopted and modified in order to achieve the objectives of this study. VE Job Plan was utilized as the backbone of this research study framework. VE calculation modelling is produced and conventional micro-hydro power plant is designed using the modelling as control baseline design. Ideas to further optimise and improve the value of the micro-hydro system are generated and evaluated, which are then compared with the control baseline design. Several cycles using the proposed VE methodology are repeated to determine the most prominent idea, which can uplift the functional value of the micro-hydro system significantly. Determination of value for micro-hydropower system is dependent on the cost incurred and the efficiency of the civil and structural components as a whole. The chosen idea is then used to the next development phase which notable changes in parameters of micro-hydro civil structures are further determined to improve the value. In this study, evaluating the micro-hydro civil components as a whole with adjustments made to modify the overall output data are discovered to be the prominent idea. From this study, the optimisation proposed could improved the functional value of the micro-hydro power plant in Kampung Assum by a significant 17%.