bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of different growing media and media water status on leaf biomass of Andrographis paniculata
Authors: Isa M M , Kasim K F , Muttalib M F A , Jaafar M N 
Published: May 2021

Abstract

Andrographis paniculata is a medicinal plant that widely distributed in a variety of habitats throughout the world. It has a wide range of medicinal and pharmacological application. This study is aims to investigate the effect of different growing media and media water status on the leaf biomass of A. paniculata. An experiment was conducted at the greenhouse Institute of Sustainable Agrotechnology (INSAT), Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP). The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) of two factors consisting of 9 treatments with 3 replications. Three different growing media were applied, namely compost, topsoil and sand. The growing media were combined in different ratios (1:2:3, 2:2:1 and 3:2:1) with three different soil water potential; -20 kPa (high), -60 kPa (medium) and -100 kPa (low). The crops were harvested 115 Days after transplanting at maturity. There were significant increases on leaves biomass in each plant that had been planted in media mixture contained compost: topsoil: sand (3:2:1) under high soil water potential compared to other treatments. Besides, there were significant interaction effects between growing media and soil water potential were observed for this plant part. The study concluded that the application of potting mixture that contained compost, topsoil and sand in a ratio 3:2:1 with well water supplied are recommended for A. paniculata grown under greenhouse condition.
Isothermal torrefaction of coconut fiber in a fixed bed reactor
Authors: Mohamed Alina Rahayu , Fu Nur Izzati Ismail , Salleh Noor Hasyierah Mohd , Ahmad Razi , ismaii Ras Izzati 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
Torrefaction of coconut fiber was performed in a fixed bed reactor at torrefaction temperature of 220-300°C and holding time of 20-60 mins under nitrogen atmosphere. The torrefaction reaction kinetics were determined using the Coats-Redfern method. The values of activation energy and pre-exponential factor at holding time of 20, 40 and 60 minutes are in the range of 30.25-43.61 kJ/mol and 4.03-152.69 min -1 respectively. The proximate analysis was performed on the raw and torrefied coconut fiber. It was identified that the moisture content and volatile matter decreased but the ash content and the fixed carbon increased when the torrefaction temperature were increased from 220-300 °C. The morphological properties of coconut fiber and torrefied coconut fiber were analyzed using Scanning electron microscope (SEM). From SEM, the degree of severity due to torrefaction process towards the surface structure of torrefied coconut fiber can be visualized and increased with increasing torrefaction temperature with merging of pores. The existence of functional group such as hydroxyl (O-H) and alkane (C-H) were identified on the surface of raw and torrefied coconut fiber by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).
Dual grinding and mixing machine for vermicompost and worm biomass production
Authors: Atienza A H , Erinco I K , Martinez M B , Visande V J 
Published: May 2021

AbstractAgricultural wastes come from different farming and planting activities that can be used as main material for organic fertilizers and compost. To improve the quality of the compost, it is better to include earthworms in the mixture to become vermicompost. Vermicompost is made up of enriched fertilizer with the production of earthworm known as worm biomass. The preparation of the vermicompost consists of grinding the waste in tiny bits and mixing manually which consumes a lot time and effort. This study focuses on the design of a dual grinding mixing machine intended for vermicompost and worm biomass production. The earthworm used in this study is African Night Crawler species. There are 13 testing vermicompost beds used for the experiment. The machine reduced the preparation time to one-third compared to manual operation. There is increase in the production of vermicompost by 87.5 kg and worm biomass by 3.5 kg, respectively, in monthly basis.
A Single Step Transesterification Process to Produce Biodiesel from The Spent Cooking Oil
Authors: Herman Indah Thuraya , Isa Khairuddin Md , Ibrahim Naimah , Kasim Farizul Hafiz , Aziz Mohd Aizudin Abd 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
A direct process of transesterification has been carried out to produce high yields of biodiesel. Conversion of waste cooking oil to methyl esters was performed using potassium hydroxide-glycerol (KOH-Gly) as a catalyst. KOH-Gly was produced by mixing KOH and glycerol at a mass ratio of 1:20 at a temperature of 80 °C for 120 minutes. The process of transesterification was performed at a reaction temperature of 60 °C, a molar ratio of oil to methanol of 1:6, 2% wt KOH-Gly catalytic loading for 30 minutes. This process resulted in a waste cooking oil conversion yield of about 97-98% to biodiesel using KOH-Gly as a catalyst. The two layers of the product were produced without the formation of soap, which facilitated the separation and purification process. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to analyse the chemical content of biodiesel.
Exsolution Enhancement of Metal-support CO Oxidation Perovskite Catalyst with Parameter Modification
Authors: Lew G L , Ibrahim N , Abdullah S , Daud W R Wan , Ramli W K W 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
This study aimed to further tune the capability of active metal exsolution onto the surface of the CO oxidative perovskite catalyst La 0.7Ce 0.1Co 0.3Ni 0.1Ti 0.6O 3 by tuning the reducing parameter. Under same calcination temperature of 800°C, XRD analysis shown that the precursors with calcination duration of 6 hours (S 2T 8H 6) was able to achieve similar crystalline structure to those with calcination duration of 12 hours (S 2T 8H 12). In order for the active metal (CoNi) to be exsolved onto the perovskite surface, reducing parameter such as temperature and duration are deemed crucial to the reduction process. The exsolution of the active metals was observed when the samples were treated under reducing condition with varying temperatures of 550°C and 700°C and duration from 200 to 300 minutes. Through comparison with their EDX readings, S 2T 8H 6 treated under 700°C and 300 minutes (S 2T 8H 6-R 7H 5) achieved the highest weight percentage of surface Cobalt and Nickel of 3.83 and 2.81. It was clear that by tuning the temperature and duration of reduction, the exsolution of the active metals onto the surface of the perovskite could be improved resulting in better exposure and dispersion of active metals onto the surface of catalyst.
Enhanced carbon dioxide adsorption by potassium hydroxide modified peat soil as porous adsorbent
Authors: NurAisyah S. , Jusoh N. W. C. , Ali Halim Abd Md , Nor Ruwaida J. , Khairunnisa M. P. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractCarbon dioxide (CO2) capture is a strategy established to mitigate issues related to CO2emission through various methods, for instance by adsorption. Soil, a natural resources, depending on its particular type are abundant carbon precursor. However, previous studies have neglected the possibility of soil modification for CO2adsorption. In this study, a natural soil, peat soil was used to prepare dried, carbonised, and alkaline-modified soils. Through nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis, the porosity of the alkaline modified soil has higher BET surface area and total pore volume of 72.08 m2/g and 0.11 cm3/g respectively. Furthermore, the functional groups of OH, C=O, and S=O presence in the adsorbents which were determined by FTIR also capable to assist the adsorption of CO2. Hence, the performance of the soil after alkaline modification increased by 85% compared to the non-modified soil where the adsorbent recorded an adsorption capacity of 11.70 mg/g. Moreover, the isotherms and kinetics fitting suggest that the adsorption of CO2onto the adsorbents was governed by physisorption. In conclusion, modified soils showed better performance for CO2adsorption. Thus, further investigations such as optimisation of the modification process or amine functionalisation are anticipated in development of soil-based adsorbents.
Spent Coffee Ground as Low-Cost Adsorbent for Congo Red Dye Removal from Aqueous Solution
Authors: Taufik R , Mohamad M , Wannahari R , Shoparwe N F , Osman WHW , Teo P T , Masri MN 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
This study represents the utilisation of spent coffee ground to remove Congo red dye from aqueous solution. Congo red dye may cause adverse effect towards human and aquatic organism if present in water. This study investigated three parameters, adsorbent dosage (0.5, 1.25 and 2 g), initial dye concentration (10, 30 and 50 mg/L) and contact time (10, 35 and 60 min). Batch adsorption studies were carried out to study the effect of these parameters towards percentage of Congo red removal. Optimisation study was conducted using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) by employing Central Composite Design (CCD). Quadratic model was selected for the response. The highest percentage of Congo red removal obtained was 88.43% with operating conditions of 2 g adsorbent dosage, 50 mg/L initial dye concentration and 60 minutes contact time. Meanwhile, the percentage of CR removal that predicted by RSM was 89.17% with conditions of 1.87 g adsorbent dosage, 48.18 mg/L initial dye concentration and 57.96 minutes contact time with the desirability of 1. This study indicates that spent coffee ground could be employed as a low cost adsorbent for the removal of Congo red dye.
Synthesis and characterization of secondary amine-functionalized silica for CO2 capture
Authors: Rahim Abdul Rahman Abdul , Hao Tay Tze , Azhari Ahmad Aizat Wan , Saman Norasikin , Mat Hanapi , Johari Khairiraihanna 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
As one of commonly used technique for carbon dioxide (CO 2) removal, amine-absorption also required high amounts of energy for adsorbent regeneration and problems of equipment corrosion during chemical holding may happened. Alternatively, amine-impregnated solid adsorbent received wide attention for CO 2 removal. However, there are limitations on the adsorbents’ adsorption capacity and their hydrolytic stability. In this study, amine-functionalized silica (T-Si) adsorbent was synthesized via oil-in-water emulsion technique using centrimonium bromide (CTAB) as surfactant, ethanol as oil phase, and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as silica precursor followed with impregnation with secondary amine (tetraethyl pentamine, TEPA). Results indicated that T-Si 2 adsorbent has a surface area of 10.7338 m 2/g, presence of amine group (N-H) peaks in the FTIR spectra, and is thermally stable up to temperature of 170°C. CO 2 adsorption study also shows that the T-Si also performed higher adsorption capacity (0.63 mmol/g) towards CO 2 compared to the blank Si adsorbent (0.33 mmol/g). The obtained experimental data show a good fitting into Sips adsorption isotherm which indicate a multilayer adsorption that happen on a heterogenous surface. The findings of this study show that the introduction of amine groups from TEPA offers improvement towards CO 2 capture due to the reaction with amine groups.
Microwave-assisted Pyrolysis of Microalgae in Producing Bio-oil using CaO catalyst and Charcoal as heat Absorber
Authors: Qadariyah L , Aswie V , Widjaya H V , Aditya K H , Mahfud M 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
In the microwave-assisted pyrolysis process the solid material to be cracked requires an absorber material to capture microwaves to be converted into heat as a heat source and a catalyst to accelerate the pyrolysis process. This research is focused on studying the use of a potential heat absorber, namely coconut shell charcoal and CaO as catalyst in the microwave-assisted pyrolysis process in converting microalgae (dry Chlorella sp) into bio-oil. The round boiling flask as a reactor is placed in a microwave oven, equipped with a condenser and a vacuum pump. The operating variables were microwave power, pyrolysis time and catalyst ratio to microalgae. The products obtained consisted of 3 phases, namely solid residue (char), liquid product (bio-oil) and gas products. The results show that microwave power, pyrolysis time, and ratio of catalyst to microalgae using shell charcoal absorbent can provide an increase in product yield. The optimum yield is 20.57% of bio-oil obtained when the microwave power is 600 watts, 20 minutes, and CaO catalyst of 1 gr and ratio absorber to microalgae 1/6. The use of a mixture of catalyst and absorber improve the performance of pyrolysis in producing bio-oil from microalgae using microwave-assisted pyrolysis technology.
Application of OPEFB Fibre Based Electrode in Microbial Fuel Cell System for Electricity Generation and Chlorophenol Degradation
Authors: Zahir Raudzah Mohd , Hassan Huzairy , Nagoor Gunny Ahmad Anas 
Published: May 2021

AbstractMicrobial fuel cell (MFC) has emerged as one of the potential technologies for sustainable bioelectrical energy recovery and reduction of recalcitrant wastes. The MFC performance is greatly influenced by the anode materials which serve as the support for exoelectrogenic bacteria attachment. In this study, oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) is proposed as an alternative anode material prepared via a direct carbonization process using tube furnace owing to its good conductivity property. The carbonization process was conducted under nitrogen gas flow at 900°C with a constant heating rate of 5°C/min. The anode was prepared by mixing the carbonized OPEFB with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) binder. When used in MFC, the OPEFB-anode generated a maximum current density of 97.30 mA/m2, which is comparatively higher than that of the conventional carbon cloth anode (76.24 mA/m2). Our MFC system had also resulted considerable chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 2-chlorophenol reductions of 77% and 75%, respectively. This study could support future research on freely-available OPEFB materials for high performance MFC anode.
Simulation of crude palm oil dilution and clarification in a palm oil mill using computational fluid dynamics: Grid dependency and parametric studies
Authors: Mohammad Fauzi A H , Saifuddin M N A A , Kasim F H , Zakaria Z Y 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
Oil extraction rate (OER) is a useful tool for assessing the performance of palm oil mills, where a higher OER is favorable. The OER can be enhanced by improving the quantity of palm oil recovered from fresh fruit bunches processed. In this study, the simulation of dilution and clarification of crude palm oil (CPO) in a clarifier of a palm oil mill was performed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach. Grid dependency and parametric studies were conducted on the fluid region inside the clarifier. From the results, the utilization of mediumsized mesh managed to achieve grid-independent solutions, with the average percentage error of 12.4% based on the comparison of the actual and simulation data. Moreover, the input parameters (i.e., velocity, temperature, and oil mass fraction of the inlet) significantly influenced the oil mass fraction of the outlet based on the coefficient determination (R 2) values. As a conclusion, CFD has the potential to enhance the OER of a palm oil mill by enabling the study of parameters influencing dilution and clarification of CPO without the need of conducting experiments.
Morphological Properties of Cassava Film Influence by Plasticizers in Zinc-air Fuel Cell
Authors: Wahab N AAA , Masri M N , Mohamad M , Shoparwe NF 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
The effect of plasticizers, glycerol, sorbitol, and sucrose on structural, mechanical, and chemical properties of cassava starch film has been investigated. The morphologies of cassava films were studied by the addition of a different type of plasticizer. Mixtures of cassava starch and distilled water with the combination of glycerol, sorbitol, sucrose as plasticizers. Dried films plasticized showed the results under a scanning electron microscope (SEM) as smooth film surfaces were observed in a mixture of glycerol, sorbitol, and sucrose because glycerol and sucrose are more hydrophilic than sorbitol, thus the presence of more hydroxyl groups (-OH groups) in the molecule, sorbitol interacted with water by hydrogen bonding resulting in less plasticizing effect compared to glycerol and sucrose. As a result, the presence of sorbitol as a plasticizer with glycerol and sucrose in cassava starch films provided a more compact and homogenous surface, improves the stability and flexibility of cassava starch films.
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy of the Wood Composite from Neolamarckia Cadamba and Endospermum Diadenum for Particleboard Application
Authors: Kahar S , Masri M N , Mohamed M , Amini MHM , Sobri S A , Hashim W S 
Published: May 2021

AbstractThis research is to characterize the potentials wood species for particleboard alternative materials. The wood species are Neolamarckia Cadamba sp. (NC) and Endospermum Diadenum sp. (ED), which were selected forest plantations in Malaysia due to rapid growing species. Indeed, also known as lesser-known commercial timbers species. The NC and ED functional group analysis chemistry were examined using the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis (FT-IR). The significant bands emerged at 3600 to 3050 cm-1, which ascribed to Amines’ stretching (N-H groups). The intense peak at 2850 cm-1is related to chains of C-H bonding.
The Hydrogen Evolution of Zinc-Potassium Hydroxide Reaction via Volumetric Measurement
Authors: Ismail W M I W , Masri M N 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
Zinc (Zn) is immersed in different potassium hydroxide concentrations (KOH), aiming to prepare the volumetric measurement of Zn in KOH, which is led by producing hydrogen evolution gas. A 99.9% of Zn purity was used in this study. The Zn characterization includes the hydrogen evolution gas and structural analysis by using is X-ray diffraction (XRD). Based on the XRD evaluation, the Zn determine as ZnO after immersion in KOH.
Copper contaminated water mediated biochemical changes on charophyte species Chara braunii
Authors: Ranawakage V P , Fujino T , Herbst A 
Published: May 2021

AbstractOver the past few decades water bodies have been heavily contaminated by the heavy metals thus charophytes communities tended to disappear from their own habitat niches. In this experiment we hypothesized that elevating Cu concentrations and increasing exposure time deviates the biochemical responses ofChara braunii. For evaluating this hypothesis we considered changes in plant reactive oxygen species (ROS) mainly as hydrogen peroxide. Thereafter, scavenging antioxidant activities were measured (POD, CAT) while pigment content assessed means of Chla, Chlband Carotenoids. Each treatment contains 3 replicates and subjected to four levels of Cu concentrations (0ppm, 1ppm, 5ppm, and 10ppm) for over four days respectively. Compared to the control, all dosages of Cu concentrations and exposure times were caused to trigger H2O2generation. Observed results revealed that dramatic increases of H2O2level on the 1stday of copper contamination by the 10ppm concentration. Conversely, after 1stday H2O2content continuously tended to decreases and in 4thday it shown the lowest value. Moreover,C. brauniiexhibited significant increase in the catalase activity and peroxidase activity for detoxifying Cu toxicity for short duration whereas inhibited antioxidant activity on prolonged exposure. Consequently, chlorophyll pigments content impaired significantly and deteriorated plant color suggests subjected plant were under extreme stress. This study results indicated that exposure to Cu contaminated water is lethal for charophyte growth and the physiological process by enhancing oxidative damages to the cells.
Assessment of carbon emission in China and factors influencing the estimation: an input-output analysis
Authors: Li Siwei , Song Zhe , Yu Yang , Jiang Tangyang 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
We used the input-output method to analysis the impact of four factors on carbon dioxide emission calculations. These factors included the transformational energy, energy invested in the gross capital formation, energy exported or transferred, and the carbon emission from cement production. In detail, if the transformational energy segment was not removed, the carbon dioxide emission from the intermediate demand was 0.16% higher than the baseline scenario, and 4.17% lower than the baseline scenario in the final demand. If the energy invested in the gross capital formation was not considered, the carbon dioxide emission from the intermediate demand was 1.38% higher than the baseline scenario and 35.71% lower than the baseline scenario from the final demand. If the energy exported and transferred was not considered, the carbon dioxide emission from intermediate demand was 1.02% higher than the baseline scenario, and 26.35% lower than the baseline scenario from the final demand. If the carbon emission from the cement production was not included, the carbon dioxide emission from the intermediate demand was 10.63% higher than the baseline scenario, and 10.23% lower than the baseline scenario from the final demand. Finally, we propose policy recommendations in terms of choosing carbon emission calculation methods.
Constructive compensation of the thermal behaviour for industrial robots
Authors: Uhlmann Eckart , Polte Julian , Mohnke Christian 
Published: May 2021

AbstractIndustrial robot systems offer a flexible, adaptable basis due to their kinematics and their mobility An influencing variable, which is particularly relevant for processes with long process times, is the thermal heating and the associated thermal drift of the tool center point. The maximum deviation from the actual nominal position can reach up to ΔAPt= 1.5 mm. Currently, there are no procedures and methods established in practice which compensate the effects of thermal drift without expensive calibration measures and system downtime. In these investigations a system was developed which allows the reduction of thermally induced displacement by using controlled heating elements. The aim is to keep the entire robot system at a permanent, balanced temperature level. The heating elements are adapted to the geometry of the respective axis and heat the material to a temperature θ close to the steady state. A comparison of the drift through the heating system with the error occurring in normal operation shows that the drift of the heating system is comparable with the drift of normal heating. With the heating mats, a thermally induced error of ΔAPt= 0.234 mm can be generated within t = 20 min. While normal heating requires up to t = 600 min. The achieved error deviation of the drift of the self-heating to the heated variants is with ΔAP = 0.04 mm only minimal. The results can help to reduce the influence of thermal heating and the associated thermal drift of the TCP without using cost-intensive measures with additional hardware and software on external computers for compensating the errors.