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Boiler is an important utility system to support operations in the industry. The control of water level in the steam drum is a complicated task due to the non-minimum phase (NMP), which possibly will cause instability to the controlled water level in the steam drum. Process identification and controller design are difficult tasks for the steam drum because of non-minimum phase. Following the previous literature, this paper proposed process identification to 3rd order transfer function and optimization of Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) tunings of the water level by using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). A Graphical User Interface (GUI) has been developed to provide a direct platform to deal with these tasks. The result of PSO is compared with other tuning methods in terms of performance indicator and index. An analysis of the performance curve in 3-dimension graphs is also presented to visualize the output performance of various proportional and integral gain settings. The study has concluded that PSO provided better PI tunings for the best control of the Heat Exchanger function in the LOOP-PRO software.

In this study, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) adsorption on palm kernel cake (PKC) was examined. The effects of the initial concentration, agitation time, solution temperature and pH on TCP adsorption were examined in batch adsorption studies. The adsorption capacity was positively related to the initial concentration and agitation time and negatively related to the pH and solution temperature. Experimental data indicated that the Langmuir isotherm best fits the data (maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 22.22 mg/g at 30 °C). The adsorption kinetics followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Analysis of various thermodynamic parameters indicated that the adsorption was non-spontaneous and exothermic, whereas the Elovich equation and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model determined that chemisorption was the rate-controlling step.

Shrimp paste being the seasonal goods, was stored at least one year.

The change in global climate has shown us the importance of sustainable environmental monitoring, especially the microclimate in greenhouses. Monitoring is carried out to determine greenhouse data, which differs from outdoor. Internet of Things (IoT) as emergence technology has an important role in collecting microclimate data, IoT is developed using hardware, sensors and software connected to the internet network. This paper implements this by using Arduino UNO, Raspberry Pi, DHT11 microclimate sensor to gain microclimate data and store it in cloud applications. Microclimate changes are recorded every minute and displayed on a web page so it can be analysed without visiting the greenhouse. The test results showed that the data recording was successfully carried out, and the microclimate data analysis showed that in the greenhouse there was a weak association between temperature and relative humidity with an R squared of 0.534.

In this study, the activated carbons (ACs) were prepared from guava seeds via two stages activation. The dried guava seeds were semi-carbonized at 300 °C for 1 h, and then the carbonized samples were impregnated with zinc chloride (ZnCl 2 ). The ZnCl 2 : sample impregnation ratios (w/w) were altered from 1:1 to 5:1. The ACs were characterized by the yield percentage, ash content, moisture content, pH value, adsorption quality of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) and surface functional groups. The surface area of the best produced AC3 was found to be 919.40 m 2 g −1 . It was found that AC3 had highest 2,4-DCP adsorption capacity, which was 20.9 mg g −1 . The 2,4-DCP adsorption kinetic of prepared AC3 was pseudo-second order with correlation value of 0.995. In addition, the 2,4-DCP adsorption capacity of AC3 was fitted to the Langmuir model with correlation coefficient value of 0.977, indicating that chemisorption was a major contributor to the adsorption process.

The 21st century became the beginning of the development of information technology, where one of the revolutions was the presence of the Internet of Things. Internet of Things or abbreviated as IoT is a technology that combines electronic devices, sensors, and the internet to manage data and applications. The Internet of Things can be adopted in agriculture for crop management as a media for monitoring and controlling, especially in greenhouses and is called Precision Farming. The application of precision farming will be more effective in a greenhouse because it is easier to engineer similar environmental conditions. IoT development in greenhouses is using Arduino Microcontroller or Raspberry Pi Microcomputer. These devices are used because the price is low and easy to get on the market and can be designed so that technicians who have limited information technology knowledge can run it. To be able to manage greenhouses with IoT requires sensors as five senses that can detect changes that occur in the greenhouse. By using sensors, the hardware can detect what is happening in the greenhouse and make decisions based on the data acquired. Some sensors that are often used in Precision Farming are temperature and humidity sensors, soil moisture sensors, and light sensors. In the Internet of Things, the data that has been acquired by the hardware will then be transmitted wirelessly. The wireless connections used are Bluetooth, ZigBee Protocol, and Wi-Fi, where Bluetooth and Zigbee connections have a short distance between 10 - 100 meters, while Wi-Fi has a longer distance especially when connected to the Internet. The purpose of this paper is to understand the advantages and challenges of adopting IoT-based Precision Farming for monitoring and automation.

Integrating process is applied to many industries however there are very few research done on it. Determining PID settings for the closed-loop control of integrating process is a challenging task due to its inherent characteristic, which is only stable at one equilibrium operating point. This paper highlighted First Order plus Dead Time in representing process and disturbance model. Improvement of relative performance for transient and steady state response is achieved by using feedforward plus feedback control scheme. Moreover, computational optimization analysis was presented for developing a systematic way to design PID controller for the optimal performance of both servo and regulatory control problems. Performance of the controlled process were then compared in term of graphs, performance index and performance indicator. It is proven and concluded that designed PID controller settings by using computational optimization analysis eventually gives the best performance compared to other tuning methods for a Pumped-tank function of LOOP-PRO simulation software.

Computational optimization via artificial intelligence has been considered as one of the key tools to gain competitiveness in Industrial Revolution 4.0. This paper proposes computational optimization analysis for designing the widely used industrial control systems - feedforward and feedback control schemes. Although several different optimal tunings for servo and regulatory control problems exist, their applications often present some challenges to plant operators. Plant operators often face difficulties to obtain satisfactory PID controller settings by using the conventional tuning methods, which rely heavily on engineering experience and skills. In the proposed intelligent tuning method for the feedforward plus feedback control system, the closed-loop stability region was first established, which then shall provide the upper and lower limits for computational optimization analysis via Genetic Algorithm. Based on a jacketed reactor case study, the performance of feedforward plus feedback control scheme tuned via Genetic Algorithm was compared to that tuned via Ziegler-Nichols tuning. Comparison of performances showed that computational optimization method via Genetic Algorithm gave improved performances in terms of servo and regulatory control objectives.

This study is mainly concerned about the dynamic simulation of phenol adsorption within the packed bed column filled with activated carbon derived from dates’ stones. The process parameters such as column length, inlet liquid flow rate, initial phenol concentration of feed liquid and characteristics of activated carbon for the small scale packed bed adsorption column are investigated based on the dynamic simulation results using Aspen Adsorption V7.1 simulation program. The relationship between inlet liquid feed flow rate, breakthrough time and saturation time, relationship between initial phenol concentration, breakthrough time and saturation time, and relationship between packed bed column height, breakthrough time, saturation time, and C/Co ratio were studied. Based on the optimized simulation results, the ideal proposed small scale adsorption column suitable for a single household to treat drinking water which is contaminated with 2.0189 A— 10−7 mol/l phenol concentration on annual usage should have a column diameter, column height, and activated carbon particle diameter magnitudes 1.0 m, 10.0 m and 1.5 mm, respectively with 240 m3/year inlet feed liquid flow rate. However, based on the simulation, the adsorption column is not feasible for conventional water treatment plant

In this study, durian (Durio zibethinus Murray) skin was examined for its ability to remove methylene blue (MB) dye from simulated textile wastewater. Adsorption equilibrium and kinetics of MB removal from aqueous solutions at different parametric conditions such as different initial concentrations (2–10 mg/L), biosorbent dosages (0.3–0.7 g) and pH solution (4–9) onto durian skin were studied using batch adsorption. The amount of MB adsorbed increased from 3.45 to 17.31 mg/g with the increase in initial concentration of MB dye; whereas biosorbent dosage increased from 1.08 to 2.47 mg/g. Maximum dye adsorption capacity of the durian skin was found to increase from 3.78 to 6.40 mg/g, with increasing solution pH. Equilibrium isotherm data were analyzed according to Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The sorption equilibrium was best described by the Freundlich isotherm model with maximum adsorption capacity of 7.23 mg/g and this was due to the heterogeneous nature of the durian skin surface. Kinetic studies indicated that the sorption of MB dye tended to follow the pseudo second-order kinetic model with promising correlation of 0.9836 < R2 < 0.9918.

Single loop feedback control is commonly used in process control. The main drawback of single loop feedback control is its less effectiveness in rejecting the external disturbances. In order to improve speed of disturbance rejection and stability of closed-loop system, cascade control was studied and analyzed. To design the cascade control, first-order plus deadtime (FOPDT) models of both inner and outer loop were developed and applied for both sequential and simultaneous tuning methods. For sequential tuning, an IMC-based tuning was used whereas for simultaneous tuning method, Multiscale and Enhanced Cascade Control tunings were chosen. Relative performance of various controller settings for single and cascade control were compared. Moreover, recommendation for optimized tuning used “Step Response Checker” from System Design Toolbox was also elaborated and tested. Performance results were evaluated through Minimum Integral Error measurement. The effectiveness of the tuning methods was compared and evaluated using a lab-scale air flow rig.

Wax and asphaltene are high molecular weighted compounds that contribute to the stability of crude oil at a dispersed state. Transportation of crude oil along pipelines from the oil rig to the refineries causes fluctuation of temperature which will lead to the coagulation of wax and flocculation of asphaltenes. This paper focuses on the prevention of wax and asphaltene precipitate deposition on the inner surface of the pipelines by using a wax inhibitor and an asphaltene dispersant. The novelty of this prevention method is the combination of three substances; a wax inhibitor dissolved in a wax inhibitor solvent and an asphaltene solvent, namely, ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer dissolved in methylcyclohexane (MCH) and toluene (TOL) to inhibit the precipitation and deposition of wax and asphaltene. The objective of this paper was to optimize the percentage composition of each component in this inhibitor which can maximize the viscosity reduction of crude oil. The optimization was divided into two stages which are the laboratory experimental stage in which the viscosity of crude oil samples containing inhibitor of different component compositions is tested at decreasing temperatures and the data optimization stage using response surface methodology (RSM) to design an optimizing model. The results of experiment proved that the combination of 50% EVA + 25% MCH + 25% TOL gave a maximum viscosity reduction of 67% while the RSM model proved that the combination of 57% EVA + 20.5% MCH + 22.5% TOL gave a maximum viscosity reduction of up to 61%., {"references":["B. Wei, \"Recent advances on mitigating wax problem using polymeric wax crystal modifier,\" J. Pet. Explor. Prod. Technol., vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 391–401, 2015.","A. K. Norland, \"Organic flow assurance, pour point depressant development through experimental design,\" University of Stavanger, Norway, 2012.","A. J. Hennessy, A. Neville, K. J. 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Mowla, \"Mitigation of wax deposition by wax-crystal modifier for Kermanshah crude oil,\" J. Disper. Sci. Technol., vol. 32, no. 7, pp. 975–985, 2011.\n[26]\tM. N. Bouts, R. J. Wiersma, H. M. Muijs, A. J. Samuel, \"An evaluation of new asphaltene inhibitors; laboratory study and field testing,\" J. Petrol. Technol., vol. 47, no. 9, 1995.\n[27]\tM. A. Buriro, M. T. Shuker, Minimizing asphaltene precipitation in Malaysian reservoir. SPE Saudi Arabia Section Technical Symp. Exhib. Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia: Society of Petroleum Engineers, 2013.\n[28]\tL. C. M. Palermo, N. F. Souza Jr., H. F. Louzada, M. C. M. Bezerra, L. S. Ferreira, E. F. Lucas, \"Development of multifunctional formulations for inhibition of waxes and asphaltene depositions,\" Braz J. Petrol. Gas, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 181–192, 2013."]}

The dehydration unit of a plant that processes natural gas uses triethylene glycol (TEG) as an absorbent to remove water from the gas to prevent blockages in pipes due to the formation of hydrates. Although TEG is recyclable, it is usually lost in the system due to vaporization and carryover, which results in economic issues. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the dehydration process to achieve the allowable water concentration in the gas, to minimize the use of energy, and to minimize the loss of TEG. Experimental set was designed using Design Expert software by utilising data from Farashband gas processing plant, Iran and subsequently, fed to ASPEN HYSYS to construct and simulate the dehydration process. The chosen affecting parameters to the process were the (1) lean glycol circulation rate, (2) the temperature of the reboiler, and (3) the number of trays in the contactor column. Whereas, the response parameters included the (1) amount of glycol that was lost, (2) the reboiler duty, (3) the concentration of water in the dry gas, and the (4) temperature at which the hydrate formed. Then, these data were optimized using the response surface methodology (RSM). The results indicated that the optimum conditions within the experimental range conducted in this study of process parameters chosen, of the lean glycol circulation rate, the temperature of the reboiler, and the number of trays in the glycol contactor column for the gas dehydration process for the plant were 3944 kg/hr, 180 °C, and three trays, respectively.

Major components of triglycerides in palm oil are palmitic acid, oleic acid, and linoleic acid, in which the presence of these components effects the final purity of a biodiesel. Since reaction process and type of catalyst influence the composition of the free fatty acid (FFA) ASPEN HYSYS was used to simulate a biodiesel production process. Furthermore, higher yield of biodiesel was desired to increase its efficiency as fuel application. Palm oil was taken as the raw material at different components of FFA wt% by using sulphated zirconium (SZ) as the catalyst. Three simulations of biodiesel production processes were performed using ASPEN HYSYS based on 99 % of conversion factor to determine the energy consumption and the results were compared. The conversion factor for each component and the mixture of all of the components was discussed. Results showed that triolein with 0.12 wt% of oleic acid produced 99.75 % of biodiesel, while tripalmitin with 0.5 wt% of palmitic acid is the most abundant FFA in palm oil producing 99.67 % of biodiesel. The total energy consumption in the three processes were different because, different types of feedstocks and unit operations arrangements have been used.

Monoliths are an important technology for filtration, liquid chromatography, and protein purification. A template commonly uses to produce porous monolith. However, it is a challenge to produce a monolith with a homogenous porous structure due to the arrangements of pores within the monolith are often uneven and sometimes closed, causing pressure to accumulate and increase within the monolith which reduce the efficiency of the monoliths. Therefore, an appropriate template is needed to produce a monolith with homogenous porous structure. Nanofiber is a potential alternative as a template due to its high porosity and interconnectivity. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate the potential of polypropylene melt blown nanofiber fabricated at various operating condition to fabricate monolith by assessing the monolith morphology. Nanofibers templates were produced using a melt blowing technique at various motor speeds, air pressures, and die-to-collector distance (DCD) between 30 and 50 Hz, 0.30 and 0.50 Mpa, and 20 and 50 cm respectively, design by Response Surface Methodology. The nanofibers were characterized for its morphology and melting point using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and molten point analysis instrument respectively. The findings show that the polypropylene nanofiber diameter was in the range of 3.58 to 11.00 x 103 nm. Meanwhile, melting point obtained were in the range of 121.0 to 128.8 °C. Subsequently macropores monoliths were successfully fabricated at 0.45 Mpa air pressure, 40 Hz motor speed and 60.23 cm die-to-collector distance. It can be concluded that, melt blown polypropylene nanofiber can be potentially applied as a template for monolith fabrication.

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.

Ultrasonic sound waves, ultraviolet-A irradiation, and a combination of these two techniques were applied to a non-catalytic aqueous system containing 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) to study the effectiveness of sonolytic, photolytic, and sonophotolytic oxidation processes for the degradation of TCP. The operating parameters for the horn-type sonicator and the UV-A lamp were kept constant along with the solution temperature, but the TCP concentration was varied from 30 to 90 ppm. A first-order kinetic rate model was used to study the synergistic effect of the sonophotodegradation process. It was found that at a lower TCP concentration of 30 ppm, sonophotodegradation exhibited a synergistic effect, but at a TCP concentration of 70 ppm and higher, sonophotodegradation resulted in an antagonistic effect. The synergistic effect was explained in terms of an increase in the •OH radical formation by the combined process complemented by the photolysis of H2O2 formed by sonolysis. In contrast, the antagonistic effect...

Commercially available carrageenan powder which is extracted from seaweed possesses yellowish color and off-odor that deter their usage in human food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. The objective of this study was to investigate of decolorization of low molecular compounds of seaweed using activated carbon (AC). The effects of changes on AC dosage, temperature and contact time were investigated. The effect of color concentration was analysed using Hunter Laboratories ColorFlex® Colorimeter. Colors were measured in reflectance mode using the Hunter L a b system, with D65 as the illuminant and a 10 o standard observer angle. It was observed that an increase in activated carbon dosage decreases color. UV VIS Spectrophotometer was used to investigate whether adsorbed sample gives an effect to the molecular compounds before and after AC addition. In conclusion, the treatment using AC gives complete decolorization of carrageenan solution. This study also confirms contact time not really affected on bleaching process.

A computational analysis using Artificial Intelligence techniques has drawn its attention in Industrial Revolution 4.0. There are self-regulating and integrating processes involved. The commonly used control method involves single-loop feedback control. Embedding feedforward algorithm is aimed to improve the steady state response of the controlled process without affecting the performance of transient response. Apart of it, two optimal tunings are respectively applied to suit to the different control objectives. Correlation PID tunings are applied to respective objective somehow is very relying to the engineering experience and skills. This paper proposed using Genetic Algorithm for optimization analysis to search a trade-off optimized PI controller settings, which reduces dependency on skills as well as provide better insights to all practical engineers for commending effective PI tunings to the real control practices of plants. Initially, the respective process and disturbance models of LOOP-PRO software for both Jacketed-reactor and Pumped-tank were developed. Then, the simulation analysis of PI tunings was conducted to feedback control, feedforward and feedback and Genetic Algorithm scheme. Relative performance was compared in terms of graphs, performance index, and performance indicator. It is concluded that Genetic Algorithm has consistently provided a trade-off optimized PI controller settings for both Jacketed-reactor and Pumped-tank.

Kappaphycus alvarezii or commonly known Euchema cottonii is a good source of kappa-carrageenan and can be found cultivated in the coastal areas of Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia. Carrageenans have many applications and are utilized in human food and pet-food industry. Carrageenans are also utilized in non-food industry such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, printing and textile formulations. Currently, the Southeast Asian region is producing semi refined carrageenan (SRC). There are various works in producing SRC; however, there are limited efforts to develop the optimization of cooking process parameters. Hence, the present study features on the cooking process (alkaline treatment) where the parameters (concentration of potassium hydroxide solution, cooking time and cooking temperature) and the ranges are identified experimentally. The effects of these parameters on carrageenan quality such as gel viscosity and gel strength were studied. The optimization of cooking process parameters and the experimental design was conducted based on the Central Composite Design (CCD) of Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The experimental result showed that gel viscosity increases with the decrease of cooking time, cooking temperature and potassium hydroxide (KOH) concentration (% w/w). In contrast, gel strength increases as cooking time, cooking temperature and KOH concentration (% w/w) increases. From the optimization, the best conditions for alkaline treatment found were cooking temperature 80 °C, cooking time 30 min and KOH concentration 10 (% w/w) which are similar to current practice in industry.

The adsorption of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) by activated carbon was carried out at 30 °C with initial concentrations of 100–600 mg/L. The adsorption capacity of TCP was 457.9 mg/g at 30 °C. The adsorption isotherm and kinetics of TCP by activated carbon are investigated. The equilibrium isotherms of TCP/acetone mixtures were determined using a conventional method. Pseudo-Ideal adsorption model was used to analyze the liquid phase adsorption equilibrium data of TCP. As a result, the adsorption isotherm followed the Langmuir class (L type) and fits the experimental data well. The adsorption isotherm constant in this work also was compared with other researcher’s work showing the comparable values.

Photodegradation of indigo dye in aqueous solution using anatase TiO2 and TiO2/zeolite composite photocatalyst were studied. The composite photocatalysts were prepared by using sol-gel method. Calcination sol-gel was performed in a muffle furnace at 450 ÂoC for 4 h. The photocatalysts were characterized using SEM and XRD. 0.4 g of photocatalysts were used to degrade 500 mL of indigo dye giving a constant catalyst loading of 0.8 g/L in varying indigo dye concentration of between 10-20 mg/L. The results showed that the photocatalytic behaviour of TiO2/zeolite composite sample was better as the degree of degradation for TiO2/zeolite was higher compared to the neat TiO2 sample. The percentage degradation achieved by using TiO2/zeolite in 10 and 20 mg/L were 58.6 and 75.0 % respectively. In addition, the degradation process followed the first-order reaction kinetics where the rate constant, k, for the degradation of indigo dye solution was in the range of 0.1207-0.2669 h-1 (not presented). This work demonstrates that the sol-gel method was successful in preparing an effective TiO2/zeolite composite photocatalyst.

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.

The sonophotodegradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) in a homogeneous aqueous system was investigated. The effectiveness of sonolytic, photolytic and sonophotolytic oxidation processes in the degradation of aqueous solutions of TCP was investigated by applying ultrasonic waves or ultraviolet radiation or a combination of these two techniques. The optimum operating parameters for the horn-type sonicator and the UV-A lamp were determined along with the effect of temperature on the TCP degradation. It was found that an increase in acoustic intensity and UV lamp intensity was proportional to an increased efficiency of the sonolytic and photolytic degradation of TCP. However, an increase in the solution temperature caused the TCP to evaporate resulting in the first-order kinetic rate showing the presence of a synergistic effect at temperatures between 10 °C and 20 °C, an additive effect at a temperature of 30 °C and an antagonistic effect at temperatures of 40 °C and higher.

Palm kernel meal (PKM) which is the by-products of palm oil industry consists of considerable amount of protein that showed its great potential to to be used as a filler of melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF) resin based wood adhesive. Besides, due to the high price of melamine, it is attempted to reduce the content of melamine in MUF resins to as low as possible. So, in this study, PKM was used as filler in MUF resin based wood adhesive to study its effects toward the performance of the adhesive. In practical, the shear strength performance tests are done by using automated bonding evaluation system (ABES). However, ABES is a destructive test that only produces one point of data per test. So, in order to make the evaluation of the prediction data more convenience, a response surface methodology D-optimal method was approached. From the results, it has shown that increasing in temperature and pressing time is not always true in obtaining higher shear strength performance for MUF resin with PKM as filler. Smaller the particle size of PKM filler in MUF resin, shorter time the high shear strength performance can be achieved. Also, the relationships of temperature, pressing time and particle size of PKM to obtain optimum and maximum shear strength were studied.

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.

Relative adsorption experiments of azeotropic and non-azeotropic mixture were separately conducted at constant temperature with and without the presence of ultrasound. The ultrasound wave was applied at a frequency of 21 kHz with 25% amplitude at atmospheric pressure. The adsorption of azeotropic and non-azeotropic mixture was analysed using monolayer adsorption theory and at lower liquid equilibrium concentration it followed a Langmuir type of equation. The adsorptive capacity of azeotropic and non-azeotropic mixtures on activated carbon was found to decrease but the selectivity was increased. The result also showed that the azeotropic point of relative adsorption was noticeably moved due to the ultrasound effect.