Development of Foreign Material Detection in Food Sensor Using Electrical Resistance Technique

Food inspection has been a serious matter in the food industry as the contamination by foreign materials such as metals, bone, plastics and glass in food plays a major impact on the industry. In spite of a great deal of effort to prevent mixing foreign bodies in food materials, food manufacturers have still not been able to detect them. Electrical Resistance Sensor to detect the foreign material in food detection sensor is constructed and presented in this work. This project focuses on how to design and implement the system to detect and distinguish between food and foreign material using resistance concept. The electrode plate of Electrical Resistance Sensor (ERS) is designed using COMSOL Multiphysics Software to see the electric field and contour of the electric potential of the system. The resistance value from the sensor is measured based on the AC Circuit concept. The alternating current from the sensor flows to the charge detector circuit providing the voltage corresponding to the resistance between the electrode pair. The voltage from the charge detector circuit has been amplified by the amplifier circuit to obtained DC output from an AC input signal. The voltage form circuit has been converted from the analog to digital signal using Bluetooth Electronics Application via Arduino Uno through HC-05 Bluetooth module. The Bluetooth Electronics Application is used as a graphical user interface (GUI) to display the condition of the material tested including food and foreign material to a smartphone.  The experiment results show that the electrical resistance sensor are able to detect the foreign material in food by changes of the resistance value. If the food was detected with the foreign material (non-conductive), the value of resistance will decrease due to the flow of electric current

3D Numerical modelling on the thermal performance of reinforced concrete encased wide-flanged steel column

This paper presents the development and verification of a three-dimensional (3D) numerical modelling to predict the thermal performance of reinforced concrete encased wideflanged steel (RCEWFS) column. The numerical model was developed using finite element software, ABAQUS. Then, the verified model was used to determine the suitable value for heat transfer conductance, time step and mesh size that provide the most reliable prediction against the experimental results. The parametric studies were also conducted to study the effect of rising time of fire exposure, section size, and flange width of I-section on the thermal performance of the RCEWFS column. From this study, it can be concluded that the predictions by the 3D numerical model are reliable and accurate. The study on the contour of the model shows that the thermal behaviour of concrete is non-linear

Effect of long-distance earthquake from Philippines and Sulawesi to Sabah region

Sabah is known for its active earthquake activities, especially in Ranau, Kudat and Lahad Datu areas. The effects of local earthquake can reach M W 6.0. Furthermore, Sabah was also hit by earthquakes from neighbouring countries such as Sulawesi and Philippines. These countries produce highly active earthquakes that can reach as high as M W 8.6. The increase in the frequency of earthquakes is one of the concerns of the Sabah government for the safety of its people because most people live in concentrated areas near the coast. This study shows the effects of major earthquakes from the Philippines and Sulawesi which have been recorded between 1900 to 2020 and analyzed in terms of peak ground acceleration (PGA). The eastern region of Sabah is adopted in the analysis for the effect of long-distance earthquakes, as these areas are close to both countries. The analysis uses standard seismic hazard assessment procedure with compilation magnitudes greater than M W 5.0. In the final analysis, it is shown that the effects of large earthquakes from both countries are relatively small compared to the effects of local earthquakes

Thermal conductivity and viscosity of Al2O3 nanofluids for different based ratio of water and ethylene glycol mixture

In the thermal engineering applications, suspension of nanoparticles in conventional fluid has positive potential in enhancing the convective heat transfer performance. The evaluation of thermo-physical properties is essential to investigate the forced convection heat transfer of nanofluids. Hence, the present study reports the analysis on thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity for Al2O3 nanoparticle dispersed in a different volume ratio of water (W) and ethylene glycol (EG) mixture. The Al2O3 nanofluids are formulated using the two-step method for three different base mixtures with volume ratio of 40:60, 50:50 and 60:40 (W:EG). The measurement of thermal conductivity and viscosity were performed using KD2 Pro Thermal Properties Analyzer and Brookfield LVDV-III Rheometer; respectively for temperature from 30 to 70 °C and volume concentration of 0.2–1.0%. The average thermal conductivity enhancement of Al2O3 nanofluids in the three base ratios varied from 2.6 to 12.8%. The nanofluids have better enhancement as the percentage of ethylene glycol increases. Meanwhile, the average dynamic viscosity enhanced up to 50% for 60:40 (W:EG). The enhancement of viscosity for nanofluids decreased with the increment percentage of ethylene glycol. The properties enhancement of the Al2O3 nanofluids is significantly influenced by the concentration, temperature, and based ratio

Thermal conductivity enhancement of TiO₂ nanofluid in water and ethylene glycol (EG) mixture

651-655The need to study nanofluid properties has increased over these past centuries in order to provide better understanding on nanofluid thermal properties and behaviour. Due to its ability to improve heat transfer compared to conventional heat transfer fluids, nanofluids as a new coolant fluid have widely been investigated. This study presents the thermal conductivity enhancement of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles dispersed in mixture of water and ethylene glycol (EG). The nanofluids have been prepared for volume concentrations from 0.5 to 1.5%. The thermal conductivity measurement of the nanofluid has been performed using KD2 Pro Thermal Properties Analyzer at working temperatures of 30 to 80 °C. The measurement gives 15.35% maximum enhancement of thermal conductivity at 1.5% volume concentration and temperature of 60 °C. The results show that the thermal conductivity increases with the increase of nanofluid concentration and temperature. Also, the nanofluids provide enhancement in thermal conductivity compared to their base fluid of a water/EG mixture in 60:40 ratio. Therefore, the addition of TiO2 nanoparticles dispersed in the base fluid of a water and EG mixture will enhance the effective thermal conductivity of the nanofluid. The new thermal conductivity correlation of TiO2 nanofluids is developed for a wide range of temperatures and concentrations with maximum deviation of 4.65% and average deviation of 1.37%

The Influence of Formulation Ratio and Emulsifying Settings on Tri-Fuel (Diesel–Ethanol–Biodiesel) Emulsion Properties

In this study, an alternative fuel for compression ignition (CI) engines called tri-fuel emulsion was prepared using an ultrasonic emulsifier. The objective of the study is to investigate the effect of emulsifying settings and formulation ratio on the physicochemical properties of tri-fuel emulsions. Design of experiment (DOE) with the two-level factorial design was employed to analyze the effect of emulsifying settings such as time, amplitude, and cycle along with the variation ratio of tri-fuel emulsion components as control factors. Numbers of responses identified were important parameters that may contribute to microexplosion phenomenon in CI engine. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out for each response, and the results indicated that density, dynamic viscosity, surface tension, and average droplet size were influenced by specific preparation control factors. Furthermore, interaction among the control factors was found to affect the responses as well. Interaction means the effect of two factors together is different than what would be expected from each factor separately. Besides, the stability of the tri-fuel emulsion was observed for three months. Furthermore, a qualitative approach with a multiobjective lens digital microscope revealed the geometry of freshly made dispersed tri-fuel emulsion droplets. Microscopic examination on tri-fuel emulsion droplets has shown that the dispersed ethanol capsulated within diesel with the help of biodiesel is similar to a water in diesel emulsion and is dissimilar to commercial diesel mixed with fatty acid methyl esters found in the market

Improving sustainability of road construction by partial replacement of natural aggregates in subbase layer with crushed brick and reclaimed asphalt pavement

Reducing dependent on naturally sourced materials is among the priority in improving the sustainability of road construction. The subbase layer which provides strength and stability across the road profile, comprised mainly of natural aggregates. This study aims to explore the feasibility of partial replacement of natural aggregates in subbase layer with 20% Crushed Brick (CB) and 20 to 50% Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP). California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test and Constant Head Permeability tests were carried out to determine the effect of this partial replacement on the geotechnical properties of the subbase layer. The results obtained denotes that the combination of 20% CB and 50% RAP is the optimum partial replacement of natural aggregates in subbase layer with CB and RAP. The use of CB further complements RAP in improving the stiffness and compressibility of the subbase layer while contributing significantly toward sustainability in road construction