Mechanical performance of roselle/sugar palm fiber hybrid reinforced polyurethane composites

The effect of sugar palm fiber (SPF) loading was studied relative to the mechanical properties of roselle (RF)/SPF/thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) hybrid composites. RF/SPF/TPU hybrid composites were fabricated at different weight ratios (100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, and 0:100) by melt mixing and hot compression. The mechanical (tensile, flexural, and impact test) and morphological properties of tensile fractured samples were examined using a universal testing machine, impact machine, and scanning electron microscope. It was found that the hybridization of RF/SPF increased its impact strength corresponding to the increases in the SPF content of the composites. The tensile and flexural properties of the hybrid composites decreased due to poor interfacial bonding between the fiber and matrix. Scanning electron micrographs of the tensile fractured surface of the RF/SPF hybrid composites revealed fiber pullouts and poor adhesion bonding. In conclusion, the hybridization of SPF with RF/TPU composites enhanced its impact strength while decreasing the tensile and flexural strength

Kinetic Model and Simulation Analysis for Propane Dehydrogenation in an Industrial Moving Bed Reactor

A kinetic model for propane dehydrogenation in an industrial moving bed reactor is developed based on the reported reaction scheme. The kinetic parameters and activity constant are fine tuned with several sets of balanced plant data. Plant data at different operating conditions is applied to validate the model and the results show a good agreement between the model predictions and plant observations in terms of the amount of main product, propylene produced. The simulation analysis of key variables such as inlet temperature of each reactor (T ) and hydrogen to total hydrocarbon ratio (H2/THC) affecting process performance is performed to identify the operating condition to maximize the production of propylene. Within the range of operating conditions applied in the present studies, the operating condition to maximize the propylene production at the same weighted average inlet temperature (WAIT) is ΔT = -2, ΔT inrx1 = +1, ΔT inrx2 inrx = +1 , ΔT inrx4 inrx3 = +2 and ΔH2/THC= -0.02. Under this condition, the surplus propylene produced is 7.07 tons/day as compared with base case

Micromechanical Studies of 4n Gold Wire for Fine Pitch Wirebonding

This study focuses towards typical micromechanical properties such as strength, yield point, Young’s Modulus, strain, shapes of fracture end and element analysis, atomic percentage of Ca of 4N gold (Au) wire using microstructures and composition observation, micro-tensile test and depth sensing indentation technique. A series of micro-tensile test were performed with different strain rate values of 10˚-10-4 min-1 on to a 25.4 μm diameter plain gold wire. The nanoindentation with 20 mN maximum load was indented on a near fracture end of a gold wire specimen, for which this test was carried out after the micro-tensile test. The stress-strain curves were used to characterize the 4N purity gold wire. The shapes of fracture end of gold wire after micro tensile test were carried out using Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM). The finding showed that the mechanical properties of ultra-fine gold wire was in the proportional relationship with the increment of the strain rate value. It is suggested that micromechanical behaviour gave the effect for the wirebonding process in order to characterize the wire loop control and strengthen the wire loop to avoid the wire sweep

The effect of N550 carbon black in polyester resin for fire-retardant application in marine composite

This paper presents the experimental investigation on the influence of N550 carbon black (CBN550) series in polyester resin (wax and non -wax type). The CBN550 was added into polyester resin at different weight percentages with a curing agent. The investigation is mainlyto study the effect on fire retardance application in marine composite structure. The fire-resistant structural composites samples of 1000 mm by 1000 mm prepared which consist of 10 of composite mats layer in combination of CSM 450 g/m2 and Woven Roving 600 g/m2. The carbon black (CB) volume fraction range from/with 0% to 20% volume fractions. Optical observation revealed the most suitable fraction of CBN550 in wax polyester resin is at 10% and non-wax polyester resin is also at 10%. The fire resistance behavior of this CBN550 - CSM 450 g/m2 - Woven Roving 600 g/m2 composite (polyester wax) and polyester non wax was investigated by Fire Test Procedure Code-Resolution A.653 [1]. Though smaller filler size escalates the rheological behavior and values outstandingly at initial reading compare to large particles but it slow down the curing processdue to its small particle size, large surface area and high dispersion rate. Experimental data showed the retardance level has been increased up to 56.66% in non-wax type polyester resin (10%/CBN550) and 30.14% in wax polyester resin (10%/CBN550). The improvement in fire resistance points are due to the presence of CBN550 which acts as a positive additive in both polyester resin wax and non-wax. Filling CBN550 in polyester resin also reduces the cost of theend products.The preliminary results suggested that CBN550should attend to next level of experiment investigation such as oxygen content, TG value, microstructure as well as mechanical destructive test. The CBN550 could be a suitable candidate for fire retardance application in marine composite structure.In conclusion, crystallinity of polyester resin increases with additional of CB particles

LSTM-based Electroencephalogram Classification on Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is categorized as a neurodevelopmental disability. Having an automated technology system to classify the ASD trait would have a huge influence on paediatricians, which can aid them in diagnosing ASD in children using a quantifiable method. A novel autism diagnosis method based on a bidirectional long-short-term-memory (LSTM) network's deep learning algorithm is proposed. This multi-layered architecture merges two LSTM blocks with the other direction of propagation to classify the output state on the brain signal data from an electroencephalogram (EEG) on individuals; normal and autism obtained from the Simon Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) database. The accuracy of 99.6% obtained for 90:10 train:test data distribution, while the accuracy of 97.3% was achieved for 70:30 distribution. The result shows that the proposed approach had better autism classification with upgraded efficiency compared to single LSTM network method and potentially giving a significant contribution in neuroscience research

Aqueous phase reforming of sorbitol over sonosynthesized ca-doped ni supported on al2o3 and tio2 for production of value added chemicals

Production of value added chemicals derived from renewable carbohydrate such as sorbitol through the aqueous phase reforming is a promising technology. Aqueous phase reforming for industrial without highly effective and efficient catalyst in term of its operational lifetime and catalytic activity. Supported nickel catalyst has been identified have good selectivity of alcohols for aqueous phase reforming of sorbitol, and support such as Al2O3 and TiO2 has been identified as support which has good surface area and active sites. In this work, the effect of introducing the varying percentage of Ca (0%, 0.5%, 3% and 5%) as promoter onto 10% Ni supported on two potential catalyst support, TiO2 and Al2O3 have been investigated. The catalysts are prepared via the sonochemical method, where the catalysts are synthesized under ultrasonic irradiation for 45 minutes using ultrasonic probe at 90W using methods by Abdollahifar, et al. [1], where sonochemical method has discovered to enhance the dispersion of particles, improve surface area and increase the performance. The sonosynthesized catalysts were then subjected for characterization by using Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Xray Powder Diffractometer (XRD

Estimation of Photovoltaic Module Parameters based on Total Error Minimization of I-V Characteristic

Mathematical Modelling of photovoltaic (PV) modules is important for simulation and performance analysis of PV system. Therefore, an accurate parameters estimation is necessary. Single-diode and two-diode model are widely used to model the PV system. However, it required to determine several parameters such as series and shunt resistances that not provided in datasheet.  The main goal of PV modelling technique is to obtain the accurate parameters to ensure the I-V characteristic is closed to the manufacturer datasheet. Previously, the maximum power error of calculated and datasheet value are considered as objective to be minimized for both models. This paper proposes the PV parameter estimation model based minimizing the total error of open circuit voltage (VOC), short circuit current (ISC) and maximum power (PMAX) where all these parameters are provided by the manufacturer. The performance of single-diode and two-diode models are tested on different type of PV modules using MATLAB. It found that the two-diode model obtained accurate parameters with smaller error compared to single-diode model. However, the simulation time is slightly higher than single-diode model due extra calculation required

Interference-aware multipath video streaming in vehicular environments

The multipath transmission is one of the suitable transmission methods for high data rate oriented communication such as video streaming. Each video packets are split into smaller frames for parallel transmission via different paths. One path may interfere with another path due to these parallel transmissions. The multipath oriented interference is due to the route coupling which is one of the major challenges in vehicular traffic environments. The route coupling increases channel contention resulting in video packet collision. In this context, this paper proposes an Interference-aware Multipath Video Streaming (I-MVS) framework focusing on link and node disjoint optimal paths. Specifically, a multipath vehicular network model is derived. The model is utilized to develop interference-aware video streaming method considering angular driving statistics of vehicles. The quality of video streaming links is measured based on packet error rate considering non-circular transmission range oriented shadowing effects. Algorithms are developed as a complete operational I-MVS framework. The comparative performance evaluation attests the benefit of the proposed framework considering various video streaming related metrics

Gravitational Aeration Tower Filter System to Increase the Dissolved Oxygen Amount for Iron Removal in Groundwater

This paper discusses the Gravitational Aeration Tower Filter System (GATS) aims to increase the amount of Dissolved Oxygen (DO) for iron removal in groundwater. The groundwater is mostly used in remote areas. The presence of a large volume of iron contained in the groundwater will subject to water contamination besides limiting the lifespan of existing water to filter the contaminants. Pre-treatment systems i.e., aeration technique is often used to lower the amount of iron ​​contained in the groundwater. One of the proposed aeration techniques i.e., the GATS has been designed in this work. The GATS is tested to observe its effectiveness to increase the DO and iron removal in the water. The area of study is conducted in Kampung Majid Ibrahim, Simpang Renggam. The initial value of the iron in the tubewell is between 1.4 mg/l to 2.3 mg/l, which has exceeded the limit standard of 0.3 mg/l. Data collection is carried out in-situ testing using AQUAREAD AP2000 and Hanna High Iron Checker. The flow rate through the GATS is fixed to 5.5 L/min, with air parameters are varied. The results of the GATS test demonstrate the DO percentage increases up to 90.50 % and the percentage of iron removal is up to 10.24% with the airflow of 1.0 L/min

Evaluation on moisture extraction of Malaysian spratelloides gracilis cracker by using heat pump dryer

Fish cracker is one of Malaysian traditional snack food. The cracker has a huge potential to be marketed globally. However, it is obstructed by hygienic issue during preparation. Traditionally, open sun drying was used for moisture extraction, but this method exposed to contamination from bird, incest and dust. To overcome the problem, an alternative drying method was introduced by using the heat pump dryer. The purpose of this work is to evaluate drying of Malaysian Spratelloides Gracilis fish cracker originated from Kemaman. The dryer consists of drying chamber, fan, heater, and compressor. Multilevel drying trays equivalent to 7.43 m2 drying area was arranged inside the chamber. The evaluation started by measuring drying time, electricity consumption, weight, and moisture reduction. Changes of the cracker was observed and performance of the dryer was determined. At the end of this report will discuss the economic aspect by estimating annual return of investment and payback period. Result shows moisture and weight reduction are 42.9 % and 6.0 kg, respectively. Drying completed in 4 hours consuming 5 kWh electricity. Physical observation shows significant changes on dried cracker in terms of color, size, and shape. Dryer performance determined by evaporative capacity (1.5 kg/hr), specific moisture extraction rate (1.2 kg/kWh), specific energy consumption (0.8 kWh/kg), drying cost (1.09 RM) and specific drying cost (0.17 RM/kg). Based on electricity cost, selling price and production, replacing open sun drying with heat pump drying method will not affect much the new selling price because drying cost is only 0.6 %. Payback period of the dryer also estimated as 1.1 year