Evaluation of parametrics for the development of vertical solar chimney ventilation in hot and humid climate

In terms of housing passive cooling design, tropical climatic regions present the most difficult problem to solve. A good dwelling design can keep the indoor environment favorable and comfortable during most of the year without the use of any mechanical devices. This can be accomplished by various techniques such as the use of radiant barrier, insulation materials, and natural ventilation. Depending on ambient conditions, natural ventilation may lead to indoor thermal comfort without mechanical cooling. However, in cases where the wind effect is not well captured especially in single side ventilation, then solar–induced ventilation may be a viable alternative. Solar induced ventilation standing involved temperature difference experiments which can be done using both physical modeling and computer simulation (Computational Fluid Dynamics). Solar induced, especially vertical solar chimney ventilation combined air movement and solar radiation simulation. They have different input data which depend on the climatic data of the selected location. This paper evaluates the parametric study strategies in pilot testing, terrace house model and previous research model by simulation and experiment for solar induced ventilation in tropical condition. Comparison of the results of simulations and experiments illustrate a good agreement between numerical and experimental results. These results encourage further research to develop the vertical solar chimney suitable for tropical condition

Parameters for building materials specifications in Lagos, Nigeria

The responsibility of specifying materials for building construction purposes within Nigeria rests on the architects. Understanding the appropriate parameters for specifying building materials that could lead to immense financial proportion is required from the architects. The level of understanding and knowledge of architects is germane to the optimum performance of buildings throughout their life cycle. The methodology applied for this research involved the administration of a structured questionnaire on professional architects within the study area to determine the basis of their decision on the materials they specify or chose for building finishes. The parameters used to measure the specification of materials for finishes are client's choice, cost, climatic compliance, and maintenance demand of materials. Findings show that the maintenance demand of materials is the most important factor that determines the specification of materials irrespective of the choice of client and climate. However, cost occupies a prominent role in the decision process. It also shows that most architects are not fully aware about the role of climate in determining the life cycle of materials in tropical environments. The compliance of materials to ever-changing climate does not constitute a major factor in the specification of materials in the area

The effects of PO43- removal from aqueous solution with varied concentrations of metal oxides in steel slag filter system

High amount of orthophosphate will accelerate the growth of autotrophs and eutrophication will occur. This phenomenon decreases the water quality and as a result may increase the cost of water treatment for drinking water. The overabundance of orthophosphate occurs when untreated or inadequately-treated wastewater from domestic and industrial activities is released into water bodies. Conventional treatment has been developed to treat wastewater. However, it is not effective for phosphorus removal, hence, high-cost advanced treatment is needed to remove phosphorus. Thus, alternative low-cost treatments for phosphorus removal are needed. Therefore, this study was conducted to understand and investigate the mechanisms of phosphorus removal using two different setups of steel slag filter, Set 1 for high Fe and Set 2 for high Ca. The study was operated at different pH values of 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 under aerated and unaerated conditions. The samples of steel slag from 12 filters that has been run for three months for each set were semi-quantitatively analysed using scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) to identify the adsorption of phosphate ion on the surface of the steel slag. The results of SEM-EDX studies showed that adsorption mechanism of phosphate removal takes place on the surface of the steel slag. The precipitates in the steel slag filters were collected and analysed for X-ray diffraction (XRD) for chemical compound identification and the precipitates were confirmed to be Fe3O4, a precursor of iron phosphate related compound

A review on the aerodrome standard in the aviation industry

The aviation industry consists of a few branches such as Flight Operation, Air Traffic Control Management, Airworthiness and Aerodrome Standards. Aerodrome standard is related to the airport operation, which following the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The essential element in aerodrome or airport can be listed such as runway, apron, terminal, maintenance hangar and taxiway. Several issues are highlighted in the taxiway segment, which required further review, especially on the Aeronautical Ground Lighting system. Aeronautical Ground Lighting system is the most crucial part in taxiway because it gives guidance to a pilot in taxiway to avoid aircraft incursion. Therefore, this paper will give focus on the taxiway, especially on the Aeronautical Ground Lighting system, which is related to the daily operation requirements for airports

Kesan tahap realistik karakter animasi talking-head ke atas emosi dan prestasi pelajar : satu kajian awal

Animasi talking-head merupakan animasi arahan yang mampu membantu pembelajaran kemahiran sebutan sesuatu perkataan secara betul dan tepat. Namun, kesilapan dalam penggunaan karakter animasi memberi kesan negatif kepada pelajar. Kajian ini memfokus kepada isu Uncanny Valley yang dapat memberi kesan kepada emosi pelajar akibat daripada karakter animasi yang hampir menyerupai manusia. Justeru, kajian ini menilai penggunaan animasi talking-head yang berbeza tahap realistik terhadap pembelajaran sebutan perkataan di Kolej Komuniti. Penilaian keberkesanan animasi ini diukur melalui ujian sebutan dan ujian emosi mengguna soal selidik AEQ. Empat perisian animasi talking-head dengan tahap realistik berbeza dibangun untuk diuji dan setiap perisian tersebut dipelajari secara kendiri oleh sekumpulan pelajar yang terdiri daripada 20 orang. Jumlah keseluruhan sampel ialah 80 orang terdiri daripada pelajar di empat buah kolej komuniti di Perak. Ujian statistik deskriptif seperti nilai min, sisihan piawai dan peratus diguna bagi menjawab persoalan kajian. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan perisian animasi talking-headtiga dimensi tidak realistik (3D-TR) memperoleh peratusan tertinggi dari sudut emosi dan prestasi sebutan pelajar manakala perisian animasi talking-head tiga dimensi realistik (3D-R) memperoleh peratusan terendah dari kedua-dua aspek tersebut. Justeru, penggunaan karakter animasi tiga dimensi talking-head yang tidak realistik merupakan tahap realistik yang terbaik untuk membentuk emosi yang positif seterusnya berpotensi meningkat prestasi pelajar

One City; Two Conditions: Exigent Parameters for Paint Performance in Lagos, Nigeria

Tropical buildings are subjected to many militating elements of climate, prominent among which are insolation and rainfall. However, the study area has an additional influence from the Atlantic Ocean which is just a few meters away from the buildings. The sea breeze is laden with high salt content which has adverse effects and reactions on the materials used for building finishes. The outer skin-external surface of any building does not have any protection in most cases due to its function as the protective layer. However, the influence of this prevalent saline air differs from one part of the study area to another due to distance. The study bifurcated the city through a survey approach into two zones A&B to obtain data for empirical analysis. Various correlations were drawn while regression analysis was carried out. The means of the two zones were determined through ANOVA to establish the performance of paint in service in the two locations. Frequencies and all the analysis were run through SPSS version 15.0 for the study. Data was also obtained from practicing Architects in Lagos through a structured interview. It shows that depreciation of paint sets in faster and repainting is required earlier in Zone A than Zone B due to more aggressive impact of saline air. The established research findings that stipulate 5-7years for maintenance of paint does not hold in areas subjected to saline air. The research is geared towards establishing the appropriateness of the use of paint in a saline laden environment when compared with other parts of the tropical region. Specifiers/architects, developers and property owners are hereby educated on the implication of their choice. Manufacturers are equally advised to develop paint that will retard the effect of saline air the more. This study is the first attempt to analytically investigate the impact of saline air on the maintenance requirement of paint in the tropical region. Keywords: Atlantic Ocean; external finishes; climate; frequency; impact; maintenance; paint; performance; saline air; sal

Mechanical Properties of Hybrid Kenaf - Pineapple Leaf Fibre (PALF) Epoxy Composite For Engineering Application

Natural fibres nowadays been famously investigated as alternative fibres due to the source depletion of petroleum. There are several natural fibres such as jute, hemp, sisal, kenaf and pineapple leaf that been actively researched in terms of their mechanical properties. This research was focusing on two of the natural fibres which are the kenaf and pineapple leaf. The kenaf and pineapple leaf fibres were proved by previous researchers to have good mechanical properties. This study aims to test the hybrid of Hybrid Kenaf and Pineapple leaf Fibre (PALF) epoxy composite for engineering application. The mechanical properties of hybrid pineapple leaves and kenaf fibre composite will be investigated. The tensile test will be performed in mechanical properties analysis. This research conducted to ensure that the fibre is being utilized rather than being left out as waste, especially by the agriculture industries and the data of the mechanical properties of pineapple leaves and kenaf fibre composite can be obtained through tests conducted. The test result found that this hybrid can perform better than the existing natural fibre hybrid. Hybridization of pineapple leaf fibre and kenaf fibre has higher maximum stress using composition of 75 pineapple leaf fibre to 25 kenaf fibre percentage which is 87.06 MPa

Effect of Mullite Formation on Properties of Aluminosilicate Ceramic Balls

AbstractIn order to study the effect of mullite phase on the physico-mechanical of the aluminosilicate ceramic balls, 3 ceramic balls made of clay, feldspar and quartz were prepared. However, in this work, the clays were selected from i.e., Trong, Perak (TC), Simpang Pulai, Perak (SP) and Selendang, Pahang (SC) and were identified as CBT, CBP and CBS, respectively. The formulation of each clay was fixed to 30wt.% clay; 40wt.% potash feldspar; 40wt.% silica sand. The mixtures later,were dried for 6hours under 25 oC of room temperatures. Prior to shape balls, 30wt.% of water was added to the mixtures in order to form dough. The dough was aged for 24hours to homogenous the plasticity before shaped to 19mm of spherical balls. The balls were dried in an oven at 110°C for 24hours before fired at 1250°C for 2hours. The phase formation of each mixture was investigated via X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). Meanwhile, the physico-mechanical of ceramic balls was determined according Universal Oil Products (UOP). It is found that CBT exhibited outstanding physico-mechanical which has crushing strength 1270kg compared to CBP and CBS due to the presence of mullite phase. This enables their use for ceramic balls as catalyst bed support in refining applications

A review on the micro energy harvester in Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of biocomposite material for Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) system: a Malaysia perspective

The usage of wind energy as a form of renewable energy is becoming increasingly popular year by year. This technology has been applied widely in several regions in the world and already reached maturity in terms of technology, infrastructure and cost competitiveness. The performance of the wind turbine system depends upon factors such as design, aerodynamic performance and material selection. Thus, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) has become crucial in evaluating the performance of wind turbine in real time. Furthermore, the application of smart material in SHM can be utilized as micro energy harvester as well. Nonetheless, the application of SHM in Malaysia׳s climate for wind turbine is still premature, especially in the approach biocomposites material towards its blade system. Several issues are highlighted in this paper such as Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT), biocomposites material selection and the issue in the micro energy harvester as well. The issues are discussed and compared with the recent finding in this review. Several recommendations are suggested for future studies in benefiting the Malaysian especially on the application of wind energy to promote better green technology for tomorrow

Questionnaires results for data consolidation on occupational safety and health management system among gas contractor in Peninsular Malaysia

There is a need to develop an Occupational Safety and Health Management System (OSHMS) Critical Success Factors (CSF) Monitoring among gas contractor in Malaysia. Critical Success Factors (CSF) can be used for future implementation, adaptation and practice for gas contractor work for both by clients and contractors in Malaysia. The main purpose of CSF implementation is to reduce the number of accident related with Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). The need for CSF is due to the requirement by law and standard that require companies to establish an arrangement related to the identified OSH risks. The objective of this study is to assess the established of OSHMS among gas contractor in Peninsular Malaysia and to identify the CSF imposed by these industries. A cross sectional study for eighty gas contractor companies using established questionnaire has been done. All data consolidated in order to determine the OSHMS and it CSF among gas contractor in Peninsular Malaysia that has registered with Department of Occupational Safety and Health. Established questionnaire are based on OSHMS MS 1722:2011 elements requirement No 1: Policy, No 2: Organizing, No 3: Planning and Implementation, No 4: Evaluation and No 5: Action for Improvement as parameters to come out with organization means and Z-scores. Descriptive statistic showed that element mean (standard deviation) score for policy is 75(6.6), for Organizing is 63(5.2), for Planning and Implementation is 59(9.4), for Evaluation is 66(5.1) and Action for Improvement is 63(1.3). Percentage of company that complies with the main element for Policy is 15%, for Organizing is 8.8%, for Planning and Implementation is 11.3%, for evaluation is 11.3% and for Action for improvement is 13.8%. Percentage of companies that partially comply with Policy element is distributed between 61.0% to 85.0% which is 76.3 %, for Organizing score is mainly distributed between 46.0% to 60.0% which is 62.5%, for planning and Implementation score for 80 companies distributed mainly in group score between 46.0 to 60.0% which is 56.3 %, for Evaluation the partially comply score is distributed in group score between 61.0% to 85.5% which is 41 % and for Action for Improvement partially comply score, the distribution is mainly distribute in range of 61.0% to 85.0% which is 62.5 %. Z-score for element policy is five points from policy mean, for organizing Z-score is three points from Organizing mean, for Planning and Implementation the Z-score is three points from Planning and Implementation mean, for Evaluation the Z-score is three points from evaluation mean and for Action for improvement Z-score is two to three points from Action for Improvement mean. Percentage of compliance with OSHMS MS 1722:2011 elements by gas contractors in almost main element and sub element are still low and can be further improved by focusing on all company element score for continual improvement of OSH elements compliances