Overview of biodiesel wastes utilization for hydrogen production

Nowadays, biodiesel costs more than fuels produced from crude oil due to prices of raw materials. The production cost of biodiesel could be reduced if cheaper raw material is used and utilization of the biodiesel by-product is one of the promising options for lowering the production cost. Hydrogen will play an important role in the world's future. Therefore, hydrogen production from renewable sources such as glycerol, is gaining attention. This article reviews on the latest development on hydrogen production from biodiesel waste. Glycerol reforming and biotransformation are two main routes available for converting crude glycerol to hydrogen. In more recent years, there have been extensive studies, and some encouraging results on processes for utilization of crude glycerol for hydrogen production. However, many of the proposed technologies still need further development to make them cost-effective and operationally feasible processes to directly utilize crude glycerol from biodiesel production on a large scale

Exterior noise due to interaction of tyre-thermoplastic transverse rumble strips

Transverse rumble strips (TRS) are a common choice to reduce vehicle speed and increase driver alertness on roadways. However, there is a potential trade-off using them on rural roadway due to the noise problem created when vehicles go over the strips. The present study investigated the noise level, spectral analysis, and the possible noise generation mechanism when the TRS is hit by a vehicle. Tenraised- rumbler (RR) and three-layer-overlapped (TLO) TRS were selected in this study as they have received complaints from the public. Results showed that RR generated a relatively higher noise and impulse at a low speed, and increased sound level in each octave band. Based on these results, RR may irritate human ears even when the vehicle travels at a low speed. It was found that RR increased all noise generation mechanisms of tyre-pavement interaction whilst TLO increased structural resonance, sidewall and surface texture vibration

Application of ANFIS in Predicting of TiAlN Coatings Hardness

In this paper, a new approach in predicting the hardness of Titanium Aluminum Nitrite (TiAlN) coatings using Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) is implemented. TiAlN coated cutting tool is widely used in machining due to its excellent properties. The TiAlN coatings were formed using Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) magnetron sputtering process. The substrate sputtering power, bias voltage and temperature were selected as the input parameters and the hardness as an output of the process. A statistical design of experiment called Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used in collecting optimized data. The ANFIS model was trained using the limited experimental data. The triangular, trapezoidal, bell and Gaussian shapes of membership functions were used for inputs as well as output. The results of ANFIS model were validated with the testing data and compared with fuzzy and nonlinear RSM hardness models in terms of the root mean square error (RMSE) and model prediction accuracy. The result indicated that the ANFIS model using 3-3-3 triangular shapes membership function obtained better result compared to the fuzzy and nonlinear RSM hardness models. The result also indicated that the ANFIS model could predict the output response in high prediction accuracy even using limited training data

Plant microbiome-dependent immune enhancing action of Echinacea purpurea is enhanced by soil organic matter content

© 2019 The Authors Anthemis austriaca Jacq. flowers are traditionally used to alleviate abdominal pain, hemorrhoids, ovary diseases and pneumonia. This study aimed to investigate the effects of A. austriaca flowers, which are frequently used in gynecological disorders, on the rat endometriosis model. The rat endometriosis model was used to evaluate the potential activity of the plant in endometriosis. The dried plant material was extracted with n-hexane, ethyl acetate (EtOAc), and methanol (MeOH), successively. The obtained extracts from A. austriaca flowers were applied to the rats. The adhesion scores, endometrial foci areas, and cytokine levels of the peritoneal fluids were measured on surgical induction of endometriosis in rats. The adhesion scores, endometriotic volume, and cytokine levels of the peritoneal fluids were reduced in the EtOAc, MeOH, and buserelin acetate-treated (reference) groups. The MeOH extract reduced the adhesion scores and endometrial foci areas from 3.1 to 1.1 (p \u3c 0.01) and from 86.4 to 40.5 (p \u3c 0.01), respectively and also the MeOH extract reduced tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and interleukin (IL)-6 levels of the peritoneal fluids from 13.7 to 3.8 (p \u3c 0.01), from 28.4 to 16.3 (p \u3c 0.05) and from 50.2 to 24.3 (p \u3c 0.01), respectively. Therefore, isolation studies were conducted on the EtOAc and MeOH extracts. After the MeOH extract was fractionated using RP-18 column, the obtained subfractions were evaluated again on the endometriosis rat model. Subfractions A and C of the MeOH extract displayed statistically significant activity on the endometriosis rat model. Phytochemical investigation resulted in the isolation of 4-β-D-glucopyranosyloxy-6-methyl-2H-pyran-2-one (1) from Fr. A and quercetin (2), apigenin-7-O-(3″-O-acetyl)-β-D-glucopyranoside (3), apigenin-7-O-(6″-O-acetyl)-β-D-glucopyranoside (4), apigenin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (5), quercetin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (6) from Fr. C. Moreover, β-sitosterol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (7) was isolated from the EtOAc extract. As a conclusion, the MeOH extract obtained from A. austriaca flowers contributed to the regression of endometriosis. In addition, flavonoids and sterols of the plant were detected as the possible compounds responsible for the activity

Assessment Strategies to Evaluate Building Information Modeling Capabilities of Organizations

With the advances in technology, Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been implemented in construction projects to minimize its complexity by increasing project efficiency and effectiveness. While BIM has been widely implemented, construction projects are still unsuccessful due to inappropriate BIM capabilities among organizations that are involved in the project. Therefore, this study aims to determine the strategies for assessing an organization's BIM capabilities. The data collected through individual interviews with fifteen of BIM managers are analyzed using thematic analysis in order to achieve that objective. The findings suggest that the five parameters for evaluating an organization's BIM capabilities are: documentation process, project track record, staff competencies, availability of BIM experts, and software maturity. This study contributes by providing a set of strategies for measuring an organization's BIM capabilities in the construction industry. The lesson of this study would help researchers and industry practitioners prevent construction project failure from assessing project team members' BIM capabilities before starting a project

A review on recent development of minimum quantity lubrication for sustainable machining

Achieving sustainable machining is in demand nowadays and it is in line with the rise of global eco-awareness and rigorous regulations by the authorities to prevent from further damaging the environment and its constituents. One of the sustainable solutions extensively explored over the years is machining with minimum quantity lubrication system. Nevertheless, there is still room to improve this system as minimum quantity lubrication assisted machining poses some challenges. This paper provides a review of research articles involving the improvements made to enhance machining performance with minimum quantity lubrication system. To carry out the study, three search databases are used to compile all the minimum quantity lubrication advancements published over a span of 6 most recent years from 2014 to 2019. The machining performance are compiled for each category of advancements: minimum quantity lubrication with additives, minimum quantity lubrication with cooled air/gas as well as restructuring minimum quantity lubrication system and critically considers the experiment details such as workpiece material, machining process, cutting tool material, cooling/lubrication condition, cutting fluid and the output measurements, namely surface roughness, tool wear, cutting force and cutting temperature. Results obtained from the articles mostly show that the minimum quantity lubrication advancements outperform an independent minimum quantity lubrication system by generating better surface quality, providing lower tool wear and cutting force

Carbon footprint of construction using industrialised building system

Industrialised Building System (IBS) is more sustainable to the environment as compared to the conventional construction methods. However, the construction industry in Malaysia has low acceptance towards IBS due to the resistance to change and also lack of awareness towards sustainability development. Therefore, it is important to study the amount carbon footprint produced by IBS during its manufacturing and construction stage, and also the amount of carbon footprint produced by one meter square of gross floor area of IBS construction using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to ease future research through the comparison of the carbon footprint of IBS with the conventional building system. As a result, a case study on a residential type of construction in the vicinity of Johor Bahru, Malaysia was carried out to obtain the necessary data and result. From the data analysis, the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) for a residential type IBS construction based on the raw materials and resources involved to manufacture and construct IBS components is 0.127 tonnes fossil CO2Eq per meter square. Raw material that contributed to the most amount of carbon footprint is Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), followed by steel bars, autoclaved aerated blocks and diesel. The LCA data acquired will be very useful in implementing IBS in the residential type construction. As a result, the awareness towards sustainable construction using IBS can be improved

Age and sex comparison in determining baseline blood and coagulation profiles in semi-extensive Rusa deer (Rusa timorensis)

The objective of the study was to establish the baseline values for blood and coagulation parameters in normaland healthy rusa deer (Rusa timorensis) of different ages and sexes. The sample population consists of 40 rusa deer, divided into four groups of (i) juvenile males (ii) juvenile females (iii) adult males and (iv) adult females. The findings showed significant (p<0.05) higher values in erythrocyte count, calcium concentration and prothrombin time in the adult males compared to adult female rusa deer. On the other hand, the total protein concentration was significantly higher in adult females than adult male deer. No significant differences in blood or coagulation parameters were observed between sexes in the juvenile deer. Between age group, the adult deer had significantly higher mean cell volume, plasma protein and globulin concentration than juvenile rusa deer. Thus, it is necessary to take into account the age and sex of the rusa deer when using blood reference values for the diagnosis of diseases or health assessment

Prediction of Cutting Force in End Milling of Inconel 718

This paper presents the effect of cutting parameters on the cutting force when machining Inconel 718. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used in the experiment, and a Box–Behnken design was employed to identify the cause and effect of the relationship between the four cutting parameters (cutting speed, feed rate, depth of cut and width of cut) and cutting force. The ball-nose type of end mill with donwmill approach was maitained througout the experiment. The forces were measured using Kistler dynamometer during straight line machining strategy. The result shows that the radial depth of cut was the dominating factor controlling cutting force, it was followed by axial depth of cut and feed rate. The prediction cutting force model was developed with the average error between the predicted and actual cutting force was less than 3