Drying characteristics of Roselle (1): Mathematical Modeling and Drying Experiments

The effects of drying conditions on the drying behavior of Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa .L) and the applicability of twelve thin-layer drying models to predict the drying curves of Roselle were studied. The experiments were conducted in Constant Temperature and Humidity Chamber. Four temperatures (35, 45, 55 and 65°C) and five relative humidities (30, 35, 40, 45 and 50%RH) were studied. Drying air temperature was found to be the main factor affecting the drying kinetics of Roselle; raising the drying temperature from 35°C to 65°C dramatically reduced the drying times. The effect of the relative humidity was lower than that of temperature; increasing the relative humidity resulted on longer drying times. Higher equilibrium moisture contents were obtained with high relative humidities and low temperatures. Furthermore, drying was observed only in the falling-rate period. Statistical analysis was carried out and comparison among drying models was made to select the best-fitted model for the drying curves. Among twelve tested models, the two-term exponential model was found to be superior to the other models in terms of fitting performance

Drying Characteristics of Roselle: Study of the Two-term Exponential Model and Drying Parameters

Thin-layer drying experiments with Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa .L) were carried out in a constant temperature and humidity chamber. Four temperatures (35, 45, 55, and 65°C) and five relative humidities (30, 35, 40, 45, and 50%RH) were tested. Statistical analysis on twelve thinlayer drying model proved the superiority of two-term exponential model. The objectives of this work were to evaluate and validate the two-term exponential model; besides, examine the effects of the drying conditions on the drying rate and constant. Validation of the developed model was done using two criterions, plotting of the predicted against experimental moisture contents and the residual versus predicted moisture content. The average values of the drying constant (k) and coefficient (a) were 0.009167 and 0.776132, respectively

Fuel saving analysis and stability assessments of malaysian offshore fishing vessels fitted with dual fuel diesel and compressed natural gas

Malaysia fishing industries are heavily dependent on the fossil fuels to satisfy its energy demand. Fuel cost of fishing vessels normally accounts for more than 50% of the annual operating expenses. With the increasing of global fuel prices, the future of this industry has exposed fishermen to uncertain future. Nowadays, clean burning alternative fuel such natural gas has become a great interest for fuel saving. A duel fuel diesel engine is a diesel engine that has been fitted to use compressed natural gas (CNG). Dual fuel engines provide numerous potential advantages such as cost saving, fuel flexibility, lower emissions, better efficiency and easy conversion of existing diesel engines without major modifications. This paper describes a study to reduce fuel consumption by introducing a dual fuel diesel and CNG for Malaysian offshore fishing vessel. An analysis of fuel consumption reduction is presented, together with stability assessments. The results reveals that dual fuel diesel can provide noticeable lower fuel consumption compared to existing diesel engines and stability assessment signify that the conversion to dual fuel engine has no adverse effects to vessel stability

Antioxidative properties and proximate analysis of spent coffee ground (SCG) extracted using ultrasonic-methanol assisted technique as a potential functional food ingredient

Spent coffee ground (SCG) produced in tons by restaurants and cafeterias and domestic consumers is a potentially good source of natural antioxidants because it contains substantial amounts of bioactive compounds. The purpose of this study was to identify the physicochemical and antioxidant properties of three different types of spent coffee ground (SCG), namely Robusta, Arabica and Liberica extracted using ultra-sonicmethanol assisted technique. DPPH, FTC, TBA, total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were used to measure the antioxidant properties. Robusta SCG exhibited the highest DPPH inhibition 41.63±0.04%), FTC (60.42±0.03%) and TBA analysis (73.09±0.08%). The total phenolic compounds in the samples varied widely ranging from 18.94±0.06 to 26.23±0.86 mg GAE/g sample, with Robusta SCG showing the highest value among the three, while Arabica SCG depicted the highest amount total flavonoid content (47.62±0.05 to 56.20±0.08). A strong correlation between antioxidant activity and total phenolic content were observed in this study. Compared to Arabica and Liberica SCGs expended, Robusta SCG demonstrated a stronger beneficial effect against lipid peroxidation. This study reveals that SCGs can be regarded as a new useful source of natural antioxidant with a view to increasing the use of antioxidant synthetics by using the ingredient of agro-industrial residues in food production especially ingredients for functional food

Current review towards the new best practices of Corporate Real Estate Management (CREM) in Malaysia

Corporate Real Estate (CRE) is referring to land and buildings owned by companies which are not primarily in the real estate business used for operational purpose. CRE covers the entire range of activities. Awareness of knowledge of CRE in Malaysia lacks because the researcher found that the operation of properties owned by a few large companies is undermanaged and underused. This review paper focuses on the definition of corporate real estate (CRE), components of CRE, and the current practice in the industry. This paper a desk analysis reviewing the literature on general management of the corporate real estate. By using the secondary data such as Company Annual Report, Previous studies and other relevant sources. There are several different issues to examine along the way, from the business strategies, Constituent and tools to help make the right decisions. It draws a framework for CRE analysis. From this paper, we can find the issue to improve the current practice on the CRE in Malaysia

Proton Conductivity and FTIR Studies of Methanesulfonic Acid (MSA) Incorporated Polyacrylamide based Composite Solid Polymer Electrolyte.

A new class of Composite Solid Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (CSPE) of Polyacrylamide (PAAm) with Methanesulfonic acid (MSA) was synthesized. The composite membranes were thoroughly characterized by FTIR and proton conducting performance. The highest proton conductivity of 1.17 x 10-6Scm-1 was observed at room temperature with the loading of 5M of MSA into the polymer matrix. FTIR spectroscopy was used to study the mechanism involved in the protons transfer in the membranes by referring the characteristic shifts of the absorbance bands of C=O and N-H2. Thermal parameters such as the glass transition temperature (Tg) and the melting point (Tm) of the polymer membrane with the highest proton conductivity were measured by TGA and DSC. The morphology of the PAAm-5M MSA was observed by FESEM. The valued merits on the proton conductivity, thermal stability and easy synthesis promise the new membranes to be good alternative as CSPE for electrochemical devices

Empirical Investigation on Agile Methods Usage: Issues Identified from Early Adopters in Malaysia

Agile Methods are a set of software practices that can help to produce products faster and at the same time deliver what customers want. Despite the benefits that Agile methods can deliver, however, we found few studies from the Southeast Asia region, particularly Malaysia. As a result, less empirical evidence can be obtained in the country making its implementation harder. To use a new method, experience from other practitioners is critical, which describes what is important, what is possible and what is not possible concerning Agile. We conducted a qualitative study to understand the issues faced by early adopters in Malaysia where Agile methods are still relatively new. The initial study involves 13 participants including project managers, CEOs, founders and software developers from seven organisations. Our study has shown that social and human aspects are important when using Agile methods. While technical aspects have always been considered to exist in software development, we found these factors to be less important when using Agile methods. The results obtained can serve as guidelines to practitioners in the country and the neighbouring regions