The Relationship among Petroleum Prices, Biodiesel Demand, and Malaysian Palm Oil Prices: Evidence from Simultaneous Equation Approach

The prices of petroleum and palm oil appear to be moving in tandem, a trend that has not been observed before. Oil prices are thought to have a direct effect on agricultural prices. This paper examines the relationship among world petroleum prices, biodiesel demand, and palm oil prices in Malaysia. To this end, a market model is formulated, representing palm oil supply, import, world excess demand, domestic consumption, export demand, rest-of-the-world excess supply, and palm oil prices. Using annual data for the period 1976–2010, a system of equations of eight structural equations and four identities is estimated through the two-stage least squares (2SLS) method. The simultaneous equation results suggest that world petroleum price significantly affects world palm oil price. Hence, our results support neutrality of palm oil commodity markets in Malaysia to direct effects of oil price changes. The elasticity of Malaysian palm oil domestic price with respect to biodiesel demand is then obtained. Results suggest that biodiesel demand has a positive impact on the Malaysian palm oil domestic price. Thus, significant growth in biodiesel demand is important in explaining Malaysian palm oil price determination

A compact flat lens antenna with aperture-coupled patch elements

A compact 7 x 7 flat lens antenna design for Xband applications is presented in this paper. A new design with aperture-coupled E-shaped patch elements at 10 GHz is simulated and analyzed. This antenna design is realized by using two back-to-back printed patches with slotted common ground plane and feed horn antenna. The transmission loss obtained of 2.2 dB is sufficiently low. A 320º transmission phase range for the E-shaped patch unit cell is achieved with less than 1.5 dB of deviation in the transmission loss level.The proposed design uses a simple technique and less manufacturing complexity for transmission phase control

Mechanical characterization of ABS recyling based electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) by using injection molding

Nowadays, recycling process become more and more importantly mostly due to the impressive increase in the production of waste and to growing attention to the environment friendly. Increasing of demand of new products and waste electric and electronic of waste polymer from many sectors is being recycled to reduce an economic, environment and energy issues. According to Rosa et al., (2010) and Tarantili et al., (2010), the term of polymer usually refers to thermoplastic material rather than thermosets and some typical representative’s acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS), polycarbonates (PC), polyamides (PA) and poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET)

A review of riverbank and coastal erosion protection structure

Riverbank and coastal erosion are not new issues; it has been occurring globally for a long time. They are the most critical and unpredictable hazard issue, causing the loss of valuable property and land, posing a threat to the closest residents and having an economic impact. This review paper discusses the causes and consequences of riverbank and coastal erosion, and the dominant erosion processes involved. This paper further reviews the effectiveness of the protection method that was successfully being used to protect riverbank and coastal against repeated erosional attacks in Malaysia and its limitations. The last part of this paper reviews the potential of geobag as a rapid protection structure to the riverbank and coastal erosion. This method could prove to be an alternative to traditional rock-fill methods or bioengineering techniques, which are often quite complex and costly

Noise study of Air-conditioning system at UTHM Pagoh: a facility management approach

Human spend most of their time indoor. So, the quality of indoor environment should be assessed and improved ensure a comfortable and safe indoor environment. However, in UTHM Pagoh there do the building occupants face a major facility problem, which is the noise, coming from the air-conditioning system. In this study, the objectives are to identity the causes and the effects of air-conditioning system noise in UTHM Pagoh and to propose the solution to control the problem. There are three main method used to verify the objectives. The first one is by questionnaire distribution to all building occupants. It is found that their physiology, communication and performance are affected by the noise produced. Secondly, physical data were measured using sound level test. It is found that the Total Average Noise Level in all laboratories exceeded the standard by WHO and ASHRAE, which is 55dBA. Lastly, the interview sessions were conducted to determine the causes and the effects of the noise. Through these interviews, it is found that the causes of the noise are location of air-conditioning blower and return air duct from the room that are too close to the laboratories. The solution listed is design stage control. The solutions proposed is installation of noise insulation using acoustic material and relocation of the return air duct from the room to a higher position

Study on energy efficiency using building information modelling (BIM) at shared library Pagoh higher education hub

Structures in Malaysia, particularly commercial buildings, have been exceeding the benchmark of building energy usage over the past few years. By maintaining thermal comfort of building under hot climate in Malaysia, air-conditioning system became a basic demand which incessantly operating to fulfil comfort requirement for the occupants in the library. Regards to this, research on energy efficiency using Building Information Modelling (BIM) software by simulating energy analysis was carried out in order to increase energy efficiency of the library. Mineral wool and Polyurethane Foam (P.U.F.) are the materials which proposed to apply in existing wall of building as the thermal insulation layer to increase thermal resistance when external heat transfer through the walls. The Objective of the study is to determine the existing building energy consumption and compare with energy analysis of mineral wool and polyurethane foam. The findings of the building energy analysis simulated by Green Building Studio (GBS) are then compared to discover the most appropriate walls for reducing the building’s energy consumption. P.U.F with its characteristics of high R-value and low U-value, obtain the most effective energy analysis which provide benefits of lowering total annual energy consumption of 294,651 , total annual energy cost of RM 107,645, and energy use intensity (EUI) of 121.7

Compatibility issue related to the use of biodiesel with automotive materials

Biodiesel fuel can be used in diesel engine in accordance to the standard provided. However, a significant issue with biodiesel fuel was noted. Some of the fuel quality were outside the accepted range of the specification stated in the standard. Thus, this can be lead to the problem of utilization them in diesel engine. Moreover, material compatibility is the main concern whenever the fuel composition is altered in the fuel system. A large variety of metals and non-metals are worn as the material of construction for the various components of the fuel system. Introduction of biodiesel fuel often generate many problems in the components of the fuel system. This paper attempts to present the compatibility issue related to the use of biodiesel with automotive material

Design and development of trash trap of stream for mini hydro

The river became increasingly contaminated over the years and in the wake of rapid development in the town. The purpose of this paper is to invent and provide a trash collector for mini hydro that is readily removable so that the trashes collected can be easily disposed of. Design of the trash trap should be compatible with existing stream structures. Trash trap must prevent any trash and debris from passing through the mini hydro. Fieldwork was done at the stream river to investigate the surrounding and stream structure. The data collected were mass of trash collected with diverter and without diverter. A total of 10.0 kg of trashes were collected. The efficiency of the trash trap was calculated by the proportion of the average mass of diverted trashes by the total mass of trapped trashes. The targeted efficiency for this trash trap project is 70.0%. Based on the data collected, the efficiency of this trash trap is 84.12%. The targeted efficiency was achieved and design improvement of this trash trap will be discussed at the recommendation. In conclusion, the trash trap had been proven as a potential solution for the mini hydro machine problem, diverts and prevents most of the trashes from entering the mini hydro and blocked the turbine from rotating

The impact of biodiesel demand on the Malaysian palm oil market : a combination of econometric and system dynamics approach.

In the last few years, against the background of increasing concerns regarding the energy supply security as well as environmental concern has increased the interest for renewable energy sources. This have resulted in some countries to look for bio-based alternative energies which lead to the increase in demand for bio-based feedstocks such as palm and rapeseed oil (for bio-diesel) and sugar cane and corn (for ethanol). Due to the increased importance of biodiesel in Malaysia and elsewhere, the impact of this new demand has added a new dimension in the fats and oils market model particularly palm oil. This paper seeks to examine the impact of biodiesel demand on Malaysian palm oil industry. This study attempts to integrate the econometric and system dynamics approaches in modeling the palm oil market in Malaysia. One of the problems with the econometric modeling is its inability to deal with the interrelationships of the real world scenario if there is no data. The system dynamics on the other hand provides an alternative platform to handle multi-loop and nonlinear feedback system that exists in a complex market such as palm oil. It analyses the behaviour of the commodity system by identifying the cause and effect relationships and feedback control that creates the dynamics in the system. The system elements included in the model are, supply, domestic demand, export demand, world price, domestic price and stock. The model in general is able to capture the complex interdependencies that exist in the system and it can be used to study the effects of changes in one or more controllable variables on the performance of the system

Preference, Perception, and Acceptability of Fluid Gels as a Potential Age-Appropriate Dosage Form for Elderly Patients with Dysphagia

The development of pharmaceutical dosage forms that are tailored to specific populations according to their preferences and acceptability could improve medication adherence, which could lead to effective pharmacotherapy. This study evaluated the preference for and perceptions of fluid gels as a potential age-appropriate dosage form for older adults with dysphagia. The palatability and swallowability of the developed fluid gels were also assessed to determine the consumer acceptability of this formulation. A cross-sectional survey was conducted through the electronic distribution of a self-administered questionnaire among adults in Malaysia between April and December 2021. A randomized and double-blinded clinical study was conducted to evaluate the palatability and swallowability of the fluid gels in 30 healthy participants. A cross-sectional study involving 673 respondents revealed that the fluid gels were perceived positively by consumers (64.4%), were easily swallowed (50.8%), were safe to be consumed (45.3%), and were suitable as a new pharmaceutical formulation (43.8%). The clinical study shows that moderately thickened fluid gels masked the bitterness of the medication and were easily swallowed. The newly developed fluid gels were also positively perceived by the participants. Taken together, fluid gels have shown great potential as an innovative oral formulation that is suitable for consumption by elderly patients with dysphagia