Kinetics Modelling of CO2 Reactive Absorption from Natural Gas using MATLAB

Natural gas is a reliable source of energy. However, raw natural gas is also composed of impurities such as hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2). The removal of these acid gases is a significant operation in gas processing but amine solutions such as monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA) and N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) can only treat natural gas containing less than 20% concentration of CO2. This research project mainly focuses on the kinetics modeling of reactive absorption of CO2 from raw natural gas, that uses aminated resin to reduce the CO2 concentration to 20% so that the current acid gas removal system at the gas refineries can further process the gas. As a starting point, a rigorous numerical mass-transfer model was employed to study the kinetics of the aminated resin, following the work done by Rinker et al [5]. The kinetics behavior was simulated in MATLAB. With the reaction rate kinetics found, together with the equilibrium constant found using the correlations proposed in past literatures, the liquid bulk concentration for the aminated system was determine

Valorization of discarded face mask for bioactive compound synthesis and photodegradation of dye

To keep COVID-19 at bay, most countries have mandated the use of face masks in public places and imposed heavy penalties for those who fail to do so. This has inadvertently created a huge demand for disposable face masks and worsened the problem of littering, where a large number of used masks are constantly discarded into the environment. As such, an efficient and innovative waste management strategy for the discarded face mask is urgently needed. This study presents the transformation of discarded face mask into catalyst termed ‘mask waste ash catalyst (MWAC)’ to synthesise bisindolylmethanes (BIMs), alkaloids that possess antibacterial, antioxidant and antiviral properties. Using commercially available aldehydes and indole, an excellent yield of reaction (62–94%) was achieved using the MWAC in the presence of water as the sole solvent. On the other hand, the FT-IR spectrum of MWAC showed the absorption bands at 2337 cm−1, 1415 cm−1 and 871 cm−1, which correspond to the signals of calcium oxide. It is then proposed that the calcium oxides mainly present in MWAC can protonate oxygen atoms in the carbonyl molecule of the aldehyde group, thus facilitating the nucleophile attack by indole which consequently improved the product yield. Moreover, the MWAC is also observed to facilitate the photodegradation of methylene blue with an efficiency of up to 94.55%. Our results showed the potential applications of the MWAC derived from discarded face masks as a sustainable catalyst for bioactive compound synthesis and photodegradation of dye compounds

An interventional study on the levels of knowledge, attitude and practice on hand washing among the residents of Kampung Stapang I, Sibu from 11th June to 17th August 2012

/ Hand washing practice is one of preventive measures for some common infectious diseases. Thus to promote hand washing among community, level of knowledge and awareness amoog the population should be assessed so that appropriate interventions can be carried out. The objective of this study was to study the knowledge, attitude and practice 00 hand washing among residents of Stapang I aged 18 and above from 11th of June to 17th of August 201iJ The results obtained were then using as the baseline data to conduct an intervention programme beneficial to the community to enhance their level of knowledge, attitude and practice towards hand washing. Data collection was done by face to face interview using interview-based questionnaire. Data analysis was done using SPSS software version 20.0. Results showed that 50% of the respondents had good knowledge and good attitude while 63.3% had good practice towards hand washing. Post-intervention study showed significant improvement in the total score for knowledge and attitude towards hand washing (pO.05). In conclusion, there is a great need for intensive intervention in order to enhance the practice of hand washing among the respondents