VERTICAL FLOATING BREAKWATER (VFB)

The awareness to prevent the shorelines from erosion since many years ago has led to many efforts to protect the coastal areas. This paper focuses on the hard engineering way to protect the coast by the application of floating breakwater. The research is a laboratory-based project on the innovation of floating breakwater concept by introducing the vertical pipe as a part of floating structure that submerged into the water. The effect of variation of draft and the arrangement of the vertical pipes on the wave transmission were studied. The design concept is aimed particularly for application in areas of weak soil profile especially for West Coast Peninsular Malaysia under the shallow water condition. In contrast to conventional fixed breakwater that poses direct loading to the seabed, the proposed floating breakwater has the potential to reduce wave transmission with promising application especially in the weaker muddy area. This objective has been demonstrated by experimental work using hydraulic 2D model test where small scale of 1:5 of designed models has been successfully tested with three designed models which are Designed Model A (4 rows of vertical pipes), Designed Model B (2 rows of vertical pipes) and Designed Model C (1 row of vertical pipes). Model parameters used: incident wave height of 0.02 m < Hi < 0.06 m, relative draft of vertical pipe into the water of 0.2 < Dr/D < 0.6, wavelength with range 0.25 m to 3 m, number of rows of vertical pipes (1, 2, and 4 rows) and wave period range of 0.5 sec – 2 sec. Results of the investigation show that the greater the number of rows of vertical pipes attenuates the wave better. Using Dr/D 0.5. For Designed Model A and B; they have capability to serve the purpose well as wave attenuator which applicable for moderate wave but with own limitation of wave height, wave period and wavelength

VERTICAL FLOATING BREAKWATER (VFB)

The awareness to prevent the shorelines from erosion since many years ago has led to many efforts to protect the coastal areas. This paper focuses on the hard engineering way to protect the coast by the application of floating breakwater. The research is a laboratory-based project on the innovation of floating breakwater concept by introducing the vertical pipe as a part of floating structure that submerged into the water. The effect of variation of draft and the arrangement of the vertical pipes on the wave transmission were studied. The design concept is aimed particularly for application in areas of weak soil profile especially for West Coast Peninsular Malaysia under the shallow water condition. In contrast to conventional fixed breakwater that poses direct loading to the seabed, the proposed floating breakwater has the potential to reduce wave transmission with promising application especially in the weaker muddy area. This objective has been demonstrated by experimental work using hydraulic 2D model test where small scale of 1:5 of designed models has been successfully tested with three designed models which are Designed Model A (4 rows of vertical pipes), Designed Model B (2 rows of vertical pipes) and Designed Model C (1 row of vertical pipes). Model parameters used: incident wave height of 0.02 m < Hi < 0.06 m, relative draft of vertical pipe into the water of 0.2 < Dr/D < 0.6, wavelength with range 0.25 m to 3 m, number of rows of vertical pipes (1, 2, and 4 rows) and wave period range of 0.5 sec – 2 sec. Results of the investigation show that the greater the number of rows of vertical pipes attenuates the wave better. Using Dr/D 0.5. For Designed Model A and B; they have capability to serve the purpose well as wave attenuator which applicable for moderate wave but with own limitation of wave height, wave period and wavelength

Special oils for halal and safe cosmetics

Three types of non conventional oils were extracted, analyzed and tested for toxicity. Date palm kernel oil (DPKO), mango kernel oil (MKO) and Ramputan seed oil (RSO). Oil content for tow cultivars of dates Deglect Noor and Moshkan was 9.67% and 7.30%, respectively. The three varieties of mango were found to contain about 10% oil in average. The red yellow types of Ramputan were found to have 11 and 14% oil, respectively. The phenolic compounds in DPKO, MKO and RSO were 0.98, 0.88 and 0.78 mg/ml Gallic acid equivalent, respectively. Oils were analyzed for their fatty acid composition and they are rich in oleic acid C18:1 and showed the presence of (dodecanoic acid) lauric acid C12:0, which reported to appear some antimicrobial activities. All extracted oils, DPKO, MKO and RSO showed no toxic effect using prime shrimp bioassay. Since these oils are stable, melt at skin temperature, have good lubricity and are great source of essential fatty acids; they could be used as highly moisturizing, cleansing and nourishing oils because of high oleic acid content. They are ideal for use in such halal cosmetics such as Science, Engineering and Technology 75 skin care and massage, hair-care, soap and shampoo products

Hungernomics: explaining food trade sustainability

This study explores the relationship between the total exports and total imports of the food industry in Sarawak from 1961 through 2007. We examined the sample period of the pre-1997 crisis (1961-1996) and the full sample period (1961-2007) to investigate disparities for pre- crisis sample. Analysis was carried out using standard econometric procedure and Dynamic OLS estimation for the annual observations of the two sample period. This study’s major findings are: (1) long run relationships were detected in the full sample period whereas they were absent in the pre-crisis period; (2) imbalances in food were found to be weakly sustainable for the full sample; (3) for every ringgit increase in imports, exports rose by RM0.803 for the full sample, revealing that imports grew at a rate faster than exports. This finding suggests that reducing the size of imports may improve imbalances in Sarawak’s food industry

Numerical Gas–Liquid Two-Phase Flow Regime Identification in a Horizontal Pipe Using Dynamic Pressure Data

Gas–liquid two-phase flow is very common in industrial pipelines. Flow regime identification is the first step to design, analyze, and operate the gas–liquid system successfully. The purpose of this study is to develop a methodology for identification of a two-phase flow regime using post signal processing techniques, namely Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and Probabilistic Density Function (PDF). Three different flow regimes were simulated in a 6 m horizontal pipe with a 0.050 m inner diameter. A Level-Set (LS) method coupled with Volume of Fluid (VOF) method is used to model the air–water interface. After validation of the numerical method, dynamic pressure readings were collected with the intent to identify the associated flow regimes by post-processing of these signals. It was concluded that dynamic pressure signals of different flow regimes show different characteristics (like dominant frequency, FFT amplitude, PDF location and PDF magnitude) in the time and frequency domains. These characteristics can be potentially used as differentiating factors to distinguish different flow regimes. This research is limited to stratified, slug, and annular flow in the horizontal pipe. This paper uses a new approach to identify the flow regime in a horizontal pipe by Fast Fourier Transform and Probability Density Function of dynamic pressure readings obtained by using numerical simulation

A study of models for predicting computer software reliability

In the past twenty years and due to expansion in software systems the problem of software reliability has arisen. Many mathematical models have been developed to describe the behaviour of software package errors and then to get some measures from which the reliability of these software packages can be calculated. [Continues.

Modelling of soil nitrogen forms after organic amendments under controlled conditions

This N model is derived from the C model (MOMOS) published by Sallih and Pansu (1993). Both models were fitted to experimental data obtained from an incubation experiment of 14C- and 15N-labelled plant material in two soils with contrasting characteristics over 2 y under controlled laboratory conditions. The N model uses the same structure as the C model with five organic compartments : labile plant material (Vl) ; stable plant material (Vr) ; microbial biomass (B) ; labile humified material (A) ; and stable humified material (H). Two additional compartments are included : exchangeable NH4-N and NO3-N. The transfers of N between the organic compartments are described according to first-order kinetics. Nitrogen transferred to the NH4 compartment results from the balance between the output and input of all the organic compartments. Ammonium N ouptut is split between nitrification and immobilisation into B (77%) and H (23%). Nitrification is controlled by a microbial growth law. The N model uses the parameters defined in the C model, with a constant multiplying factor for the N kinetic constants (fn = 1.4 and 1.9 in soil 1 and 2, respectively). The additional parameters defined for inorganic pools are comparable in both soils. The predicted 14C-to-15N ratios of each organic compartment agree with the experimental data, showing a rapid incorporation of 15N into microbial biomass and a gradual build-up into stable humified compounds. The model was adjusted to 15N experimental data from five time series (each series containing from five to eight sampling occasions), and was validated using five series of corresponding total N data. MOMOS-C and -N formulation is relatively simple, combining mechanistic first-order kinetic models and growth models. The predictions are in agreement with 16 data sets including different forms of organic 14C (three series), total C (three series), organic and inorganic 15N and total N. (Résumé d'auteur

Modelling the effect of active roots on soil organic matter turnover

The aim of this experiment was to study the effect of living roots on soil carbon metabolism at different decomposition stages during a long-term incubation. Plant material labelled with 14C and 15N was incubated in two contrasting soils under controlled laboratory conditions, over two years. Half the samples were cropped with wheat (#Triticum aestivum$) 11 times in succession. At earing time the wheat was harvested, the roots were extracted from the soil and a new crop was started. Thus the soil were continuously occupied by active root systems. The other half of the samples was maintained bare, without plants under the same conditions. Over the 2 years, pairs of cropped and bare soils were analysed at eight sampling occasions (total, plant debris-, and microbial biomass-C and -14C). A five compartment (labile and recalcitrant plant residues, labile microbial metabolites, microbial biomass and stabilised humified compounds) decomposition model was fitted to the labelled and soil native organic matter data of the bare and cropped soils. Two different phases in the decomposition processes showed a different plant effect. (1) During the initial fast decomposition stage, labile 14C-material stimulated microbial activities and N immobilisation, increasing the 14C-microbial biomass. In the presence of living roots, competition between microorganisms and plants for inorganic N weakly lowered the measured and predicted total-14C mineralisation and resulted in a lower plant productivity compared to subsequent growths. (2) In contrast, beyond 3-6 months, when the labile material was exhausted, during the slow decomposition stage, the presence of living roots stimulated the mineralisation of the recalcitrant plant residue-14C in the standy soil and of the humified-14C in the clay soil... (D'après résumé d'auteur