Experimental solid and liquid propellant rocket development in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia: 1992-2011

This paper reports on the research and development activities related to the experimental solid and liquid propellant rocket in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) from year 1992 to 2011. A total of 41 closed access academic theses and project papers from UTM library archive were exclusively selected for this review work. Some of these theses and papers originally written in Malay language were translated into English language in this paper for better understanding of the research community. This paper gives a historical insight on the apparatus and methodology designed for educational research activities related to rocket propulsion in UTM. With the available resources within UTM, a few chemical propellant using Ammonium Perchlorate, Potassium Nitrate and hydrogen peroxide as oxidizer were tested in UTM propulsion lab. Besides discussing the rocket fuel components, composite rocket body, ceramic nozzle and alternative binder using natural rubber also covered in this review work. Significant experimental results and numerical findings achieved by UTM researchers were included in this paper

Observation on solid propellant ignition using high speed camera: the effect of hot wire position on the combustion flame contour

This paper reports on the discovery of unique flame structure of a composite propellant sample under hot wire ignition. The entire combustion process at atmospheric pressure condition was recorded using a high speed camera. Three hot wire orientations were chosen in this experiment for examining their effects on the propellant burning behavior. The results show that the wire orientations are crucial in propellant combustion process, as different flame patterns were observed when the hot wire orientation was altered. This paper provides an important insight into this specific ignition process that can be useful for researchers in the aerospace industry for better design and more realistic simulation results in ignition contro

High solid anaerobic co-digestion of household organic waste with cow manure for mass and energy recovery

This paper describes a batch study on four different mixture ratios of household organic waste and cow manure. The biomethane potential test is used to evaluate the suitability of high solid anaerobic co-digestion of household organic waste and cow manure and its biodegradability. The maximum methane yield was observed for both co-digestions in R3 (247 mL/g VS) and R4 (244 mL/g VS). The percentages of mass recovery were 65-80% (based on VS removal). The biodegradability of each reactor was recorded as 97.7%, 10.7%,71.6% and 76.8% for R1, R2, R3, and R4, respectively. High solid co-digestion of household organic waste and cow manure in different mixture ratios increase the specific methane yields compared to mono-digestion. Hence, this clearly demonstrates a synergistic effect on the stability of anaerobic digestion. Upon correcting the results of the theoretical method with experimental data, an agreement ranged 70-90% was achieved

Optimizing the Design Of Beam Squinted RLSA at 5.8GHz Frequency Band

The Radial Line Slot Array (RLSA) Antenna is known for its good characteristics such as low profile, low cost, aesthetically pleasing, ease of installation and simple structure. This research involves the optimization of the design and development of a novel linearly polarized Beam Squinted Radial Line Slot Array (RLSA) Antenna at 5.8 GHz band. The research objective is to study the optimum size of the antenna that can give an acceptable antenna’s performance. There are four prototypes with different sizes which have been developed and the measurements obtained indicate a return loss at 17.12 dB, antenna gain of 21 dB and 18.80% antenna bandwidth with 63.10% radiation efficiency for the 400mm diameter antenna desig

The effects of reynolds number on flow separation of Naca Aerofoil

The purpose of this study is to investigate the flow separation above UTM 2D Airfoil at three different Reynolds numbers which are 1 × 106, 1.5 × 106 and 2 × 106 using pressure distribution method and flow visualization. The experiment was conducted in UTM-LST (Low Speed Tunnel). The pressure distribution is done on three different wing span, which are 40%, 50% and 70%m of span and was measured and plotted to observe the flow characteristic at angle of attack from 0° to 35° for all three different Reynolds numbers. The flow visualization method was done at 10m/s, 20m/s and 30m/s airspeed from 0° to 18°. It is concluded that the Reynolds number of 1 × 106 separates at 16° Reynolds number of 1.5 × 106 separates at 18° and Reynolds number of 2 × 106 separates at 20°

Biogas harvesting from organic fraction of municipal solid waste as a renewable energy resource in Malaysia: a review

The accumulation of organic fraction in municipal solid waste (OFMSW) is now becoming scarce globally due to population and economic boosts, especially in Malaysia. Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills remain the predominant end-state for waste disposal in most developing countries. Unsustainable MSW management accelerates environmental degradation through landfill gaseous (LFG) emissions of mainly methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), which promote global warming that finally is affecting human health. Recently, harnessing CH4 from anaerobic digestion of solid waste has attracted more interest and promised betterment in MSW management. With its current amount of more than 50%, organic material in landfills is estimated to emit 310,225 CH4/year with carbon credit of US$85.93, which can potentially generate 2.20×109 kWh of electricity valued at US$ 220 million. This present work is a review manuscript that discusses the state-of-the-art anaerobic digestion of OFMSW as treatment in term of waste diversion from a landfill. The study also estimates the renewable energy potentials from OFMSW waste diversion. Finally, this paper discusses the benefits of harnessing biogas from the perspectives of environmental benefits, energy recovery, and economics

Development of An Indigenous Microwave Absorber

This paper describes the design and method in developing a low cost, reliable and good performance microwave absorber for the application in anechoic chamber room measurement. Theoretically, the absorber is designed and to be functioning at a frequency range from 1.5GHz to 15GHz (in pyramidalshaped). However, due to the equipment limitation for measurement, the absorber is only tested for 2GHz and 10GHz frequency. The pyramidal-shaped is chosen since its performance has been proven to work at microwave frequency. A survey on materials that can be used to coat the absorber has been carried out and a variety of the materials are tested. The absorbers are made from polystyrene, which are cut into pyramidal shape and then coated with carbon. The measurement of the pyramidal absorber is carried out in order to determine its performance. Lastly, the results are compared to the commercialized absorber in terms of the absorption performance and found to be less about 22.8% and 10.9% at 2GHz and 10GHz respectivel

A theoretical development to simplify the analysis of rectangular patch microwave sensor built on multi-layer substrate

This paper presents a method to simplify the analysis of a square patch microwave sensor built on a multi-layer substrate. The main feature of this method is the simplification of a multi-layer sensor structure into a sensor structure with a single homogeneous layer. The equivalent dieletric constant for the new single homogenous layer was discriminated using the method proposed in this paper. Effectively it eliminates the problem of mode matching between layers and thus reduces the amount of calculation and computing time. The method was compared with the experimental results and was found to give an error less than 4% in the worse case

Wideband microstrip antenna for land based vehicles

The objective of this project is to design, construct and fabricate microstrip antennas suitable for land based vehicles application centered at 2.4GHz. The antenna must operate within the unlicensed 2.4GHz band. This band is currently being used for the IEEE 802.11b and g standard and other industrial, medical and scientific applications. The antenna is proposed to be used as a transmitting as well as receiving antenna in wireless LANs and the mentioned applications. A rectangular microstrip prototype antenna was produced, with the bandwidth of 7.8 percent. The antenna covers the 2.4GHz band for wireless LAN with the bandwidth from 2.33GHz to 2.52 GHz. The antenna was fabricated on woven fiberglass substrate, that had a relative dielectric constant, εr = 4.88, a loss tangent tan δ = 0.001 and thickness, h of 1.57 mm

Absorbers analysis for anechoic chamber

The most important element in an anechoic chamber is absorbers. Absorbers will absorb an electromagnetic wave to provide nonreflecting environments sir to outer space. Absorbers have been deveiL it Radio Science Laboratory, Faculty of EJ. .:al Engineering, UTM, consisting of absorbing material in pyramid shape, carbon powder and coating liquid (paint). Absorbers are coated with carbon using oil and water-based paint. This paper highlights the design and construction of the absorbers, as well as the measurement system configuration for absorption measurements. The result is compared with those of commercially available absorbers