The Development of Energy Efficiency Estimation System (EEES) for Sustainable Development: A Proposed Study

AbstractIn the modern era of globalization, energy is regarded as something precious. Thus, energy efficiency (EE) and cost effectiveness are key factors in maintaining economic growth. EE also educates consumers on ways to use energy efficiently and therefore, reduces energy consumption. In Malaysia, domestic sector is the third largest contributor to energy usage. The purpose of this study is to review EE practices and applications in residential buildings in order to raise awareness on smart energy consumption. In the preliminary stage of this study, consumers estimate their monthly energy consumption of their electrical appliances by using Quality Function Deployment (QFD) approach. QFD approach focuses on consumers’ opinion of electrical appliances good and beneficial functions. Selection of residence was made between medium and affordable cost residential areas in Johor. Databases for energy relating to electrical appliances were developed based on the data obtained from the relevant ministry and agencies such as KeTTHA, Energy Commission and TNB. Energy Efficiency Estimation System (EEES) is being developed to help consumers estimate the amount of energy being used daily, which will help consumers to use energy more efficiently. EE indirectly helps reduce the effect on environment especially the greenhouse gases. The promotion of EE and independence from the non-renewable energy source is important in ensuring a sustainable development

Mechanical Properties and Morphological Characteristics of Polypropylene Ternary Nanocomposite (PP-LS-MWCNT) for Industrial Applications

Polymer nanocomposites are credited with better properties compared with the conventional composite made from microfillers and have found potential applications in civil constructions and fabrication of process vessels. Dispersion of multiple fillers in polymer matrix has become a subject of interest as it addresses most of the common shortcomings observed in the binary composite and enhances the development of composites with multifunctional properties. Polypropylene (PP) ternary nanocomposites of layered silicate (LS) and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) have been prepared at a pre-determined percentage (3%) layered silicate while the MWCNT loadings were varied between 0.1 and 0.7%. The investigation focused on the effect of MWCNT loadings on the binary precursor (PP/LS) measured in terms of tensile strength and Young’s modulus. The degree of enhancement was compared with the level of dispersion measured by wide angle X-ray diffraction (WXRD) and complemented with the morphological characterization using transmission and scanning electron microscope (TEM and SEM) respectively. The results show that the Sample 1 with 0.17% MWCNT displayed highest enhancement of 52.30MPa and 1759.32MPa for tensile strength and elastic modulus respectively compared with Sample 2 and 3 with higher MWCNT content that gave 48.19 and 1679.26MPa and 47.43 and 1726.14MPa for tensile strength and Young’s modulus respectively. WXRD gave up to 28Å and 20.11Å in the clay layer distance within the composite and LS respectively, indicating intercalation in the composite system. TEM images show clearly well distributed fillers in Sample 1 with 0.17% MWCNT, partly distributed in Sample 2 with 0.45% and array of network of carbon nanotubes in Sample 3 with 0.16% MWCNT. These results were complemented with SEM images which show that the composites developed are combination of exfoliation, intercalation and some micromixing. Key words: Polypropylene ternary Nanocomposites layered silicate (LS) multiwall carbon nanotubes (PP-LS-MWCNT), tensile properties, morphological characterization

Finite Element Simulation on Damage and Fracture Properties of a Ring Cut from Filament-Wound Pipes with and without Delamination

The technological advances in various industries have increased the demands on new engineered material tremendously since conventional materials such as steel, failed to perform in severe conditions. Nowadays, composite materials especially fibre-reinforced plastic composites (FRP) are broadly being used in many engineering fields to manufacture critical components with high stress concentration, exposure to extreme surrounding or weight constraint. However, they often suffer from a characteristic weakness, i.e. they are prone to interlaminar damage, often in a form delamination. In order to assess the development and the consequences of such damage, interlaminar fracture properties are essential. In this study, the ring cut specimen from filament-wound pipes with and without delamination was modelled and simulated based on experimental work using finite element modelling to further assist the identification and determination of the fracture properties. Investigation also involves the effect of the delamination length to the Energy Release Rate, G. Comparison between 23mm delamination of simulation and experimental results from [7] is presented

PM10 emission inventory of industrial and road transport vehicles in Klang Valley, Peninsular Malaysia

Rapid development in industrial and road transportation sector in developing countries has contributing the environmental issue. Determining the estimated PM10 emission in Klang Valley, Malaysia is based on the best available resources. Emission of PM10 from both sources was estimated particularly from numbers of industries (industrial area and emission factor) and the usage of motor vehicles (traffic volume, vehicle kilometer travel and emission factor). The PM10  emission from both industrial and road transportation sector were 88.59 tonne PM10/year and 32.36 tonne PM10/year respectively.Thus, the total estimated PM10 emission was 120.95 tonne PM10/year. Therefore, the PM10 emission from both sources in Klang Valley can be estimated based on the best available resources due to limitation of actual PM10 emission from both sector.Keywords: PM10 emission; emission factor; vehicle kilometer travel; industrial sector; road transportation secto

Finite Element Simulation on Crack Analysis of a Thick-Tube

Most engineering failure began with cracks. Crack may caused by material defect, discontinuities in geometry or damage in service. Thus, Fracture Mechanics is introduced as a method for predicting failure of a surface containing a crack. This project is focusing on pre-existing crack with assumption that no microscopic defects are presents. Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) is used to evaluate the Stress Intensity Factor (SIF) of the specimen. Further analysis is done by incorporating Elastic Plastic Fracture Mechanics (EPFM) to understand the crack growth over period of time. In this study, the important parameters in fracture mechanics such as Stress Intensity Factor (SIF), Crack Mouth Opening Displacement (CMOD), J Integral and stable crack growth are been investigated. A complex loading simulation of NKS-3 specimen is done using finite element modeling. The NKS-3 is a thick-tube used in Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) which has a circumferential flaw on its inner surface. The cylinder is loaded with axial tensile load and internal pressure combined with thermal shock. A 2-Dimensional Axysimmetric-4 nodes element with focused mesh at the crack tip is employed in the simulation. Several analyses have been done using hardening data at different temperature. A comparison of solution is made for simulation with and without thermal load history. Further analysis showed that the stable crack growth is estimated to be around 3.0mm

A SMS-Based Intelligent Disaster Alert System

A SMS-Based Intelligent Disaster Alert System (IDAS) is an expert system in helping geologist to predict disaster incidences. The disaster includes flood, earthquake, hurricane, drought and tsunami. If disaster is predicted, an alert based on possible disaster area will be sent to the residents via mobile device i.e. Short Messaging System (SMS). The system is developed by utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques of Rule-Based, Decision Tree Analysis and Guided Rules Reduction System. A Microsoft Visual Studio.Net and MySQL database are used as the software development environment while SMS technology is based on Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) connected to IDAS. The case study was done at the area of Melaka Tengah, Melaka. A resident’s information is stored in the database in order to send alert via SMS. Once disaster is predicted, SMS will be sent to their respective mobile phone

Conflicts and management styles in the Sri Lankan commercial building sector

The Sri Lankan commercial building industry is currently experiencing a construction boom after thirty years of civil war. Creating a dispute free environment through well conflict management is one of the main ways to keep the continuous demand and development of construction. However, the Sri Lankan construction sector is arranged in such a way that they directly approach the dispute resolution rather than avoiding the dispute initially through proper conflict management. The aim of this research is to understand the prevailing conflict management styles in Sri Lankan commercial building industry from the main stakeholders’ perspective. The dual concern theory is applied to this study as a theory foundation. Four cases are selected for this study with the intention of conducting meetings with three main stakeholders of each case who represented client, consultants and contractors respectively. The research findings reveal that compromising is the most common conflict management style used by the industry. Forcing style obtained the second place in the ranking whereas obliging and avoiding received third and fourth places. This study is conducted to provide a full picture of conflicts faced by the Sri Lankan commercial building industry and their proper management so that the future projects will use this information to diminish the destructive effects of conflict situations and provide a real value for money. Key Words: Conflict Management; Dual Concern Theory; Commercial Building Sector; Sri Lank

A century of trends in adult human height

Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.5-22.7) and 16.5 cm (13.3-19.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8-144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3�6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55 of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017�and more than 80 in some low- and middle-income regions�was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing�and in some countries reversal�of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories. © 2019, The Author(s)