Hydrothermal Liquefaction Of An Industrial Biomass Waste: Brewer’s Spent Grain (Bsg)

This research examines the use of hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) process for a treatment of biomass industrial waste. Brewer’s spent grain (BSG) is a source of lignocellulose that has a potential to be used for chemicals and fuels production, thereby reducing the reliance on fossil sources. There are relatively few investigations on using BSG in this system; hence, the development of new techniques to valorise this agro-industrial waste is of a great interest as BSG is available in large quantities throughout the year.Two modes of HTL have been investigated to determine the effects of using the BSG with high moisture content. The first mode used the BSG as received without pre-treatment while the second mode used the dried BSG mixed with pure water. The BSG conversion, water-soluble oil (WSO) yield and liquid product generation were measured for both modes. The liquid products were also analysed to determine the types and concentration of valuable products obtained via HTL. The characterisation of the BSG reveals that the moisture content of the BSG is 74.7wt.% while the FTIR spectra confirms the presence of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin in the BSG. In addition, the comparison between the two HTL modes indicates that the direct HTL gives better BSG conversion, higher WSO yield and higher valuable products concentration. Therefore, it is concluded that BSG has a high potential to be converted into valuable products via direct HTL without pre-treatment. This opens a new opportunity for a sustainable alternative to waste valorizatio

Passive Nitrogen Oxides Removal from a Diesel-engine Exhaust Gas Using a Biomass-carbon Catalyst

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) removal from a diesel-engine exhaust gas requires the utilization of ammonia/urea as a reducing agent (SCR) which arose environmental concerns over the use of this chemical. Therefore, this study explored the potential of using a sustainable NOx removal system by replacing ammonia with intrinsic reductants present in the exhaust gas, such as hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide, and by application of cost-effective carbon-supported transitional metals catalyst. Copper-cerium catalyst supported over palm kernel shell activated carbon (Cu-Ce/PKS) was synthesized via deposition-precipitation method. The characterization shows that the catalyst has a considerably high surface area (though lower than the support). The high NOx removal by Cu-Ce/PKS in a passive catalytic reaction is attributable to the surface area provided by the carbon support, the low copper reducibility which leads to the low optimum operating temperature, and the synergistic effect between Cu and Ce which resulted in the wide temperature window at low-temperature range. It is concluded that Cu-Ce supported over palm kernel shell activated carbon can be further developed to reduce NOx in a passive catalytic removal for a sustainable and cost-effective SCR system

BIOLOGI DALAM ALQURAN PERSPEKTIF SAINS

It is the Qur'an as a book that God decides s.w.t certainly has many uniqueness. He includes privileges in various disciplines that are useful for human use. They are biological sciences that study the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution and sprinkling of living things. In general, biological science is divided into several fields including anatomy, biophysics, biogeography, biochemistry, marine biology, molecular biology, cell biology, botany, biotechnology, physiology, microbiology, paleontology, pathology, virology and zoology. In the Qur'an there are several signs that indirectly show the relation of several fields in this field of biology. The application of modern science to it has succeeded in revealing the uniqueness of several issues that have been stated in this holy book from a scientific perspective. This study presents a number of examples of the Qur'anic verses which are seen from the point of view of several fields of biology that have been stated. The related verse is translated and then reviewed based on findings from scientific studies conducted by investigators. The results of the study show that there are many verses that have been revealed by Allah. This gives a signal to the uniqueness of many fields in biology, after studies and observations by modern-day investigators