Two-stage anaerobic process coupled with single-stage aerobic process for raw palm oil mill effluent treatment

Malaysia is the second large contributor in the palm oil industry after Indonesia. Yearly, approximately 13 million tonnes of crude palm oil are produced. During the crude palm oil extraction process, huge amount of brownish-oily liquid sludge, known as palm oil mill effluent (POME), are generated. The acidic and high organic loadings characteristics of POME can cause severe water pollution if being discharged to the water bodies without proper treatment. In most oil palm production mills, ponding treatment system is adopted. The treatment paradigm, however, has shifted from ponding system to integrated high rate bioreactors by coupling anaerobic and aerobic processes. Despite the outstanding treatment performance exhibited by this bioreactor, diluted POME was used in almost all previous studies instead of fresh raw POME. Thus, treatment performance by the researched bioreactors for fresh raw POME real application may not be as efficient. Therefore, this study aimed to employ the principle of two-stage anaerobic process followed by a single stage aerobic process for the treatment of fresh raw POME. The treatment efficiency of this system was examined by evaluating the removal of several important parameters, namely chemical oxygen demand (COD) and sludge reduction reported in terms of total suspended solids. Throughout the 150 days of operation, approximately 93% and 55% of reduction were observed for COD and TSS, respectively, suggesting this integrated system was competent in treating high strength wastewater. Nonetheless, further research need to be made to ensure the stability consistency and feasibility of this integrated system

Developing a Skill-Set Model for Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) Era: A Conceptual Paper

Most industries are experiencing the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0), which requires graduates to learn new skills to be future-proof. Hence, skill preparation for graduates will be crucial. The Malaysia Education Plan 2015-2025 (Higher Education) stated that there is a mismatch in the supply-demand of graduates, with companies claiming that graduates lack the necessary skills and the educational institution not having clear signals of industry's requirement. Previous study indicates the inadequacy in the literature that discussed on the specific IR4.0 skills set needed for business graduates in Malaysia. So, this study aims to (1) explore IR4.0 skills set based on supplies-demand perspective and (2) develop an IR4.0 skills set model for business graduates. Qualitative study will be conducted via Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with service sector and higher education participants. Using NVivo, the model will be developed based on thematic analysis. This study is expected to enhance graduate’s employability. Practically, the study assists the educational institution in building and equip the graduate with the right skills for these IR4.0 era. Furthermore, this study is expected to reduce the skills mismatch

Consumption pattern on fruits and vegetables among adults: a case of Malaysia

The increasing growth of expenditure on fruits and vegetables in Malaysia is related to the consumers’ health awareness and increasing spending power. However, the consumption pattern on fruits and vegetables in Malaysia is still very low in comparison with other countries. Hence, this study aims to explore fruits and vegetables purchasing behavior and its consumption pattern in Malaysia. The research was conducted among adults by using quantitative approach. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed among 1200 respondents in seven selected cities around Malaysia. Eventually, the outcomes indicated that fruits like apple, orange, banana, watermelon and papaya were the most preferred fruits; meanwhile vegetables such as chili, cabbage, cucumber, leaf mustard, tomatoes and water convolvulus were most favorable to consume by adults. Moreover, quality and nutritional contents in the fruits and vegetables set as priority factors for respondents when they were shopping for it at the markets. In conclusion, the findings will beneficially provide information for marketers to plan better promotional strategies to increase fruits and vegetables consumption among adults in Malaysia

The phytoremediation using water hyacinth and water lettuce : correlation between sugar content, biomass growth rate, and nutrients

Degradation of water quality due to the presence of pollutants in water is an emerging issue in many countries, including Malaysia. Phytoremediation is one of the environmentally friendly, cost-effective conventional technologies that are still used in modern times. However, the selection of plant species is the most important aspect for the application of phytoremediation in wastewater treatment. Nevertheless, there are species of floating aquatic macrophytes that are capable of coping with various pollutants present in wastewater. Among the various floating aquatic macrophyte species, water hyacinth (WH) and water lettuce (WL) have been described as effective phytoremediators in reducing water pollution through bioaccumulation in their body tissues. Hence, WH and WL were chosen in this study as it is easily found, propagated, and cultivated. This paper aims to determine the biosorption capacity of these species in eliminating various pollutants present in wastewater as well as to define the optimum harvesting time for each species. Although these floating aquatic macrophytes are considered the most problematic plants due to their uncontrollable growth in water bodies worldwide, their ability to remove pollutants from wastewater has created a sustainable approach for their use in phytoremediation. In this sense, the use of phytoremediation by implementing the invasive floating aquatic macrophytes can certainly support the sustainable management of wastewater treatment in the future. Based on the results, it was found that WH efficiently removed higher PO4 3-, NO3 - and NO2 - concentrations compared to WL from the wastewater. Both WH and WL showed the same trend of correlation between the growth rate and sugar content, where the sugar content increased when the plants reached the highest growth rate. The maximum nutrient uptake occurred in 14-17 days, proving that nutrient availability is critical for plant growth. This study concludes that the sugar content of WH and WL are increased with the biomass growth rate, and both plants species are competent in eradicating the nutrient pollution in wastewater. On top of that, this study infers that the maximum harvesting period for WH biomass is on day 18, while WL biomass is on day 21; based on the highest sugar content and biomass weight of each species

Utilisation of Social Media by Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Brunei Darussalam

Social media has increasingly become the new platform for conducting business activities, especially amongst Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) on account of its practicality, relatively low costs, accessibility, and flexibility. Social media has transformed the business-to-customer relationship with regards to the empowerment of both sides of the relationship through increased participation, interaction, communication and most importantly, the control of information. This paper focuses on two social media platforms, namely Instagram and Facebook, in identifying the factors that promote the usage of social media by MSMEs in doing business activities. Based on the four objectives and hypotheses proposed in this study, an electronic questionnaire was conducted to find out how the effectiveness and interactivity factors significantly influence the use of social media and how social media will contribute to organisational performance and thus serve as competitive advantages for MSMEs in the context of Brunei Darussalam. Keywords: MSMEs; Social Media; Interactivity; Effectiveness; Organisational Performance; Competitive Advantage JEL Classifications: D91, L2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/irmm.1090

Performance evaluation and energy potential analysis of anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) in the treatment of simulated milk wastewater

An anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) was employed as primary treatment unit for anaerobic treatment of simulated wastewater to produce high effluent quality. A lab scale hollow fiber membrane was used to scrutinize the performance of AnMBR as a potential treatment system for simulated milk wastewater and analyze its energy recovery potential. The 15 L bioreactor was operated continuously at mesophilic conditions (35 °C) with a pH constant of 7.0. The membrane flux was in the range of 9.6–12.6 L/m2. h. The different organic loading rates (OLRs) of 1.61, 3.28, 5.01, and 8.38 g-COD/L/d, of simulated milk wastewater, were fed to the reactor and the biogas production rate was analyzed, respectively. The results revealed that the COD removal efficiencies of 99.54 ± 0.001% were achieved at the OLR of 5.01 gCOD/L/d. The highest methane yield was found to be at OLR of 1.61 gCOD/L/d at HRT of 30 d with the value of 0.33 ± 0.01 L-CH4/gCOD. Moreover, based on the analysis of energy balance in the AnMBR system, it was found that energy is positive at all the given HRTs. The net energy production (NEP) ranged from 2.594 to 3.268 kJ/gCOD, with a maximum NEP value of 3.268 kJ/gCOD at HRT 10 d HRT. Bioenergy recovery with the maximum energy ratio, of 4.237, was achieved with an HRT of 5 d. The study suggests a sizable energy saving with the anaerobic membrane process

Integrating two-stage up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket with a single-stage aerobic packed-bed reactorfor raw palm oil mill effluent treatment

Annually, enormous amount of palm oil mill effluent (POME) ranging between 56.58 to 70.55 million m3 are producedduring the production of palm oil. Its acidic and high organic loading characteristics can cause severe water pollution if discharged without proper treatment. In Malaysia, most oil palm production mills adopted ponding treatment system. However, this treatment requires high retention time and large build area. Thus, the treatment paradigm has shifted tointegrated high rate bioreactors by coupling anaerobic and aerobic processesdue to the incompetency of the conventional treatment in complying the standard effluent discharged outlined by the Department of Environment.Despite the outstanding treatment performance exhibited by this bioreactor, diluted POME was used in almost all previous studies instead of fresh raw POME. Therefore, the researched bioreactors may not be as efficient in real application. This present study aimed to employ the principle of two-stage anaerobic process followed by a single stage aerobic process for the treatment of fresh raw POME, in whicha two-stage upflow anaerobic sludge blanket digester was integrated with a single-stage anaerobic packed bed reactor. This is to ensure the lignocellulosic components will be broken down into simpler organic compounds in the first stage anaerobic bioreactor followed by their reduction in the second stage anaerobic and single stage aerobic bioreactors.With this, the potential mechanical problems and inhibition on the operational interference of the currently available integrated system is rectified. Thus, the overall performance can be enhanced.The treatment efficiency of this system was examined by evaluating the removal of several important parameters, namely chemical oxygen demand (COD) and sludge reduction reported in terms of total suspended solids (TSS). Throughout the 150 days of operation, approximately 93% and 55% of reduction were observed for COD and TSS, respectively, suggesting this integrated system was competent in treating high strength wastewater.Nonetheless, further research need to be made to ensure the stability consistency and feasibility of this integrated system

INTEGRATING TWO-STAGE UP-FLOW ANAEROBIC SLUDGE BLANKET WITH A SINGLE-STAGE AEROBIC PACKED-BED REACTORFOR RAW PALM OIL MILL EFFLUENT TREATMENT

Annually, enormous amount of palm oil mill effluent (POME) ranging between 56.58 to 70.55 million m3 are producedduring the production of palm oil. Its acidic and high organic loading characteristics can cause severe water pollution if discharged without proper treatment. In Malaysia, most oil palm production mills adopted ponding treatment system. However, this treatment requires high retention time and large build area. Thus, the treatment paradigm has shifted tointegrated high rate bioreactors by coupling anaerobic and aerobic processesdue to the incompetency of the conventional treatment in complying the standard effluent discharged outlined by the Department of Environment.Despite the outstanding treatment performance exhibited by this bioreactor, diluted POME was used in almost all previous studies instead of fresh raw POME. Therefore, the researched bioreactors may not be as efficient in real application. This present study aimed to employ the principle of two-stage anaerobic process followed by a single stage aerobic process for the treatment of fresh raw POME, in whicha two-stage upflow anaerobic sludge blanket digester was integrated with a single-stage anaerobic packed bed reactor. This is to ensure the lignocellulosic components will be broken down into simpler organic compounds in the first stage anaerobic bioreactor followed by their reduction in the second stage anaerobic and single stage aerobic bioreactors.With this, the potential mechanical problems and inhibition on the operational interference of the currently available integrated system is rectified. Thus, the overall performance can be enhanced.The treatment efficiency of this system was examined by evaluating the removal of several important parameters, namely chemical oxygen demand (COD) and sludge reduction reported in terms of total suspended solids (TSS). Throughout the 150 days of operation, approximately 93% and 55% of reduction were observed for COD and TSS, respectively, suggesting this integrated system was competent in treating high strength wastewater.Nonetheless, further research need to be made to ensure the stability consistency and feasibility of this integrated system

A nosedive into Bertapak Buana

The Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design (KAED), IIUM was given a stretch of land within the campus to develop the Malay Enclave Project. The Malay Enclave Project was initiated in 2017 through the preservation and relocation of the 111 years old Rumah Kutai from the state of Perak as a move towards preserving the Malay heritage and architecture as part of the UNESCO Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) initiative. “Reminiscing the Tradition” is the overall project concept to recall the continuity of Malay culture-their customs and institutions as well as their social attitudes. Under the Malay Enclave Project, a multidisciplinary KAED student group from the three disciplines-Architecture, Interior Design and Quantity Surveyor; were given the task to design IIUM Cultural and Natural Heritage Living Centre. The site was divided into four different plots. Each team were required to produce a strong concept and work together to create a masterplan of IIUM Cultural and Natural Heritage Living Centre. The team is also required to design five gazebos in the masterplan that reflect the Bugis culture. Bugis is one of the Malay Nusantara culture found in Gombak. The Gazebo is to be designed to budget