Optimization of biosorption process using cucumis melo rind for the removal of Fe, Mn and Pb ions from groundwater

Biosorption can be an effective technique for the treatment of metal-bearing groundwater. Several fruits and agricultural by-products demonstrated the ability to remove the heavy metals and thereby reduce the water contaminants. In the present study, the potential use of biosorbent material obtained from Cucumis melo rind for the removal of Pb, Fe and Mn ions from groundwater was investigated according to four types of parameters namely pH, biosorbent dosage, initial metal concentration and contact time. Characterization of biosorbent was done by the means of SEM-EDX, XRF and FTIR analysis to observe for the surface morphology, elemental composition and functional groups available on the biosorbent. Sorption was most efficient at pH 7 for Fe(II) and pH 6.5 for both Mn(II) and Pb(II) using 0.05g/100ml biosorbent dosage at contact time of 45 minutes. The biosorption of all metals increased with increasing biosorbent dosage. FTIR study revealed the presence of functional groups on the surface of biosorbent facilitates the biosorption of the metal ions. The Langmuir, Freundlich and BET isotherm models were used to predict the behavior metal binding while Langergren Pseudo-first and Pseudo-second order were used to study the kinetics aspects. The equilibrium data for all metals were best fit to the Langmuir adsorption isotherm with maximum adsorption capacity of 5.3505 mg/g, 2.7525 mg/g and 0.0830 mg/g respectively for Fe(II), Mn(II) and Pb(II). The result indicates that the Pseudo-second order model best describes the kinetics data. The Cucumis melo rind successfully removes up to 90.73%, 91.47% and 90.94% respectively to Fe, Mn and Pb in the groundwater samples which reduce the metals level below the WHO recommended limits of heavy metal for drinking water

Effect of Natural Polymer as Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitor Using Micro Differential Scanning Calorimetry (μDSC)

Gas hydrate is a one of the major concerns in flow assurance industry. Formation of gas hydrate would cause the plugging of the pipeline, interruption in drilling operations and damage of rig equipment. This will increase the OPEX of the field development which later reduces the revenue of oil and gas production. One of the ways to overcome this problem is by adding kinetic inhibitor which inhibits the formation of gas hydrate. Nowadays, there has been a trend in the use of kinetic hydrate inhibitors as substitutes for thermodynamic inhibitors like methanol. This project aims to study the effectiveness of using natural polymers as kinetic inhibitors. To achieve the main objective, firstly, a thorough research was done to fully understand the formation of hydrate and kinetic inhibitors. Next, the experiment starts with preparation of samples in the lab and later testing the samples using Micro-Differential Scanning Calorimetry equipment which measures the heat flux of a sample versus time or temperature, while the temperature of the sample is programmed, in a controlled environment. From the experimental works of this project, it was found that both of chitosan and starch shows a kinetic inhibiting effect whereby the addition of each natural polymer were able to prolong the induction time of hydrate formation. The induction time for the natural polymers are; 1.0 wt% of chitosan (98.4 min) , 1.0 wt% of starch (96.7 min), 0.1 wt% chitosan (98.4 min) and 0.1 wt% starch (91.5 min). Comparing the induction time of each natural polymers with the blank sample (distilled water, 92.2 min), all of the samples tested were able to delay the hydrate formation, except for 0.1 wt% starch

The Effect of Various Fly Ash Content on Geopolymer Concrete with Different Curing Regime

Environmental problems associated with cement production had long been recognized and concerns of reducing the impact from cement industry had arisen globally. Therefore, the urge to replace usage of cement in concrete with other materials h? s become the main focus in construction industry nowadays. Fly ash as a waste material resulted from combustion of coal in the electrical power plant, had also contributed to environmental problems due to abundance of fly ash that was disposed to the landfills. However, fly ash is a pozzolanic material that contain high amount of aluminium and silicon which has high potential to replace cement. In this research, Geopolymer Concrete had been developed by incorporating fly ash as the main binder and completely eliminated the used of cement. Various fly ash densities was used in this research which are 250,300,350,400 and 450 kg/m3, in order to identify the optimum proportion of fly ash in Geopolymer Concrete. The Geopolymer Concrete was cured under 3 different curing regimes which are ambient, external exposure and oven curing, to identify the effect of curing regime on concrete strength. The compressive strength were tested on 3, 7,28 and 56 days for ambient and external exposure curing, while 1,3,7, and 28 days for oven curing. Besides, the inner properties of Geopolymer Concrete was also studied. The other materials used to develop this concrete are 8M sodium hydroxide, sodium silicate, aggregates and extra water. In the manufacturing process, all the solid components were dry mixed for 2.5 minutes and continued with wet mixed for another 1.5 minutes by added all the liquid components. Th-. Geopolymer Concrete was manufactured by adopting the same equipment as OPC Concrete. It is concluded that the optimum mix proportion of' fly ash in Geopolymer Concrete were recorded as 300,350 and 400 kg/m3 for ambient, external exposure and oven curing respectively. The results showed that curing regime had significant impact on concrete compressive strength. Oven curing concrete had the highest compressive strength compared to other concretes. The inner properties of Geopolymer Concrete was studied by conducting Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) Analysis. From the images of concrete obtained, the relation between the Interfacial Transition Zone (ITZ) with compressive strength was verified

Behavior and Toxicity of Phosphonium Based Ionic Liquids

Phosphonium based ionic liquids are having the advantages of enhancing chemical stability under varied conditions; more thermally stable than ammonium and imidazolium salts. These types of ionic liquids had been used in many industrial applications such as extractants for sulphur containing compounds, lubricants, electrolytes and media for metal deposition. In this study, three phosphonium based ionic liquids have been synthesized using quarternisation process. The three ionic liquids are: butyl triphenyl phosphonium chloride; hexyl triphenyl phosphonium bromide; octyl triphenyl phosphonium chloride. The toxicity of these ionic liquids is unknown and it might be toxic and harmful to the environment. Therefore, Fish Acute Toxicity Test and properties have been studied and conducted. The properties studies are including the melting point, molecular weight and solubility in water. The melting point of each synthesized ionic liquid was measured by using Stuart Melting Point Apparatus. The results are 222oC for butyl triphenyl phosphonium chloride, 202oC for hexyl triphenyl phosphonium bromide and 62oC for octyl triphenyl phosphonium chloride. The molecular weight of butyl triphenyl phosphonium chloride is 354.86 kg/mol, followed by hexyl triphenyl phosphonium bromide 427.36 kg/mol and octyl triphenyl phosphonium chloride 499.86 kg/mol. All of these phosphonium based ionic liquids are soluble in water. The Fish Acute Toxicity Test has been conducted according to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 203 Guideline. The results obtained have been analyzed using probit analysis method. Median lethal concentrations (LC50) have been calculated. LC50 for butyl triphenyl phosphonium chloride and for hexyl triphenyl phosphonium bromide were found 73.35 mg/L and 61.36 mg/L respectively. Both LC50 obtained can be identified as slightly toxic ionic liquids based on Acute Toxicity Rating Scale by Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). On the other hand, no mortality of fish recorded for octyl triphenyl phosphonium chloride with highest concentration of 100 mg/L. According to the rating scale, if no mortality recorded after the fishes exposed to concentration of 100 mg/L and above, the ionic liquid will practically nontoxic. Next, the dose relationships by linear regression have been done and the empirical probit equations were developed to estimate the toxicity. In addition, the developed empirical probit equations also can be used to determine LC10, LC30, LC70 and LC99

Enhance oil recovery by ultrasonic waves

In oil reservoirs about 60% of the original oil in place remains as residual oil after primary and secondary oil recovery due to geological and physical factors. By means of improved oil recovery (lOR) methods, additional oil can be mobilized

The Effect of Different Temperature and Methanol Concentration on Current Density Distribution of Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

The effect of different temperature and methanol concentration on current density distribution of DMFC is presented in this paper. DMFC are a subcategory of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) in which methanol is used as the fuel. The performance of direct methanol fuel cell must be evaluated with different possible operating condition for being commercialize especially in the area of small scale portable power production. 2D model is more computational efficient compared to 3D and more accurate than 1D. Hence, two-dimensional model, x-y plane geometry is utilized in the simulation to take into account the transport phenomena in all layers in the cell. The simulation was done based on agglomerate model of PMFC in COMSOL Multiphysics 3.5a. Theory and governing equations involve are Maxwell-Stefan, Darcy’s Law, agglomerate model of anode and cathode and porous fluid flow. Different operating parameter which are temperature ranging from 323K to 353K and methanol concentration ranging from 2M to 5M based on literature survey were employed. Finally, the model were analyze with postprocessing tools in COMSOL to get required plot. The result can be concluded that current density distribution increases with increasing temperature and concentration. Future study can be done by assuming membrane to be permeable to the reactant

A Study To Avoid Total Blackout in UTP Whenever GDC Supply Is ParalleL With TNB

This report summarizes the documentation of information on the research of my final year project entitle “A study to avoid total blackout whenever GDC is parallel with TNB”. The purpose of the project is to study and recommend solution to avoid the case of total blackout in UTP whenever fault occurs at TNB side. UTP maximum demand (MD) is 5.9MW and supplied via 2x4.2MW generators from GDC. Whenever one generator is on outage due to tripping or maintenance, TNB supply is connected in parallel with the in-service generator to meet UTP load demand. If any fault occurs at TNB side at the time, it will result the tripping of TNBGDC interconnected feeder hence causing total blackout in UTP. In order to come out with the solution, the author will need to study about the protection system with good understanding of the network system. This project will need the author to used critical thinking to analyze simulation that had been done using DigSILENT Power Factory 13.2 software to show the result of the research. This report is includes technical explainations on the system, project activities along with simulation result and analysis towards the completion of this project. Hopefully, all those information is useful towards better network reliability in future

Finite Element Analysis of Contra Bass Bridge

Double bass is a string type instrument that has been evolved each generation due to the increased demand for better quality sound. A lot of amplifiers and transducers were used to transferring and amplifying the original sound of the contra bass but the most important is to maintain its original acoustic timbre of wood-bass characteristics. The main objective of this project is to determine stress concentration area on the bridge of contra bass in the proportion to propose the best mounting position of the sound transducer. Based on author’s research and background study in FYP I, the acoustic timbre characteristic would be improved by embedded the sensor at the location on the bridge with maximum stress concentration. To determine the location, the author has chosen Finite Element Analysis using ANSYS among some available methods due to its high feasibility. CATIA: Sketch Tracer also being used in conjunction with ANSYS in the development of the bridge solid modeling. Stress concentration area on the bridge was successfully determined at the end of the project and all related analysis, results and discussion had been compiled in the thesis

Corporate social disclosure by the top Malaysian listed companies

This research was conducted with the objectives to study the Corporate Social Disclosure (CSD) report among 50 top listed companies in Malaysia and also to choose plausible factors that caused these companies to produce or present their Corporate Social Disclosure (CSD). According to the researches done by the previous researchers on 50 top listed companies in Malaysia, it was found that these researches were able to elaborate the patterns or models of the Corporate Social Disclosure (CSD). The independent variable used in this research were the company ownership structure, the age of companies or businesses , or either it is listed in the FTSE4Good Index and extended reports. Based on the regression analysis that had been done, it was found that extended reports, companies listed in FTSE4Good Index and government-related companies were significantly positive with dependant variable of Corporate Social Disclosure (CSD). Environment of workplace and Community were also one of the factors having high information in Extended Report of company samples