Ayub Md Som

Dragon Fruit Foliage Plant-Based Coagulant for Treatment of Concentrated Latex Effluent: Comparison of Treatment with Ferric Sulfate

The effectiveness of dragon fruit foliage as a natural coagulant for treatment of concentrated latex effluent was investigated and compared with ferric sulfate, a chemical coagulant. Dragon fruit is a round and often red-colored fruit with scales-like texture and is native to south American countries which is also cultivated and heavily marketed in southeast Asian countries. Its foliage represents a part of its overall plant system. Latex effluent is one of the main byproduct from rubber processing factories in Malaysia. Three main parameters investigated were chemical oxygen demand (COD), suspended solids (SS), and turbidity of effluent. Coagulation experiments using jar test were performed with a flocculation system where the effects of latex effluent pH as well as coagulation dosage on coagulation effectiveness were examined. The highest recorded COD, SS, and turbidity removal percentages for foliage were observed for effluent pH 10 at 94.7, 88.9, and 99.7%, respectively. It is concluded that the foliage showed tremendous potential as a natural coagulant for water treatment purposes. The foliage could be used in the pretreatment stage of Malaysian latex effluent prior to secondary treatment.

Preliminary study of oil palm decanter cake natural polymer composite (OPDC-NPC)

Palm oil industry produces huge amount of oil palm decanter cake (OPDC). Currently it is not yet commercialized however due to its characteristics, it can be used to produce oil palm decanter cake natural polymer composite (OPDC-NPC). NPC is a type of material made by combining natural fiber with polymer. Therefore the objective of this paper is to produce NPC from OPDC and then determine its mechanical and physical properties such as elasticity, stiffness, tensile strength and water absorption rate. The OPDC samples were collected from Felda Trolak Palm Oil Mill. Prior to NPC development, the oil was removed from OPDC using hexane soxhlet extraction method. OPDC-NPC was fabricated using molding method where the mixture of 95% polypropylene (PP) and 5% OPDC were mixed using twin-screw extruder. The results showed that OPDC-NPC has an elasticity of 2231 MPa, stiffness of 30 MPa, tensile strength of 32 MPa and water absorption rate of 0.16 % which was slightly better with the other types of fibers.

Epoxidation of palm kernel oil-based crude oleic acid

Most vegetable oils have high content of unsaturated bond and can be converted into epoxidized fatty acids. These days, epoxidized vegetable oils are great concern as they are obtained from sustainable, renewable natural resources and are environmental friendly. The epoxidation of palm oleic acid was carried out by using in situ generated performic acid (HCOOOH) to produce epoxidized oleic acid. The degree of temperature, the molar ratio of formic acid or hydrogen peroxide and types of catalyst was considered. Epoxidation results were based on complete conversion oxirane, rate of epoxidation and stability of the oxirane. It was found that a maximum relative conversion oxirane (RCO) of epoxide is 88% at optimal condition.

Parameter addition in interaction of glucose and insulin for type 1 diabetes

Recently, in silico testing which is managed via computer simulation, is preferably performed on Diabetes patients rather than to be evaluated directly on their body due to the benefit of patient safety and accelerated progress obtained from the convenient testing. However, it is still difficult to have an accurate and efficient Diabetes therapy through this simulation method. Therefore, continuous investigation and research are necessary so as to enhance a reliable Diabetes treatment in future. In this work, we propose an improved Diabetic model that emphasizes on detailed inter-relation of glucose and insulin reaction referring to the Hovorka model. This study was undertaken to improve Diabetes treatment in particular for Type 1 patient by ensuring all parameters involved in glucose-insulin interaction do include in the Diabetic model equations. The equations in Hovorka model have been modified in glucose subsystem, plasma insulin concentration and insulin subsystem while the other equations remain unchanged. As a result, we managed to have a good correlation on interactions between the parameters in glucose-insulin intervention. We hope this correlation can contribute to the field of Diabetes therapy enhancement so as to help the patients to achieve a near normal blood glucose level and manage to control their healthy life style.

Review of Green Solvents for Oil Extraction from Natural Products Using Different Extraction Methods

This paper provides an overview of the use of green solvents for oil extraction from natural product using soxhlet extraction and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) methods. In terms of qualitative and quantitative determinations on the extracted oils, the use of green solvents was comparable with n-hexane. For soxhlet extraction method, the integration of microwave application into the soxhlet at their optimum conditions has shown improvement in oil yield, oil quality, solvent consumption and extraction time. SFE using CO2 also revealed promising results as soxhlet extraction but apparently it involved high operating cost and difficult to control. Despite of that, all the studies successfully demonstrated the suitability of green solvent as an alternative to petroleum driven solvents for extraction of oils from natural products.

System Identification In Modified Diabetic Model For Nanochip Controller

Keeping pace with emerging technologies, artificial pancreas is highly recommended to be used as an alternate way to solve blood glucose level problem for Type 1 diabetes patients. It is aimed to develop an embedded nanochip controller in order to regulate the blood glucose level within the safety range. However, due to the lack of effectiveness in algorithm, the blood glucose level in patients body is still not achieving the optimum level. The function of the algorithm, which is the heart of the device, needs to be analyzed in order to ensure the device can be fully utilized. Therefore, system identification technique is applied with objective to study the interrelation among all parameters and variables in the modified diabetic model. As a consequence, the results derived from the method, give us better comprehension in determining which parameters give higher effects on the glucose and insulin system. Thereupon, the main factors in the system are able to be recognized through system identification technique. In this study, parameter tmax_I gave highest effect percentage with 66.89% at interaction with insulin,I. On the whole, system identification is very useful to see clear picture of interrelation and correlation in glucose and insulin system.

Extraction Behaviour of Cu2+ Ions with Used Cooking Oil-Based Organic Solvent

The aim of this work was to study the extraction behaviour of Cu ions from aqueous solution with used cooking oil-based organic solvent. The used cooking oil-based organic solvent was composed of di-2-ethylhexylphosphoric acid (extractant), tributylphosphate (phase modifier) and used cooking oil (diluent). Effects of equilibrium pH (2-6), extractant concentration (10-100 mM) and operating temperature (25-47 o C) on Cu 2+ ion extraction from aqueous solution were investigated. It was found that used cooking oil-based organic solvent is a potential green and low-cost organic solvent for Cu 2+ ion extraction from aqueous solution.