Fakhru'l-Razi Ahmadun

Environmental concerns, knowledge and practices gap among Malaysian teachers

Environmental problems are caused directly or indirectly by the patterns of production by industries, patterns of consumption and behavior of the consumers. The shaping of attitude and values, commitment and skills needed to preserve and protect the environment begins at an early age. Hence educators play an influential role in developing new patterns of behaviors for individuals. Accordingly, aims to determine the level of knowledge, environmental concern and ecologically conscious consumer behavior and identify the extent of involvement in nature‐related activities of school teachers. Also investigates the relationships between these variables. The subjects were 285 school teachers who were randomly selected from ten regular government schools in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. A survey was conducted using drop and collect method. The data illustrated the presence of high level of environmental concern among the teachers. The environmental knowledge was fair but generally poor in understanding of the underlying causes of environmental problems. The practices of environmentally responsible behavior were not in concert with the level of concern and knowledge. The respondents were not actively involved in nature‐related activities. Proposes ways of enhancing the ecological awareness and responsibilities of the teachers.

A review of disaster and crisis

A disaster and a crisis are two different, and related events. The two terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Man‐made disaster that occurs at an industrial organization, may develop into an industrial crisis. Crisis can happen to any organization. It has been noted that there were no universally accepted definitions yet developed for disaster and crisis. There is also no universally available criteria, to define the disaster in terms of the consequences, such as the casualties and the cost of damage. This paper reviews the definitions, types, characteristics, criteria and models of disaster and crisis. Also the types of crisis were rearranged and the differences between the disasters and crises have been summarized.

Disaster types in Malaysia: an overview

Purpose – To provide graduate students, researchers, and responsible personnel with an overview on the disaster types worldwide in general and disaster types in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approach – The types of disasters by region for the period 1988‐1997 were obtained from recent published sources. The disasters which occurred in Malaysia have been collected from several sources such as the technical, general articles, internet web sites, and internal reports. The disasters which occurred during the period of 1968‐2004 have been reviewed. The disasters have been classified into natural disasters, man‐made disasters, and subsequent disasters. The man‐made disasters have been classified into technological disasters, transportation accidents, public places failure, and production failure.Findings – Disasters have been classified into natural, man‐made disasters. The regions worldwide have experienced all kinds of natural disasters in last decade. It was pointed out that the occurrence of disasters from al...

Multi‐Wall Carbon Nanotubes/Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) Nanocomposite

Abstract A floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition (FC‐CVD) method was designed and fabricated to produce high‐quality and ‐quantity carbon nanotubes. The design parameters like the hydrogen flow rate; reaction time and reaction temperature were optimized to produce high yield and purity of Multi‐Wall Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs). Multi‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWNTs) were used to prepare natural rubber (NR) nanocomposites. Our first efforts to achieve nanostructures in MWNTs/styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) nanocomposites were formed by incorporating carbon nanotubes in a polymer solution and subsequently evaporating the solvent. Using this technique, nanotubes can be dispersed homogeneously in the NR matrix in an attempt to increase the mechanical properties of these nanocomposites. The properties of the nanocomposites such as tensile strength, tensile modulus, elongation at break and hardness were studied. Using different percentages of carbon nanotubes from 1 wt% to 10 wt%, several nanocomposites samples were fabricated. Significant improvements in the mechanical properties of the resulting nanocomposites showed almost 10% increase in the Youngs modulus for 1 wt% of CNTs and up to around 200% increase for 10 wt% of CNTs.

Community preparedness for tsunami disaster: a case study

Purpose – The main objective of this study is to develop a tsunami emergency response plan for a coastal community by adopting a community‐based disaster preparedness approach.Design/methodology/approach – A multi‐strategy research design utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods was used. The weaknesses and strengths of the different agencies involved in responding to the 2004 tsunami disaster were identified through a focus group discussion. A survey was used to assess the preparedness of the community. Tsunami awareness and education were imparted through lectures, sermons, radio talk shows, informal briefings, workshops and printed materials. Tsunami evacuation routes, safe zones, warning protocols and evacuation plans were finalized through a consultation process with the community. A tsunami evacuation plan was verified during a table‐top exercise and was tested through a drill.Findings – It is evident from the study that a community‐based approach (where the local community is taken as th...

Fire incident at a refinery in West Malaysia: the causes and lessons learned

Abstract Refineries are major hazard installations (MHI) which possess large quantities of hazardous substances. Refineries are characterized by high complexity and tight-coupled organization. Due to the high complexity and level of interaction among subsystems, designers and operators are unable to predict failures at the refinery units. The world has seen many incidents in refineries through leakage, fire and explosions. The consequences of the accidents sometimes extend beyond the boundary of the property and reach the neighboring residents. This paper reviews refinery incidents worldwide and also outlines the causes of a fire incident at a refinery in West Malaysia and the lessons learned.

Fire and explosion at mutual major hazard installations: review of a case history

Abstract In industry, it is common that there are independent but related major hazard installations which compliment each other. The link between the major hazard organizations is an interface between the installations. This interface is a critical area for the mutual major hazard installations. Examples of such organizations are chemical cargo ships and their terminal storage yard, the supply vessels and platforms, floating storage tanks at offshore areas and oil tankers, two offshore platforms tied together etc. This paper summarizes the major accident at M. T. Choon Hong III Ship and Tiram Kimia Sdn. Bhd. (TKSB), and also discusses the causes which led to this major accident. It was found that the lack of integrity is the main cause behind the escalation of the fire and explosion at the Choon Hong III Ship and the TKSB. It was noted that the disaster which involved mutual major hazard installation was preceded by two incubation periods.

Electrical response of multi-walled carbon nanotubes to ammonia and carbon dioxide

This paper presents the electrical response of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube (MWCNT) towards the presence of gases at room temperature. The preparation of MWCNT and the experimental setup are also discussed. The resistance of MWCNT elements is extracted from current-voltage measurements done at room temperature. The results show that there is a change in the resistance when the sensing element is exposed to either ammonia or carbon dioxide gas. Fast response time and recovery time have been achieved.

Biological treatment of high salinity produced water by microbial consortia in a batch stirred tank reactor: Modelling and kinetics study

ABSTRACT This study was performed to evaluate the potential of acclimated halophilic microorganisms, commercial microorganisms, and microorganisms from polluted soil to degrade crude oil in high salinity oily wastewater (synthetic produced water) at different salt concentrations ranging from zero to 250,000 mg L−1 of total dissolved solids (TDS). The highest degradation of crude oil (>60%) was found for acclimated halophilic microorganisms at TDS of 35,000 mg L−1. An increase in the TDS concentrations above 145,000 mg L−1 leads to a significant decrease in the growth of microorganisms. The results showed that efficiency of the commercial microorganisms was less than the acclimated halophilic microorganisms. The oil biodegradation followed substrate inhibition kinetics and the specific growth rate were fitted to the Haldane model. The biokinetic constants for the saline oily water at TDS of 35,000 mg L−1, i.e., Y, Ks, µmax, and 1/Ki, were 0.21 mg MLSS/mg crude oil, 0.27 mg L−1, 0.019 h−1, and 0.002 mg L−1, respectively.

Methylene Blue Removal from Aqueous Solution by Hylocereus undatus (Dragon Fruit) Foliage

Dragon fruit foliage in its natural form was applied for decolorization of methyleneblue,a cationic dye from aqueous solution. The effects of major parameters like initial dye concentration, pH, adsorbent dose, temperature and contact time were investigated in batch experimental set-up. The optimum values for removal of methylene blue were identified to be pH 9.0 with 30 hours contact time using 1.2 g L−1biosorbent dosage at 250mg L−1 initial dye concentration. The present results suggested that foliage of dragon fruit can be a potential agricultural byproduct to be used as an environmental friendly and low cost biosorbent.