Noor Maizura Ismail

Enhanced carbon dioxide separation by polyethersulfone (PES) mixed matrix membranes deposited with clay

Abstract Asymmetric mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) incorporating Cloisite15A (C15A) clay particles were prepared using solvent evaporation and phase inversion with polyethersulfone (PES) as the membrane matrix. C15A loadings varied at 1 wt% and 5 wt%. Membrane morphological and thermal properties were evaluated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Addition of the C15A favorably altered the microscopic structure of membranes from finger-like to homogeneous sponge-like structure as the loading increased. While the amorphous nature of MMMs was retained, the thermal stability was also found to be improved with a slight decrease in glass transition temperature (Tg). PES/C15A1 MMM showed the best gas transport properties, with 37% and 65% improvement in CO2 permeance and CO2/CH4 selectivity, respectively. Unlike 1 wt%, the loss in selectivity shown by 5 wt% clay loadings suggested that the interphase voids and extent of silicate layers dispersion play a significant role in the overall performance of MMMs.

Effect of seaweed physical condition for biogas production in an anaerobic digester

The increasing demand for environmental protection and renewable energy has made bioenergy technologies such as anaerobic digestion substantially attractive. The main objective of this study is to determine the biogas yield from the raw seaweed Eucheuma cottonii and waste products using anaerobic digestion, operated under different physical conditions. Seaweeds comprise of a thallus (leaf like) and sometimes a stem and a foot (holdfast). Seaweed has the potential to be developed into the raw and waste material for biogas due to higher growth rates, greater production yields, and higher carbon fixation rates than land crops. Seaweed has 4–39% carbohydrate content and a high moisture content with low lignin compared to other terrestrial plants, thus it is simpler to be degraded. The integration of the findings may be the key to make seaweed waste product that is more efficient and affordable to serve as a sustainable and renewable energy source. The study used 1.5 L anaerobic digesters for fresh and 3-month-old Eucheuma sp. evaluated at different stages by monitoring the pH, chemical oxygen demand, and biogas production. The study found that within 18 days, the anaerobic digestion of E. cottonii seaweed yielded 0.4–1 ml biogas/g seaweed with up to 56% methane content.

International Conference on Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering

The 5th International Conference on Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering (ICCBPE) was organized by the Chemical Engineering Programme of the Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Sabah. The primary purpose of ICCBPE 2015 was to discuss bridging technologies from laboratory and pilot scales to commercial scales for manufacturing advanced products by involving innovative processing of biomass and feedstock suitable for SMEs. This event serves as a platform for researchers, engineers, academicians as well as industrial professionals from countries such as the United State of America, Taiwan, Korea, Iran, Thailand and Malaysia to present their research and development activities in chemical engineering sciences and applications. During the conference, a total of 81 manuscripts under the Oil and Gas, Waste, Biomass and Biofuels, and Environment categories were presented and discussed in a series of parallel presentations. We are honoured to have distinguished keynote speakers participating in this event. They were Prof. Dr. Ahmad Fauzi Ismail, the founding Director of Advanced Membrane Technology Research Center (AMTEC) (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia), Prof. Dr. Ghasem D. Najafpour (Chairman of the Biotechnology Research Center, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Iran) and Prof. Dr. Shizhong Li (Executive Director of MOST-USDA Joint Research Center for Biofuels, China). Last but not least, we are grateful to all of the reviewers for maintaining the standards and quality of the manuscripts throughout the reviewing process. Kota Kinabalu, Sabah April 2016 Chairman : Professor Ir. Dr. Rosalam Sarbatly Chief Editor : Professor Dr. Awang Bono Editorial Team : Associate Professor Dr. Chu Chi Ming Dr. Tham Heng Jin Dr. Noor Maizura Ismail Ms. Zykamilia Kamin Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS)

Performance of particleboard with palm kernel cake as filler

Particleboard is a common product of wood industry. Usually, the particleboard is used as a component of furniture manufacturing or part of building construction. In the production of particleboard, wood glue or binder is applied to form hard bonded particles. The usage of melamine–urea–formaldehyde (MUF) resin as a binder in particleboard production is widely practised. Due to low solid content and the cost of MUF resin, some particleboard manufacturers are adding filler to increase the solid content and to reduce the cost of binder. For example, industrial-grade wheat flour and palm shell powder are commonly used as filler. The performance of wood products is significantly affected by the type of filler used due to the compound composition. Therefore, a study conducted in this work is to investigate the performance of MUF resin-based particleboard produced with palm kernel cake powder as filler. Palm kernel cake (PKC) was chosen due to the protein content that might help in the binding strength and the reduction in free formaldehyde in the wood product. The investigation was conducted by the preparation of particleboard in laboratory with various curing time and quantity of MUF resin and filler used. The performance properties of particleboard such as water absorption (WA), thickness swelling (TS), modulus of rupture (MOR), and modulus of elasticity (MOE) were investigated. Response surface methodology (RSM) of design expert software was used for the experimental design and optimization. The results shown that there is some effect of filler on the performance properties particleboard produced. The optimized or targeted performance also can be identified via design expert software.