Materials and Technologies for Future Advancement

Natural hydraulic lime (NHL) is considered to be more environmentally friendly than Portland cement (PC) since it has a lower calcination temperature and the ability of carbon dioxide (CO₂) sequestration during the hardening process. Both factors contribute to the fact that NHL has higher environmental credentials. Both of these characteristics contribute to the production of the NHL. On the other hand, NHL is more susceptible to the effects of climate throughout the processes of setting and hardening, which is especially true in environments with high relative humidity. This study evaluated the influence of high temperature and humidity conditions on NHL mortars. Three settings were studied to examine mortar’s primary chemical and physical properties. According to the findings, mortars that were allowed to cure at higher temperatures achieved their initial strength more quickly. However, this strength gradually reduced over time, which put the mortar’s quality at risk. This finding also helps to show the challenges associated with using NHL materials in their current form in high-temperature and high-humidity settings, such as tropical regions.

The Rebung bookshelf design was based on the “pucuk rebung” motif of a songket. This bookshelf was built for a home office. Its compact design is suitable for a person who needs a unique way to store their books. Several research methodologies were used to complete this design project. Design and development sketches were done to come out with the final design and were chosen through a validation survey between students and lecturer. Another method of research is by observation and literature review. As a result, the Rebung design brings out the sense of nature and creates a relaxing ambience inside the room. A relaxing environment can help soothe our minds and prevent mental stress. This is due to the organic shape of the curved triangle. The pine wood material also brings out the natural aspect from the bookshelf that mimics the nature. Angled shelving spaces are connected perpendicularly together to create a unique way for us to keep our books. Slots on both sides allow lights to go through the bookshelf to create a more dynamic design.

For the foremost portion in different climatic conditions, people will be endeavoring to control the speed of the fan in their room by physically adjusting the fan controller. However, doing this physically may be to some degree a monotonous undertaking and not correctly utilizing the manual control to switch the fan controller more regularly can damage the controller and cause the current stun. Subsequently, the above-discussed issues can be overcome by implementing the speed control mechanism of the fan automatically. This project is an independent design of an automatic fan speed control system based on the variation of room temperature by using the Arduino microcontroller and DHT11 temperature sensor. Basically, the system is using embedded technology where the closed-loop feedback control system is efficient and reliable. The Arduino NodeMCU ESP8266 allows dynamic and efficient control. The liquid crystal display (LCD) makes the required result easily being observed by user. The sensed temperature and fan speed level values are simultaneously displayed on the LCD panel. The DHT11 temperature sensor senses the temperature and changes it into an electrical signal, which is afterward sent into the microcontroller. The detected and set values of the temperature are shown on the 16 × 2-line LCD. This project can be used in both the home, industry and helps in saving energy and electricity.

Recently, the Department of Solid Waste Management (SMW) in Malaysia faced a serious problem related to the waste generation. People are depending so much on material that ends up as waste. This situation has caused that the waste generation is considered as a major environmental issue worldwide. There are several ways taken but it seems that the problem is never settled down due to the fact that the waste generation is still rising. This project is conducted in order to design a waste classification system via development of an Arduino software with the combination of sensors. This system is fully programmed, controlled and monitored by using the Arduino software and the Blynk apps. In this system, sensors are used to scan the type of waste while the Arduino software received the data from the sensor. The Arduino is defined with the type of waste materials such as metal, glass, plastic and paper as the output variables. The system or called as bin is also installed with ESP8266 NodeMCU to monitor the waste inside the bin and to notify the person in charge if the bin is full. The system is strongly needed to attract and encourage people to collect, gather and recyclable things. Indirectly, this system helps to facilitate for people to separate or classify the solid waste. As a result, it can be concluded among the four types of waste, metal becomes the best with 5 successes while glass be the worst material with only three successes could be automatically segregated after 5 tests were done. Besides that, the outcome of this project can be explained into four parts which are the electronic circuit design, sensor behavior, monitoring system and error for classification.

Smoked food has become synonymous with modern culture. Smoked food can be prepared in a variety of ways. A large number of smoked food is more commonly associated with roadside vendors and small businesses. The aim of this work is to develop a more efficient meat smoker while maintaining a high level of food hygiene. Conceptual designs were developed and evaluated using the morphological chart and computational fluid dynamics simulation to determine the most optimum final design. The final design was further refined before fabricated and assembled into the final product. The functionality of the final prototype of the meat smoker was tested and compared against the conventional oven smoking method. Results indicate that the meat smoker is capable of cooking the meat at half the time required by the oven, as well as producing a juicier and tastier meat.

Batik is one of the cultural elements in handicrafts for the Malay community in Malaysia. The production of batik is usually done on fabrics made from materials such as cotton to produce clothes for men and women. In Malaysia, batik is not only worn by Malays but also by non-Malays because of its attractive pattern and suitable to be worn when attending formal or informal events. However, the prominence of Malay cultural identity through the art of batik production is seen only as limited to clothing, jewelry, and accessories. Recognizing this fact, a group of lecturers and students from Universiti Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Institute of Marine Engineering Technology (UniKL MIMET) sought to explore the application of batik in the construction of fiberglass boats as an initiative and alternative to highlight and maintain Malay cultural identity based on batik. The research method used is experimental through the construction of a prototype of a fiberglass boat and the method is done by combining fabrics that contain batik patterns through certain processes. As a result, the external shape of the fiberglass boat will be covered with batik patterns and make this boat more beautiful and attractive. Batik-based fiberglass boats have the potential to be used in the tourism sector as a cruise boat to attract domestic and foreign tourists due to its attractiveness and uniqueness. In addition, the boat can also maintain and promote the Malay cultural heritage through batik handicrafts applied to fiberglass boats in Malaysia.

A houseboat trip is one of the local tourism attractions which rapidly grows in Malaysia. Inland water is the most common operation area for houseboat trips such as in Kenyir, Pedu and Banding Lake. The operators offer various outdoor and adventurous activities such as leisure fishing, sightseeing and new experience of overnight stay. However, the existing operation mainly focuses on a big group of tourists to rent a houseboat, ranging from 20 to 30 people. This project was focused into investigating the feasibility of a mini houseboat for a smaller group of 6–8 number tourists for a more flexible houseboat experience. This alternative approach certainly will offer more affordable cost and better privacy. The conceptual design of mini houseboat was developed based on the appropriate mission requirement by using a three-dimensional software, the Maxsurf Modeller for the hull development. The hull form design and selection was the main agenda for the conceptual design. Variations of parameters are considered during hull forms development and were evaluated for the most suitable selection. Hydrostatics analysis by using Maxsurf Stability Advanced is the main input for the evaluation of the hull form. The output gave a reasonable justification on the hullform and dimensions selection. Initial lists of weights and distributions were proposed to appropriately suit with the total displacement needs. A well visualized mini houseboat conceptual design, general arrangement and three-dimensional rendered design are the final outcome of this study.

The fouling of the barnacle can cause harm towards the vessels especially to the performance of the vessels such as the powering of the ship and fuel consumption. The aim of this research is to analyze the growth rate of the barnacle and estimate the effect of barnacle fouling towards the ship performances which is in term of ship resistance and powering. A total of 7 images of barnacle at three different locations by using MATLAB to analyze the growth rate of the barnacle. Finally, the results from the image processing are the input for the mathematical modelling in C++ to get the resistance of the ship. In this research, each different location produces different data of growth rate. The growth rate of the barnacle at location 1 is 0.3021% per day. Meanwhile, location 2 and location 3 0.202% per day and 0.0356% per day. As for the ship resistance, it can be concluded that the ship resistance increases for an average of 21.49% for location 1, 17.65% for location 2 and 22.78% at the location 3.

Over the last two decades, there is significant research on many aspects of contactless power transfer technology. A preliminary review of the contactless power transfer systems revealed that among the crucial aspects is the design of the charging coil. This paper presents a state of the art literature review about the finite element analysis of contactless power transfer regarding different types of parameters. This paper discusses the finite element analysis on the enhancement of contactless power systems by using metamaterials and focuses on the effect of air on the mutual inductance, coupling coefficient and magnetic flux ratio. A brief discussion of the latest research development on the different types of coils and shape design also has been added.

Application for usage of sandwich composite structures has been widely used in many engineering fields such as civil construction, marine structure, and offshore use as their characteristics suit for this usage. In this study, comparing the results of three-point bending tests through experimental and finite element analyses of sandwich composite structures has been investigated. This research is conducted with fiberglass and a core material which is carbon from mangrove carbon powder with different cores thickness (8 mm, 9 mm, 10 mm) and two types of sandwich layers (double and triple layers). It was found that, based on the data gained from the simulation, both with highest carbon content (10 mm) recorded the highest stress and strain. For the double layer with 10 mm carbon powder content, the maximum stress is 64.04 MPa while for the triple layer it is 66.22 MPa. When the percentage of the mangrove carbon powder increased or the core’s diameter increased, all the values of maximum stress, maximum strain and maximum displacement also have been increased. This data can be simply used for better understanding, the more layer and higher carbon content of the core, the highest maximum point of stress and strain can withstand before the specimen yield of fails.

High-speed diesel engines are commonly used on board of naval and patrol vessels. In this case, in Malaysia these high-speed diesel engines are used especially in ‘Malaysian Marine Enforcement Agencies’ fleets such as the Royal Malaysian Navy and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agencies where the naval and patrol vessels are used for daily patrols and surveillances. These aging engines are facing potential breakdowns or in the worst case a total engine failure which at the end will jeopardize their patrol and duty at hand. Considering these highly likely potential breakdowns, a risk assessment is necessary to prevent or minimize the chances of breakdown in the future. This risk assessment is crucial to the crew’s safety during the operation of the ship and this could avoid a catastrophic failure happening to the engine. An engine failure of a naval vessel cannot be considered as a normal thing in any vessel operation because the engine is the main system to propel a ship forward in calm and rough seas. Any failure will hinder the crews in executing their daily task as defense and enforcement agencies for the Malaysian government. The durability of the engine from time to time will be deterioting and it is easy to damage the internal part of the engine caused by forcing the engine to work harder than it can especially when the engines are more than 50 years old. Risk assessment or risk failure analysis is designed to identify the condition of an engine. In this research the method of risk analysis used is the failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA). The FMEA is an important tool to come out with risk assessment on potential engine failure. Based on these FMEAs, operation checklists were generated so that it could be used for the engine crews for daily routine inspection. These enhanced daily routine inspections could prevent unexpected breakdown of these high-speed diesel engine.

This paper predicts the influence of the fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) hull on the wave slamming impact. The hull comes in various materials, such as aluminium, steel, wood, and FRP. The material used in this research is the hull lamination of FRP because of several advantages, such as corrosion resistance, non-magnetic properties, lightweight, high tensile strength, and reduced impact. Note that the wave impact of slamming, which occurs in three cases: bottom slamming, bow-flare slamming, and stern slamming, causes fatigue damage on the hull surface, leading to the growth of fracture cracks in the hull. Therefore, the hull laminate method will be used in this research, which is a stacked sequence with a +45° layer orientation with different types of fibre mats (tissue mat, chopped strand mat, and woven roving). Thus, researchers used the laminated FRP hull in a real boat model simulation in the ANSYS software with the wave impact of the slamming on the hydrodynamic diffraction.

Implementation of simulation on the real model to address real impacts found that the maximum pressure of 14,689.9 MPa occurred at the middle of the hull on the first laminate layer. Apart from that, the study discovered reducing the wave impact of slamming on the hydrodynamic diffraction. The results are significant for the future study and the implementation of the real boat.

Circular welding is a technique that is widely used in fabrication. The result of welding is depending on the welding parameter setting and there is less study on the effect of welding parameters when the weaving technique is applied. In this study, a robotic arm with application of flux core arc welding (FCAW) is applied with nine different parameters settings. Microstructure testing and Vickers testing were applied to determine the effect of the welding parameter on the bead geometry hardness after the welding process to the material.

Oily wastewater has severely contaminated the ecosystem which caused serious damage to human reproduction and overall health. Following the growing campaign to protect the environment, the treatment of wastewater containing oil, emulsified oil, or hydrocarbons generally known as oily wastewater has received worldwide attention. Wastewater such as oily wastewater has complicated components which make its treatment technology challenging. This paper discusses the membrane technology progression that involves membrane modification and combined methods with the intention of high efficiency and environmental protection. The challenges faced by membrane technology are also discussed.

Recently the International Maritime Organization (IMO) implemented several environmental regulations to control the emission of sulphur oxide (SOx) from ships that operate globally. Before the implementation of IMO’s Sulphur Cap 2020 regulation, Europe and North America have already established strict rules on SOx emission. In strengthening the control and supervision on the air pollution from vessel operations, the sulphur cap regulation was amended from 3.5% mass/mass (m/m) to 0.5% m/m beginning 1st January 2020 globally, while the Emission Control Areas (ECA) remained with 0.1% m/m since 1st January 2015. The implementation of this rule had hugely affected vessel operators. Among the compliance methods widely used are switching the combustion fuel and retrofitting with scrubbers on-board. Additionally, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is also proposed as a propulsion system as it emits nearly zero percentage of noxious gas. The aim of this paper is to analyse the most economical compliance method by using the cost benefit analysis through the examination of the vessel lifespan, location of operation, basic operational cost and monetary benefit from the vessel operation. This study concludes that the scrubber system has high potential as a suitable alternative since it presents a high ratio in cost benefit.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the response behavior of three different types of oil platform models, namely a spar platform, a semi-submersible platform, and a jacket platform, to a variety of oceanographic variables in order to determine which oil platform has the best design. An offshore platform, often known as an oil platform, is basically one of the terms that are used to refer to the structure or vessel that operates in the ocean. It performs a variety of tasks, such as drilling operations to obtain crude oil, processing crude oil, and acting as a storage facility prior to transfer to the vessel for logistical purposes so that the vessel can transfer it to the oil refinery at shore for the refinery process. Nonetheless, before the engineer designs the structure of the oil platform and passes it to the fabrication team to build that platform, they must examine a number of factors known as oceanography, which are made up of four distinct aspects. The first one is called “Geological Oceanography.” It looks at how the ocean basins are built, what they look like, and how they change over time. Second, the “biological oceanography” is the study of the living things in the ocean, such as bacteria, phytoplankton, and zooplankton, as well as fish and marine mammals, which are more commonly studied in marine biology. Next is the “chemical oceanography,” which investigates how biogeochemical cycles affect the chemical composition of saltwater. Lastly, the study of physical conditions and physical processes inside the ocean, particularly the movements and physical properties of ocean waters, is known as physical oceanography. The construction work on the oil platform did not get started until after all of the parameters of the oceanographic factors were analyzed and taken into account. The goal of the experiment is to find out what oceanographic factors cause the platform to move and what kind of oil platform has the best design while causing the least amount of disturbance to the oceanographic factors.

The key problems that the world’s agriculture will confront in the coming decades are adjusting to climate change, using scarce natural resources more effectively while fully recovering biowaste to create a circular economy, and reducing poverty and hunger. Future increases in food consumption will require increased productivity from crops like oil palm. The primary issue is the excessive use of chemical fertilisers, which has an impact on soil fertility, climate, and oil palm productivity. Potentially, converting biowaste, i.e. oil palm biomass, into biochar and applying it as a soil amendment through a proper nutrient management for oil palm cultivation are targeted to improve nutrient use efficiency and crop productivity. The nutrient leaching is influenced by the oil palm root system, fertilizer (solubility) and soil (erosion) characteristics, rainfall pattern, as well as fertilizer application method and the rate should be remediated with biochar-based soil enhancer to accelerate oil palm growth via efficient biochar-fertilizer interaction. Oil palm biomass-to-biochar application in soil retains nutrients, increases water holding capacity and microbial growth response, and improves soil fertility, thus can be a promising and sustainable approach not only in contributing to crop’s enhanced productivity but also mitigating problems of potential pollution associated and disposal for creation of a circular palm oil economy. In the long run, biochar application as a soil amendment can contribute to fertilizer cost reduction which occupies up to 40–45% of the overall field cost in oil palm cultivation.

The common term used to describe devices that orient solar panels towards the sun is a solar tracking system. Trackers are used to minimise the angle of incidence between the incoming light and a photovoltaic panel. An overview of the low-cost active dual-axis solar tracking system based on an Arduino is provided in this paper. Improving the solar tracker efficiency and reducing its development costs are the catalysts to the implementation of this study. This solar tracking device is intended to optimise the power generation compared to a fixed solar panel installation. This study aimed to design and developed a low-cost dual-axis solar tracking system and evaluate its performance. The hardware designs are solar panels, light dependence resistance as sensors, Arduino as the main controller, servo motors, solar chargers, and the battery. The performance of the dual-axis tracker is compared to a fixed solar panel to analyse the panel efficiency. An analysis of power, current and voltage is then carried out. The study shows that the solar tracker can be built with a minimal cost, and it significantly works efficiently for about 4.45% better than the fixed solar panel.

One of the most abundant byproducts of the oil palm industry is oil palm frond (OPF). Converting OPF into biochar would significantly increase its value because it has the potential to be used as a renewable adsorbent. Column studies must be performed in order to evaluate its potential as an adsorbent. Because of its smaller volume, the rapid small-scale column test was carried out to assess the efficacy of OPF biochar as an adsorbent. The Yoon and Nelson adsorption kinetic model was used to fit the experimental data (R² > 0.81) which adequately explains the overall adsorption of Pb²⁺, Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Zn²⁺ onto OPF biochar. The projected breakthrough time and capacities match the column adsorption capacity predicted by Yoon and Nelson. Using the data gained in this investigation, it is possible to simulate a full-scale column.

Diabetes mellitusis a chronic metabolic disease categorized in high blood glucose levels which could lead to severe impairment to multiple organs. Natural products have been a rich supply for the growth of novel therapeutics used to treat a diversity of human diseases. Recent study reported that Zingiber officinale (ginger) might be a useful curative tool against diabetic nephropathy. In 2015, it was recorded that the diabetic rate was 13.4% in Malaysia. However, the number has grown to 18.3% in 2019 despite all alternatives provided. The objective of this study is to carry out a systematic review on the effectiveness of Zingiber officinale on blood glucose level and pancreas, liver and kidney histology in diabetic induced Sprague Dawley rats. Data collection was carried out using electronic databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct through various keywords. After the databases search was completed, all the articles were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The data analysis in research articles showed that the blood glucose level for the treated group with ginger extract was lower than in the diabetic group. The glomerulus in the treated group showed improvement of structure compared to the untreated group. Pancreas treated with ginger showed normal acinar cells and normal islets of Langerhans. Lastly liver histological architecture has been preserved to normal hepatocytes. This study indicates that administration of Zingiber officinale (ginger) could act as anti-diabetic effect in diabetic rats.

In order to improve the production process at a company (in this case Diamond Jubilee Sime Darby Plantation Sdn. Bhd) as well as to overcome the problem in their production, simulation can be a solution for this company to deal with their problem related to production process and overcoming them. A simulation can be and is used to identify their problem in the production process. This study aims to develop simulation to mimic their production process and overcome the problem using the ProModel Simulation software. These simulations can assist and help the company to identify their production process and guide them to maximize their production and reduce cost while using this simulation. An interview and site visit was conducted in this research to observe and identify the problem more efficiency. The study has shown that developing a simulation has many benefits and helps in the production process. However, none have yet been developed a simulation to overcome the problem in production process at Diamond Jubilee Sime Darby Plantation Sdn. Bhd. in this research, the objectives are to identify the production process in this company to brainstorm solutions to manufacturing processes issues and to apply the ProModel Simulation software in the production process. The research area will be at Diamond Jubilee Sime Darby Plantation Sdn. Bhd. for the site visit to observe their production process and interview with their mill manager to identify their problem. Further studies have also been proposed for future research. To conclude, the problem of their production process may be able to be solved by simulation that can replicate the actual production without spending on real world using this study.

An oil spill is the emission of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the ecosystem which is particularly involved in the maritime environment. This emission is immediate to individual action and causes a type of contamination. Once the oil spill has happened, the oil spills repeatedly destroy maritime creatures such as fin whales, giant starfish, giant clams, and other related maritime creatures. The oil spill can make it difficult for marine creatures to inhale appropriately and interrupt their capability to communicate in the ocean. Thus, this paper reviews the effect of the oil spill on the current oil spill incidents in Malaysia. The respondents were received from 11 related agencies involved in the oil spill response. It is vital to examine the effect of the oil spill since Malaysia has faced 130 oil spill cases from 2014 until 2022 as reported by the Department of Environment (DOE). The analysis was established on 59 expert responses received from 11 related agencies involves in responding to the oil spill incidents in Malaysia. Based on the effects of the oil spill, the results show that the top five effects of the oil spill response are shown as follows. Firstly, the highest is to create damage to the marine life, ecosystem, and pollution of the seawater. Secondly, crops affect coastal life, fisheries industries, food insecurity, food supply, and the marine community. Thirdly, to influence the marine environment. Fourthly, it creates harm to tourism activities and economic loss. Finally, to raise the cost of cleaning activities, increase manpower cost, increase the recovery process, and increase time consumption.

This paper investigates the effect of temperature on the physical properties of Kapok fiber web formed via the hot-pressing method. The kapok web was prepared using the Ashford drum carder. Test samples were subjected to heat treatment in a hydraulic hot-press under three different temperatures (160, 170, and 180 °C), heating durations (5, 7.5, and 10 min), and pressures (500, 750, and 1000 psi). This study was conducted to clarify the tensile properties of kapok fabrics under optimal hot-press-forming process parameters such as temperature, heating time, and pressure, the Taguchi L₂₇ orthogonal array experimental design was adopted for the optimization. The surface morphologies and tensile properties of kapok fabrics were investigated. The optimum combination of process factors was obtained through signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio analysis. Furthermore, analysis of variance was employed to determine the importance of the process parameter levels. Moreover, regression analysis was adopted to mathematically model the metamorphism of tensile properties with process parameters. A set of confirmation tests was also conducted, and the results verified the presented models. This study results showed that all three processing factors had significant influences on the tensile strength of the carded nonwoven kapok. The combination of hot-pressing parameters to obtain the optimum tensile strength was obtained as follows: 170 °C temperature, 1000 psi pressure, and 10 min heating time.