Tomorrow we have a visit by Dr Haruo Kawamoto from Kyoto University. Attendance are compulsory. All students must be in the CREG Meeting Room (2nd Floor N16) before 9 am and presentation by Dr Haruo Kawamoto at Faculty meeting room (N01) at 2.30pm (open to all). Here the tentative of the program.

A VISIT BY ASSOCIATE PROF.DR.HARUO KAWAMOTO FROM KYOTO UNIVERSITY

TENTATIVE PROGRAMS

9.00 -10.00 AM : INTRODUCTION OF MEETING (20 MIN)
: PRESENTATION BY PROF DR NOR AISHAH (20 MIN)
: PRESENTATION BY CIK WAN NADYAINI (20 MIN)

10.00-11.00 AM : MORNING BREAK

10.30-10.50 AM : PRESENTATION BY EN ZAKI YAMANI ZAKARIA

10.50-11.10 AM : PRESENTATION BY EN HAFIDZ FAUZI

11.10-11.30 AM : PRESENTATION BY PUAN NAZLINA YAAINI
11.30-12.00 PM : LAB VISIT
12.00-2.30PM : Lunch

2.30-4.30 PM : PRESENTATION BY ASSOCIATE PROF. DR. HARUO KAWAMOTO
(FACULTY MEETING ROOM)

4.30-5.00 PM : TEA BREAK

END

note: the food will be served for morning break only.

My English may not be good and clear. I hope you can bear with it. Check it out…

Following is the detail of the book.

Title: Chapter 10: Syngas Production and Applications for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation (NorAishah Saidina Amin, M. Tahir
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai Johor, Malaysia)

Book title: Syngas: Production, Applications and Environmental Impact

Publisher: NOVA Science Publishers Inc. (International), Year: 2012

For more information regarding the book, please visit: https://www.novapublishers.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=29803

(Experience of a PhD student during viva)

Q:    Is it difficult to present your work before examiners?
A:    Probably not, it is more like a slide show and technical discussion.

Q:    Does examiners confuses the candidate with some tricky questions.
A:    Perhaps true, but most of the cases, they support candidate to elucidate his/her work properly.

Q:    What are the most influencing items that need to take into account before viva?
A:
a.    Write very clear objectives in the statement of objectives.
b.    Accomplish all of the objectives during yours experimental/simulation study.
c.    Give a clear answer to the QUESTION that why you need to carry research on your topic of interest?
d.    Organize your thesis according to the accomplishment of your objectives. Probably, each chapter would comprise of 1-2 objectives in chronically order.
e.    Devise a clear research methodology to achieve each objective individually.
f.    Conclusion should be based on yours objectives not on yours work.
g.    Proof read your thesis at more than one time before submitting thesis.

Q:    What are the most influencing items that need to take into account during viva?
A:
a)    What were the reasons that you decided to work on this topic.
b)    How have you met all of the objectives?
c)    Do you believed you have achieved the goal? What is your major achievement ?
d)    Read thesis 2-3 times before viva, you will be able to answers effectively.
e)    Read your slides before viva as well.

Point to be noted

•    Clearly define your topic and reasons why you did this work.
•    Clearly define objectives
•    Clearly mention conclusions according to the objectives

Finally the day has come. We were treated by our Professor to a wonderful lunch at an Iranian style PG restaurant in Taman Universiti, Skudai, Johor. Why? Read here. The event took place last Monday (18/7/2011). Those who were present are Prof. NASA, Maryam, Mahadhir, Fawzi, Zaki, Tahir, Yani, Putri, Marina, Dilla, Alireza, Amin and Hafiiz. Did I left anybody here? Check out the photos… Enjoy…

Thinking, wandering, analyzing what to eat

The girls are extra happy… maybe this is their first time being treated by the boss…

Fawzi arrived late and then ordered 5 items for himself

Nan bread… tasty with cheese

3 cokes there

Is Maryam waving at the camera or me?

Oh I forgot what these are call…

This as well…not sure what salad is this…

This is plain rice but with some colouring

Who’s that? Is it Alireza?

This is my chicken Biryani…tasty…3rd time eating this… the gravy is uniquely delicious.

Credit card not allowed, so the boss need to pay with hard cash…

After the meal… CREG member photo…

There are two main methods which cover a wide area of biomass conversion technologies, thermo chemical conversion and bio chemical conversion. To obtain the energy, the combustion factor is the key for both technologies. Hardware biomass conversion systems can be stationary or mobile. The hardware mobile systems are usually used in rural areas supplying power for a small number of homes, such as in a village, or for powering small to medium size countryside businesses. However, the principle for both stationary and mobile hardware combustion systems is similar.

The combustion can be made either using a furnace or a boiler. A furnace (direct combustion) is one of the simplest methods used to obtain energy by burning the biomass materials in a chamber to obtain heat in the form of released hot gases.

A boiler for biomass can be used to transform the heat into steam, this steam is used to turn the turbine to generate electricity.

There are three different types of boilers:

1. Pile Burners

2. Stationary or Travelling Grate Combustors

3. Fluidized-Bed Combustors

‘Direct Firing’ can be divided into four different methods. These methods come under the titles of Pile Burner, Spreader Stoker, Fluidized Bed and Suspension.

The other method is Gasification, which can be divided into five different sub-branches, i.e. Biological Gasification, Landfill Gas, Pyrolysis, Thermal Gasification and Micro Scale Biomass.

Direct Combustion, gasification, pyrolysis and methanol production all come under ‘thermo-chemical’ conversion process. On the other hand, anaerobic digestion and ethanol production come under ‘biochemical’ conversion process type. Biodiesel production comes under ‘chemical’ conversion process.

A number of uses can be made from biogas produced via anaerobic digestion or pyrolysis. These are:

1. Fuel for internal combustion engines

2. To produce heat for commercial and domestic needs

3. As a transport fuel

The following are three different methods for obtaining gases, as a source of energy, from biomass materials.

Gasification

Gasification is described as the process of converting the organic fraction of biomass at higher temperatures and with the presence of air, into a gas mixture with fuel value and more variation than the original solid biomass. This gas can be combusted to produce heat and steam, and can be used in internal combustion engines or gas turbines to produce electricity as well as mechanical energy. Reportedly, the production of electricity via gas turbines combined with steam cycles is the most effective and economical use of the gaseous product. Several biomass gasification processes have been developed (and/or under development) for electricity generation that offer advantages over direct burning, such as higher efficiency and cleaner emissions. Many of the gasification systems are currently at the demonstration stage, and the development of these efficient systems for electricity production is essential: BIGCC (Biomass Integrated Gasification and Combined Cycle) and BIG-STIG (Biogas Integrated Gasification Steam Injected Gas Turbine) plants can achieve efficiencies of 42-47%. Significant developments have been made over the past fifteen years in the field of biomass gasification, especially in the area of medium to large-scale electricity production. Gas cleaning to improve the quality of gas is a crucial issue in both combustion and gasification systems, and requires measures such as reduction of emissions and removing of particulates and tars.

Anaerobic digestion

Anaerobic digestion is the decomposition of wet and green biomass through bacterial action in the absence of air. Generally speaking, anaerobic digestion process is made up of four main biological and chemical stages:

1. Hydrolysis

2. Acidogenesis

3. Acetogenesis

4. Methanogenesis

It usually has a mixed gas output of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), called biogas. Landfill gas is the result of the anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste buried in landfill sites. The methane gas produced in landfill sites eventually escapes into the atmosphere. However, the gas can be extracted by inserting perforated pipes into the landfill.

There are a number of benefits related to anaerobic digestion; these can be described under the environmental benefits, rather than on the technical or commercial side. Anaerobic digestion decreases methane emissions and can provide a good treatment system for organic waste and consequently can prevent groundwater contamination and reduce odour from the local environment associated with this waste.

‘The Government should review its current strategy for the anaerobic digestion sector. In doing so, we recommend that it considers practical and financial mechanisms for encouraging the expansion of the UK’s AD capacity, while ensuring that new AD systems deliver the optimal balance between production of biogas and prevention of uncontrolled methane emissions.’ (Biomass Task Force. 2005).

Pyrolysis

In a temperature ranging from 300 to 700 °C and with the absence of oxygen, the chemical decomposition of organic materials by heating is a process called pyrolysis. However, in most cases and in practical terms the presence of oxygen cannot be eliminated completely.

The final outcome of the pyrolysis process is that the organic materials are transformed into gases and leave a solid residue (coke) made up from carbon and ash. Biomass gasification can also be integrated with fuel cells. Also, using pyrolysis, a solid biomass can be liquefied ‘direct hydrothermal liquefaction’ (USDE, 2005). One of the main benefits of flash pyrolysis is that fuel production has been separated from power generation. This type of method is still at the demonstration stage. As the development is still in the early stages, like the rest of the bio-oil upgrading processes, there is still a need to neutralise negative aspects, such as corrosivity and low heating value. In conjunction with the existing systems, pyrolysis can be used for large scale electricity production.

This article is written by Najib Altawell with references from “Biomass Task Force (2005) Biomass task force report to the government. Department of environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) publications, London” and “USDE (2005) Energy efficiency and renewable energy. Biomass”. The article was adopted from http://EzineArticles.com/6256907.

Image source credited to: http://www.wtert.eu/default.asp?Menue=12&ShowDok=15

Here is a short email message from the Dean of Chemical Engineering Faculty.

I am pleased to announce that Prof Dr Noraishah Saidina Amin has been promoted to the post of Professor B (VK6).

Warmest Congratulations to Prof Aishah on behalf of the faculty. May this appoitment inspire you to further contribute in a major way to UTM, InshAllah.

On behalf of our research group, I would like to Prof. Dr. Nor Aishah to congratulate you for this promotion.

Chemical Reaction Engineering with COMSOL Multiphysics 4.1 Live Presentation – Friday, April 29, 2011 – 1:30PM Singapore time. http://www.comsol.co.in/events/228534777/

Understanding chemical systems in present day scenarios need computerized backing on verification and validation with any product development. The tailor made chemical reaction engineering module in COMSOL is a powerful tool to study both the physical and chemical aspects of reaction system including the effects of material and energy transport.

Attend this webinar to better understand crucial industrial applications including the design of reactors, process and
product development of consumer products, fine and specialty chemicals, pharmaceuticals and bulk chemical processing.

For more information and to register, visit: http://www.comsol.co.in/events/228534777/

Note: Image credited to processmodeling.org/furnace/model3d/furnace%20modeling%203d.html

Since I’m doing research in glycerol conversion to useful compounds, I’m always interested in glycerol related articles and research. I found this article from the internet and I think it is worth sharing it here so that others can learn and contribute if possible. The article is credited to Jo (you can read her biography at the end of the article). Check out the article…

Nowadays, the increase in the price of gas is a phenomenon one cannot consider as erratic. It is an occurrence that infuriates the general public. But one which people have to endure, come in terms with, and tighten their belts for them to be able to tide over the situation. The last two decades or so have seen some of the most unusual spikes in the price of gasoline, and consequently, this results to an increase in the cost of other commodities as well.

Gasoline and diesel belong to the non-renewable type of energy. Simply put, these are resources which cannot be readily replenished, or resources which have a limited supply. The main sources of energy in the world today are coal, oil and natural gas which are called fossil fuels. Unfortunately, fossils fuels are non-renewable. The extraction of fossil fuels from the earth turns out to be more difficult since they are becoming scarcer yet the demand is only becoming more urgent since these fossil fuels are used in nearly all industries from the largest to the smallest.

Therefore the renewable forms of energy have been the topic of many studies and discussions. Innovations in renewable energy generation are taking in the spotlight and seemingly unlikely sources of renewable energy are becoming the newest trend. Among this is glycerol, a byproduct of saponification or the process of soap making andtransesterification or the production of biodiesel. Glycerol can be accounted for 10% of the byproducts of biodiesel production. Glycerol is also known by its more commercial terms of glycerin and glycerine.

One of the investigations focusing on glycerol was the one conducted by the researchers at the Oxford University. This group of scientists was able to generate biofuel from glycerol, which is considered to be a waste byproduct in many industries. They have designed a method which turns glycerol into methanol. The process uses metal catalyst to separate the methanol. Today, methanol is mostly derived from natural gas. It is used extensively in industrial chemistry.

Another study was one from the Department of Chemical and Environment Engineering at the University of California, Riverside. The process they have developed was one which combined excess glycerin and excess biomass from biodiesel production to produce flammable pellets for use as an alternative to coal.

A study from the Rice University explored the potential of fermenting glycerol to produce ethanol. Since for each gallon of biodiesel produces approximately 0.75 lb of glycerol, this would be a very practical way to produce energy. The use of microorganisms in the fermentation is the unique feature of this research. The Klebsiella and Citrobacter are glycerol-fermenting species of bacteria while E. coli synthesize glycerol through a respiratory pathway.

One study by the controversial and award-winning Galen Suppes, a chemical engineering professor at the University of Missouri, has come up with a procedure to convert glycerine into propylene glycol. Propylene glycol can be used as an alternative to ethylene propyl. Ethylene propyl is used as antifreeze for cars and other automobiles. It is derived from petroleum and is a toxic chemical. Propylene glycol, on the other hand, is a safe and sustainable substitute.

Biodiesel production has resulted to a large surplus of glycerine. Though glycerine is used in nearly all industries, its use for sustainable energy is a relatively new concept but one which has attracted a lot of attention. Glycerol has a lot of potential in the renewable energy industry because it is inexpensive and economically-sound. Moreover, it has beneficial environmental impacts since it help cut down on the emissions of oxides of nitrogen in the atmosphere, reducing air pollution and its associated effects.

This article is contributed by Jo. Jo is a content writer for ‘ReAgent Chemical Services Ltd’ (http://www.reagent.co.uk), an established UK stationed chemical company that manufactures, has a supply of and supplies an enormous range of premium chemicals. If your firm is searching for superior quality chemical product such as Glycerol or has other industrial compound needs for purposes like chemical fusion, analytical purposes and cleaning then take a look at ReAgent Chemical Services Ltd.

Good bye Mr. Haw, Thanks for your Contribution

Recently, our research officer, Mr. Haw, has left CREG to further his study. According to Mr. Haw, he will be doing hhis Ph.D somewhere in Europe. Unfortunately, I don’t have further details on the topic or location of his new university. Mr. Haw has been with CREG for about 3 months and he has contributed quite a lot to the group. Personally he has taught me several things related to chemistry, especially how to use the software to create chemical structures, which we, engineers are not used to.

New Replacement, New Energy

Mr. Haw’s position has been taken over by Yani, a CREG member who has joined since her undergraduate project. Now Yani is waiting to defense her Master’s thesis. Being with CREG for 2 seasons, she has vast experience on various research and management aspect in CREG. She’ll be around us, assisting Prof. Nor Aishah and the other CREG group member.

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