Archive

Jun 26

China moving on with their coal to olefins projects

By ZakiNo Comments

I’m interested in the glycerol to olefin project which supports the green technology efforts. However, China in the other hand, perhaps because they have substantial coal reserves have long planned to commission their Coal-to-Olefin (CTO) project. This is confirmed from the news which I just read from Steelguru.com, below:

It is reported that three Chinese factories making olefins from coal are slated to start up this year, part of a serious look that Beijing is taking at using its large coal reserves to reduce its heavy dependence on imported polyolefins. But before the government lifts some restrictions it imposed in May 2009 and allows more projects making polyethylene and polypropylene from coal, analysts say that government officials will want to see more details on the economic and environmental performance of the factories.

Mr Sun Weishan vice general secretary of the Beijing-based China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association Speaking at a recent industry conference in Beijing, several Chinese petrochemical industry officials urged the government to give coal-to-olefins work high priority, considering that the country imports about half of its PE and one-third of its PP. The three projects starting this year will provide a boost to China’s polyolefin supplies. The factories, in the coal belt of northern and western China, will have He said that capacity for 1.56 million tonnes of polyolefins, or about 6.9% of the country’s current PO capacity.

Apr 26

List of catalyst characterization equipment and contact details

By ZakiNo Comments

xrd

I’m preparing a list of universities, institution, research centers etc that provides catalyst characterization equipments. The list, as can seen below, will be updated from time to time and I hope this can be a good reference for our research. If you know any place or any institution or any organization that provides related characterization  equipment, please let me know in the comment area or contact me at zaki.yz[alias]gmail.com. I welcome any input and feedback from everyone, not only CREG members, researchers in Malaysia, but from all over the world.

A) X-Ray diffraction (XRD)
1. Faculty of Mechanical, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; En. Zainal (0197512727)
2. Ibnu Sina, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
3. Faculty of Science – Chemistry Department, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

B) Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
1. Faculty of Mechanical, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (SEM-EDX & FESEM)
2. Ibnu Sina, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (FESEM-EDX)
3. Faculty of Science – Chemistry Department, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

C) Nitrogen Adsorption (NA)
1. Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
2. Ibnu Sina, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

D) Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR)
1. Faculty of Chemical Engineering (N29), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
2. Ibnu Sina, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
3. Faculty of Science – Chemistry Department, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
4. AMTEC, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

E) Atomic Adsorption Spectroscopy (AAS)
1. Faculty of Science – Chemistry Department, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
2.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

F) Temperature Program Desorption Ammonia (TPD-NH3)
1. Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
2. Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, Tel:  +604-599 6411, Fax: +604-594 1013; DR AHMAD ZUHAIRI ABDULLAH, Email: chzuhairi@eng.usm.my

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

G) Temperature Program Desorption Reduction Oxidation (TPDRO)

1. Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
2. Ibnu Sina, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

H) Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA)

1. AMTEC, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
2. Ibnu Sina, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

I) Thermal Gravimetric Analysis – Differential Thermal Analysis (TGA-DTA)

1. Ibnu Sina, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
2. Faculty of Science – Chemistry Department, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (DTA only)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

J) X-Ray Florescent (XRF)

1. Faculty of Mechanical, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

If you have or know other institution that provide any characterization equipment, please contact me at zaki.yz[alias]gmail.com. I’ll update the list for the benefit of all of us….

Thanks.

Mar 01

Can we still enjoy petroleum as we used to?

By ZakiNo Comments

Ten years ago I began my Chemical Engineering masters degree. The title of my master thesis was “Optmization of oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) to C2+ products”. That time, I was so interested with the topic energy. That’s why I opted that research field because I want to help and contribute to seek for ways to obtain petroleum energy from other sources since the petroleum reserve is diminishing!!! OCM is actually part of the technology to convert natural gas to C2 products (ethane, ethylene, acetylene) and further on oligomerize to gasoline with the help of zeolite ZSM-5 catalyst. That time, in my literature review, it was stated that the petroleum research is going to end in 15 years time. I noted that a decade ago which means 10 years ago. If that information is correct, we shall be enjoying petroleum until 2015!!!

Is that right?

After I completed my masters degree, I work with an oil and gas servicing company. I’m not the only engineer there. Two petroleum engineers were employed after me. It is interesting to have intellectual friends like them to discuss about the  energy dilemma of petroleum.

One of them ask, “Do you think petroleum will last around 2015?”

“I’m not sure…”, I answered briefly and slowly. “Hopefully not”, I added a two seconds after that.

Being a petroleum engineering student, my colleague began his story…

“Petroleum is abundantly available down there inside the earth. The supply can last up to 100 years. The problem now is our current technology is not capable to retrieve the black gold. Hence, we need to keep on researching and developing new techniques and technology to retrieve the crude oil.”

What my petroleum engineer friend said make me realized that petroleum is still safely locked and stored down there. The problem hindering us from getting it is the technology. I’m glad I knew that and until now I still subscribe petroleum, hydrocarbon and offshore related magazines to keep myself updated with current technologies concerning petroleum upstream.

Yesterday, I came across this website – Bedrock Energy Development. It is pretty interesting because it introduces a new way of extracting petroleum…

The tag line say it all… “Laser Oil Well Drilling: a look into the future of the search for petroleum”

Laser will be employed to explore oils. Honestly, I never imagine laser application for the oil and gas industry specifically in exploration. However, this new tech has given the world some gleam  of hope and that’s very pretty impressive. Despite the desperate commercialization of green biomass and biodiesel fuel, the demand required by the world could not be met by these renewable technology yet. More and more research are yet to be done to ensure commercial viability of the green technology. Without doubt, the world still need fossil petroleum for energy at least for the next 50 years.

It was stated that lasers have the ability to melt rock in a way that will create a casing in a wellbore, eliminating the expense of setting steel well casing. A laser system could also posess a variety of sensors and imaging systems that could communicate with the surface via fiber optic cable. A new study will obtain precise measurements of the energy required to transmit light from surface lasers with enough power to bore through rocks as deep as 20,000 feet or more beneath the surface. This has certainly ease the traditional and complicated process of drilling to position the wellbore that will be then connected to platform for further processing.

Besides that, another aspect of the new study will be to determine if lasers can be used in the presence of drilling fluids. In most wells drilling “mud” is injected into the borehole to wash out rock cuttings and keep water and other fluids from seeping into the wellbore. The technical challenge will be to determine whether too much laser energy is expended to clear away the fluid where the drilling is occurring.

Well, despite of all this, the laser approach may be the answer to our mysterious technology to dig out the petroleum from stubborn earth crust. Let’s hope for the laser technology application success so we can still enjoy petrol and its’ derivative products at an affordable price.

Basic rule of thumb: less petroleum, house hold price including petrol will rise, and people will suffer…

Think about it.

Jan 29

Farewell Party for Linda, CREG Research Officer

By Zaki1 Comment

A secret farewell party was organized and executed today for Linda, our CREG research officer who have served the research group for 2 and half years. The simple but meaningful ceremony was attended by all CREG members including lecturers, Ph.D students, Master students, and PSM students.

The ceremony which took place on a beautiful afternoon at CREG meeting room was chaired by me. Then I invited Prof. Nor Aishah Saidina Amin to give her speech and inside her speech, she highlighted almost all jobs/tasks as well as contribution that Linda has made to CREG. Then, Linda was invited to deliver her speech, but she was speechless!!! She could not say anything because she was so supprized with the ceremony and never expected it to happen. She cannot say anything, accept thanks. After that, Mahadhir, one of the PhD student recite doa and all of us enjoyed the meal.

The special meal presented was Nasi Serai. I haven’t tasted Nasi Serai before. It was marvelous… :)

Pictures will be uploaded soon from Yani’s camera… Please be patient…

Special thanks to Naz and Yani to help to plan and organized this event. Also, special thanks to all who have contributed in whatever means to make this ceremony happen.

Jan 19

CREG Seminar

By Zaki1 Comment

Attention to all CREG members:

This week, we will have our 2nd “CREG seminar”

The CREG seminar ‘s schedule as follows below:

Date      :   21 January 2010 (Thursday)
Time      :   9 – 11 am
Venue    :   BMF

On that day, we have two presenters and they will present their PhD research:-

Dr Norzita Ngadi
“Mechanisms of molecular brush inhibition of protein adsorption onto stainless steel surface”

Dr Tuan Amran
“Hydrogen Production from the catalytic Ethanol Reforming in Supercritical Water”

Jan 15

Undergraduate Research Student (PSM) in CREG

By ZakiNo Comments

Here is the list of undergraduate students with CREG this semester. The students are supervised under Prof. Dr. Nor Aishah Saidina Amin. However, each and every student has their own co-supervisor to guide them with their research.

1) Izyan Zafirah bt. Abdul Rahman
Co-Supervisor: Javaid
Research title: Preparation of activated carbon from empty palm fruit bunch.

2) Noor Aina Bt Mohd NAzri
Co-Supervisor: Zaki Yamani
Research title: Effects of reactant and catalyst bed dilution on conversion of glycerol to olefin

3) Nurul Jannah binti Arsad
Co-Supervisor: Maryam
Research title: Preparation a toolbox for methane reformaing

4) Nur Aainaa Syahirah Bt Ramli
Co-Supervisor: Nazlina
Research title: Ionic liquid treatement in biomass conversion

5) Siti Fatimah Binti Mohamed Razak
Co-Supervisor: Wan Nor Nadyaini Wan Omar
Research title: Heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production.

Jan 11

CREG Statistika Class

By ZakiNo Comments

For those who are interested to learn about STATISTICA software, a class will be conduct by Yaani on this Thursday, 14th January 2010.

The proposed place will be at CREG meeting room (2nd floor) or else will be notified later.

Please confirm your attendance (simply by reply this email) or if you want to arrange another date, please to do so.

Thank you.

Best Regards,

NURUL HUDA BINTI ZAMZURI
MSc. Student,
Chemical Reaction Engineering Group (CREG),
Faculty of Chemical & Natural Resources Engineering,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,
81310 Skudai,
Johor, Malaysia.

012-3637451/013-7021035
nurulhudazamzuri@yahoo.com

Jan 11

5 Great iPhone Apps to Help Engineers Research

By Zaki1 Comment

Working on a dissertation or any other major paper or article means lots of research, usually from lots of sources. Having remote means of research and remote ways of capturing information you might find inadvertently can be a tremendous help when you’re in the midst of a big paper or business project. Most of us find that we use our remote wireless devices to great advantage when they can help us capture ideas or information that might have been lost or forgotten had we waited until we returned to home or office to capture then. Here are some ways you can use your Iphone to help you research and capture information you find when you’re on the go.



1. Whiteboard Capture – This application allows you to capture the contents of a whiteboard screen easily and in high resolution, so it’s actually readable later. You’ll get a clean digital image every time. It’s a great way to capture classroom notes or assignment requirements.



2. Ishare – Allows you to share documents with other via a Virtual Private Network. Using a Pin, you can access and share documents. It’s useful for business people who travel and for groups working together on documents or research.



3. Dragon Dictation – Talk right to your phone to capture thoughts, ideas and other important information you might use in your work. Once you’ve finished dictating, you can save your dictation, email it or send it as a text message too. Want punctuation? Simply say “period” or other punctuation commands and they will be inserted. Whether you send the information to a colleague or just insert it into a paper you’re working on, having the ability to convert speech to text so easily and with such grammatical accuracy can save lots of time.



4. Aji Annotate PDF – This app allows you to mark up and annotate PDF documents. You can create bookmarks or even draw freeform with your fingers. This is a great way to edit documents or make notes as you read something while waiting in line or on a plane.



5. Googalyer – This web research tool an open-source, tabbed web browser with built-in note-taking, web-clipping, outlining and bibliographic tools. The idea is to consolidate these different aspects of web research into one application. This way you can have multiple research projects with all the relevant information kept in one place, without getting information from different projects mixed up. If you do a lot of research online, and want to be able to do it remotely, this is a good app.



New apps for the Iphone are constantly being developed, both by Apple and by other developers. As time goes on, there will be more and more open source, free applications you can download to your Iphone. Keep on the lookout for more good research and business tools. Using your Iphone to help keep track of your thoughts, ideas and research while you’re out and about is a great way to keep working on that most important project – even when you’re not supposed to be working.



This article was guess blog by my friend Phyllis Zerkle who blogs about how to choose among the best masters degree programs.

Jan 07

5S Hour – CREG to be a better work place

By ZakiNo Comments

Dear fellow coleagues (CREG members),

In order to consistently maintain a clean and systematic environment for our working place a.k.a our CREG lab, we’ve come out with a system where each postgraduates are held responsible to ensure that the segmented areas define below are of well order. The spring cleaning just now was a start and after this we shall allocate 1 hour a week dedicated to clean, organize, and perform house keeping in our lab, working space and our areas of in charge. Up to today’s discussion, we are allocating every Thursday from 4 to 5 pm to be dedicated for 5S Hour. With this, we hope that we can create a better and pleasant working environment.

Following are the 5 areas with the respective person in charge.

1. Documentation (files, books, catalogs, web, posters) – Linda, Zaki, Nazlina
2. Chemicals (liquid/solid inventory/record etc) – Maryam, Jazrina
3. Keys, Tools (Fawzi, Huda)
4. Glassware and gas tanks (Jawaid, Yani)
5. Equipments (Mahadhir, Ruby)

For the 5S Hour, attendance is compulsory. Please regard this as a social activity for us rather than something that we have to do. This is a moment where we can relax for a while from research and mixed, socialize together. Don’t you think so?

However, the responsibility is not limited to the above only. Please ensure that your working place, office rooms, experimental rig etc are well organize and kept.

Zaki

Jan 07

2010 Spring Cleaning will be the last for CREG

By ZakiNo Comments

Today, CREG members gathered and carried out spring cleaning. It was almost a year since we performed our massive spring cleaning. Now, we are planning not to repeat any type of spring cleaning.

Instead… we are going to regularly perform weekly housekeeping. The house keeping which will take only one hour per week will hopefully be the solution to maintain CREG lab efficiency, effectiveness and cleanliness. Almost all CREG members participated in the spring cleaning which commenced at 2.30 pm and ended at 5.00 pm.

< OlderNewer >
Blue Taste Theme created by Jabox
Farm Frenzy Gone Fishing download