Table of contents

Curtin University Malaysia hosted 2^nd International Conference on Materials Technology & Energy (ICMTE) 2019 at its campus from 6 to 8 November 2019. The conference was co-organized with The Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) Miri Branch and The Institution of Materials Malaysia (IMM) Miri Chapter with support from the Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB) and Serba Dinamik Holdings Berhad, Malaysia.

ICMTE 2019 provided a unique platform to exchange ideas on innovations, trends and future challenges related to materials technology, structures, construction, green energy, and industrial technologies. The conference hosted over 100 delegates, academics, researchers and industry professionals from Malaysia, Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Singapore, UAE, Dubai, and South Africa to showcase their knowledge and expertise in different technologies focused on the above topics.

The conference featured seven keynote speakers, such as Prof. Mohd. Nasir Tamin (University Teknologi Malaysia) who spoke on 'Hybrid Experimental-Computational Characterisation of Materials for Reliability and Life Prediction Models', Assoc. Prof. Yang Wenming (National University of Singapore) whose topic was 'Fuel Design and its Impact on the Performance and Emissions of Internal Combustion Engines', and Assoc. Prof. Ir. Chong Wen Tong (University of Malaya) who delivered a talk on 'Innovative Wind Turbine Designs and Technologies'. Assoc. Prof. Sujan Debnath (Curtin University Malaysia) gave a presentation on 'Mechanical Performance of Natural Fiber Polymer Composites Using Palm Oil Biomass' while Dr. Suvash Saha (University of Technology Sydney) spoke on 'Heat Transfer and Thermal Storage in Different Types of Heat Exchangers'. Dr. Ir. Wahyudi Sutopo (Universitas Sebelas Maret) talked about 'Intervening for Accelerating a Technology Commercialisation in University using Early Supply Chain Integration', and Assoc. Prof. Chithirai Pon Selvan (Curtin University Dubai), spoke about 'Investigation of Process Parameters for Depth of Cut in Abrasive Waterjet Machining of Materials'.

Apart from the keynote talks, 8 parallel sessions were hosted presenting the papers. A total of 88 papers have been submitted to the conference, out of which 66 papers have been selected for publication in the conference proceedings. The delegates found the conference an excellent opportunity for domestic and international participants to share their research findings and initiate collaboration in areas of recent technical advancements and innovation with regards to materials technology and energy. The conference ended with a half-day technical tour to the Sarawak BioValley Pilot Plant at the Curtin Malaysia campus, and a half-day master class on the interpretation of industrial welding codes.

The organizers hope that these proceeding papers will be a good source of information for the relevant Scientific community from academia and industry.

Editor(s)

Dr. Sukanta Roy Dr. Yam Ke San

Curtin University Malaysia Curtin University Malaysia

List of Patron (s), General Chair (s), International Scientific and Advisory Board, Chairperson, Co-Chairperson (s), Organizing Secretary, Treasurer Committee, Editor (s), Technical Committee

List of Conference photograph available in this pdf.

List of Prof. Mohd Nasir Tamin

Dr. Yang Wenming

Dr. Chong Wen Tong

Dr. Suvash C. Saha

Dr. Ir. Wahyudi Sutopo, ST., M.Si, IPM

Dr. Sujan (CEng MIMechE)

Dr. Chithirai Pon Selvan

List of Sponsors are available in this PDF.

All papers published in this volume of IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science have been peer reviewed through processes administered by the Editors. Reviews were conducted by expert referees to the professional and scientific standards expected of a proceedings journal published by IOP Publishing.

Type of peer review: Other

Open, double peer review by expert technical committee. Minimum qualification

for reviewer is Doctoral degree in the relative field.

Conference submission management system:

The abstracts and full-length papers were submitted through online management system. Upon successful submission, the papers were sent to at least 2 reviewers per paper. Based on the comments received from the reviewers, the papers were either (a) accepted as original submission, (b) accepted with minor corrections, (c) accepted with major corrections or (d) rejected.

Number of submissions received: 88

Number of submissions sent for review: 88

Number of submissions accepted: 66

Acceptance Rate (Number of Submissions Accepted / Number of Submissions Received X 100): 75%

Average number of reviews per paper: 2 reviews

Total number of reviewers involved: 35

Any additional info on review process:

The review process was carried out in accordance with the instructions given to the

reviewer.

Contact person for queries: Dr. Sukanta Roy, Curtin University, Malaysia, sukanta.roy@curtin.edu.my

This paper proposes an evolving feature selection on a rotation-invariant Local Binary Pattern (LBP) with genetic algorithm (GA) and a non-linear classifier to perform pixel-wise classification on biomass pixels. Early true leaf growth of carrots and weeds consists of 60 images provided by a public benchmark Crop/Weed Field Image Dataset (CWFID) [1] was used. The GA encodes LBP feature parameters generated from normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) image slices as genome consisting of number of neighbours, radius, size of image slice, number of LBP combinations. LBP is a lightweight rotation invariant texture feature descriptor which encodes discriminative local texture information between crops and weeds. The study evaluated multiple ensemble models evolved by GA, where GA evolves the LBP feature parameter selection, and the number of LBP features as input variables used. The classifier can handle crop and weed overlaps, which are often present in commercial fields. Weeds often grow in close proximity and overlap crops and are similar in size, which adds complexity in discriminating them. Our experiments have shown that combinations with a back-propagation neural network with a symmetrical two hidden-layer network achieved the best classification accuracy when compared to other non-linear classifiers. By utilizing a single type of feature (LBP texture feature), our resulting Artificial Neural Network (ANN) ensemble classifier is able to achieve a classification accuracy of 83.5 %.

Foaming technology is promising in producing foamed materials which can offer benefits such as lowering the cost and weight of materials as well as their utility in many applications. In this study, the thermoplastic blend of recycled high density polyethylene and recycled polyethylene terephthalate was foamed with azodicarbonamide chemical foaming agent (CFA) at 0.5-2.0 phr. The blending of thermoplastic was carried out via extrusion and the foaming process occurred during hot/cold pressing. The cell morphology, density and mechanical properties were examined. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) micrograph showed that the thermoplastic blend foamed with 1.5 phr CFA had the cellular morphology structure with non-collapsed cells and better cell distribution. As the CFA content increased, the density of blend foams decreased accordingly. The minimum density was achieved at 1.00 g/cm3 for 2.0 phr ADC. Tensile and bending properties generally decreased with the content of CFA added. The impact strength of blend foams increased when the CFA added up to 1.0 phr and then reduced with further CFA content. It can be concluded that the fabricated foamed blend can give value added to the recycled polymers.

Wind energy is one of the most cost effective renewable energy resources. The purpose of this study is to investigate wind energy potential at different sites in India from year 2008-2017 for six month basis (March to August). The average wind speed data for different sites indicates that the average wind speed for site Tiruchirappalli is highest. The normal probability plot shows that wind speed data are normally distributed except for the site Kolkata. Weibull cumulative probability plot shows that the higher probability of occurrence of wind energy was at higher average wind speed for each site. Weibull probability density function shows that the probability density function is minimum at higher average wind speed. It is also found that the scale parameter is an important parameter compare to shape parameter that affect wind speed. The analysis of power density shows that the average power density for site Tiruchirappalli is highest and lowest for site Agartala. The analysis also shows that higher wind energy possibility is in Tiruchirappalli followed by Coimbatore.

This paper is about Consultative Committee for Space Data System for Lossless Multispectral and Hyperspectral Image Compression (CCSDS-MHC) algorithm that is implemented on Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ system using Open Multi-Processing (OpenMP). CCSDS-MHC algorithm along with the full prediction mode is opted due to its best compression ratio (CR) performance. The issue of Hyperspectral Image Compression is the loss of data when compress, thus CCSDS algorithm is used in this research. Besides, with current technologies that require low-power but high-performance devices, Raspberry Pi was chosen to be tested in terms of its performances while being compared to other platforms. AVIRIS (airborne) and Hyperion (spaceborne) are used to test the performance of the system. OpenMP is introduced to simplify the computational operation through parallelization to take advantage of the multi-core architecture of the hardware system. In term of execution time, CCSDS-MHC algorithm when parallelize using OpenMP gave the best performances about 69.4% for AVIRIS 1997 dataset, 69.3% for AVIRIS 2006 dataset and 67.7% for Hyperion dataset. The execution time of performance CCSDS-MHC in Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ comparing with other different multicore platform is validate and the mean parallelize is measured. The result of comparison proves that faster performing task gives the best result due to higher speed of CPU-cores performances. From this research, it is proven that Raspberry Pi which is a low-power embedded platform able to compress the hyperspectral images at optimized speed with the implementation of OpenMP through CCSDS algorithm. Therefore, this research will be useful for further studies in lossless of hyperspectral images.

This paper presents a literature review of the application of cement, lime and polymer emulsion in road construction. The focus is mainly on the soil candidates, binding mechanism, the reported strengths and weaknesses for each chemical stabiliser used in soil stabilisation. While it is generally agreed that cement is best suited for sand-sized to gravel-sized soil mixtures (well-graded), lime is mainly used for wet heavy-clay soil mixtures. Polymer emulsion is more suitable for silt-sized to fine gravel-sized soil mixtures (well-graded). Organic soils are the most difficult soil type to stabilise, and for any kind of chemical stabiliser used, the strength gain is relatively minimal. Cement undergoes hydration reaction which is rapid, and results in high compressive strength, while lime undergoes a slower pozzolanic reaction is slower, and provide lower compressive strength. Polymer emulsion depends on the rate of evaporation for the film formation to complete, and results in ductile polymer-soil matrix. Like lime, polymer does not provide significant compressive strength but does provide great flexural strength that prevents crack propagations. The outcomes from this paper provide an insight into recent and upcoming research trend using chemical soil stabilisers on local soil mixtures to improve the engineering properties of pavement layers made of these soil mixtures.

This research was conducted to investigate the various control techniques to vary the size of aluminum nanoparticles through solution plasma process, specifically the submerged glow-discharge plasma process. Aluminum nanoparticles have received many attention due to their unique combustion, resistance and superhydrophobic properties. A lab-scale based submerged glow-discharge setup has been constructed to produce the nanoparticles. Different concentration of potassium carbonate electrolyte (0.1M – 0.5M) and cathode submerged length (50 mm – 100mm) were used in this study. The results were viewed and analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. As the major results showed that the diameter size distribution ranges from 80nm to 2µm. Higher concentrations have shown to produce smaller nanoparticles due to the overlapping of electron beams on the cathode surface. Also, shorter cathode submerged lengths have resulted in larger-sized nanoparticles.

The research aims to study the effects of concentration of the electrolyte and morphology of the cathode rod on the synthesis and size control of the carbon nanoparticles. The research was conducted using the submerged glow discharge plasma (SGDP) method. Potassium carbonate a strong electrolyte was used to maintain the accuracy of the results. The glow discharge voltage and any instabilities were recorded and monitored to obtain trends during the synthesis of carbon nanoparticles. Moreover, the shapes and sizes of the carbon nanoparticles formed were also observed and analyzed. The SGDP method is both eco-friendly and cheap to conduct. Carbon nanoparticles range from 1 – 100 nm. The small size of these nanoparticles gives it a high surface area to its volume ratio over sheet and bulk metals. The nanoparticles have different mechanical properties with respect to their sizes. The ability to control the sizes of the nanoparticles will enable manufacturers to obtain the mechanical properties they desire. The research conducted was able to determine the factors which enables the control of the sizes of carbon nanoparticles formed. At higher electrolyte concentration and higher cathode thickness, the size of the carbon nanoparticles decreased.

The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of copper (Cu²⁺) on structural and mechanical properties of akermanite ceramic synthesized via high-energy wet planetary ball-milling route. Based on structural analysis, partial substitution of copper ions did not affect the phase stability of host akermanite. Moreover, Cu²⁺ suppressed the grain growth, thus considerably improved the sinterability and mechanical properties of akermanite ceramic. Vickers microhardness values of doped samples increased to five- or six-times compared to that of pure akermanite at 1200°C. Our study indicated that the Cu²⁺-doped akermanite ceramic could potentially be used as an alternative material for bone replacement in biomedical applications.

Abstract The research was conducted to study the size control of TiO₂ nanoparticles synthesised. The TiO₂ nanoparticles was formed using the solution plasma process. This method is an electrolysis of water-based experiment. When compared to other methods, the solution plasma method offers both a shorter synthesis time as well as a simple setup. Researches conducted on nanomaterials have proven that these materials tend to have varying properties when compared to bulk metals. With this, being able to vary the sizes of the TiO₂ nanoparticles meant being able to study its possible future applications. One being using these nanoparticles for the fabrication of solar cells. Varying the sizes of these nanoparticles could bring a difference in the reactivity which can help enhance the performance of the solar cells. In order to vary the sizes of the nanoparticles, the concentration of the electrolyte was varied. During the research, it was found that the sizes of the TiO₂ nanoparticles decreases with the increase in the concentration of the electrolyte.

An ideal engine today is considered to be one with low emission, low fuel consumption and high specific power output. Engine downsizing by turbocharging provides an answer toall the three. Though the traditional problems of poor low end torque and inadequate transient response have been overcome to a great extent using variable geometry turbine turbocharger in diesel engine, the application of variable geometry turbine turbocharger is in quite a nascent stage when it comes to gasoline engine. This article primarily describes all the important aspects of application of VGTs to gasoline engines right from when VGT's were restricted to only very expensive research prototypes to the very recent application in cost sensitive production engines. Also at the same time,it highlights the need and development in the flow range of the turbocharger compressor, addressing problems of choke and surge in the turbo chargers compressor.

The present work demonstrates the utilization of ultrasonic-irradiation for synthesis of glycerol carbonate (GC) with direct use of crude glycerol (C.Gly) and dimethyl carbonate (DMC). This transesterification reaction was catalysed by calcium oxide (CaO) and the effect of ultrasonic-assisted transesterification reaction was studied. In order to verify the contents of C.Gly, the C.Gly obtained from biodiesel production plant was characterized and the results showed that C.Gly consists of 71.21%w/w glycerol, 16.01%w/w of moisture, 7.10%w/w of methanol, 2.76%w/w of ash, 3.60 %w/w of soap and 10.02%w/w of matter organic non-glycerol (MONG). Subsequently, effects of reaction temperature, reaction time, molar ratios of reactants and catalyst loading on C.Gly conversion and GC yield have been investigated. The highest yield of GC (95.41%) was attained with 9 mol% of CaO catalyst loading, 3:1 molar ratio of (DMC:C.Gly) at 70 °C for 90 min. The yield of GC was observed to rise with all the reaction parameters till the optimum conditions obtained. Moreover, the yield of GC obtained from ultrasonic-assisted was compared with the conventional-heating method done in the previous study. It was noticeable that the yield of GC obtained via ultrasonic-assisted was found to be 51.44% better than conventional-heating transesterification. In conclusion, the production of GC via ultrasonic-assisted transesterification shows better feasibility than that of the conventional-heating method.

Oil palm agricultural biomass has a great potential for biofuel production due to its abundance and less pretreatment needed. In this study, bioethanol production from oil palm trunks sap was carried out by using yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The suitability of the oil palm trunk sap for bioethanol production was tested by investigating the relationship between the oil palm trunk sap concentration and ethanol produced. The fermentation was conducted in static condition and without pH adjustment using 60, 80, and 100% oil palm trunk sap concentration. Results showed that the highest bioethanol production rate was achieved for 100% oil palm trunk sap (1.033 g/L.h), followed by 80% (0.744 g/L.h), and 60% (0.645 g/L.h). These results were influenced by the presence of sugars in the initial sap, suggesting that high substrate concentration does not inhibit bioethanol production. Therefore, the oil palm trunks sap showed significant potential as a renewable feedstock for the production of bioethanol without dilution.

This research study is conducted to investigate the flexural behaviour of steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) prisms incorporating different types and volume fractions of steel fibers, various grades of concrete, and different specimen depths, all tested under displacement control mode using four-point loading configuration. Two types of steel fibers (hooked end and straight) were incorporated into the concrete mixes at two different dosages (1% and 2%). Concrete mixes with compressive strengths of 40, 50, and 70 MPa were used to cast the samples. Specimen depth was also among the test variables, where prisms of depth 100, 150 and 200 mm were tested to study the size effect on the flexural behaviour of SFRC. Test results indicated that for the straight-end steel fibers, the increase in the fiber volume fraction from 1 to 2% had a noticeable effect on both flexural strength (or Modulus of Rupture, MOR) and associated prism mid-span deflection. However, for the hooked end steel fibers, there was only a limited increase in the same measured values due to reduced workability of the SFRC fresh mix. The test results also have shown that the increase in the concrete compressive strength had only a modest effect on the average MOR value, but a noticeable effect on average mid-span deflection at peak load. The latter was attributed to the relatively long length and the hooked end geometry of the steel fibers. Finally, test results revealed that specimen depth had an impact on the measured flexural strength, where increase in specimen depth was associated with reduced MOR values, a phenomenon that is commonly referred to in the literature as size effect.

In the last years, dominant usage of petroleum-based transportation and consumption of fossil fuels results in greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions into the atmosphere which causes negative impacts across the globe. As the situation worsens, more people are motivated towards opting for electrified transportation. However, there are still a lot of challenges to be overcome with one of the main issues concerning the development and availability of fast charging technologies in electric vehicles (EVs). To decrease high energy demand from the grid, usage of renewable energy systems (i.e., photo-voltaic) to fast charge EVs are preferred. In this paper, high performance DC-DC boost converter controlled by PI controller is proposed with the objective to mitigate the current state of fast charging and environmental problems. The proposed converter is able to generate different output power level based on the desired preset reference voltage value. All simulation results are documented to verify the proposed photovoltaic (PV) powered EV fast charger. For simplicity, EV batteries are being replaced with one resistor as the load whereas PV panels are used to generate input power for the converter.

The quality of road pavements is an important factor to ensure an acceptable level of service and safety to the road users. When flexible road pavements are to be constructed on weak sub-grade soils, it is often necessary to provide a stabilised sub-base to improve their relevant engineering properties. This paper presents the results and observations from a laboratory investigation evaluating the compaction properties of road sub-base stabilised with Type I cement (ordinary Portland cement) and styrene-butadiene latex copolymer. The proposed polymer contents were 0.5%, 0.75%, 1% and 2% and the proposed cement contents were 2%, 3% and 5%. The 2.5kg rammer compaction test was conducted on the gravelly SAND and sandy GRAVEL samples. It was found that the maximum dry densities (MDD) for the untreated soil samples were higher than the cement-polymer-treated soil samples, indicating that the MDD values decrease when cement and polymer are added. The MDD values for gravelly SAND and sandy GRAVEL treated with cement-polymer lied between 2Mg/m³+0.03Mg/m³ and 2.09Mg/m³+0.04Mg/m³ respectively. The optimum moisture contents for gravelly SAND and sandy GRAVEL treated with cement-polymer were maintained at 9%+0.5%. The air void lines for gravelly SAND and sandy GRAVEL lied between 7%+1% and 3%+1% respectively.

Ti64 alloy is a well-known material for biomedical applications due to high corrosion resistance and biocompatibility properties. Surface properties of implants plays a vital role in bone and cell growth in the human body. With the anodization process, we can increase the surface porosity, which will be adequate for surface fascination of the implant screw to the bone and appropriate mechanical properties. Hence, the present study attempted to improve the surface properties of Ti64 by anodization and plasma treatment that may be promising method to increase the biocompatibility of Ti materials. Anodization process is the cheapest one to improve the surface properties of Ti alloy and riskless process. To intensify the open pores on the Ti64 surface plasma treatment was performed. Also, the aim of this study was to improve the aesthetic appearance of the dental implants and reproduce interference of colours. With the help of UV-VIS spectrophotometer the colour and spectral reflectance were investigated. The oxide layer thickness, chemical composition and nanosurface roughness was measured. These results suggests the surface modification of Ti64 alloy by anodization can produce interference of colours and are dependent on the applied voltage, oxide layer thickness. The surface oxidation consisting of anatase and rutile phase and change in nanosurface roughness, may improve the biocompatibility of Ti64.

Polyurethane is a type of segmented polymer which is synthesized from polyisocyanate, polyol and chain extender. The reaction between isocyanate and hydroxyl bond is known as polymerization. Two-step synthesis is used in synthesizing polyurethane, where polyisocyanate reacts with polyol to form pre-polymer, follows by the reaction between pre-polymer and diol. In this research, different weight percentages of triethylenediamine catalyst (0.0%, 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6% and 0.8%) are used. Moreover, curing time and temperature that examined in this research is at a temperature of 70ºC for 24 hours (Set A), which is practised in the industry. Curing at shorter time and higher temperature is proposed, which is 70ºC for 2 hours followed by 100ºC for 3 hours (Set B). Mechanical property and absorption property of polyurethane is studied by Shore A hardness test and water absorption test respectively. Morphology of polyurethane is studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Moreover, density test, Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis are carried out.

The properties of polyurethane containing precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) were studied. The PCC were produced from acetylene gas waste, and its usage as filler material for polymer were explored in this study. Present findings suggested the addition of 5 per hundred gram of PU(phr) significantly increases the shore A hardness to 39.2, in addition to improve the degradation mperature and specific gravity with decrease in water and oil absorptions capacity. The addition of 5 phr PCC to polyurethane improves the material structure and the morphology as calcium carbonate were dispersed when observed using microscopes. This research extends our knowledge of the addition of PCC to strengthen the mechanical and thermal properties of polyurethanes.

Inconel 625 is a unique material due to its characteristic properties of high strength at high temperatures, high corrosion and oxidation resistance. These unique properties thus pose a challenge to machine Inconel 625. Characteristics of work hardening in Inconel 625 generates high cutting force which results in poor surface finish and reduce the performance of cutting tool. Two-dimensional turning operation simulation is considered to evaluate cutting force in this research study. Box- Behnken design of experiment under Response Surface Methodology is used to identify the cutting force with 15 different combinations of cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut parameters. Predictive mathematical model for cutting force is developed and obtained. From Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), depth of cut had significant influence on cutting force followed by feed rate and cutting speed. Optimization of cutting parameters was carried out and it is recommended that a low combination of depth of cut and feed rate should be selected with a high cutting speed to achieve minimum cutting force. The effect of rake angle on cutting force was investigated for ceramic cutting tools.

Pipelines are the energy lifelines of almost every activity of everyday life. It is a safe way of transporting water, gas and oil over long distances. It is also the most practical way to deliver oil and gas across countries as being an extremely safe and economically viable solution to transport energy. Cracking and corrosion on the external and/or internal surfaces of in-service pipes, reduces the integrity of the material and potentially reduces the service life of the transportation system and equipment. Defects in pipelines may have various forms and may be initiated by one or more mechanisms potentially resulting in corrosion and/or cracking. In this paper we propose a system that detects the internal cracks in pipelines through a telerobot which can be inserted into the pipelines and detects the internal Failures (cracks) through a special modern high resolution digital camera and image processing techniques. The telerobot is a programmable and can be controlled as per the requirements such as speed and direction of the telerobot and sensors using mobile application and can be connected to a computer and smart phone. The telerobot captures a high definition images and also captures the precise location. These images are transferred to a computing facility for the analyses and to detect cracks.

The growing awareness and concern of having greener and biodegradable materials has promoted researchers over the world to focus their attention on studies related to natural fibre reinforced polymer composites. In this study, the mechanical and thermal properties of the coconut shell powder and lignin obtained from different extraction methods such as Alkaline and Organosolv, on the epoxy composites were studied. The composite was fabricated using hand lay-up method, where the coconut shell and lignin fibers of 1, 2, 3 and 4 wt.% were mixed with the matrix consisting of epoxy resin and hardener in the ratio of 10:3. The obtained result showed that the usage of coconut shell powder and lignin as reinforcing fillers enhances the tensile strength and Young's modulus of composite when compared to neat epoxy composite by 16.4%, 14.6%, 9.70%, and 31.4%, 25.3%, 17.2% respectively at filler content of 3 wt. % but reduced the elongation at break up to 49.9% with respect to higher content of filler. Similarly, the flexural strength and Young's modulus was enhanced by 13.5%, 10.0%, 6.57% and 49.6%, 39.1%, 19.6% respectively at filler content of 3 wt.% but reduced the elongation at fracture up to 19.0% with respect to higher filler content. Structural characterization was also carried out where fillers were proven to enhance the purity and strength of the lignin.

Malaysia is looking forward in achieving developed country status which drives several strategic plans in construction, as it plays a vital role in country's economic growth and development. Construction Industry Transformation Programme (CITP) has been introduced to boost its performance with sustainable construction. However, most of the construction industry players are not involved in sustainable construction especially on green building concept and thus decelerating the development. Therefore, this study is conducted to identify the drivers and challenges faced by the construction industry players through questionnaire survey where the market demand from stakeholders is placed primarily in implementing green building. The findings showed that awareness and understanding of the stakeholders about green building concept are lacked due to unforeseen circumstances. Detail explanations or descriptions on the benefits and contributions from green building application are needed to be delivered to stakeholders. A framework is proposed for future implementation by improving the education and delivered information, as well as providing the mechanism of promoting the green building concept among the stakeholders.

Petroleum industries have been creating negative environmental and ecological impacts due to the formation of oilfield produced water (OPW) during refining processes. Graphene oxide (GO) as a chemical demulsifier was found non-recyclable; hence, it could cause environmental pollution. Thus, magnetic graphene oxide (M-GO) was proposed to prevent any possible contamination. In this work, GO, and M-GO were successfully synthesized and the produced M-GO composites were found coated with silica-coated magnetite (Fe3O4@SiO2) nanoparticles. As such, they possess excellent superparamagnetic properties. The demulsification tests demonstrated that 0.25 wt% of M-GO aqueous suspension achieved 98.53% of demulsification efficiency on the as-prepared crude oil-in-water emulsion, which was more superior than GO as the suspending oil floccules attached to M-GO can be separated effectively using magnetic separation. The optimizations of the demulsification process were conducted, and significant findings were included as the major novelty of this work. The recycling tests have proven that M-GO can be reused to perform demulsification effectively for ten times. Despite being able to reduce the demulsification costs in the industry, this research suggests that the excellent properties of M-GO can minimize the risk of polluting the environment due to leakage of demulsifier through the application of magnetic separation.

Erosion has been evaluated as the main cause of failure in pipework. The focus of this work is the effect of erosion activity on two-phase flow (solid-liquid) condition. Pressure distribution of liquid flow, velocity profile of liquid flow and trajectories of sand particles are scrutinized. Based on the experimental data, different limiter pipeline was simulated to validate the data and an overall grain shape factor of 0.265 was obtained. From the qualitative and quantitative analysis of grain shape factor (GSF), it was identified that the 75 % of sand are composed of high sphericity particles (GSF=0.2), 25 % of sand composed of slightly lower sphericity particles (GSF=0.45). For the simulation work, the fluid flow rate, grain shape factor and sand concentration is altered ranging between 25 litres/s to 50 litres/s, 0.2 to 1.0 and 0.5 % to 1.0 % respectively. Through ANOVA analysis and it demonstrated the significant influence on erosion activity in descending order (fluid flow rate > shape factor > sand concentration). After numerical optimization, the minimum erosion activity on limiter was obtained by obeying the settings of fluid flow rate, shape factor and sand concentration as 50 litres/s, 0.2 and 1.0 % respectively.

Soil erosion has deteriorated water quality and caused land degradation. As human industrialization quickens, the effects of soil erosion are getting worse. Therefore, it is essential to have an effective mitigation measure at hand to solve this problem. In this research, two types of erosion control methods were compared to determine their effectiveness in controlling soil erosion. The two methods used were mulch made from dried grass clippings and grass cultivation grown with Axonopus compressus or more commonly known as cow grass. The plots were placed under five rainfall events together with a control plot. The runoff volume, turbidity and total suspended solids (TSS) from the plot discharges were tested and compared. The effectiveness of each erosion control method under different rainfall conditions were also evaluated. Results indicated that the mulch plot produced a lower runoff volume but the grass plot did manage to improve performance over time. The turbidity of both plots were similar. The TSS produced by the grass plot was lower than the mulch plot in 4 out of the 5 testing periods. The grass plot also performed better in longer duration and high intensity rainfall events. The mulch was able to produce similar results with the grass in short duration, low or moderate intensity rainfall events. As a conclusion, the grass cultivation is a more effective erosion control method when compared to the mulch.

This paper summarized on the history of biodiesel synthesis, biodiesel synthesis using iron doped catalyst. Biodiesel are gaining enormous attention from researches and manufacturers considering its advantages of non-toxic, biodegradable, renewable, and environment-friendly in order to improve the air quality over the atmosphere followed by reducing the global warming problems effectively. Regarding the conventional biodiesel production method, manufacturers generally utilize vegetable oil and alcohols to pass through the transesterification process with the presence of homogeneous base catalyst. The utilization of this types of catalyst lead to another environmental issues that most of the researches are concerning about since the homogeneous catalysts are not reusable and causing separation problems between oil products and the catalyst itself. Therefore, it is highly necessary for the researches and manufacturers to further explore and investigate some catalyst types that are truly feasible for high-scale or industrial usage. Heterogeneous catalysts are known to consists of an identical phase with the reacting medium where the liquid phase contains the feedstock and reaction medium whereas the catalyst retain within the solid phase, hence resolving the separation problems that the homogeneous catalyst would lead to. Recently, researches have introduced the novel method of magnetic properties impregnation of catalytic active component onto the carbonaceous compound. This proposed action tends to provide the advantages of high surface area, separation ease, and preventing the leaching of catalytic active components from the catalyst. Both the potential iron doped carbon catalyst have been extensively researched and studied within this report. Besides, the catalyst properties have discussed further for analyzing the effects of the biodiesel yield that introduced by the chemical and physical properties of various types of catalysts.

Horizontal flow constructed wetland (HFCW) is an attractive green technology for wastewater treatment. In the present study, four laboratory-scale HFCWs were constructed to serve as the primary and secondary treatment of university campus wastewater. The effect of hydraulic residence time (HRT) and pre-aeration of influent were investigated. The experimental results demonstrated that the wetland vegetation played an important role in the oxygen restoration and the influence of pre-aeration was minor. In the primary treatment, effective removals of TSS and NH₄-N were observed. However, the treatment of BOD and NO₃-N were insignificant due to the low influent concentrations. As for secondary treatment, the HFCWs effectively reduced the concentrations of BOD, NH₄-N, and NO₃-N in the effluent from the Intermittent Decanted Extended Aeration (IDEA) plant. The effluent quality of all HFCWs complied with the Standard A sewage discharge. Longer HRTs brought a positive effect to the removals of organic matter and nitrogen.

Malaysian government has putting a lot of budget and resources in developing and upgrading infrastructure of the country. The covered area of an infrastructure project especially in a transportation project is quite significant compared to residential and commercial projects. As such, construction on soft soils is unavoidable and it increases uncertainties and risks in an infrastructure project. The current literature review showed that existing knowledge on risk assessment of infrastructure projects on soft soils is scarce. Hence, this research was focused on determining the critical time-influencing external risk factors during the construction phase. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to determine the most critical external risks in infrastructure projects on soft soils. Research method was questionnaire survey. It is found that the five most critical risk factors were thick soft soil layer, high water content, high organic content, price changes (material & energy) and karstic cavity formation. While the five least critical risk factors were archaeological/habitant issue, lack of political support, protectionism, corruption and change in government/legislative/regulatory. In conclusion, soil condition and economic are critical determining the time performance in infrastructure projects on soft soils, while political risk contributes little impact on this aspect.

Sulfur-Iodine thermochemical cycle process has been considered a promising method to generate hydrogen from water. One of the main limitations of this process lies in the hydrogen iodide decomposer section, which requires substantial amount of heat at high temperature. The present study analyses the heat transfer limitation effect on the performance of hydrogen iodide decomposition in a multi-tubular catalytic reactor by means of dynamic simulation. The extensive numerical simulation shows that the inlet temperature heating medium (Helium gas) should be at least 700°C so to enable at least 90% conversion when the inlet molar fraction of hydrogen iodide is 0.6. Lowering the inlet heating medium will require the reduction in the inlet molar fraction of hydrogen iodide in order to keep the conversion at 90% and above.

Biological methods are employed to yield less or non-toxic MgO nanoparticles to utilize them in biological applications. Among various biosynthesis approaches, plant extracts with phytochemicals, especially from leaves, are widely used to fabricate MgO nanoparticles, due to their high availability, rapid synthesis and ability to yield smaller stable nanoparticles. Aloe barbadensis is a succulent xerophytic plant with unique characteristics to withhold water in its leaf named parenchymal gel, which is protected by a chloroplast containing thick latex, to avoid transpiration in high temperature condition of the desert. These latex contains phytochemicals such as flavanol, quercetin, Kaempeferol, myricetin and fisetin, along with other common phytochemicals such as phenols and terpenoids, that are essential for nanoparticle formation. Further, these compounds also possess enhanced biological properties. Thus, the aim of the present study is to obtain crude phytochemical extracts from Aloe barbadensis latex and utilize them as reducing and stabilizing agent for the smaller MgO nanoparticle formation. In addition, the parameters which affect the formation of nanoparticles are identified and optimized to yield smaller MgO nanoparticles with phytochemicals as surface functional groups, to be beneficial in biomedical applications.

Simultaneous multiple droplet deposition involves dispensing of multiple droplets at the same instant on the substrate. A newly defined parameter, arrangement angle is considered as one of the factor that influencing the coalescence of the multiple droplets. However, the effect of such factor on the coalescence is largely neglected in the past. The paper aims to investigate the effect of droplet centre-to-centre distance and arrangement angle on the spreading area of four droplet deposited simultaneously using simulation method. The project starts with single droplet deposition and following by simultaneous multiple droplet deposition. For single droplet deposition, the spreading area of 80% wt aqueous glycerin droplet on the glass substrate were obtained using simulation and experimental methods. A correlation function was introduced to match the simulation result with the experiment result. For simulations of multiple droplet deposition, three droplet centre-to-centre distances as 2.22 mm, 3 mm and 4 mm and three droplet arrangement angles as 90°, 110° and 120° were studied. The larger the droplet spacing, the larger the spreading area for arrangement angle of 90°. The spreading area are largest for spacing of 4 mm, followed by 2.22 mm and 3 mm for arrangement angle of 110° and 120°. The arrangement angle is proven as a factor that affect the spreading area.

Epipremnum aureum is a common ornamental foliage which is used mainly for indoor decoration. It demonstrates tolerance to low light environment and the ability to remove atmospheric chemicals such as gasoline and formaldehyde. A previous screening study showed the ability of Epipremnum aureum to remove crude oil from soil. Further to the screening study, this study examined the effect of fertilization on phytoremediation of crude oil-contaminated soil by Epipremnum aureum Epipremnum aureum was grown in pots with soil contaminated with 5%, 10% and 15% of crude oil by weight respectively, with and without the addition of fertilizer. In line with previous study, Epipremnum aureum showed the ability to remove crude oil contaminants. The plant demonstrated highest crude oil removal rate in pots with 15% contamination. Application of fertilizer enhanced the removal of crude oil in all experimental pots by Week 6, hence increasing the rate of crude oil decline over the experimental duration. It is deemed that application of fertilizer provides nutrients to promote plant growth and proliferation of roots which enhance rhizodegradation of crude oil in soil. This study extends on the existing knowledge that Epipremnum aureum can phytoremediate crude-oil contaminated soil by characterizing its tolerance to crude oil and its response to fertilization, which is crucial to its practical application in phytoremediation. Phytoremediation presents a promising yet cost-effective measure in treating contaminated land. Further study can examine the optimum fertilizer concentration for phytoremediation and the tolerance level of Epipremnum aureum to crude oil contamination.

As concrete wall panel is gaining popularity in precast construction industry, better insight into its behaviour is of paramount importance. Considerable research has been carried out on concrete wall under axial loading. Most of the published literatures have proposed design equations for wall design purpose. In this aspect, the paper is aimed to review the design equations of one-way concrete wall. The limitations of existing design equations are subsequently identified.

For rural areas situated in the deep topography of Sarawak, the distance from energy grids and plants are situated too far from the power appliances. Hence, sustainable alternative method of generating energy for the people should be put into consideration. For rural areas rich with riverine streams, the employment of hydrokinetic turbines (HKT) would be a good alternative to meet their daily requirements. The HKTs are fundamentally understood as a turbine that harnesses the kinetic motion of freestreams without the need of head. In the preceding years, the development of HKT turbines has undergone several breakthroughs in terms of efficiency and design. However, at low water depths cluttered with debris, it makes the implementation of certain HKT orientations limited. In such cases, the Savonius style SKTs would be one of the promising deployments in riverine systems. In this paper, a newly developed Savonius blade profile by Roy & Saha was simulated in a fluid medium of water through the CFD software StarCCM+. The two-dimensional unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes equations was solved using the shear stress transport k-co turbulence model at a Reynolds number of 0.71-1.88×10⁵ and water speed ranging from 0.3-0.8 m/s. The maximum power coefficient generated by the modified blade was 0.43 at TSR=1.0 and Re=1.88×10⁵.

Over the years, the need of renewable energy has been accelerated to minimise the reliance on using the fast depleting fossil fuel. Research on wind turbines to harness wind power is widely increasing especially with the progression of vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) for the locations, where conventional horizontal axis wind turbines are not effective. The ability to provide renewable energy by generating efficient power is vital in combatting climate change due to increase in global energy demand thus, leading to this present study of extracting wind energy from a cooling tower. In this paper, a three dimensional numerical investigation has been conducted on the straight bladed Darrieus type VAWTs with S1046 airfoils. The implicit unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations are solved using shear stress transport k-? turbulent model. The VAWT model is placed at the outlet of the cooling tower to calculate power output with an aspect ratio of 0.88. The results show that a maximum power coefficient of 0.36 is obtained at a tip speed ratio of 3.0.

The focus of this study is to understand the effect of the flow control mechanism on NACA 4412 airfoil. Two configuration of flow control method is used in this investigation. The first configuration is, airfoil with only the trailing-edge flap. This is the active flow control method. The trailing-edge flap can be deflected to various angle accordingly. The second configuration is a combination of, active trailing-edge flap with a passive surface roughness at the leading-edge of the airfoil. The surface roughness is expected to reduce the flow separation at the leading-edge of the airfoil. This is expected to enhance the aerodynamic performance of the airfoil. Both configuration 1 and configuration 2 was simulated and the results compared with the base airfoil without any flow control mechanism. Based on the results, airfoil with configuration 1 performed better compared to the base airfoil. Airfoil with configuration 2, performed well but not better than the airfoil with configuration 1. Upon further analysis, key patterns emphasise airfoil with configuration 2 could perform better if the roughness element parameters further optimised. This airfoil to be used for wind turbine applications.

Abrasive solid erosion is a common issue faced in many industrial applications and can incur significant loss to production efficiency. In a piping system, the bends are generally the most vulnerable to the abrasive erosion due to the abrupt change of flow. Reducing the erosion at the bend is key to industries for safety purpose and ensure equipment longevity. This research focusses on the effectiveness of utilizing the swirling flow in reducing the erosion rate at the elbow bends. Numerical approaches are adopted to systematically evaluate the impact of the degree of swirling in the flow on the erosion reduction at the elbow. The results demonstrate the promising prospect of the swirling flows as a mechanism to control the erosion at the pipe elbow.

City logistics is an important problem of the modern urban logistics system that needs to be resolved. In this review, we can integrating economic, environmental, and social dimensions problem to analyze the relevance of urban logistic issues and to identify gaps. This problem require coorperation between several type of stakeholders. The stakeholders have different objectives and decision spaces. We identify some information and research, so this literature review can contribute to the evolution of knowledge management. The literature review can develop opportunities and challenges for understanding about development of city logistics.

Distribution is an activity that the firm has to do to deliver their product to the customers. The product has to deliver to the customers on the right condition, at the right time, and with the minimal cost of delivery. This paper focuses to solve the planning distribution problem on petrol product delivery or Petrol Station Replenishment Problem. One of the ways to solve the planning distribution is VRP (Vehicle Routing Problem). VRP aims to find the minimal total cost delivery with some constraints depend on the factory. In this research, VRP is used by the distribution center to find the optimal route of distribution of petrol products. Using Multi-Compartment Vehicle Routing Problem (MC-VRP) that considers the demand for the petrol product, tank-truck capacity, distribution cost, and the number of the compartment. In this work, a mathematical formulation for MC-VRP is developed in the Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model. Using Ilog Cplex with branch and bound algorithm to solve this distribution problem with the minimum total distribution cost. There are 10 customers with different distances, different time deliveries and different travel costs in this research. The mathematic formulation produces the best alternative that is Rp 1.898.584 to deliver products from depot to the customers.

The newspaper industry has several distinctive characteristics that make it stand out from other industries due to tight production and delivery times. The results of a case study in one of the newspaper companies in the city of Surakarta, found several problems, one of which is the slow distribution process due to the determination of the wrong route. The problem of distribution is the problem of the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP). Vehicle Routing Problem is a problem related to determining the optimal distribution route by involving several obstacles to serve a number of agents at the request of each agent. One of the obstacles of the Vehicle Routing Poblem is the capacity of the vehicle. This study applies the Vehicle Routing Problem using the Nearest Neighbor method to optimize the distribution route. The Nearest Neighbor method is used to design routes based on the next closest distance. Distribution efficiency is evaluated based on the total distance, time and load borne by the vehicle fleet. The results showed that the distribution route was divided into two routes with a total distance traveled as far as 27.3 km and a total time of 1 hour 30 minutes in accordance with the time windows policy that is applied daily Solopos. Based on the use of these methods, it can save company expenses of Rp. 134,160.00 per day or Rp. 1,609,920.00 per month in product distribution for the Surakarta City area.

PT. PERTAMINA TBBM Boyolali is a supplier of fuel oil in the form of premium, pertamax and diesel. The company should distribute fuel products using tank cars with operating areas covering Boyolali, Surakarta, Karanganyar, Sukoharjo, Sragen, Klaten, Wonogiri, Ngawi, Pacitan, Magetan, Ungaran, Semarang, Salatiga, Purwodadi, and Blora. An efficient supply chain is needed to provide the right products and services, with the specifications needed, in the right place and to the right customers. This article aims to find out and analyze the efficiency that occurs at operational TBBM Pertamina Boyolali and to find out the variables that most influence supply chain performance to be analyzed and improved so that improvements in supply chain performance can be more focus and optimal. The Decision-Making Units (DMUs) stated in this article are the period of supply chain activities from January 2018 to November 2018 at TBBM Pertamina Boyolali, the number of DMU is 11 DMUs. Supply Chain Operation Reference (SCOR) method with responsiveness, flexibility, and reliability attributes is used to measure Supply chain performance. To analyze supply chains efficiency, this article applies input-oriented DEA CCR (Charnes, Cooper, and Rhodes) model which considers linear relationships in its input and output. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a strong tool for measuring the efficiency of the DMUs and does not need to normalize indicator values that have different dimensions. The software used for processing data in this article is Banxia Frontier Analyst 4.2. This article provides suggestions for improving cash-to-cash cycle time, lead time, and flexibility for more efficient fuel distribution.

PT. Solo Grafika Utama is one of the companies in the field of newspaper production. The newspaper industry has strict production characteristics. Therefore, it requires a good factory layout in order to create effectiveness and production efficiency. The warehouse layout in PT Solo Grafika Utama still deficient in the application of material handling in warehouses so that it often raises problems. The problem is that the product arrangement in the warehouse is not optimal because there are still products stored in an wrong place. This article aims to provide an effective and efficient proposal to improve warehouse layout in PT Solo Grafika Utama using the dedicated storage method. Dedicated Storage is chosen to improve warehouse arrangement and minimize the distance of product displacement. After the proposed improvement, a better warehouse layout is obtained. In the proposed layout can also minimize the product displacement distance of 23% from the initial distance. Thus it can be said that the proposed layout is better than the initial layout and can be proven to be able to facilitate the handling of materials in the warehouse so that it can make newspaper production more effective and efficient.

Case study in this research at PT. Mega Andalan Kalasan, which one of the manufacturing companies engaged in manufacturing hospital equipment that often has problems regarding the quality of materials stored in warehouses. The problem is often found in the 5 Inch castor material that becomes scrap and incurs costs so that waste occurs. Based on data from April 2018 to September 2018, the percentage of scrap material is increasing every month from 1.44% to 1.77%. Due to these problems, the purpose of this research is to minimize the 5 Inch castor material which is a scrap to avoid waste costs in the Export Oriented Product Warehouse Unit of the company. The methodology in this study uses the Six Sigma method, namely by implementing the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) stages. The results obtained are the most dominant cause of scrap castor 5 Inch material is storage of material on a rack that is not organized with an RPN value of 240. Thus, it is necessary to make improvements to minimize the scrap castor 5 Inch material by conducting a routine briefing by the PIC Area Warehouse Unit Export Oriented Product before operational activities begin.

PT. XYZ is a company in the newspaper industry. The selection of suppliers so far is only based on the price offered and the promised delivery speed. The price offered by the supplier is also influenced by the exchange rate of the rupiah against the dollar resulting in price fluctuations in the purchase price of raw materials. Even though the price of raw materials has increased, newspaper prices have remained the same, and to avoid this problem, the company has supplied raw materials from many suppliers. The company has made good cooperation with several suppliers, but does not yet have the right supplier selection method and can be applied with a good planning process. Therefore, companies need to select suppliers with the right methods so that raw material orders are optimally fulfilled and get the best suppliers who can work together in the long run. In this study, the determination of the best suppliers is carried out on the raw material of the plate as well as important criteria in the selection of these suppliers . Data collection is done using interviews, questionnaires, and literature studies. Based on the results of data collection, among others, the purchase price, delivery time, maximum number of orders, the level of disability, and the distance of the supplier with the company. Data processing uses one of the MCDM (Multi Decision Making Criteria) methods, namely AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process). With the results of supplier one being designated as the best supplier. This can be known with the highest final value in the final AHP calculation, with a value of 3.95643, and the criteria most considered in determining suppliers is the bid price.

Production planning is very important in a production because it is related to the amount of fluctuating consumer demand in each period. If there is a product shortage will cause consumer demand cannot be fulfilled so the company loses profits and commitment from customers who have trusted. However, if the excess production in a certain period there will be a buildup of products that are generated and will result in high storage costs of finished products and waste of product storage. Products that often occur in fluctuating demand is wheat flour products. Based on observations at PT. Bulog, the authors provide an analysis to overcome the problem of fluctuating demand at PT. Bulog with aggregate planning methods. Based on forecasting results that have been obtained in the previous period wheat flour demand data at PT. Bulog, we will determine the quantity and the future production time for wheat flour products. Production planning is a very important activity of all production activities of a company. Based on the calculation of aggregate planning that has been done using the company's demand and production data PT. Bulog in the previous period found that the best method that can be used in the company's production process is the chase strategy method, this method is used by increasing or reducing the number of workers based on the number of consumer demand. By using a chase strategy, the costs used by the company are less when compared to other methods. Costs to be incurred based on the selection of the best method for the product "Tepung Terigu Kita" is IDR 341,857,000.00.

Fluctuations in soybean commodity prices become a crucial issue in Indonesia every year. In this study, it is proposed to conduct a research on the development of a dynamic simulation model for fulfilling the logistics of soybeans, which aims to look at the competitiveness of local soybeans and to support soybean price stability (case study: in Central Java Province). Researchers focus on examining the relationship between variables in the system for fulfilling soybean logistics in Central Java, namely food needs (demand), total soybean availability (supply) and soybean prices using a dynamic system framework. This study also aims to identify factors in increasing local soybean competitiveness towards meeting the needs of consumers with dynamic system simulations to increase local soybean competitiveness in the national market and stabilize soybean prices that can benefit both parties, namely producers and consumers. Based on simulation results, to look at the competitiveness of local soybeans and to support soybean price stability for the next 20 years using software powersim studio 10, the government needs to take action as follows: (1) Dummy monopoly bulog intervention in soybean import price and soybean producer prices; (2) Increasing soybean import tariffs 20%; (3) Increasing soybean local prices with predicting soybean price conditions.

The development of technology is done to advance knowledge and simplify life, and to develop the issues that are around. The development of electric vehicles must be encouraged by the development of batteries used to run these vehicles. The batteries used are usually made from lithium, because it has a strong electrical shelf life, not easily damaged, fast charging power, and so forth. This study evaluates and selects the best raw materials for lithium batteries from three selected raw materials, namely Lithium Cobalt Oxide (LCO), Lithium Iron Phospate (LFP), and Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (NMC), because these materials are often used to make good lithium batteries and have some things in common. The approach used to choose the right standard material by knowing the life cycle of each material. This life cycle consists of three elements namely environmental, social, and economic. An environmental approach to find out whether the material used will have an impact on the surrounding environment such as air, water pollution and so forth. An economic approach to find out which materials are more economical so as not to burden the company and consumers who use them. The social approach is carried out to find out information about the material has been known by the consumer related to applicable standards.

The number of motorcycles in Indonesia increased very significant in Indonesia at the last 10 years, reaching 300%. Automatically, its will make carbon pollution in Indonesia increasing. Electric motorcycle is one that can be used to remove carbon pollution. Indonesian government very concern about this by issuing Presidential Regulation Number 55 of 2019 for push and accelerate the electrification all vehicle in Indonesia including motorcycle. The goal of this study is to see the development of research on converting Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) motorcycles into electric motorcycle, both in the world and in Indonesia. The method used is quantitative descriptive statistics through Scopus web. The results of this research are expected to be a reference for research in Indonesia that want to be immediately prepare for electric motorcycle conversion. In this research also give taxonomy and classification based on Goldsmith Model as a technology commercialization model and SWOT analysis for implementation electric motorcycle conversion program in Indonesia.

The research aim is to measure the performance of supply chain in the UNS Lithium Battery Factory using the SCOR model in order to determine an improvement plan for the company. The battery supply chain performance is measured using the SCOR model with following steps: (i) identifying supply chain performance metrics, (ii) validating metric level 1 as KPI, (iii) performance measurements using metrics level 1 and level 2 and (iv) normalization using Snorm de Boer formula. Based on the monitoring system of the performance indicators, the performance of reliability and cost is categorized in good while the performance of responsiveness, agility, and asset management efficiency is categorized average.

Futura Energy Nusantara is the first manufacturer of lithium-ion battery cell production in Indonesia. Because highly demand, the company must fill the order and increase production Productivity is one of the most fundamental and important determinants of system production. Productivity measurement help identify the problems and find solutions to improve system performance. OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) is one method used for effective time manufacturing systems related to the existence of equipment in the production system. The Element of OEE is Availability Rate (A), Performance Efficiency (P), and Quality Rate (Q). The study aims to test through the simulation production system in Lithium-Ion Batteries (LIB), by considering factor OEE, with discrete event simulation system. As a result, this study is a model to applicable, for the company to improve Productivity

Electric vehicles have developed rapidly in this global era. Many countries have replaced conventional vehicles into electric vehicles. Electric vehicles need batteries as electric reservoirs. The way to charge batteries for electric vehicles is only through charging and it takes a long time, so the idea of battery exchange grows to simplify battery changes in electric vehicles. This study aims to design a business for battery exchange with a canvas model business approach consisting of 9 important factors such as customer segments to map the market, channels to facilitate information provided to consumers, value propositions or set prices according to consumers by providing some advantages from battery replacement products, customer relationships or maintaining good relationships with consumers, revenue streams provide or provide other services in addition to battery changes, key resources to establish cooperation with raw material suppliers or banks to facilitate and provide discounts to consumers, key activities describe the activities to be carried out in the company, key partners give discounts to consumers who want to become members or regular customers, and the cost structure makes a breakdown of funds or costs from raw materials to commercial costs such as promotions, water, electricity, and so forth. The business model that has been formed will be the basis for designing a busines plan consisting of a management profile and financial analysis. Researchers conducted qualitative research, namely data collection is done by searching from the previous literatre. This research and analysis is to design a battery exchange business that can be done in the future.

Electric vehicles are one of the ways to solve the problem of air. Electric vehicles have a very vital component which is the battery as a source of power for other components. The type of battery that has bes performance for electric vehicles is lithium-ion battery. Reliability and safety present significant challenges in lithium-ion batteries. Thus, lithium product standards are important to guarantee the quality of lithium battery products. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) published a lithium battery standard product regulation in document IEC 62660-3:2016, that provide a basic level of safety test methodology and criteria with general versatility, serves a function in common primary testing of lithium-ion cells to be used in variety of battery systems. This paper aims to identify the technological readiness of Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) lithium-ion enterprise to fulfill the lithium battery product standards by modifying the Quality Functional Deployment (QFD). Several production processes in technoware and humanware are not compatible with lithium battery standard, but all production processes in infoware and orgaware are compatible with lithium battery standard.

To fulfil the airport safety requirements as stated in International Civil Aviation Organization document, ICAO 9137-3 AN part 3 – Airport Services Manual, Wildlife control and reduction, especially the bird stike control programme, the Sam Ratulangi International Airport is decided to apply the auditory method to control the birds in aerodrome area. Study on this need have been carried out using the sound energy approach, more specifically on inverse square law theory in free field. The theory said that by doubling the distance between the speaker and the sound level meter will decrease in sound pressure level of around 6 dB. From the field measurement results, the measured sound pressure level were 85 dB and 79 dB at the distance of 50 m and 100 m from the speaker. Both levels and distance were used in trials of repelling birds at 1600 Hz to 3150 Hz in frequencies. The use of long range acoustic device, LRAD speakers, that genereate 156 dB at a distance of 1 m in front of the speaker can effectively reach longer distances.

This study presents a mathematical inventory model in the Closed-loop Supply Chain (CLSC) system. We investigate a CLSC system that consists of a retailer, a manufacturer and a 3rd party collection dealer. The model aims to minimize the annual joint total inventory cost for the three parties and determine several decision variables, including number of shipments, manufacturer shipment lot size and number of remanufacturing generations. The number of remanufacturing generations is one of our concerns since we consider a type of product that could not be remanufactured in an unlimited number of time. Thus, how many times the product should be remanufactured becomes important. In this study, we also investigate the environmental impacts in term of carbon emissions, energy usage, as well as annual disposed items. The model can guide companies in the related industry to plan a system of CLSC inventory management with environmental considerations.

This paper develops a mathematical model for supply chain inventory system of a manufacturer and a retailer under stochastic demand and carbon reduction policy. The objective of the model is to obtain the decisions regarding inventory management in supply chain system by minimizing the joint total cost. The model contributes to the current stochastic joint lot-sizing literature by allowing the investigation of the impact of carbon cap policy to inventory decisions. The carbon mainly emitted from several activities in the supply chain system, including the production, transportation and storage activities. The regulator, for example the government, uses a carbon cap policy to restrict the amount of emissions generated from the system. As we use strict carbon cap, the carbon emissions generated from the system must not exceed the carbon emission level set by regulator. A list of procedure is proposed to obtain the optimal solutions, which are ordering lot, safety factor, number of shipments and production rate. A numerical instance is provided to show the applicability of the model and to explore the impact of different levels of carbon cap on inventory decisions.

This research analyzes the performance measurement in sustainable supply chain using sustainable triple bottom line aspects, namely environmental dimension, social dimension, and economic dimension. The analysis process is accomplished for 40 articles, which are from Scopus website related to sustainable supply chain. The focus in analysis process is the sustainable dimension that has been used in the previous research. Furthermore, the other focuses are the analysis processes about the journal name, organizations that fulfill the performance measurement, the utilized approach, and the type of research. Then, in the final research, there will be explanation about the metric that is utilized to be a tool for performance measurement of sustainable supply chain in the organization.

The purpose of this paper was to review the current state of building information modelling (BIM) literature in Malaysia. A detailed description of the history and definition of BIM was also presented. A literature search was carried out on the Web of Science Core Collection (WoS CC) on BIM research in Malaysia. Results showed that Malaysian output of BIM research peaked in 2016 and has shown a steady decline since. Most of the research from local affiliations were published in conference proceedings as opposed to academic journals. Also, a search among non-academic sources was conducted to reveal government efforts to promote BIM in Malaysia. Generally, the strategies used by the government to promote BIM include spreading awareness through roadshows, increasing competency through workshops and encouraging higher education institutes to include BIM in their curricula. Current focus should now be shifted to increasing collaboration among construction industry players using BIM as a medium for cooperation. Implications include the need for more peer-reviewed studies and a systematic nationwide study of BIM implementation in Malaysia to facilitate its growth on the national level.

Virtual design and construction (VDC) is defined as the use of multi-disciplinary performance models for the purposes of design-construction projects. The use of VDC in construction projects enables the stakeholders to communicate and visualize the buildability and construction sequence which will impact on a project's success in terms of delivery time and cost. This case study investigated the process of integrating different dimensions of information such as time scheduling (4D) and cost estimation (5D) with a 3D model to simulate a 5D Building Information Modelling (BIM) process. The study explored the application of VDC with 5D BIM for a commercial building, namely Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) Sungai Long City Campus. Through this case study, it enables comparisons of a virtual model and an actual construction in order to evaluate the advantages, practicality, and limitations of the VDC applications. The 5D model provided comprehensive information to manage the complex design-construction process by considering its timeline and cost. Six modelling stages were undertaken, namely inputting and modelling, clash detection test, time scheduling, quantification and cost estimation, virtualization, and walkthrough of the model. The results revealed that the practicability of the 5D BIM was influenced by the modelling effort, inter-operability, information output and limitations. The study also showed that VDC with 5D BIM significantly reduced the technical barrier for clients to participate in construction project, thus increasing the clients' satisfaction of the works by bridging the gap of perception and actual outcomes from the construction.

In Malaysia, Green Building Index (GBI) is one of the sustainability rating tools for the construction industry, focusing on six main categories including Energy Efficiency (EE), Materials and Resources (MR), Water Efficiency (WE), Indoor Environment Quality (EQ), Sustainable Site Planning & Management (SM) and Innovation (IN). Currently, the process for GBI assessment and certification is carried out manually, which requires additional time and effort for preparation of supporting documents. Since Building Information Modelling (BIM) is perceived as a holistic solution for digital integration of various construction project attributes, it is anticipated that sustainability aspects can be addressed through BIM if an appropriate approach is implemented. Therefore, GBI assessment process can potentially benefit from BIM application to transition from conventional manual approach to an automated approach. This research is aimed at developing an Automated Green Building Assessment tool (AGBIA) using visual programming (Dynamo) to run as a supplementary application to the existing BIM authoring software (Revit). The AGBIA system consists of 6 modules that automatically analyses digital BIM models in accordance to GBI requirements, and ultimately produces the necessary documentation as a final output. AGBIA is an efficient supporting BIM tool as compared to assessment and documentation of green building data manually.

Green buildings have received much attention since the early 90s due to increasing concerns over the sustainability of buildings. The rise of green buildings spurred the need to systematically evaluate hence certify those buildings using a set of established criteria. This led to the emergence of numerous green building rating systems. This review compares 10 popular green building rating systems to identify their similarities, differences and the potential future studies in this area. It identifies 17 evaluation criteria as the basis of comparison and ranks the importance of the most common criteria based on their average weights across the rating systems of interest. This review shows that energy efficiency, indoor environment, health and wellbeing, sustainable siting, material efficiency, water efficiency and innovation as the most prevalent evaluation criteria in descending average weights. This study identifies the future need to probe into the implementation of the rating systems and the building performance ensuing such implementation. It is also crucial to understand the barriers in popularizing green building awards or certification. This review contributes to both the knowledge and practices of green building rating.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has changed the road development industry in the most recent decades. In spite of the fact that there are activities by administration of Malaysia to improve the selection of BIM in road development, yet the usage of BIM is still not true to form because of misty guide of BIM reception plan in Malaysia. Along these lines, it is essential to recognize the issues and difficulties in usage of BIM so as to improve the selection of BIM in this industry. This paper plans to analyze the street development industry in Malaysia to build up an unmistakable comprehension about BIM execution and to give the key arrangements and system for street development industry to expand the reception of BIM in Malaysia. This paper has built up broad BIM understanding which makes ready for the investigation by means of subjective and quantitative technique where the information is gathered through study poll among the street development partners in Malaysia and the gathered information is dissected with Average Index utilizing SPSS Software. The outcomes indicated the degree of current BIM usage in Malaysia street development industry is still extremely low and the issues and difficulties of BIM are distinguished in six zones incorporate specialized, process, legitimate, return of venture, government and individuals. Government has been recognized to assume a significant job in offering help to improve appropriation of BIM in Malaysia. The result of this investigation is communicated as a system for the usage of BIM in Malaysia involving issues that require thought for association to advance on BIM development stepping stool. This investigation clears a firm establishment for association to settle on choice in the appropriation of BIM in street development inside the general association structure.

Building consumes 40% of global energy consumption which contributes for such a majority amount of carbon dioxide emission. Enhancing the energy efficiency strategies in buildings by retrofitting through different approaches is essential for reducing end user on the amount of energy consumption and carbon footprint emission. Previous research shows that only a few studies have been conducted on retrofitting the energy performance on Rest and Service Area yet the result shows that lack of technical feasibility practice was reviewed. Hence, this paper explores the energy efficiency strategy by improving the lighting performance based on 24 hours service building at Rest and Service Area Ayer Keroh Northbound Malaysia. The simulation that was performed in lighting energy consumption was EnergyPLUS software, Autodesk Revit and RELUX Plug in tool in Revit. Preliminary study was conducted to identity the problem on energy performance at Rest and Service Area Ayer Keroh by determine the total energy consumption by sources and Building Energy Intensity [BEI]. The result shows lighting contributes to the most total load consumption due to lack of energy conservation management and energy efficiency strategy practices. The lighting simulation scenarios was created to enhance the energy consumption performance and reduced the irrelevant carbon footprint emission. The simulation in Revit and EnergyPLUS showed 17% and 49% reduction respectively on the end load of lighting energy consumption by reducing the overall time operation and daylight control dimming system.

Building information modelling (BIM) is one of the revolutions in construction industry. BIM is one of the long-waiting solutions for construction industry in order to solve the arisen quality and effectiveness problems. Many researchers have proved the benefits gained from BIM. In this paper, the structural package available in BIM platform is summarized and its maturity is discussed. The BIM projects in Malaysia are listed and it showed a low local BIM implementation. In the perspectives of engineers, migrating from 2D drawing to building information model is discussed with the faced problems and challenges. The technical supports such as internet supports, cloud system and etc. was lacked for small-scaled companies; and self-transformation plan is not available which is believed to minimize the lost during transformation. From structural engineers' perspective, a better visualization with building information models is critical to address these major problems occurred throughout the migration. However, more time are expected to be consumed in producing the models as it was found that there is a low level of model sharing between engineers and architects. Although the BIM implementation in Malaysia is still in a low level, it is advised that industry players and government should work together to migrating from traditional method to BIM environment.

Designing and constructing sustainable housing by changing its design, construction and operation could help in reducing resource consumption and mitigate climate change. However, it is found that there are barriers impeding the implementation of sustainable housing. This research aims to determine such barriers in Malaysian residential property sector. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to the key stakeholders (i.e. engineers, real estate agents, contractors and home buyers) in Malaysia. This questionnaire asked the respondents to rate the relative importance of 21 barriers which were categorized into four key categories (i.e. design and technical barrier, economic barrier, institutional barrier and socio-culture barrier). The results showed that economic barrier is the most critical category among the four categories of barriers. Out of the 21 barriers, the top critical barrier is high capital/investment cost. This research identified the importance of different barriers based on the perceptions of and experiences of the respondents. While most studies focused on the professional stakeholders or home buyers, there are only few studies dedicated to the combination of the perceptions for both professional stakeholders and homebuyers in Malaysia. This research could contribute to both the knowledge and practices of sustainable housing implementation in Malaysia.

Infrastructure projects are not merely complicated but they require high investment costs and a considerable amount of resources and stakeholders are necessary to assure their performance. Infrastructure projects especially transportation projects like highway, bridge, etc. cover a significantly large area and involve a lot of different stakeholders as such they are high in risks and uncertainties compared to other types of projects. The large covered area has led to construction on different types of soils including soft soils. This will complicate the construction process. The results of the literature review showed that existing knowledge on risk assessment of infrastructure on soft soils is not merely insufficient. Some researchers have highlighted the importance of risk assessment in construction projects on soft soils. Hence, the aim of this research was to explore the perception of industry personnel about the significance of risk assessment in infrastructure projects. A questionnaire survey was designed and distributed to consultants and contractors in Malaysia. Data were analyzed based on the descriptive method. Results showed that industry people perceived that the level of risks and uncertainties of infrastructure projects on soft soils is higher than other types of soil. As such, the impact of infrastructure projects on soft soils on project cost performance will be more significant than other types of soil. Hence, construction industry professionals perceived that risk management is critical in mitigating risks especially in infrastructure projects on soft soils.

Leaf area estimation is significant to assess leaf development and plant growth. A simple and efficient model (Regression model) was developed to estimate leaf area of various tropical plant species using leaf dimension (length x width). The objective of this study was to determine a relation between leaf area and leaf dimension to get the best fit line of a linear regression. A total of twenty plant species were selected at Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia. The leaf shape and plant growing environment were investigated as a background data. The leaf shapes were elliptic, acuminate, aristate, obtuse, lobed, linear, peltate and lanceolate. The recorded plant growing environment were location, soil pH and sunlight exposure. The plants grew at a slope or flat, shaded or high exposure of sunlight with the soil pH between 4.8 and 7.3. A regression equation for each leaf was established with coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.9. It strongly proved that the leaf areas of all the plant species are well correlated with leaf dimension (length x width). The linear regression is not influenced by different leaf shape and growing environment. Generally, the plant grew at high exposure of sunlight indicated higher leaf area. There is no obvious trend of leaf area at different soil pH. From the R² values, it concluded that the leaf area of individual plant can be estimated by the linear regression established in this study by determining the leaf length and width.