ABSTRACT. This study investigated the characteristics of date palm fronds (DPF) for their use as a feedstock for fuel and energy production. The calorific values and elemental contents of the DPF samples were measured through proximate analysis, ultimate analysis and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. For proximate analysis, thermo-gravimetric analysis technique was used to identify the moisture content, volatile matter, fixed carbon and ash content. Ultimate analysis was used to determine the weight percentage of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen. In line with this, X-ray fluorescence was used to determine the percentage of sulfur in the tested samples. The results of the conducted study were compared with other biomass reported in the past literature. The fixed carbon content of DPF was found lower than the other biomass except rice husk. Ajwah DPF exhibited the highest carbon content of 14.1%, while Jeddah DPF showed lowest carbon content of 5.2% among all the tested samples. However, presence of the metallic elements in the samples, such as Mg and Na can cause problems in the thermo-chemical processing systems.
BackgroundIn fabrication of ZnO-based low voltage varistor, Bi2O3 and TiO2 have been used as former and grain growth enhancer factors respectively. Therefore, the molar ratio of the factors is quit important in the fabrication. In this paper, modeling and optimization of Bi2O3 and TiO2 was carried out by response surface methodology to achieve maximized electrical properties. The fabrication was planned by central composite design using two variables and one response. To obtain actual responses, the design was performed in laboratory by the conventional methods of ceramics fabrication. The actual responses were fitted into a valid second order algebraic polynomial equation. Then the quadratic model was suggested by response surface methodology. The model was validated by analysis of variance which provided several evidences such as high F-value (153.6), very low P-value (<0.0001), adjusted R-squared (0.985) and predicted R-squared (0.947). Moreover, the lack of fit was not significant which means the model was significant.ResultsThe model tracked the optimum of the additives in the design by using three dimension surface plots. In the optimum condition, the molars ratio of Bi2O3 and TiO2 were obtained in a surface area around 1.25 point that maximized the nonlinear coefficient around 20 point. Moreover, the model predicted the optimum amount of the additives in desirable condition. In this case, the condition included minimum standard error (0.35) and maximum nonlinearity (20.03), while molar ratio of Bi2O3 (1.24 mol%) and TiO2 (1.27 mol%) was in range. The condition as a solution was tested by further experiments for confirmation. As the experimental results showed, the obtained value of the non-linearity, 21.6, was quite close to the predicted model.ConclusionResponse surface methodology has been successful for modeling and optimizing the additives such as Bi2O3 and TiO2 of ZnO-based low voltage varistor to achieve maximized non-linearity properties.
The rate of oil palm production in Malaysia increases annually and as a result, the oil palm wastes, especially oil palm trunk (OPT) and oil palm fronds (OPF) remain abundant. A suitable way of converting this abundant waste to renewable energy is through thermochemical conversion. Thus, this study investigates the characteristics of OPT and OPF biomass, for use as feedstock in thermochemical processes like gasification, pyrolysis, and combustion. The analysis carried out includes; ultimate (CHNSO) and proximate (thermogravimetric) analysis, calorific value, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and x-ray fluorescence (XRF). Both feedstocks exhibited potential for use as fuel in biomass thermochemical conversion. The CHNSO analysis showed the presence of sufficient carbon, hydrogen and oxygen elements in both feedstocks, with carbon being the highest 45.42% in OPT and 43.35% in OPF. The percentages of nitrogen and sulphur which are required to be less for a good fuel were also obtained in low quantities for both fuel; 0.47% and 0.13% in OPT and 0.76% and 0.45% in OPF, respectively. The thermogravimetric analysis revealed both feedstocks to be having high volatile matter 62.28% in OPT and 66.10% in OPF. Meanwhile, sufficient fixed carbon content of 26.18% in OPT and 25.68% in OPF with low ash content of 9.82% in OPT and 6.32% in OPF were obtained in the analysis. FESEM and XRF were used to investigate the surface morphology, elemental and mineralogical nature of the samples. The findings were compared with those of other biomass and non-biomass materials. The EDX graph showed the presence of carbon and oxygen in a higher amount while in the XRF analysis CaO and K2O were the major oxides present in both OPT and OPF, with a low amount of SiO making the feedstocks less prone to agglomeration during thermochemical conversion.
There are some weaknesses of using solar PV system especially when there is issue of soiling on the surface of solar PV panel. The consequences for absence of this such study can cause unanticipated cost in the operation of solar PV panel. The objective of this project is to study the trend of soiling rate over different time period and its effect on the performance of solar PV panel in Malaysia and to develop a simple prediction model for cleaning interval of solar PV system in Malaysia. The study was conducted on real-time basis on a building’s roof. Measurements of solar irradiance, voltage, current and the mass of dust collected were performed from both clean and dirty panels. It was discovered that the Monthly Test was significant with 4.53% of performance drop. Further analysis was conducted by running prediction model for cleaning interval. Intersection of graph plotting and fixed cleaning cost gives answer of cleaning interval that can be performed. It can be concluded that for every two and half month is the recommended time interval to perform regular cleaning to maximise electrical power generation by solar PV system in Malaysia.
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