Papers by Author: Suzana Yusup

Abstract: CO₂ capture and separation by ionic liquid is one of the fastest growing branches in ionic liquid technology. The aim of this research was to synthesize the ionic liquid polymer incorporating activated carbon and investigating its performance for CO₂ capture and separation. The ionic liquid monomers 1-vinyl-3-ethylimidazolium bromide, [veim][Br] and 1-vinyl-3-ethylimidazolium bis (trifluoromethyl-sulfonyl) imide, [veim][Tf₂N] were first synthesized and then polymerized into ionic liquid polymers incorporating activated carbon. The purity of the [veim][Br] and [veim][Tf₂N] was verified by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and Ion Chromatography. Both monomers were proved to be in high purity. The elemental composition of both polymer materials synthesized were examined using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and the morphology of the synthesized material was observed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The results revealed that activated carbon has been successfully incorporated into the lattice structure of polymer materials. The fabricated polymer materials would be expected to have higher CO₂ capture capability as it combines both the absorption and adsorption mechanism for CO₂ apprehension and sequestration.

Abstract: In Malaysia, due to abundance of oil palm waste, it is a good candidate to be used as a feedstock for syngas and hydrogen production. Biomass steam gasification is one of the promising methods for syngas production. This work focuses on the steam gasification with in-situ CO₂ capture using CaO as absorbent materials for hydrogen production from palm oil empty fruit bunch (EFB). Three parameters (temperature, steam/biomass ratio and sorbent/biomass ratio) has been studied on the lower heating value (LHV) and higher heating value (HHV) of product gas. The results shows that the current study gives higher value of LHV at lower temperature of 823K. The higher value of LHV is obtained due to the lower concentration of CO₂ caused by using CaO as sorbent material. Furthermore, CaO materials enhanced the concentration of concentration of the CO, H₂ and CH₄ in the product gas. The results are also compared against published data as well.

Abstract: Extraction of castor oil is important in determination of the quality of castor oil extracted. The quality of castor oil being extracted has to meet the ASTM standard that has been produced. The way of extraction can be either mechanical extraction or chemical extraction that is practically used in the industry which give the highest yield of oil extracted. Castor oil is mainly composed of ricinoleic acid in high concentration. It is a unique vegetable oil that contains high content of fatty hydroxyacid.

Abstract: Environmental emissions concerns and the precautions of energy supply have motivated curiosity in the growth of alternatives for fossil based energy carriers and chemicals. Biodiesel as an alternative fuel has a potential to overcome energy crisis and reduce exhaust emissions to environment. Unutilized Rubber seed oil (RSO) alkyl esters have a huge potential to avoid food scarcity issue with contributing to energy sector. Current research contributes to produce biodiesel from the crude blends of palm oil and RSO. Parameters that effect base transesterification were extensively studied and methyl esters were characterized according to international biodiesel standards. The low-temperature flow properties and oxidation stability of the produced methyl esters were enhanced by blending with Fossil Diesel (FD) fuel.

Abstract: In Malaysia, approximately 7 million tonne/year of rubber wood waste and 5 million tonne/year of acacia wood waste were generated in 2011. These hardwood residues could be utilized to produce biofuel through pyrolysis process. The aims of the paper are to study the fluidized bed pyrolysis system, determine the properties of pyrolytic bio-oil, and highlight the effect of biomass type, size and pyrolysis temperature on pyrolytic products distribution.

Abstract: This paper primarily presents on carbon dioxide mitigation by marine microalgae. Among the potential marine microalgae, Nannochloropsis oculata has been identified as a promising species which can be utilized to reduce carbon dioxide concentration via photosynthesis process. The growth of N. oculata and lipid synthesis for biodiesel production is influenced by various aspects. The aspects that are focused in this paper include light source and intensity, temperature, carbon dioxide concentration, and photobioreactor design. Besides, emerging technologies that are able to increase the efficiency of carbon dioxide reduction were also highlighted. As a whole, N. oculata might play a key role in reducing the global carbon dioxide emission as well as enhancing the biodiesel production.

Abstract: Energy crises, depletion of fossil fuel reservoirs, environmental pollution, global warming, green house effect and starvation are becoming very serious problems in the modern world. Biodiesel is a liquid fuel which can be the best alternative for the fossil fuels. In this study, non-edible rubber seed oil (RSO) with high free fatty acid (FFA) content (45%) was used for the production of biodiesel. The process comprises of two steps, in the first step acid esterification was used to reduce the FFA and in the second step base transesterification was employed to convert the treated oil into rubber seed oil methyl esters (RSOMEs). The conversion yield of biodiesel was analyzed using gas chromatography. The fuel properties were tested using the standard procedure of ASTM D6751 and EN14214. All the properties were within the ranges of the biodiesel standards. The result shows that rubber seed oil is a potential non-edible source for biodiesel production.

Abstract: Material characterization is a crucial step to ensure the characteristics and properties of the samples are comparable to the standard adsorbent and suitable for CO₂ adsorption. The objective of this work is to characterize natural calcium based materials for CO₂ adsorption which are obtained from waste cockle shells. Characterization analyses are conducted by using XRD, BET and FESEM. Material characterization indicates that raw cockle shell is made up of aragonite and needle-like structure. It is also shown that CaCO₃ can be decomposed to CaO through high temperature calcination process. Through physisorption analysis, the samples are classified as mesoporous materials and it is shown that calcined cockle shell is better than raw cockle shell in term of surface area and pore volume. The results proved that calcium based materials could be successfully employed as sorbent for CO₂ separation.

Abstract: Kinetic study on the transformation of model compounds of bio-oil into less oxygenated liquid product was performed. A fixed bed continuous reactor was used for the catalytic cracking of bio-oil model compounds at the temperatures of 300°C, 400°C and 500°C under atmospheric pressure. HZSM-5 was used as the catalyst with the oil to catalyst ratio of 15. The kinetic behavior of the catalytic cracking of bio-oil was represented by a 3-lumped model. The kinetic parameters were calculated using an error minimization approach based on least square method. The results indicated that rate of formation for both gaseous products as well as for liquid product (LP) increased when the temperature increased. The activation energy for liquid product was higher compared to that for gaseous product. The order of reaction was in a fraction form which implies the complex nature of the cracking reaction.

Abstract: Rice husk is considered as a massive agricultural lignocellulosic biomass residue for the production of bio-based fuels and chemicals products. The purpose of this study is to investigate the physiochemical properties of the pyrolysis-oil derived from wet and dried rice husk fast pyrolysis process. The experiments were performed in a drop type fixed-bed pyrolyzer at the pyrolysis temperature of 350 to 600 °C. The products, char, pyrolysis-oil and gas, yield are investigated. The pyrolysis-oil derived from dried rice husk contained higher Carbon and Hydrogen and less oxygen contents than the pyrolysis-oil obtained from wet rice husk. FT-IR results showed the oxygenated compounds present in both pyrolysis-oil. The pyrolysis oil from dried rice husk has higher concentration of hydrocarbons as compared to wet rice husk pyrolysis-oil. The dried rice husk pyrolysis-oil produced more phenols and less carboxylic acid as compared to wet rice husk pyrolysis-oil at 500 °C. More volatile released in dried rice husk conversion produced more volatile compounds. These findings suggest that the original moisture present in biomass samples is the major influencing parameter on the thermal degradation of biomass during fast pyrolysis process.