Showing papers by "Universiti Teknologi Malaysia published in 2016"
TL;DR: In this article, the state-of-the-art hydrogen production technologies using renewable and sustainable energy resources are presented, including supercritical water gasification (SCWG) of biomass is the most cost effective thermochemical process.
Abstract: Fossil fuel consumption in transportation system and energy-intensive sectors as the principal pillar of civilization is associated with progressive release of greenhouse gases. Hydrogen as a promising energy carrier is a perfect candidate to supply the energy demand of the world and concomitantly reduce toxic emissions. This article gives an overview of the state-of-the-art hydrogen production technologies using renewable and sustainable energy resources. Hydrogen from supercritical water gasification (SCWG) of biomass is the most cost effective thermochemical process. Highly moisturized biomass is utilized directly in SCWG without any high cost drying process. In SCWG, hydrogen is produced at high pressure and small amount of energy is required to pressurize hydrogen in the storage tank. Tar and char formation decreases drastically in biomass SCWG. The low efficiency of solar to hydrogen system as well as expensive photovoltaic cell are the most important barriers for the widespread commercial development of solar-based hydrogen production. Since electricity costs play a crucial role on the final hydrogen price, to generate carbon free hydrogen from solar and wind energy at a competitive price with fossil fuels, the electrical energy cost should be four times less than commercial electricity prices.
1,359 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a comprehensive list of different organic, inorganic and eutectic phase change materials appropriate for passive cooling in buildings is reviewed, and full-scale testing and numerical modeling are found to be the most popular investigative methods used for experimental and theoretical analysis of PCMs.
Abstract: The most significant threat that mankind faces in the 21th century is global warming. Buildings, which account for 40% of global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, play a pivotal role in global warming. Estimates show that their destructive impact will grow by 1.8% per year through 2050, which indicates that future consumption and emissions will be worse than today. Therefore, the impact of cooling systems cannot be ignored, as they, along with ventilation and heating systems, account for 60% of the energy consumed in buildings. Passive cooling techniques are a promising alternative to conventional cooling systems. Of the various passive cooling strategies, thermal energy storage by means of latent heat is an efficient way to increase the thermal inertia of building envelopes, which would reduce temperature fluctuations, leading to the improved thermal comfort of occupants. Phase change materials (PCMs) with high density for thermal energy storage can be efficiently employed to this purpose. This paper reviews recent studies of the application of PCMs for passive cooling in buildings. From the literature, a comprehensive list of different organic, inorganic and eutectic PCMs appropriate for passive cooling in buildings are reviewed. Full-scale testing and numerical modeling were found to be the most popular investigative methods used for experimental and theoretical analysis of PCMs. The combination of these two methods can provide a detailed and valid technique for PCM investigations. Finally, incorporating PCMs into building walls with macro encapsulation was also a dominant interest in previous studies.
651 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed the existing variance of second generation bioethanol production methodologies, namely pre-treatment, hydrolysis, fermentation and distillation, as well as the worth of second-generation production for future reference.
Abstract: It is a popular fact that the world's dependency on fossil fuel has caused unfavourable effects, including lessening crude oil reserve, decreasing air quality, rising global temperature, unpredictable weather change, and so on. As the effort to promote sustainability and independency from fossil fuel, bioethanol is now favoured as the blend or fossil petrol substitute. However, the feedstock functionality of first generation bioethanol production is restricted due to its edibleness since it would clash the feeding purpose. Second generation bioethanol production fulfils the impractical gap of first generation since it employs non-edible feedstock sourced from agriculture and forestry wastes. Lignocellulosic and starchy materials in them are convertible to fermentable sugars that are able to be further processed, resulting anhydrous bioethanol as the end product. This paper critically reviews the existing variance of second generation bioethanol production methodologies, namely pre-treatment, hydrolysis, fermentation and distillation, as well as the worth of second generation production for future reference. The discussions in this paper are also fit as the fundamental for feasible planning of second generation bioethanol production plant.
470 citations
TL;DR: This paper presents a comprehensive framework of IoV with emphasis on layered architecture, protocol stack, network model, challenges, and future aspects, and performs a qualitative comparison between IoV and VANETs.
Abstract: Internet of Things is smartly changing various existing research areas into new themes, including smart health, smart home, smart industry, and smart transport. Relying on the basis of “smart transport,” Internet of Vehicles (IoV) is evolving as a new theme of research and development from vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). This paper presents a comprehensive framework of IoV with emphasis on layered architecture, protocol stack, network model, challenges, and future aspects. Specifically, following the background on the evolution of VANETs and motivation on IoV an overview of IoV is presented as the heterogeneous vehicular networks. The IoV includes five types of vehicular communications, namely, vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-roadside, vehicle-to-infrastructure of cellular networks, vehicle-to-personal devices, and vehicle-to-sensors. A five layered architecture of IoV is proposed considering functionalities and representations of each layer. A protocol stack for the layered architecture is structured considering management, operational, and security planes. A network model of IoV is proposed based on the three network elements, including cloud, connection, and client. The benefits of the design and development of IoV are highlighted by performing a qualitative comparison between IoV and VANETs. Finally, the challenges ahead for realizing IoV are discussed and future aspects of IoV are envisioned.
435 citations
TL;DR: There are issues and challenges that hinder the performance of FDSs, such as concept drift, supports real time detection, skewed distribution, large amount of data etc, which are provided in this survey paper.
403 citations
TL;DR: The basic taxonomy of feature selection is presented, and the state-of-the-art gene selection methods are reviewed by grouping the literatures into three categories: supervised, unsupervised, and semi-supervised.
Abstract: Recently, feature selection and dimensionality reduction have become fundamental tools for many data mining tasks, especially for processing high-dimensional data such as gene expression microarray data. Gene expression microarray data comprises up to hundreds of thousands of features with relatively small sample size. Because learning algorithms usually do not work well with this kind of data, a challenge to reduce the data dimensionality arises. A huge number of gene selection are applied to select a subset of relevant features for model construction and to seek for better cancer classification performance. This paper presents the basic taxonomy of feature selection, and also reviews the state-of-the-art gene selection methods by grouping the literatures into three categories: supervised, unsupervised, and semi-supervised. The comparison of experimental results on top 5 representative gene expression datasets indicates that the classification accuracy of unsupervised and semi-supervised feature selection is competitive with supervised feature selection.
402 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors revisited and reviewed the recent energy management strategy (EMS) proposed and developed in the recent years and also discussed the Plug-in HEV from the EMS point of view.
Abstract: Faced with environmental issues caused by fossil fuel burning in the industrial and transportation sectors, innovations towards cleaner solutions to replace the ever diminishing fossil fuels have been the focus of not only researchers but governments all around the world. The hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) technology is the result of the desire to have vehicles with a better fuel economy and lower tailpipe emissions to meet the requirements of environmental policies as well as to absorb the impact of rising fuel prices. The objectives are met by combining a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) with one or more electric motors powered by a battery pack that can be charged using an on-board generator and the regenerative braking technology to power the transmission. The challenge is to develop an efficient energy management strategy (EMS) to satisfy the objectives while not having a reduced vehicle performance. In this paper, EMSs that are proposed and developed in the recent years are revisited and reviewed. Additionally, the Plug-in HEV is discussed in a new perspective from the EMS point of view. The through-the-road (TtR) HEV with in-wheel motors (IWM) is a fairly new concept in the HEV design that features less complicated configuration with reduced hardware requirements and lower cost. Recent research findings are evaluated throughout this paper leading to a hypothetical TtR HEV materialization. A thorough discussion is made encompassing the advantages and disadvantages of the concept, its performance compared to conventional HEVs and the way forward.
401 citations
TL;DR: Based on the findings, phytofiltration (rhizofiltration) is the sole method which defined as heavy metals removal from water by aquatic plants, and free-floating plants were more efficient to uptake heavy metals in comparison with submerged and emergent plants.
397 citations
28 Jun 2016
TL;DR: In this article, a review on the advances of robotic and automation technology in achieving industry 4.0 is presented, which is the fourth industrial revolution that was first introduced in Germany.
Abstract: Industry 4.0 is the fourth industrial revolution that was first introduced in Germany. This paper presents a review on the advances of robotic and automation technology in achieving industry 4.0. Many companies, research centers, and universities acknowledge that robotics and automation technology is the basis of industrial manufacturing and an important driver for Industry 4.0. Hopefully, from this report, engineering students would be exposed to new inventions of technology revolution as well as to create the business mind for a better future.
396 citations
TL;DR: An extensive survey on pilot contamination in massive MIMO systems is provided, and other possible sources of pilot contamination are identified, which include hardware impairment and non-reciprocal transceivers.
Abstract: Massive MIMO has been recognized as a promising technology to meet the demand for higher data capacity for mobile networks in 2020 and beyond. Although promising, each base station needs accurate estimation of the channel state information (CSI), either through feedback or channel reciprocity schemes in order to achieve the benefits of massive MIMO in practice. Time division duplex (TDD) has been suggested as a better mode to acquire timely CSI in massive MIMO systems. The use of non-orthogonal pilot schemes, proposed for channel estimation in multi-cell TDD networks, is considered as a major source of pilot contamination in the literature due to the limitations of coherence time. Given the importance of pilot contamination in massive MIMO systems, we provide an extensive survey on pilot contamination, and identify other possible sources of pilot contamination, which include hardware impairment and non-reciprocal transceivers. We review established theories that have analyzed the effect of pilot contamination on the performance of massive MIMO systems, particularly on achievable rates. Next, we categorize the different proposed mitigation techniques for pilot contamination using the following taxonomy: pilot-based approach and subspace-based approach. Finally, we highlight the open issues, such as training overhead, deployment scenario, computational complexity, use of channel reciprocity, and conclude with broader perspective and a look at future trends in pilot contamination in massive MIMO systems.
385 citations
TL;DR: The results from the time series generalized method of moments (GMM) and the system panel GMM revealed that the number of countries that have a negative relationship between the ecological footprint and its determinants is more existent in the upper middle- and high-income countries than the other income countries.
Abstract: The main objective of this study is to examine the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis by utilizing the ecological footprint as an environment indicator and GDP from tourism as the economic indicator. To achieve this goal, an environmental degradation model is established during the period of 1988–2008 for 144 countries. The results from the time series generalized method of moments (GMM) and the system panel GMM revealed that the number of countries that have a negative relationship between the ecological footprint and its determinants (GDP growth from tourism, energy consumption, trade openness, and urbanization) is more existent in the upper middle- and high-income countries. Moreover, the EKC hypothesis is more present in the upper middle- and high-income countries than the other income countries. From the outcome of this research, a number of policy recommendations were provided for the investigated countries.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a brief overview of recent advances in research on scalable microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) reactor design and configurations and provide an overview of the current state of the art.
Abstract: Hydrogen gas has tremendous potential as an environmentally acceptable energy carrier for vehicles. A cutting edge technology called a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) can achieve sustainable and clean hydrogen production from a wide range of renewable biomass and wastewaters. Enhancing the hydrogen production rate and lowering the energy input are the main challenges of MEC technology. MEC reactor design is one of the crucial factors which directly influence on hydrogen and current production rate in MECs. The rector design is also a key factor to up-scaling. Traditional MEC designs incorporated membranes, but it was recently shown that membrane-free designs can lead to both high hydrogen recoveries and production rates. Since then multiple studies have developed reactors that operate without membranes. This review provides a brief overview of recent advances in research on scalable MEC reactor design and configurations.
TL;DR: This paper investigates the representation ability of linear and nonlinear features and proposes a combination of such features in order to improve the classification of ECG data and is able to classify the N, S, V, F and U arrhythmia classes with high accuracy.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the use of coal ash in concrete to replace sand with bottom ash waste and cement with fly ash and concluded that those experimental concrete mixes can be used in several structures (foundations, subbases, pavements, etc.) which will minimize the cost, energy and environmental problems to a great extent.
TL;DR: In this article, a modified P&O was proposed to reduce the steady-state oscillation and mitigate the probability of losing the tracking direction of the perturb and observed (P&O)-based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for PV system.
Abstract: This paper proposes a method to reduce the steady-state oscillation and to mitigate the probability of losing the tracking direction of the perturb and observed (P&O)-based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for PV system. The modified scheme retains the conventional P&O structure, but with a unique technique to dynamically alter the perturbation size. At the same time, a dynamic boundary condition is introduced to ensure that the algorithm will not diverge from its tracking locus. The modified P&O is simulated in MATLAB Simulink and its performance is benchmarked using the standard MPPT efficiency ${{\boldsymbol{\eta }}_{MPPT}}$ calculation. Furthermore, the proposed concept is validated experimentally using a buck-boost converter, fed by a solar PV array simulator (PVAS). Based on the EN 50530 dynamic irradiance tests, the proposed method achieved an average ${{\boldsymbol{\eta }}_{MPPT}}$ almost 1.1% higher than the conventional P&O when irradiance changes slowly and about 12% higher under fast change of irradiance.
TL;DR: This study shows the recent developments of TOPSIS approach which are presented by previous scholars and indicated that, previous studies have modifications related to this technique in 2011 more than other years.
Abstract: In recent years several previous scholars made attempts to develop, extend, propose and apply Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) for solving problems in decision making issues Indeed, there are questions, how TOPSIS can help for solving these problems? Or does TOPSIS solved decision making problems in the real world? Therefore, this study shows the recent developments of TOPSIS approach which are presented by previous scholars To achieve this objective, there are 105 reviewed papers which developed, extended, proposed and presented TOPSIS approach for solving DM problems The results of the study indicated that 49 scholars have extended or developed TOPSIS technique and 56 scholars have proposed or presented new modifications for problems solution related to TOPSIS technique from 2000 to 2015 In addition, results of this study indicated that, previous studies have modifications related to this technique in 2011 more than other years
TL;DR: A simple, rapid, and eco-friendly green method was introduced to synthesize magnetite nanoparticles (Fe3O4-NPs) successfully and two characteristic absorption peaks were observed at 556 and 423 cm−1, which proved the existence of Fe3O 4 in the prepared nanoparticles.
Abstract: In this study, a simple, rapid, and eco-friendly green method was introduced to synthesize magnetite nanoparticles (Fe3O4-NPs) successfully. Seaweed Kappaphycus alvarezii (K. alvarezii) was employed as a green reducing and stabilizing agents. The synthesized Fe3O4-NPs were characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The X-ray diffraction planes at (220), (311), (400), (422), (511), (440), and (533) were corresponding to the standard Fe3O4 patterns, which showed the high purity and crystallinity of Fe3O4-NPs had been synthesized. Based on FT-IR analysis, two characteristic absorption peaks were observed at 556 and 423 cm−1, which proved the existence of Fe3O4 in the prepared nanoparticles. TEM image displayed the synthesized Fe3O4-NPs were mostly in spherical shape with an average size of 14.7 nm.
TL;DR: A comprehensive literature on synthesis of hybrid nanoparticles, hybrid nanofluid and thermophysical properties of hybrid nano-fluids has been compiled and reviewed in this article, where the challenges and future trends in the application of hybrid Nanofluids in heat transfer applications are discussed.
TL;DR: Results revealed that DSOS outperforms Particle Swarm Optimization which is one of the most popular heuristic optimization techniques used for task scheduling problems and performs significantly better than PSO for large search spaces.
TL;DR: An overview of the numerous methods available to recognize motion patterns of EMG signals for both isotonic and isometric contractions is given and various signal analysis methods are compared by illustrating their applicability in real-time settings.
Abstract: In recent years, there has been major interest in the exposure to physical therapy during rehabilitation. Several publications have demonstrated its usefulness in clinical/medical and human machine interface (HMI) applications. An automated system will guide the user to perform the training during rehabilitation independently. Advances in engineering have extended electromyography (EMG) beyond the traditional diagnostic applications to also include applications in diverse areas such as movement analysis. This paper gives an overview of the numerous methods available to recognize motion patterns of EMG signals for both isotonic and isometric contractions. Various signal analysis methods are compared by illustrating their applicability in real-time settings. This paper will be of interest to researchers who would like to select the most appropriate methodology in classifying motion patterns, especially during different types of contractions. For feature extraction, the probability density function (PDF) of EMG signals will be the main interest of this study. Following that, a brief explanation of the different methods for pre-processing, feature extraction and classifying EMG signals will be compared in terms of their performance. The crux of this paper is to review the most recent developments and research studies related to the issues mentioned above.
TL;DR: In this paper, a novel thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane was fabricated by incorporating graphene oxide (GO) of different quantity (ranging from zero to 0.5 wt%) into polysulfone (PSf) microporous substrate.
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of the development of practical microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) technology is presented, which includes a general introduction to MECs; their operating principles, thermodynamics of MEC, and energy or voltage losses in the MEC system were provided.
Abstract: Microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) is a potentially attractive green technology to tackle the global warming and energy crisis, which employs electrochemically active bacteria to convert organic matter into hydrogen or a wide range of chemicals, such as methane, acetate, hydrogen peroxide, ethanol, and formic acid, without causing environmental pollution. Until now, probably the cleanest and the most efficient method of producing hydrogen has been MEC. However, this technology is still in its infancy period and poses various challenges towards up-scaling and widespread applications, such as such as lower hydrogen production rate (HPR), high internal resistance, complicated architecture, and expensive materials. New advances are needed in biofilm engineering, materials for electrodes and reactor configuration for successful real-world application of this technology. Thus, the present review deals with development of practical MEC technology and includes the following sections: firstly a general introduction to MECs; their operating principles, thermodynamics of MEC, and energy or voltage losses in the MEC system were provided. Followed by a section on the critical factors affecting MEC performance; microorganisms, anode, cathode, membrane or separator, fuel sources, the state-of-art MECs designs, other key operational factors, and its potential application in microbial production of value added products are discussed in detail. Afterwards, current challenges involved in developing practical MEC systems are highlighted, and outlooks for future development are also suggested. The review aims to assist researcher and engineers to gain fundamental understandings of MEC, and it also provides several future research directions and a road map on how to overcome the barriers, so the MEC technology can be further advanced and applied in larger scale.
TL;DR: In this paper, a comprehensive source of recent literature on epoxy structure, synthesis, modified epoxy, bio-epoxy resin, and its applications is presented, which also aims to cover the recent advances in natur...
Abstract: The versatile characteristic of epoxy and its diversity made it suitable for different industrial applications such as laminated circuit board, electronic component encapsulations, surface coatings, potting, fiber reinforcement, and adhesives. However, the pervasive applications in many high-performance field limited the epoxy use because of their delamination, low impact resistance, inherent brittleness, and fracture toughness behavior. The limitations of epoxy can be overcome by incorporation and modification before their industrial applications. Currently, modified epoxy resins are extensively used in fabrication of natural fiber-reinforced composites and in making its different industrial products because of their superior mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties. Present review article designed to be a comprehensive source of recent literature on epoxy structure, synthesis, modified epoxy, bio-epoxy resin, and its applications. This review article also aims to cover the recent advances in natur...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the effect of Malaysian public universities' service quality on international student satisfaction, institutional image and loyalty, and find that all the five dimensions of higher education service quality influence student satisfaction which in turn influences institutional image, and together they influence student loyalty.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of Malaysian public universities’ service quality on international student satisfaction, institutional image and loyalty. Design/methodology/approach – A total number of 400 questionnaires were distributed to international students, selected using convenience sampling technique, at three public Malaysian university campuses in Kuala Lumpur. Of this, 241 were deemed fit for analysis (60 per cent response rate). Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyze the collected data, assess the model and test hypotheses. Findings – The findings show that all the five dimensions of higher education service quality influence student satisfaction which in turn influences institutional image, and together, they influence student loyalty. Research limitations/implications – There are a number of limitations associated with this study. First, the findings of the study are based on data from international students at only three Mala...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors acknowledge the financial support by Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation Malaysia (MOSTI), Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (MOHE), and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu for the conduct of the research under the E-Science fund (UMT/RMC/SF/13/52072(5), Vot no. 52072), the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (Project no. FRGS/1/2013/TK05/UMTs/02/2, Vot No. 59296), and the Research Acc
Abstract: The authors acknowledges the financial support by Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation Malaysia (MOSTI), Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (MOHE), and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu for the conduct of the research under the E-Science fund (UMT/RMC/SF/13/52072(5), Vot no.: 52072), the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (Project no.: FRGS/1/2013/TK05/UMT/02/2, Vot no.: 59296), and the Research Acculturation Grant Scheme (Project no.: RAGS/2012/UMT/TK07/3, Vot no.: 57085).
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors presented the potential of biogas from the organic waste obtained from the farm animals and slaughterhouses in Malaysia in 2012, which could provide an electricity generation of 8.27×10 9 9 ǫkWh year −1.
Abstract: Anaerobic digestion of renewable feedstocks has been known as a prospective technology for the production of clean energy in the form of biogas. Biogas is a sustainable energy carrier which is mainly composed of methane (60%) and carbon dioxide (35–40%). Among the raw substances, organic matters obtained from farm animal waste are pivotal sources for biogas production. In recent years, the number of animal husbandry has drastically grown in Malaysia. Accordingly, a large amount of animal waste including manure, blood and rumen content are produced which provide a tremendous source of biogas generation. This paper presents biogas potential from the organic waste obtained from the farm animals and slaughterhouses in Malaysia. The findings of this study indicated that biogas potential of 4589.49 million m 3 year − 1 could be produced from animal waste in Malaysia in 2012 which could provide an electricity generation of 8.27×10 9 kWh year −1 .
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a consolidated review on the current state of research for the integrated MBR system with other technologies for wastewater treatment and help to sustain the treatment process itself.
TL;DR: It was found that the PSO–ANN technique can predict FOS with higher performance capacities compared to ANN and R2 values of testing datasets equal to 0.915 and 0.986 suggest the superiority of thePSO– ANN technique.
Abstract: One of the main concerns in geotechnical engineering is slope stability prediction during the earthquake. In this study, two intelligent systems namely artificial neural network (ANN) and particle swarm optimization (PSO)---ANN models were developed to predict factor of safety (FOS) of homogeneous slopes. Geostudio program based on limit equilibrium method was utilized to obtain 699 FOS values with different conditions. The most influential factors on FOS such as slope height, gradient, cohesion, friction angle and peak ground acceleration were considered as model inputs in the present study. A series of sensitivity analyses were performed in modeling procedures of both intelligent systems. All 699 datasets were randomly selected to 5 different datasets based on training and testing. Considering some model performance indices, i.e., root mean square error, coefficient of determination (R2) and value account for (VAF) and using simple ranking method, the best ANN and PSO---ANN models were selected. It was found that the PSO---ANN technique can predict FOS with higher performance capacities compared to ANN. R2 values of testing datasets equal to 0.915 and 0.986 for ANN and PSO---ANN techniques, respectively, suggest the superiority of the PSO---ANN technique.
TL;DR: S-commerce is revealed to be a promising new area of research, showing a new paradigm of conducting commerce using social media to reach customers and their networked friends.
TL;DR: A systematic review of the VlseKriterijuska Optimizacija I Komoromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method in several application areas such as sustainability and renewable energy is presented in this article.
Abstract: The main objective of this paper is to present a systematic review of the VlseKriterijuska Optimizacija I Komoromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method in several application areas such as sustainability and renewable energy. This study reviewed a total of 176 papers, published in 2004 to 2015, from 83 high-ranking journals; most of which were related to Operational Research, Management Sciences, decision making, sustainability and renewable energy and were extracted from the “Web of Science and Scopus” databases. Papers were classified into 15 main application areas. Furthermore, papers were categorized based on the nationalities of authors, dates of publications, techniques and methods, type of studies, the names of the journals and studies purposes. The results of this study indicated that more papers on VIKOR technique were published in 2013 than in any other year. In addition, 13 papers were published about sustainability and renewable energy fields. Furthermore, VIKOR and fuzzy VIKOR methods, had the first rank in use. Additionally, the Journal of Expert Systems with Applications was the most significant journal in this study, with 27 publications on the topic. Finally, Taiwan had the first rank from 22 nationalities which used VIKOR technique.