University of Malaya

About: University of Malaya is a education organization based out in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Fiber laser. The organization has 25087 authors who have published 51491 publications receiving 1036791 citations. The organization is also known as: UM & Universiti Malaya.

Synthesis of biomass as heterogeneous catalyst for application in biodiesel production: State of the art and fundamental review

Abstract: Biodiesel is gaining attention as a remedy for the increasing demand of fossil fuels which is depleting rapidly. Commercial homogeneous catalysts in the biodiesel production industry are facing challenges such as separation difficulties and severe corrosion which will lead to the increment of production and maintenance cost. Herein, this paper focuses on the comprehensive review of literature reported on the usage of biomass as the precursor for the catalyst used in biodiesel production. Compared to other commercial catalysts, the usage of biomass as catalyst precursor possesses several advantages such as abundantly available, cheaper raw materials, reusable, non-toxic and biodegradable. Carbon material synthesized from biomass which acts as the efficient support for active sites due to its high porosity and surface area characteristic has been studied widely. The latest development of biomass derived basic, acidic and magnetic heterogeneous catalyst through several state of the art synthesis pathways starting from the synthesis of the supporting material (carbon) until the functionalization process to form the complete catalyst was reviewed. Apart from direct sulfonation using sulfuric acid, sulfonation by reduction and arylation were less hazardous and provided comparable active sites activity. Most biomass based catalysts exhibited good catalytic performance by providing high biodiesel yield of above 80% at optimum conditions. Besides that, various kinetic models developed from the reaction kinetic study catalyzed by biomass based catalyst were also reviewed as a preparatory stage for the scaled-up commercialization process of the studied catalyst in the biodiesel production sector. This catalyst could assist to lower the activation energy required for the reactions and thus enables higher reaction rate to reach equilibrium. Continuous research on producing high performing biomass based catalyst with minimum resources is needed in order to achieve the ultimate goal of green and sustainable biodiesel industry.

Cloud computing in manufacturing

Abstract: Effectiveness of cloud computing technology among the Malaysian manufacturing firms.Applicability of cloud computing improves innovativeness and firm performance.Using PLS-SEM-ANN analysis revealed that innovativeness leads to firm performance. This study explores how performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), firm size (FS), top management support (MS) and absorptive capacity (AC) of cloud computing technology can lead to innovativeness (IN) and firm performance (FP) among the manufacturing firms. Data gathered from 188 managerial positions were analysed using Partial Least Squares (PLS) Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analysis, together with the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) analysis. Findings revealed that PE, FS, AC have a positive significant influence on IN; while IN positively influences FP. This study offers valuable perspective on the applicability of cloud computing technology to improve IN and FP, and subsequently be aligned with Industry 4.0, the next industrial revolution.