Proceeding of Brunei International Conference on Engineering and Technology 2012

PROGRAMME & ABSTRACTS

EVENT SCHEDULE

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

COMMITTEES

WELCOME

INTRODUCTION OF BICET 2012

© BICET 2012 Institut Teknologi Brunei Jalan Tungku Link, Gadong BE1410 Brunei Darussalam.

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Brunei International Conference on Engineering & Technology 2012 25-26 January 2012, Brunei Darussalam

WELCOME TO BICET 2012

Congratulations! You have been invited to present your papers at the Brunei International Conference on Engineering and Technology (BICET) from 25 to 26 January 2012 in Negara Brunei Darussalam. It is our privilege and pleasure to welcome you to this conference. BICET was established as an annual international forum for the presentation, exchange and discussion of information on academic and practical knowledge concerning advances and issues in the areas of industrial management, civil engineering, computing and information systems, electrical and electronic engineering, energy, mechanical engineering, and petroleum and chemical engineering. BICET presents a valuable opportunity to actively exchange ideas and network with participants

from universities, public utilities, industry, and consultancies from around the world.

The theme for this year’s BICET 2012 is “Sustainable Development through Advances in Engineering and Technology”. This conference marks the fourth BICET organised by Institut Teknologi Brunei, Brunei Darussalam. Today, industrial globalisation and the rapid advancement of technology and engineering in response to consumer demand constantly improve our quality of life. However, the adverse effects of rapid advances in technology and engineering raise issues such as: climate change, CO2 emissions, political instability, financial crises, public health and safety and internet and network security. These issues must not be overlooked and need to be thoroughly looked into. BICET 2012 will provide an excellent opportunity for representatives and students to share their state-of-the-art research and experience and to discuss crucial scientific and technical issues with colleagues and friends from around the world. This year, a great number of contributors submitted papers. In fact, a total of 100 submissions were received, and after going through review processes 39 papers have been accepted for presentation. These various contributions with related topic areas will be presented in parallel sessions running from Wednesday 25 January to Thursday 26 January 2012. Furthermore, the programme of parallel paper sessions will also feature presentations from internationally renowned keynote experts on the theme, “Sustainable Development through Advances in Engineering and Technology”. We look forward to welcoming a large and interested audience.

The Executive and the local organising committees have made every effort to ensure that your stay in Brunei Darussalam will be fruitful and socially enjoyable. We trust you will enjoy your time with us in the “Abode of Peace”.

------------------------------------------------------------------ Pg Dr Haji Md Esa Al-Islam bin Pg Haji Md Yunus Chairman of BICET 2012 Deputy Dean of Faulty of Engineering


ADVISOR

Dato Paduka Dr Haji Omar bin Haji Khalid (Vice Chancellor, ITB) Professor Michael Cloke (Academic Advisor, ITB) Dr Hajah Naemah binti Haji Khalid (Assistance Chancellor, ITB) Dyg Jennifer Hiew Lim (Register & Secretary, ITB)

BICET ORGANISING COMMITTEES

Pg Dr Haji Mohd Esa Al-Islam bin Pg Haji Mohd Yunus (Chairperson, ITB) Dr Ahmad Nazri Wahidudin (Deputy Chairperson, ITB) Dr Hajah Noor Maya binti Haji Mohd Salleh (Secretary I, ITB) Pg Dr Haji Saiful Baharin bin Pg Haji Duraman (Secretary II, ITB)

Secretariat: Awg Haji Ady Syarmin bin Haji Mohd Taib (Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Hajah Mariam binti Haji Abd Rahman (Deputy Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Serina binti Haji Mohd Ali (member, ITB) Dyg Siti Asmahlati Bolkini binti Ahmad (member, ITB) Awg Md Hairol bin Haji Mohd Ali (member, ITB) Ak Haji Azhan bin Pg Haji Ahmad (member, ITB) Dyg Thulasi Munohsamy (member, ITB) Dyg Hajah Siti Mariam binti Haji Amit (member, ITB)

Technical Committee: Dr Tan Soon Jiann (Co-chairperson, ITB) Dr Franky Looi Hong Cheong (Co-chairperson, ITB) Awg Haji Asari bin Haji Abd Rashid (Deputy Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Siti Mazulianawati binti Haji Majid (Secretary I, ITB) Dyg Hong Shyang Pei (Secretary II, ITB) Awg Ahmad Syamaizar bin Haji Ahmad Sabli (member, ITB) Dk Dr Noor Muneerah binti Pg Haji Jeludin (member, ITB) Dk Hajah Noralam binti Pg Haji Tuah (member, ITB) Dr Haji Mohd Khairul Ja’afar bin Haji Masri (member, ITB) Dr Saiful Islam (member, ITB) Dr Teh Keng Watt (member, ITB) Awg Ismawi bin Haji Md Yussof (member, ITB) Awg Wong Pong Kit (member, ITB) Awg Peter Shannon (member, ITB) Awg Radin Jefri bin Radin Mas Basiuni (member, ITB) Awg Saiful Bahri bin Haji Md Ja’afar (member, ITB) Dyg Ummul Hasanah binti Haji Hassan Awg Syed Bilal Hassan Awg Murhamdilah bin Morni

(member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB)

Financial Committee: Dyg Husni binti Haji Matusin (Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Hanisah binti Haji Mohd Salleh (Deputy Chairperson, ITB) Awg Soh Seng Hu (member, ITB) Dyg Salinawati binti haji Awg Damit (member, ITB) Dyg Siti Nur Didiareawati binti Jali (member, ITB) Awg Jumat bin Mohd Yacob (member, ITB)


Dyg Hadhimah binti Hashim (member, ITB)

Fair and Exhibition Committee: Awg Asmaal Muizz Salehin bin HM Sultan (Chairperson, ITB) Awg Ibrahim bin Edris (Deputy Chairperson, ITB) Awg Saiful Bahri bin Haji Md Ja’afar (member, ITB) Awg Mohd Kamarulzaman bin Abdullah (member, ITB) Awg Khairuddin bin Haji Abd Ghafar (member, ITB) Pg Abd Mutallib bin Pg Haji Kamaluddin (member, ITB) Awg Syed Bilal Hassan (member, ITB)

Ceremony and Logistic Committee: Awg Haji Morsidi bin Haji Kassim (Co-Chairperson, ITB) Awg Joffry bin Haji Bongsu (Co- Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Elizah binti Raden Mas Ismail (Announcer, ITB) Dyg Serina binti Haji Mohd Ali (Announcer, ITB) Dyg Siti Hanisah Hj Mohd Salleh (Announcer, ITB) Awg Haji Meraj bin Haji Suhaili (member, ITB) Pg Siti Awa binti Pg Haji Mahmud Awg Hj Abu sofian bin Haji Yusof

(member, ITB) (member, ITB)

Awg Syed Bilal Hassan (member, ITB) Awg Haji Aftab Hassan (member, ITB) Pg Muhd Nazri bin Pg Haji Ahmad (member, ITB) Awg Khairuddin bin Haji Abd Ghafar (member, ITB) Pg Mutallib bin Pg Haji Kamalluddin (member, ITB) Awg Awang Sidi bin Mohammad (member, ITB) Awg Muhammad Kamarulzaman bin Abdullah (member, ITB) Awg Muhamad Nizam bin Mahali (member, ITB) Dyg Aslina binti Md Salleh (member, ITB) Dyg Zaitonah bte Sisa/Judin (member, ITB) Awg Haidi bin Hilmi (member, ITB) Awg Hasri bin Ibrahim (member, ITB) Awg Muhammad Nur Aiman bin Haji Jahari (member, ITB) Awg Mohammad Rahim bin Haji Yakub (member, ITB) Awg Muhammad Amirul Hardilah bin Jali (member, ITB) Awg Adi Rusydi bin Omar (member, ITB) Dyg Siti Amira binti Naim (member, ITB) Awg Shabillellah Ikhwan bin Haji Ramlee (member, ITB) Dk Alizah Nurul Ita binti Pg Haji Ali (member, ITB) Dyg Siti Simaa Suhaillina binti Azmi (member, ITB) Dyg Nursyazwani binti Bujang (member, ITB) Awg Muhammad Izzat bin Haji Muhd Ismat Hazim (member, ITB) Awg Muhammad Kamil @ Omar Abdul Aziz bin Kifli (member, ITB) Dyg Noorus Sadikin binti Haji Metussin (member, ITB) Abg Muhd Salih Hanafi bin Abg Mustafa (member, ITB) Awg Md Nabil Fikri bin Mudim Haji Suhaili (member, ITB) Dk Nurul Aziemah binti Pg Haji Muizzuddin (member, ITB) Dyg Nurul Hazrina Shahba binti Md Shahrun Awg Marcelino Z. Taru III


Welfare and Accommodation Committee: Awg Mohamad Zawawi bin Bahari (Chairperson, ITB) Awg Murhamdillah bin Morni (member, ITB)


Awg Haji Ismit bin Haji Mohamad (member, ITB)

Dyg Hajah Nur'azmina binti Haji Lingas

Dyg Hajah Halimah binti Dato Haji Kassim


Sponsorship, Promotion and Publicity Committee: Awg Haji Rudy Erwan bin Haji Ramlie (Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Ida binti Idris (Deputy Chairperson, ITB) Awg Haji Abd Majid bin Haji Moksin (member, ITB) Awg Ramli bin Haji Yaman (member, ITB) Dyg Hajah Shanafizahwatty binti Haji Mat Salleh (member, ITB) Dyg Rafidah binti Haji Tengah (member, ITB) Dyg Nuroul’ain binti Abdul Khalid (member, ITB)

Publishing Committee: Dr. Ang Swee Peng (Chairperson, ITB) Pg Muhd Nazri bin Pg Haji Ahmad Awg Hj Abu sofian bin Haji Yusof

(Deputy Chairperson, ITB) (member, ITB)

Awg Khairuddin bin Haji Abd Ghafar (member, ITB) Dk Rafidah binti Pg Haji Petra (member, ITB) Awg Saiful Bahri bin Haji Ja’afar (member, ITB) Awg Syed Bilal Hassan (member, ITB) Dk Norhafizah binti Pg. Haji Muhammad (member, ITB) Awg Mohammad Adi Mukmin bin Haji Sarbini (member, ITB) Dk Noraidah binti Pg Haji Mohammad (member, ITB) Dk Aidah binti Pg Haji Ahmad (member, ITB) Dyg Zaitonah binti Sisa/Judin (member, ITB) Dyg Aslina binti Md Salleh (member, ITB) Awg Mohamad Nizam bin Mahali (member, ITB) Awg Mohammad Sia bin Abdullah (member, ITB) Dyg Hajah Noraidah binti Haji Madin (member, ITB) Awg Abd Hafidz bin Haji Ali Hassan (member, ITB) Awg Mohammad Hadie bin Haji Marsidi (student, ITB) Dyg Nurasilah binti Haji Ismail (student, ITB) Dyg Hajah Nurulhanisah binti Haji Suhaili@Haji Sebeli (student, ITB)

Invitation and Protocol Committee: Awg Muhd Al-Qusairy bin Haji Abd Kahar (Co-Chairperson, ITB) Dk Raden Tutimuliawati bini Pg Haji Mahmud (member, ITB) Awg Ibrahim bin Haji Md Tahir (member, ITB) Awg Jumat bin Yakob (member, ITB) Awg Md Safiuddin bin Abdullah (member, ITB) Awg Azmee bin Ahmad (member, ITB) Awg Mohd Zaiddin bin Abdul Qayyum Sirul (member, ITB) Dyg Hadhinah binti Hashim (member, ITB) Dyg Rusaimah binti Haji Md. Idris Awg Khairul Anuar bin Haji Omar Dyg Alya Nur Baizura binti Haji Fadzillah Awg Muhammad Nazmi bin Mahali @ Nazmo Awg Md. Asymawi bin Abdullah Dyg Nur Zawani binti Haji Musa Dyg Nurul Khairunnisa binti Haji Abdullah Dk. Nur Faizah binti Pg. Suhaimi

(member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB)


Awg Md Afi bin Md. Firdaus Chee Dyg Nur Hayatul Majeedah binti Haji Ramlee Dyg Faeiqah Nadzirah binti Awg Yakof Awg Farhan Nuradli bin Abdul Karim Dyg Nur Amirah binti Haji Marsidi Dyg Rafidah binti Haji Junaidi Awg Muhammad Yazid bin Awg Yussof

(member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB)

Refreshment Committee: Dyg Hajah Roslynna binti Haji Rosli (Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Hajah Adlina Diyanah binti Haji Abdul Hamid (Deputy Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Hajah Siti Ratiyah binti Haji Ibrahim (member, ITB) Dk Ida Nurul Fitri binti Pg Haji Kahar (member, ITB) Dk Seri Rahayu binti Pg Haji Ya’akub (member, ITB) Dk Hajah Faridah binti Pg Haji Md Tahir (member, ITB) Dyg Siti Aminah binti Bangok (member, ITB) Dyg Zaitonah binti Sisa/Judin (member, ITB) Awg Kamarudzaman bin Abu Bakar (member, ITB)

Photography Committee: Awg Rajul Adli bin Haji Asli (Chairperson, ITB) Awg Mohd Audi Athir bin Haji Abd Ghani (member, ITB) Dyg Amal Nabilah binti Mohd Amin (member, ITB) Dyg Hajah Nooranisah binti Haji Idris (member, ITB) Awg Muhd Fadhli bin Haji Lamat (member, ITB) Awg Muhd Afiq bin Haji Tebian (member, ITB)

Car and Traffic Committee: Awg Ali Hashim bin Haji Taha (Chairperson, ITB) Awg Kamarudzaman bin Abu Bakar (Deputy Chairperson, ITB) Awg Muslim bin Haji Lakim (member, ITB) Awg Rozaidi bin Haji Lamit (member, ITB) Awg Muhd Nizam bin Mahali (member, ITB) Awg Azmee bin Ahmad (member, ITB) Awg Jumat bin Yacob (member, ITB) Awg Hasri bin Ibrahim (member, ITB) Awg Haji Md Abu Yazid bin Haji Awg Damit (member, ITB)

Souvenirs and Certificates Committee: Dyg Rozeana binti Haji Mohd Juani (Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Armanadurni binti Abdul Rahman (Deputy Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Hadijah binti Abdul Hadi (member, ITB) Ak Haji Azhan bin Pg Haji Ahmad (member, ITB) Dyg Hajah Norimah binti Haji Abdul Kadir (member, ITB) Dyg Roslizaharyanti binti Rosli (member, ITB) Dyg Saadiah binti Bangkol (member, ITB) Dyg Hajah Kartini binti HAJI kadar (member, ITB) Dyg Masdianah binti Raini (member, ITB) Awg Jumat bin Yakob (member, ITB) Awg Azmee bin Ahmad (member, ITB)


BICET PANEL OF REVIEWERS Ahmad Syamaizar bin Ahmad Sabli Aijaz Ahmad Ak Hj Azhan Pg Hj Ahmad Armanadurni binti Abdul Rahman Asmaal Muizz Sallehin bin H M Sultan Dk Dr Noor Muneerah binti Pg Haji Jeludin Dr Ahmad Nazri Wahidudin Dr Franky Looi Hong Cheong Dr Hasnul Hidayat bin Hashim Dr Hj Afzaal Seyal Dr Hj Md Gholam Yazdani Dr Hj Mohd Khairul Ja’afar bin Hj Masri Dr Mohammad Nurul Islam Dr Sharina Yunus Dr Sushma Nair Dr Tan Soon Jiann Dr Tariq Mahmood Felix Weerakkody Hj Ady Syarmin bin Hj Md Taib Hj Mohd Noah bin Hj Abd Rahman Hj Rudy Erwan bin Hj Ramlie Hjh Roslynna binti Hj Rosli Ibrahim bin Edris Khairuddin Abd Ghafar Md Hairol bin Hj Md Ali P K Wong Paul Turton Peter Shanon Pg Dr Hj Md Esa bin Pg Yunus Pg Dr Hj Saiful Baharin bin Pg Hj Duraman Pg Muhd Nazri Pg Hj Ahmad Rajul Adli bin Hj Asli Rozeana binti Hj Md Juani Serina binti Hj Mohd Ali Siti Noorfatimah bin Hj Awang Safar Syed Bilal Hassan Ummul Hasanah binti Haji Hassan Yap Yok Hoe Zuliana binti Nayan


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ - 1 -

WELCOME TO BICET 2012 ......................................................................................................... - 2 -

BICET COMMITTEES .................................................................................................................. - 3 -

CONFERENCE INFORMATION .................................................................................................... - 8 -

GENERAL INFORMATION .........................................................................................................- 12 -

OPENING CEREMONY ..............................................................................................................- 15 -

WELCOMING DINNER ..............................................................................................................- 16 -

CLOSING CEREMONY ...............................................................................................................- 17 -

TECHNICAL PROGRAMME ........................................................................................................- 18 -

PLENARY SESSIONS .............................................................................................................. - 18 -

PARALLEL SESSION 1 ............................................................................................................. - 19 -




CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS ........................................................................................................- 26 -

PLENARY SESSIONS .............................................................................................................. - 26 -





ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................................................- 41 -

MAPS ......................................................................................................................................- 42 -

BICET 2012

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WELCOME TO BICET 2012

Congratulations! You have been invited to present your papers at the Brunei International Conference on Engineering and Technology (BICET) from 25 to 26 January 2012 in Negara Brunei Darussalam. It is our privilege and pleasure to welcome you to this conference. BICET was established as an annual international forum for the presentation, exchange and discussion of information on academic and practical knowledge concerning advances and issues in the areas of industrial management, civil engineering, computing and information systems, electrical and electronic engineering, energy, mechanical engineering, and petroleum and chemical engineering. BICET presents a valuable opportunity to actively exchange ideas and network with participants

from universities, public utilities, industry, and consultancies from around the world.

The theme for this year’s BICET 2012 is “Sustainable Development through Advances in Engineering and Technology”. This conference marks the fourth BICET organised by Institut Teknologi Brunei, Brunei Darussalam. Today, industrial globalisation and the rapid advancement of technology and engineering in response to consumer demand constantly improve our quality of life. However, the adverse effects of rapid advances in technology and engineering raise issues such as: climate change, CO2 emissions, political instability, financial crises, public health and safety and internet and network security. These issues must not be overlooked and need to be thoroughly looked into. BICET 2012 will provide an excellent opportunity for representatives and students to share their state-of-the-art research and experience and to discuss crucial scientific and technical issues with colleagues and friends from around the world. This year, a great number of contributors submitted papers. In fact, a total of 100 submissions were received, and after going through review processes 39 papers have been accepted for presentation. These various contributions with related topic areas will be presented in parallel sessions running from Wednesday 25 January to Thursday 26 January 2012. Furthermore, the programme of parallel paper sessions will also feature presentations from internationally renowned keynote experts on the theme, “Sustainable Development through Advances in Engineering and Technology”. We look forward to welcoming a large and interested audience.

The Executive and the local organising committees have made every effort to ensure that your stay in

Brunei Darussalam will be fruitful and socially enjoyable. We trust you will enjoy your time with us in

the “Abode of Peace”.

------------------------------------------------------------------ Pg Dr Haji Md Esa Al-Islam bin Pg Haji Md Yunus Chairman of BICET 2012 Deputy Dean of Faulty of Engineering

BICET 2012

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BICET COMMITTEES

ADVISOR

Dato Paduka Dr Haji Omar bin Haji Khalid (Vice Chancellor, ITB) Professor Michael Cloke (Academic Advisor, ITB) Dr Hajah Naemah binti Haji Khalid (Assistant Vice Chancellor, ITB) Dyg Jennifer Hiew Lim (Registrar & Secretary, ITB)

BICET ORGANISING COMMITTEES

Pg Dr Haji Mohd Esa Al-Islam bin Pg Haji Mohd Yunus (Chairperson, ITB) Dr Ahmad Nazri Wahidudin (Deputy Chairperson, ITB) Dr Hajah Noor Maya binti Haji Mohd Salleh (Secretary I, ITB) Pg Dr Haji Saiful Baharin bin Pg Haji Duraman (Secretary II, ITB)

Secretariat: Awg Haji Ady Syarmin bin Haji Mohd Taib (Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Hajah Mariam binti Haji Abd Rahman (Deputy Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Serina binti Haji Mohd Ali (member, ITB) Dyg Siti Asmahlati Bolkini binti Ahmad (member, ITB) Awg Md Hairol bin Haji Mohd Ali (member, ITB) Ak Haji Azhan bin Pg Haji Ahmad (member, ITB) Dyg Thulasi Munohsamy (member, ITB) Dyg Hajah Siti Mariam binti Haji Amit (member, ITB)

Technical Committee: Dr Tan Soon Jiann (Co-chairperson, ITB) Dr Franky Looi Hong Cheong (Co-chairperson, ITB) Awg Haji Asari bin Haji Abd Rashid (Deputy Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Siti Mazulianawati binti Haji Majid (Secretary I, ITB) Dyg Hong Shyang Pei (Secretary II, ITB) Awg Ahmad Syamaizar bin Haji Ahmad Sabli (member, ITB) Dk Dr Noor Muneerah binti Pg Haji Jeludin (member, ITB) Dk Hajah Noralam binti Pg Haji Tuah (member, ITB) Dr Haji Mohd Khairul Ja’afar bin Haji Masri (member, ITB) Dr Saiful Islam (member, ITB) Dr Teh Keng Watt (member, ITB) Awg Ismawi bin Haji Md Yussof (member, ITB) Awg Wong Pong Kit (member, ITB) Awg Peter Shannon (member, ITB) Awg Radin Jefri bin Radin Mas Basiuni (member, ITB) Awg Saiful Bahri bin Haji Md Ja’afar (member, ITB) Dyg Ummul Hasanah binti Haji Hassan Awg Syed Bilal Hassan Awg Murhamdilah bin Morni

(member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB)

Financial Committee: Dyg Husni binti Haji Matusin (Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Hanisah binti Haji Mohd Salleh (Deputy Chairperson, ITB)

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Awg Soh Seng Hu (member, ITB) Dyg Salinawati binti haji Awg Damit (member, ITB) Dyg Siti Nur Didiareawati binti Jali (member, ITB) Awg Jumat bin Mohd Yacob (member, ITB) Dyg Hadhimah binti Hashim (member, ITB)

Fair and Exhibition Committee: Awg Asmaal Muizz Salehin bin HM Sultan (Chairperson, ITB) Awg Ibrahim bin Edris (Deputy Chairperson, ITB) Awg Saiful Bahri bin Haji Md Ja’afar (member, ITB) Awg Mohd Kamarulzaman bin Abdullah (member, ITB) Awg Khairuddin bin Haji Abd Ghafar (member, ITB) Pg Abd Mutallib bin Pg Haji Kamaluddin (member, ITB) Awg Syed Bilal Hassan (member, ITB)

Ceremony and Logistic Committee: Awg Haji Morsidi bin Haji Kassim (Co-Chairperson, ITB) Awg Joffry bin Haji Bongsu (Co- Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Elizah binti Raden Mas Ismail (Announcer, ITB) Dyg Serina binti Haji Mohd Ali (Announcer, ITB) Dyg Siti Hanisah Hj Mohd Salleh (Announcer, ITB) Awg Haji Meraj bin Haji Suhaili (member, ITB) Pg Siti Awa binti Pg Haji Mahmud Awg Hj Abu sofian bin Haji Yusof


Awg Syed Bilal Hassan (member, ITB) Awg Haji Aftab Hassan (member, ITB) Pg Muhd Nazri bin Pg Haji Ahmad (member, ITB) Awg Khairuddin bin Haji Abd Ghafar (member, ITB) Pg Mutallib bin Pg Haji Kamalluddin (member, ITB) Awg Awang Sidi bin Mohammad (member, ITB) Awg Muhammad Kamarulzaman bin Abdullah (member, ITB) Awg Muhamad Nizam bin Mahali (member, ITB) Dyg Aslina binti Md Salleh (member, ITB) Dyg Zaitonah bte Sisa/Judin (member, ITB) Awg Haidi bin Hilmi (member, ITB) Awg Hasri bin Ibrahim (member, ITB) Awg Muhammad Nur Aiman bin Haji Jahari (member, ITB) Awg Mohammad Rahim bin Haji Yakub (member, ITB) Awg Muhammad Amirul Hardilah bin Jali (member, ITB) Awg Adi Rusydi bin Omar (member, ITB) Dyg Siti Amira binti Naim (member, ITB) Awg Shabillellah Ikhwan bin Haji Ramlee (member, ITB) Dk Alizah Nurul Ita binti Pg Haji Ali (member, ITB) Dyg Siti Simaa Suhaillina binti Azmi (member, ITB) Dyg Nursyazwani binti Bujang (member, ITB) Awg Muhammad Izzat bin Haji Muhd Ismat Hazim (member, ITB) Awg Muhammad Kamil @ Omar Abdul Aziz bin Kifli (member, ITB) Dyg Noorus Sadikin binti Haji Metussin (member, ITB) Abg Muhd Salih Hanafi bin Abg Mustafa (member, ITB) Awg Md Nabil Fikri bin Mudim Haji Suhaili (member, ITB) Dk Nurul Aziemah binti Pg Haji Muizzuddin (member, ITB)

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Dyg Nurul Hazrina Shahba binti Md Shahrun Awg Marcelino Z. Taru III


Welfare and Accommodation Committee: Awg Mohamad Zawawi bin Bahari (Chairperson, ITB) Awg Murhamdillah bin Morni (member, ITB) Awg Haji Ismit bin Haji Mohamad (member, ITB)

Dyg Hajah Nur'azmina binti Haji Lingas

Dyg Hajah Halimah binti Dato Haji Kassim


Sponsorship, Promotion and Publicity Committee: Awg Haji Rudy Erwan bin Haji Ramlie (Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Ida binti Idris (Deputy Chairperson, ITB) Awg Haji Abd Majid bin Haji Moksin (member, ITB) Awg Ramli bin Haji Yaman (member, ITB) Dyg Hajah Shanafizahwatty binti Haji Mat Salleh (member, ITB) Dyg Rafidah binti Haji Tengah (member, ITB) Dyg Nuroul’ain binti Abdul Khalid (member, ITB)

Publishing Committee: Dr Ang Swee Peng (Chairperson, ITB) Pg Muhd Nazri bin Pg Haji Ahmad Awg Hj Abu sofian bin Haji Yusof

(Deputy Chairperson, ITB) (member, ITB)

Awg Khairuddin bin Haji Abd Ghafar (member, ITB) Dk Rafidah binti Pg Haji Petra (member, ITB) Awg Saiful Bahri bin Haji Ja’afar (member, ITB) Awg Syed Bilal Hassan (member, ITB) Dk Norhafizah binti Pg. Haji Muhammad (member, ITB) Awg Mohammad Adi Mukmin bin Haji Sarbini (member, ITB) Dk Noraidah binti Pg Haji Mohammad (member, ITB) Dk Aidah binti Pg Haji Ahmad (member, ITB) Dyg Zaitonah binti Sisa/Judin (member, ITB) Dyg Aslina binti Md Salleh (member, ITB) Awg Mohamad Nizam bin Mahali (member, ITB) Awg Mohammad Sia bin Abdullah (member, ITB) Dyg Hajah Noraidah binti Haji Madin (member, ITB) Awg Abd Hafidz bin Haji Ali Hassan (member, ITB) Awg Mohammad Hadie bin Haji Marsidi (student, ITB) Dyg Nurasilah binti Haji Ismail (student, ITB) Dyg Hajah Nurulhanisah binti Haji Suhaili@Haji Sebeli (student, ITB)

Invitation and Protocol Committee: Awg Muhd Al-Qusairy bin Haji Abd Kahar (Co-Chairperson, ITB) Dk Raden Tutimuliawati bini Pg Haji Mahmud (member, ITB) Awg Ibrahim bin Haji Md Tahir (member, ITB) Awg Jumat bin Yakob (member, ITB) Awg Md Safiuddin bin Abdullah (member, ITB) Awg Azmee bin Ahmad (member, ITB) Awg Mohd Zaiddin bin Abdul Qayyum Sirul (member, ITB) Dyg Hadhinah binti Hashim (member, ITB) Dyg Rusaimah binti Haji Md. Idris (member, ITB)

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Awg Khairul Anuar bin Haji Omar Dyg Alya Nur Baizura binti Haji Fadzillah Awg Muhammad Nazmi bin Mahali @ Nazmo Awg Md. Asymawi bin Abdullah Dyg Nur Zawani binti Haji Musa Dyg Nurul Khairunnisa binti Haji Abdullah Dk. Nur Faizah binti Pg. Suhaimi Awg Md Afi bin Md. Firdaus Chee Dyg Nur Hayatul Majeedah binti Haji Ramlee Dyg Faeiqah Nadzirah binti Awg Yakof Awg Farhan Nuradli bin Abdul Karim Dyg Nur Amirah binti Haji Marsidi Dyg Rafidah binti Haji Junaidi Awg Muhammad Yazid bin Awg Yussof

(member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB) (member, ITB)

Refreshment Committee: Dyg Hajah Roslynna binti Haji Rosli (Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Hajah Adlina Diyanah binti Haji Abdul Hamid (Deputy Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Hajah Siti Ratiyah binti Haji Ibrahim (member, ITB) Dk Ida Nurul Fitri binti Pg Haji Kahar (member, ITB) Dk Seri Rahayu binti Pg Haji Ya’akub (member, ITB) Dk Hajah Faridah binti Pg Haji Md Tahir (member, ITB) Dyg Siti Aminah binti Bangok (member, ITB) Dyg Zaitonah binti Sisa/Judin (member, ITB) Awg Kamarudzaman bin Abu Bakar (member, ITB)

Photography Committee: Awg Rajul Adli bin Haji Asli (Chairperson, ITB) Awg Mohd Audi Athir bin Haji Abd Ghani (member, ITB) Dyg Amal Nabilah binti Mohd Amin (member, ITB) Dyg Hajah Nooranisah binti Haji Idris (member, ITB) Awg Muhd Fadhli bin Haji Lamat (member, ITB) Awg Muhd Afiq bin Haji Tebian (member, ITB)

Car and Traffic Committee: Awg Ali Hashim bin Haji Taha (Chairperson, ITB) Awg Kamarudzaman bin Abu Bakar (Deputy Chairperson, ITB) Awg Muslim bin Haji Lakim (member, ITB) Awg Rozaidi bin Haji Lamit (member, ITB) Awg Muhd Nizam bin Mahali (member, ITB) Awg Azmee bin Ahmad (member, ITB) Awg Jumat bin Yacob (member, ITB) Awg Hasri bin Ibrahim (member, ITB) Awg Haji Md Abu Yazid bin Haji Awg Damit (member, ITB)

Souvenirs and Certificates Committee: Dyg Rozeana binti Haji Mohd Juani (Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Armanadurni binti Abdul Rahman (Deputy Chairperson, ITB) Dyg Hadijah binti Abdul Hadi (member, ITB) Ak Haji Azhan bin Pg Haji Ahmad (member, ITB) Dyg Hajah Norimah binti Haji Abdul Kadir (member, ITB)

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Dyg Roslizaharyanti binti Rosli (member, ITB) Dyg Saadiah binti Bangkol (member, ITB) Dyg Hajah Kartini binti HAJI kadar (member, ITB) Dyg Masdianah binti Raini (member, ITB) Awg Jumat bin Yakob (member, ITB) Awg Azmee bin Ahmad (member, ITB)

PANEL OF REVIEWERS

Ahmad Syamaizar bin Ahmad Sabli Aijaz Ahmad Ak Hj Azhan Pg Hj Ahmad Armanadurni binti Abdul Rahman Asmaal Muizz Sallehin bin H M Sultan Dk Dr Noor Muneerah binti Pg Haji Jeludin Dr Ahmad Nazri Wahidudin Dr Franky Looi Hong Cheong Dr Hasnul Hidayat bin Hashim Dr Hj Afzaal Seyal Dr Hj Md Gholam Yazdani Dr Hj Mohd Khairul Ja’afar bin Hj Masri Dr Mohammad Nurul Islam Dr Sharina Yunus Dr Sushma Nair Dr Tan Soon Jiann Dr Tariq Mahmood Felix Weerakkody Hj Ady Syarmin bin Hj Md Taib Hj Mohd Noah bin Hj Abd Rahman

Hj Rudy Erwan bin Hj Ramlie Hjh Roslynna binti Hj Rosli Ibrahim bin Edris Khairuddin Abd Ghafar Md Hairol bin Hj Md Ali Wong Pong Kit Paul Turton Peter Shanon Pg Dr Hj Md Esa bin Pg Yunus Pg Dr Hj Saiful Baharin bin Pg Hj Duraman Pg Muhd Nazri Pg Hj Ahmad Rajul Adli bin Hj Asli Rozeana binti Hj Md Juani Serina binti Hj Mohd Ali Siti Noorfatimah bin Hj Awang Safar Syed Bilal Hassan Ummul Hasanah binti Haji Hassan Yap Yok Hoe Zuliana binti Nayan

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CONFERENCE INFORMATION

1. Conference Date, Venue and Secretariat

Date : 25 - 26 January 2012 Venue : Rizqun International Hotel, Abdul Razak Complex, Gadong, Bandar Seri Begawan,

Brunei Darussalam

Located in the heart of Brunei's retail and entertainment district - Gadong, the Hotel is only 10 minutes from Brunei International Airport and Bandar Seri Begawan.

Secretariat : Awg Haji Ady Syarmin bin Haji Mohd Taib

Address : BICET 2012 Secretariat Institut Teknologi Brunei Jalan Tungku Link, Gadong BE1410, Brunei Darussalam

Telephone : +673-2461020 Fax : +673-2461035/6

Email : [email protected] Web : www.itb.edu.bn/bicet2012 Web : [email protected]

2. Language English will be the conference language.

3. Full Conference Proceedings In an effort to reduce the carbon footprint and to protect our environment, the organiser is providing each registered participant with a CD-ROM which is available in the BICET 2012 carrying bag.

4. Name Tags For Participants A registered participant will be provided with a name tag. The name tag will allow access to sessions and associated events. A name tag must be worn throughout the conference.

5. Registration All BICET 2012 attendees must register for the conference. Onsite registration desk will be available at the Rizqun International Hotel (Level 4), Gadong on Tuesday 24th January 2012 from 16.00pm - 21.00pm, and during the conference sessions from 13.15pm - 13.30pm (Wednesday, 25 Jan 2012), 08.00am - 08.30am and 13.15pm – 13.30pm (Thursday 26 Jan 2012).

Registration includes

:

Participation in the conference, a BICET 2012 carrying bag containing CD (includes full conference proceedings), coffee-breaks, lunches, and a welcoming dinner during the first day of the conference (25th January, 2012).

The Registration fee is presented in the table below. Full payment is required to complete registration.

Registration Fee

(1) International participants

Registration by 15 December 2011

Registration after 15 December 2011

Participants USD 200.00 USD 250.00

Full-time students USD 150.00* USD 187.50*

mailto:[email protected]

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(2) Local participants

Registration by 15 December 2011

Registration after 15 December 2011

Participants USD 150.00 USD 200.00

Full-time student USD 112.50* USD 150.00*

*Full-time students will be eligible for a 25% discount provided that they attach a proof of enrolment issued by their respective universities during registration.

6. Payment Payments are required to be made in USD. Payment must be made by:

1. Credit/Debit card (please complete credit/debit card payment form)

2. Telegraphic Transfer (TT)

Account Name : Institut Teknologi Brunei Account No : 0-044854-007 Bank Name : Citibank Na, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam Address : No.12-15, Darussalam Complex, Jalan Sultan,

Bandar Seri Begawan BS8811, Negara Brunei Darussalam Swift Code : citibnbx

Note : For submission of TT form and bank slip, please email to [email protected]

7. Conference Floor Plan BICET 2011 will be held on the 4th floor in the Rizqun International Hotel.

Parallel Sessions:

Venue – Level 4, Rizqun International Hotel

Parallel sessions

Songket Hall I

Songket Hall II

Meeting Room 4


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Rizqun International Hotel, Gadong

Songket Hall I

Songket Hall II

Songket Hall III

Sutra Function Hall

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Schedule of 2012 Brunei International Conference on Engineering and Technology (BICET 2012) DAY/DATE TIME EVENTS CONFERENCE VENUE

SONGKET HALL I SONGKET HALL II MEETING ROOM 4

TUESDAY 24 JAN 2012

16.00 – 21.00 Registration BICET Registration Desk, Level 4, Rizqun International Hotel

WEDNESDAY 25 JAN 2012

(Day 1)

07.30 Opening Ceremony Songket Hall I, Level 4

09.45 – 10.15 Coffee Break Sutra Function Hall, Level 4

10.30 – 11.30 Plenary Session: Keynote Speaker #1 Songket Hall I, Level 4

12.00 – 13.15 Lunch Rizqun Coffee House, Ground Level

13.15 – 13.30 Registration BICET Registration Desk, Level 4

13.30 – 15.00 Parallel Session 1 CE-1 (page19)

CIS-1 (page20)

ME-1 (page 20 )

15.00 – 15.30 Coffee Break Songket Hall III, Level 4

15.30 – 17.00 Parallel Session 2 CE-2 (page 21)

CIS-2 (page21)

EEE-2 (page 22)

19.00 BICET 2012 Welcoming Dinner Presidential Lounge, Level 8

THURSDAY 26 JAN 2012

(Day 2)


08.30 – 09.30 Plenary Session: Keynote Speaker #2 Songket Hall I , Level 4



CIS-3 + IM-3 (page23) + (page24)



13.30 – 15.00 Parallel Session 4 PCE-4 (page25)

E-4 (page25 )

15.30 Closing ceremony Songket Hall I, Level 4

Note: Abbreviations for the subject areas

CE : Civil Engineering EEE : Electrical and Electronic Engineering ME : Mechanical Engineering CIS : Computer and Information Systems E : Energy PCE : Petroleum and Chemical Engineering IM : Industrial Management

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GENERAL INFORMATION

The City of Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam Welcome to Brunei Darussalam

Just 443 km north of the equator, modern Brunei's 5,765-sq km land area is wedged between the Malaysian Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak. Rainfall and humidity are high, with temperatures averaging 28 degrees Celsius throughout the year. Yet Brunei rests outside the tropical typhoon and earthquake belts.

Brunei is comprised of four districts - Temburong, Tutong, Belait and Brunei-Muara. The nation's riverfront capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, is in the Brunei-Muara district.

Roughly two-thirds of the population is Malay, the rest are Chinese or members of indigenous tribes.

Bahasa Melayu is the official language, although English is widely spoken and understood.

The country is ruled according to Islamic values and traditions by the present Monarch, His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, the 29th ascendant of the world's oldest continuously reigning royal line. Brunei is a Malay Muslim Monarchy, with over 600 years of recorded history.

Brunei has emerged as an active and influential participant in international and regional core groups, including the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC), Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines - East Asian Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA). Such involvements have raised awareness of Brunei as one of the world's most important developing economies.

A haven for eco-tourism, over half of Brunei is unspoiled rainforest, a large proportion of which is located in the Temburong district. Here fish hold station against the swift current of crystalline rivers. An occasional electric blue kingfisher may be soon streak low across the water. Among the vine-laced trees, unique flora and fauna flourish, from the parasitic pitcher plant to the distinctive hornbill.

In conjunction with the Brunei Museum and the Belalong Rainforest Field Studies Centre, many leading international research and environmental groups, including London's Natural History Museum, continue to find and document newly discovered species.

How to get here Brunei is accessible by air with Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA), the national carrier, flying to 23 cities. Other airlines that fly to Brunei are Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways International.

Brunei is also accessible by road from Sarawak and Sabah. A drive from Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak, takes approximately 13 hours while a drive from Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah, takes approximately 6 hours.

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Climate

Equatorial climate with temperatures ranging from 20°C to 35°C throughout the year.

Population 343,000.

Airport Brunei International Airport is about 15 minutes drive from the capital (11 kilometer). Airport tax - International Departure: $12.

Custom No duty is charged to passengers carrying 200 cigarettes, 50 cigars or 277 grams of tobacco, two bottle of liquor (appox.2 quart) or 12 cans of beers for (non-muslim only), and a reasonable amount of perfume (0.33 litre).

Language Malay is official language but English is widely used. Other language includes Chinese and dialect is also spoken. Although the official religion is Islam, other faiths including Christianity and Buddhism are practiced.

Shopping Most shops open at 8.00am although department stores open an hour or so later. Many shops remain open until 9.00pm. Department stores open seven days a while most other shops close on Sundays

Visitor Info : Getting Around

Ground

Many of Brunei's attractions lie within walking distance of each other in the heart of the capital city, Bandar Seri Begawan. A comprehensive public bus system serves the capital and other destinations.

Taxis

There are no metered taxis in Brunei. Taxis are available at most hotels, shopping centres and the airport. In the capital, taxis are located at the Jalan Cator car park. It is advisable to prearrange your taxi rides by contacting the following numbers:- Bandar Seri Begawan: +673 2222214, +673 2226853 Kuala Belait : +673 3334581 Seria : +673 3222020, +673 3222155 Airport Taxi Service: +673 2343671

Car Rentals

Self-drive or chauffeur-driven cars are available for hire from major hotels and the airport.

Buses

There are six bus routes serving Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB) area and Brunei Muara District - the Central Line, Circle Line, Eastern Line, Northern Line, Western Line and Southern Line. They usually operate from 6.30am - 7.00pm Fares start from B$1.00. Buses to other major towns such as Tutong, Seria and Kuala Belait depart from the bus terminal located at the Jalan Cator car park in downtown Bandar.

Water Taxis and Speedboat Services

Water taxis are the most common means of getting to Kampong Ayer and can be hailed from numerous 'docking ports' along the banks of the Brunei River. Speedboat Services to Temburong also

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available and you may purchased from the ticket counters at Jetty located in Jalan Residency at the capital.

Additional Information

Useful Malay Phrases Good Morning Selamat Pagi No Tidak Good Afternoon Selamat Petang Yes Ya Good Night Selamat Malam How much? Berapa? Where is the toilet? Di mana tandas? Excuse me Maafkan saya You're welcome Sama-sama Thank you Terima Kasih What is your name? Siapa nama awda? Turn right Belok Kanan My name is ... Nama saya ... Turn left Belok Kiri I want to go to ... Saya mahu pergi ke ... Go Straight Jalan Terus

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OPENING CEREMONY

The executives and the organising committee of BICET cordially invite you to attend the opening ceremony for the BICET conference 2012 which will take place as follows:

Date : Wednesday, 25th Jan 2012

Time : 7.30 am Venue : Songket Hall I, Level 4, Rizqun International Hotel, Gadong

Programme

07.30 : Arrival of Organising Committee members

08.00 : Arrival and Registration of participants

08.30 : Arrival of Guests

09.00 : Arrival of the Guest of Honour

Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman

Minister of Development, Negara Brunei Darussalam

: Recital of Surah Al-Fatihah & Doa Selamat

: Welcoming Speech by the Vice Chancellor of Institut Teknologi Brunei

Yang Mulia Dato Paduka Dr Haji Omar bin Haji Khalid

: Speech & Official Opening of BICET 2012 by the Guest of Honour

: Souvenir Presentation to the Guest of Honour

: Refreshments

10.30 : Keynote Address 1 (Plenary)

International Keynote Speaker 1

Your presence to this event is very much appreciated, thank you.

Note : Dress code – smart

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WELCOMING DINNER

The executives and the organising committee of BICET cordially invite you to attend the Welcoming Dinner which will take place as follows:

Date : Wednesday, 25th Jan 2012

Time : 19.00 pm Venue : Presidential Lounge, Level 8, Rizqun International Hotel, Gadong

Programme

19.00 : Arrival of Guests


Yang Mulia Dato Paduka Dr Haji Omar bin Haji Khalid Vice Chancellor of Institut Teknologi Brunei

: Recital of Surah Al-Fatihah and Doa Selamat

: Speech by the Chairman of the Organising Committee of BICET 2012

Yang Mulia Pg Dr Hj Md Esa Al-Islam bin Pg Hj Mohd Yunus

: Dinner

: Cultural show by the ITB Students


Note : Dress code - smart

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CLOSING CEREMONY

The executives and the organising committee of BICET cordially invite you to attend the closing ceremony for the BICET conference 2012 which will take place as follows:

Date : Thursday, 26th Jan 2012

Time : 15.30 pm Venue : Songket Hall I, Level 4, Rizqun International Hotel, Gadong

Programme


- Yang Mulia Dato Paduka Dr Haji Omar bin Haji Khalid Vice Chancellor, Institut Teknologi Brunei

: Recital of Surah Al-Fatihah and Doa Selamat

: Speech by the Chairman of the Organising Committee of BICET 2012

Yang Mulia Pg Dr Haji Md Esa Al-Islam bin Pg Haji Mohd Yunus

: Certificate Presentation

: Closing Remarks

: Refreshment


Note : Dress code - smart

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TECHNICAL PROGRAMME

The technical programme, comprising a plenary and the main paper oral presentation sessions will

be held on January 25 and 26 2012, at Level 4, Rizqun International Hotel, Gadong, Brunei

Darussalam.

PLENARY SESSIONS

We are pleased to welcome a panel of international experts who will provide insights into the state

of research for sustainable development and new product development and innovation in recycling

of various rubber wastes.

Keynote Speaker #1 : Professor Mark Spearing

Affiliation : Professor of Engineering Materials / Pro Vice Chancellor

(international)

University of Southampton

Presentation Title : Sustainable Development Through Engineering and Technology

Venue : Songket Hall I, Level 4, Rizqun International Hotel

Date : 25th January 2012

Time : 10.30 am - 11.30 am

Chairperson : Professor Michael Cloke (ITB)

Keynote Speaker #2 : Professor Hanafi Ismail

Affiliation : Deputy Dean, School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering

University Sains Malaysia

Presentation Title : Recycling of Various Rubber Wastes : New Product Development and

Innovation

Venue : Songket Hall I, Level 4, Rizqun International Hotel

Date : 26th January 2012

Time : 08.30 am - 09.30 am

Chairperson : Dr Mathew Poulose (ITB)

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Day 1

PARALLEL SESSION 1

CIVIL ENGINEERING (CE)

Session: Time: Venue:

Wednesday, 25th January 2012 CE-1 13.30-15.00 Songket Hall 1

Chairman : ITB Staff

Paper code Paper Title

CE-1-1

: PREDICTION OF UNIT RESISTANCE FOR BORE PILE USING GLOBAL STRAIN EXTENSOMETER Ramli Nazir and Mohd Zahrullail Badrun

CE-1-2

: SHALLOW SUBSURFACE PROFILE INVESTIGATION BY SEISMIC REFRACTION METHOD IN KUNDASANG, SABAH : APPLICATION TO SUBSURFACE DAMAGE ZONE EVALUATION Mohd Hazreek bin Zainal Abidin, Rosli bin Saad, Jamil bin Matarul,

Fauziah binti Ahmad, Devapriya Chitral Wijeyasekera,

Ahmad Fahmy bin Kamarudin and Azmi bin Ibrahim

CE-1-3 :

INFLUENCE OF PARTICLE MORPHOLOGY ON SHEAR STRENGTH AND DILATANCY OF SANDS Alvin John Lim Meng Siang, Devapriya Chitral Wijeyesekera,

Adnan bin Zainorabidin and Ismail bin Hj Bakar

CE-1-4 :

OVERVIEW OF CURRENT FIELD GEOTECHNICAL TESTING FOR PEAT GROUND INVESTIGATION Rashidah Adon, Dato Haji Ismail bin Haji Bakar, Devapriya Chitral Wijeyesekera

and Adnan bin Zainorabidin

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COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS (CIS)

Date: Session: Time: Venue:

Wednesday, 25th January 2012 CIS-1 13.30-15.00 Songket Hall II



CIS-1-1

: SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTEPRISES (SMEs) IN MALAYSIA: IMPROVING ONLINE MARKETING EFFORTS BY EMBEDDING MULTIMEDIA ELEMENTS IN WEBSITE Ida Aryanie Bahrudin, Mohd Ezree Abdullah and Miswan Surip

CIS-1-2

: POULTRY DISEASES EXPERT SYSTEM USING DEMPSTER-SHAFER THEORY Andino Maseleno and Md. Mahmud Hasan

CIS-1-3 A COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF UML PROFILE FOR HARD AND WEAKLY HARD REAL-TIME SYSTEMS Habibah Ismail, Yavuz Selim Sengoz and Dayang N. A. Jawawi

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING (ME)


Wednesday, 25th January 2012 ME-1 13.30-15.00 Meeting Room 4



ME-1-1

: INVESTIGATION ON AERODYNAMIC FORCES ON A HORSE CARRIAGE TOWING USED IN BRUNEI DARUSSALAM Md Gholam Yazdani, Siti Norbillah Sooni and Desmond Lee Wei Fatt

ME-1-2

: FABRICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF KAOLIN-BASED CERAMIC MEMBRANE FOR LIQUID FILTRATION N.A. Badarulzaman, S.S. Jikan and R. Mahadi

ME-1-3

: NANOFLUID HEAT TRANSFER IN A TUBE UNDER TURBULENT FLOW Viswanatha Sharma Korada, Wan Azmi Wan Hamzah, Kameswara Sarma Pullela and

Rizalman Mamat

ME-1-4

: DEVELOPMENT OF MODEL FOR THE ESTIMATION OF NANOFLUID HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT Wan Azmi Wan Hamzah, Viswanatha Sharma Korada, Kameswara Sarma Pullela

and Rizalman Mamat

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PARALLEL SESSION 2



Wednesday, 25th January 2012 CE-2 15.30-17.00 Songket Hall I



CE-2-1

: MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF HYBRID KENAF/ RECYCLED JUTE FIBERS COMPOSITES Ekhlas. A. Osman, Anatoli. Vakhguelt, Igor. Sbarski and Saad. A. Mutasher

CE-2-2

: THE STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOR OF PRECAST LIGHTWEIGHT FOAMED CONCRETE SANDWICH PANEL SUBJECTED TO ECCENTRIC LOAD N. Mohamad and S.L. Douvinda

CE-2-3

: LOAD ANALYSIS AND RESPONSE OF OFFSHORE JACKET STRUCTURE Zulkipli Henry, Iberahin Jusoh and Amran Ayob

COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS (CIS)


Wednesday, 25th January 2012 CIS-2 15.30-17.00 Songket Hall II



CIS-2-1

: DEVELOPMENT OF A SUSTAINABLE KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR (KPI) MONITORING SYSTEM USING VIABLE SYSTEM MODEL Roliana Ibrahim, Suleiman Isah Sani, Ali Selamat and Aryati Bakri

CIS-2-2

: MALAYSIAN COMPUTER SCIENCE PUBLICATIONS: A CITATION STUDY Aryati Bakri, Naomie Salim, Rose Alinda Alias and Siti Nisrin Mohd Anis

CIS-2-3

: ASSESSING THE PERCEPTION OF ACADEMIC STAFF IN USING e-LEARNING: BRUNEIAN PERSPECTIVE Afzaal H. Seyal, Hj. Awg Yussof Hj. Awg Mohammad, Looi, H. C

and Mohd Noah Abd Rahman

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ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING (EEE)


Wednesday, 25th January 2012 EEE-2 15.30-17.00 Meeting Room 4



EEE-2-1

: CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUNDING SYSTEMS UNDER HIGH IMPULSE CONDITIONS S. A. Syed Abdullah, N. Mohamad Nor and R. E. Rajab

EEE-2-2

: COMPARATIVE STUDY ON POWER LIMITATION OF A STALL REGULATED

VARIABLE SPEED WIND TURBINE Norzanah Rosmin, Suhaila Samsuri and Mohammad Yusri Hassan

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Day 2

PARALLEL SESSION 3



Thursday, 26th January 2012 CE-3 10.00-11.30 Songket Hall I



CE-3-1

: RHEOLOGY CHARACTERISTICS OF ASPHALT BINDER CONTAINING WARM

ASPHALT ADDITIVE Mohd Ezree Abdullah, Mohd Rosli Hainin, Kemas Ahmad Zamhari, Madi Hermadi,

Nafarizal Nayan and Zhanping You

CE-3-2

: THE IMPACT OF FOREIGN LABOURS REDUCTION IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid, Bachan Singh, Aminah Md Yusof and Ong Siong Wei

CE-3-3

: THE EMPLOYMENT OF FOREIGN LABORS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid, Bachan Singh, Aminah Md Yusof

and Ahmad Mahayuddin Ismail

CE-3-4

: STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF LIMESTONE MINERAL ADDITION ON THE BEHAVIOR OF SUSTAINABLE MORTARS BASED ON SULFATE RESISTANT CEMENT L. Belagraa, W.Deboucha and M. Beddar

CE-3-5 : SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL BY SEMI-AEROBIC SANITARY LANDFILL: TOWARDS ACHIEVING A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (PENANG EXPERIENCE) Hamidi Abdul Aziz and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini



Thursday, 26th January 2012 CIS-3 10.00-11.30 Songket Hall II



CIS-3-1

: ASSESSMENT OF THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN OPEN GOVERNMENT IMPERATIVES: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION BASE ON INTERACTIVITY LEVEL Mukesh Srivastava and Parwaiz Karamat

CIS-3-2

: INTEGRATING INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICT) IN EDUCATION: THE BRUNEI PERSPECTIVE Hj Abd Rahim Derus, Franky HC Looi and Afzaal H. Seyal

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INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT (IM)


Thursday, 26th January 2012 IM-3 10.00-11.30 Songket Hall II



IM-3-1

: INTERNET USAGE IN SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN BRUNEI

DARUSSALAM Ida idris

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PARALLEL SESSION 4

PETROLEUM AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING (PCE)


Thursday, 26th January 2012 PCE-4 13.30-15.00 Songket Hall I



PCE-4-1

: THERMOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF BRUNEI RICE HUSK AND SUITABILITY FOR

THERMAL CONVESION VIA PYROLSIS PROCESS Muhammad S Abu Bakar and James O Titiloye

PCE-4-2

: EFFICIENTLY DYE SENSITIZED AND METAL DOPED TIO2 CATALYSTS FOR

PHOTOCATALYTIC WATER SPLITTING UNDER VISIBLE LIGHT Thi Thu- Le, M. Shaheer Akhtar and O-Bong Yang

ENERGY (E)


Thursday, 26th January 2012 E-4 13.30-15.00 Songket Hall II



E-4-1

: A STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF FEED IN TARIFF (FIT) FOR BIPV SYSTEM IN

MALAYSIA H. Abdul Rahman , W.Z. Wan Omar, M.Y. Hassan and M.S. Majid

E-4-2

: IMPROVING THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN ELECTRICAL MOTORS USING VARIABLE

FREQUENCY DRIVES Veronica Shabunko, C.M.Lim and S.Mathew

E-4-3

: POWER PERFORMANCE OF 1:40 SCALED TIDAL CURRENT TURBINE MODEL

Hjh Roslynna Hj Rosli

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CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS

PLENARY SESSIONS

Keynote speaker #1

Paper Title: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

Professor Mark Spearing

Keynote speaker #2

Paper Title: RECYCLING OF VARIOUS RUBBER WASTES: NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION Professor Hanafi Ismail

The annual consumption of natural rubber is more than 15 million tons, and the output of rubber products is more than 31 million tons worldwide. In Malaysia, production of the pneumatic tyres alone in 2000 is 14.7 million while the tyre replacement market average is 1.3 million pieces per month. About 35-40% go to tread market and 65-70% for disposal dumping or other use. With the development of rubber industry, a lot of waste rubber is produced in the world every year. The discarded scrap rubbers, which are cross-linked do not degrade rapidly enough and this causes environmental pollution. Among various methods for treatment of waste rubber products, recycling is the most desirable approach to solve the problem. Recycling not only protects our environment, but also saves our limited petroleum resource from which the raw material is originating. To overcome this problem there is a need to recycle rubber wastes. In this work, the effect of different sizes of tire dusts and natural weathering on mechanical and morphological properties of polypropylene (PP)/waste tire dust (WTD) blends will be reported.

PARALLEL SESSION 1


Paper code : CE-1-1

PREDICTION OF UNIT RESISTANCE FOR BORE PILE USING GLOBAL STRAIN EXTENSOMETER Ramli Nazir and Mohd Zahrullail Badrun

A study was carried out generally to obtain the reliable range for Ultimate Skin Factor, Ksu and Ultimate End Bearing Factor, Kbu with the change in Standard Penetration Test (SPT, N) value established for soil in Malaysia. Pile instrumentation is to be done using state-of-the-art Global Strain Extensometer technology consists of a deformation monitoring system that uses advanced pneumatically anchored extensometers coupled with high-precision spring-loaded transducers, and a novel analytical technique to monitor loads and displacements down the shaft and at the toe of foundation piles. It was found that the Global Strain Extensometer method for the instrumentation for the bored pile easier to install and will give good results. It also gives less risk on damaging the equipment during the installation. The results from Global Strain Extensometer show that the skin resistance factor (Ksu) is in the range of 2.0 and 2.3kN/m2 as found by Tan et. al (1998) and Balakrisnan et. al (1999). The results for base resistance factor (Kbu) for Global Strain Extensometer also in the range between 7.0 and 10kN/m2 in agreement with Tan et. al (1998).

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Paper code : CE-1-2

SHALLOW SUBSURFACE PROFILE INVESTIGATION BY SEISMIC REFRACTION METHOD IN KUNDASANG, SABAH : APPLICATION TO SUBSURFACE DAMAGE ZONE EVALUATION Mohd Hazreek bin Zainal Abidin, Rosli bin Saad, Jamil bin Matarul, Fauziah binti Ahmad,

Devapriya Chitral Wijeyasekera, Ahmad Fahmy bin Kamarudin and Azmi bin Ibrahim

Natural disaster such as mass movement can trigger and create new or existing ground damage zone in several areas particularly in Kundasang, Sabah. This study applied a seismic refraction method to investigate a subsurface profile damage zone mainly due to engineering geology and geotechnical engineering assessment. Ground damage caused by a natural disaster can reflect a difficulty in the engineering investigation task especially to determine the possible subsurface damage zone for rehabilitation and maintenance purposes. Hence this study introduced the seismic refraction method from geophysical techniques that used the concept of seismic waves generated by one of several types of energy sources and detected by arrays of sensitive devices called geophones. The data was processed by Optim software for generating the subsurface velocity structure (primary velocity, vp) and interpretation with supported by existing borehole information. The seismic refraction method identified three main velocity structures which consisted of top soil/residual soil (330 – 500 m/s) 0 – 6 m, weathered zone with a possible mixtures of soil, boulder and rock fractured (700 – 1800 m/s) 2 – 25 m and bedrock (> 2300 m/s) from 13 m depth. The thickness and width of damage zone varied within the survey line from 4 – 25 m and 57 m respectively with a velocity structure of 600 – 1800 m/s. The seismic refraction survey produced a good similarity of results compared to the borehole information in terms of geomaterial features. This study proved that the seismic refraction method was an appropriate technique to be applied in damage zone assessment in order to produce reliable information regarding the weak zone investigated. The utilization of seismic refraction method can increase the effectiveness of civil engineering rehabilitation works in term of cost and time since it can determine the subsurface information in two dimensional (2-D) profiles. Furthermore this alternative method used a non destructive approach that can benefit the environment and be suitable for our sustainable development.

Paper code : CE-1-3

INFLUENCE OF PARTICLE MORPHOLOGY ON SHEAR STRENGTH AND DILATANCY OF SANDS Alvin John Lim Meng Siang, Devapriya Chitral Wijeyesekera, Adnan bin Zainorabidin

and Ismail bin Hj Bakar

The macroscale behaviour of granular materials such as sand results from particle level interactions and the particle morphology (shapes and sizes). Clean sands are cohesionless (c = 0) but have a finite friction angle (Ø). The shear strength of sands is entirely dependent on the density, normal stress and interlocking particle structure. The latter is associated with the property of dilatancy (ψ) in particular with sands. Well graded sand (SW), poorly graded uniform sand (SPuKahang), gap graded sand (SPg) from Kahang Malaysia and also (SPuL.Buzzard) uniform Leighton Buzzard sand from UK were tested in a pneumatic direct shear box. The shapes of the sand particles were quantified using images obtained from a digital microscope. It was found that the Øpeak, Øcr and ψ was the highest for (SW) when compared with others. SPuL.Buzzard sands showed a significant decrease in the values with similar relative density (Dr). The increase in normal stress (σ) caused a significant effect on the behaviour of dilatancy. High normal stresses give very little variations in dilatancy (ψ) between the samples tested as compared to the lower normal stress that was used. This research contributes to furthering the understanding of the engineering behaviour of sand and also helps in predicting the occurrence of dilation based on sand morphology in dynamic soil structure interaction.

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Paper code : CE-1-4

OVERVIEW OF CURRENT FIELD GEOTECHNICAL TESTING FOR PEAT GROUND INVESTIGATION Rashidah Adon, Dato Haji Ismail bin Haji Bakar, Devapriya Chitral Wijeyesekera and Adnan bin Zainorabidin

Rapid pace of infrastructure development is seeing Malaysia and many other parts of the world facing decreasing areas of ‘suitable’ ground for infrastructure construction. Limited availability of sites is forcing peat land to become a viable construction site for economic reasons. Although peat causes problems to engineering, it has its own advantages in term of forestry and agriculture. This paper presents a critical review and discussion of recent and current geotechnical testing in peat ground investigation with a variety of types of peat from several locations in Malaysia and other countries. This paper represents data on fibric, hemic and sapric type of peat for loss of ignition (Organic Content), natural water content, liquid limit, plastic limit, density and specific gravity. Some of these tests were modified to suit peat testing. Sampling techniques to obtain undisturbed samples for strength testing is outlined. Shear strength is another signifiicant parameter and plays a vital role in engineering design decisions. Various researchers and practitioners have used piezocone (CPTU) tests and vane test with correlation to in-situ vane tests or laboratory triaxial tests. This paper also reviews the innovative of CPTU testing on peat soil.


Paper code : CIS-1-1

SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTEPRISES (SMEs) IN MALAYSIA: IMPROVING ONLINE MARKETING EFFORTS BY EMBEDDING MULTIMEDIA ELEMENTS IN WEBSITE Ida Aryanie Bahrudin, Mohd Ezree Abdullah and Miswan Surip

The idea of implementing multimedia to promote brands can be extremely beneficial. Multimedia elements such as text, graphics, animation, audio and video hold the key in attracting new clients business through digital marketing campaigns. The increased use of technology has brought about numerous changes in the business world including for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) which is a major part of the industrial economies in Malaysia. The aim of this study is to investigate the multimedia element embedded in Malaysia SMEs website and to propose the guidelines in improving online marketing efforts. A sample of 55 Malaysia’s SMEs web sites was monitored and the embedded multimedia elements were analyzed. This data was collected in order to study the types of multimedia elements on these web sites. The result of the study revealed that 83.6% used only text and graphics in their websites, 12.7% used text, graphics and animation, while only 3.6% embedded all multimedia elements in their websites. The results of this study provide helpful guides to SMEs entrepreneurs in promoting their products.


POULTRY DISEASES EXPERT SYSTEM USING DEMPSTER-SHAFER THEORY Andino Maseleno and Md. Mahmud Hasan

Based on World Health Organization (WHO) fact sheet in the 2011, outbreaks of poultry diseases especially Avian Influenza in poultry may raise global public health concerns due to their effect on poultry populations, their potential to cause serious disease in people, and their pandemic potential. In this research, we built a Poultry Diseases Expert System using Dempster-Shafer Theory. In this Poultry Diseases Expert System We describe five symptoms which include depression, combs, wattle, bluish face region, swollen face region, narrowness of eyes, and balance disorders. The result of the research is that Poultry Diseases Expert System has been successfully identifying poultry diseases.

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A COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF UML PROFILE FOR HARD AND WEAKLY HARD REAL-TIME SYSTEMS Habibah Ismail, Yavuz Selim Sengoz and Dayang N. A. Jawawi

Embedded systems that have timing constraints are classified as embedded real-time systems. Formally, embedded real-time systems are classified into three categories of timing constraints, named hard, soft and weakly hard. For hard real-time systems, no deadlines miss is tolerated, while in soft real-time systems, deadlines miss is acceptable occasionally. Meanwhile, for weakly hard real-time systems, a missed deadline is tolerated but has to be stated precisely. By far, modeling timing constraints and scheduling behavior through adaptation of modeling language are used to predict the timing behavior and performance of sets concurrent tasks in embedded real-time systems. Nowadays, the widely used, well-known and most adopted modeling language for software modeling is Unified Modeling Language (UML). In this paper, we studied the UML profile for Schedulability, Performance and Time (SPT) as modeling language because it is known as suitable profile for modeling and analysis of embedded real-time systems. The objective of the paper is to compare the capability of SPT profile to support both of hard real-time and weakly hard real-time requirements. Two case studies of embedded real-time systems used in this evaluation are: an elevator system case study which was chosen to represent a hard embedded real-time system and a mobile robot case study which was chosen to represent a weakly hard embedded real-time system. A set of important criteria to enable the modeling of timing requirements and scheduling analysis of embedded real-time systems were identified to conduct the comparative evaluation. The analysis results of the comparative evaluation showed how UML-SPT profile can support the requirements modeling and analysis of hard real-time systems and weakly hard real-time systems. A set of recommendation to improve SPT profile in supporting the two types of timing requirements was concluded in this paper.

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING (ME)

Paper code : ME-1-1

INVESTIGATION ON AERODYNAMIC FORCES ON A HORSE CARRIAGE TOWING USED IN BRUNEI DARUSSALAM Md Gholam Yazdani, Siti Norbillah Sooni and Desmond Lee Wei Fat

The aerodynamics of a car towing a load is an interesting problem in fluid mechanics. Since the above is both shape and flow dependant and no complete theory is available. As such, experimental techniques are thought to be useful to look into the aerodynamics of such a problem. In Brunei Darussalam, the type of horse carriage is towed normally by certain type Ford Ranger (FR) four-wheel drive car. A scale model of 1:32 of the above is made to test in a subsonic 292 mm x 292 mm wind tunnel. The ford ranger and ford ranger with horse carriage (HC) was tested separately in the above mentioned wind tunnel. The drag (CD), lift (CL) and the side forces (CS) coefficients are computed with angle of attack (α) from 0° to 30° and Reynolds Number (Re) of 1.77 x 104 to 7.08 x 104. It is well known that CD plays an important role in fuel economy. As expected CD for towing is generally higher than the CD for isolated car for all the above investigated ranges of α and Re. To reduce CD a modification on the body shape was suggested and tested in the wind tunnel. The modified body shape reduced CD to a minimum of 20% and a maximum of 53% for α = 0° in the investigated ranges of Re.

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Paper code : ME-1-2

FABRICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF KAOLIN-BASED CERAMIC MEMBRANE FOR LIQUID FILTRATION N.A. Badarulzaman, S.S. Jikan and R. Mahadi

Ceramic membranes for liquid filtration were fabricated via powder compaction method. The membranes which comprise mixtures of local clay and combustible material were compacted at 2 MPa and then, sintered at 1050oC. The studies on porosity, density and flow rate of the membrane were measured in order to evaluate its effectiveness. The results of the porosity and density tests of the membrane are 51.4% and 2.5348 g/cm3, respectively. Whereas, the flow rate test indicates that the membrane is able to flow at a rate of 197 ml/hour.

Paper code : ME-1-3

NANOFLUID HEAT TRANSFER IN A TUBE UNDER TURBULENT FLOW Viswanatha Sharma Korada, Wan Azmi Wan Hamzah, Kameswara Sarma Pullela and Rizalman Mamat

The thermo physical properties of nanofluids are required for the evaluation of convective heat transfer coefficients. Regression equations are developed as a function of concentration, temperature and particle size valid for metal and their oxide nanoparticles dispersed in water. The equations are used for the estimation of Prandtl number and heat transfer coefficients. Theoretical determination of nanofluid Nusselt number is undertaken using the eddy diffusivity equations of Sarma et al. The values from theory are compared with the available experimental data in the turbulent range of Reynolds number for volume concentration up to 3.7%. It is observed that particle size, concentration and operating temperature are to be considered simultaneously for the determination of heat transfer coefficients. The condition under which nanofluid aids enhancement is discussed.

Paper code : ME-1-4

DEVELOPMENT OF MODEL FOR THE ESTIMATION OF NANOFLUID HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT Wan Azmi Wan Hamzah, Viswanatha Sharma Korada, Kameswara Sarma Pullela and Rizalman Mamat

In the present study, nanofluids are considered as a homogenous medium and the parameters influencing the thermo physical properties identified. The property data available in the literature in the temperature range of 20 to 70 °C are made dimensionless for undertaking regression analysis. The correlations developed are valid for Cu, CuO, TiO2, SiC, ZrO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3 nanofluids having particles in the range of 20 to 170 nm diameter dispersed in water. The concept of Brownian motion is used in the development of the model for the evaluation of forced convective heat transfer coefficients. A satisfactory agreement is obtained between the values from the model and the experimental data.

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PARALLEL SESSION 2


Paper code : CE-2-1

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF HYBRID KENAF/RECYCLED JUTE FIBERS COMPOSITES Ekhlas. A. Osman, Anatoli. Vakhguelt, Igor. Sbarski and Saad. A. Mutasher

The use of recycled natural, eco-friendly, renewable resources in composites, as a reinforcing material, requires chemical or physical treatment to improve compatibility with the polymer matrix. The present study investigates the tensile, flexural and impact behaviours of kenaf/recycled jute various lengths hybrid composites. The composite materials were made from treated kenaf bast fiber size of 1-6 mm by adding 20 wt% weight percentages of fiber in unsaturated polyester resin for flexural and impact test while 30 wt% for tensile properties. These specifications of weight fractions are due to maximum flexural, impact and tensile properties resulted from further relative study to this research. The hybrid composites were made via adding different fraction of recycle jute fiber with lengths of (10, 20 and 30) mm to kenaf fiber. Flexural strength and modulus of elasticity of composites for all formulations were investigated in this research. Results indicated that generally the flexural and impact properties of these various jute lengths composites systems were found to decrease significantly as the percentage of recycled jute various jute lengths was increased. Tensile strength, modulus of elasticity and elongation of kenaf composites were improved for a certain value of weight fraction and length of recycled jute. SEM test showed that incorporated different fiber dimensions in the composites, morphological changes take place depending upon interfacial interaction between the varying dimensions of fiber and the resin matrix.

Paper code : CE-2-2

THE STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOR OF PRECAST LIGHTWEIGHT FOAMED CONCRETE SANDWICH PANEL SUBJECTED TO ECCENTRIC LOAD N. Mohamad and S.L. Douvinda

The continuous awareness against the limited earth resources and global warming effect has urged the demand upon the technology that consumes less energy and dependencies to the natural resources. The progressive research upon this issue has initiated the idea of using Precast Lightweight Foam Concrete Sandwich Panel (PLFP) as an alternative to Industrialize Building System (IBS). The PLFP consist of two wythes that enclosed a layer of polystyrene which functioned as insulation layer. Steel bar of 9 mm will be used for the horizontal and vertical reinforcements and 6 mm steel bent at 45° will be used as shear truss connector. The purpose of this paper is to study the structural behavior of the PLFP panel under the eccentric load. The study will involved the relationship between the density, slenderness ratio, compressive strength, crack pattern and the comparison of the structural behavior of PLFP under axial and eccentric load. The testing on the two samples of PLFP under axial and eccentric load shows that the PLFP will have lower strength capacity when tested under eccentric load. Consideration on this particular aspect will increase the reliability on the PLFP application in the construction field.

Paper code : CE-2-3

LOAD ANALYSIS AND RESPONSE OF OFFSHORE JACKET STRUCTURE Zulkipli Henry, Iberahin Jusoh and Amran Ayob

Any structures installed in the ocean are subjected to external loadings. These loadings can be gravity loads, environmental loads, seismic loads, hydrodynamic loads, and accidental loads. Physically the structural natural responses toward these loadings are in term of displacements and vibrations.

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In this paper, the structural response toward external loading is estimated in term of stress utilization at structural component level. Stress utilization is a ratio of stress due to applied loading to the allowable stress of the member. The allowable stress is calculated based on the International Standards or Guidelines such as American Institute of Steel Construction, AISC, International Standard Organization, ISO, and American Petroleum Institute, API. Any installed structures are designed or reassessed to meet the requirement as stipulated in the international standards.

In this paper the type of loading on the structures normally considered in the structural design as well as structural reassessment, structural response toward the applied loadings and structural utilization checks that use to measure the level of stress on structural member were addressed. The structures are defined as code compliance if all the all structural components meet the code requirement such as stress utilization factor of less than 1.0. As for foundation, in addition to stress utilization check, the foundation is also check against the soil bearing capacity which is normally term as foundation utilization check. The foundation utilization is defined as ratio of summation applied loading against soil bearing capacity and must be less than 1.0. Particular case study on fixed offshore structure will be presented in the paper to demonstrate the load and response on the structures.



DEVELOPMENT OF A SUSTAINABLE KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR (KPI) MONITORING SYSTEM USING VIABLE SYSTEM MODEL Roliana Ibrahim, Suleiman Isah Sani, Ali Selamat and Aryati Bakri

Key Performance Indicator (KPI) delivery process can be considered as a feedback process. It is needed in the measurement of staff improvement and productivity in all types of organization. If the KPI delivery process is disrupted or destroyed, then generally the strategic goals of an organization are likely to fail. Organization such as the Institution of Higher Learning (IHL) contains hundreds of staff at different levels, categories and designations. In the IHL, scholarly publication is one of the key performance index set by the management to their academic staffs. All academic staffs of an IHL are involved in the KPI delivery process within their organization in order to ensure staff achieve their KPI targets. However, with different levels, categories and designations of academic staffs, the management encounters difficulties in delivering and monitoring staffs’ achievement and performance. This paper discusses the use of Viable System Model as diagnostic tool to analyze the KPI Delivery Process of scholarly publication by academic staffs in the Institution of Higher Learning. Using this model, the organizational analysis was done by selecting one IHL as case study and separated it into meta-system and sub-system during the analysis. The results of the diagnostic were then used to develop a sustainable framework for the development of Sustainable Key Performance Indicator Monitoring and Control System. The main capability highlighted by this system is sustainable feedback features. The use of the ICT based system for monitoring and controlling the KPI delivery process is aim at ensuring the academic staff achieves their target KPI set by their management and support their organization’s mission, vision and strategic goals.


MALAYSIAN COMPUTER SCIENCE PUBLICATIONS : A CITATION STUDY Aryati Bakri, Naomie Salim, Rose Alinda Alias and Siti Nisrin Mohd Anis

This paper analyses the citation patterns of Malaysian computer science publications in the Web of Knowledge (WOK) from 1987-2007. This is the first study focusing on a citation analysis of Malaysian publication data in the field of computer science. The citation data consisted of searches of the WOK databases. The results showed a total of 481 citations with at least one citation for 125 articles. The average number of citations per publication is 0.95, which is low. The main channel of publication is

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conference proceedings, which account for approximately 64% of the 204 out of 321 articles. The total number of countries that cited Malaysian computer science articles is 43, with the highest counts from China. As expected, the highest citers of Malaysian computer science articles are Malaysian universities – Universiti Multimedia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and Universiti Malaya.


ASSESSING THE PERCEPTION OF ACADEMIC STAFF IN USING e-LEARNING : BRUNEIAN PERSPECTIVE Afzaal H. Seyal, Hj. Awg Yussof Hj. Awg Mohammad, Looi, H. C and Mohd Noah Abd Rahman

The present study investigates the eighty-six academics from the two faculties of a technical university to identify the factors responsible for establishing the intentions to adopt e-Learning. The study uses the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) as a reference framework to understand the e-learning behavioral intentions and is based upon survey methodology. The result shows that majority of staff have a positive attitudes toward the e-learning with a mean of 3.64. The result further suggests that staff’s attitude toward e-learning and subjective norms; the two important underlying constructs of TRA are significantly related to their intention to use e-learning systems. The implications of these findings are discussed, and some conclusions are drawn for the relevant authorities.

ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING (EEE)

Paper code : EEE-2-1

CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUNDING SYSTEMS UNDER HIGH IMPULSE CONDITIONS S. A. Syed Abdullah, N. Mohamad Nor and R. E. Rajab

The characteristics and behavior of grounding systems are important in order to minimize dangerous electrical shock. Up to this date, little publication has been made on the field test compared to laboratory and computational method. This could be due to the difficulty to carry out the field test as it requires a lot of time and high cost for man power and transportation to handle the heavy and bulky equipment. So far, most studies investigated the grounding systems under low-magnitude or low-frequency test (steady-state). This present study investigates the characteristic profile of grounding system under impulse condition on purposely-built grounding systems in Multimedia University (MMU). The impulse test was also conducted at several grounding systems in order to gain better understanding on the behavior of the system under impulse. The results from this work provide the closest link to the real grounding systems under impulse conditions.

Paper code : EEE-2-2

COMPARATIVE STUDY ON POWER LIMITATION OF A STALL REGULATED VARIABLE SPEED WIND TURBINE Norzanah Rosmin, Suhaila Samsuri and Mohammad Yusri Hassan

This paper deals with power limitation for a small-sized stall-regulated variable speed wind energy conversion system. Here, a Power Loop Control using a Proportional Integral (PI) controller and Pole Placement method are presented. Control effort is focused to control the generated power and the generator torque corresponding to the wind speed variation above the rated wind speed. A simple tuning method of PI controller for Power Loop Control is briefly explained. For pole placement method, the influence of different damping ratios is shown. Finally, the comparison of the transient response of both methods is demonstrated.

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PARALLEL SESSION 3


Paper code : CE-3-1

RHEOLOGY CHARACTERISTICS OF ASPHALT BINDER CONTAINING WARM ASPHALT ADDITIVE Mohd Ezree Abdullah, Mohd Rosli Hainin, Kemas Ahmad Zamhari, Madi Hermadi, Nafarizal Nayan

and Zhanping You

Recently, the asphalt industry is making a tremendous effort in reducing fuel consumption and emissions in plants by addition of warm asphalt additive (WAA). Several studies have been conducted evaluating the properties of the warm mix asphalt; however, little documented research on the rheology of the binders containing WAA is available especially when dealing the sources of binders. In this paper, rheology characteristics of the Malaysian asphalt binder containing WAA were conducted using rotational viscosity test and dynamic mechanical analysis using a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR). The results of the investigation indicate that the WAA had a significant reduction of required heat for mixing and compaction effort and also shows lower permanent deformation when compared to the base binders.

Paper code : CE-3-2

THE IMPACT OF FOREIGN LABOURS REDUCTION IN CONTRUCTION INDUSTRY Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid, Bachan Singh, Aminah Md Yusof and Ong Siong Wei

Malaysia Government has taken the stiffer action for the recruitment of the foreign labours and the repatriation of those who were here illegally since April 2002. However, only a few days before the enforcement of Immigration Act 1959/63 (Amended 2002), government had decided to continue allowing the recruitment of foreign labour including Indonesian Labour. This flip flop policy is even persisted until now. The main issue is that until when Malaysia is able not to depend on foreign labour especially Indonesia labours in construction industry? How about the impact of reducing foreign labour in construction industry? Hence, the aim of this research project was to was to examine the impact of foreign labours reduction in the construction industry. A total of 20 sets of questionnaire forms had been distributed to the contractors at construction sites around Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The data was analyzed using average index method to show the frequency of the answers. Form the findings, the result show that reducing of foreign labour would create some negative impacts to the development of construction industry due to shortage of manpower. This proved that our countries still need to depend on foreign labour. To overcome the problems in the long run, government has to establish more efficient and comprehensive policies to reduce the number of foreign labour.

Paper code : CE-3-3

THE EMPLOYMENT OF FOREIGN LABORS IN THE CONTRUCTION INDUSTRY Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid, Bachan Singh, Aminah Md Yusof and Ahmad Mahayuddin Ismail

Rapid economic growth due to current Economic Transformation Plan had offered a lot of job opportunities across many sectors in Malaysia, including construction industry. However, demand against supply of manpower has forced the construction industry to import and use foreign labours as the primary source. However, their lack of skills and academic background has given various problems to the construction industry. Therefore, a study has been carried out in order to identify the reasons why they are been used widely in the construction industry, their impact towards the quality of works and the need of their welfare. Fifteen (15) respondents from the management level of construction firms around Johore, Malaysia have been chosen to respond to the questionnaires, which were distributed in two kinds of methods, by postal and by hand. The results indicated that

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utilising foreign labours in the construction industry has produced a lot of benefits to the contractors and players in the construction industry. This can be proven by the reasons they are here, their quality of works and need of their welfare.

Paper code : CE-3-4

STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF LIMESTONE MINERAL ADDITION ON THE BEHAVIOR OF SUSTAINABLE MORTARS BASED ON SULFATE RESISTANT CEMENT L. Belagraa, W.Deboucha and M. Beddar

This study aims at developing the limestone fillers combined with the cement blend in the production of a sustainable sulfate resistant cement based mortars. The first part of this research work investigates the physical properties of the mortar containing an increasing percentage of the limestone fillers (LF) [0, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10%]. The second part studies the behaviour of the mortars regarding mechanical response when the limestone fillers are incorporated to produce much more sustainable compound cement materials. The results obtained showed that, the mechanical response at early age of the mortars based on sulfate resistant cement with limestone fillers addition(LM) gave more or less similar values to that of the control mortar(CM) without addition, and which decreased at a long-term for 28 days age and beyond. The absorption was much more limited in the case of sulfate resistant cement mixes with limestone fillers addition. However, normal consistence is greater for mortars with fillers (LM) in comparison with reference mix (CM).

Paper code : CE-3-5

SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL BY SEMI-AEROBIC SANITARY LANDFILL : TOWARDS ACHIEVING A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (PENANG EXPERIENCE) Hamidi Abdul Aziz and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini

Most of the existing solid waste landfill sites in developing countries are practicing either open dumping or unsanitary landfilling. Some are located at the upstream of water intakes or at sensitive groundwater catchment area. Most of these sites are simply dumping grounds without any environmental protection. This practice is very unsustainable and creates a lot of problems such as fires due to landfill gases, rodents, bad odours and leachate pollution. Leachate is formed when water passes through the waste in the landfill cell. The water mainly comes from rain and from waste degradation process. As the liquid moves through the landfill, many organic and inorganic compounds, like heavy metals, are transported in the leachate. This moves to the base of the landfill cell and may pollute the groundwater. Organics in the wastes decompose to produce CH4 and CO2 gases, trace amounts of toxic substances, and bad odours, which are the side products of decomposition. CH4 and CO2, both greenhouse gases, contribute to global warming. This paper highlights the basic rule in sustainable waste disposal by means of a semi-aerobic landfilling technology which is more environmental friendly. Some of the important design criteria of semi-aerobic landfill and their advantageous will be highlighted, backed with technical data as implemented in Malaysia. Local experience in effectively handling and treating the leachate up to the standard discharge limit will be discussed. The recovery of landfill gases for use as an energy resource has become the center of interest in recent years since it solves both environmental pollution and energy shortage. In view of this, gas emissions data sampled at selected semi-aerobic landfill in Malaysia will be shared. The Clean development mechanism (CDM) approach in reducing greenhouse gas emissions for a developing country will also be highlighted.

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ASSESSMENT OF THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN OPEN GOVERNMENT IMPERATIVES: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION BASED ON INTERACTIVITY LEVEL Mukesh Srivastava and Parwaiz Karamat

Modern Internet and communication technologies (ICT) are the enabling technologies of the Open Government initiative. ICT provide new and effective ways to share information, interact with diverse constituents, and establish mutually beneficial relationships among government agencies and with other public and private organizations. A rapidly growing list of a variety of social media tools is finding application in the implementation of the open government initiative in what has come to be called Government 2.0. Practical guidance, largely from federal government practitioners and industry analysts, provides lessons learned and general guidance in implementation. However, the literature does not offer a means to assess the current landscape of the suite of tools in a manner conducive to measuring effective use in a timely and comprehensive manner. This paper proposes a model for the assessment of social media tools as applied to open government. The model is then used to evaluate the application of social media tools by federal, state, and local governments. Results are captured by level of government, tool use as compared to model predictions, and correlation to various demographic measures. These formatting guidelines are prepared to ensure that all papers submitted meet the conference's presentation requirements. It is necessary for authors to follow these guidelines to help ensure presentation uniformity in the conference proceedings and ensure that publication time is met. A template has been prepared for the use of all authors. Note that submissions that do not comply with these guidelines may be returned.


INTEGRATING INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICT) IN EDUCATION: THE BRUNEI PERSPECTIVE Hj Abd Rahim Derus, Franky HC Looi and Afzaal H. Seyal

The belief that ICT can bring positive impact and escalate students‘ learning has made many governments allocate millions of dollars into improving the ICT infrastructure and upgrading facilities to make ICT integration in education possible. The Brunei Darussalam government is no exception. Through its National Development Plan budget, the government has undertaken significant investments to enhance the role of technology in education. Although valuable lessons may be learned from best practices around the world, there is no one formula for determining the optimal level of ICT integration in the educational system. Significant adjustment and challenges need to be considered in each and every country.

This study aims to develop a better understanding of the Brunei‘s effort in integrating ICT in e-education, its current implementation status and latest issues & challenges facing its stakeholders. This paper highlights some of the structural changes and processes that shaped the formation of the e-Education plan, taking into account the various theoretical frameworks and implementation mechanisms. The outcome of this study will provide a basis for the construction of a research model for subsequent quantitative analysis to assess the model‘s validity and provide further insights into the relationships among the issues.

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INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT (IM)

Paper code : IM-3-1

INTERNET USAGE IN SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN BRUNEI DARUSSALAM Ida Idris

The Internet is widely used in the modern business world and has revolutionised the way businesses have been conducted. Today it seems that without the use of the internet it would be hard for any business, be it small or big to be successful. Businesses that are of small and medium in size mostly see it possible to have a sustainable business without being a brick and mortar which refers to a company that possesses a building or store for its operations. In contrast many businesses today conduct their operations through online stores, which have no physical presence. Many of the owners realize that using the Internet for business development can be sustainable and easier and does not incur much overhead. The study is to examine the internet practices used by Small Medium Enterprises in Brunei Darussalam; problems encountered for business growth; benefits gained from internet use and the extent to which internet use are adopted by owner/manager of SMEs in Brunei Darussalam in supporting their business development.

Based on both primary and secondary data this study finds that the use of internet by local SMEs is important to their on-going survival. Yet, given the opportunities and benefits that internet can provide it has been shown that Brunei’s older established SMEs are relatively slow in adopting them. This paper develops a model from recent literature on the facilitators and inhibitors to the adoption of internet by small and medium businesses. Findings also show that there are no legal restrictions or clear ramifications of doing business online.

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PARALLEL SESSION 4

PETROLEUM AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING (PCE)

Paper code : PCE-4-1

THERMOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF BRUNEI RICE HUSK AND SUITABILITY FOR THERMAL CONVESION VIA PYROLSIS PROCESS Muhammad S Abu Bakar and James O Titiloye

Alternative energy in the form of biofuel is an attractive option for reducing the dependence of fossil fuel usage in Brunei. Thermal conversion with pyrolysis is therefore a viable process for biofuel production. Selection of biomass feedstock and their characterisation is an important pre-requisite step to find out whether the material is fit for thermal conversion into biofuels. Brunei rice husk (BRH) of the ‘Laila’ species has been characterised according to standard procedures and compared to other types of agricultural waste in order to assess their suitability for use in biofuel production. Proximate, ultimate, compositional, heating value and Thermogravimetric (TG) analyses were carried out on Brunei and African Rice Husks. Proximate analysis shows that BRH contains 8.43% moisture, 68.25% volatiles and 14.83% ash, with the ash composition analysis showing a significant amount of potassium, calcium and phosphorus thus having an effect on pyrolysis products yields. Elemental analysis shows that the nitrogen and sulphur content were low. The thermal degradation behaviour of BRH using TGA suggests a weight loss of around 70% at temperature below 600oC. Compositional analysis revealed that BRH consists of 41.52% cellulose, 14.04% hemi-cellulose and 33.67% lignin by weight. The characterisation methods have shown that BRH high volatile content, a heating value of 17.34 MJ/kg and low nitrogen and sulphur content makes it a suitable feedstock for thermal conversion into biofuels.

Paper code : PCE-4-2

EFFICIENTLY DYE SENSITIZED AND METAL DOPED TIO2 CATALYSTS FOR PHOTOCATALYTIC WATER SPLITTING UNDER VISIBLE LIGHT Thi Thu- Le, M. Shaheer Akhtar and O-Bong Yang

Various dye molecules sensitized Cobalt doped TiO2 (Co/TiO2) materials were prepared for the photocatalytic water splitting under visible light irradiation. Eosin Y and Rhodamine B dyes were employed for the sensitization on the surface of Co/TiO2 catalyst. By the morphological, Co particles were apparently seen in the form of aggregated TiO2 nanoparticles. UV-DRS spectra was shown the significant blue shift, that confirmed Co doping into TiO2. The dye sensitized (Eosin Y and Rhodamine B dyes) on Co-TiO2 catalyst displayed a longer shift with hump peak within the wide wavelength range of 450-580 nm with decreased in the band gap (2.48 eV) and (2.58 eV) respectively. By photocatalytic water splitting results, EoY-Co/TiO2 catalyst obtains very high rates of H2 evolution of

-he increased

surface oxygen vacancies by cobalt doping for the adsorption of Eosin Y on Co–doped TiO2 and high light harvesting efficiency of Eosin Y dye molecules.

ENERGY (E)

Paper code : E-4-1

A STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF FEED IN TARIFF (FIT) FOR BIPV SYSTEM IN MALAYSIA H. Abdul Rahman , W.Z. Wan Omar, M.Y. Hassan and M.S. Majid

As the world communities and consumers become more conscious of the negative aftermath of the traditional ways of producing electricity, new cleaner sources of energy are needed. A promising

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system is the Solar Photovoltaic (PV) technology however this technology is very expensive. To encourage the uptake of solar PV, many governments subsidise the capital costs of installing PV systems, but this prove be too costly. In come the Feed in Tariff method, where instead of subsidizing the capital costs, the subsidy is in the form of preferential purchase tariff of electricity produced by clean energy technologies, imposed by governments onto major electricity distributors. In this way the independent, small producers sell their energy at higher prices compared to what they use, thus compensating for the capital cost they had spent to implement the RE system. This paper presents a case study in implementing the FiT in Malaysia for the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) system. The measured energy output data from the BIPV project was used in this study to calculate the annual revenue with and without the FiT. This was then used to calculate the payback period for the project.

Paper code : E-4-2

IMPROVING THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN ELECTRICAL MOTORS USING VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVES Veronica Shabunko, C.M.Lim and S.Mathew

In order to attain high-level of energy efficiency, energy saving technologies need to be implemented in electrical systems. In this paper, we focus on the use of high efficiency Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) for Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EEC). Motors typically take up 70% of the total energy consumed in industries, and significant energy savings can be achieved if conventional motors are replaced with VFD. Variable Frequency Drives can provide over 20% saving in energy. This paper provides an overview on how VFD saves energy, and describes some of the control methods for VFD. Engineering-economics analyses on VFD are also presented. It is found that VFD pay-back period is typically 2 years under the local conditions. Considering the strong performance of VFD in EEC, it is highly recommended that medium cost EEC initiatives should be looked into for implementing the VFD in the electrical systems in Brunei.

Paper code : E-4-3

POWER PERFORMANCE OF 1:40 SCALED TIDAL CURRENT TURBINE MODEL Hjh Roslynna Hj Rosli

The worries of the depleting supply of energy resources from fossil fuels have accelerated the development and establishment of renewable energy resources that are also relatively cleaner. Interest in the search of finding alternative energy source has driven government and private sectors in developing technologies in the renewable energy sectors including tidal current energy. Research and development of different design concepts and prototype of tidal current energy has intensified in the global search of finding energy resources in the post peak oil era. A tidal current turbine device harnessed the kinetic energy available in tidal currents. It has a similar working principle as a wind turbine, instead of air, water is the working fluid of this device. In theory, the maximum power that can be extracted from wind or in this case water is around 59% of the available energy, defined by Betz Theory. In this study, the performance of a 1:40th scaled model of a tidal current twin turbine will be evaluated in a towing tank facility. The tidal current turbine has two turbines in a canard configuration to one another. The experimental result is then compared to the Blade Element theoretical calculation model using MSExcel, which includes the tip loss correction factor. Performance of the tidal current turbine such as power coefficient, torque coefficient and drag coefficient will be compared between the experimental and theoretical values. Labview was used for data acquisition from the experiments conducted. The yaw angle of the device and blade pitch angle were fixed at 0o and 4o respectively throughout the whole experiments. From the results obtained, one of the turbines is found to produce higher power coefficient than the predicted results whilst the other is producing lower power than predicted. The performance of one turbine with and without

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the other attached was also obtained where the performance are found to be higher when both turbines are attached to the device. The results obtained from this study will be useful in determining the feasibility and productivity of the actual scaled model.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The executives and the organising committee of the BICET 2012 would like to appreciatively

acknowledge to all the BICET members for their generous contribution toward the success of the

conference and their continued commitment and support.

THANKS to everybody who made this conference possible and a great experience!

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MAPS

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Schedule of 2012 Brunei International Conference on Engineering and Technology (BICET 2012)

DAY/DATE TIME EVENTS CONFERENCE VENUE

SONGKET HALL I SONGKET HALL II MEETING ROOM 4

TUESDAY 24 JAN 2012

16.00 – 21.00 Registration BICET Registration Desk, Level 4, Rizqun International Hotel

WEDNESDAY 25 JAN 2012

(Day 1)

07.30 Opening Ceremony Songket Hall I, Level 4

09.45 – 10.15 Coffee Break Sutra Function Hall, Level 4

10.30 – 11.30 Plenary Session: Keynote Speaker #1 Songket Hall I, Level 4




CIS-1 (page20)

ME-1 (page 20 )


15.30 – 17.00 Parallel Session 2 CE-2 (page 21)

CIS-2 (page21)

EEE-2 (page 22)

19.00 BICET 2012 Welcoming Dinner Presidential Lounge, Level 8

THURSDAY 26 JAN 2012

(Day 2)


08.30 – 09.30 Plenary Session: Keynote Speaker #2 Songket Hall I , Level 4



CIS-3 + IM-3 (page23) + (page24)



13.30 – 15.00 Parallel Session 4 PCE-4 (page25)

E-4 (page25 )

15.30 Closing ceremony Songket Hall I, Level 4

Note: Abbreviations for the subject areas

CE : Civil Engineering EEE : Electrical and Electronic Engineering ME : Mechanical Engineering CIS : Computer and Information Systems E : Energy PCE : Petroleum and Chemical Engineering IM : Industrial Management

Industrial Management

Civil Engineering

Computing & Information System

Electrical & Electronic Engineering

Energy

Mechanical Engineering

Petroleum & Chemical Engineering

Shallow Subsurface Profile Investigation By Seismic Refraction Method In Kundasang, Sabah: Application To Subsurface Damage Zone Evaluation

CE-1-2

Prediction of Unit Resistance for Bore Pile Using Global Strain Extensometer CE-1-1

Influence Of Particle Morphology On Shear Strength And Dilatancy of Sands .

CE-1-3

Mechanical Properties of Hybrid Kenaf/ Recycled Jute fibers Composites. CE-2-1

Overview of Current Field Geotechnical Testing for Peat Ground Investigation .

CE-1-4

The Structural Behavior of Precast Lightweight Foamed Concrete Sandwich Panel Subjected to Eccentric Load .

CE-2-2

Rheology Characteristics of Asphalt Binder Containing Warm Asphalt Additive CE-3-1

Load Analysis and Response of Offshore Jacket Structure CE-2-3

The Impact of Foreign Labours Reduction in Construction Industry. CE-3-2

Study of the effect of limestone mineral addition on the behaviour of sustainable mortars based on sulfate resistant cement.

CE-3-4

The Employment of Foreign Labors in the Construction Industry. CE-3-3

Solid Waste Disposal by Semi-Aerobic Sanitary Landfill: Towards Achieving a Sustainable Development (Penang Experience).

CE-3-5

Prediction of Unit Resistance for Bore Pile Using Global Strain Extensometer

Ramli Nazir, PhD1. Mohd Zahrullail Badrun, M.Eng2.

1Assoc. Professor, Ingeneur, Lecturer Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia, [email protected]

2Senior Engineer, Mott Mc Donald (M) Sdn. Bhd. Kuala Lumpur, [email protected]

Abstract

A study was carried out generally to obtain the reliable range for Ultimate Skin Factor, Ksu and Ultimate End Bearing Factor, Kbu with the change in Standard Penetration Test (SPT, N) value established for the soil in Malaysia. Pile instrumentation is to be done using state-of-the-art Global Strain Extensometer technology consists of a deformation monitoring system that uses advanced pneumatically anchored extensometers coupled with high-precision spring-loaded transducers, and a novel analytical technique to monitor loads and displacements down the shaft and at the toe of foundation piles. It was found that the Global Strain Extensometer method for the instrumentation for the bored pile easier to install and will give good results. It is also giving less risk on damaging the equipment during the installation. The results from Global Strain Extensometer show that the skin resistance factor (Ksu) is in the range of 2.0 and 2.3kN/m2 as found by Pienwej et. al (1994) and Tan et. al (1998)). The results for base resistance factor (Kbu) for Global Strain Extensometer also in the range of 7.0 to 10kN/m2 of value found by Tan et. al (1998). (Keywords: Ultimate Skin Factor, Ultimate End Bearing Factor, Global Strain Extensometer, Standard Penetration Test)

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Most of the foundation design is based from empirical evaluation through research works. The mechanism of load transfer in foundation is very complex, thus mathematical evaluation is rather too ideal to be used. Thus empirical approach will offer a better solution in determining the ultimate capacity of the foundation. However, the weakness of empiricism approach is that, every solution have their own unique way which inheritable draw a different conclusion. Thus each and every way of design need full scale evaluation to justify the design reliability. Load test namely was used as justification methods of design reliability. The design of bored piles in Malaysia is usually based on the results of SPT-N. The empirical approach of ultimate unit skin resistance (fs) is in relation with Ks x SPT-N while for ultimate base resistance (fb) is related to Kb x SPT-N. Both relationships are used in the design. To evaluate the Ks and Kb, the value with the local soil condition required vibrating wire strain gauges and mechanical tell-tales rod are installed and cast within the pile to allow for monitoring of axial loads and movement at various levels down to the piles shaft and the pile toe. The constraint with this method includes long lead time required for instrumentation, instruments have to be pre-assembled and installed onto the cage prior to concreting of the pile. Tremendous difficulties involved in coordinating the installation of the strain gauges into pile cage and handling the cable prior concreting. Conventional method often gives the unsatisfactory results due to the human factor prior lifting the cage and concreting works. To address the challenges and difficulties posed by the conventional methods, retrieval sensors named Global Strain Extensometer was introduced for the bored pile instrumentation. This technology consists of a deformation monitoring system that used advanced pneumatically


1


anchored extensometers coupled with high-precision spring loaded transducers, a novel analytical technique to monitor loads and displacements down the shaft and at the toe of bored piles through sonic logging tubes. 2.0 GLOBAL STRAIN EXTENSOMETER The Global Strain Extensometer Method used for static load testing on bored piles is a deformation monitoring system using advanced pneumatically anchored extensometers and a novel analytical technique for determining axial loads and movements at various levels down the pile shaft including the pile base level. This method is particularly useful for monitoring pile performance and optimizing pile foundation design as reported by Hanifah et. al(2005, 2006). Normally, strain gauges (typically short gauge length) are used for strain measurement at a particular level or spot, while tell-tale extensometers (typically long sleeved rod length) are used purely for shortening measurement over an interval (over a length between two levels). From a ‘strain measurement’ point of view, the strain gauge gives strain measurement over a very short gauge length while the tell-tale extensometer gives strain measurement over a very long gauge length. Tell-tale extensometer that measure strain over a very long gauge length may be viewed as a very large strain gauge or simply called global strain extensometer. New technology in the manufacturing of retrievable extensometers such as state-of the art vibrating wire extensometers is now possible to measure strain deformation over the entire length of piles in segments with ease during static load testing. The Global Strain Extensometer Method for static load testing on bored piles is a deformation monitoring system which employs advanced pneumatically anchored extensometers and a novel analytical technique for determining axial loads and movements at various levels down the pile shaft including the pile base level. The main objectives of the instrumented load test are to establish the bearing capacity of foundation piles and its apportionment into shaft friction and end bearing, observing the behaviour of pile settlement and structural shortening of pile under the applied loads and evaluate the design parameters in relation to the ultimate skin friction and end bearing. It is then use in the design of working piles which are to be constructed in soil strata having similar geological structure and by adopting similar construction practices. With proper implementation of instrumentation scheme, the data collected from instrumented load testing are able to produce reliable information for meaningful interpretation.


2


Figure 1.0 : Retrievable Global Strain Extensometer

Figure 2.0 : The arrangement of Global Strain Extensometer equipment on pile top

3.0 UNIT SKIN AND END BEARING RESISTANCE Generally the unit skin resistance (fs) can be calculated by using the empirical correlation with Standard Penetration Test (SPT’N’) value as follows

fs = Ksu x SPT’N’ (kPa) (1) For shaft resistance, Tan et al. (1998), presents Ksu of 2.6 but limiting the fsu values to 200kPa for bored piles in residual soils. Toh et al. (1989) also reported that the average Ksu obtained varies


3


from 5 at SPT-N 20 to as low as 1.5 at SPT-N = 220. Chang & Broms et al. (1991) suggests that Ksu of 2 for bored piles in residual soils of Singapore with SPT ’N’<150. For design of bored piles in residual soils of Malaysia, the followings relationship is suggested:

fs = 2 x SPT’N’ (kPa) (2) Tan et al. (1998), was suggested that the fs = 2 x SPT’N’ and limited to 150 kPa. The base resistance (fb) of pile can be calculated by using empirical correlation with SPT’N’ value as follow;

fb = Kbu x SPT’N’ (kPa) (3) For base resistance, Kbu values reported by many researchers varies significantly indicating difficulty in obtaining proper and consistent base cleaning during construction of bored piles. It is very dangerous if the base resistance is relied upon when the proper cleaning of the base cannot be assured. From back-analyses of test piles, Chang & Broms et al. (1991) shows that Kbu equals to 30 to 45 and Toh et al. (1989) reports that Kbu falls between 27 and 60 as obtained from the two piles that were tested to failure. Tan et al. (1998), obtained from 13 numbers of instrumentation bored pile, found that Kbu value falls between 7 and 10 (kPa). The relatively low Kbu is due to soft toe effect which depends on the workmanship and pile geometry.

4.0 FIELD STUDY The instrumentation bored pile by using Global Strain Extensometer will be tested using Maintained Load Method, through Reaction Pile System. Instruments were logged automatic using Micro-10 Data logger and multilevel software. The project was conducted at Cadangan Pembangunan 2 Blok Menara Ibu Pejabat 50 Dan 38 Tingkat Diatas Lot 267&270, Lorong Stonor, Kuala Lumpur (Platinum Park Phase 3. The test pile was a preliminary test pile has been load tested to two times the pile structural capacity and known as “PTP-1”. For test pile PTP-1, the structural capacity was 22,200kN. The PTP-1 bored pile has been instrumented with 7 levels Vibrating Wire Global Strain Gauge and 8 levels Vibrating Wire Extensometer. Figure 3.0 show the installation level of the Global Strain Extensometer to the bored pile. Table 1 shows the summary of instrumented bored pile load test.


4


PROJECT : Platinum Park Phase 3, Jalan Stonor, Kuala Lumpur

WL= 22,200kN

Figure A: TL= 2 x 22,200kN = 44,400 kN

Instrumentation levels for Test Bored Pile PTP-1(1800mm Ø) Pile length = 36.95 m from Platform Level of RL 36.25 m (including 3.7m rock socket)

RL 36.74m (Pile top)

0.0 m RL 36.25 m Platform Level

Pile toe at 36.95m depth (RL -0.7m)Legend:

SI Borehole : CBH 5 denotes Glostrext anchored level (2 sets per level)denotes VW Glostrext Sensors (2 sets per level)

8

8

6

3

13

10

16

50

94

71

64

79

111

65

65

79

67

150

65

143

67

86

8

6

-3-2-10123456789

10111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Dep

th b

elow

pla

tfor

m le

v. (

m) SPT value, N (blows/30cm)

1-SECTION OF PTP-CROSS

2

4

3 1Glostrext Sensors

Glostrext Sensors

Extensometer Lev.1 (RL 34.25m)

1800mm Bored pile

class C sonic logging pipe with 51mm to 52mmi.d. fully accessible for housing VW Extensometer and sensors

Glostrext Sensor 1a, 1b

Anchored Lev. A-0

Anchored Lev. A-1

Anchored Lev. A-5

Anchored Lev. A-7

2.0 m

9.50 m

33.25m

Anchored Lev. A-3 16.25m

23.0 m

rock

Soft Clay

1.0 m

19.625m Glostrext Sensor 4a, 4b

Anchored Lev. A-4

28.125m

34.60m

Extensometer Lev.5(RL 8.125m)Rock RL 3.0m

5.75 m

Global Strain Gauge Lev. A (RL 35.25m)

Glostrext Sensor 2a, 2b Global Strain Gauge Lev. B (RL 30.50m)

Anchored Lev. A-2 Extensometer Lev.2 (RL 26.75m)

12.875 m Glostrext Sensor 3a, 3b Global Strain Gauge Lev. C (RL 23.375m)


Glostrext Sensor 6a, 6b 35.95m Anchored Lev. A-6 36.45m36.95m



Global Strain Gauge Lev. D (RL 16.625m)


Global Strain Gauge Lev. E (RL 8.125m)

Extensometer Lev.6(RL 0.3m) Global Strain Gauge Lev. F (RL 1.65m)

Global Strain Gauge Lev. G (RL -0.2m) Extensometer Lev.7(RL -0.7m)

9.375 COL. RL 26.875

Silty Sand/ Sandy Silt

Figure 3.0: The arrangement of the instrument at different level for Global Strain

Extensometer in the pile(PTP-1)

Table 1: Summary of Instrumented Bored Pile Load Test

5.0 PILE TEST PROGRAMME AND RESULTS Below represent the pile test and results for PTP-1. As mentioned earlier the diameter of the test pile, PTP-1 was 1800mm. Working load for PTP-1 was 22,200kN and has been tested in two times working load, i.e. 44,400kN.

5.1 PTP-1 Results (Global Strain Extensometer)

Pile No Diameter (mm)

Working Load (kN)

Pile Length

(m)

Test Load (kN)

Type of Instrument

Instrument Levels (Nos)

PTP-1 1800 22,200 36.95 44,400 Global Strain Extensometer 7


5


Referring to Figure 3.0 , for PTP-1, the Global Strain Gauges were installed at 7 levels and designated as Level A aimed at 1.0m (at RL36.25m), Level B aimed at 5.75m, Level C aimed at 12.875m, Level D aimed at 19.625m, Level E aimed at 28.125m, Level F aimed at 34.60m, Level G aimed at 36.45m. While the anchors for VW Extensometers were installed at 8 levels. The Extensometers installed at those anchored interval were designated as Anchored Level A0 at 0m, Ext. Level 1a & lb at interval from 0.0m to 2.0m depth, Ext. Level 2a & 2b at interval from 2.0m to 9.5m depth, Ext. Level 3a & 3b at interval from 9.5m to 16.25m depth, Ext. Level 4a & 4b at interval from 16.25m to 23.0m depth, Ext. Level 5a & 5b at interval from 23.0m to 33.25m depth, Ext. Level 6a & 6b at interval from 33.25m to 35.95m depth, Ext. Level 7a & 7b at interval from 35.95m to 36.95m depth.

The load distribution curves for the test cycles are plotted in Figure 4.0 and Figure 5.0 based on strain-load computations. The load distribution curves, capable of indicating the load distribution along the shaft and the base, were derived from computations based on the measured changes in strain gauge readings and estimated pile properties (steel content, cross-section areas and modulus of elasticity). Computations made for PTP-1 was based on as-built details (including concrete record) know from the construction record.

The difference between the loads at any two levels represents the shaft load carried by the portion of pile between the two levels. When the 22418kN test load in the 1st cycle applied, more than 100% test load was carried by Skin Friction as shown in Figure 4.0. For the 2ndcycle, the maximum applied load was 44036kN also almost 99.183% test load was carried by Skin Friction; the remaining 0.82% test load was carried by End Bearing as shown in Figure 5.0.

Figure 4.0: Load Distribution Curve for 1st Cycle Computed From VW Global

Strain Extensometer Gauges Results


6


Figure 5.0: Load Distribution Curve for 2nd Cycle Computed from VW Global Strain Extensometer Gauges results

6.0 RESULTS ANALYSES

Design of Ultimate Skin Friction, Qsu and Ultimate Skin Friction Factor, Ksu for each case study are presented. The calculation of Ultimate Skin Friction and Ultimate Unit Skin Friction are based from the Simplified Soil Mechanics. Denoting P as the applied pile top load and fsu as the Unit Skin Friction, the following observation can be derived from a close study of load transfer characteristics presented. Maximum mobilized Unit Skin Friction from PTP-1 shows that the Ultimate Skin Friction was fully mobilized, as the load transfer along the Skin Friction already shows the peak strength as shown in Figure 6.0. For example, the maximum Unit Skin Friction at level F (34.6m) to level G (36.45m) was 748.50 kN/m2 during loading to 44030 kN and pile top settlement was 5.74mm still less the allowable settlement was 40mm. The load transfer curve for the mobilized Unit Skin Friction versus pile top settlement was shown in Figure 7.0 the Ultimate Skin Friction was not fully mobilized , as the load transfer along the skin still show the trend of linearly increasing during loading to 20,006kN (3 x working load). Higher Skin Friction was mobilized at the upper portion of the pile (at depth from Lev. D to Lev. E, 23.816m to 32.068m) with the maximum value of 240.3kN/m2 under the applied top load of 12904kN. Higher Skin Friction was mobilized at the upper portion of the pile (at depth from Lev. D to Lev. E, (23.816m to 32.068m) with the maximum value of 240.3kN/m2 under the applied top load of 12904kN. It is supposed that Ultimate Skin Friction was increasing with higher SPT, N value.


7


Figure 6.0: Mobilization of unit skin resistance

Figure 7.0: Applied Pile Top Load, Total Shaft Resistance and Base Resistance

against Pile Top Settlement From VWSGs Results.(Case Study 1) Table 2.0 shows the back-analysis on the Ultimate Skin Resistance, Ksu base on Equation 1, which was develop using the field results.


8


Table 2: Summary on the Results of Back-Analysis on the Ultimate Skin Friction

Factor, Ksu for Case Study 1

PTP-1

Level Depth (m)

Average SPT, N

Unit Skin

Friction, fsu (kN/m2 )

Ultimate

Skin Friction

Factor, Ks (kN/m2 )

GL to level B 5.75 15.50 29.30 1.89

level B to level C 7.125 27.50 22.90 1.20

level C to level D 6.75 110 243.50 2.21

level D to level E 8.50 122 263.50 2.16

level E to level F 6.475 150 284.20 1.90

level F to level G 1.85 160 348.50 2.18

Finding of established research by Phienwej et. al (1994) and Tan et. al (1998) which has been

carried out to failure are as shown in Figure 8.0.

Figure 8.0: Standard Penetration Test vs. Critical Shaft Resistance

The result from PTP-1 was fall in between the establish the design by Tan et. al (1998) and Pienwej et. al (1994). From the result Global Strain Extensometer method seems to be in agreement with other available methods provided by other researchers.


9


The ultimate base resistances for instrumentation bored piles are from PTP-1 as shown in Figure 9. The Ultimate End Bearing Factor, Kbu contribute was prevailed from the test pile result which contribute Ultimate End Bearing Factor, Kbu is about 7.8kN/m2 in conjunction with allowable settlement of 40mm from equation 3. Kbu value obtain from the PTP-1 is about 7.8kN/m2 and within the range suggested by Tan et. al (1998) which is at a ranges between 7 and10kN/m2.

Figure 9 : Applied Load vs Mobilized Unit Base Resistance

According to Gue et al. (2003), the contribution of End Bearing in bored piles should be ignored due to difficulty of proper base cleaning. Kenny Hill Formations consist of high clay content. As such, any exposure to water, the clay should swell and expand. Besides that, it can be also due to workmanship before casting bored pile, such as improper clearing at base of the bored pile. Table 3 shows the summary on the results of back-analysis on the Ultimate Skin Friction Factor, Ksu for the test.

Table 3: Summary on the Results of Back-Analysis on the Ultimate Skin Friction

Factor, Ksu for PTP-1

Test Pile Depth (m)

SPT, N Values

Unit

End Bearing, fbu (kN/m2 )

Ultimate

End Bearing Factor, Kbu

(kN/m2 ) PTP-1 36.95 150 1170 7.8

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000 45000

MOBILISED UNIT BASE

RESISTANCE (kN/m

2)

APPLIED LOAD (kN)


10


7.0 CONCLUSIONS

The skin resistance factor (Ksu) for Global Strain Extensometer instrumentation 2.23kN/m2 will fall in the range 2.0 to 2.3kN/m2 as found by Pienwej et. al (1994) and Tan et. al (1998) respectively. The trend of the results shows a promising value since it is in agreement with both researchers' findings. The skin resistance factor (Ks) for Malaysian soil can be considered within a proximity value of 2kN/m2. The base resistance factor (Kbu) for Global Strain Extensometer instrumentation 7.8kN/m2 can be adopted in the design. The results from the Global Strain Extensometer instrumentation fall in the range of 7 to10kN/m2 as suggested by Tan et. al (1998). The relatively low Kbu, is due to soft toe effect which depending on the workmanship and pile geometry as mentioned by Gue et.al (2003). The low values of the base resistance it suggested the end bearing for the bored pile will be ignored in the design for wet method drillings. The Global Strain Extensometer method significantly simplifies the instrumentation effort by enabling the sensors to be post-installed after casting the piles. It also minimized the risk of the instrumentation being damaged during the concreting work compared with conventional method. The available data are limited, thus more instrumentation data need to be combined to get closed range values for the skin resistance factor and base resistance factor. The used of the suggested values in this project should be applied with caution and need to be established with maintained load test as a prove test.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Authors wishes to expressed deepest gratitude to Bauer(M) Sdn. Bhd. and Gue and Partners Sdn. Bhd. for allowing to access to the site, sharing ideas and providing information on the tests results.

RERERENCES

[1] A.A. Hanifah and L.S. Kai (2005) “Innovation in Instrumented Test Piles in Malaysia: Application of Global Strain Extensometer (GLOSTREXT) Method for Instrumented Bored Piles in Malaysia,” Bulletin of the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia, October 2005 issue. pp 10 – 19.

[2] A.A. Hanifah and L.S. Kai (2006), “Application of Global Strain Extensometer (GLOSTREXT) Method for Instrumented Bored Piles in Malaysia”, 10th International Conference on Piling and Deep Foundations, Amsterdam.

[3] C.T, Toh, T.A. Ooi, H.K, Chiu, S.K. Chee and W.H. Ting (1989), “ Design Parameters for Bored Piles in a Weathered Sedimentary Formation”, Proceeding of the 12th. International Conference in Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Rio de Janeiro, Vol. 2, pp 1073-1078.

[4] Chang, M.F., and Broms, B.B. (1991). “Design of bored piles in residual soils based on field-performance data”. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 28 (2): pp 200-209.


11


[5] N. Phienwej,,E.G. Balakrisnan, and A.S. Balasubramaniam (1994), “Performance of Bored Piles in Weathered Meta-Sedimentary Rocks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia”, Proceeding Symposia on Geotextiles, Geomembranes and other Geosynthetics in Ground Improvement on Deep Foundations and Ground Improvement Schemes, Bangkok, Thailand.

[6] S.S. Gue, Y.C. Tan and S.S. Liew (2003), “ A Brief Guide to Design of Bored Piles Under Axial Compression – A Malaysian Approach.” Seminar and Exhibition on Bridge Engineering, Bridge Engineering for Practising Engineers: A Practical Approach, Association of Consulting Engineers Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

[7] Y. C. Tan, C. S.Chen, and S. S. Liew, (1998), "Load Transfer Behaviour of Cast-In-Place Bored Piles in Tropical Residual Soils of Malaysia". Proc. of 13th Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference, 16-20 November 1998, Taipei, Taiwan.


12


SHALLOW SUBSURFACE PROFILE INVESTIGATION BY

SEISMIC REFRACTION METHOD IN KUNDASANG, SABAH:

APPLICATION TO SUBSURFACE DAMAGE

ZONE EVALUATION

Mohd Hazreek Bin Zainal Abidin1, Rosli Bin Saad2, Jamil Bin Matarul3, Fauziah Binti Ahmad4, Devapriya Chitral Wijeyasekera5, Ahmad Fahmy Bin Kamarudin6 and Azmi Bin Ibrahim7

1Postgraduate Student, Geophysics Section, School of Physics, Universiti Sains Malaysia,

Penang, Malaysia, [email protected] 1, 5 & 6

Lecturer, Civil Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Johore, Malaysia,

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected] 2Lecturer, Geophysics Section, School of Physics, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang,

Malaysia, [email protected] 3Lecturer, Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia, Sarawak, Malaysia,

[email protected] 4Lecturer, Civil Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia,

[email protected] 7Lecturer, Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia,

[email protected]

Abstract

Natural disaster such as mass movement can trigger and create new or existing ground damage zone in several areas particularly in Kundasang, Sabah. This study applied a seismic refraction method to investigate a subsurface profile damage zone mainly due to engineering geology and geotechnical engineering assessment. Ground damage caused by a natural disaster can reflect a difficulty in the engineering investigation task especially to determine the possible subsurface damage zone for rehabilitation and maintenance purposes. Hence this study introduced the seismic refraction method from geophysical techniques that used the concept of seismic waves generated by one of several types of energy sources and detected by arrays of sensitive devices called geophones. The data was processed by Optim software for generating the subsurface velocity structure (primary velocity, vp) and interpretation with supported by existing borehole information. The seismic refraction method identified three main velocity structures which consisted of top soil/residual soil (330 – 500 m/s) 0 – 6 m, weathered zone with a possible mixtures of soil, boulder and rock fractured (700 – 1800 m/s) 2 – 25 m and bedrock (> 2300 m/s) from 13 m depth. The thickness and width of damage zone varied within the survey line from 4 – 25 m and 57 m respectively with a velocity structure of 600 – 1800 m/s. The seismic refraction survey produced a good similarity of results compared to the borehole information in terms of geomaterial features. This study proved that the seismic refraction method was an appropriate technique to be applied in damage zone assessment in order to produce reliable information regarding the weak zone investigated. The utilization of seismic refraction method can increase the effectiveness of civil engineering rehabilitation works in term of cost and time since it can determine the subsurface information in two dimensional (2-D) profiles. Furthermore this alternative method used a non destructive approach that can benefit the environment and be suitable for our sustainable development.

Keywords: damage zone, seismic refraction, subsurface profile, geophysical, primary velocity, geomaterial.


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1. INTRODUCTION

Ground damage can occur as fault, fractured, landslides, slope failure or any similar mass movement. Ground damage normally occurred in hilly terrain area with the effect of many factors, such as soil and rock mass strength, lithology, geological structure, seismic activity, rainfall intensity, human factor and other physical properties. According to (Israil and Pachauri, 2003), large-scale ground damage by landslides may endanger engineering structures, property and even human lives. Major landslides that have occurred in Malaysia are located in hilly areas such as in Selangor (Ulu Klang, Hulu Langat and NKVE highway), Perak to Pahang (Pos Slim – Cameron Highland Highway) and Sabah (Kundasang). In Sabah state, Kundasang area was recognised as one of the most active landslide zone causing several ground problems such as ground settlement, slope failure, building structure and pavement cracking, etc. According to Tjia (2007), Kundasang area faced a main hazard with a widespread of ground movement. Borneo Post (2011) also reported that Kundasang registered an average of 0.5 meter translation soil movement per year and about 70 percent of the 50 square kilometres surrounding Kundasang Town has been identified as a high-risk area. The phenomenon of landslide often occurred in Kundasang, Sabah and the most critical damage occurred was at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Kundasang and its surrounding area (Kamaruzaman and Ahmad, 2010). Several damage features recorded by Komoo and Lim (2000) was on a cracked: road, drainage, building (hostel, school and surau), and ground foundation. All these damages will cause a hazard for life and properties and a continuous detailed study is needed for rehabilitation, mitigation and reconstruction purposes.

Several past researchers have conducted a ground instability investigation in SMK Kundasang as Komoo and Lim (2000) used a geodynamic mapping and drilling method while Kamarulzaman and Ahmad (2010) used a seismic refraction method. According to Komoo and Lim (2000), the ground instability occurred in a large scale and it is hard to identify its critical boundary zone in the field. Hence they mapped the geodynamic features (scarp, tension crack, seepage, ponding, bulging, systematic and displacement crack, structure damage and other physical properties) by a physical mapping and drilling method (borehole). The application of drilling method was a good technique but it required many drilling points for better information which increased the cost and time of the investigation. The limitation occurs since the drilling information will represents a single - point information in lateral dimension at the actual drilling location (Abidin et. al., 2009; Godio et. al., 2005 and Mauritsch et. al., 1999). Thus, the interpolation between borings to determine conditions perhaps involve some degree of uncertainty (Abidin et. al., 2009 and Godio et. al., 2005). Hence, this study proposed a seismic refraction survey from one of the geophysical method to investigate the ground damage occurred since this method can present subsurface information in a two dimensional (2-D) perspective for better information and interpretation. Geophysical methods have also been used to identify the location of ground damage caused by a landslide slip surfaces (Bogoslovsky and Ogilvy, 1977) and according to (Cornforth, 2005), seismic lines can be an attractive alternative to borings when access is difficult and/or the landslide covers an extensive area. Seismic refraction is mainly used to investigate geological structures near the surface. It has been employed not only to find out the depth of bedrock and the seismic velocity of layers but also to investigate gravitational slope deformation (Valvo et. at., 2000). Several advantages of the geophysical method with particular references to seismic refraction method were due to its efficiency in term of cost, time and environment. In most equipment testing, the geophysical methods apply a non destructive testing which can reduce cost and time of the project (Abidin et. al., 2011). According to Lee (2002), geophysical tests in soil/rock exploration are usually low in cost. Field time is usually short and ranges from one to three days for most projects (Cornforth, 2005). As stated by Liu and Evett (2008), geophysical


14


methods can be implemented more quickly and less expensively and can cover greater areas more thoroughly. Geophysical methods are generally less expensive, less invasive and less time consuming. They provide a large-scale characterisation of the physical properties under undisturbed conditions (Godio et. al., 2005).

The basis of seismic refraction investigation is measuring the time taken for a wave to travel from one location to another location. The time taken however is a function of elastic modulus of the material from which the wave travels. This method used the Snell’s law principle to analyse the seismic waves and was used to study the layers below the earth surface. Waves travelling in a medium (soils/rocks) will be subject to the elastics characteristics in all directions in direct, reflection and refraction. At a certain distance, the motion of a wave’s

particle will be recorded as a time function. From these, the layers and structures in the subsurface will be determined. However, the success of geophysical methods largely depend upon the presence of a significant and detectable contrast in the physical properties of different lithological units as the seismic P-wave velocity are normally affected by the lithology, porosity and interstitial fluids of the materials (Israil & Pachauri, 2003). Furthermore, the standard performance of individual geophysical methods always depends on fundamental physical constraints, e.g. penetration, resolution, and signal to-noise ratio (Mauritsch et. al., 1999). In its application to ground damage such as landslides, seismic refraction method will detect the reduction of stiffness or rigidity of the sliding mass relative to the underlying undisturbed sediments or bedrock (Cummings and Clark, 1988). The velocity drop or decrease will give some indication regarding the presence of a weakness zone. According to Palmer and Weisgarber (1988), the drop of velocity may be a function of the factors such as the sediments undergo expansion upon shearing which can increased the water content and porosity, the presence of shear planes in the upper mobile zone caused by a groundwater barriers and alteration by leaching and groundwater through weathering. The seismic refraction method conducted previously by Kamarulzaman and Ahmad (2010), the survey location was conducted in a different at north-east (NE) zone. According to Komoo and Lim (2003), ground instability particularly in landslides had occurred probably since 1994 and kept on moving slowly (a few mm to cm per year) and periodical (large movement form a few mm to m in short duration). They also recorded a new movement on their last visit in January 2003 which saw a new movement caused by a widening and displacing of tension crack. Hence this area was identified as an active ground movement and a continuous data collection is needed for precaution and monitoring purposes as stated by Israil and Pachauri (2003), that the definition of landslide prone areas and the preparation of landslide hazard zonation maps are very important. Hence this study conduct the seismic refraction at two focused zone specifically at north-east (NE) and south-west (SW) area of SMK Kundasang based on the most critical ground damage occurred.

2. METHODOLOGY

2.1 Study Area Kundasang area is located along the bank of Kundasang Valley on the southeast side of Mount Kinabalu. Generally the site study had mixed topography of undulating hilly terrain and surrounded by a developing town and village near the foothill of Mount Kinabalu. This study was conducted at Kundasang, Sabah area is specifically at SMK Kundasang, Sabah. Generally the geology of Kundasang is a Tertiary Sedimentary rock known as Crocker and Trusmadi Formation and the boundary of both formations was separated by a fault (Jacobson, 1970; Hutchison et. al., 2000). Trusmadi rock formation obtained here is a thick sheared black argillaceous which consist of a lens of grey sandstone in different sizes.


15


According to Komoo and Lim (2003), SMK Kundasang was located on two layer of geomaterial. The first layer consisted of thin to medium grained sandstone interbedded with light mudstone while the second layer consists of black argillaceous rock (mainly shale) with a little sandstone and mudstone. 2.2 Equipment

The seismic refraction equipment consisted of three main components; namely source, detector and recorder. The seismic source was generated by a 12 pound of sledge hammer (hammering on a striker plate). A 24 channel of 28 Hertz vertical geophone was used as detector while ABEM Terraloc MK-6 Seismograph was used to record the seismic signal. The raw data measured on site was analyzed and interpreted by Optim software.

2.3 Data Acquisition and Processing

Firstly the spread line (SL) was selected based on the research objective and interest (normally nearest possible to the existing borehole within a critical ground damage zone). Then a total of twenty-four (24) geophones are fixed on the ground surface with the spike poked into the ground. Two seismic land cables with total of twenty-four (24) take out are spread and connected with the geophones. These seismic cables are used for sending the velocity signal from each geophone to the seismograph. After setting up the instrument, the operator adjusts the digital seismograph and confirms the stand-by of the shooter. After that, the operator monitors the noise condition on seismograph (for example, noise caused by moving vehicles, vibrating machinery etc) and instruct the shooter for hammering (creating a source) during the lowest possible/acceptable noise. The seismic wave travels down and along the different refractor boundaries. Only critically refracted waves are concerned in this survey. The refracted energies are detected by the geophones. After that it is converted to digital signals before storing in the stacking memory. The seismograph amplifies the electrical signal from several thousand to several ten thousand times and recorded the results in the floppy disk as the waveform data. When the trace is analysed, a record is stored in floppy disk for further processing. This study applied a two offset shots, two end shots, and three center shots for efficient processing. The seismic spread lines used 5 m of geophone spacing interval for SL 1 while 4 m of geophone spacing interval was used for SL 2. Data processing can be done by transferring the raw data from ABEM Terraloc MK-6 to the computer. The data analysis was carried out by utility software that available for generating the subsurface profile. The software used in this study is OPTIM which consist of SeisOptPicker and SeisOpt@2D processing. SeisOptPicker was used to pick the first arrival (P-wave) while the SeisOpt@2D software used to calculate velocity and depth thus generating the velocity distribution representing the subsurface profile studied.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Two spread lines representing spread line 1 (West-East: WE) and spread line 2 (South-North: SN) with a total length of 207 m were conducted during the data acquisition stages and the results are given in Figure 1 and 2. Generally it was found that there are three major layer of velocity representing three types of geomaterial with different characteristics. According to Telford et. al., (1990), the primary velocity (vp) for sandstone and shale varies from 1830 – 3970 and 2750 – 4270 m/s respectively.


16


Figure 1: Spread Line 1 in West-East (WE) alignment Based on 2-D primary velocity (vp) analysis from Figure 1, the subsurface profile consist of 3 undulating layers with a maximum penetration depth of 19 meter. The first layer was identified as unconsolidated material of residual soil consists of soil with pore/voids within the layer. The thickness of this layer varied from ground surface to 3 m depth with a velocity of 330 – 500 m/s. The second layer consists of two zone which is completely and moderately weathered rock zone with a velocity of 600 – 1800 m/s. The material in second layer consists of a mixture of corestone and soil (600 – 900 m/s) for a completely weathered rock zone and rock fractures (900 – 1800 m/s) for a moderately weathered zone. The thickness of second layer varied at 4 to 19 m from the ground level. The third layer was found as slightly weathered to fresh bedrock with a velocity greater than 2300 m/s. The thickness of this layer varied from 13 to 19 m and perhaps deeper. A possible weak zone with a low velocity zone was identified in velocity of 700 to 1700 m/s. This zone is suspected to present a fractured/fault because its low velocity compared to the lower part of the structure with a high velocity higher than 3000 m/s. This zone can possibly relate to an existence of a slip surface zone that caused a ground movement apparent on the ground surface. The depth of this weak zone was found to be at 4 m to 19 m from the ground surface with a 57 m width. The weak zone width was detected at 35 m from G1.

G1 G24

4

4100 m/s

2700 m/s

1900 m/s

1000 m/s

310 m/s

3rd layer: vp = > 2300 m/s

Weak zone: Fractures/fault/joint

(700 – 1700 m/s)

2nd layer: vp = 600 – 1800 m/s

1st layer: vp = 330 – 500 m/s

Borehole

Possible slip surface


17


Figure 2: Spread Line 2 in South-North (SN) alignment

According to 2-D primary velocity (vp) analysis obtained from Figure 2, the subsurface profile consist of 3 undulating layers with a maximum penetration depth of 33 m. The first layer was unconsolidated residual soil material of varying thickness from ground surface to 6 m depth. The velocity of this residual soil zone was ranging from 100 – 600 m/s. The second layer consists of two zones with velocity of 700 – 1800 m/s. The first zone and second zone was categorized as completely weathered and highly weathered to moderately weathered rock of varying thickness of 2 – 25 m depth. First zone was considered as completely weathered rock consists of a poor rock mass quality with soil and corestone characteristic by velocity in the range of 700 – 900 while the second zone consists of moderate rock mass quality affected by fractured zone with a velocity in the range of 700 – 1800 m/s. The third layer was interpreted as slightly weathered to fresh bedrock with a velocity greater than 2300 m/s. The depth of this layer was from 25 m. A possible weak zone with a low velocity zone was identified by a velocity of 700 to 1700 m/s. This was predicted to present a fractured/fault because of its low velocity compared to the lower part of the structure which contain a higher velocity greater than 3000 m/s. This zone can possibly relate to an existence of a slip surface zone that caused a ground movement apparent on the ground surface. The depth of this weak zone was found to be at 5 m to 25 m from the ground surface.

4400 m/s

3300 m/s

1800 m/s

1000 m/s

250 m/s

1st layer: vp = 350 – 600 m/s

2nd layer: vp = 700 – 1800 m/s

3rd layer: vp = > 2300 m/s

Weak zone: Fracture/fault/joint (700 – 1700 m/s)

G1 G24


18


Table 1: Summary of Seismic Refraction results in SMK Kundasang, Sabah

No Zone Seismic

Line Alignment

Spread Line Geometry

Maximum depth of

penetration, d (m)

Velocity structure, vp (m/s)

Thickness layer, t (m)

Damage zone/ Weak zone

features, vp & t (m/s) & (m)

Damage zone/ Weak zone

obtained, vp, t & w (m/s) & (m)

1

South-West (SW)

Line 1 (SN)

Geophone Spacing: 5 m 1st offset: 14 m 2nd offset: 10 m 7 shot point location

33 1st : 350 – 600 2nd : 600 – 1700 3rd : 2300 >

1st : 0 – 6 2nd : 2 – 25 3rd : 25 >

vp: 700 – 1700 t: 5 - 25

vp: 700 - 1700 t: 4 – 25 w: 57

2 Line 2 (WE)

Geophone Spacing: 4 m 1st offset: 10 m 2nd offset: 10 m 7 shot point location

19 1st : 330 – 500 2nd : 600 – 1800 3rd : 2300 >

1st : 0 – 4 2nd : 4 – 19 3rd : 13 – 19

vp: 700 - 1700 t: 4 - 19

Figure 3: The relationship between primary velocity and subsurface layer


19


Figure 4: Subsurface cross section of damage zone with particularly slip surface at SMK Kundasang (Komoo and Lim, 2003)


20


The seismic refraction results conducted were compared and correlated with a previous researcher (Komoo and Lim, 2003). Comparison was made based on borehole cross section B-B as given in Figure 4 and primary velocities from Telford et. al., (1990). According to Komoo and Lim (2003), slip surface zone (ground damage) was located at depth of 15 – 20 m from the ground surface based on standard penetration test (SPT), inclinometer and geology condition at the area. Previous researchers completed their study in this area on 2003 while this current study was conducted on 2010. From this study it was found that the possible subsurface ground damage zone (fracture, fault, joint or slip surface) observed in this study was located at 4 – 25 m depth with a 57 m width in the South-West zone. The variation of damage zone and depth obtained from this study then previous may occur because of the present subsurface materials has already being altered by an additional weathering process. This study was conducted seven years after the past researchers complete their studies. According to Dearman et. al., (1995), major new fractures may form or be extended, incipient fractures may lose tensile strength and the discontinuities rock wall may weaken, leading to reduce shear strength and stiffness. Water can easily infiltrate underground thru surface crack/failure of structure or ground tension crack exist hence will intensively attack and weaken the subsurface geomaterials especially by chemical weathering process. Chemical weathering below surface takes place via water movement through mass and materials that may passes thru joint, fractures and other discontinuities and the distribution of mass weathering may reflect both minor and major joint set spacing and orientation and the presence of faults (Currey, 1977). The weathered fractured materials can be disintegrate and decomposed into a fine grained materials such as mineral, sand, clay, silt, etc. that can filled an existing joint and fractured. Hence this condition are also may contribute to a different subsurface primary velocity obtained. For example a compacted infilling materials can increased the velocity structure value compared to the porous and loose materials. The main factors that cause ground damage in SMK Kundasang was identified based on this area that lies on a regional landslides system of Kundasang’s Landslides Complex as

reported by Komoo and Lim (2003). Furthermore earthwork history involving cut and fill materials on the original ridge topography area may also contribute to weaken the ground foundation in a long term condition since water flow, soil and rock condition was already disturbed and altered. According to Cornforth (2005), cut slopes made through sedimentary rock may pass through hard rock, partly fully cemented sand, clay and shale etc. and differential weathering may erode the less resistance rock layers undermining the slope above over a period of years to allowed seepage process that can accelerate the weathering and erosion between two layers of different permeability in landslides are the result of differential weathering. The current topography of SMK Kundasang area was a low gradient undulating area starting from the high part at South-West zone to the lower part at North-East zone. Hence the water will flow and weaken the subsurface geomaterial according to this current topography direction. The situation can be worse during a heavy rainfall with the surface runoff permeating underground thus increasing the groundwater level in saturated condition and increase the soil mass. According to Lee (2002), the intense rainfall will raise groundwater level rapidly condition to the ground surface and this would result in a sudden increase in pore pressure which would reduce the shearing resistance of geomaterial and finally lead to a failure. The effect of geological structure is also regarded as one of the several factors that contribute the damageability condition in Kundasang area especially during an earthquake. According to Borneo Post (2011), the entire district of Kundasang has been exposed to minor earthquake tremor and continuous translatory soil movement that contributing to frequent landslides in the area. This seismic activity has affected structural geology in several areas in Sabah including


21


Kundasang. Kundasang was located at the intersection of regional fault zone of Quaternary age as reported by Tjia (2007). Locally Kundasang is located near to the Lobou-lobou fault line which is considered as a part of the Crocker fault zone in northern segment that intersect with another regional Mensaban fault zone. According to Tjia (2007), Lobou-lobou fault segment is a currently active fault with a sinistral displacement. Mass movements in SMK Kundasang can easily be observed through ground damage by an existing fault, tension crack and fractured or failure of manmade structure. The Trusmadi rock is one of the unstable geomaterial present identified as one of the root causes of widespread and continuous mass movement in Kundasang area (Tjia, 2006). Borneo Post (2011) also reported that a study conducted by the South East Asia Disaster Programme Research Institute (SEADPRI) and the Department of Mineral and Geoscience Malaysia already confirmed that Kundasang has a sensitive, fragile and complex geological system.

4. CONCLUSIONS

The geometry and velocity distribution of SMK Kundasang has determined by analyzing seismic refraction data obtained along the SW zone. The determination of shape and depth of the subsurface landslide which caused ground damage are easier and cheaper than with conventional borehole method. The mechanics and physical characteristics of the landslide can be easily recognized. Zone (SW) investigated consist of three layers as known as residual soil (Grade VI), completely weathered (Grade V) to highly weathered (Grade IV) rock and moderately weathered rock (Grade III), and slightly weathered (II) to fresh bedrock (Grade I). The range of velocity of first layer was 330 – 500 m/s consist of unconsolidated material with varies thickness of 6 m from the ground level. The second layer velocity range was from 700 – 1800 m/s which contain a weathered rock and ground damage/weak zone. Average thickness for second layer was at 2 – 25 m. The third layer velocity was greater than 2300 m/s which considered as bedrock with various thickness depths of 13 m depth. The possible weak zone velocity was detected in the range of 700 – 1700 m/s with different thickness from 4 – 25 m and 57 m width. This weak zone showed some relationship to an existing of ground damage such as slip surface, fault, joint, fractured or other discontinuities. All the subsurface layer and weak zone is continuously weathered due to an exposure to weathering agent such as air and water. This method was a good tool for being applied in our sustainable ground investigation since it can reduce time, money and compliment the borehole method especially by its non destructive nature of investigation. The application of seismic refraction method was a good alternative technique for ground damage evaluation in the shallow subsurface.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank are due to all supervisors and research members for their tremendous guidance, work and cooperation. Many thanks go to Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia and Research Management Institute, Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia for the sponsor and financial support throughout this research activity.

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[11] H. D. Tjia, “Root causes of extensive mass movements around Mount Kinabalu, Southeast Asia’s Summit,” in Proc. 2006 8

th Fieldwise Seminar and 3rd International Symposium on Geological Engineering Education, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

[12] H. D. Tjia, “Kundasang (Sabah) at the intersection of regional of Quaternary Age,” in Bulletin 53 2007 Geological Society of Malaysia, pp. 59 – 66.

[13] H. J. Mauritsch, W. Seiberl, R. Arndt, A. Romer, K. Schneiderbauer and G. P. Sendlhofer, “Geophysical investigations of large landslides in the Carnic Region of Southern Austria,” Engineering Geology 56 (2000), pp. 373-388, Aug. 1999.

[14] I. Komoo dan C. S. Lim, “Kompleks Gelinciran Tanah Kundasang: Pemetaan Terperinci di Kawasan Sekolah Menengah Kundasang,” in Bulletin 2003 Geological Society of Malaysia, pp. 387 - 392.

[15] M. Israil and A. K. Pachauri, “Geophysical characterization of a landslide site in the Himalayan Foothill Region,” Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 22, pp. 253-263, Jan. 2003.

[16] M. Morpi. Borneo Post - May 7, 2011, Saturday. [17] M. H. Z. Abidin, M. F. Ishak, M. F. T. Baharuddin, N. S. M. Zin and M. A. Omardin, “The

application of seismic refraction survey for subsurface profile investigation,” in Proc. 2009 International Conference on Building, Science and Engineering, Johor Bahru Malaysia.

[18] M. H. Z. Abidin, R. Saad, F. Ahmad, D. C. Wijeyasekera and M. F. T. Baharuddin, “Geophysical method in civil engineering application,” in Proc. 2011 Malaysian Technical Universities International Conference on Engineering & Technology.

[19] T. S. Lee, 2002. “Shallow Failure,” in Slope Stability and Stabilization Methods, 2nd. ed., New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002, pp. 226-229 & 644.

[20] V. A. Bogoslovsky and A. A. Ogilvy, 1977. “Geophysical methods for the investigation of landslides,” Geophysics 42 (3), pp. 562–571, 1977.

[21] W. Dearman, D. Price, R. Martin, G. Pinches, and P. G. Fookes, “The description and classification of weathered rocks for engineering purposes,” The Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology, pp. 212, 1995.

[22] W. M. Telford, L. P. Geldart and R. E. Sheriff, “Applied geophysics”, 2nd. ed., Cambridge:

Press Syndicate, 1990.


23


APPENDICES

Figure 5: Location of spread line (SL) in SMK Kundasang, Sabah

Figure 6: Location of spread line conducted (SW Zone) with some of the geodynamic mapping in SMK Kundasang (modified after Komoo and Lim, 2003)


24


Influence Of Particle Morphology On Shear Strength And Dilatancy of Sands

Alvin John Lim Meng Siang1, Devapriya Chitral Wijeyesekera2, Adnan bin Zainorabidin3,

Ismail bin Hj Bakar4 1Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering,

[email protected], 2University of East London, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Faculty of Civil and

Environmental Engineering, [email protected] 3Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering

[email protected] 4Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering,

[email protected]

Abstract

The macroscale behaviour of granular materials such as sand results from particle level interactions and the particle morphology (shapes and sizes). Clean sands are cohesionless (c = 0) but have a finite friction angle (Ø). The shear strength of sands is entirely dependent on the density, normal stress and interlocking particle structure. The latter is associated with the property of dilatancy (ψ) in particular with sands. Well graded sand (SW), poorly graded uniform sand (SPuKahang), gap graded sand (SPg) from Kahang Malaysia and also (SPuL.Buzzard) uniform Leighton Buzzard sand from UK were tested in a pneumatic direct shear box. The shapes of the sand particles were quantified using images obtained from a digital microscope. It was found that the Øpeak, Øcr and ψ was the highest for (SW) when compared with others. SPuL.Buzzard sands showed a significant decrease in the values with similar relative density (Dr). The increase in normal stress (σ) caused a significant effect on the behaviour of dilatancy. High normal stresses give very little variations in dilatancy (ψ) between the samples tested as compared to the lower normal stress that was used. This research contributes to furthering the understanding of the engineering behaviour of sand and also helps in predicting the occurrence of dilation based on sand morphology in dynamic soil structure interaction. Keywords: Sand, direct shear, angle of friction, dilation angle, size and shape.

1. INTRODUCTION Coarse grained soils have unique sedimentological features where the wide range of shape and sizes of sand particles solicit further research into the contribution to the geotechnical behaviour. Previous studies have shown that the undrained residual strength decreases with the increase in the uniformity coefficient (Cu) and the average diameter (D50) for a monotonic undrained triaxial test (Belkhatir et al. 2010). Cho et al. (2006) established that the study of sphericity and roundness of crushed and natural sands using a stereomicroscope (Leica MZ6) on 30 different particles has found that for large strain behaviour, the increase in irregularity causes an increase in the critical state friction angle (Øcr). The cohesionless characteristic makes collection of undisturbed samples of sand an impossible task. Its shear strength depends on its density, normal stress and also the interlocking particle structure. These conditions contribute to dilatancy. In this present study, the relationship between shear strength parameter (Øpeak, Øcr) and dilatancy (ψ) is investigated. In accordance with the explanation given by Budhu (2000), the relationship between the shear strength of a soil using Coulombs frictional law and the dilatancy can be


25


represented by equation 1, which shows that the dilatancy angle (ψ) and normal stress (σ) is a function of the shear strength (τ) of the soil.

τ = σn tan(Ø + ψ) (1) 2. MATERIALS USED The test materials are river sands obtained from Kahang, Johor and also Leighton Buzzard sand (UK). Kahang sands comprised of three different particle size distribution classifications; well graded sands (SW), uniformly graded sands (SPuKahang), and gap graded sands (SPg). The sands are generally classified as well graded sands. Careful size separation of the sand particles using sieves enabled gap graded sands to be obtained. Leighton Buzzard sand, it is documented as being uniformly graded sand and is referred to as (SPuL. Buzzard). Classifications of the samples are in accordance with BS 1377-1: 1990. The angular shape of Kahang sands is compared with the more rounded Leighton Buzzard sands on its strength and dilatancy characteristics. Figure 1 show the particle size distribution curves of all the samples illustrating the different grading curves. Table 1 is a factual summary of all the main properties of the samples in this study. The maximum void ratio (emax) was obtained by using a measuring cylinder containing the sample and it was quickly turned upside-down to acquire a loose state (as specified in BS 1377-1: 1990). The minimum void ratios (emin) were obtained by using a split mould and the sample was compacted by tamping and vibrating under water. Then a convenient stress was applied to the sample carefully avoiding particle crushing to obtain a dense state. Repeat tests done on the same sample gave variations not exceeding 0.005 for the minimum void ratio.

Figure 1: Particle size distribution curve

Table 1: Properties of the test samples

Type of sand Gradation Void Ratio D60 D10 Cu emax emin SW 1.5 0.38 3.95 0.914 0.398 SPuL Buzzard 0.71 0.48 1.48 0.725 0.574 SPg 1.5 0.13 11.53 0.792 0.4 SPuKahang 0.65 0.35 1.86 0.948 0.574

3.0 DETERMINATION OF THE SHAPE AND QUANTIFICATION OF PARTICLES The quantification of the particle shapes is based on its sphericity and roundness as stated by Cho et al (2006). The definition of these two shape parameters are given and also illustrated in Figure 2:


26


Sphericity (S), determined by obtaining the diameter of the largest inscribed sphere relative to the diameter of the smallest circumscribed sphere.

Roundness (R), is quantified as the average radius of curvature of features relative to the radius of the maximum sphere that can be inscribed in the particle.

Figure 2 presents the relationship between sphericity and roundness in the form of dimensionless parameters (Cho et al. 2006, as quoted by Krumbein and Sloss, 1963). The regularity parameter is defined as the average of the two parameters with an attempt to unify the effect of roundness and sphericity as defined in equation (2). Thus the diagonal broken lines in figure 2 correspond to constant particle regularity.

ρ = R + S (2) 2

Figure 2: Particle shape determination (Cho et al, 2006; as presented in by Krumbein and

Sloss, 1963) Shape comparisons are only made between the uniformly graded Kahang sands and the uniformly graded Leighton Buzzard sands, which have almost similar uniformity coefficients (Cu). A digital microscope was used to obtain low magnification (x50) micrographs. Fifty randomly picked sand particles of the two types of sand were analysed under the digital microscope. Figures 3 and 4 gives this analytical result and the extreme images of the particles respectively. The differences in the shape parameters are discussed. It is seen from the histograms in Figure 3 that two different peak modes exist for each shape parameter. Table 2 shows that the mean sphericity and roundness of Leigthon Buzzard sand are higher than that of Kahang sand. Therefore, with reference to Figure 2, it is clear that these two types of sands have contrary shape parameters.

Figure 3: Percentage of sphericity, roundness and regularity of the particles


27


Figure 4: Images of extreme particles,

(a) & (b) SPuL.Buzzard sand particle with Sphericity = 0.827 and Roundness = 0.78 (c) & (d) SPuKahang sand particle with Sphericity = 0.469 and Roundness = 0.325

Table 2: The range and average of the particle shapes

Leighton Buzzard sand Kahang sand

Sphericity Roundness Regularity Sphericity Roundness Regularity Minimum 0.52 0.46 0.57 0.45 0.23 0.39 Maximum 0.96 0.97 0.90 0.83 0.89 0.74 Mean 0.732 0.680 0.701 0.643 0.410 0.526 Mode 0.731 0.733 0.675 0.677 0.390 0.525 Std. Dev. 0.099 0.499 0.50 0.088 0.380 0.45

4.0 DIRECT SHEAR TEST RESULTS Direct shear tests were done on natural dry samples, in a 60 x 60 x 20 mm shear box. Samples with different relative densities were prepared and each sample was subjected to a normal stress (σ) of 25, 50 and 100 kPa.. Particle crushing during shearing was avoided in this study by using low level normal stress. Bolton (1986) observed that particle crushing is not appreciable when the mean shear stress is lower than 150kPa, thus allowing dilation to be treated as a function of only relative density below this stress. Hence the normal stresses (<100kPa) used in this research is ideally appropriate to investigate the relationship between the shear strength and the dilatancy. Figure 5(a) shows typical results from direct shear testing with a normal stress of 100kPa on well graded sand (SW) with different relative densities. Increasing relative density with same normal stress shows a substantial increase in the peak shear stress (τpeak) on the sample. The peak shear stress decreases until it does not show any peak at all as the relative density decreases. This graphical pattern was the same with all the other samples too. Figure 5 (a) further shows that the critical shear stress (τcr) is almost the same for all the relative densities tested. This is a consequence of the soil mass continuously deforming at constant volume, constant normal stress, constant shear stress and constant rate of shear strain (Hamidi et al, 2009). It is therefore an important parameter in design and interpretation of shear results. Figure 5 (b) shows a negative vertical displacement, which means that the samples are in an expansion mode where it increases in volume as shear displacement occur. This is called dilation, noticing that the sample with the lowest relative density doesn’t show any dilation but it is however in compression. Bolton (1986), Simoni and Houlsby (2006). Hamidi et al, (2009) computed the angle of dilation (ψ) by relating the horizontal displacement (h) and vertical displacement (v) to calculate the rate of dilation (dv/dh) with the following equation: tan ψ = dv (3) dh

a) b) c) d)

0.608

0.735

0.440

0.440

0.3490.669

1.259

0.590

0.2230.102

0.355

0.217

0.139

0.5mm 0.5mm 0.5mm 0.5mm


28


Figure 5: Typical direct shear test result of 100kPa normal stress of the, (a) shear stress (τ), (b) vertical displacement (mm), (c) dilation rate (dv/dh) versus horizontal displacement of well graded sand (SW) of various relative densities. Figure 5 (c) shows the variation of the rate of dilatancy with increasing horizontal shear displacement. The dilatancy rate is calculated starting from zero horizontal displacement in the shear box. The increases in horizontal displacement will affect the vertical displacement depending on the relative density of the sand. Any variation on the horizontal and vertical displacement helps to calculate the rate of dilatancy of the sample. As expected the maximum angle of dilation using equation 3, if found coincides with the peak value of the shear stress versus horizontal displacement graph. This enables the determination of the maximum angle of dilation ψmax. 5.0 SHEAR STRENGTH OF THE SAMPLES Figure 6 shows the results of the peak friction angle (Øpeak) versus the relative density for all the samples with different normal stress (σ). It is seen that the peak friction angle is the lowest for SPu(L.Buuzard) sand. SPu(Kahang).also shows lower Øpeak than the SW and SPg sands but it is however higher than that of SPu(L.Buuzard). SW and SPg sand are almost similar but SPg sand tends to have lower Øpeak at lower relative densities (Dr). This indicates that the relative density, grading characteristics and the shape of the particles have a significant effect on the shear strength of the soil. Figure 6 also shows that there is a decrease in peak friction angle (Øpeak) for all the samples with the increase in normal stress (σ) for similar relative density (Dr). The same goes for the critical friction angle (Øcr). The determination Øcr in this study is in line with the work of Simoni and Houlsby (2006) and Hamidi et al. (2009) where they use the Øpeak values of different densities plotted against maximum dilatancy angle (ψmax) as shown in figure 7. The best fit line is then drawn, giving the Øcr values as the shearing resistance of a sample which would exhibit zero dilatancy. Figure 8 is the correlation between the uniformity coefficient (Cu) and the critical angle of friction (Øcr) only for Kahang sands with different normal streses. Only Kahang sand is compared to ensure that the grading characteristic to be treated as a function only on the shear strength of the sample. It can be seen that as Cu increases, Øcr would also increase until it reaches a peak, and a further increase in Cu has caused a reduction in the critical friction angle.

a) b)

c)

τPeak

τcr

Legend:

Dr = 0.96

Dr = 0.79

Dr = 0.62

X Dr = 0.33


29


Figure 6: Peak friction angle versus relative Figure 7: The determination of critical density of all the samples with a) 25kPa, friction angle for all the samples under b) 50kPa and 100kPa normal stress (σ). a) 25kPa b) 50kPa c) 100kPa normal stress.

Figure 8: The correlation between uniformity coefficient (Cu) and critical friction angle (Øcr) of Kahang sand with different normal stresses (σ). The shapes of the sand particles also play a significant role in the shear strength of the soil and it is not entirely dependent on the mineral-to-mineral friction (Cho et al. 2006; Chan and Page, 1997). Figure 9 shows the relationship of the sphericity and roundness to the theoretical friction angle (Øcr). The shear strength values of SPu(L.Buuzard) and SPu(Kahang) of similar Cu to this study are compared so that particle size distribution does not influence the outcome of the results. The graph shows that the roundness and sphericity of the particles show a significant effect on the critical friction angle (Øcr). The critical friction angle decreases as both the roundness and sphericity increases.

a)

Øc

Øc

Øc

a)

b)

c)

b)

c)

Legend: SW SPu(Kahang) SPu(L.Buzzard) x SPg


30


Figure 9: The relationship of the sphericity and roundness to the critical friction angle (Øcr) 5.1 DILATANCY Dilatancy is a measure of the change in volume of a soil when it is distorted by shearing. When a normal stress (σ) is subjected on the grains, it will cause it to become compacted and the grains interlocks, restricting the freedom to move around one another. It induces a bulk expansion of the material when it is under shear. However, the increase in effective normal stress will suppress the interlocking grains to expand in volume. Therefore, the ability of the dense assembly of the soil grains to expand depends on the magnitude of the normal effective stress (σ) (Budhu, 2000). The increase in shear strength with density is primarily due to the increased tendency of the sample to dilate and the work done in overcoming frictional forces (Wijeyesekera et al , 1998). Figure 10 shows the variation of maximum dilation angle (ψ) with relative densities of Kahang sands with different normal stresses. At low normal stress, uniformity coefficient (Cu) plays an important factor in the variation of the dilation angle (ψ). SW sand has the highest dilation angles compared to the other sand samples with similar relative density (Dr) regardless of the different normal stresses (σ). SPuL.buzzard sand however, shows the lowest dilation angles. Surprisingly, SPuKahang sand tend to show higher dilation angles than SPg sand which has the highest uniformity coefficient (Cu). It can also be seen that as the normal stress increases, the maximum dilation angle decreases. Figure 10(c) shows that there is not much of a difference in the dilation angle values of each sample at high normal stress of 100kPa. As stated, higher normal stress suppresses dilatancy. An increase in sphericity and roundness decreases the dilatancy (ψ). Figure 11 shows the SPu(l.Buzzard) has a higher mean sphericity and roundness values compared to SPu(Kahang) and it shows lower dilatancy values. SPu(Kahang) tend to have higher dilation angles at low level normal stress (σ), but the values decrease as the normal stress increases up to a point where the values are the same as SPu(L.Buzzard). The increasing normal stresses have only little effect on the dilation angle of SPu(L.Buzzard). This can be explained as angular particles tend to be more interlocking and it obstructs the mobility of the particles, making it to expand in volume when shear displacement is induced. Smooth and rounder particles have the ease to move around each other, which explains its low dilation angles regardless of the normal stress. The net effect of the dilatancy is that the failure envelope deviates from the usual straight line and is slightly curved (see Figure 12) for all test samples. This confirms equation 1 where the shear stress is dependent on the normal stress (σ) and angle of dilatancy (ψ). An increase in normal stress decreases dilatancy resulting in the decrease of shear strength (τ). Figure 12 compares the failure envelope of the sample with the lowest relative density and no dilatancy represented by a straight line from the origin. However, Hamidi et al, (2009), found that the curved envelop also happens due to particle crushing with high normal stress. This is not the case here as the normal stress is small. It can be seen that the difference in the failure envelop of dense and loose SPuL.Buzzard is not much.


31


Figure 10: Dilation angle versus the relative density with (a) 25kPa, (b) 50kPa and (c) 100kPa normal stresses of sand with different uniformity coefficient (Cu). Figure 11: The effect of sphericity and roundness on the dilation angle with a) 25kPa, b) 50kPa and c) 100kPa of normal stress (σ). 6.0 CONCLUSION The popular use of sand for natural or artificial fills has led to a necessary study on its shear strength characteristics. Direct shear box testing on the sand samples has shown that gradation has a significant effect on the peak friction angles (Øpeak) and the critical friction angles (Øcr). Both the uniformly graded sands SPu(Kahang) and SPu(L.Buzzard) shows lower peak friction angles. Comparing between these two types sands, SPu(L.Buzzard) has higher sphericity and roundness values which gives a decrease in peak friction angle of at least 8 degrees as compared to SPu(Kahang). The increases in Cu also tend to increase the (Øcr) values, but it reaches a peak and then further decreases as where sand would be classified as gap graded.

a) b)

c)

a)

c)

b)

Legend: SW, Cu = 3.95 SPu(Kahang), Cu = 1.86 X SPg, Cu = 11.53

Legend:

SPu(Kahang) Sphericity = 0.64 Roundness = 0.41 X SPu(L.Buzzard) Sphericity = 0.73 Roundness = 0.68


32


This show that gap graded sand produced higher shear strength due to the better interlocking structure of the particles.

Figure 12: Failure envelope of samples with different relative densities. The gradation and shape characteristics of the coarse sand also have an influence in the occurrence of dilatancy. Higher sphericity and roundness values tend to have lower dilation angles as compared to the other soils. Dilation is also however dependent on the relative density and the normal stress (σ) of the soil. Dilatancy however, also plays a significant effect on the shear strength of the soil. Base on Budhu (1999), the dilation angle increases as the normal stress decreases. This has caused the failure envelop to become curved for denser sand samples. As for loose sand samples where it exhibits zero dilatancy has shown a straight line failure envelope. The increasing normal stresses have only little effect on the dilation angle of SPu(L.Buzzard) as compare to SPu(Kahang). The angular particles tend to be more interlocking in its structure and it obstructs the mobility of the particles during shearing, resulting in the expansion of volume. Rounder particles however, have the ease to move and slide around each other, therefore it explains the low dilation angles regardless of the normal stress that is induced on it. As a result, the particle gradation and shapes of the coarse grained sands really needs to be look further into as it has a significant effect on the its shear strength and dilatancy. REFERENCES [1] Atkinson, J. (1993). An introduction to the mechanics of soils and foundations: McGraw-

Hill International, UK. [2] Belkhatir, M., Arab, A., Della, N., Missoum, H. & Schanz, T. (2010) Effect of grading

characteristics on the undrained shear strength of sand-silt mixture: International Symposium on Seismic Construction Zone Hassiba Benbouali University of Chlef (Algeria), 26 to 27 October 2010.

[3] Chan, L. C. Y.., & Page, N. W. (1997). “Particle fractal and load effects on internal friction in powders” Powder Technol., 90, 256-266.

[4] Bolton, M.D. (1986). "The strength and dilatancy of sands" Géotechnique., 36(1), 65-78. [5] Bolton, M.D. (1987). "The strength and dilatancy of sands" Discussion. Géotechnique.,

37(1), 219-226.

Legend: Dense Loose


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[6] British Standard Institution (BSI). BS 1377: British Standard Method of Test for Soils for Civil Engineering Purposes.

[7] Budhu, M. (2000). Soil mechanics and foundations: John Wiley & Sons, New York. [8] Cho, G.C, Dodds, J. & Santamarina, J.C. (2006). Particle shape effects on packing

density, stiffness and strength: Natural and crushed sands. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 132, No 5.

[9] Goktepe, A.B, & Sezer, A. (2010) Effect of particle shape on density and pearmeability of sands: Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Geotechnical Engineering 163, December 2010, Issue GE6, pg 307-320.

[10] Hamidi, A. Alizadeh, M. & Soleimani, S.M. (2009). Effect of particle crushing on shear strength and dilation characteristics of sand-gravel mixtures: International Journal of Civil Engineering. Vol. 7, No. 1, March 2009.

[11] Head, K.H. (1992). Manual of soil laboratory testing. Vol 1: Soil classification and compaction test. Pentech Press, London.

[12] Santamarina, J. C., & Cho, G. C. (2004). “Soil behaviour. The role of particle shape.” Advances in geotechnical engineering: The Skempton Conference, R.J. Jardine, D.M Potts, and K. G. Higgins, eds., Vol 1, Thomas Telford, London, 604 – 617.

[13] Simoni, A. & Houlsby, G.T. (2006). The direct shear strength and dilatancy on sand-gravel mixtures. Geotechnical and Geological Engineering. Vol 24, 523-549.

[14] Wijeyesekera, D.C., Hachouf, K. and Warnakulasuriya, S. (1998) “The significance of dilatancy of the backfill on the soil structure interaction pf polypropylene reinforcement”, Proceedings of the 2nd international Conference on ground improvement techniques, pg 537-544, Singapore..


34


Overview of Current Field Geotechnical Testing for Peat Ground Investigation

Rashidah Adon1 , Dato’ Hj Ismail bin Hj Bakar2, Devapriya Chitral Wijeyesekera3,

Adnan bin Zainorabidin4 1,2,3,4 Faculty of Civil and Enviromental Engineering, UTHM, Batu Pahat, Johor,

[email protected],[email protected],[email protected] 3School of Architecture, Computing,and Engineering, University of East London

[email protected]

Abstract

Rapid pace of infrastructure development is seeing Malaysia and many other parts of the world facing decreasing areas of ‘suitable’ ground for infrastructure construction. Limited availability of sites is forcing peat land to become a viable construction site for economic reasons. Although peat causes problems to engineering, it has its own advantages in term of forestry and agriculture. This paper presents a critical review and discussion of recent and current geotechnical testing in peat ground investigation with a variety of types of peat from several locations in Malaysia and other countries. This paper represents data on fibric, hemic and sapric type of peat for loss of ignition (Organic Content), natural water content, liquid limit, plastic limit, density and specific gravity. Some of these tests were modified to suit peat testing. Sampling techniques to obtain undisturbed samples for strength testing is outlined. Shear strength is another signifiicant parameter and plays a vital role in engineering design decisions. Various researchers and practitioners have used piezocone (CPTU) tests and vane test with correlation to in-situ vane tests or laboratory triaxial tests. This paper also reviews the innovative of CPTU testing on peat soil.

Keywords : peat, organic content, shear strength, cone penetration

1. INTRODUCTION Peat has long been favourably utilised in horticulture and agriculture but is considered a challenging soil in construction. There is a tendency in construction industry to avoid this type of problematic and challenging soil since improvement of peat soil is very expensive and time consuming. Peat is a soil that is often found saturated, with low mineral content and its thickness can vary from 1 meter to 20 meters. Peat finds itself classed within the soft soil group because of its high compressibility, low shear strength and it is very sensitive to any stress changes. It is not avoidable and uncontrollable but its behaviour may be predictable if there is proper site investigation documentation. If at all possible, engineers seek to avoid building on them because of initial stability of construction. Its occurrence is usually in river valleys and estuaries. 75% of peat is organic, consisting of a large number of partially decomposed and destroyed plants. Usually it is brown, black and the pH is acidic. Based on the global records, Malaysia is the 9th country with the highest total area of peat According to Huat (2004), 3.0 million hectares or 8% of land in Malaysia is covered with peat. Sarawak constitute the largest peat area with 1, 657 600 sq. km make up 13% of the state, of which about 90% is more than 1m in depth (Singh et al, 1997). Figure 1 shows the distribution of peat soil in South East Asia. Specifically the peat occurs along the west-coast and it is due to the reduction of sea level or upllift of the land.


35


Figure 1: Distribution of peatlands in South East Asia. (Source: Rieley et al., 1996) 2. REVIEW AND CASE STUDY Geotechnical properties of peat soils as obtained by other researchers is reviewed and discussed. This paper also overviews the sampling methods adopted by others, moisture content, loss of moisture in peat, liquid limit, organic content, specific gravity, bulk density, and pH test. 2.1 Classification and Sampling Methods. The wide interests in peat have generated different classification systems for peat. Table 1 presents historical development of different approaches and classification of peat. It is also difficult to extract soil samples especially undisturbed samples because of the high organic content. For peat, undisturbed soil sampling is yet not reliably possible. However, better qualities samples can be obtained by techniques in which the disturbance is kept to the absolute minimum (Al-Raziq, 2003). According to Landva(1983), disturbed samples of peat may be obtained with the Hiller sampler, the Davis sampler or the Macaulay sampler while undisturbed sampling is done with a peat piston sampler or a steel foil sampler. However, sample disturbance in peat can be overcome using 250 mm square block samples (Hobbs; 1986; Lefebvre et al, 1984; Edil, 2003; O’louglin, 2003) . The square block sampler can be used to obtain large samples of peat at depths up to about 10m.Meanwhile 100mm diameter piston sampler was designed specifically for the testing of 100-mm diameter specimens. Nevertheless, Site investigation works for peat in Sarawak has used the peat auger or probe to obtain disturbed samples. Zainorabidin (2010) adopted techniques similar to that of Landva et al (1983) and Korpijaako and Woolnough (1981) with modified U100 PVC tubes based on the guidelines in Table 2 to obtain undisturbed samples of peat from Malaysia and UK.

Land area – 328, 750 km2

Malaysia – 2.4 million ha Peninsular – 0.7 million ha Sarawak – 1.6 million ha Sabah – 0.1 million ha


36


Figure 2: Diagrammatic representation of the 100-mm piston sampler

(Source: Korpijaako and Woolnough,1981)

Table 1: Comparison of different classification systems for peat (Zainorabidin ,2010) Classification Approach United State Department of Agricuture (USDA Soil Taxonomy)

This was developed for agricultural and other land management uses and it is based on both chemical and physical properties of the soil.

The highest level of the present USDA system, the category referred to as soil order, is based on soil forming processes as indicated by the presence or absence of major diagnostic horizons.

Unified Soil Classification System (USCS)

Soil classification system used in engineering and geology disciplines to describe the texture and grain size of a soil

Von Post Method (1922)

Classification attempts to describe peat and the structure in quantitative terms. The degree humification is the main part to classify the peat on site based on the different scale from H1 to H10

The extended system suggested by Hobbs (1986) is designed to provide a means of collating the types of peat with their physical, chemical and structural properties.

Radforth (1952) System for Canadian peat (muskeg) based on structure of peat rather than its botanical origin. (Muskeg Engineering Handbook, MacFarlane,1969)

There are three main categories, amorphous-granular, fine fibrous and coarse fibrous. That vegetal cover and topsoil should be classified based on structure than genesis. It

covers nine categories. In this classification system, there was no mention about color, wetness, degree of humification or organic content.

Malaysian Standard Soil Classiication System (Ikram and Jarret, 1997)

System presently improved from British Soil Classification System (BS5930:1981). This improved focuses on the system, which amplifies the coverage of peats and organic soils and does not change it all for inorganic soils.

This classification more precisely defines organic soil and peat and gives limits to when inorganic soil classes should be described as slightly organic.

In this system, the organic content must be measured to classify the type of peats. Soil TAXONOMY In soil taxonomy, there are three different kinds of organic soil materials and are based on

the degree of decomposition of the plant materials from which the organic soil materials are derived. The three kinds are (1) fibrous (2) hemic (3) sapric

It is also based on the degree of decomposition of organics materials indicated by the content of fabrics. If the organic materials are highly decomposed, fabrics are nearly absent. If the organic materials are only slightly decomposed, more of the volume, exclusive of the coarse fragments normally consists of fibres.

It is possible to make a coarse division is made into three type; Fibrous : H1-H4, Pseudo-fibrous: H5-H7, Amorphous peat : H8-H10


37


Figure 3: Diagrammatic representation of 250-mm square block sampler

Table 2: Guideline for tube U100mm

Measurement U100 Standard BS5930, Hvorslev

(1949)

Area ratio (%) Ca = D2

2 -D12 x 100

D12

D1 = the inside diameter of the cutting edge D2 = the greatest outside diameter of the sampling tube.

8 < 25

Inside clearance ratio (%) 0 0-0.5

Edge taper angle (0) 8 5- 10

2.2 Moisture Content There is general fear that the standart drying of soil 1050C during 24 hours will lead to changing of the organic components in peat, and lead to big values water content (Huat,2004) but Skempton and Petley concluded that the loss of organic matter is unimportant, while drying at lower temperature retains small amount of free water. Huat stated that the natural water content of peat in West Malaysia ranges from 200 % to 700% and with organic content in the range of 50% to 95%. According to Yusuf (1984), moisture content of peat soil is in range from 100% to 1300%. Higher moisture content will affect the porosity, thus reducing the bulk density of the soil. Hanzawa et. Al (1994), states that the natural water content of some peat could exceed 1000%.Tan (1983), discovered that dry density of peat soil is in range between 10 to 20 kN/m3 with moisture content ranging from 20% to 700%. Harwant and Bahia (1997), stated that moisture content of peat soil in Sarawak is in range between 200% to 1500%. This high water content is the cause of buoyancy and a high pore volume that results in low bulk density and low bearing capacity (H. Singh et al.,2003) For organic soil, the water is held in the organic matters and cells of the plant remain.Organic soils had very high water content which could be in excess of 700%, compared with mineral soil (sand, silt and clay), whose values in the field may range between 3-70%, but with values of greater


38


than 100% sometimes found in soft soil below ground water table. Table 3 presented data that have been collected from sites around the world where peat properties results have been published and/or were available.

Table 3: Typical index properties for different peats

Sample area Description Water

content (%)

Organic content

(%)

Liquid Limit (%)

Specific gravity

Unit weight (kN/m3)

Refs

West Malaysia Amorphous Peat

200-700 65-97 190-360 1.38-1.70 8.3-11.5 Al-Raziqi et al., 2003

East malaysia Fibrous Peat 200-2200 50-95 210-550 1.07-1.63 8.0 -12.0 Bujang, 2004

Johore Malaysia Hemic Peat 230-500 80-96 220-250 1.48-1.8 7.5-10.2 Zainorabidin and ismail, 2003

Holme Fen, British Fen Peat 500-600 > 98 800-1500 1.40-1.60 9.50-10.50 Hutchinson, 1980

Cumbria British Bog Peat 200-1000 > 98 200-600 1.80 8.50-11.0 Hobbs, 1986

Sri Lanka Amorphous Peat

200-800 20-50 200 1.50-2.20 7.50-10.0 Karunawardena et al., 2007

Ireland

Fibrous Peat 1400 98.1 ¯ 1.41 ¯ Conleth D. Oloughlin and Barry M.Lehane, 2003

Amorphous Peat

865 79.5 690 1.55 ¯

Canada Spaghnum 1500 Landva 2007

Hokkaido, Japan Amarphous Peat

115-1150 20-98 1.3-2.1 9.5-11.2 Hirochika et al., 2003

Wales, British Bog 560 – 965 60-80 1.51-1.73 9.2-10.6 Douglass,1998

2.3 Loss of Moisture in Peat Zainorabiddin (2010) studied the relationship between the water content and 14 different dying temperatures from 150C up to 1050C. Figure 4 shows the comparison of moisture content for peat, sand and clay tested under similar drying conditions. It is noteworthy that the peat sample showed a unique curve for moisture retention. The water retention character for clays and sand are uniform and different from that of peat. Sand samples release water totally at a lower temperature of 300C whilst in clay, the moisture is released at 400C.

Figure 4: Comparison of moisture content loss for different samples.


39


The moisture content retained for all HFP1 samples (Holme Fen peat from Cambbridge) were different (in the range between 620 to 670%, see Figure 5). In the temperature range of 200 C to 350C there is, notably, still a variation of moisture retention in peat. At 350 C, it becomes consistent and constant at 40% moisture for similar rate of drying. After 600 C. there is no appreciable change in moisture. The figure shows very similar pattern and repeatability between the four samples. This confirms that changes in the moisture retained for peat are related to and influenced by the temperature of dying.

Figure 5: Observation of moisture loss for HFP1 sample

2.4 Liquid Limit Haan (1997) reported that the high fibre content in peat soil will cause difficulty to prepare samples for Atterberg Limit determination. This test cannot be conducted on very high fibre content peat, and any attempts to do so will give inaccurate results. Skempton and Petley (1970) observed that peat could have liquid limit greater than 500%. According to Hobbs (1987), liquid limit is in the range of 200% to 600% for ‘Fen’ peat, and 800% to 1500% for ‘Bog’ peat. While according to Zulkarnaine (1990) reports on peat soil in Kampung Sungai Naga, Pontian, to have a liquid limit of 174% and plastic limit of 127%. Thus the plasticity index obtained is 47%. Ismail (1984) and Salmah (1989), did not provide liquid limit and plastic limit data in their study as they believed that liquid limit and plastic limit test in laboratory was difficult. This was based on the fact that peat soil had a high fibre content and reliable sample preparation was difficult. O’Loughlin et al (2003) reported that liquid limit of the four sites in the Irish midlands is between 317-690 %. 2.5 Organic Content The engineering properties show a great variation depending on the type and amount of organic matter. In peat soils, the organic content is high. It could be in excess of 90% very much higher than that of other soils. Organic content is measured either by a Loss on Ignition Test, ASTM D2974 and BS 1377 Part 3 (4) or a Chemical Oxidation Test, BS 1377 Part (3). Based on Unified Soil Classification System (USCS), definition of peat requires the addition of an extra class of soil and a descriptive modifier to cover soils with significant organic content but less than 75%. Organic content is an indicator of peat purification from any othermineral component. Peat classification is affected by the organic content. (Hanzawa et. Al ,1994).


40


Organic content for peat soil at Irish midland are between 32.2 to 98.6% (O’loughlin, 2003). Adel et al (2003) suggested a correlation between organic content and water content. The correlation was based on various Malaysian soils. The best fit to the samples from Kota samarahan is closer to the Irish organic soils (Zainorabidin, 2010). 2.6 Specific Gravity Specific gravity (Gs) of organic soils and peat depend on the amount and type of organic constituents (Den Haan ,1997 and Hobbs,1986),. For an organic content (N) more than 75 %, the specific gravity of peat ranges between 1.3 and 1.8 with an average of 1.5 (Davis, 1997). The lower specific gravity indicates a lower degree of decomposition and low mineral content. The average specific gravity of soil solids can be calculated using equation 1, given below:

NNGs 5.1)1(7.2 (1)

However, Doyle (1963) claimed that equation 1 can give an error as much as 18%. Skempton & Petley (1970) correlation for specific gravity and the ignition loss (N) defined by equation 2 :

7.2)1(04.1

4.1)1(04.111 NN

Gs

(2)

The specific gravity obtained in this study (see Table 4) using kerosene in a pycnometer test was 1.446 which is within the range for peat, but is 0.439 less than that obtained from equation1, recommended by Davis (1997).

Table 4: Calculation of Organic Content and Specific Gravity

Reference Equation Organic

Content (%) Specific Gravity

Davis (1997) 2.7 (1-N) + 1.5N 67.95 1.885

Skempton & Petley (1970) 1-1.04(1-N) + 1.04 (1-N) 67.95 0.885

1.4 2.7

Author Data 1.446

2.7 Bulk density The bulk density of peat is in the range of 0.8 – 1.2 Mg/m3. Bulk density of peat is affected by the structure, degree of humification and mineral content in soil. On the top 30cm of the peat, the bulk density of the peat in Peninsular Malaysia is low and varies from 0.1 to 0.2g cm-3. According to Ismail (1984), bulk density of peat soil varies with depth. where in 10cm deep, bulk density was recorded from 1000 to 3500 kg/m3. Bulk density will eventually decrease to a value ranging from 60 to 200 kg/m3 at 20 to 30cm depth. 2.8 pH Test Ajlouni (2000) stated that peat soils are acidic with pH ranging from 3.2 to 4.9. There are 68% of peat soils with the pH value less than 4.1. The acidity of peat deposit results from the material constituting these soils, the humic acids formed in the peat and the acidity of the pore water. The acidity of peat deposit decreases with depth.Parbery and Venkatachalam (1964) stated that Malaysian peat soil is extremely acidic. The peat soil is saturated with hydrogen ions. Salmah (1989), stated that pH value of peat soil in Johor is ranging from 3.0 to 5.0. This explains that acidity of peat soil is very high. In other study conducted by Bujang (1997), if peat soil contains sulfate, pH value will reduced below than 3.0.


41


3. SHEAR STRENGTH CHARACTERISTIC OF PEAT SOIL

Shear strength always play a vital role when engineering decision come across with any soils (Huat, 2006). Typically, in-situ shear strength is determined using Cone penetration test and Vane test. However, these methods have some inherent limitation since the shear strength can only be determined indirectly through correlations with laboratory results and back calculation from the results of actual failures ( Kazemian et al ,2011). Laboratory tests, on the other hand, yield the shear strength directly but these require good quality samples. Table 5 presents data from peat deposits of similar type. These results were obtained from samples consolidated under aspecific normal stress ( within range 5 to 50 kPa) prior to application of the compressive (trixial) or shearing ( direct shear) stress.

3.1 Cone Penetration Test (CPTU) The main advantage of the CPTU is that it provides reliable and continuous profiles of data at a lower cost. Many engineering developments using spherical ball have been suggested for some years (Vallejo,1982). It appears to have been taken up again only recently (Watson et al, 1998; Newson et al; 1999, Stewart and Randolph ,1994, 1998,2000 and Lunne ,2001).

Table 5: Published values for the shear strength of peat. (Dykes, 2008)

Peat Type/ Characteristic Cohesion, c

(kPa) Internal friction

angle, Ф Reference

Peat with low moisture content/ Moose river

0 48 Adams (1965)

Remoulded H4 Sphagnum peat 5.5-6.1 36.6-43.5 Hanrahan et al. (1967)

No information 4 34 Hollinshead and Raymond (1972)

Sphagnum peat ( H3, mainly fibrous) 2.4-4.7 27.1-35.4 Landva and La Rochelle (1983)

Raised bog, 98% organic; undr. Triax. Compression:

55 Farrel and Hebib (1998)

Direct and ring shear 38

Ombrotrophic blanket peat, 0.35-1.25m deep

2.7-8.2 26.1-30.4 Kirk (2001)

Indonesian, Brazilian and Japanese peat

32-58

Unspesified peat, 1- 2.5 m deep, H4-5 to H7-8

3 - 5 35 Long and Jennings (2006)

Ombrotrophic blanket peat, 1.4 - 1.7 m deep,H10

8 - 11 21-25 Dykes and Warburton (2008)

As above, calculated from back-analyses of failures

2.0 - 6.2 21 Dykes and Warburton (2008)

Ombrotrophic blanket peat, 2m deep, H5-6

5.2 33.4 Dykes (2008)

The t-bar penetrometer was first introduced as a laboratory tool to estimate the shear strength profile within clay samples tested in centrifuge (Steward and Randolph, 1991). The device comprised of a 5-mm diameter cylinder, 20-mm long, attached at right angles to a shaft and induces plane strain soil flow. It consisting of a horizontal bar made from steel. Dimension of the t-bar is 250mm long and 36mm in diameter. Field versions of the T-bar have been used extensively off-shore since the late 1990s (Randolph et al, 1998; hefer and Neubecker, 1999) typically using a T-bar that is 40 mm in diameter and 250 mm long (Randolph and Andersen, 2006).


42


The concept from t-bar was extended to a spherical penetrometer (ball) to reduce load cell bending and allow for deployment in smaller diameter drill casing (DeJong et al 2004; Randolph, 2004). A ball penetrometer induces axisymmetric soil flow. The ball was constructed by Randolph are using hardened steel with a diameter of 113mm and projected area of 100cm2. Another design is similar to that employed by DeJong et al (2008) comprises several modular components that can be interchanged to facilitate pore pressure filter location at the tip, mid face and equator. The piezoball filters were custom fabricated from polyethylene with an average pore size of 30-60 microns by C.Colreavy, while the piezoball design by Akinori M.et al (2009) was made by duralumin with 112.8 mm in diameter with the same project area. A summary of the reported work on full flow penetrometers is given in Table 5. 3.2 Vane Test Field vane shear is commonly used for in-situ testing to measure the undrained shear strength of peat. The vane shear test is standardized in BS 1377 (9) and ASTM D2573. The vane shear apparatus consists of thin-bladed rectangular vanes that can be pushed into the soil with a minimum of disturbance. A torque applied to rotate the vanes is related to the shear strength of the soil. Researches showed that the shear strength determined by the test is greater than the actual shear strength of peat (Noto, 1991).

Table 6: Summary on Full Flow Penetrometer References Country Devices

used Soil General results

DeJong et al US T-bar,ball and plate

Valley varved clay In field CPTU qt exceeds penetration resistance of T-bar, which in turn is about 38% greater than ball and plate.

Chung and Randolph

Australia Tbar, ball and plate

Field: clay Model : reconstituted Burswood clay

In field CPTU qt exceeds that of all devices with plate being marginally greater T-bar and ball. CPTU qt more rapidly with depth. In contrast centrifuge model CPTU exhibits lowest qt (probably reflecting higher rigidity index of natural clay). Model plate resistance lower than model T-bar or ball. Effect of surface roughness and aspect ratio marginal.

Oung et al Netherlands

T-bar only Field: silty clay and peat in island of Marken Model: kaolinite

In model tests CPTU qt, greater than T-bar resistance. In field CPTU and T-bar resistance similar. CPTU more”peaky”, T-bar better at reflecting layer limits.

Long and Gudjonsson

Ireland T-bar only Soft glacial lake clays

For clay soils T-bar resistance only 50% of CPTU qt. For organic and silty soils penetration resistance simiar for both. CPTU qt shows stronger increase with depth.

The structural strength of soil is basically a problem of shear strength. Vane shear test is a useful method of measuring the shear strength of clay. It is cheaper and quicker. The laboratory vane shear test for the measurement of shear strength of cohesive soils is useful for soils of low shear strength (less than 0.3 kg/cm2) for which triaxial or unconfined tests cannot be performed. The undisturbed and remolded strength obtained are useful for evaluating the sensitivity of soil. According to Edil (2003), large vanes of diameter 55 to 110 mm and height to diameter ratio of 2 are recommended for peat. Hanzawa et al. (1994) states that field vane test do not provide the appropriate shear strength of peaty soil for design use, su and it is widely known that the vane shear strength is unsafe. In addition, it is difficult to


43


obtain the strength increment ratio in the normally consolidated state, from field vane shear test. The shear increment ratio is an important design parameter for peaty soil compared with normal clayey soil. 4. CONCLUDING REMARK

Peat is often a surface material considered to be the worst material for foundation in terms of its engineering properties. It is important to know the basic geotechnical properties of peat for the design of geotechnical structures. Peat possesses large non-homogeinity and therefore it is important to develop a bank of reliable information and correlation among the properties for engineering and design purposes. 5. REFERENCES [1] BS5930 (1999) Code of Practice for Site Investigation, British Standard Institution, London [2] Dykes, A.P. and Yang, J., (2006). The liquid limit of peat and its applications to the understanding of Irish blanket bog failures, Landslides, 3: 205-216. [3] Edil, T. B. (2003). “Recent advances in geotechnical characterization and construction over peats and organic soils.” In 2nd International Conference on Advances in Soft Soil Engineering and Technology, Putrajaya 2-4 July. [4] Haan, E.J. (1997). An overview of the mechanical behaviour of peats and organic soils and some appropriate construction technique. Conference on Recent Advances in Soft Soil Engineering. Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. [5] Hobbs, N.B (1986). Mire morphology and the properties and behaviour of some British and foreign peats, Quaterly Journal of Engineering Geology, 19: 7-80. [6] Huat, B. B. K. (2004). “ Organic and peat soils engineering.” 1st print, Universiti Putra Malaysia Press. ISBN 983-2871-08-5. [7] Ikram and Jarret, P.M (1995) Geoguide 6: Site Investigation for organic soil and peat, JKR Documents 20709-0341-95, Ikram. [8] Kazemian, S., Huat, B.B.K, Prasad, A., and Barghchi, M. A state of art review of peat: Geotechnical engineering perspective. International Journal of the Physical Sciences Vol. 6(8), pp. 1974-1981, 18 April, 2011 [9] Landva, A.O. and Pheeney, P.E. and Mersereau,D.E (1983).Undisturbed sampling of peat, Testing of Peat and Organic Soils, ASTM STP, 820:141-156. [10] Lefebvre,G., Langlois, P. Lupien, C. and Lavalle, J.G. (1984) Laboratory testing and in situ behaviour of peat as embankment foundation. Can. Geotech J. 21(2), 322-337. [11] Macfarlane I.C, and Radforth, N.W. (1968). Structure as a basis of peat classification. Third International Peat Congress. Quebecc, Canada, Nasional Research Council of Canada. 91-97 [12] O’Loughlin C.D. and Lehane, B.M. (2003). A study of the link between composition and compressibility of peat and organic soils, Proceeding 2nd International Conference on Advances in Soft Soil Engineering and Technology, Putrajaya, Malaysia. 2-4 July. [13] Radforth, N.W. (1952). Suggested classification of muskeg for the engineer, Engineering Journal, 35(11):1199-1210. [14] Rieley , J. O., Ahmand, S. A. A. and Brady, M. A. (1996). “ The extent and nature of tropical peat swamps.” In Tropical Lowland peatlands of southeast asia, IUCN, Cardigan , pp. 370. [15] Singh, H., Bahia.H.M. and Huat, B.B.K (2003). “Varying perspectiveon peat,it’s occurance in Sarawak and some geotechnical properties,” Proceeding 2nd International Conference on Advances in Soft Soil Engineering and Technology, Putrajaya, Malaysia. 2-4 July. [16] Skempton, A.W. and Petley, D.J. (1970). Ignition loss and other properties of peats and clays from Avonmouth, King’s Lynnand Cranberry Moss. Geotechnique, 20(4): pp.343-356. [17] Zainorabidin , A. (2010). Static and dynamic characteristics of peat with macro and micro structure perspective.PhD Thesis.


44


Mechanical Properties of Hybrid Kenaf/ Recycled Jute fibers Composites

Ekhlas. A. Osman1a, Anatoli. Vakhguelt1b, Igor. Sbarski2c; Saad. A. Mutasher1d*, 1School of Engineering Computing and Sciences Swinburne University of Technology

(Sarawak Campus) Jalan Simpang Tiga, 93350, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia 2Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, PO Box

218 HAWTHORN VIC 3122, Australia a: [email protected], b: [email protected]

c: [email protected], d*: [email protected]

Abstract The use of recycled natural, eco-friendly, renewable resources in composites, as a reinforcing material, requires chemical or physical treatment to improve compatibility with the polymer matrix. The present study investigates the tensile, flexural and impact behaviours of kenaf/recycled jute various lengths hybrid composites. The composite materials were made from treated kenaf bast fiber size of 1-6 mm by adding 20 wt% weight percentages of fiber in unsaturated polyester resin for flexural and impact test while 30 wt% for tensile properties. These specifications of weight fractions are due to maximum flexural, impact and tensile properties resulted from further relative study to this research. The hybrid composites were made via adding different fraction of recycle jute fiber with lengths of (10, 20 and 30) mm to kenaf fiber. Flexural strength and modulus of elasticity of composites for all formulations were investigated in this research. Results indicated that generally the flexural and impact properties of these various jute lengths composites systems were found to decrease significantly as the percentage of recycled jute various jute lengths was increased. Tensile strength, modulus of elasticity and elongation of kenaf composites were improved for a certain value of weight fraction and length of recycled jute. SEM test showed that incorporated different fiber dimensions in the composites, morphological changes take place depending upon interfacial interaction between the varying dimensions of fiber and the resin matrix.

Keywords: kenaf fiber, natural fiber composites, flexural strength, unsaturated polyester, impact strength, modulus of elasticity.

1. INTRODUCTION In the structural materials area, there is a growing interest in the use of natural/bio-fibers as reinforcing components with thermoplastics and thermosets polymer. Advantages of natural fibers are: low cost, low density, acceptable specific properties, ease of separation, enhanced energy recovery, CO2 sequesterization and biodegradability. The use of reinforced thermoset composites is being led by who have nearly doubled their use in the last decade. Reinforced polyester exhibits good weathering properties and heat and corrosion resistance, with good strength to weight ratios Drzal et al. (2004). The natural fibers such as kenaf and jute have the potential to be used as a replacement for synthetic fibers such as glass and carbon in composites these fibers are cheap and renewable. The incorporation of two or more types of fiber within a single matrix is known as hybridisation and the resulting material is referred to


45


as hybrid or hybrid composites. Several investigation are already reported in the field of natural fiber hybrid composites, Huda et al. (2006) evaluated the effect of the addition of silane-talc as the fillers on the mechanical and physico-mechanical properties of poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/recycled newspaper cellulose fibers (RNCF)/talc hybrid composites, the hybrid composites showed improved properties such as flexural strength and modulus. Mechanical properties of banana/kenaf hybrid composites subjected various chemical treatment such as Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) were compared by Thiruchitrambalam et al. (2009), the conclusion of the investigation was the SLS chemical treatment had provided better mechanical properties, for both the random mix and woven hybrid composites. Satish et al. (2010) their investigation was conducted to study the effect of hybrid composites specimen subjected to in-plane tensile and compressive loading, they concluded that the increase in shear stress is not only dependent on fiber strength but also on the interface between fiber and matrix material. The mechanical properties of hybrid composites have been investigated by Kuan et al (2009) and Mingchao et al. (2009). Results shown that increasing, the volume fraction of matrix can enhance the energy-absorbing characteristics of the hybrid composites, where increasing the amount of fiber increased the flexural modulus. The aim of the work presented here is to investigate the mechanical properties of kenaf/recycled jute various length unsaturated polyester composites, such that flexural, impact and tensile properties for specific weight fraction of kenaf size 1-6mm via adding different fraction of recycle jute fiber with lengths of (10, 20 and 30) mm to kenaf fiber. SEM test was carried out to investigate the possibility of combining a kenaf fiber reinforced unsaturated polyester with a recycled jute composites.

2. METHODS AND MATERIALS Unsaturated polyester (up) and Methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKP) were obtained from BORNEO INDAH SDN BHD Company. Kenaf natural fiber was received from the Kenaf Natural Fiber Industries Sdn. Bhd. Kenaf physical treatment was done by undergoing cleaning steps; the fiber was chopped using the decorticating machine. The round vibratory sieves (Unit Test) machine was used to separate the clod of chopped kenaf bast fiber for sieves with sizes 600 m. The resultant fiber lengths were (1-6) mm. Recycled jute sacks were purchased from a grocery store. Jute sacks had previously been used to store peanuts. Physical treatment was done and the fiber was chopped manually to three various lengths (10, 20, and 30mm). Fibers of different sizes were soaked separately in 6wt% concentration of NaOH solution in water where the temperature was maintained throughout at room temperature for 48 hours, fiber: liquor ratio was 1:7 (by weight). Fibres were rinsed several times to remove any NaOH solution sticking to the fiber surface and dried in an oven for 24 hours at 100 °C. This treatment consists on dissolving lignin and hemicelluloses in order to recover cellulose fibers. The process is less harmful and does not attack the fibers mechanically.

3. COMPOSITES FABRICATION Four composites formulations were produced as indicated in Table 1. A compression moulding process was used for fabrication process. Specimens with 20wt% weight percentage of fibres were fabricated for flexural and impact test, while 30wt% weight percentage of fibres were fabricated for tensile test. The prepared resins were blended to fiber size (1-6) mm and the hybrid kenaf and recycled jute for specific weight fraction of hybrid


46


fiber at three different sizes of recycled jute fiber. Certain composites specimens were then post cured in an oven for 5 hrs at 60 º C. 4. TESTS SETUP The tensile test specimens prepared in accordance with ASTM D608. A load cell of 50kN was selected for this test. The specimen was loaded in tension at a constant stroke rate of 5 mm/min. An extensometer of 50 mm gage length was mounted on the specimen for measurement of the strain, dumbbell shape (Type I) specimens with dimensions 165 mm of overall length, 13 mm width overall, 3 mm for thickness. Flexural strength was measured under a three-point bending approach using a universal testing T-machine according to ASTM D790. The dimensions of the samples were 127mm x 12.7mm x 3.2mm. The distance between the spans was 100mm, and the strain rate was 5 mm/min. Charpy impact test was used to measure the impact strength, the testing apparatus used is a pendulum type tester supplied by Lotus Scientific Sdn. Called LS-22 006-50J charpy impact tester with an initial energy of 50J at the initial height. The impact specimens’ dimensions were 10 x10 x 60 mm, with a v-notch 2 mm deep with 45 º angles on one side at the center. Impact test was done accordance to the ASTM E-23. Four specimens were tested for each case; the averages were reported as results.

Table 1 Composition of the studied formulations for flexural and impact tests

Composite code Unsaturated

polyester (%) Treated kenaf content (%)

Treated Recycled Jute content (%)

MEKP (%)

20WK and 30WK

60%UP + 40%ST

100 0

1

20,30W(75K-25J10mm) 75 25 20,30W(50K-50J10mm) 50 50 20,30W(25K-75J10mm) 25 75 20,30WJ10mm 0 100 20,30W(75K-25J20mm) 75 25 20,30W(50K-50J20mm) 50 50 20,30W(25K-75J20mm) 25 75 20,30WJ20mm 0 100 20,30W(75K-25J30mm) 75 25 20,30W(50K-50J30mm) 50 50 20,30W(25K-75J30mm) 25 75 20,30WJ30mm 0 100

5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Experimentations have been carried out to characterize the candidate kenaf composites material under different loading recycled jute various length with three different mechanical tests, the analysis of the results and the influence of various recycled jute length on the mechanical properties of kenaf/recycled jute unsaturated polyester composites are summarized in the following sections.


47


5.1 Tensile Properties The tensile properties of the composites are strongly influenced by the fiber length. The effect of the fiber ends plays an important role in the fracture of the short fiber composites. To accomplish the maximum level of stress in the fiber, the fiber length (Lf) must be at least equal to critical fiber length (Lc), the minimum length of fiber required for the stress to reach the fracture stress of fiber Sreenivasan et al. (2010). Matthews et al. (2005) explicated about a schematic representation of the situation, when the composites possessing fibers with a length below Lc above Lc and at Lc, under tensile loading. Therefore, it is very important to optimise the fiber length for a particular matrix-fiber system so the optimum value of properties can be obtained. The influence of recycled jute fiber length on the tensile properties of short kenaf/recycled jute unsaturated composites are shown in Figures 1 and 2. The tensile strength and modulus of elasticity increased with increasing the fiber length to 30mm. From Figure 1 we can easily found that the 75% of recycled jute length 30mm provide better improvement in the modules, the maximum improvement is about 17.8% when compared with modulus for kenaf unsaturated composites. While the maximum improvement for strength is about 29%. The elongation value was not found to have any considerable variation with recycled jute fiber length as shown in Figure 3.

5.2 Flexural Behaviour Results in Figures 4 and 5 exhibits the effects of recycled jute fiber various size loading, adding to specimens fabricated at different percentages to a 20% fiber weight percent of kenaf/recycled jute composites. Both flexural strength and modulus were found to decrease significantly as the percentage of recycled jute fiber various jute lengths was increased. This is due to poor matrix adhesion occurring, which means the jute fiber length increase is not well bonded by the matrix. The longer fibers with poor adhesion to the unsaturated polyester matrix created stress concentration zones, and this is suggested as a reason for the decrease of the flexural properties of the hybrid composites made with kenaf /recycled jute of various lengths. At a specific jute length and weight percent, for example 75% jute length 30mm length was the maximum value; it is observed that the flexural strength increased with increasing fiber length as Figure 5 explain. Figure 6 shows the variations of flexural strength and modulus with recycled jute fiber length of recycled jute unsaturated polyester composites. The flexural properties showed an increasing trend with the increase of fiber length. Critical length of the fiber in the composites could be calculated by Kelly and Tyson, s (1965) equation.

m

fc

DL

2 (1)

where Lc is the critical length, D is the fiber diameter, σf is the fiber fracture stress, and τm is the interface shear strength. The critical length of the jute fiber was 3.733 mm Shamsun Nahar et al (2011). The fiber, s critical length is the minimum length necessary for shear stress transfer through the fiber-matrix interface to generate a tensile stress high enough to fracture the fiber. Thus, for effective reinforcement, the jute fiber length should be larger than the critical length. This is the reason why the flexural properties showed high value at 30mm Cao et al (2006). The fiber below the value of critical length is possibly pulled out, not broken out in the flexural test Shibata et al. (2006).


48


0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

0 25 50 75 100

Jute Content (wt%)

Mo

du

lus

of

Ela

stic

ity (

GP

a)

Jute size 10mm Jute size 20mm

Jute size 30mm Kenaf size 1-6mm

Figure 1 Modulus of elasticity of kenaf composites and kenaf/recycled jute composites

consistent various lengths of recycled jute fiber

0

5

10

15

20

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30

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0 25 50 75 100

Jute Content (wt%)

Ten

sile

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engt

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Pa)



Figure 2 Tensile strengths of kenaf composites and kenaf/recycled jute composites consistent

various lengths of recycled jute fiber (constant fiber weight percent (30%))


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0

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Elo

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Figure 3 Tensile elongations of kenaf composites and kenaf/recycled jute composites consistent various lengths of recycled jute fiber (constant fiber weight percent (30%))

2.5

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3.3

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e M

odul

us (

GP

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Jute size 30mm

Jute size 10mm

Jute size 20mm

Figure 4 Flexural modulus curves of kenaf composites and kenaf/recycled jute composites at

various lengths of recycled jute fiber (constant fiber weight percent (20%))


50


30

35

40

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60

65

70

75

0 25 50 75 100

Jute Content (wt%)

Flex

ural

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ngth

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Figure 5 Flexural strength curves of kenaf composites and kenaf/recycled jute composites at various lengths of recycled jute fiber (constant fiber weight percent (20%))

2.5

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a)

-5

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65

Flexural Modulus

Flexural Strength

Figure 6 Flexural modulus curves of jute composites at various lengths of recycled jute fiber (constant fiber weight percent (20%))

5.3 Impact Properties Figure 7 shows the variation of impact strength with recycled jute fiber weight percent for kenaf/recycled jute unsaturated polyester composites with varying jute lengths. In these composites the total weight fraction of fiber is 20wt%. 0 wt% in x-axis of Figure 7 means the is


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Bilal

Highlight

no added jute fiber and it is 20wt% kenaf fiber, while 100wt% is 20wt% of Jute fiber. The impact strength of the composites was found to increase with increasing fiber length. Long fibers have a large absorption capacity, and distribution of impact energy occurs at high speed Sreenivasan et al. (2010). The increased impact resistance can be explained by the formation of a tortuous fracture path which retards crack propagation. Furthermore, increased polymer-fiber interaction will decrease interfacial tension and reduce chances of crack initiation at the interface. With increasing interfacial interaction there could also be more efficient energy transfer to fiber particles which would help dissipate this energy through breakage fiber Shenoy et al (2007). Therefore, impact strength of hybrid composites increases with increasing fiber length. However, after an optimum length of fiber which is 10mm, a large proportion of fiber will be pulled out of the matrix due to fiber entanglements compared to shorter lengths where fiber pull-out is the active fracture mechanism, thus leading to small decrease in impact strength as observed by Arib et al (2006). From Figure 7, it is observed that the maximum impact strength was 10.897 KJ/m2 at 50% weight fraction of recycled jute with fiber length 10mm. In addition; there was insignificant improvement in the impact strength at 30 mm recycled jute fiber length for all formulations. 6. MORPHOLOGY Figure 8 shows the SEM micrograph of the bending fractured surface of hybrid composite containing 20wt% fiber, 25wt% kenaf plus 75wt% jute fibers. In this case fiber fracture and pull out are noticed and the sudden failure of the bending specimen is causing the fiber to split; resulting in fine fibrils being exposed. It could be observed that in all cases the fibers are still embedded in the resin together with some cavities left by pulled-out fibers. Fiber cracking was observed in Figure 8 b. Morphological results evidently demonstrate that when polymer resin matrix is reinforced with the different fiber dimensions, morphological changes take place depending upon the interfacial interaction between the varying dimensions of fiber and the resin matrix.

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

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0 25 50 75 100

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Impa

ct S

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m2 )

Jute Size 10mmJute Size 20mmJute Size 30mm

Figure 7 Impact strength curves of jute composites at various lengths of recycled jute fiber (constant fiber weight percent (20%))


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Bilal

Highlight

a

b

Figure 8 SEM Micrograph of bending fractured surface of dry composites containing 20wt% fiber, 25wt% kenaf plus 75wt% jute fibers

7. CONCLUSIONS


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The results of the present study showed that the tensile, flexural and impact properties of kenaf/recycled jute unsaturated polyester composites, various length loading, adding to specimens fabricated at different percentage of recycled jute fiber were found to be dependent on the fiber length. Indicating a critical fiber length and maximum recycled jute fiber percent of 30mm and 75%, respectively provide better improvement in the modules of elasticity and tensile strength, however the elongation value was not found to have any considerable variation with recycled jute fiber length. The flexural properties of the hybrid composites decreased with increase of recycled jute fiber. The lower values of flexural properties may be attributed to fiber-to-fiber interaction, voids and dispersion problems. The flexural strength for recycled jute unsaturated polyester composites increased with increase of recycled jute fiber, in fact there was insignificant change in flexural properties for different length (10 and 20mm). The maximum value of impact energy which is 10.897 KJ/m2 at 50% weight fraction of recycled jute with fiber length 10mm, the maximum improvement is about 47% compared to kenaf unsaturated composites. SEM analysis showed that the interaction between the hybrid fibers and unsaturated polyester matrix is poor such that, fiber debonding, fiber pull-out, matrix fracture and fibers fracture occurring in short kenaf/recycled jute unsaturated polyester composites under bending loading.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors would like to express their gratitude to Swinburne University of Technology (SUT) for providing the financial support to this endeavour.

REFERENCES [1.] L. T. Drzal, A. K. Mohanty, R. Burgueno and M. Misra, “Biobased structural composite

materials for housing and infrastructure applications: opportunities and challenges”, NSF-PATH Housing research Agenda Workshop, Proceedings and Recommendation, pp. 129-140, 2004.

[2.] M. S. Huda, L. T. Drzal, A. K. Mohanty and M. Misra, “The effect of silane treated- and untreated-talc on the mechanical and physico- mechanical properties of poly (lactic acid)/newspaper fibers/talc hybrid composites”, Composites: Part B 38, pp. 367-379, 2007.

[3.] M. Thiruchitrambalam, A. Alavudeen, A. Athijayamani, N. Venkateshwaran and A. Elaya Perumal, “Improving mechanical properties of banana/kenaf polyester hybrid composites using sodium laulryl sulfate treatment”, Materials Physics and Mechanics, vol. 8,pp. 165-173, 2009.

[4.] K. G. Satish, B. Siddeswarappa and K. Mohamed Kaleemulla,”Characterization of in-plane mechanical properties of laminated hybrid composites”, Minerals & Materials Characterization & Engineering, vol.9, .no.2, pp.105-114, 2010.

[5.] H. T. Kuan, W. Cantwell and H. Dd Akil,” The mechanical properties of hybrid composites based on self-reinforced polypropylene, Malaysian Polymer, vol.4, no.2, pp.71-80, 2009.


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[6.] W. Mingchao, Z. Zuoguang and S. Zhijie, The hybrid model and mechanical properties of hybrid composites reinforced with different diameter fibers. Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites, vol.28, no.257, 2009.

[7.] V. S. Sreenivasan, D. Ravindran, V. Manikandan and R. Narayanasamy,” Mechanical properties of randomly oriented short sansevieria cylindrica fiber/polyester composites”, Materials and Design, vol.11, no.042, 2010.

[8.] F. L. Matthews and R. D. Rawlings, “Composites Materials”, Engineering and Science. 1 st ed. Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing Ltd. 169-73,310-11, 2005.

[9.] A. Kelly and W. R. J. Tyson, Mech. Phys. Solids 13, 329, 1965. [10.] Shamsun Nahar, R. A. Khan, K. Dey, B. Sarker, A. K. Das and S. Ghosha,

“Comparative studies of mechanical and interfacial properties between jute and bamboo fiber-reinforced polypropylene-based composites”, THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITE MATERIALS, Vol. 00—Month. DOI: 10.1177/0892705711404725, 2011.

[11.] Y. Cao, S. Shibata and I. Fukumoto, “Fabrication and flexural properties of bagasse fiber reinforced biodegradable composites”, Macromolecular Science, Part B, vol.45, no.4, pp.463-474, 2006.

[12.] S. Shibata, I. Fukumoto and Y. Cao, “Effects of fiber compression and length distribution on the flexural properties of short kenaf fiber- reinforced biodegradable composites”, POLYMER COMPOSITES, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 170 -176, 2006.

[13.] M. A. Shenoy and D. J. D. Melo, “Evaluation of mechanical properties of unsaturated polyester-guar gum/hydroxypropyl guar gum composites”, eXPRESS Polymer Letters, vol.1, no.9, pp. 622-628, 2007.

[14.] R. M. N. Arib, S. M. Sapuan,m. M. H. M. Ahmad, M.T. Paridah and H. M. D. Khairul Zaman, “Mechanical properties of pineapple leaf fiber reinforced polypropylene composites”, Mater Des, vol. 27, no. 5, pp.391-6, 2006.


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The Structural Behavior of Precast Lightweight Foamed Concrete Sandwich Panel Subjected to Eccentric Load

N. Mohamad1,a and S.L. Douvinda2,b

1,2Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, 86400 Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia.

[email protected], [email protected]

Abstract

The continuous awareness against the limited earth resources and global warming effect has urged the demand upon the technology that consumes less energy and dependencies to the natural resources. The progressive research upon this issue has initiated the idea of using Precast Lightweight Foam Concrete Sandwich Panel (PLFP) as an alternative to Industrialize Building System (IBS). The PLFP consist of two wythes that enclosed a layer of polystyrene which functioned as insulation layer. Steel bar of 9 mm will be used for the horizontal and vertical reinforcements and 6 mm steel bent at 45° will be used as shear truss connector. The purpose of this paper is to study the structural behavior of the PLFP panel under the eccentric load. The study will involved the relationship between the density, slenderness ratio, compressive strength, crack pattern and the comparison of the structural behavior of PLFP under axial and eccentric load. The testing on the two samples of PLFP under axial and eccentric load shows that the PLFP will have lower strength capacity when tested under eccentric load. Consideration on this particular aspect will increase the reliability on the PLFP application in the construction field.

Keywords: Lightweight Precast Concrete, Sandwich Panel, Load Bearing Wall, Axial Load, Eccentric Load, Compositeness

1. Introduction Precast concrete wall panel is part of new construction method that is being used to substitute the traditional method of using bricks and plaster. Instead of brick laying and plastering activities, the precast method is more convenient, cheaper, and only require half skills worker to handle it. Most importantly, the quality of production of factory built (precast) wall panel is secured with more manageable size, can be customized and can be produced in a larger scale in a short time. The Precast Lightweight Foamed Concrete Sandwich Panel, PLFP, studied in this report consists of foamed concrete as the outer layers and polystyrene as the core layer. The polystyrene functions as the core layers. The study is carried out to determine whether this panel has the required strength to act as a load bearing wall. Figure 1 shows a cross section of PLFP panel which is strengthened by the diagonal shear truss connectors tied to the main reinforcement. The horizontal and vertical reinforcemet were embedded in the foamed concrete wythes. N. Mohamad et al. (2011) investigated the structural behaviour of sandwich precast lightweight foamed concrete panel under axial load. It was observed that the experimental ultimate strength achieved are affected by the compressive strength of the foamed concrete forming the wythes, the presence of concrete capping at panel’s ends and the slenderness ratio, H/t. Specimens with capping at both ends recorded higher ultimate loads with no premature


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crushing. The results also indicated that a certain degree of compositeness is achieved in the panel. [2] The question arises on how this panel system behaves when it is subjected to eccentric load. Therefore, an investigation to study the structural behavior of Precast Lightweight Foamed Concrete Sandwich Panel or PLFP under eccentric load is undertaken. The comparison between the obtained results of the PLFP tested under axial and eccentric load will give the better understanding of the panel’s behavior. With this understanding, better approach can be taken to increase the strength capacity or the structural characteristic of the panel. The suitable alternative material can also be added or substitute to enhance the ability and strength capacity of the PLFP.

Fig. 1: PLFP panel with Shear Connectors [3]

2. Precast Sandwich Concrete Panel According to PCI Journal,1997, sandwich panel can be divided into three types; namely the non-composite panel, composite panel and semi-composite panel. These panels are categorized by its composite behavior under applied load. The non-composite panel act as two separated layer. Composite panel act as a single unit when it resists the applied load.. Semi-composite panel is the one with degree of compositeness in between the non-composite and the fully composite panels. [4] 2.1 Foamed Concrete

Foamed concrete is a type of cellular concrete. It is light in weight and therefore can be used in lightweight application. Foamed concrete can be produced in various density from 600 kg/m3 to approximately 1600 kg/m3. Compare to the normal concrete with the identical density, foamed concrete will have less amount of elasticity. It is due to the fact that foamed concrete has less compressive strength. The drying shrinkage or foamed concrete varies from 0.1% to 0.6% depend on the composition of the mixture or any aggregates used. Compared to the normal concrete, the resistance of foamed concrete toward fire is much better. The resistance to the fire will increase with the decreased density. Table 1 present the properties of foamed concrete. [5]

2.2 Shear Truss Connector The compositeness of the wall panel depend on how efficient the truss connector transfer the shear load. The sandwich panel with efficient connector to transfer shear force caused by bending between the outer and inner concrete is considered as fully composite panel. For the non-composite sandwich wall panel, the connector used in it will have low shear resistance and transfer minimal shear force between the two concrete layers. [6] According to PCI Journal,(1997), The connector use in the sandwich panel can come with many different sizes and shape such as Z-tie, C-tie, M-tie and cylindrical metal sleeve anchor, welded wire truss, and fiber composite pins. The selection of the type and shape of the


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connector depend on its particular function. For example, if the panel is cast and stripped in the flat position, the connector must have sufficient strength to resist tensional strength between the wythes during the stripping. [7] Fig. 2 shows the shear truss connector which is bent at 45˚ used in the PLFP panels in this experiment.

Table 1: Properties of Foamed Concrete

Fig. 2: Shear truss connectors used in PLFP panel 2.3 Insulation Layer The selection of the material for the insulation layer depend on the location of the site and operating condition. The PCI Journal stated that cellular insulation comes in two forms; namely, thermoplastic and thermosetting. The insulation layer used in this study is extended polystyrene which are cut into small pieces and inserted in between the foamed concrete wythe.

3. Experimental Programme


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The aim of the experiment is to compare the structural behavior of PLFP strengthened by d shear truss connector tested under axial and eccentric load. The structural behavior to be compared is in term of panel’s strength capacity , load-deflection profiles and the strain distribution across the mid-depth of panel.The specimens include two identical panels with 100 mm normal concrete capping at both of panel, 9 mm of horizontal and vertical reinforcements with the 20 mm polystyrene as the core layer. Table 2 presents the dimension and properties of the PLFP panels.

Table 2: Dimension and Properties of Panel Specmens

Specimen Dimension Density(kg/m3) Compressive Strength (N/mm2)

PLFP-1 2000 x 750 x 100 mm 1625 12 PLFP-2 2000 x 750 x 100 mm 1610 12.56

3.1 Material and Specification The wall panel is cast from foamed concrete layers as the outer layers (40 mm thickness each) which encloses a polystyrene layer (20 mm thick). It is reinforced by the steel reinforcement both in longitudinal and transverse position. The shear connectors between the steel reinforcement are continuous truss-shaped connector made of 9 mm diameter steel and it is bent at angle of 45°. The steel reinforcement then tied up with the shear connector. The polystyrene functions as an insulation layer. Fig. 3 shows the description on the side view of the PLFP panel.

Fig. 3: Description on the side view of the panel

The formwork used to cast the panel is a steel formwork with dimension 2000 mmx750 mmx130 mm. The steel reinforcement and shear connectors are placed first in the formwork. The concreting work started with preparing the quantity of materials that will be used. Cement and fine aggregates are mixed together in a concrete mixer. During this process, the foam which is generated using foaming generator will be added into the wet slurry.


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3.2 Testing of PLFP Panel

The panel are tested under increasing axial and eccentric load using Magnus Frame. It is pinned at the top and fixed at the bottom. Twelve strain gauges are located at the upper part, lower part and within the middle zone of the PLFP panel as shown in Fig. 4. These strain gauges are used to measure the strain distribution on the surface of the wall panel. Two Linear Voltage Displacement Transducer (LVDT) are placed in the middle of the each side of the wall panel. The function of these two LVDT is to measure the horizontal displacement of the wall panel. Every cracking are noted and marks with permanent marker to determine the failure profile of the wall panel. To clarify the cracking in the panel, the whole panel is paint with white colour.

Fig. 4: The arrangement of strain gauge and LVDT

The eccentric load is applied on the PLFP panel by applying constant horizontal preload of 2 kN at the mid-height of the panel as shown in Fig. 5. By doing this, the panel tends to experience bending toward one direction. The horizontal loading then stopped before the axial load is applied. The axial load applied is increased slowly until failure occurs.

Fig. 5: Preload applied on PLFP panel


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4.0 Result and analysis 4.1 Crack and Ultimate Load Table 3 presents the first crack load, ultimate load and maximum horizontal deflection achieved in each PLFP panel. Panel PLFP-1 which was tested under the axial load recorded an ultimate load of 280 kN and the first crack load of 200 kN. Meanwhile, panel PLFP-2 when tested under the eccentric load showed slightly lower strength which is 188 kN and the first crack load of 176 kN. This shows that panel tested under eccentric load have lower capacity to resist eccentric load and the rate of crack development is faster compared to the panel that undergo axial load. The usage of normal concrete capping in this experiment has worked very well when the PLFP failed as expected and not having any premature fail.

Table 3: Panel Testing Results

Specimen First Crack Load (kN) Ultimate Load (kN) Maximum Deflection (mm)

PLFP-1 176 188 4.235 PLFP-2 200 280 6.2

4.2 Load-horizontal deflection profiles Fig. 6 shows that both front and rear wythe of panel PLFP- 1 are seen to move in the same direction since the early stage of loading.. The result shows that this panel manage to reach a certain degree of compositeness before the first crack occured. When the applied load reached 150 kN, both front and rear curves started to move toward the opposite direction. For panel PLFP-2, the load deflection curve shows a linear relationship at the early stage of loading. However, the trend changes when the load continue to increase where the curve for both panels become nonlinear. Both the front and rear wythe of the panel seem to move in the same direction at the beginning. At later stage of loading, the two wythes deflect in the opposite direction.

Fig. 6: Load-deflection profile for PLFP-1 and PLFP-2

Fig. 6 also shows that the front LVDT recorded a higher deflection compared to the rear LVDT for both panels PLFP-1 and PLFP-2. Panel PLFP-2 experienced greater maximum deflection. This is because panel PLFP-2 under axial load is able to resist greater load compared to PLFP-2 under eccentric load.


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4.3 Load – Strain Relationship The results of the strain recorded show that panel PLFP-1 under axial load is dominated by compression. Fig. 7 shows that for panel PLFP-2, at the early stage of loading, the top of the panel tend to move toward the different direction which indicates that the panel experience tensile strain. On the other hand, the top part of PLFP-1 experienced compressive strain from the beginning until failure. At mid-height, both panels PLFP-1 and PLFP-2 experienced compressive strain with slight tensile within the middle right zone as shown in Fig.8. Fig. 9 shows that panel PLFP-2 experienced tensile strain within its right bottom part. Panel PLFP-1 experienced compression strain within its right and left bottom part. In general, panel PLFP-2 recorded higher strain values compared to panel PLFP-1.

Fig.7: Load-strain relationship within the upper part of panel (left and right)

Fig..8: Load-strain relationship within the midle part of panel (left and right)

Fig. 9: Load-strain relationship within the bottom part of panel (left and right)

4.4 Crack Pattern and crack mode Table 4 gives the crack pattern and failure mode of panel PLFP-1 and PLFP-2. In panel PLFP-1, crack occurred at lower part of top capping and also near the bottom part. Meanwhile, panel PLFP-2 experienced severe crack at mid-height both in vertical and horizontal direction. These cracks are caused by buckling due to eccentric load applied.

Table 4: Crack pattern and failure mode of panel


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5. Conclusion a. From the experimental results, PLFP panel tested under the eccentric load recorded lower strength capacity to resist the eccentric load. b. It is also noticed that the deflection due to the eccentric load has caused the panel to buckle in the direction opposite to the load. c. The deflection of the right and left wythe of the panel have shown that the panel has reached a certain degree of compositeness which concluded that the shear connector in the panel is efficient in transferring the applied load from one wythe to the other. d. The surface strain of the PLFP-2 under the eccentric load gave a very higher value of strain, which range from -0.005245 to 0.00092. In the eccentric test, the whole panel is dominated by the compression. Tensile strain is found within the right side of the bottom and top part of panel. e. PLFP-1 under axial load gives the greater maximum deflection compared to PLFP-2 under eccentric load. Both panels has shown that under axial and eccentric load, the panel have achieved certain degree of compositeness .

Acknowledgement The author would like to thank Uniersity Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia for its financial support. REFERENCE [1] Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) (2007). Construction Industry Master Plan Malaysia 2006-2015. Malaysian Construction Industry Development Board. [2] N. Mohamad, W. Omar and R. Abdullah, Precast Lightweight Foamed Concrete Sandwich Panel (PLFP) Tested Under Axial Load: Preliminary Results, Journal of Advanced Materials Research, Vols. 250-253, pp. 1153-1162 (2011). [3] A.D.M. Lindsay, Partially Composite Sandwich Panels. University of Alberta. Master Thesis (2003). [4] PCI Committee. (1977). State of the Art of Precast/Prestresses Sandwich Wall Panels. PCI Journal, 42(2), 92-133. [5] British Cement Association (1994). Foamed Concrete Composition and Properties. 165-168. British Cement Association. [6] Farah Nor Aznieta Abdul Aziz (2009). “Structural Behavior of Precast Concrete Sandwich Panels with Openings under Axial Load”. Journal of IEM, 65(1). [7] PCI Committee. (1977). State of the Art of Precast/Prestresses Sandwich Wall Panels. PCI Journal, 42(2), 92-133.


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Load Analysis and Response of Offshore Jacket Structure

Zulkipli Henry(1), Iberahin Jusoh(2), Amran Ayob(2)

(1) Postgraduate Student, FME, UTM, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia, [email protected] (2) Associate Professor, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, UTM, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia,

[email protected], [email protected]

Abstract

Any structures installed in the ocean are subjected to external loadings. These loadings can be gravity loads, environmental loads, seismic loads, hydrodynamic loads, and accidental loads. Physically the structural natural responses toward these loadings are in term of displacements and vibrations.

In this paper, the structural response toward external loading is estimated in term of stress utilization at structural component level. Stress utilization is a ratio of stress due to applied loading to the allowable stress of the member. The allowable stress is calculated based on the International Standards or Guidelines such as American Institute of Steel Construction, AISC, International Standard Organization, ISO, and American Petroleum Institute, API. Any installed structures are designed or reassessed to meet the requirement as stipulated in the international standards.

In this paper the type of loading on the structures normally considered in the structural design as well as structural reassessment, structural response toward the applied loadings and structural utilization checks that use to measure the level of stress on structural member were addressed. The structures are defined as code compliance if all the all structural components meet the code requirement such as stress utilization factor of less than 1.0. As for foundation, in addition to stress utilization check, the foundation is also check against the soil bearing capacity which is normally term as foundation utilization check. The foundation utilization is defined as ratio of summation applied loading against soil bearing capacity and must be less than 1.0. Particular case study on fixed offshore structure will be presented in the paper to demonstrate the load and response on the structures.

KeyWords: Offshore Jacket Structures, External Loading, Load Analysis, Structural

Response, Stress Utilization, Foundation Utilization.

1. INTRODUCTION

The fixed offshore structures are most commonly used to support the oil and gas exploration and production facilities. The world tallest fixed offshore structures ever built was the Bullwinkle platform in the Gulf of Mexico at the water depth of 412m and installed in year 1988.

All offshore jacket structures are subjected to external loadings such as gravity loads, environmental loads, hydrodynamic loads, accidental loads as well as seismic loads, snow or ice loads at certain sea locations. It is very important that all offshore jacket structures are sufficiently designed to resist these external loadings. Structural integrity analysis is performed during the design phase to evaluate the response of the offshore jacket structures toward the imposed external loadings. In this paper, the structural integrity analysis was performed by using Structural Analysis Computer System, SACS, software which is known for its ability to perform structural analysis for of fixed offshore structures. The SACS software presents the structural response toward external loadings in term of member stress utilization ratio and the structure is defined as code compliance if all members have stress utilization ratio of less than 1.0.


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In this paper, the external loadings normally consider in the design of fixed offshore jacket structures, structural response of the jacket structures and stress utilization check will further discuss through a selected case study.

2. STRUCTURAL MODELING

For the purpose to demonstrate how the structural integrity analysis of fixed offshore jacket structures is performed and also to investigate the response of the fixed offshore jacket structure toward external loadings, a 4 legged fixed offshore jacket structure is selected. Detailed description of the selected offshore jacket structure is described on Table 2.0. For easy reference let name the platform as Compression Platform A.

Table 2.0: General Description of Compression Platform A

Description

Water Depth 91.5m Number of Bays 5

Horizontal framing Elev. (+) 8.10m 14.430m x 20.358m Horizontal framing Elev. (-) 9.00m 17.850m x 23.208m Horizontal framing Elev. (-) 31.50m 22.350m x 26.958m Horizontal framing Elev. (-) 58.00m 27.650m x 31.375m Horizontal framing Elev. (-) 88.90m 33.830m x 36.525m

Jacket Leg Batter 7.26:1 Number of Legs 4 Numbers

Pile Size 1.3716m Outer Diameter Tubular Pile Penetration Depth 110m from seabed

Type of pile Insert through the jacket legs Location South China Sea

The jacket structural members can be group as horizontal members, diagonal members and jacket legs. The horizontal members consisted of tubular 406mm Outer Diameter, O.D, x 13mm Wall Thickness, W.T., 508mm O.D x 13mm W.T and 610mm O.D x 13mm W.T. The diagonal members are made up of tubular member 610mm O.D x 22mm W.T and 762mm O.D x 13mm W.T. The jacket legs have tubular size of 1486mm O.D. x 19mm W.T and 1497mm O.D x 25mm W.T. The jacket structure is designed with batter legs to provide stability to the structure and to resist overturning moment induced by environmental loading, i.e. wave, current and wind loads. The Compression Platform A is modeled in Structural Analysis Computer System, SACS, as 3D-space frame. All primary members are modeled. There are four categories of structural members in the model:

1) Jacket primary structures. 2) Topside Structures 3) Appurtenances such as caisson 4) Foundation – pile / soil interaction modelled by means of P-Y, T-Z and Q-Z soil

curves. The schematic view of the Compression Platform A is shown on Figure 2.0.


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Figure 2.0: 3-D Space Frame Model of Compression Platform A

The appurtenances such as caisson is considered as non-structural member and models as “dummy” member. The Dummy members are those members that are not contribute to the overall stiffness of the platform but instead been model for the purpose to attract wave loading. The total weight of the topside and jacket structures is 3980.4Tonnes and 2079.8Tonnes respectively. Each element made up of 2 nodes. Each node has six degree of freedom, x, y, z directions and rotation about x, y, z axis. Detailed illustration of an element is as per Figure 2.1

Figure 2.1: General Model of Structural Element

The materials used for jacket structures are high strength materials with minimum yield strength, , of 345 N/mm2.Furthermore, material properties use in the jacket modeling is tabulated on Table 2.2. In the offshore jacket structures design practice, the jacket members at the splash zone area are provided with extra steel thickness to compensate the effect of metal lost due to corrosion that may occur on this area throughout the service life to the platform

MSL

Jacket Structure

Topside Structure

Appurtenances

Jacket Leg

Diagonal Member

Horizontal Member

Seabed

Elev. (+) 8.1m

Elev. (-) 9.0m

Elev. (-) 31.5m

Elev. (-) 58.0m

Elev. (-) 88.9m


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Table 2.1: Materials Properties Description Properties Values

Steel

Density 7,850 kg/m3 Modulus of Elasticity 210,000 MPa

Shear Modulus 77,000 MPa Poisson’s Ratio 0.3

Sea water Density 1025 kg/m3 Marine Growth Density in air (dry) 1400 kg/m3

For the Compression Platform A jacket structure, 3.0mm additional steel thickness was added to all members at the splash zone area. In this exercise, the splash zone area is covering elevation from Elevation 3.0m below mean sea level, MSL, to Elevation 5.0m above MSL.

Realistically all offshore jacket structures have marine growth developed on all the structural members below the MSL throughout the platform life. The marine growth on the jacket structures attracts additional environmental loading and its contribution to the overall loading on the jacket structure is significant and must be included in the design of the offshore jacket structure. In this paper, the Shell Malaysia Exploration and Production, SMEP, guidelines on the marine growth profile for design of fixed offshore structures is adopted [3]:

Table 2.3: Marine Growth Profile

Depth, m (ft) Marine growth layer thickness, mm

(inches) From To MSL - 12.0 (- 40) 100 (4)

- 12.0 (- 40) - 21.0 (- 70) 50 (2) - 21.0 (- 70) Mudline 0 (0)

3. LOADING FORMULATION

The fixed offshore platforms are normally design for service life of 25 to 30 years. Throughout its service life, the platforms are exposed to several types of loadings such as gravity loads (i.e. Dead loads and Live loads), hydrostatic loads, environmental loads (i.e. winds, currents and waves loads), accidental loads (i.e. boat impact, dropped object, fire and explosion) and earth quake loads (for those platforms located at the earthquake region). Overview of external loads acting on the fixed offshore platforms is illustrated on Figure 3.1. In this paper, the structural analysis only considers the Gravity loads, the hydrostatic loads and the environmental loads which permanently acting on the platforms. The fixed offshore platforms assessment due to accidental loads or seismic loads are carried out in separate assessment which requires more advance analysis method such as non-linear push over analysis. 3.1. Gravity Loading

Gravity loads is consisted of Dead Loads and Live Loads. The Dead Loads is defined as imposed load on the platforms for long period of time such as structural steels jacket and topside structures, production equipment, hydrostatic loads and etc. Live Loads are those loads that exist temporarily on the platforms for example weight of consumable during maintenance works, helicopter weight, mooring loads and future loads for activities on the platforms. The gravity load normally contributes in the range of 60% to 70% of the total imposed on the platforms.


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Figure 3.1: Overview of external loads acting on the fixed offshore platforms

3.2. Environmental Loads

Environmental loads are due to wind, current and wave acting on the platforms. Combination of current and wave loads contribute about 90% of the total environmental load and 10% is due to the winds. The environmental loading contributes in the range of 30% to 40% of the total loading on the offshore platforms and their contribution normally translated into the Overturning Moment, OTM, and Base Shear, BS, of the jacket structures. The guideline used to estimate the wave, current and wind is based on the American Petroleum Institute, API, Recommended Practice, RP, 2A-LRFD and DNV Recommended Practice, DNV-RP-C205. The following sections discuss more detailed on the environmental loadings. 3.2.1. Wind Loads The wind force exerted on the structure at elevation Z, can be calculated as below relationship [1].

Fwind(Z) = (p/2).(U)2.Cs.A (1)

Where,

Fwind (Z) = Wind Force at Elevation, Z, N or lb

p = mass density of the air (at standard temperature and pressure = 1.226kg/m3 )

U = Wind Speed, m/s or ft / s

Cs = Shape coefficient associate with the geometry/shape.

A = Area of object, m2 or ft2


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3.2.2. Wave and Current Loads The wave and current forces impose on offshore jacket structures is calculated based on the Morison’s Equation which was developed by Morison, O’Brien, Johnson and Shaaf in 1950 [4]. The Morison’s Equation is consisted of two components namely Inertia and Drag components and can be expressed mathematically as below:

. (2)

Where;

= Mass density of seawater, kg/m3

= Projected area normal to the cylinder axis per unit length (= Diameter, D, for circular

cylinder), m

= Drag coefficient

=water particle velocity acting normal to the axis of the member, m/sec

= Diameter of circular cylinder unit length (including marine growth), m

= Inertia coefficient

=water particle acceleration acting normal to the axis of the member, m/sec2

The water particle velocity and acceleration can be calculated based on several wave theories and the most well known wave theories are Airy wave theory, Stoke wave theory and Stream Function wave theory. The API-RP-2A-LRFD [1] shows graphically the applicability of various wave theories as a function of wave steepness and water depth.

For typical fixed offshore platforms design and reassessment, the global wave forces are calculated base on the API [1] recommended values of CD and Cm;

Smooth Surface: = 0.65, = 1.6

Rough Surface: = 1.05, = 1.2 The Morison’s Equation has its own limitation that engineer should know:

a) The Morison’s Equation is only applicable for tubular members.

b) The Morison’s Equation is only valid for structural member with diameter much

smaller compared to the wave length, (i.e. . If the size of the

structural member is sufficiently large as compare to wave length, the waves are scattered or diffracted.

The most common current profile to be adopted for the design of fixed offshore structures at the South China Sea environment is the ‘1/7’ Power-Law Current Profile. This current profile is more applicable for tidal generated current at shallow water and more conservative for deeper water. The ‘1/7/ Power-Law Current Profile can be expressed mathematically by the following relationship [2]:


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for (3)

Where:

... Total current velocity at elevation z

... Current velocity at the still water level

... Water depth to still water level

... Distance from still water level (taken as Negative below Still Water Level).

The metocean data used for the structural analysis is shown on Appendix A, Table A.1.

3.3. Analysis Procedure

To structural response of the fixed offshore jacket structures toward the external loading is assessed by performing in-place static analysis by using SACS software. The analysis is performed based on API [1] and SMEP guideline [3]. The fixed offshore platforms are analyzed for operating and extreme storm conditions. The operating condition is to cater for day-to-day in-service condition whereas the extreme storm condition is to assess the platform for it robustness to withstand the extreme weather condition. The main different between operating and extreme storm condition is on wave height, current velocities, wind speed and wave period. The operating and extreme storm environmental criteria used for the analysis per as below;

(i) Operating Case : 1-month return period (Independent Metocean criteria) (ii) Storm/Survival Case : 100-year return period (Joint Metocean criteria)

Detailed metocean criteria used for the analysis is tabulated on Table A.1 of Appendix A. Each member, joint and foundation component of the jacket structures are strength checked against the following loading condition:

(i) 100-year storm with maximum topside load, (ii) 100-year with minimum topside load, (iii) Operating condition with maximum topside loading (iv) Calm sea condition (i.e. gravity loading only).

These load combinations is considered to ensure the full spectrum of loading conditions to be expected to act on the jacket structure throughout its service life such as maximum loading under compression for both extreme storm and operating conditions, maximum loading under tension and the impact of gravity loading are assessed. In order to maximize the loading on the jackets structural members and foundation, the wave, current and wind are applied in eight directions namely 0, 45, 90, 135, 180, 225, 270 and 315 degree directions. These are to ensure all member utilizations, joint utilizations and foundation utilizations were performed against worst case scenario. Detailed direction of the environmental loading is shown on Figure 3.2.


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Figure 3.2: Directional Wave and Current Loading on the Compression Platform A

3.4. Structural Response and Discussion

The degree of structural response toward external loadings is represented by the level of stress on each jacket structural member. The degree of stress utilization for each of jacket structural members is checked using interaction ratio as recommended in the Section D of API-2A-RP-LRFD [1].

Combined Tension and Bending:

(4)

Combined Compression and Bending:

(5)

And

(6)

And

Shear:

(7)

Where;

= bending stress about member z-axis (out-of-plane) and y-axis(in-plane) due to factored load

, = Nominal bending strength, nominal axial compressive strength and

nominal shear strength.

= nominal inelastic local buckling strength


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= nominal yield strength

, = axial tensile stress, axial compressive stress and maximum shear stess

Cmy, Cmz = Reduction factors corresponding to member y and z axes, respectively.

Fey, Fez = Euler buckling strengths corresponding to the member y and z axes respectively, in stress units.

= resistance factors for shear strength, axial compression and axial

tensile and nominal bending strength

Based on the structural analysis output, the total topside gravity loads is about 66258.0kN (6756 Tonnes).The in-place structural analysis of the jacket structure is to determine the structural response of the jacket toward the environmental and gravity loads. The summation of the environmental loadings on the jacket structures is translated into the overturning moment, OTM, and base shear, BS at the mudline. The corresponding BS and OTM for different wave directions are presented in Figure 3.3 and Figure 3.4.

Based on these figures, the maximum BS and OTM are occurred at the wave attack from 180 degree except for base shear under storm condition occurs at 0 degree. The maximum BS and OTM occur at these wave directions are because at this wave attack direction, the jacket exposed surface area is larger than any other directions. Thus, more wave and current loading are been attracted. In general, there is significant increased in the BS and OTM as result of wave height increment from 6.70m to 11.60m (refer to Table A.1). The percentage increment of base shear is ranging from 65.38% to 69.65% with an average of 67.59% and the percentage increment of OTM is ranging from 70.55% to 81.40% with an average increment of 76.26%. This indicates that the jacket is wave dominated structures.

Figure 3.3: Base Shear vs. Wave Directions

3071.1kN

1815.1kN


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Figure 3.4: Overturning Moment vs. Wave Directions

The degree of structural response toward the operating and extreme conditions is represented by the level of stress on the structure and it is quantified by using interaction ratio as per the API-2A-RP-LRFD [1]. All members are complied (i.e. Unity check less than 1.0) with code requirement with maximum unity check of 0.75 under operating condition and occurs at jacket leg (Refer to Figure 3.5). The joints check which is assessed based on the Section E in API-RP-2A-LRFD [1], indicate all joints are complied with code requirement with maximum UC of 0.5 occurs at joint 5508 (Refer to Figure 3.5). It is shown that high UCs members and joints are located within wave zone area where the most loaded area of the jacket structure is located. Another area of potential high stress area is at the bottom of the jacket structures where the fixity of the jacket is located.

Figure 3.5: Summary of Unity Check of Compression Platform A

In addition to member and joint checks, piles are also need to be check because all topside loads and environmental loads are transferred to the piles. The piles should be designed with sufficient capacity to resist all the external or applied loads. Table 3.1 below summarised the pile check due to all the external loads acting on the jacket structure. Based on the analysis

241580.4kN

133628.6kN

Member 6105-7590: UC = 0.75

Joint 5508: UC = 0.75

PN

A

B

2

1

Member 6195-7610: UC = 0.75


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results all the piles are in compliance with code requirement and have sufficient capacity to resist the applied external loadings. The highest stress and pile capacity utilization ratio are 0.515 and 0.887 respectively which shows the piles design is quite robust to cater for further additional loading or any future modifications on the platform.

Table 3.1: Pile Stress and Capacity Checks

Pile Row Load Condition Max Stress Check Pile Utilization Check

*A1

Smax 0.487 (135 deg) 0.713 (180 deg)

Smin 0.359 (90 deg) -

OPER 0.481 (135 deg) 0.846 (135 deg)

CALM 0.205 0.602

*A2

Smax 0.515 (225 deg) 0.739 (180 deg)

Smin 0.347 (270 deg) -

OPER 0.518 (225 deg) 0.887 (225 deg)

CALM 0.268 0.686

*B1

Smax 0.476 (45 deg) 0.697 (0 deg)

Smin 0.344 (45 deg) -0.011 (225 deg)

OPER 0.468 (45 deg) 0.833 (45 deg)

CALM 0.177 0.571

*B2

Smax 0.489 (315 deg) 0.722 (315 deg)

Smin 0.318 (270 deg) -

OPER 0.49 (315 deg) 0.872 (315 deg)

CALM 0.238 0.645

NOTE: * Refer to Figure 3.5 for clarification

Smax =Extreme Storm condition with Maximum Topside Load

Smin = Extreme Storm condition with Minimum Topside load

OPER = Operating condition with Maximum Topside Load

CALM = Calm sea condition with Maximum Topside Load

4. Conclusions

In conclusion based on the structural analysis results, the jacket of the Compression Platform A design is complied with code requirement with sufficient robustness to withstand either in-service condition or extreme condition. The most critical members based on the analysis results is at jacket leg A2 and B2 (refer to Figure 3.5 and Figure 2.0) at elevation 8.1m above MSL with stress utilization ratio of 0.75. The most loaded pile is Pile A2 with pile stress and capacity utilization ratio of 0.518 and 0.887. The most critical joint is Joint No. 5508 located at elevation 8.1m above MSL. It can be seen here that the highly stress elements are located within the wave zone area where is the highest wave loading area of the jacket structure.

The maximum BS and OTM experience by the jacket structure are 3071kN and 241580.4kN respectively. There is a significant increased in BS and OTM due to increase in wave height from 6.7m (operating condition) to 11.6m (extreme storm condition). The increment in BS and OTM is about 67% and 76% respectively which shows the jacket structure is wave dominated structure.

REFERENCES

[1] API-RP-2A-LRFD: Planning, Design, Construction Fixed Offshore Platforms – Load Resistance Factor Design, 1st Edition, July, 1993.


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[2] DNV-RP-C205: “Environmental Condition and Environmental Load”, October 2010. [3] SES 10.1 Rev. 4, Fixed Offshore Steel Structures”, April 2005 [4] S.K. Chakrabarti, “Hydrodynamic of Offshore Structures”, Computational Mechnics

Publication, Southampton Boston, 1987 [5] S.K. Chakrabarti, “Hydrodynamic of Offshore Structures”, 1987. [6] SACS: Precede Release 6 User’s Manual, Engineering Dynamic, Inc., 2005.

APPENDIX A

Table A.1: Metocean Data

Parameter 100-yr return period JOINT Criteria

1-month Operating Independent Criteria

Sig. Wave height, Hs ( )

6.10 3.50

Mean zero crossing period, Tz ( )

8.60 6.50

Peak period, Tp (central), (s) 12.20 9.20

Hmax ( )

11.60 6.70

Ass. Period, Tass (lower, central, upper) (s)

10.1, 11.30, 12.4 7.6, 8.50, 9.4

Current speed profile* (m/s)

1.00*d (Surface)

0.75*d

0.50*d

0.30*d

0.10*d

0.05*d

0.01*d (Seabed)

0.90

0.72

0.54

0.54

0.39

0.30

0.06

1.01

0.97

0.91

0.85

0.73

0.66

0.52

Mean hourly wind speed, (m/s) 15.0 16.6

1-minute wind, (m/s) 20.7 23.0

Wave kinematics factor 0.893 1.0

Load safety factor, γE 1.56 (Manned)* 1.20**

Note: * This value is derived from Metocean data for South China Sea

** This value is derived is based on the API RP 2A-LRFD, July 1, 1993.


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Rheology Characteristics of Asphalt Binder Containing Warm Asphalt Additive

Mohd Ezree Abdullah1, Mohd Rosli Hainin2, Kemas Ahmad Zamhari3, Madi Hermadi4, Nafarizal Nayan5 and Zhanping You6

1, 3-4Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Malaysia, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] 2Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Malaysia, [email protected]

5Faculty of Electric and Electronic Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Malaysia, [email protected]

6Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological University, United States, [email protected]

Abstract

Recently, the asphalt industry is making a tremendous effort in reducing fuel consumption and emissions in plants by addition of warm asphalt additive (WAA). Several studies have been conducted evaluating the properties of the warm mix asphalt; however, little documented research on the rheology of the binders containing WAA is available especially when dealing the sources of binders. In this paper, rheology characteristics of the Malaysian asphalt binder containing WAA were conducted using rotational viscosity test and dynamic mechanical analysis using a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR). The results of the investigation indicate that the WAA had a significant reduction of required heat for mixing and compaction effort and also shows lower permanent deformation when compared to the base binders.

Keywords: warm asphalt additive (WAA), warm mix asphalt (WMA), viscosity, dynamic shear rheometer (DSR), rheology, asphalt binder

1. INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, due to the rising of energy prices and global warming, many agencies are also looking forward to implement some innovations in pavement construction that towards to Green Culture. One of the latest innovations is warm mix asphalt (WMA) introduced in the last few years, which can lower the production and placement temperature without sacrificing the quality of the resulting pavement. Warm WMA is an asphalt mixture which is mixed at temperatures lower than conventional hot mix asphalt. Typically, the mixing temperatures of warm mix asphalt range from 100 to 140 0C (212 – 280 0F) compared to the mixing temperatures of 150 – 180 0C. The technology of WMA began in Europe aimed to reduce the greenhouse gases in response to Kyoto agreement. Since then, it gradually gained popularity worldwide due to the increased environmental awareness and rising energy costs. This WMA technology can decrease the energy consumption and emissions by reducing the mixing and compaction temperatures of the asphalt mixture [1-7]. The concept driving warm mix technologies is the reduction in asphalt binder viscosity, which allows the asphalt to attain suitable viscosity for coating of the aggregate and compaction of the mix at lower temperatures. The advantages of WMA are briefly summarized as (1) Lower plant emission and fumes; (2) Reduce energy consumption and saving costs; (3) Improve workability and compaction efficiency; (4) Quick turnover to traffic due to reduced cooling time [7-10]. As mentioned earlier, the lower production and compaction temperature make WMA take less curing time before opening to traffic than HMA. This favors WMA as a better choice for airport pavement rehabilitation to realize quick turnover to traffic since runways cannot be


76


closed for a prolonged time from the economic standpoint, and usually only a few hours after the operation can be arranged for rehabilitation works [7]. Currently, there are four major types of WMA technologies are available: (1) Foaming bitumen technology where foaming is caused by water. The foaming of bitumen is evoked by spraying water into hot bitumen or by mixing the wet sand into asphalt mixture, (2) Foaming bitumen technology where foaming is caused by natural or synthetic zeolite injection into asphalt mixture during mixing process, (3) Organic additives for the reduction of bitumen viscosity. Additives are injected into asphalt mixer together with mineral materials and, (4) Chemical additives for the reduction of bitumen viscosity. Additives are injected into binder before binder is placed in asphalt mixer [11] Cecabase RT and Rediset are examples of organic and chemical additives in WMA productions. Cecabase is a product of Arkema Group, France is an organic additive which is liquid at 25°C used as an additive in the production of the WMA. The Cecabase RT® additive acts at the interface between mineral aggregate and asphalt, in a similar way that a surfactant acts at an interface between water and asphalt that does not significantly change the rheological properties of asphalt. Cecabase RT 945 enables to reduce the asphalt mix production and lay down temperature by 20 to 40°C and keeps the same mechanical properties as a standard HMA [12-13]. Meanwhile, Rediset WMX was introduced in 2007 to mitigate the perceived deficiencies of then current warm mix technologies. In particular the system was designed to solve potential problems with the effects of water on warm mixes; the reduced stiffness in warm mixes compared to hot mix; and with the uncertain low temperature properties. Rediset falls in the chemical group of asphalt modifiers which do not involve the addition of water to the system. Rediset comprises a dry chemical additive in solid pastillated form which is added to the bitumen before or during the mixing process [14]. 1.1 Research objectives and scope The main objective of this study was to examine the rheological properties of asphalt binders containing Rediset as warm asphalt additive (WAA) through Superpave asphalt binder tests. The control and modified asphalt binders were then artificially aged using rolling thin film oven (RTFO) and pressure aging vessel (PAV) procedures. The viscosity properties for the binders in the original state, the rutting properties in the original state and after RTFO aging and the fatigue cracking properties at intermediate temperature after RTFO + PAV aging methods were evaluated.

2. MATERIAL AND METHODS

2.1 Sample modification In this study, base asphalt binder used was PG 64 from Kemaman Bitumen Company, one of major sources in Malaysian mixing plant operations. 400 g of asphalt binder was heated to become a fluid in an iron container, and then upon reaching 150 0C, Rediset® as warm asphalt additive was added at 1, 2, 3 and 4 percent by weight of base asphalt binder. All the modified asphalt binders were prepared using a Silverson-L4RT high shear mixer at speed of 2000 rpm for 10 minutes at 150 - 160 0C.


77


2.2 Rotational viscosity test [15] This method is used to determine the viscosity of asphalt at application temperatures. The measured viscosity at elevated temperatures can be used to determine whether the binder can be handled and pumped at the refinery, terminal, or hot mix asphalt plant facility. Measurements of viscosity can be used to estimate mixing and compaction temperatures for use in hot mix asphalt mix design. The rotational viscometer (RV) test was used to evaluate the difference in viscous behavior between the control and modified asphalt binder. The temperatures over which the RV test was conducted were 120, 135, 150, and 165 and 180 0C using a Brookfield viscometer (Model DV-II+, Brookfield Engineering Inc., USA). When the temperature was set at desired temperature, the no.27 spindle was lowering into the sample chamber which containing 10.5 g of asphalt binder. Normally, the selected temperature wil equilibrate after 15–30 min (lab practice showed that the usual equilibrium time is 18 min). At least three readings were subsequently recorded between the 18th and 21st min of the test for each evaluated temperature. The dynamic viscosity at each temperature is the arithmetic mean of these three readings [16]. 2.3 Dynamic Shear Rheometer Test (AASHTO TP5) A stress-controlled HAAKE dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) was used with 25 mm parallel plates to characterize the mechanical properties of the control and modified asphalt binders prepared under temperatures ranging from 46 0C to 70 0C and loading frequency at 10 rad/s (1.59 Hz) (ASTM D7175). During testing, samples were conducted in a control and homogeny environment. The Superpave performance grading (PG) testing protocol (ASTM-D6373) was used to evaluate the control and modified asphalt binder samples [17]. High service temperature (HT) for a binder is determined as the temperature at which the G*/Sin is greater than 1 kPa for unaged binder and greater than 2.2 kPa for the rolling thin film oven aged condition (RTFO) (ASTM-D2872) [18]. In addition to the performance requirements at high and low service temperature; there is a limiting maximum stiffness at the intermediate service temperature (IT) to alleviate fatigue cracking, at which the binder’s G*Sin after pressurized aging vessel (PAV) (ASTM-D6521) aged binder condition does not exceed 5000 kPa [19-21].

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Rotational viscosity

The rotational viscometer (RV) test was used to evaluate the difference in viscous behavior which is considered to be one of important properties since it represents the ability of the binder’s to be pumped through an asphalt plant, thoroughly coat the aggregate in asphalt concrete mixture, and be placed and compacted to form a new pavement surface [3, 20]. Figure 1 shows the experimental values of the viscosities of asphalt binder containing WAA (Rediset) at different setting temperatures. The results clearly showed that the addition of Rediset into virgin binder decreased the binder’s viscosity, compared to the control recycled binder (Rediset 0%). This finding was consistent when the percentages of Rediset were increased except for 1% and 2% where the trends were almost similar when the temperatures increased from 1350C to 1650C due to the filling effect of the additive.


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Figure 1: Rotational viscosity plots for asphalt binder containing different WAA content

3.2 High Failure Temperature

The higher failure temperature values from the DSR test demonstrate that the binders are less susceptible to permanent deformation at high pavement temperature [3, 20]. Figures 2 and 3 show the high failure temperature of asphalt binder modified with WAA in original state (i.e., unaged) and after RTFO aging. In general, the asphalt binders containing WAA resulted lower failure temperature than the control recycled binders for both unaging and RTFO aging conditions. The failure temperature also decreased when the percentage of Rediset were increased.

0.1

1

10

110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180

Visc

osity

, Pa•

s

Temperature, C

Rediset 0%

Rediset 1%

Rediset 2%

Rediset 3%

Rediset 4%

Mixing Temperature Range

Compaction Temperature Range

60.0

62.0

64.0

66.0

68.0

70.0

Rediset 0% Rediset 1% Rediset 2% Rediset 3% Rediset 4%

Failu

re T

empe

ratu

re (0 C

)

Figure 2: High failure temperature of unaged asphalt binder containing different WAA content


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3.3 Rutting Resistance

The physical characteristics of a typical asphalt binder are more susceptible to rutting at a high-service temperature when it has a lower viscosity and are more likely to creep under heavy traffic loads. In Superpave specifications, G*/sin from the DSR test is used as a key factor to define the permanent deformation of an asphalt binder at a high-performance temperature [20, 22-23]. In Figures 4 and 5, all G*/sin values are higher than 1.0 kPa (unaged condition) and 2.2 kPa (RTFO aging condition) at 640C. The G*/sin for unaged and RTFO aging value decreases as the percentage of WAA increases.

66.0

68.0

70.0

72.0

74.0


0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800


Failu

re T

empe

ratu

re (0 C

) G

*/si

n

(kPa

)

Figure 4: G*/sin of unaged asphalt binder containing WAA at 64 0C

Figure 3: High failure temperature of short term aged asphalt binder containing different WAA content


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3.4 Fatigue Resistance

The lower G*.sin values are generally considered to be desirable characteristic from the standpoint of fatigue cracking resistance [3, 20]. The G*.sin values of asphalt binders containing WAA after conditioned (RTFO + PAV residual) were determined using the DSR at 25 0C and the results are illustrated in Figure 6. The G*.sin values were found to be 2897, 2455, 2190, 2088, and 1837 kPa for the binders of PG 64 (Control: Rediset 0%), Rediset 1%, Rediset 2%, Rediset 3% and Rediset 4%, respectively.

From the results, it is predicted that the asphalt binders containing WAA have possible higher resistance on fatigue cracking at intermediate temperature compared to the control virgin binder without the additives. It seems that WAA were very effective on increasing resistance to fatigue cracking of the binder. It is believed that the effect of chemical reaction between

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000


0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500


G*/

sin

(kPa

)

G*.

sin

(kPa

)

Figure 5: G*/sin of RTFO aging asphalt binder containing WAA at 64 0C

Figure 6: G*.sin of RTFO+PAV aging asphalt binder containing WAA at 25 0C


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Rediset and virgin binder makes the binder less stiff and more elastic which can be able to dissipate energy by rebounding; not cracking.

4. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

In this limited study, a series of Superpave binder tests were carried out using the rotational viscometer and DSR for modified asphalt binder to determine the properties of the binders. From these test results, the following can be concluded.

(1) Rediset was observed to be effective on maintaining the rutting and fatigue resistance at the same temperature with base asphalt binder (measured from the DSR test at a high temperature).

(2) The addition of Rediset significantly decreased the viscosity of asphalt binders. In other words, the addition of warm asphalt additive can reduce the mixing and compaction temperature but maintains the performance properties of the base binder.

(3) It is suggested that the optimum percentage of Rediset as WAA is between 1 – 2 percent by weight of base asphalt binder.

(4) It is recommended to extend a study in assessing the performance of WMA mixtures containing Rediset as WAA.

REFERENCES

1. T. Gandhi and S. Amirkhanian. Laboratory Simulation of Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) Binder Aging Characteristics. 2008. Bellevue, Washington, USA: ASCE.

2. H. Kim, S.-J. Lee, and S.N. Amirkhanian, Rheology of warm mix asphalt binders with aged binders. Construction and Building Materials, 2011. 25(1): p. 183-189.

3. S.-J. Lee, S.N. Amirkhanian, N.-W. Park, and K.W. Kim, Characterization of warm mix asphalt binders containing artificially long-term aged binders. Construction and Building Materials, 2009. 23(6): p. 2371-2379.

4. L. Shang, S. Wang, Y. Zhang, and Y. Zhang, Pyrolyzed wax from recycled cross-linked polyethylene as warm mix asphalt (WMA) additive for SBS modified asphalt. Construction and Building Materials, 2011. 25(2): p. 886-891.

5. C. Akisetty, F. Xiao, T. Gandhi, and S. Amirkhanian, Estimating correlations between rheological and engineering properties of rubberized asphalt concrete mixtures containing warm mix asphalt additive. Construction and Building Materials, 2011. 25(2): p. 950-956.

6. C.K. Akisetty, S.-J. Lee, and S.N. Amirkhanian, High temperature properties of rubberized binders containing warm asphalt additives. Construction and Building Materials, 2009. 23(1): p. 565-573.

7. K. Su, R. Maekawa, and Y. Hachiya, Laboratory evaluation of WMA mixture for use in airport pavement rehabilitation. Construction and Building Materials, 2009. 23(7): p. 2709-2714.

8. F. Xiao, W. Zhao, T. Gandhi, and S.N. Amirkhanian, Influence of Antistripping Additives on Moisture Susceptibility of Warm Mix Asphalt Mixtures. Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, 2010. 22(10): p. 1047-1055.


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9. F. Xiao, P.E. Wenbin Zhao, and S.N. Amirkhanian, Fatigue behavior of rubberized asphalt concrete mixtures containing warm asphalt additives. Construction and Building Materials, 2009. 23(10): p. 3144-3151.

10. F. Xiao and S.N. Amirkhanian, Effects of liquid antistrip additives on rheology and moisture susceptibility of water bearing warm mixtures. Construction and Building Materials, 2010. 24(9): p. 1649-1655.

11. A. Vaitkus, V. Vorobjovas, and L. Žiliut, The Research On The Use of Warm Mix Asphalt For Asphalt Pavement Structures. 2009.

12. Arkema. Cecachemicals. 2010 [cited 2010 August 15]; Available from: http://www.cecachemicals.com/sites/ceca/en/business/bitumen_additives/warm_coated_material/warm_coated_material.page.

13. N.M. Sheth, Evaluation of Selected Warm Mix Asphalt Additives. 2010, University of Iowa.

14. Akzonobel. REDISET® WMX 2010; Available from: http://www.akzonobel.com/surface/markets/asphalt/new_developments/rediset.aspx.

15. ASTM-D4402, Standard test method for viscosity determination of asphalt at elevated temperatures using a rotational viscometer. 2002, American Society for Testing and Materials.

16. H.M.R.D. Silva, J.R.M. Oliveira, J. Peralta, and S.E. Zoorob, Optimization of warm mix asphalts using different blends of binders and synthetic paraffin wax contents. Construction and Building Materials, 2010. 24(9): p. 1621-1631.

17. ASTM-D6373, Standard specification for performance graded asphalt binder. 1999, American Society for Testing and Materials.

18. ASTM-D2872, Standard test method for effect of heat and air on a moving film of asphalt (rolling thin-film oven test). 1997, American Society for Testing and Materials.

19. S. Aflaki and M. Memarzadeh, Using two-way ANOVA and hypothesis test in evaluating crumb rubber modification (CRM) agitation effects on rheological properties of bitumen. Construction and Building Materials, 2011. 25(4): p. 2094-2106.

20. Asphalt-Institute, Superpave performance graded asphalt binder specification and testing, in Superpave Series No. 1(SP-1). 2003: Asphalt Institute, Lexington, KY, USA. p. 61.

21. ASTM-D6521., Standard practice for accelerated aging of asphalt binder using a pressurized aging vessel (PAV). . 2003, American Society for Testing and Materials.

22. G.D. Airey, M.H. Mohammed, and C. Fichter, Rheological characteristics of synthetic road binders. Fuel, 2008. 87(10-11): p. 1763-1775.

23. F. Xiao, A.N. Amirkhanian, and S.N. Amirkhanian, Influence of Carbon Nanoparticles on the Rheological Characteristics of Short-Term Aged Asphalt Binders. Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, 2011. 23(4): p. 423-431.


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The Impact of Foreign Labours Reduction in Construction Industry

Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid1, Bachan Singh, Aminah Md Yusof and Ong Siong Wei 1Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia 81310 UTM Johor Bahru,

[email protected]

Abstract

Malaysia Government has taken the stiffer action for the recruitment of the foreign labours and the repatriation of those who were here illegally since April 2002. However, only a few days before the enforcement of Immigration Act 1959/63 (Amended 2002), government had decided to continue allowing the recruitment of foreign labour including Indonesian Labour. This flip flop policy is even persisted until now. The main issue is that until when Malaysia is able not to depend on foreign labour especially Indonesia labours in construction industry? How about the impact of reducing foreign labour in construction industry? Hence, the aim of this research project was to was to examine the impact of foreign labours reduction in the construction industry. A total of 20 sets of questionnaire forms had been distributed to the contractors at construction sites around Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The data was analyzed using average index method to show the frequency of the answers. Form the findings, the result show that reducing of foreign labour would create some negative impacts to the development of construction industry due to shortage of manpower. This proved that our countries still need to depend on foreign labour. To overcome the problems in the long run, government has to establish more efficient and comprehensive policies to reduce the number of foreign labour.

Keywords: construction, foreign labour, roles, problems, impact

1. INTRODUCTION

The construction sector continues to be an essential sector in the Malaysia economy, where it lends strength and capacity to host of economic sectors, whilst supporting the social development of the country through the provision of basic infrastructure. According to the Economic Report 2011/2012 released on Friday, Oct 7, the Malaysian economic growth would be largely domestic driven due to rising uncertainties in the global economy. The government projects the economic growth to pick up in 2012, with GDP expanding between 5% and 6% with construction as one of the key drivers. A snapshot of the GDP growth for 2012 shows construction taking the lead, with growth anticipated to double to 7% from 3.4% in 2011 as large infrastructure projects including the Mass Rapid Transit project in KL take off.

Among other projects are the development of integrated transport terminal in Gombak, the development of the Sabah Gas and Oil Terminal, including the 300 MW gas-fired power plant in Sabah the construction of the KLIA2, expansion of clean water supply and electrification projects to rural areas, especially in Sabah and Sarawak, as well as the construction of 430.7 km of rural roads. The ongoing development projects in the various corridors to support the growth, including the Lido Boulevard and Legoland Malaysia in Iskandar Malaysia and the upgrading of coastal roads in the East Coast Economic Region will be continued. Vibrant housing construction activities fuelled by rising demand, accommodative financing and the government’s continuous support for home ownership, in particular the Program Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia will furher boost construction industry [1,2,3,4,5]

According to Department of Statistic as of June 2011, Malaysian Construction industry employs 1,214,000 or about 10% of our country total employment 12,116,600 [6]. However, around 70% - 80% of construction labors are occupied by foreigners. Due to the influx of


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foreign workers, the employers are reluctant to employ locals since the wages paid to foreign workers are much less as compared to the locals [7].

Although the issue of foreign workers in Malaysia’s construction industry has been raised by the public, the views of the contractors about the issue remain to be fully explored. Their views and suggestions are very important to enable the Malaysia government to enact a policy of foreign workers. Lack of data and information will be a barrier to improve the problem of foreign workers [8,9,10,11]. The issue of foreign workers has been a heated discussion when Malaysia experience economic slowdown in year 1998 and 2008. In addition, cases of riots and crimes that were committed by foreign workers have attracted the attention of the entire Malaysia community. Given the increasingly critical issue, particularly when the construction industry is being monopolized by foreign workers The Malaysia government has taken immediate reforms to overcome the problem related to foreign workers. Therefore, this study aims to examine the impact of foreign labors reduction in the construction industry. The objectives of this study are to identify the role and problems caused by foreign workers involved in the construction industry and the effect of the reduction of foreign workers in construction industry. The study was carried on construction sites in the area of Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia.

2. METHODOLOGY

The objective of the study was achieved through questionnaire survey to gather the opinions of the management staff of contractors in Johor Bahru. The data collected from questionnaires were analyzed using the average Index method. From the ratings obtained, the average index for each questions responded are calculated. , the next it will give five category rating scale in the mean Index. Al-Hammad et al. [15] explains that the average Index is based on the formula:

Average Index (AI) = Σ ai xi Σ xi

Where, ai = constant represent weights for i; xi = Variable that represent the frequency of response the the i; i = 1,2,3,4,5 as explained below. X1= the frequency of the feedback that is “highly disagree” for a1 = 1, X2 = the frequency of the feedback that is “not agree” to a2 = 2, X3 = the frequency of the feedback that is “moderate” for a3 = 3, X4 = the frequency of responses of “agree” to a4 = 4, X5 = frequency of responses “strongly agree’ to a5 = 5 The mean of average index results based on the questions category were then classified into rating scales to show the intensity of the results. The classifications for the rating scale were specified by McCaffer and Majid [16] as follows: a. Strongly disagree 1.00 ≤ Average Index < 1.50; b. Disagree 1.50 ≤ Average Index < 2.50; c. Medium 2.50 ≤ Average Index < 3.50; d. Agree 3.50 ≤ Average Index < 4.50; e. Strongly agree 4.50 ≤ Average Index ≤ 5.00.


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30%

5%25%5%

5%5%

15%5% 5%

Site Engineer

Quantity Surveyor

Project Engineer

Technical Executive

Factory Manager

Marketing Manager

Resident Engineer

Company Director

Quality ControlEngineer


Out of the 40 questionnaire sets that were distributed to the respondents, only 20 sets were duly answered and returned. Figure 1 shows the breakdown of the respondents involved in this study. The respondents consisted of site engineer, project engineer, technical executive, factory manager, quantity surveyor, marketing manager and resident engineer.

Figure 1: Percentage of Respondents Position

3.1 Productivity

Based on Table 1 respondents agreed that communication problems with foreign labors will lower productivity. Foreign workers who were unable to communicate in Malay and English languages had caused misunderstanding between workers and employer. The performance of works was affected due to frequent reworks of nonconformance to the work specifications. Subsequently, the project cost could be escalated due unmanageable waste of efforts and materials. Reducing foreign labors seems to be beneficial to the construction industry but fall short of solving the overall productivity issues since large portion of foreign labors still remain in the productivity equation.

Table 1: Effects of Foreign Workers on Productivity

Productivity Issues Frequency Analysis AI SD D M A SA

i. Communication problems with foreign labor will lower productivity.

1 2 1 12 4 3.8

ii. Many foreign workers are not trained. This will lower productivity.

3 4 6 6 1 2.9

iii. Many foreign workers are not able to work alone and make good decisions.

1 - 7 10 2 3.6

iv. Transfer due to lack of experience of construction work has been monopolized by foreign labor.

- 6 4 8 2 3.3

v. Willingness to allocate more to the local labor training programs compared to foreign labor.

- 1 5 12 2 3.75

vi. Working hours and working days for local labor is the same as foreign workers.

2 8 5 3 2 2.75

vii. Reduction of foreign labor in the construction industry will not cause disruption of the project.

12 4 2 1 1 1.75

*SD=Strongly Disagree, D=Disagree, M=Moderate, A=Agree, A=Strongly Agree, AI= Average Index


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3.2 Safety, Health and Welfare Table 2 shows that foreign workers were not provided facility of annual leave, emergency leave and even medical leave. They seem to be able to work long hours and under harsh conditions. Their lack of knowledge and understanding about labor law had made them just accept whatever safety, health and welfare facilities given to them. The contractors have long been capitalized on foreign labors low demand on their basic rights in order to make more profit for themselves. If the contractors were used to such high profit margin while employing foreign labors, then reducing those labors would not be a favourable policy to them.

Table 2: Effects of Foreign Workers on Safety, Health and Welfare

Safety, Health and Welfare Issues Frequency Analysis AI SD D M A SA

i. There is no need to provide a medical examination on foreign labor.

6 11 2 - 1 1.95

ii. Water facilities provided in the quarters is not satisfactory.

1 6 6 5 2 3.05

iii. Bathroom and toilet facilities provided in the quarters the net was less than satisfactory.

1 - 6 9 4 3.75

iv. Foreign labor would bring diseases like TB, Malaria and HIV.

- 2 9 9 - 3.35

v. Facilities such as paid sick leave not provided to foreign workers.

1 1 3 8 7 3.95

vi. Lack of facilities such as schools and living quarters provided for foreign labor.

- 3 2 11 4 3.8

vii. Awareness of foreign labor in the issue of safety is low.

- - 4 12 4 4.0

viii. Knowledge of foreign workers in the labor laws in Malaysia is weak.

- 1 5 10 4 3.85

3.3 Social Problem The results shown on Table 3 indicated that in general the decrease in the total of foreign workers would promote positive changes toward social aspect of our society. Even though there are common perceptions that foreign labors have contributed to the high crime rates as well as created nuisances in some neighborhood but the situations are under controlled. Actually, crime cases among foreign national are mostly associated to illegal immigrants without a stable job or income.

Table 3: Effects of Foreign Workers on Social Problems

Social Problems issues Frequency Analysis AI SD D M A SA

i. Recruitment of foreign labor would affect Malaysia’s development planning such as planning in the development of human resources.

- 3 7 10 - 3.35

ii. The entry of foreign workers will be contributing on an increase in criminal cases.

- 1 3 15 1 3.8

iii. Negative attitude of foreign labor as a bad discipline and dirty will affect the local culture especially the young people.

- 5 7 7 1 3.2


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iv. Recruitment of foreign labor in the construction site will cause public discomfort.

- 1 2 15 2 3.9

v. Intake of foreign labor in the construction site will cause a decrease in local salary.

1 6 4 6 3 3.2

vi. Social problems posed by foreign workers are serious.

- 1 10 6 3 3.55

3.4 Human Resources Table 4 show results of human resource utilization factors; it appears that reduction of foreign labors would bring negative impact on the development of Malaysia’s construction industry. According to the study, contractors preferred to hire foreign workers because they have greater physical strength and also willing to work beyond the regular time with a cheaper rate. In contract, local workers are not interested to involve in the construction industry where the work environment is far more uncomfortable than the manufacturing industries that offer reasonable remunerations.

Table 4: Effects of Foreign Workers on Human Resource

Human Resource Issues Frequency Analysis AI SD D M A SA

i. Skill of local workers is better than foreigners.

- 6 7 5 2 3.15

ii. Physical ability of local workers is better than foreign workers.

5 8 5 2 - 2.2

iii. Salaries paid to local workers are inadequate.

- 6 8 6 - 3.0

iv. Local people like to participate in the construction industry.

9 7 3 1 - 1.8

v. The supply of foreign workers in the construction industry is more than demand.

3 7 7 3 - 2.5

vi. Malaysia contractors have been willing to accept the policy of reducing dependence on foreign labor, which was launched by the Malaysia Government.

7 9 3 1 - 1.9

3.5 Quality

Table 5 indicates that foreign labors turnover rate is high in our construction industry. New and unskilled labors need to be trained and retrained in order to maintain high quality standard of works. Contractors are not willing to put their money on training programs especially involving foreign labors unless if necessary. Thus, sudden reduction of foreign labors would just amplify the high labor turnover that already existed in our construction industry. This subsequently, will impair our country efforts to increase the quality in construction industry.


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Table 5: Effects of Foreign Workers on Quality

Quality Issues

Frequency Analysis AI SD D M A SA

i. Many foreign workers are unskillful 1 7 6 5 1 2.9

ii. Many foreign workers lack of knowledge to practice the right thing.

- 4 4 9 3 3.55

iii. Willingness to provide training programs for local workers than foreign workers.

- 2 5 13 - 3.55

iv. Reduction in foreign labor will not affect the quality of work, even if lack of resources to carry out a lot of works

2 13 4 1 - 2.2

v. Recruitment of foreign workers would worsen the skill drain of local workers.

- 4 4 12 - 3.4

vi. Recruitment of foreign labor will lead to the high turnover of workforce. New untrained labor could affect the quality of work.

- - 5 13 2 3.85

3.6 Cost

Table 6 indicates that the overall project cost could increase if contractors could not employ foreign labors. In any construction project, payment to labors alone could be up to 30% of project cost. Due to lack of local workers participation in our construction industry, foreign labors remain to be the natural and popular choice. It is true that foreign workers do repatriate huge amount of money back to their own countries. Thus, reducing their numbers could stop money from flowing out of our country. But studies have shown that foreign labors or immigrants do contribute to the economic growth of a nation for example in attracting foreign direct investment.

Table 6: Effects of Foreign Workers on Cost

Cost Issues Frequency Analysis AI SD D M A SA

i. Recruitment of foreign workers will delay the process of economic development due to the money outflow of our country.

- 2 2 12 4 3.9

ii. Project costs will not increase even if Malaysia’ labor laws required employment of local labor including insurance payments, medical payments, allowances, etc.

4 8 7 1 - 2.25

iii. Competitive ability of small contractor will not change and it is increasingly difficult to compete with high-cap multinational companies as the salary for local workers is higher.

5 7 7 1 - 2.2

iv. Do you think foreign workers are illegally sought after contractors even though it is forbidden?

3 7 6 2 2 2.65

v. Labor costs will not increase greatly when employing local labor due to payment of EPF and SOSCO.

6 5 7 2 - 2.25


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4. CONCLUSIONS

The conclusions that can be drawn from this study are that the reduction of foreign workers can bring range of positive impacts directly on our construction industry and generally on our economy. The reduction of foreign workers should be done gradually as a long term solutions. However, in the short term, the construction industry still needs foreign labors to undertake multi billion ringgit projects that already set to take off. The sudden move to reduce or block foreign labours recruitment could backfire our efforts toward becoming a develop nation by year 2020.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank our sponsor, Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) for the financial support of Research University Grant (Vote No. Q.J130000.7122.03J11) which enable us to carry out this research project. Thank you also to UTM Research Management Centre (RMC) and those who had contributed towards the completion of this research.

REFERENCES

[1] Ministry of Finance Malaysia. (2011, Nov 15). “Annual Budget 2012” http://www.treasury.gov.my/pdf/budget/bs12.pdf [2] Ministry of Finance Malaysia. (2011, Nov 15) , “Quarterly Malaysian Economy, 2nd

Quarter 2011” http://www.treasury.gov.my/pdf/ekonomi/sukutahun2_2011.pdf [3] Ministry of Finance Malaysia. (2011, Nov 15) “Economic Report 2011/2012” http://www.treasury.gov.my/pdf/economy/er/1112/chap1.pdf [4] Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid, Bachan Singh, Aminah Md Yusof and Nur Ashikin M. Abdullah, “The Employment of Foreign Workers at Construction Sites”, in Proc. 2011 2nd International Conference on Construction and Project Management IPEDR vol.15 (2011) © (2011) IACSIT Press, Singapore, pp. 126-130. [5] Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid, Bachan Singh, Wan Zulkifli Wan Yusof1, Aminah Md Yusof and Norzamzila Mustafa, “Problems Faced By Contractors in Managing Foreign Workers On Construction Sites”, in Proc. 2011 2nd International Conference on Construction and Project Management IPEDR vol.15 (2011) © (2011) IACSIT Press, Singapore, pp. 131- 135.

[6] Department of Statistics Malaysia. “Labour Force Survey Report”, First Quarter 2011,

series no 26, vol 2 June 2011.

[7] Ofori, George. Foreign Construction Workers in Singapore, Geneva. “Working Papers

International Labour Office”, SAP 2.57/WP.106, 1996.

[8] Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid, Bachan Singh, Aminah Md Yusof, Ahmad Mahayuddin Ismail and Ong Siong Wei, “Isu-isu Berkaitan Buruh Asing Dalam Industri Pembinaan: Kajian Literatur”, presented at Seminar Penyelidikan Kejuruteraan Awam (SEPKA 2011), UTM Skudai, Malaysia, 2011.

[9] Bachan Singh, Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid, Aminah Mohd Yusof and Nurul Huda Zainuddin. “Pengamalan Undang-undang Buruh Dalam Industri Pembinaan”, presented at Seminar Penyelidikan Kejuruteraan Awam (SEPKA 2011), UTM Skudai, Malaysia, 2011.


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[10] Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid, Muhd Zaimi Abd Majid, Bachan Singh, Aminah Md Yusof and Subhadra Nadarajah, “Kesan Penghantaran Pulang Buruh Asing Terhadap Sektor

Binaan”, presented at Seminar Penyelidikan Kejuruteraan Awam (SEPKA 2011), UTM Skudai, Malaysia, 2011.

[11] Abdul Rashid Abul Aziz . “Bangladeshi Migrant Workers In Malaysia’s Construction Sector.” Asia-Pacific Population Journal, March 2001. [12] CIDB. (2011, Nov 10) “Manpower Development”. Available [Online] http://www.cidb.gov.my.html. [13] International Labor Organization. (2011, Nov 11) “Defining Construction.” Available [Online]http://www.ilo.org/public/English/dialogue/sector/sectors/constr.html. [14] International Labor Organization. (2011, Nov 12) “Construction- Sectoral Activities.” Available[Online]http://www.ilo.org/public/English/dialogue/sector/sectors/constr.htm. [15] Abdul-mohsen Al-Hammad and Sadi Assaf. “Assessment of Work Performance of

Maintenance Contractors in Saudi Arabia”. Journal of Management in Engineering, 12,

44 (1996); doi:10.1061/(ASCE)0742-597X(1996)12:2(44). 1996.

[16] M.Z. Abd. Majid and R. McCaffer. “Assessment of Work Performance of Maintenance

Contractors in Saudi Arabia”. Journal of Management in Engineering, 13, 91 (1997);

doi:10.1061/(ASCE)0742-597X(1997)13:5(91). 1997.


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The Employment of Foreign Labors in the Construction Industry

Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid1, Bachan Singh, Aminah Md Yusof and Ahmad Mahayuddin Ismail 1Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor

Darul Ta’zim, Malaysia, [email protected]

Abstract

Rapid economic growth due to current Economic Transformation Plan had offered a lot of job opportunities across many sectors in Malaysia, including construction industry. However, demand against supply of manpower has forced the construction industry to import and use foreign labours as the primary source. However, their lack of skills and academic background has given various problems to the construction industry. Therefore, a study has been carried out in order to identify the reasons why they are been used widely in the construction industry, their impact towards the quality of works and the need of their welfare. Fifteen (15) respondents from the management level of construction firms around Johore, Malaysia have been chosen to respond to the questionnaires, which were distributed in two kinds of methods, by postal and by hand. The results indicated that utilising foreign labours in the construction industry has produced a lot of benefits to the contractors and players in the construction industry. This can be proven by the reasons they are here, their quality of works and need of their welfare.

Keywords: construction, foreign labor, benefits, problems, welfare

1. INTRODUCTION

Since the establishment of the Malaya, the foreign labors were brought into the country to propel the development progress and also to meet the labor needs of the country. For example, during the early years of Malaya, the people from Indonesia had been brought into as laborer in the rubber industry. Similarly, labors from other countries like India, China, Bugis from Sulawesi and some other countries were brought by the British [1,2]. Since 5th February 2002, the government has completely change the policy considerations. Former Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had announced the government new policy to breakdown the structure of the division of foreign labor in various filed. According to the new policy, foreign labors were allowed to work in the country up to three years and can renew the contract for a period of two years if absolutely necessary [3,4]. Currently, Malaysia allows recruitment of foreign workers from several countries including Indonesia, Bangladesh, Filipina, Thailand, Myanmar and India [5]. Employment of foreign workers is allowed in the construction, plantation, services and manufacturing sectors. The Task Force on Employment of foreign labors, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, is the approving authority for the employment of foreign workers that catered to the skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled categories of workforces [6]. Those categories normally are based on worker level of academic, skill and experience [7]. In Malaysia, the percentage of skilled and semi-skilled foreign workers is much lower than that of unskilled. The term ‘foreign workers’ means a group of foreign nationals who have the legal right to work in a country where they are been officially recruited [8]. Whereas, Meissener used the


92


term ‘foreign labor’ as those person come who from several nationality groups, living and working with diverse legal status in a particular country [9].

Presently, there are over two million foreign workers being employed in Malaysia. Some of the foreign workers entered the country either legally or illegally [10]. In addition to that as of September 2011, a total of 2,320,034 legal and illegal workers have registered under the 6P amnesty programme which ended on Aug 31st 2011. Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said of those registered, 1,303,126 were illegal while the remaining 1,016,908 were legal workers. Indonesian immigrants, both legal and illegal, led the number of foreign workers registered under the first phase of the 6P legalisation programme. Immigration Department records showed 1.05 million Indonesians had registered by the Aug 31 deadline, of which 405,321 were here legally. Bangladeshi immigrants comprised the second largest number at 400,700; Myanmar nationals at 257,583; Nepalese at 255,054; and Indians at 107,427. Men outnumbered women, representing 75 per cent, or 977,140, of those registered. Thus, if we take into account the recorded and unrecorded foreign workers in Malaysia the total numbers could be over 4 million. This is a huge portion considering the total of 12.5 million employments in Malaysia as of September 2011 [11].

At the end of 2nd quarter of 2011, construction sector employ about 1.19 million people which is 10% of total employment in Malaysia. The construction industry is synonymous with the word “foreign workers”. According to statistic, it is estimated that up to 80% foreign workers involved in the construction industry, while the rest are local people. Big portion of foreign workers are normally concentrated on construction sites in west coast states of Peninsular Malaysia [12].

The objectives of this study are to investigate the causes of foreign labors influx in the construction industry, to identify the welfare needs of foreign workers at construction sites and to identify the impact of foreign labor on the quality of the construction works. The study was carried on construction sites in the area of Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia.

2. METHODOLOGY

The objective of the study was achieved through questionnaire surveys. The questionnaires were structured into four parts.

1. Part A: To collect information or demographic detail of respondents 2. Part B: To collect information on respondent’s level of skill knowledge foreign workers

at construction sites. 3. Part C: To collect information on the welfare of foreign workers at construction site. 4. Part D: To collect information on the impact of foreign labor influence on the quality of

work in the construction industry. The data then was analyzed using frequency analysis method which shown results in percentages. The percentage was calculated using the formula below:

Percentage =Σ (xi)

Σ ni

Where, X = number of respondent who agreed with that choice given ni = number of respondents overall


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This section explains the results and discussion from the questionnaire survey findings in relation to the objectives of the study.

3.1 Background of Respondents

Figure 1 shows the breakdown of the respondents involved in this study. The respondents consisted of resident engineer, assistant executive cost and control, administrator, contract director, senior quantity surveyor, site supervisor and site engineer.

Figure 1: Percentage of Respondents Position

3.2 Factors That Attracted Foreign Labors

Based on Table 1, salary is the most attractive factor (86.7%), follow by geographic (46.7%), facilities (40.0%), communication (40.0%) and work environments (26.7%). Political and economic stability of our country has attracted many foreigners especially from low per capita income nations. Statistics shown that Indonesian workers in Malaysia is the largest among Asia pacific nations and world’s second largest in term of border migration after the USA-Mexican border. Figure 2 shows graphically the outcome of the results for this section which amplify the basic instinct of human being when choosing a host nation as their workplace. Worldwide studies on the benefits of using foreign workers have shown that the host nations do benefit a lot form the importation of such workers. Figure 3 shows the advantages of using the foreign labor to the contractors. The most famous reason is to reduce the cost (93.3%), reduce the time (86.6%), and the foreign labors are cheaper (83.3%)

Table 1: Factors That Attracted foreign Labors

Respondent Element

Frequency Respondent agreed Percentage of Respondent Strongly Agreed

Agreed Disagreed Strongly Agreed

Agreed Disagreed

1. Salary 13 2 0 86.7 13.3 0 2. Work

Environment 4 5 6 26.7 33.3 40.0

3. Facilities 6 7 2 40.0 46.7 13.3 4. Communicate 6 6 3 40.0 40.0 20.0


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5. Geographic 7 2 6 46.7 13.3 40.0

0 20 40 60 80 100

salary

Work Environment

Facilities

Communication

Geographic

Percentage

Item

Disagreed Agreed Strongly Agreed

Figure 2: Factors That Attracted Foreign Labors

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

Reduce the Project Cost

Reduce the Task Duration

Reduce tthe Construction

Duration

Cheaper than local labors

Strongly Agreed Agreed

Figure 3: Factors Why Contractors Prefer Foreign Labors

3.3 Foreign Labour Welfare

Figure 4 shows the analysis of foreign welfare questionnaires that were distributed to respondents. About 60% of respondents agreed that the welfare of foreign workers in Malaysia is satisfactory and the remaining 40% is good. However, Figure 5 show items that still need to be improved. Hygiene (toilet and environment) and PPE scored the highest


95


(100%) followed by workers living (kongsi) condition (93.3%), health facilities (86.7%), safety environment and continuous training (80%).

Figure 4: Level of Foreign Labor’s Welfare

0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 120.0

Condit ion of Kongsi

Hygiene Toilet

PPE

Hygiene Site Condition

Cont inous Trai ning

Health Fac iliti es

Safe Environme nt

Percentage

Item

A greed D isagreed

Figure 5: Item That Should be Improved

3.4 Quality of Work The use of foreign labor in the construction industry to some extent has something to do with the quality of construction works. Quality became an important elements for the client to assess whether a job meet their needs or not.

3.4.1 Recruitment of Foreign Labor to the Construction Industry

In choosing the workforce, management has various options to select their workers. Labor recruitment factors could be associated with the level of construction quality produced. This is because quality of works is very much dependent on the skilled of the workers.


96


Figure 6 shows the results from the questionnaires that were distributed to respondents on how the management choose foreign workers. Depends on foreman selection is the most popular method (35%), follow by the past project and from the sub-contractor (25%), skill test (10%) and by agent (5%).

Figure 6: Method of Foreign Labor Selection

3.4.2 Contribution of foreign labours toward quality problems for selected works Table 2 shows that quality problems can be found in almost all major construction works. The cause of poor quality for those works somehow has been attributed to the skill level of foreign labours as indicated in Figure 7.

Table 2: Respondents View on Quality Problems for Selected Tasks

Respondent Element

Frequency Respondent agreed Percentage of Respondent Strongly Agreed

Agreed Disagreed Strongly Agreed

Agreed Disagreed

1. Concrete Work 3 6 6 20.0 40.0 40.0 2. Brickwork 0 10 5 0.0 66.7 33.3

3. Timberwork 0 9 6 0.0 60.0 40.0 4. Finishes 6 5 4 40.0 33.3 26.7 5. Bar bending 0 7 8 0.0 46.7 53.3


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86.7 86.7

73.3

40.0

53.3

93.3

13.3 13.3

26.7

53.346.7

6.70.0 0.0 0.0

6.70.0 0.0

0.010.020.030.040.050.060.070.080.090.0

100.0

Con

cret

ing

Bric

kwor

k

Tim

berw

ork

Fini

shes

Bar

Ben

der

Gen

eral

Work

Per

cen

tage

Very Agreed Agreed Disagreed

Figure 7: Contribution of foreign labours toward quality problems

4. CONCLUSIONS

This study is concluded on the fulfilment of the aim of the study which is to identify the reasons why foreign workers are been used widely in the construction industry. The reasons of foreign labours influx are mostly due to the benefits and advantages to foreign labours and contractors themselves. Naturally, foreign labours look for better salary, work environment and facilities. In addition, labourers from Indonesia, India and China could easily assimilate into our culture (geographic) and language (communication). Contractors prefer to hire foreigners as they are cheaper, hard working, constantly available and willing to work under minimum welfare conditions. The use of foreign labors in construction industry does reflect the on the quality of construction works. This is because majority of foreign workers are unskilled and first timer at construction sites.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank our sponsor, Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) for the financial support of Research University Grant (Vote No. Q.J130000.7122.03J11) which enable us to carry out this research project. Thank you also to UTM Research Management Centre (RMC) and those who had contributed towards the completion of this research.

REFERENCES

[1] Ahmad Fakhrul-Din Mat Ghanee, “Kesan Penggunaan Buruh Asing Terhadap Pengurusan

Kontraktor.” Universiti Teknologi Malaysia: Laporan Projek Sarjana Muda, 1995.


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[2] Ahm Zehadul Karim, Mohd Asri Abdullah and Mohd Isa Haji Bakar, “Foreign Workers In Malaysia: Issues and Implications”, Kuala Lumpur: Utusan Publications, 1999.

[3] Rusdi Omar, “Impak Pendatang Asing Ke Atas Pembangunan Ekonomi”, Pemikir p. 28 Kajang: Utusan Melayu, 2002.

[4] Siti Haniza Abdul Rahman, “Tiada Lagi Monopoli.” MASSA p. 330. Kuala Lumpur: Utusan Melayu, 2002.

[5] Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid, Bachan Singh, Aminah Md Yusof, Ahmad Mahayuddin Ismail and Ong Siong Wei, “Isu-isu Berkaitan Buruh Asing Dalam Industri Pembinaan: Kajian Literatur”, presented at Seminar Penyelidikan Kejuruteraan Awam (SEPKA 2011), UTM Skudai, Malaysia, 2011.

[6] Bachan Singh, Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid, Aminah Mohd Yusof and Nurul Huda Zainuddin. “Pengamalan Undang-undang Buruh Dalam Industri Pembinaan”, presented at Seminar Penyelidikan Kejuruteraan Awam (SEPKA 2011), UTM Skudai, Malaysia, 2011.

[7] Tenah, K.A. and Guevara, J.M.R., “ Fundamentals Of Construction Management and Organization”, Reston, Va, 1985.

[8] Anderson, S.D and Woodhead, R.W, “Project Manpower Management: Management Process In Construction Practice”, New York: Wiley, 1981.

[9] Meissener, D., “Managing Migration.” New York: McGraw Hill Companies Inc., 1995. [10] Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid, Muhd Zaimi Abd Majid, Bachan Singh, Aminah Md Yusof and Subhadra Nadarajah, “Kesan Penghantaran Pulang Buruh Asing Terhadap Sektor

Binaan”, presented at Seminar Penyelidikan Kejuruteraan Awam (SEPKA 2011), UTM Skudai, Malaysia, 2011.

[11] Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid, Bachan Singh, Aminah Md Yusof and Nur Ashikin M. Abdullah, “The Employment of Foreign Workers at Construction Sites”, in Proc. 2011 2nd International Conference on Construction and Project Management IPEDR vol.15 (2011) © (2011) IACSIT Press, Singapore, pp. 126-130. [12] Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid, Bachan Singh, Wan Zulkifli Wan Yusof1, Aminah Md Yusof and Norzamzila Mustafa, “Problems Faced By Contractors in Managing Foreign Workers On Construction Sites”, in Proc. 2011 2nd International Conference on Construction and Project Management IPEDR vol.15 (2011) © (2011) IACSIT Press, Singapore, pp. 131- 135.

[13] Atkinson, G., “ Construction Quality and Quality Standards: The European Perspective.” United Kingdom: E & FN Spon, 1995.

[14] Griffith, A., “Quality Assurance In Building.” London: Macmillan Education LTD, 1990. [15] McCabe, S., “Quality Improvement Techniques In Construction.” England: Longman

Limited, 1998.


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Study of the effect of limestone mineral addition on the behaviour of sustainable mortars based on sulfate resistant

cement

L, BELAGRAA1, W ,DEBOUCHA1, M ,BEDDAR2

1 Laboratory of Materials and Electronic Systems, Institute of Sciences and Technology, B B Arreridj University centre, Algeria.(corresponding author: [email protected])

2 Departments of Civil Engineering, Faculty of technology, M'sila University, Algeria.

ABSTRACT:

This study aims at developing the limestone fillers combined with the cement blend in the production of a sustainable sulfate resistant cement based mortars. The first part of this research work investigates the physical properties of the mortar containing an increasing percentage of the limestone fillers (LF) [0, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10%]. The second part studies the behaviour of the mortars regarding mechanical response when the limestone fillers are incorporated to produce much more sustainable compound cement materials. The results obtained showed that, the mechanical response at early age of the mortars based on sulfate resistant cement with limestone fillers addition(LM) gave more or less similar values to that of the control mortar(CM) without addition, and which decreased at a long-term for 28 days age and beyond. The absorption was much more limited in the case of sulfate resistant cement mixes with limestone fillers addition. However, normal consistence is greater for mortars with fillers (LM) in comparison with reference mix (CM).

Key words: sulfate resistant cement, fillers addition of limestone, absorption, consistence, mechanical response.

I- INTRODUCTION

The cementing additions currently form part of the most recent development in the production of cement, regarding the improvement of the physical, chemical and mechanical properties gained for these cementing materials (mortar and concrete) [3]. In addition this use has as an economic objective by reducing the clinker consumption, and consequently a positive impact on the environment by limitation of the gas and dust emissions resulting from cement plants.

Since 1980, the use of limestone fillers (LF) to produce the cement has been increased in a variety of countries due to the economics and environmental consideration. In Algeria, the limestone is considered the main source of aggregates used in concrete. However this production is associated with high percentage of fines which make aggregates not acceptable within the concrete concept. As a result more than 20% of this waste is rejected and has negative impact on the environment [2].

This present research work assesses the effect of limestone added by substitution on the physico-mechanical properties of of tested mortars at fresh state, consistence, as for hard state the study concerned the mechanical response and absorption.

2- EXPERIMENTAL SCOPE

2.1 Materials used in the research


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In this study, the components of the mixture are the following:

2.1.1 Cement

Sulfate resistance cement (SRC) which is according to NF P 15-301Type I (42.5 MPa) [6] was used in this research program. The chemical composition and physical properties of the cement used in this research are given in Tables 1 and 2.

2.1.2 Limestone fillers

are subjected to the standard NFP 18-508 [7] which is defined as dry finely divided product obtained by grinding and or selection, extracted from limestone rocks[2].

The used limestone fillers were collected from the quarry company ENG, Ain Touta, Algeria. Its chemical composition and particle size are given in table 1 and 3.

2.1.3 Sand

The sand is natural, siliceous, rounded grains, density equal to 2640 kg/m3, with at least 98% of silica and its water content is less than 0.2% [8]. The particle size is within the limits given in table 4.

2.1.4 Water

Pure water in this research was used for validation testing.

Table 1: Chemical composition of cement and limestone fillers

Major element Cement (%) Limestone fillers (%) SiO2

Al 2O3

Fe2O3 CaO Na2O K2O MgO

So₃ LOI

21.03 3.49 4.45 63.62 0.13 0.56 1.79 1.91 3.00

2.62 0.8 0.63 51.45 0.01 0.11 1.3 0.16 42.5

Table 2: Mechanical and physical properties of the used cement Specific gravity (g/cm3) Blaine specific surface (cm2/g) Initial setting time (min) Final setting time (min) Volume expansion (mm) Compressive strength (MPa) 2 days 7 days 28 days

3.17 3135 182 243 1.00 16.63 29.71 58


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Table 3: sieve analysis of limestone fillers. Sieve 90 μm 45 μm

Refusal (%) 0 9.8

Table 4: Particle size and sieve analysis for the used sand

Sieve dimension (mm)

Refusal accumulated on sieve (%)

2.00 1.60 1.00 0.50 0.16 0.08

0 7±5

33±5

67±5

87±5 99±1

2.2. Mixture design

Several of experimental tests were carried out in order to assess the effect of limestone fillers on the proprieties of mortars based on SRC. Five mixtures were prepared. The control mixture contained 100%of SRC without addition. Four mixtures were made at dosage 0f 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10% of limestone fillers addition (see table 5). 60 prismatic specimens with the size of 40x40x160 mm to cover the whole experimental program were used. The specimens were cured at the 20±2c⁰ and relative humidity of around 50%±5. The testing of specimens were realized according to the standards NF EN 196-1, DIN 52 617[1], and NF EN 196-3[4], respectively.

Table 5: mixtures for experimental program

Mixture Name Binder (%) Cement (%) Limestone filler (%) SRC control (CM*) 100 100 0 SRC +2.5%LF (LM**) 100 97.5 2.5 SRC +5% LF (LM**) 100 95 5 SRC +7.5% LF (LM**) 100 92.5 7.5 SRC +10% LF (LM**) 100 90 10 (* )Control mortar (CM)

(**) limestone mortars (LM).


In this section, the above tests (Compressive strength, Capillary absorption and normal

consistance) results are explained

3.1 Compressive strength


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Figure1 presents the development of compressive strength at 2, 7 and 28 days. The compressive strength progressively increased with regards to the curing age. This might be attributed to the kinematic mineral hydration (C 3S, C 2S).As the two minerals are the principal elements to ensure the development of the mechanical strength at short and medium terms [5]. The test was conducted at the age of 2, 7 and 28 days, respectively. It can be noticed that the strength values at early age for control mixture at 0% dosage are similar to the results obtained for mixtures with limestone fillers addition. However, it is marked that at 28 days age of testing for the limestone fillers mixtures (LM), the strength is lower compared to control mortar (CM), 51.10 Mpa and 58 Mpa, respectively. This is because of the characteristics of the limestone fillers with no activation as inert mineral in the cementituous matrix.

16.35

27.9

10

20

30

40

50

60

Figure 1: Compressive strength development for CM and LM

3.2 Capillary absorption

The measurement of water absorption by capillary is highly correlated with the size and the number of pores. The results are presented in figure 2. It showed that the addition of the limestone reduces the water absorption coefficient by capillary (At) compared to control mortar. This reduction is depending on the duration of specimens water immersion. This decrease is marked for all mixtures (at ∆t =1.6 min0.5: for CM At =1.17, for SRC+10%LF At= 0.78. and at ∆t=11min0.5: for CM At =0.85, for SRC+10%LF At= 0.62). It is clear that the sulfate resistant cement without any addition of fillers gave a high absorption coefficient (At =0.85 for ∆t=11min0.5). Whereas, cements with limestone addition (SRC+5%LF At= 0.62 for ∆t=11min0.5) gave better results compared to the control mortar (CM). This means that the additional limestone is advantageous by improving the impermeability of limestone mortar (LM) matrix; Resulting in a more compact mortars specimens incorporating fillers.


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1.6 3.2 6.4 110.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

1.1

1.2CSRC+2.5%LFSRC+5%LFSRC+7.5%LFSRC+10%LF

Figure 2: water absorption coefficients by capillary for CM and LM mixtures.

3.3 normal consistance

The components of pure and combined cement with limestone demonstrate that the normalised consistance varies proportionally with the dosage of limestone. As long as the percentage of the limestone is increased, the necessary quantity of water can be higher in order to attain a cement paste with normalised consistence. For instance, the highest is the one at 10 % LF percentage reaching the value of (29.6%) and the lowest can be noticed for control mortar without addition (27.7%) (see figure 3). This rise is probably caused by the increased ratio (Ca/Si). This ratio is higher while the limestone percentage is greater. The ordinary cement have a lower ratio of (Ca/Si) than the cement with limestone fillers. This additional amount of water is mainly to cover the larger contact surface of cement grains.

27

27.5

28

28.5

29

29.5

30

norm

al c

onsi

stan

ce(%

)

Figure 3: Normal consistance against limestone fillers dosages.

Wat

er a

bsor

ptio

n co

effic

ient

by

capi

llary

Time (min0.5)


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4- CONCLUSION

In this paper, the effect of limestone fillers on physico-mechanical properties of the mortars based on sulphate resistant cement is studied mainly, the compressive strength, the capillary absorption and the normal consistence. Test of compressive strength were conducted at ages of 2, 7 and 28 days. While the capillary absorption was carried out after 28 days of curing. The compressive strength results shew similarity between the mortars based on sulfate resistant cement with limestone addition(RML) and control mortars (CM) at early age, whereas at 28 days of age, the compressive strength decreased compared to control mortars. According to the standard cement types, water absorption coefficient by capillary is reduced where the limestone fillers is added to sulphate resistant cement. Limestone fillers addition to the sulphate resistant cement up to 10% gave satisfactory results as the obtained compound blend still within the range of the cement grade of (42.5 Mpa)..

5- REFERENCES

[1] DIN 52 617. Determination of the Water Absorption Coefficient of Building Materials,1987.

[2] F. Gabrysiak "cours des matériaux", béton, chapitre 4, pp 20, académie Nancy-Metz

[3] H.Chicouche, "Influence de l’ajout pouzzolanique (Argile cuite) sur les caractéristiques

physico-chimique des ciments" thèse de magister , département de génie civil. Université de M’sila,.Algeria, 2004.

[4] Methods of testing cement - Part 3: Determination of setting times and soundness

[5 ] M.Bouglada, "Effet de l'activation du ciment avec ajout minéral par la chaux fine sur le comportement mécanique du mortier" , these de magister ,dept. de génie Civil. Université de . M’sila, .2008.

[6] NF P 15-301. Liants hydrauliques. Ciments courants: Composition, spécifications et critères de conformité. Juin 1994.

[7] NFP 18-508 - Juil. 1995 Additions pour béton hydraulique - Additions calcaires - Spécifications et critères de conformité

[8] NF EN 196-1 Methods of testing cement - Part 1: Determination of strength

[9] Z. Guemmadi1, B. Toumi, H. Chabi1, M. Resheidat "Analyses des actions des fillers calcaire sur les propriétés physico-chimiques et la microstructure des pâtes de ciment ",7eme séminaire, Lafarge, Décembre 2010.


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Solid Waste Disposal by Semi-Aerobic Sanitary Landfill: Towards Achieving a Sustainable Development (Penang

Experience)

Hamidi Abdul Aziz1 and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini2

1Professor in Environmental Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, MALAYSIA, Email: [email protected]

2 PhD student in Environmental Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, MALAYSIA, Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Most of the existing solid waste landfill sites in developing countries are practicing either open dumping or unsanitary landfilling. Some are located at the upstream of water intakes or at sensitive groundwater catchment area. Most of these sites are simply dumping grounds without any environmental protection. This practice is very unsustainable and creates a lot of problems such as fires due to landfill gases, rodents, bad odours and leachate pollution. Leachate is formed when water passes through the waste in the landfill cell. The water mainly comes from rain and from waste degradation process. As the liquid moves through the landfill, many organic and inorganic compounds, like heavy metals, are transported in the leachate. This moves to the base of the landfill cell and may pollute the groundwater. Organics in the wastes decompose to produce CH4 and CO2 gases, trace amounts of toxic substances, and bad odours, which are the side products of decomposition. CH4 and CO2, both greenhouse gases, contribute to global warming. This paper highlights the basic rule in sustainable waste disposal by means of a semi-aerobic landfilling technology which is more environmental friendly. Some of the important design criteria of semi-aerobic landfill and their advantageous will be highlighted, backed with technical data as implemented in Malaysia. Local experience in effectively handling and treating the leachate up to the standard discharge limit will be discussed. The recovery of landfill gases for use as an energy resource has become the center of interest in recent years since it solves both environmental pollution and energy shortage. In view of this, gas emissions data sampled at selected semi-aerobic landfill in Malaysia will be shared. The Clean development mechanism (CDM) approach in reducing greenhouse gas emissions for a developing country will also be highlighted.

Keywords: integrated solid waste management, semi-aerobic landfill, leachate, greenhouse gases

1. INTRODUCTION

In general, solid waste may be defined as any material, solid, liquid or gas that is unwanted and/or unvalued, and discarded or discharged by its owner [1]. These include solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining and agricultural operations, and from community activities. Municipal solid waste (MSW) on the other hand is the waste collected by a local authority, which consists mainly of household waste, but also contains a range of other wastes such as trade waste and street sweepings. Household waste makes up about 85–90% of the total MSW content for the majority of local


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authorities in the UK [2].The biodegradable organic matter contained in municipal solid waste (MSW) probably is one of the most problematic fractions to deal with [3]. Integrated solid waste management (ISWM) can be defined as the selection and application of suitable techniques, technologies, and management programs to achieve specific waste management objectives and goals [4]. A hierarchy (arrangement in order of rank) in waste management can be used to rank actions to implement programs within the community. The ISWM hierarchy is usually compost of source reduction, recycling, waste transformation/processing, and landfilling. Greater portion should be emphasized on source reduction and the least is for final disposal, as shown in Figure 1 [5].

Figure 1: Waste management hierarchy

A proper system with waste segregation is expected to improve the overall recycling process and increase the lifespan of the landfill. At the same time, campaign on 3R’s (recover, reuse, recycle) should also be given a priority. The importance for residents to sort their waste at source and awareness through education are the key measures to any successful recycling programme.

2. CURRENT MANAGEMENT OF DISPOSAL OF MSW IN MALAYSIA-PENANG

2.1 Background information

Presently, Malaysia generated nearly 18,000 metric tonnes of solid waste daily. Significant amount (30-35%) is in form of food waste [6],[7],[8]. In 2003, the average amount of municipal solid waste produced in Malaysia was 0.5–0.8 kg/person/day; it has risen to 1.7 kg/person/day in major cities. By the year 2020, the quantity of MSW generated was estimated to have increased to 31,000 tons [9]. It is estimated at only 3-5 percent of the waste is actually recycled. An efficient and systematic disposal method is needed to avoid problems associated with this issue. The Fukuoka method semi-aerobic system was developed more than 20 years ago at the Fukuoka University but it is not widely known to many countries around the world. It is a proven technology practically tested in many places in Japan, and in a few developing countries such as Malaysia, Iran and China [10]. Generally, semi-aerobic landfill is designed with piping system underneath the landfill. The function of leachate collection pipe is to allow the air to flow in and out from the solid waste. The pipes are designed to permit the passive movement of air through the headspace of the pipes which are open to the atmosphere via natural convection. This helps to enlarge aerobic parts, to make aerobic bacteria active, and increase the rate of waste decomposition. Then


107


these actions make the leachate quality better by lowering the level of leachate concentration, and reducing the generation of hazardous gases, all of which lead to faster stabilization of the landfill site [10]. Following this method, a leachate recirculation system sometimes is incorporated when applicable, where the leachate collected is recirculated by using a pump from the top into the waste layers. The waste mass plays a role as a natural filter medium for the leachate and subsequently improves the leachate quality after each round of recirculation. The mechanisms and concepts used in the semi-aerobic system are illustrated in Figure 2 to 4. In Malaysia, the implementation of semi-aerobic landfilling began in 1988, and the results have shown significant improvements in the leachate quality.

Figure 2: Difference between cross sectional areas of anaerobic and semi-aerobic landfills [11]

Figure 3: Design of semi-aerobic landfill [11]

Figure 4: Cross section of semi-aerobic landfill [10]

2.3 characteristics of disposal site

There are two disposal sites in Seberang Perai Municipal Council (SPMC) namely Ampang Jajar Landfill Site (AJLS) and Pulau Burong Landfill Site (PBLS), both are located in Penang. Both used to be an open dumping/controlled tipping site since 1989. They cause various


108


environmental problems such as fires and bad odours in their vicinities. The site was constantly burning and emitting smoke for more than six months every year. From 1989 to 1991, SPMC has upgraded the AJLS to a semiaerobic site (Level III) with the assistance from JICA. The concept was developed in Japan and it has been claimed that it is more efficient than anaerobic landfill in terms of leachate, BOD and COD reductions. Leachate from the AJLS was collected in integrated collection systems connected to a retention ditch. The leachate in the retention ditch is aerated and then recirculated to the landfill through gas-venting facilities and collection pipes. Vent pipes were packed with stones through which the recirculated leachate trickles. The packed stones serve as an anaerobic system and as a medium for microorganisms. PBLS is also a waste disposal site adopting a semi-aerobic landfill system. The landfill operation at the site began in August 2001, and completed for two-sections at the end of 2007. It was found that the leachate from a semi-aerobic system has slightly lower organic contaminants compared with an anaerobic landfill in terms of BOD and COD [12],[13],[14]. The green house emissions will finish faster than the anaerobic landfill, hence reducing the risk of fire. The other advantage is that the settlement will be faster (1 m in 2 years), hence extra volume of landfill can be attained over time.

3. PENANG EXPERIENCE

The characteristics of leachate from Pulau Burung semi-aerobic landfills in Penang are given in Table 1. This table shows decreasing in COD, COD/TOC ratio, BOD5/COD ratio, and TOC percentage, but increasing in pH, as a result of an increase in the age of landfill. Ammoniacal nitrogen, metals, colour and COD in leachate are among the parameters of concern at this landfill. USM team has focused its research on the removal of metals, COD, colour and ammonia from leachate which was not well documented. In case of ammoniacal nitrogen, slow leaching of wastes producing nitrogen and no significant mechanism for transformation of N-NH3 in the landfills resulted in high concentration of N-NH3 in leachate over a long period of times. This study has investigated the suitability of activated carbon, limestone and a mixture of both materials as a filtering medium, in combination with other treatments capable of attenuating ammoniacal nitrogen which is present in significant quantity (Table 1) at PBLS. The results of the study show that about 40% of ammoniacal nitrogen with concentration more than 1,000 mg/L could be removed either by activated carbon or its mixture with limestone at mixture rate 5:35 (Figure 5) [14][15]. This result shows that limestone is potential to be used as a cost-effective medium to replace activated carbon for ammoniacal nitrogen removal at considerably low cost.

Table 1: Characteristics of of Pulau Burung Sanitary landfill (June 2005-June 2007) Parameter Minimum Maximum Average Standard* BOD5 (mg/L) 70 100 85 20 COD (mg/L) 1950 2480 2120 400 BOD/COD 0.02 0.35 0.13 0.05 pH 8.15 8.5 8.25 6.0-9.0 SS (mg/L) 165 225 185 50 Ammonia (mg/L) 1150 1280 1189 5 Colour (Pt.Co) 3200 3420 3310 100 ADMI Turbidity (NTU) 100 160 125 - Oil & Grease (mg/L) 3 41 10.7 5 Zinc (mg/L) 0.05 0.15 0.1 2.0 Manganese (mg/L) 0.1 0.5 0.3 0.2 Ferum (mg/L) 2.8 8.6 5.3 5.0


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Chromium (mg/L) 0.02 0.04 0.03 0.05 Nickel (mg/L) 0.35 0.68 0.42 0.2 Copper (mg/L) 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.2 Cadmium (mg/L) 0.08 0.3 0.18 0.01 Lead (mg/L) 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.1

* GOVERNMENT OF MALAYSIA. (2011) [16] In terms of metals, iron (Fe) was found in significant quantities in the leachate. The researcher has established the Fe isotherm and breakthrough time of the limestone filter for post-treatment of Fe to the migrating landfill leachate before its release to the environment. Results indicated that 90% of Fe can be removed from the leachate based on retention time of 57.8 minutes and surface loading of 12.2 m3/m2.day [13],[14],[17],[18]. Colour in leachate is also one of the problems normally faced by landfill operators. Further research was conducted on the suitability of activated carbon, limestone and a mixture of both materials as a filtering medium, capable of attenuation colour which is present in significant quantity (Table 1) in the leachate. The adsorption isotherms were established and the breakthrough time was calculated. Results of the study show that more than 80% colour with an intensity up to 4,000 Pto could be removed using limestone with a quantity above 20 mL (equivalent to 56 g). The adsorption phenomenon has contributed to the removal process. For a filter bed of 2.25 m2 and 2 m depth, as much as 3156 m3 of leachate can be treated for about 32 days with a leachate flow rate 100 m3/day. The media usage rate is about 33 kg/day or 3.3 kg/m3. Further on these findings, USM team has developed the treatment system (Figures 6 and 7) consists of a combination of biological and physical-chemical treatment of leachate in which the latter plays a very significant role in removing organic matter and heavy metals. The treatment system has been examined in the laboratory and in the field and proven capable of removing all constituents in the leachate up to the standard level as compared to the conventional treatment system. The design was based on comprehensive laboratory studies with supporting field model conducted at various landfill sites in Malaysia, namely Ampang Jajar and Pulau Burung in Penang, Jabi in Kedah, Puchong in Selangor, Kamunting in Perak, etc.[7].

Figure 5: Filtration study in the field


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Basically, the plant consists of the followings (Table 2):

Table 2: Treatment stages for leachate

TREATMENT STAGE OBJECTIVE Primary sedimentation tank to settle flocs formed from aeration basin

ahead of the sedimentation tank and able to remove BOD and COD

Filtration using limestone To remove metals and turbidity/suspended solids

Filtration using activated carbon To remove colour, BOD and COD and remaining metals

Filtration using zeolite To remove colour, BOD and COD and remaining metals

Water gallery For balancing the flow Rapid mixer/coagulation Chemical treatment to further remove

remaining BOD, COD and suspended solids. Neutralization of pH.

Single stage of flocculation Sedimentation tank To settle flocs from coagulation and

flocculation stage for further remove remaining BOD, COD and suspended solids

The result shows that limestone can be used as a cost-effective medium to replace activated carbon for the removal of metals, colour, ammonia and COD at considerably low cost. The basic design parameter such as the loading rate, isotherm, retention and breakthrough times for design purpose was developed. The first treatment plant in this region using this media is now in operation in one of the landfill sites in Malaysia, and capable to comply with Standard B of the Environmental Quality Act. Chemical treatments have also been examined. Coagulation flocculation process has been studied for removing the pollutants. Suspended solids and turbidity are the main parameters of concern at this landfill. Three types of coagulants were examined, i.e., ferric chloride, ferric sulfate and aluminum sulfate. Ferric chloride has exhibited good performance in removing suspended solids, COD and colour from leachate as compared to the other coagulants, namely alum and ferric sulphate. At an optimum pH of 4 and 12, ferric chloride removed over 90% of suspended solids and colour at 500-600 mg/L dosage of coagulant, and between 30-50% COD at 1000 mg/L dosage of coagulant. The amount of coagulant can be reduced to 500 mg/L for COD removal with addition of 250 mg/L of tapioca starch as coagulant aid. The effluent from the treatment process complied with Standard A of the Malaysian Environmental Quality Act 1974. The removal performance is shown in Table 3:


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Table 3: Removal performance of leachate treatment plant at Pulau Burung Landfill Site, Penang MAIN

PARAMETERS INF.

(mg/L) AFTER AERATION AFTER LIMESTONE

FILTER AFTER ZEOLITE

FILTER AFTER ACTIVATED

CARBON AFTER

COAGULATION AND

FLOCCULATION (PAC)

COMPLIANCE

STATUS*

% REMOVAL

EFF. (mg/L)

% REMOVAL

EFF. (mg/L)

% REMOVAL

EFF. (mg/L)

% REMOVAL

EFF. (mg/L)

% REMOVAL

EFF. (mg/L)

Colour (PtCo) 3500 25 2625 25 1969 56 866 95 43 85 7 Complying Std.

(100 ADMI)

NH4-N 1500 43 855 30 600 96 24 45 13 60 5 Complying Std.

(5 mg/L)

COD 2500 40 1500 25 1125 45 619 75 155 85 23 Complying Std.

(400 mg/L)

Fe 15 20 12 95 0.6 87 <0.1 85 <0.1 70 <0.1 Complying Std.

(5 mg/L) * GOVERNMENT OF MALAYSIA. (2011) [16]

Table 4: Gas monitoring data at PBLS and AJLS, monitored between November 2007 and March 2008

LANDFILL GASSES

CH4 (%)

CO2 (%)

CH4/CO2 O2 CO (ppm)

H2S (ppm)

Temperature (°C)

PBLS 56.7 41.4 1.37 0.2 0.5 140 44.3

AJLS 5.4 6.7 0.81 9.0 0 7.7 48.7

.


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Other studies carried out USM team on the landfill leachat indicated that powdered activated carbon augmented sequencing batch reactor (SBR) process, dissolved air flotation (DAF) and cationic/anionic and anionic/cationic processes are efficient on pollution removal from the leachate [14],[19],[20]. In terms of gas emission, monitoring done at PBLS (semi-aerobic landfill operated since 2001) and AJLS (semi-aerobic landfill operated since 1989) indicated that the PBLS is still not fully operated as a semi-aerobic landfill (Table 4) as compared to the AJLS, as compared to the normal values as given in Table 5. This is probably due to the fact that stacking the waste on soft ground has caused subsidence of the ground. Drainage and vent pipes may have also affected by this subsidence.

Table 5: Typical constituents found in MSW landfill gas [4] COMPONENT PERCENT (DRY VOLUME BASIS) Methane 45-60 Carbon dioxide 40-60 Nitrogen 2-5 Oxygen 0.1-1.0 Sulfides, disulfides, mercaptans, etc. 0-1.0 Ammonia 0.1-1.0 Hydrogen 0-0.2 Carbon monoxide 0-0.2 Trace constituents 0.01-0.6

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is one of two so-called project-based flexible mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol (Article 12), which permits projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions to allocate the carbon reductions to companies in developed countries. For the case of Malaysia, there are three factors concerning indicators of sustainable development, which are environment, economy and sociality. Application of CDM in involves conversions of existing anaerobic landfills to a semi-aerobic landfill. The process will benefit in terms of: (i) Generations of gasses such as CH4, CO2 and H2S from the landfill site will be

reduced and the burden on the environment will be lightened. (ii) Risks of explosion and toxic gas generation at the landfill will be eliminated. (iii) Since the drainage of leachate will be improved, the aerobic area will be expanded,

degradation of wastes will be promoted and the impact of the leachate on the surrounding environment will be lessened.

(iv) Safe closure of the landfill site can be achieved at an early stage. (v) The post-closure landfill site can be utilized for forests, park development, etc. at

an early stage. Item (i) is the most significant as it is intended to suppress greenhouse effect through reduction of the ratio of CH4 generated from the landfill site to curb its emission itself by improving the landfill site in an anaerobic condition to a semi-aerobic condition. The CHG emission from the present landfill site can be estimated using the equation presented in UNFCCC/CCNUCC Annex 14 [21]. Based on the waste disposal rate of 1200 ton/day, and the present waste composition, conversion of anaerobic landfill to semi-aerobic condition, the GHG emission is expected to be reduced from nearly 100,000 t-CO2e to about 70,000 t-CO2e the first


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year, and reduced from nearly 20,000 t-CO2e to about 13,000 t-CO2e after 10 years in the tenth year.

5. CONCLUSION

Sustainable waste management system requires full compliance to the waste management hierarchy in the overall management systems, either in developed or developing countries. Education is one of the key factors that influence the success/failure of any waste minimization programme. This should begin from early age. Appropriate syllabus can be incorporated in the primary school curriculum. Campaign on 3R’s is very important and it is indeed a challenging task and can only be effective through education. This may take several years, but it should start as soon as possible. Good recovery of recycleable items can be obtained by installing Materials Recovery Facilities (MRF). This plant will separate all recyclable items in a systematic manner which then can be recovered and processed for new products. This will also extend the lifespan of the landfill. However, this facility may be expensive for developing countries. Implementation of a fully engineered semi-aerobic sanitary landfill is suggested in developing countries towards achieving the goal for sustainable development. The semi-aerobic landfill system which is more environmental friendly is an effective system for early stabilization of landfill sites and improvement of their environments. It was found that the leachate from a semi-aerobic system has slightly lower organic contaminants compared with an anaerobic landfill in terms of BOD and COD, and easier to manage. The green house emissions will finish faster than the anaerobic landfill, hence reducing the risk of fire. The other advantage is that the settlement will be faster (1 m in 2 years), hence extra volume of landfill can be attained over time. The average BOD and COD values in leachate for semi-aerobic landfill is less 100 mg/L and 2,000 mg/L, respectively, as compared to over 1,500 mg/L and 5,000 mg/L, respectively for anaerobic landfill. In Penang, based on the waste disposal rate of 1200 ton/day, and the present waste composition, conversion of anaerobic landfill to semi-aerobic condition, the Green House Gasses emission is expected to be reduced from nearly 100,000 t-CO2e to about 70,000 t-CO2e the first year, and reduced from nearly 20,000 t-CO2e to about 13,000 t-CO2e after 10 years in the tenth year. This is one of the main advantages of application of The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) approach in reducing greenhouse gas emissions for a developing country.

REFERENCES

[1] Seadon, J. (2006). Integrated waste management-Looking beyond the solid waste horizon. Waste management , 26, 1327–1336.

[2] Emery, A., Davies, A., & Griffiths, A. (2007). Keith WilliamsEnvironmental and economic modelling: A case study of municipal solid waste management scenarios in Wales Resources. Conservation and Recycling , 49, 244–263.

[3] Gioannis, G. D., Diaz, L. F., Muntoni, A., & Pisanu, A. (2008). Two-phase anaerobic digestion within a solid waste/wastewater integrated management system Waste Management. Waste Management , 28, 1801-1808.


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[4] Tchobanoglous, G., Theisen, H., & Vigil, S. (1993). Integrated solid waste management, engineering principles and management issues. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

[5] Geng, Y., Zhu, Q., & Haight, M. (2007). Planning for integrated solid waste management at the industrial Park level: A case of Tianjin, China. Waste Managemen , 141-150.

[6] Ridhuan, M. (1995). Sanitary landfill development in Malaysia. Short course on Practicality of landfill design. Nibong Tebal: School of Civil Engineering , Universiti Sains Malaysia.

[7] Dini, R. H., Hamidi, A. A., & Savinder, K. (2001). The effectiveness of physico-chemical treatment for leachate from Ampang Jajar Landfill Site, Seberang Perai, Malaysia, In: Modern Landfill Technology Management. Fukuoka, Japan: Japan Society of Waste Management Expert (JSWME).

[8] Syed Mohd, S. A. (2004). Characteristics study of municipality solid waste from Pulau Burung landfill. Final Year Project. Nibong Tebal: School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia.

[9] Manaf, L. A., Abu Samah, M. A., & Ilya, N. (2009). Municipal solid waste management in Malaysia: Practices and challenges. Waste Management , 29, 2902–2906.

[10] Chong, T. L., Matsufuji, Y., & Hassan, M. N. (2005). Implementation of the semi-aerobic landfill system (Fukuoka method) in developing countries: A Malaysia cost analysis. Waste Management , 702-711.

[11] Matsufuji, Y. H., Matsufuji, Y., Hanashima, M., Nagano, S., & Tanak, d. (1993). Generation of greenhouse effect gases from different landfill type. Engineering Geology , 34, 181-197.

[12] Basri, D. R., Mohamed, A. A., Aziz, H. A., & Asaari, F. A. (2000). The effectiveness of cockle shells in treating leachate organic pollutants. ISWA International Symposium and Exhibition On Waste Management in Asian Cities. Hong Kong.

[13] Aziz, H. A., Othman, N., Yusuff, M. S., Basri, D. R., Ashaari, F. A., Adlan, M. N., et al. (2001). Removal of copper from water using lime stone filtration technique; Determination of mechanism of removal. Environmental international , 26, 395-399.

[14] Bashir, Mohammed J.K., Hamid Abdul Aziz, and Mohd Suffian Yusoff. "New sequential treatment for mature landfillnext term leachate by cationic/anionic and anionic/cationic processes: Optimization and comparative study." Journal of Hazardous Materials 186 (2011): 92-102.

[15] Aziz, H. A., Yusoff, M. S., Adlan, M. N., & Alias, S. (2004). Removal of ammoniacal nitrogen from municipal solid waste leachate by using activated carbon and limestone. Waste Management and Research , 371-375.

[16] GOVERNMENT OF MALAYSIA. (2011). Environmental Quality Act 1974. Environmental Quality (Control of Pollution from Solid Waste Landfill and Transfer Station) Regulations 2009. MDC Publication, Kuala Lumpur.

[17] Aziz, H. A., Yusoff, M. S., Adlan, M. N., Adnan, N. H., & Alias, A. (2004). Physico-chemical removal of iron from semi-aerobic landfill leachate by limestone filter. Waste Management , 353-358.

[18] Aziz, H. A., Adlah, M. N., Adnan, N. H., Yusoff, M. S., & Ramly, N. H. (2002). Removal of copper, zinc, iron and manganese from semi-aerobic leachate using limestone filter: Case Study at Pulau Burung Lamdfill Site. The 5th Asian Symposium on Academic Activities for Waste Management (AAAWM). Kuala Lumpur.


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[19] Palaniandy, Puganeshwary, Mohd Nordin Adlan, Hamidi Abdul Aziz, and Mohamad Fared Fared Murshed. "Application of dissolved air flotation (DAF) in semi-aerobic leachate treatment." Chemical Engineering Journal 157 (2010): 316-322.

[20] Aziz, Shuokr Qarani, Hamidi Abdul Aziz, Mohd Suffian Yusoff, and Mohammed J.K. Bashir. "Landfill leachate treatment using powdered activated carbon augmented sequencing batch reactor (SBR) process: Optimization by response surface methodology." Journal of Hazardous Materials 189 (2011): 404-413.

[21] UNFCCC/CCNUCC. (2007). EB 26, Meeting report, Annex 14, Methodological tool “Tool to determine methane emissions avoided from dumping waste at a solid waste disposal site”, CDM – Executive Board.


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Poultry Diseases Expert System using Dempster-Shafer Theory CIS-1-2

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia: Improving Online Marketing Efforts by Embedding Multimedia Elements in Website

CIS-1-1

A Comparative Evaluation of UML Profile for Hard and Weakly Hard Real-Time Systems. CIS-1-3

Malaysian computer science publications: A citation study. CIS-2-2

Development of Sustainable Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Monitoring and Control System using Viable System Model .

CIS-2-1

Assessing the Perception of Academic Staff in using E-Learning: Bruneian Perspective. CIS-2-3

Assessment of the Use of Social Media in Open Government Imperatives: An Empirical Investigation Based on Interactivity Level

CIS-3-1

Integrating Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) into Education for Brunei Darussalam.

CIS-3-2

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia: Improving Online Marketing Efforts by Embedding Multimedia

Elements in Website

Ida Aryanie Bahrudin1, Mohd Ezree Abdullah2 and Miswan Surip3 1Department of Information Technology, Centre for Diploma Studies, Universiti Tun Hussein

Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Johor, Malaysia. [email protected] 2 Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

(UTHM), Johor, Malaysia. [email protected] 3 Department of Information Technology, Centre for Diploma Studies, Universiti Tun Hussein

Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Johor, Malaysia. [email protected]

Abstract

The idea of implementing multimedia to promote brands can be extremely beneficial. Multimedia elements such as text, graphics, animation, audio and video hold the key in attracting new clients business through digital marketing campaigns. The increased use of technology has brought about numerous changes in the business world including for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) which is a major part of the industrial economies in Malaysia. The aim of this study is to investigate the multimedia element embedded in Malaysia SMEs website and to propose the guidelines in improving online marketing efforts. A sample of 55 Malaysia’s SMEs web sites was monitored and the embedded multimedia elements were analyzed. This data was collected in order to study the types of multimedia elements on these web sites. The result of the study revealed that 83.6% used only text and graphics in their websites, 12.7% used text, graphics and animation, while only 3.6% embedded all multimedia elements in their websites. The results of this study provide helpful guides to SMEs entrepreneurs in promoting their products.

Keywords: Small and Medium Enterprise (SME), multimedia elements, e-commerce, online shopping, online marketing, website effectiveness

1. INTRODUCTION

Many years ago when internet was introduced, people had not even heard of the internet as marketing aid for their business. Now, we have watched it grow from a very simple way to send email to a sophisticated communication medium. As the result, nowadays everyone is at least aware of the Internet and the majority uses it at least occasionally. Today, any business whether it is small or large moving to use the website as one way in promoting their products virtually. If we own a business today customer automatically expect that we have a web site or at least an e-mail for the company. A web site that supports multiple functions – one that is utilized as a platform for communications within the organization as well as between the organization and its external stakeholders, which also serves as a platform for operating internet-based applications, can be useful to virtually any business [1]. The internet makes it possible to communicate with customers on their terms within their time frame. It makes it possible to automate information dissemination and customer service. Furthermore, if a web site built into a platform for e-commerce technology, its interface ultimately can enable virtually any type of ordering by a customer, as well as facilitating other


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parts of the shopping, selecting, and purchasing process. In this scenario, many developed countries have already concluded that their future relies on increasing investment in the underlying capability of the knowledge economy and creating an environment favourable to the rapid translation of new ideas into new business opportunities [2]. Reference [3] stress every business must bring ICT (information and communication technology) into their business operation and take advantage of the benefits they offer. This advantage does not limited to certain size of business. Therefore, small and medium enterprises (SME) should take advantage of the ICT to create business opportunities. ICTs play an important role in enhancing the productivity and effectiveness of certain activities or functions made by SMEs [4]. The definition of SME are firms employing 150 full-time employees or with annual sales turnover not exceeding RM25 million [5] and play a significant role in the country’s economic development, particularly in the manufacturing sectors [6]. According to reference [7], a total of 600,000 SMEs were registered in Malaysia (SME bank) as of December 2005. SMEs play a vital role in the Malaysian economy and are considered to be the backbone of industrial development in the country [8, 6]. There are many ways of using ICT in business and one of the most selected is developing a website for the purpose of marketing. At the very least, a company can use a web site to publish its corporate brochures in cyberspace. A web site may also function to facilitate communications, both among the personnel within a company and between the company’s personnel and its external stakeholders [1]. Among the web site presence, there was lack of consideration about the multimedia elements embedded that purposely to attract customer. Therefore, this paper tends to collect data about the percentage of multimedia elements embedded in the SMEs website and provide recommendations on how those elements can help to increase online marketing efforts hence attract the customer. 2. ADVANTAGES OF ONLINE MARKETING In the past few years, online activity has rapidly increased. This could be due to the availability of higher download speeds and cheaper packages offered by internet service providers. Advancements on the internet, affordability and wider access to broadband services mean that waiting time for internet users has lowered. For that reason, users are willing to invest more time into the internet and are constantly looking for more refined websites that would have taken too long to download at lower connection speeds. This means that they would be willing to access a wider range of multimedia as it is now available at a faster rate than previously [9]. Taking advantages from this matter, online marketing through the use of website is one of the best ways to increase the number of online buyer. Online marketing or sometimes called internet marketing is referred to as the marketing (generally promotion) of products or services over the Internet. Internet marketing is considered to be broad in scope because it not only refers to marketing on the Internet, but also includes marketing done via e-mail and wireless media. Online marketing ties together the creative and technical aspects of the Internet, including design, development, advertising, and sales. The advantages of online marketing can be classified into three channel based on the functions performed [10].


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Communication channel This is the channel where information exchanges between sellers and buyers. Some of the advantages are to improve interactivity and perceptual experience [11] and also to gather information about customers through conducting surveys and also contests for new product development and introduction, relationship building and personalization [12, 13].

Transaction channel

This channel is dedicated for sales activities where the advantages are to improve visibility and reach a much bigger customer base [14] and to customize promotion and sales to individual customers and improve flexibility.

Distribution channel The physical exchanges of products or services are the activity involve. The advantages are to eliminate huge inventories, storage costs, utilities, and space rental and also to shorten supply chain and reduce commission and operating costs.

While some examples of the time and cost-saving benefits of using the Internet to market products or services are stated below [15]:

As internet is the widest channel of communication available to small businesses, it can help level the playing field for small businesses on a limited budget that seek to compete in large markets.

Marketing product or service online offers the opportunity for increased

communication with target market through techniques such as interactive websites, email newsletters, online surveys and forms, blogs, and discussion groups.

Internet marketing techniques such as websites, banner ads and email newsletters,

can be produced at a reasonable cost, can contain more timely information than print brochures, and can be immediately and cost-effectively updated as your business changes.

Based on the advantages listed, it can be seen that one of the best way to grab all the benefits are through the use of website. But the question raise is what does customer always expect to see at the website? This expectation almost requires that the website to have some sort of interactive and dynamic web presence. Therefore, the effectiveness of the website had to take into considerations. 2.1 Online Shopping Scenario in Malaysia Online shopping in Malaysia is in its infancy hence Malaysia can be considered a late starter given the recent spate of Internet interest. Although it has been a few years since the internet commercialization, Malaysians still mainly regard it as a communication and entertainment channel, but not yet as a medium for commerce [16]. Committing a transaction online in Malaysia is not as popular as in western countries. Although almost every Internet user surveyed said in general they like the idea of shopping on the Internet, in fact, only a small number of Malaysians actually buy online [17]. However, that scenario had gradually transformed where online buyers in Malaysia are moving upward year by year. The development of information and communication technologies and government interest are boosting the online transactions in the country [18].


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Statistics of online buyers in Malaysia is rapidly increased from 3 millions in 2003 to 7.1 millions in 2008 (Figure 1). As a reason of the boost total of online buyers, the e-commerce spending in Malaysia shown the rapid increment from 9.85 US$ billions in 2003 to 25.76 US$ billions in 2009 (Figure 2).

Figure 1: Total online buyers from 2003 to 2009 (Source: Department of statistics Malaysia)

Figure 2: E-Commerce spending year by year in Malaysia (Source: Department of statistics

Malaysia) Based on the statistics above, all SME had to take the challenge to attract as many online customers by having to design an effective website. 3. EFFECTIVENESS OF WEBSITE In designing website for business, the most important thing is to have customer feel comfortable with the entire page element. In order to make customer feel comfortable, some considerations have to take in place when designing business website. However the effectiveness of any web site will depend on the designer understands of key design issues. If designers are unaware of what constitutes an effective web site then businesses are unlikely to reap the anticipated benefits [19].


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The followings literature provides numerous reasons of why website design is important:

Quality of the display, the design of the text and the colors and graphics presented will capture users [20].

Inherent usability of web sites has an impact on how satisfied a user is in their browsing and search for information [21].

The usefulness of the website to a visitor, how user friendly the website is, how visually attractive the website is, and how much enjoyment a visitor can gain from the website [22].

Web site attractiveness such as the text display and colors also increases the attention a user gives a web site [23]

Users will make more use of the site and more information will be distributed, if it is easily navigated and is well organised [24,25].

Highly interactive and innovative method implemented while designing the promotional strategy the campaigns using graphics, videos, music, quiz and game [26].

Based on the literature highlighted on the listed above, the researchers found that text, graphics, music, video and also interactive element are important and have to be consider when designing a business website in order to attract more customers. Therefore, the following part will be focusing on some of the multimedia solutions for websites. 4. MULTIMEDIA SOLUTIONS The entire scenario of online businesses is evolving at a greater pace with newer promotional techniques used to lure the customers. Multimedia is such one tool adding important quotient to the websites turning imagination of web designs into reality. Multimedia comes in many different formats. It can be almost anything that can hear or see like text, pictures, music, sound, videos, records, films, animations, and more. Nevertheless, multimedia elements embedded on the website are sound, music, videos, and animations. On the internet it is often to find multimedia elements embedded in web pages, and modern web browsers have support for a number of multimedia formats. Further advancements in technology and web development have also increased attractiveness of websites [27]. Another literature stated that the increase of online activity and wider access to greater bandwidth has improved the possibility of delivery over the internet of a wider range of multimedia, with large files such as video or 3D applications more easily available [9]. In addition, reference [28] had stated that multimedia technology obviously create a business opportunity that is recently practical and cost effective. In order to hook customer to stay on the website there must be something that attract them. One of the basic facts in multimedia production is that, people do not like reading large amount of textual matter on the screen [29].

Organisations have recognised the power of multimedia for sometime by implementing flash banners and video on their web pages. With advances in technology both at the hardware and software levels coupled with increased consumer demand multimedia is more accessible and cost effective than ever. Printed marketing material (brochures etc) is being increasingly replaced by digital multimedia content. Whilst email remains the most used communication platform, SMS, MMS, Social Media and mobile marketing are all being used to great effective. The point here is that there are multiple marketing channels to reach and engage an audience


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where multimedia delivers a tangible added value. For example, email with links to multimedia typically increase click-thrurates (impressions) for a campaign.

5. METHODOLOGY

The data of this paper is based on literature survey and various statistical reports which have produced by local and international researcher and also observation of 55 SME websites from various categories. The secondary data have been taken by statistical department of Malaysia. Secondary data of those reports and surveys has been analyzed, and discuss the various way of embedding multimedia elements in website that can improve online marketing effort hence increase online buyers. Malaysian SMEs falling into two broad categories [30]: 1. Manufacturing, manufacturing-related services and agro-based industries, which have either: • fewer than 150 full-time employees; or • an annual sales turnover of less than RM25 million. 2. Services, primary agriculture and information and communication technology (ICT), which have either: • fewer than 50 full-time employees; or • an annual sales turnover of less than RM5 million. The sample website chosen are 55% from category 1 and the rest 45% from category 2. 6. DISCUSSION Based on observation to the chosen SME website, it shown that 83.6% used only text and graphics in their websites, 12.7% used text, graphics and animation, while only 3.6% embedded all multimedia elements in their websites (Figure 3).

Multimedia Elements in Malaysia SMEs Website

83.60%

12.70% 3.60%

Text & Graphics

Text, Graphics andAnimation

All multimedia elements

Figure 3: Percentage of Multimedia Elements Embedded in Malaysia SMEs Websites

The percentage shown that majority of the SME websites only embedded two multimedia elements which are text and graphics. Comparing to the literature explain before, it is necessary for the SME websites to combined fun element with serious business to boost up the target customers’ response. 7. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The online competition to get hold of the target business customer and visitors’ traffic is ever-increasing. Due to some reasons the attention span of people are minimizing, leading the


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various online business and ecommerce websites to resort to various methods to attract back the customers. So, one of the solution is putting up multimedia solutions for greater appeal. Things that can stimulate the minds are liked by the customers; they do not find such websites boring or stagnant. Multimedia makes the buying and selling process a fun experience instead of a serious one. Therefore, the following recommendations can be implemented to attract customer to visit the websites:

Various sound effects, voice-overs, music are types of audio elements. These audio elements will help to hook the customer to visit the website.

Background scores, interactive dialogues, etc improve the quality of online advertisements. Video elements are also used extensively in multimedia presentations as it improves the marketing campaign. Internet commercials can be made out of it and even testimonials of satisfied clients. This increases the realistic experience of the clients.

For instance- slideshow presentations, commercial videos, flash videos, etc can be used when needed. The plain images or videos are replaced by relevant combination of videos, animation and graphics.

Properly designed picture is worth a thousand words, therefore use right visual hues and soundtracks that can motivate the people to buy.

Results from this study shown there are lacks of multimedia elements used in designing website where most of the websites embedded only text and graphics. While there are many other multimedia elements can be used to improve their website effectiveness hence attract new online customer. Therefore, it is hope that some of the recommendations listed can be implemented in designing SME website.

REFERENCES

[1] N. Kogilah, A.S. Santhapparaj and C.E. Uchenna, “An empirical study of website adoption among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia,” Communications of the International Business Information Management Association, vol.2, pp. 50-62, 2008. [2] R.S. Achrol and P. Kotler, “Marketing in the Network Economy”. Journal of Marketing, 63 (special Issue): pp. 146-163, 1999. [3] A.R. Denni, “Information exchange and use in group decisions making: You can lead a group to information, but you can’t make it think”. MIS Quarterly, vol. 4(2), pp. 433-457, 1996. [4] M. Brady, M. Saren and N. Tzokas, “Integrating information technology into marketing practice – The IT realize of contemporary marketing practice”. Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 18: pp. 555-577, 2002. [5] M.K. Hashim, “SME’s in Malaysia: Past, Present and Future”. Malaysia Management Review, vol. 35(1): pp. 22-32, 2000. [6] T. Ramayah & P.L. Koay, “An exploratory study of internet banking in Malaysia,” in Proc. 2002 The 3rd International Conference on Management of Innovation and Technology (ICMIT ’02 & ISMOT ’02).


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[7] S. A. Syed and M. N. Mohd Kamal, “ICT Adoption in Small and Medium Enterprises: an Empirical Evidence of Service Sectors in Malaysia”. International Journal of Business and Management, vol. 4 (2): pp. 112-125, 2009. [8] A.S. Saleh, & N.O. Ndubisi, “An evaluation of SME development in Malaysia. International Review of Business Research Papers, vol. 2(1), 2006. [9] J. Zimmerman, “Marketing on the Internet,” 6th ed. USA: Maximum Press, 2003. [10] M.Y. Kiang, T.S. Raghu, K. H. M. Shang, “Marketing on the Internet — who can benefit

from an online marketing approach?,” Journal of Decision Support System Decision Support Systems, vol. 27: pp. 383–393, 2000.

[11] R.A. Peterson, S. Balasubramanian and B.J. Bronnenberg, “Exploring the implications of the internet for consumer marketing,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 25(4): pp. 329-346, 1997. [12] J.A. Davy, “Electronic commerce: is going online the right road for your company?,” Managing Office Technology, vol. 43(5): pp. 20-23, 1998. [13] R. McKim, “Dollars and sense on the Web,” Target Marketing, vol. 20(7): pp. 30–31, 1997. [14] J. Long, “E-COMMERCE: doing what’s best for business,” Data Communications, vol. 26(16): pp. 77–80, 1997. [15] The Business Link, Internet Marketing: E-Business. [Online]. Available http://www.elcnetwork.ca/ebusiness/pwt_internet_marketing.pdf. [16] P. John and L. Jackie, “Drivers and impediments to e-commerce in Malaysia,” Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science, Vol.6.(2): pp. 1-19, 2001. [17] Taylor Nelson Sofres Sdn Bhd., (2001). TNS interactive – global e-Commerce report- July 2000. Available at:http://worldwide.tnsofres.com/ger/malaysia. htm. [18] M. Jehangir, P. D. D. Dominic, Naseebullah and A. Khan, “Towards digital economy: The development of ICT and e-commerce in Malaysia,” Journal of Modern Applied Science, Vol. 5(2): pp. 171-178, 2011. [19] F. Julie, C. Annemieke and B. John, “Evaluating small business web sites – Understanding users,” ECIS 2002, pp. 667-675, 2002. [20] G. White and B. Manning, (1998). “Commercial WWW Site Appeal: How Does it Affect Online Food and Drink Consumers' Purchasing Behavior?” Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy. [Online] http://www.emerald- library.com/brev/17208ad1.htm: published electronically. [21] L. Fu and G. Salvendy. “The contribution of apparent and inherent usability to user's satisfaction in searching and browsing task on the Web,” Journal of Ergonomics vol. 45(6): pp. 415-424, 2002.


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[22] S. Mahlke, “Factors influencing the experience of website usage,” Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI ’02, pp. 846–847, 2002. [23] A. Sutcliffe, “Assessing the Reliability of Heuristic Evaluation for Web site Attractiveness and Usability,” 35th HICSS, 2002. [24] I. Ceaparu, “Finding governmental statistical data on the Web: A case study of FedStats,” IT& Society, vol.1(3): pp. 1-17. [25] E. Hargittai, “Serving citizens' needs:Minimising online hurdles to accessing government Information,” IT& Society vol.1(3): pp. 27-41, 2003. [26] K. Neelam and G. Vandana, “Online marketing: A strategic approach,” Lachoo Management Journal, Vol.1(1): pp. 34-40, 2010. [27] W. Schumann and E. Thorson, (ed.) “Advertising and the World Wide Web, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 1999. [28] G. W. K. Peter, “Business multimedia explained: A manager’s guide to key and concepts,” Boston, Massachusette: Harvard Business School Press, 1997, pp. 8-10. [29] V. D. Bala, “An attractive multimedia on the web will enhance the inspiration to the e- learning process,” Proceedings of Informing Science & IT Education Conference (InSITE) 2010, pp. 57-67, 2010. [30] S.S. Ali and O. N. Nelson, “An Evaluation of SME Development in Malaysia,” International Review of Business Research Papers, Vol.2(1): pp.1-14, 2006.


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Poultry Diseases Expert System using Dempster-Shafer Theory

Andino Maseleno1 and Md. Mahmud Hasan2 1,2Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Science, Universiti Brunei Darussalam

Jalan Tungku Link, Gadong BE 1410, Negara Brunei Darussalam E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract

Based on World Health Organization (WHO) fact sheet in the 2011, outbreaks of poultry diseases especially Avian Influenza in poultry may raise global public health concerns due to their effect on poultry populations, their potential to cause serious disease in people, and their pandemic potential. In this research, we built a Poultry Diseases Expert System using Dempster-Shafer Theory. In this Poultry Diseases Expert System We describe five symptoms which include depression, combs, wattle, bluish face region, swollen face region, narrowness of eyes, and balance disorders. The result of the research is that Poultry Diseases Expert System has been successfully identifying poultry diseases.

Keywords: Poultry Diseases, Expert System, Dempster-Shafer Theory

1. INTRODUCTION

The demand for chicken meat has been increasing because it has become cheaper relative to other meats The term poultry refers to domesticated fowl raised for meat or eggs [1]. The poultry industry is dominated by the chicken companies, development of poultry population and poultry industry is very rapidly threatened by the presence of avian disease. Disease is defined as a departure from health, and includes any condition that impairs normal body functions. Disease results from a combination of indirect causes that reduce resistance or predispose an animal to catching a disease, as well as the direct causes that produce the disease [2]. Avian influenza virus H5N1, which has been limited to poultry, now has spread to migrating birds and has emerged in mammals and among the human population. It presents a distinct threat of a pandemic for which the World Health Organization and other organizations are making preparations [3]. The current strain of H5N1 virus attacked poultry and humans in various countries in Asia which caused many deaths in humans [4]. The World Health Assembly urged its Member States to develop national preparedness plans for pandemic influenza [5].

2. UNCERTAINTY IN EXPERT SYSTEM

The construction of expert and other intelligent computer systems requires sophisticated mechanism for representing and reasoning with uncertain information. At least three forms of uncertainty can be identified as playing a significant role in these types of systems. The first of these possibilistic uncertainty appears in situations where the value of a variable can only be narrowed down to a set of values one of which is the actual value of the variable. The second kind of uncertainty is related to situations in which there exists uncertainty as to satisfaction of a predicate by an element. This is manifested by concepts which have imprecise or gray boundaries. A very powerful tool for handling this type of uncertainty which also handles the first type of uncertainty is the fuzzy set. The third type of uncertainty is related to situations in which the value of a variable assumes can be modeled by the performance of a random experiment [17]. Figure 1 shows the process for dealing with uncertainty in Poultry Diseases Expert System.


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Figure 1. The process for dealing with uncertainty in Poultry Diseases Expert System

In step 1, an expert provides uncertain knowledge in the form of rules with the possibility. These rules are probability values. In step 2, the uncertain knowledge on a set of basic events can be directly used to draw conclusions in simple cases (step 3). However, in many cases the various events associated with each other. Therefore, it is necessary to combine the information contained in step 1 into the global value system. In step 3, the goal is knowledge-based systems draw conclusions. It is derived from uncertain knowledge in steps 1 and 2, and is usually implemented by an inference engine. Working with the inference engine, the expert can adjust the input that they enter in Step 1 after displaying the results in steps 2 and 3.

3. DEMPSTER-SHAFER THEORY

The Dempster-Shafer theory was first introduced by Dempster [6] and then extended by shafer [7], but the kind of reasoning the theory uses can be found as far back as the seventeenth century. This theory is actually an extension to classic probabilistic uncertainty modeling. Whereas the Bayesian theory requires probabilities for each question of interest, belief functions allow us to base degrees of belief for on question on probabilities for a related question. The advantages of the Dempster-Shafer theory as follows: 1. It has the ability to model information in a flexible way without requiring a probability to be

assigned to each element in a set, 2. It provides a convenient and simple mechanism (Dempster's combination rule) for

combining two or more pieces of evidence under certain conditions. 3. It can model ignorance explicitly. 4. Rejection of the law of additivity for belief in disjoint propositions.

Poultry Diseases Expert System using Dempster-Shafer theory in the decision support process. Flowchart of Poultry Diseases Expert System shown in Figure 2.


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Figure 2. Flowchart of Poultry Diseases Expert System The consultation process begins with selecting the symptoms. If there are symptoms then will calculate, The Dempster-Shafer theory provides a rule to combine evidences from independent observers and into a single and more informative hint. Evidence theory is based on belief function and plausible reasoning. First of all, we must define a frame of discernment, indicated by the sign Θ . The sign 2Θ indicates the set composed of all the subset generated by the frame of discernment. For a hypothesis set, denoted by A, m(A)→[0,1]. m (Ø) = 0 (1) ∅ is the sign of an empty set. The function m is the basic probability assignment. Dempster's rule of combination combines two independent sets of mass assignments. (∅) = 0 (2) (3) Where (4)

4. POULTRY DISEASES EXPERT SYSTEM

Poultry Diseases Expert System has four main architectural components that are the knowledge base, the inference engine, the knowledge acquisition module, and the user interface for input/output. Figure 3 shows architecture of Poultry Diseases Expert System.


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Figure 3. Architecture of Poultry Diseases Expert System 4.1 Knowledge acquisition In the present work, knowledge has been obtained from two sources. We acquired textual information from literature such as extension booklets, reports, papers, etc., related to the avian influenza diseases. The printed material allowed became familiar with the subject and a more effective communication with the experts. Most knowledge was acquired from the experts using conventional interviewing techniques. The interview methods permitted a better understanding of the problem and its further representation. This knowledge was provided by experts on poultry diseases. Unstructured and structured interviews were used. The unstructured interviews were used to define the familiar tasks involved in the process of identification, to obtain an initial understanding of the range of complications involved, and to define specific problems for later discussion. The questions were more or less spontaneous and notes were taken on discussion. These methods were complemented with structured interviews. In the structured interviews, we revised and discussed in depth familiar tasks to clarify questions. 4.2 Knowledge Base A critical aspect of building an expert system is formulating the scope of the problem and gleaning from the source expert the domain information needed to solve the problem. The reliability of an expert system depends on the quality of knowledge contained in the knowledge base. In this research, we built a Poultry Diseases Expert System and we describe five symptoms which include depression, combs, wattle, bluish face region, swollen face region, narrowness of eyes, and balance disorders. Knowledge base of which input on the testing of this expert system can be seen in table 1.


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Table 1: Knowledge Base

4.3 Inference Engine

The inference engine is charged with the role of performing and controlling inference on the knowledge base. Specific features of the inference engine depend on the knowledge representation scheme used for the knowledge base. Because the most common representation scheme is production rules, this inference engine will be exemplified. The following will be shown the inference engine using Dempster-Shafer Theory to diagnose poultry diseases. Symptoms: 1. Depression 2. Combs, wattle, bluish face region 3. Swollen face region 4. Fever 5. Pain in the rash

Symptom 1

Depression is a symptom of Avian Influenza (AI), Newcastle Disease (ND), Fowl Cholera (FC), Infectious Bronchitis respiratory form (IBRespi), Infectious Bronchitis reproduction form (IBRepro), and Swollen Head Syndrome (SHS). The measures of uncertainty, taken collectively are known in Dempster Shafer Theory terminology as a ``basic probability assignment'' (bpa). Hence we have a bpa, say m1 of 0.7 given to the focal element AI, ND, FC, IBRespi, IBRepro, SHS in example, m1(AI, ND, FC, IBRespi, IBRepro, SHS) = 0.7, since we know nothing about the remaining probability it is allocated to the whole of the frame of the discernment in example, m1(AI, ND, FC, IBRespi, IBRepro, SHS) = 0.3, so: m1AI, ND, FC, IBRespi, IBRepro, SHS = 0.7 m1Θ = 1 - 0.7 = 0.3

Symptom 2

Combs, wattle, bluish face region are symptoms of Avian Influenza with a bpa of 0.9, so that: m2AI = 0.9 m2 Θ = 1 – 0.9 = 0.1 We calculate the new bpa for some combinations (m3). Combination rules for the m3 can be seen in the table 2.

No. Symptom Disease Basic Probability Assignment

1 Depression Avian Influenza 0.7 Newcastle Disease Fowl Cholera Infectious Bronchitis Respiratory Form Infectious Bronchitis Reproduction Form Swollen Head Syndrome

2 Combs, Wattle, Bluish Face Region

Avian Influenza 0.9

3 Swollen Face Region Avian Influenza 0.8 Newcastle Disease Fowl Cholera

4 Narrowness of Eyes Swollen Head Syndrome 0.9 5 Balance Disorders Newcastle Diseases 0.6

Swollen Head Syndrome


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Table 2: Combination of Symptom 1 and Symptom 2

AI 0.9 Θ 0.1 AI, ND, FC, IBRespi, IBRepro, SHS

0.7 AI 0.63 AI, ND, FC, IBRespi, IBRepro, SHS

0.07

Θ 0.3 AI 0.27 Θ 0.03

m3 (AI) = 9.001

27.063.0

m3 (AI, ND, FC, IBRespi, IBRepro, SHS) = 07.001

07.0

m3 (Θ) = 03.001

03.0

Symptom 3

Swollen face region is a symptom of Avian Influenza, Newcastle Disease, Fowl Cholera with a bpa of 0.8, so that m4 AI, ND, FC = 0.8 m4 (Θ) = 1 – 0.8= 0.2

We calculate the new bpa for some combinations (m5). Combination rules for the m5 can be seen in the table 3.

Table 3: Combination of Symptom 1, Symptom 2, and Symptom 3

AI, ND, FC 0.8 Θ 0.2 AI 0.9 AI 0.72 AI 0.18 AI, ND, FC, IBRespi, IBRepro, SHS

0.07 AI, ND, FC 0.06 AI, ND, FC, IBRespi, IBRepro, SHS

0.01

Θ 0.03 AI, ND, FC 0.02 Θ 0.01

m5 (AI) = 9.001

18.072.0

m5 (AI, ND, FC) = 08.001

02.006.0

m5 (AI, ND, FC, IBRespi, IBRepro, SHS) = 01.001

01.0

m5 (Ө) = 01.001

01.0

Symptom 4

Narrowness of eyes is a symptom of Swollen Head Syndrome with a bpa of 0.9, so that: m6 (SHS) = 0.9 m6 (Θ) = 1 – 0.9 = 0.1

We calculate the new bpa for some combinations (m7). Combination rules for the m7 can be seen in the table 4.

Table 4: Combination of Symptom 1, Symptom 2, Symptom 3 and Symptom 4

SHS 0.9 Θ 0.1 AI 0.9 Θ 0.81 AI 0.09 AI, ND, FC 0.08 Θ 0.07 AI, ND, FC 0.01 AI, ND, FC, IBRespi, IBRepro, SHS

0.01 SHS 0.01 AI, ND, FC, IBRespi, IBRepro, SHS

0.001

Θ 0.01 SHS 0.01 Θ 0.001


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m7 (SHS) = 17.0)07.081.0(1

01.001.0

m7 (AI) = 75.0)07.081.0(1

09.0

m7 (AI, ND, FC) = 08.0)07.081.0(1

01.0

m7 (AI, ND, FC, IBRespi, IBRepro, SHS) = 01.0)07.081.0(1

001.0

m7 (Θ) = 01.0)07.081.0(1

001.0

Symptom 5

Balance disorders is a symptom of Newcastle Diseases and Swollen Head Syndrome with a bpa of 0.6, so that: m8 ND,SHS = 0.6 m8 Θ = 1 - 0.6 = 0.4 We calculate the new bpa for some combinations (m9). Combination rules for the m9 can be seen in the table 5.

Table 5: Combination of Symptom 1, Symptom 2, Symptom 3, Symptom 4 and Symptom 5

m9 (SHS) = 31.045.0107.01.0

m9 (AI) = 55.045.01

3.0

m9 (ND) = 1.045.01

05.0

m9 (ND, SHS) = 04.045.01

01.001.0

m9 (AI, ND, FC) = 05.045.01

03.0

m9 (AI, ND, FC, IBRespi, IBRepro, SHS) = 01.045.01

004.0

m9 (Θ) = 01.045.01

004.0

The most highly bpa value is the m9 (AI) that is equal to 0.55 which means the possibility of a temporary diseases with symptoms of depression, comb, wattle, bluish face region, swollen region face, narrowness of eyes, and balance disorders is the Avian influenza (H5N1). Table 6 and figure 4 are shows the basic probability assignment final result and graphic of identification.

ND, SHS 0.6 Θ 0.4 SHS 0.17 SHS 0.1 SHS 0.07 AI 0.75 Θ 0.45 AI 0.3 AI, ND, FC 0.08 ND 0.05 AI, ND, FC 0.03 AI, ND, FC, IBRespi, IBRepro, SHS

0.01 ND, SHS 0.01 AI, ND, FC, IBRespi, IBRepro, SHS

0.004

Θ 0.01 ND, SHS 0.01 Θ 0.004


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Table 6. Final Result

No. Diseases Basic Probability Assignment

1 Swollen Head Syndrome 0.31 2 Avian Influenza 0.55 3 Newcastle Disease 0.1 4

Newcastle Disease 0.04 Swollen Head Syndrome

5 Avian Influenza 0.05 Newcastle Disease Fowl Cholera

6 Avian Influenza 0.01 Newcastle Disease Fowl Cholera Infectious Bronchitis respiratory form Infectious Bronchitis reproduction form Swollen Head Syndrome

Figure 4. Graphic of Identification

Figure 4 shows the graphic of identification, the highest basic probability assignment is AI (Avian Influenza) that is equal to 0.55 which show from the last calculation of Dempster-Shafer on symptom 5 which means the possibility of a temporary diseases with symptoms of depression, comb, wattle, bluish face region, swollen region face, narrowness of eyes, and balance disorders is the Avian Influenza.

4.4 User Interface A user interface is the method by which the expert system interacts with a user. The input or output interface defines the way in which the expert system interacts with the user and other systems such as databases. Interfaces are graphical with screen displays, windowing, and mouse control. They receive input from the user and display output to the user The user interface development of Poultry Diseases Expert System to begin with designing web pages and designing a web-based applications. Designing web pages using PHP, the web page then connected to the MySQL database, after that designing a web-based applications which used to access the network database. The relationship between applications with network database has shaped overall applications to manage information to be displayed.


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5. IMPLEMENTATION

The following will be shown the working process of expert system in diagnosing a case. The consultation process begins with selecting the symptoms found on the list of symptoms. In the cases tested, a known symptoms are depression, comb, wattle, bluish-colored facade region, region of the face swollen, eyes narrowed and balance disorders. The consultation proces can be seen in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Symptoms Selection In the case of depression, comb, wattle and region of the face bluish, region of the face swollen, eyes narrowed and lachrymal glands swollen. The result of consultation is avian influenza. Figure 6 shows the result of consultation.

Figure 6. The Result of Consultation


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6. CONCLUSION

Identification of poultry diseases can be performed using Dempster-Shafer Theory. In this paper we describe five symptoms as major symptoms which include depression, combs, wattle, bluish face region, swollen face region, narrowness of eyes, and balance disorders. The simplest possible method for using probabilities to quantify the uncertainty in a database is that of attaching a probability to every member of a relation, and to use these values to provide the probability that a particular value is the correct answer to a particular query. An expert in providing knowledge is uncertain in the form of rules with the possibility, the rules are probability value. The knowledge is uncertain in the collection of basic events can be directly used to draw conclusions in simple cases, however, in many cases the various events associated with each other. Knowledge based is to draw conclusions, it is derived from uncertain knowledge. Reasoning under uncertainty that used some of mathematical expressions, gave them a different interpretation: each piece of evidence (finding) may support a subset containing several hypotheses. This is a generalization of the pure probabilistic framework in which every finding corresponds to a value of a variable (a single hypothesis). In this research, Poultry Diseases Expert System has been successfully identifying Poultry Diseases diseases and displaying the result of identification process This research can be an alternative in addition to direct consultation with doctor and to find out quickly poultry disease. REFERENCES [1]. B. L. Ligon, Avian Influenza Virus H5N1: “A Review of Its History and

Information Regarding Its Potential to Cause the Next Pandemic,” Seminars in Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Elsevier, pp. 326 – 335, 2005.

[2]. A. S. Fauci, “Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases: Influenza as a Prototype of the Host-Pathogen Balancing Act,” Elsevier, Cell, pp. 665 -670, 2006.

[3]. L. D Sims, J. Domenech, C. Benigno, S. Kahn, A. Kamata, J. Lubrouth, V. Martin, and P. Roeder, “Origin and evolution of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Asia,” The Veterinary Record, pp. 159 – 164, 2006.

[4]. W. H. Assembly, “Strengthening pandemic-influenza preparedness and response,” Resolution WHA58.5, 2005.

[5]. E. Azziz-Baumgartner, N. Smith, R. González-Alvarez, “National pandemic influenza preparedness planning,” Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, pp. 189 – 196, 2006.

[6]. Anonim, Lampung in Figures, BPS – Statistics of Lampung Province, BPS, Lampung, 2010.

[7]. J. Durkin, Expert system: Catalog of applications: Intelligent Computer Systems, Inc., Akron, OH. First Edition, 1993.

[8]. J. Durkin, Expert Systems: Design and Development, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1994.

[9]. J. Giarratano, and G. Riley, Expert Systems: Principles and Programming, Fourth Edition. Boston, MA, Thomson/PWS Publishing Company, 2004.

[10]. S. Russell, and P. Norvig, Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Second Edition. 2002.

[11]. E. A. Feigenbaum, “Dendral and Meta-Dendral: Roots of Knowledge Systems and Expert System Applications,” Artificial Intelligence 59 (1-2), pp. 233 – 240, 1993.

[12]. J. McDermott, “R1: an expert in the computing system domain,” In Proceedings of the National Conference on Artificial Intelligence, pp. 269–271, 1980.

[13]. E. H. Shortliffe, “Computer-Based Medical Consultations: MYCIN,” Elsevier, New York, 1976.

[14]. E. Turban, J. E. Aronson, Decision support systems and intelligent systems, sixth Edition (6th ed), Hongkong: Prentice International Hall. 2001.

[15]. V. Akbar, T. Sulistyorini, “Expert System for Avian Influenza Diagnose using Visual Basic.NET,” Research Report, Gunadarma University, 2007.

[16]. U. Ridwan, “Sistem Pakar Diagnosa Penyakit Avian Influenza pada Unggas Berbasis Web,” Research Report, IPB, 2010.


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[17]. R. Yager, “Reasoning with Uncertainty for Expert Systems,” International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 1985.

[18]. A. P. Dempster, “A Generalization of Bayesian inference,” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, pp. 205 – 247, 1968.

[19]. G. Shafer, A Mathematical Theory of Evidence, Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 1976.


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A Comparative Evaluation of UML Profile for Hard and Weakly Hard Real-Time Systems

Habibah Ismail1, Yavuz Selim Sengoz2, Dayang N. A. Jawawi3

Software Engineering Department, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Systems,

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract

Embedded systems that have timing constraints are classified as embedded real-time systems. Formally, embedded real-time systems are classified into three categories of timing constraints, named hard, soft and weakly hard. For hard real-time systems, no deadlines miss is tolerated, while in soft real-time systems, deadlines miss is acceptable occasionally. Meanwhile, for weakly hard real-time systems, a missed deadline is tolerated but has to be stated precisely. By far, modeling timing constraints and scheduling behavior through adaptation of modeling language are used to predict the timing behavior and performance of sets concurrent tasks in embedded real-time systems. Nowadays, the widely used, well-known and most adopted modeling language for software modeling is Unified Modeling Language (UML). In this paper, we studied the UML profile for Schedulability, Performance and Time (SPT) as modeling language because it is known as suitable profile for modeling and analysis of embedded real-time systems. The objective of the paper is to compare the capability of SPT profile to support both of hard real-time and weakly hard real-time requirements. Two case studies of embedded real-time systems used in this evaluation are: an elevator system case study which was chosen to represent a hard embedded real-time system and a mobile robot case study which was chosen to represent a weakly hard embedded real-time system. A set of important criteria to enable the modeling of timing requirements and scheduling analysis of embedded real-time systems were identified to conduct the comparative evaluation. The analysis results of the comparative evaluation showed how UML-SPT profile can support the requirements modeling and analysis of hard real-time systems and weakly hard real-time systems. A set of recommendation to improve SPT profile in supporting the two types of timing requirements was concluded in this paper. Keywords: UML-SPT, embedded real-time systems, hard real-time requirements, weakly hard real-time requirements, schedulability analysis, performance analysis 1. INTRODUCTION Embedded real-time systems are often classified into hard, soft and weakly hard real-time systems [8]. Traditionally, for hard real-time system, no deadline miss is tolerated or in other words, its deadline must meet successfully otherwise damaging effect to the system. Meanwhile, for soft real-time system, deadline miss is tolerated but minimized and occasionally, however, the term occasional is not precise with meaningful. The new generation for embedded real-time systems is weakly hard real-time system which is provides a mechanism that can tolerate some deadlines with specifies in a clear, predictable and bounded way where the deadlines can be missed. In this paper, we focus on the differences between hard and weakly hard real-time systems.


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The increasing complexity of nowadays ubiquitous real-time systems requires an adequate modeling language. A Unified Modeling Language (UML) is becoming the best standard notation for the description of software models due to its extensibility mechanism, stereotypes, tag values and various profiles. It is a graphical, object-oriented modeling language that uses a variety of diagrams to describe different aspects of the software. The UML profile for embedded real-time modeling and analysis, formally called the UML profile for Schedulability, Performance and Time (SPT) was adopted by the Object Management Group (OMG) [12]. In particular, UML-SPT is used to express real-time models and quantitative analysis models, such as models for timing, performance and schedulability. Therefore, the UML-SPT model can be easily used to enable predictability of the real-time properties in the early phase of design by using the mentioned quantitative information. The important feature of UML-SPT is that it supports the timing requirements of real-time systems and allows user to represent these requirements in different diagrams by using its provided stereotypes and tags. UML-SPT also aims to define some concepts for real-time systems, which comprises of three major features; stereotypes, tags, and constraints. In order to determine whether an embedded real-time systems can run within the timing constraints put upon it, a number of different algorithms has been designed to analyze a system and determine whether it is schedulable. Scheduling analysis is a mathematically sound way of predicting the timing behaviour of a set of embedded real-time systems [11]. There are many scheduling policies that can be used in embedded real-time systems development such as Rate Monotonic Algorithm (RMA), Earliest Deadline First (EDF) and Deadline Monotonic (DM) [1][5]. RMA schedulability technique is a basic algorithm that assigns the priorities according to the rate monotonic algorithm. The objective of the paper is to compare the capability of UML-SPT profile to support both of hard real-time and weakly hard real-time requirements for annotating non-functional requirements of software modelling. The timing constrained requirements are direct input for the scheduling analysis algorithms. The paper is then structured as follows: Section 2 presents an overview of the UML-SPT profile. The comparative evaluation strategy is placed in Section 3. After that, the mapping of schedulability and performance analysis into UML-SPT is in Section 4. Next, UML-SPT modifications for weakly hard concept are in Section 5. Section 6 discusses the experiment on an elevator system and mobile robot case studies. Then, a comparative evaluation is in Section 7. In Section 8, this paper draws some conclusions on this experiment and drafts remaining ongoing work.

2. THE UML-SPT PROFILE A UML-SPT is a UML framework to model resources and quality of service, time concept and time-related mechanism and concurrency. It provides also models for schedulability and performance analysis. The profile for UML-SPT is partitioned into a number of sub-profiles packages [12]. The structure as illustrated in the Figure 1 is composed of a number of sub-profiles.


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Figure 1: UML-SPT Structures The main core of the profile is the General Resource modeling (GRM) Framework package. Moreover, GRM model is built on a classic client server model. The client requests services to be performed by the servers. The GRM is itself partitioned into three sub-profiles or sub-packages. The first sub-package is the RTresourceModeling which introduces the basic concepts of resources and Quality of Service (QoS). Second sub-package is the RTconcurrencyModeling for concurrency modeling and the third sub-package is the RTtimeModeling for the time and time-related mechanisms modeling. Furthermore, the analysis modeling package defines two analysis sub-profiles. One sub-profile is dedicated to schedulability analysis (SAprofile), which designed to support real-time schedulability analysis of UML models and another is dedicated to performance analysis (PAprofile) for the performance analysis modeling.

3. THE COMPARATIVE EVALUATION STRATEGY In this paper, we studied about the UML-SPT profile and the capability of UML-SPT profile to support both of hard and weakly hard real-time requirements. The requirements were represented using two different case studies. The Elevator System case study was chosen to represent a hard embedded real-time system because this case study has complex structure along with its relationships and its environments. Furthermore, the Elevator System is known as hard real-time systems because there are some risks associated with tasks in elevator software. We chose Mobile Robot case study to represent a weakly hard embedded real-time system because this case study consist two types of tasks, hard tasks and soft tasks. From seven tasks, five tasks are known as hard tasks and two tasks known as soft tasks. Thus, missing deadline of certain tasks is acceptable for Mobile Robot software. The two criteria to enable the modeling of timing requirements of embedded real-time systems were identified to conduct the comparative evaluation. These two criteria namely scheduling analysis and profile specification were chosen due to the fact that hard and weakly hard real-time has different requirements, thus it makes sense, and they also have different analysis. Study on the UML-SPT profile specification, enable us to compare how UML-SPT specifying both requirement types in these real-time systems. Figure 2 shows the process flow for the comparative evaluation strategy.


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Figure 2: The Process Flow for the Comparative Evaluation Strategy

4. THEMAPPING OF SCHEDULABILITY AND PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS INTO UML-

SPT SPT profile is a language to UML. The sub-profiles for schedulability and performance are separated, thus we need to use both of this analysis separately. This is due to the fact that schedulability analysis is applied to hard timing requirements with strict deadlines wherein analysis often based on worst-case execution time. Meanwhile, performance analysis can deal with timing properties, wherein it describes timing behavior of a software system and it is measured with metrics like response time, so performance analysis is applied to hard, soft and weakly hard timing requirements [2]. All the packages introduced in the UML-SPT profile have not been used in the context of the schedulability and performance analysis because we focused on the analysis modeling package. UML-SPT SAprofile or SApackage contains a large number of stereotypes associated with tagged values to form and quantify real-time systems domain concepts in UML model. Table 1 illustrates how real-time systems domain concepts are mapped into related stereotypes and tags. According to mapping issues, certain stereotypes and tags used in schedulability analysis are as follow.

Table 1: Schedulability Analysis Mapping into the UML-SPT

Stereotypes Tags Domain Concepts

Hard Real-Time

Soft Real-Time

<<SASituation>> Scenario <<SATrigger>> SAOccurence Periodic <<SAAction>> SAPriority

SAWorstCase SAAbsDeadline SARelDeadline

SALaxity

Pi Ci Di Di

Enumeration

Hard

Soft

<<SAEngine>> SASchedulingPolicy

Scheduling algorithm

Evaluation of real-time requirementsbased on the two criteria using UML-SPT profile with two different case studies.

Hard Real-Time

Scheduling Analysis

Profile Specification

Result and Conclusion

The Mobile Robot case study

The Elevator System case study

Weakly Hard Real-Time

Scheduling Analysis

Profile Specification


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We noted that Table 1 shows some stereotypes which are usually used to describe an action of a real-time system to the schedulability analysis, those stereotypes are used. All stereotypes are appropriate to be used for hard and soft real-time requirements. However, some modifications are needed for certain stereotypes due to specify weakly hard real-time requirements because its specification is different with hard and soft real-time requirements. The following is the additional information we need in the tagged values and notations for these two stereotypes, namely SAAction and SAResponse in order to fulfil weakly hard concept.

<<SAAction>> represents kind of event. We defined weakly hard deadline as timing constraint in SALaxity tag. A hard and soft deadline is already defined as tag type for SALaxity tag. <<SAResponse>> represents the response concept. In case of soft deadlines, SAOverlaps tag is already defined in SAResponse stereotype in order to specify or indicates how many instances may overlap their execution because of missed deadlines. For weakly hard deadlines, it has own specification, named µ-pattern and weakly hard temporal constraints. A µ-pattern is a sequence of symbols of the alphabet Σ = 0, 1. A 1 means that a task has met its deadline, a 0 means that task has missed it. Meanwhile, for weakly hard temporal constraints, (n,m) represented that the task must meet n deadlines for every window of m invocations. Table 2 shows the stereotypes and its tags in a single profile package, called PAprofile or PApackage for performance analysis. We need to usethat stereotypeto examine the models ability to illustratethe notation of task requirements for satisfying functional correctness and non-functional response time requirements. Performance analysis is needed whenever it involves measurements like worst case response time to perform scheduling analysis because in schedulability analysis, the worst case execution time is used as measurement.

Table 2: Performance Analysis Mapping into the UML-SPT Stereotypes Tags Domain

Concepts Hard Real-

Time Soft Real-

Time <<PAContext>> Scenario

<<PAStep>> PARespTime Ri

Due to the fact that UML-SPT profile is particularly focus on hard and soft real-time requirements, hence in order to model weakly hard real-time requirements, we created an extension of the stereotypes for UML-SPT profile to support weakly hard timing requirements. The next section presents our modifications in UML-SPT profile. 5. UML-SPT MODIFICATIONS FOR WEAKLY HARD CONCEPT Profile is a metamodel that uses the coherent set of UML stereotypes with associated tagged values which are used via constraints, possibly accompanied by a model library specific to the domain of interest [7]. As we mentioned in Section 4, the current UML-SPT profile is focused and restricted only on systems having hard and soft timing requirements, hence modification for UML-SPT profile is needed in order to model weakly hard timing requirements. Therefore, we examined the SAction stereotype and found that all the attributes in SAAction are restricted to be used for hard real-time requirements except Laxity and Relative Deadline attributes. Thus, in order to model weakly hard real-time requirements with UML-SPT profile,

<<SAResponse>> (Parent is SAAction)

SAUtilization SAOverlaps -


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we need to specify the type of deadline, named weakly hard for Laxity and using Relative Deadline for specifies the weakly hard deadlines. The attribute Overlaps is defined in SAResponse stereotype wherein that attribute is inherits form SAction stereotype. Consequently, in order to model weakly hard real-time requirements using SPT profile, we extended the metamodel by added the weakly hard requirements into <<SAResponse>>. As we mentioned, we added weakly hard specifications namely µ-pattern and weakly hard temporal constraint as an attribute of the <<SAResponse>>. An extension was proposed in SAAction Metamodel. The importance of added the weakly hard specification because we need to specify the maximum allowable number of missed deadlines precisely during a window of time for the tasks. The original SAResponse is restricted to model timing requirements and predictions for hard and soft real-time requirements. Therefore, the extension is needed in order to model weakly hard requirements. 6. EXPERIMENTING UML-SPT ON A CASE STUDY

Embedded real-time have a set of computer’s parts that are controlled (devices and other mechanical parts) and those parts accomplish their task by receiving signals from the controlling system. In addition, the controlling system can receive information messages on the situation of control units. With respect to this issue, Elevator System and Mobile Robot case studies were designed by using real-time UML models. These two case studies were chosen for evaluation based on the existence of important characteristics of real-time such as timing requirement and concurrent tasks. We started the elevator system case study related to the development of real-time software systems using UML-SPT to represent hard real-time requirements and the mobile robot case study to represent weakly hard real-time requirements. We used a common tool for UML modeling that supported by UML-SPT namely Rhapsody software modeling. Using selected diagrams, we illustrated how UML-SPT helped capturing of the real-time properties of the case studies. Schedulability analysis and equations defined were manually applied in the case studies and the timing requirements used in the application were extracted from the sequence diagram models. 6.1 The Elevator System Case Study This case study was chosen based on the complexity of the system. The structure of this case study is complex because it illustrates a building with ten floors and three elevators, and each floor consists of three shelves for elevators. In addition, it must be able to provide transportation in safe critical mission and the elevator has some sensors that contribute to the complexity of this system. There are some risks in using the elevator, as many factors has to be taken into consideration in order to ensure the passenger is transferred between floors safely and smoothly. Furthermore, all signals must be performed in-time since the Elevator System is known as hard real-time systems [6]. Table 3 shows the task parameters of the task set and the resulting values of scheduling analysis. The table contains, ti denotes a task. The period of tasks is denoted by Ti and the absolute deadline of the task is denoted by Di. Every tasks is periodic and we assume that Di = Ti. The reader should realise that the table also includes the columns Ci, holding the worst case computation time (WCET) of each cycle of the tasks and Ri, which holds the worst case response time of the tasks. The following is the equation of the worst case response times, Ri

[9]:


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j

hpj i

iii C

T

RCR

i

)( (1)

Table 3: The Task Parameters of the Task Set

Under fixed priority scheduling, the traditional worst case response time schedulability analysis would conclude that the system is schedulable because all tasks meet their deadlines in the worst case and they meet almost all deadlines because of their response time not exceeds its relative deadline. Additionally, the response times are bounded. 6.1.1 The Sequence Diagram A sequence diagram is a graphical view of a scenario that shows an object interaction in a time-based sequence. It establishes the roles of objects and help to provide essential information to determine class responsibilities and interfaces.A sequence diagram is useful for the detailed description of triggers and responses. Also, sequence diagrams are easily understood and used to describe the behaviour of the system.The results obtained in Table 3 can be shown by using stereotypes, tags and tagged values based on Request Elevator scenario sequence diagram as depicted in Figure 3. Figure 3 illustrates three timing requirements for task ElevatorSystemController, ElevatorSchedulerController and ElevatorSystemInterface.

Tasks ti

Ci

Ti

Di Ri

ArrivalSensorInterface t1 2 50 50 2 FloorSystemController t2 5 50 50 7 ElevatorButtonDeviceInterface t3 3 100 100 10 FloorSchedulerController t4 6 100 100 16 FloorButtonDeviceInterface t5 4 200 200 27 ElevatorSystemController t6 6 200 200 49 ElevatorSchedulerController t7 22 300 300 71 ElevatorSystemInterface t8 6 300 300 101 FloorLampInterface t9 4 300 300 129 ElevatorLampInterface t10 4 300 300 187 DirectionIndicatorInterface t11 5 300 300 224


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Figure 3: Request Elevator scenario Sequence Diagram of Elevator System case study in

UML-SPT

6.2 The Mobile Robot Case Study

We chose this case study because this case study consist two types of tasks, hard tasks and soft tasks [3]. Thus, it can be clarified as unnecessary to meet the entire task and message deadlines as long as the misses (or deadlines) are spaced distantly/evenly or in specific word are weakly hard tasks. We first present a task set as an example to illustrate the distribution of met and missed deadlines under fixed priority scheduling. There are seven tasks derived from the Mobile Robot system and all tasks are listed in Table 4. The Mobile Robot used in the case study is a differential drive wheeled mobile robot, capable of traversing in a structured environment. The goal of the robot software is to control the movement the robot while avoiding obstacles in its environment. The table contains Ti, is a constant, called period of the task, and Di, referred to as the deadline of the task that must be completed. Every tasks is periodic and we assume that Di = Ti. The reader should realise that the table also includes the columns Ci, holding the worst case computation time (WCET) of each cycle of the tasks, the weakly hard temporal constraints, λ and Ri, which holds the worst case response time of the tasks assuming fixed priority scheduling. The higher order period or the hyperperiod, hiconsist the number of invocations of a task in

the hyperperiod at level i, ai= [4]. The values of the hyperperiod are getting by using least

common multiple tool. The equation for the calculation of the hyperperiod hi is given by [4]:

hi = lcmTj|∈hep(ґi) (2)


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From the Table 4, even though Cruise task missed its deadline in the worst case, however by using hyperperiod analysis, we can specify the number of deadline missed for that task. The task is invoked α6 = 4 times within the hyperperiod at level 6. Therefore, in the worst case only two invocations out of four will miss the deadline. Thus, the weakly hard constraint for Cruise

task is defined as constraint. The main objective of weakly hard constraints is to

guarantee the tasks meet their timing constraints even though during execution time there is some deadlines may be missed. Meanwhile, µ-patterns are used to determine how the deadline can be missed in terms of the consecutiveness or non-consecutiveness of such missed and met deadlines.

Table 4: The Task Parameters of theTask Set

Figure 4 is the Mobile Robot sequence diagram used to express schedulability data and performance data. As seem in Figure 4, there are some tasks of the system stated in the sequence diagram. However, we focus on Cruise task because only that task from other seven tasks missed its deadlines. Thus, the diagram below show all the information’s related with Cruise task.

Figure 4: UML-SPT Sequence Diagram of Mobile Robot case study in schedulability analysis

modeling

Consequently, by adds the SAWeaklyHardTC, we can define the number of deadlines missed during a window of time for the task with precisely. For example, (2,4) expresses Cruise task

Tasks Ti Di Ci Ri hi ai λ µ-pattern MobileRobot 50 50 1 1 50 1 (1,1) 1

motorctrl_left 50 50 20 21 50 1 (1,1) 1

motorctrl_right 50 50 20 41 50 1 (1,1) 1

Subsumption 80 80 1 42 400 5 (5,5) 11111

Avoid 100 100 17 100 400 4 (5,5) 11111

Cruise 100 100 1 160 400 4 (2,4) 1100

manrobotintf 500 500 16 236 2000 4 (2,2) 11


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meet two deadlines in any four invocations. Secondly, by adds the SAµ-pattern, we can specify how the deadlines can be missed. For example, Cruise task has 1100, which means two deadlines are met and two deadlines are missed in four invocations. Moreover, this binary sequence is also expresses (2,4) constraint. The specification we have stated as shown and depicted in the Figure 4. 7. THE COMPARATIVE EVALUATION We compared hard and weakly hard timing requirements. The main criteria used for this comparison are scheduling analysis and profile specification. We chose these two criteria based on our results of experiments on case study using UML-SPT. This comparison is shown in Table 5.

Table 5: Summary of Evaluation

Timing

Criteria

Hard real-time requirements Weakly hard real-time requirements

Scheduling Analysis Response time analysis Response time analysis and hyperperiod analysis

Profile Specification The original UML-SPT profile The extension of UML-SPT profile

The discussion and conclusion of comparative evaluation are based on each criterion we mentioned. According to the first criteria namely scheduling analysis, for hard real-time systems, worst case response time analysis of Elevator System is used to guarantee all the deadlines are met. Then, the predicted value of response time is model in PAprofile because the response time tag is defined in PAprofile. Meanwhile, for weakly hard real-time systems, worst case response time analysis also used to show that all the weakly hard constraints are met. Therefore, weakly hard analysis named hyperperiod analysis is applied to Mobile Robot to show that where occasional deadline misses can be tolerated. Thus, we may specify exactly how many deadlines can be missed in the worst case for weakly hard real-time systems. A second criterion is profile specification. In order to model hard real-time requirements, the original UML-SPT profile is sufficient because its profile isoriginally restricted to deal with hard timing constraint. In addition, that profile focuses on systems having hard timeliness requirements or in other word that must be satisfied without exception.Whereas, for weakly hard real-time requirements, some modifications needs in UML-SPT profile in order to specify its requirements. Due to specify weakly hard real-time requirements, the maximum allowable deadlines that may be missed, need to be modeled in UML-SPT profile. This answered why the extension in UML-SPT profile is needed. From this comparison we concluded UML-SPT can support both of these timing requirements but there are some issues that distinguish the two. The main issue for used in the comparison is to know the capability of UML-SPT profile to support both of hard and weakly real-time requirements. No doubt, the UML-SPT has capability to support hard real-time requirements because the UML-SPT specification is particularly focus on systems having hard timeliness requirements. However, in order to support weakly hard real-time requirements, some modifications are needed in UML-SPT profile. The need of modification is to ensure systems having weakly hard timing requirements can be modeled using UML-SPT profile. By using two criteria we mentioned earlier, the differential both kinds of timing requirements can be shown using the UML-SPT and predicted with scheduling algorithms by experimenting with the case studies.


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8. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, we used UML-SPT profile in order to support timing requirements of hard and weakly hard real-time requirements using two different case studies, an elevator system for hard real-time requirements and a mobile robot for weakly hard real-time requirements. Then, we realize the UML-SPT profile is restricted to hard and soft real-time requirements. Thus, the existing UML-SPT metamodel has been modified in order to implement the weakly hard tasks into UML-SPT profile. The weakly hard specification was supported by extending the SAprofile metamodel. To support timing analysis from the UML-SPT design, we presented a manual mapping of the design model to the schedulability algorithms. The contribution of this paper was the results of our comparative evaluation on how hard and weakly hard real-time requirements were modelled. The evaluation was based on two criteria namely scheduling analysis and profile specification. The software modeling experiments on two case studies with hard specifications and weakly hard specifications using UML-SPT profile can facilitate software designer to perform scheduling analysis modeling in their model by using UML-SPT profile. For future work, we aim to make a comparative evaluation between UML-MARTE and UML-SPT profiles in supporting weakly hard real-time requirements. The UML-MARTE was introduced to replace the existing UML-SPT with some new key features such as support non-functional property modeling and adds rich time and resource models to UML.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors would like to thank profoundly to the Research Grant University (RUG), the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), the Software Engineering Research Group (SERG), the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and not forgotten, EReTSEL lab members for their support and help. REFERENCES [1] C. L. Liu and J. W. Layland, “Scheduling algorithms for multiprogramming in a hard real-

time environment,” Journal of the ACM (JACM), vol. 20(1), pp. 46-61, 1973. [2] D. C. Petriu, “Model-based performance analysis of service-oriented systems,” Carleton

University, Canada, 2010. [3] D. N. A. Jawawi, S. Deris and R. Mamat, “Enhancement of PECOS embedded real-time

component model for autonomous mobile robot application,” IEEE International Conference on Computer Systems and Applications, pp. 882-889, 2006.

[4] G. Bernat, “Specification and analysis of weakly hard real-time systems”, PhD Thesis, Department de les Ciències Matemàtiques i Informàtica, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Spain, January, 1998.

[5] G. C. Butazzo, “Hard real-time computing: predictable scheduling algorithms and applications, Kluwer Academic Publisher, 1997.

[6] H. Gomaa, “Designing concurrent, distributed and real-time applications with UML,” Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co. Inc., Boston, MA, 2000.

[7] J. Medina, “The UML Profile for MARTE: modeling predictable real-time systems with UML,” Universidad de Cantabria, Spain, 2006.

[8] K. G. Shin and P. Ramanathan, “Real-time computing: A new discipline of computer science and engineering,” Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 82(1), 1994.

[9] L. Sha, et al., “Real-time scheduling theory: A historical perspective,” Real-Time Systems, vol. 28(2), pp. 101-155, 2004.

[10]MARTE OMG Specification, “A UML Profile for MARTE: Beta 1,” OMG Adopted specification ptc/07-08-04, August 2007.

[11]M. Klein, “A practitioner’s handbook for real-time analysis: Guide to rate monotonic analysis for real-time system,” Boston, Kluwer Academic Publisher, 1993.


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[12]OMG Specification, “UMLTM profile for schedulability, performance and time specification,” OMG Adopted specification ptc/02-01-20, May 2002.


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Development of Sustainable Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Monitoring and Control System using Viable System Model

Roliana Ibrahim 1, Suleiman Isah Sani1, Ali Selamat1 and Aryati Bakri1 Faculty of Computer Science and Information Systems

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) 81310 Skudai, Malaysia

Corresponding author’s email : [email protected]

Abstract

Key Performance Indicator (KPI) delivery process can be considered as a feedback process. It is needed in the measurement of staff improvement and productivity in all types of organization. If the KPI delivery process is disrupted or destroyed, then generally the strategic goals of an organization are likely to fail. Organization such as the Institution of Higher Learning (IHL) contains hundreds of staff at different levels, categories and designations. In the IHL, scholarly publication is one of the key performance index set by the management to their academic staffs. All academic staffs of an IHL are involved in the KPI delivery process within their organization in order to ensure staff achieve their KPI targets. However, with different levels, categories and designations of academic staffs, the management encounters difficulties in delivering and monitoring staffs’ achievement and performance. This paper discusses the use of Viable System Model as diagnostic tool to analyze the KPI Delivery Process of scholarly publication by academic staffs in the Institution of Higher Learning. Using this model, the organizational analysis was done by selecting one IHL as case study and separated it into meta-system and sub-system during the analysis. The results of the diagnostic were then used to develop a sustainable framework for the development of Sustainable Key Performance Indicator Monitoring and Control System. The main capability highlighted by this system is sustainable feedback features. The use of the ICT based system for monitoring and controlling the KPI delivery process is aim at ensuring the academic staff achieves their target KPI set by their management and support their organization’s mission, vision and strategic goals.

Keywords: Key Performance Index, Organizational Analysis, Viable System Model, Monitoring and Control System, KPI Delivery Process,

1. INTRODUCTION

Monitoring and control of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in organizations provide real-time information about the activity status of the delivery process as well as performance evaluation. By having this capability, organizations can figure, track and analyze desired KPIs and take actions. It is important to monitor and control such KPIs in order to overcome the dangers associated with their disruption or termination. Since KPIs are used as feedback mechanisms, institutions of higher learning (IHL) has adopted their usage as a form performance measurement to enhance productivity among academic staff.


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2. RELATED WORKS

Diagnosing performance processes has been an active area of research over the last few decades. Most noticeable is the work of [1], where Viable System Model (VSM) was used to diagnose the sustainability of biosocial interaction in a society. According to Espinosa and Walker, VSM provides the template that can be used to map the complexity of society thereby providing the best method to achieve sustainable societal processes. But their work is a broad context looking at the society as a whole. A major weakness of their approach is the difficulty in the implementation and it does not cover the cultural, political and technological aspect relevant to sustainability. Another important contribution is by [4], he utilizes VSM at community level to foster adaptation to sustainability. Leonardo [4], uses the VSM framework by exploring three levels of recursion; the household, the neighborhood and the city, and this approach was more looking at the political as well as cultural changes that may affect sustainability. But also this work does not cover the technological aspect. In their work, [3] uses VSM as a proof of concept to identify the influential components in organizations that needs immediate intervention. This work of [3] has also not looked at the technological point of view. It is important to note that all the literatures presented used VSM as a template as well as diagnosis tool to identify the gap in their context.

The two works that are similar to our work are those of [2] and [5]. In [2], they applied the

concept of VSM in information system planning and modeling but they are looking more to the structural relationship of the units in the organization. Also it looks at the integrity of the structure and the deployment of information across the organization. Our work differ slightly in these works by introducing the sustainability concept to the organizational processes. That is how the KPI delivery process can be made sustainable in the dynamic world. And this can be achieved by integrating other methods with VSM.

Many researchers [16], [17], [18], [19] and [20], uses VSM with other models by pointing to

the limitation of VSM as an abstract model that can be expandable with other models. However, in our work, we looked at VSM as a strong model that can stands on its own but only adding some initial strategies that can help in the VSM diagnosis.

3. PROPOSED METHOD

In this study, we propose a five-step activity model in developing a sustainable key performance indicator (KPI) monitoring and control system. This model is similar to [5] and steps involved are: Identification of organizational KPIs; Organizational analysis; quantitative and qualitative analysis; VSM analysis; and, information systems tool development as shown in Figure 1. The following paragraphs explains the five-step model which we would test using one of the public universities in Malaysia.

Figure 1. Five-Step model of developing KPI Monitoring And Control System

Our new framework will be composed of four phases and each of these phases have a beginning and an end with some overlapping, this means there is some VSM activity, data


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collection and feedback during the entry phase, some entry, VSM activity and feedback during data collection, some entry, data collection and feedback during VSM activity and some entry, data collection and VSM activity during feedback. The following paragraphs explain the components of the proposed framework.

3.1 Identification of Organizational KPIs

Most IHL now operate based of strategic goals being set in order to achieve their targets.

Therefore the identity of each organization is based on the KPIs available to improve the organizational status. In [5], this stage deals with the identification of the system under investigation. For the development of a sustainable KPI monitoring and control system, one has to decide which of the organizational KPI will be put under consideration [15]. This will help in narrowing the scope and importance of the system to be developed.

3.2 Organizational Analysis In this step, an in-depth document analysis is done on the organization and the selected

KPI of the organization. This phase is similar to [Espejo et al, 1999] and [Briones-Juarez, 2010] where organizational data was examined to bring out issues of relevance to a VSM analysis. Also in Hoverstadt (2011), this stage unfolds the complexity of the fractal structure of operations and delivery process in the organization. Therefore the researcher may require a study the available resources from the organizational websites and intranet. Also from news papers and observation will help in having a clear understanding of the organizational operations. 3.3 Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis

This can be called the primary data collection stage, where selected respondents will be

surveyed based on the available data from organizational analysis and their role in achieving the selected KPI of the organization. [6] has similarly used qualitative and quantitative instruments in identification of operational elements within an organization. Also [7] has used qualitative approach to forecast patterns and levels of offending and to optimize various police, judicial and prison processes using Viable System Model. In this step, several approaches can be employed based on the number of respondents available.

3.4 VSM Analysis

The results from the organizational analysis and quantitative and qualitative analysis will

be used in VSM analysis [11] and [12]. The organizational stakeholders would be represented in a recursive structure. The recursive nature of VSM will enable the researcher to identify the unsustainable factors that affect the KPI delivery and also suggests a sustainable tool that will help in achieving the targets based on monitoring and control of the KPI. The concept of using VSM as an analysis tool follows the work of [8] and [9].

3.5 Information System Tool Development This is the final step of the proposed model, it is the development phase of the monitoring

and control system that was suggested in the VSM analysis. This phase is similar to that of [9], where the information system tool developed reflects the user requirement from the VSM analysis, this attempts to make the tool a sustainable one. It will be also in this stage that an evaluation test is undertaken on the developed system in order to assess its usefulness to the users in the organization [13].


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4. CASE STUDY OF UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

In this work, we used an institution of higher learning to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed model. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, a leading research university in Malaysia was chosen as our case study. And the institution is currently working hard to maintain its research status in which one of the determining factor is the output on academic staff publications. For two consecutive years (2009, 2010) the university has not meet the target set on the academic staff on these publications. Therefore, the situation has become as problematic as well as unsustainable that requires diagnosis in order to identify areas and corrective action to be taken. This research aims at diagnosing the current situation has made the following hypothesis in Table 1.

Table 1. Research Hypothesis

H1: That the management encounters difficulties in delivering and monitoring staffs’ achievement and performance due to poor information system tool in place

H2: That if there is resistance from the academic staff to use the new system, then it will affect the number of publication output.

The reason for our hypothesis is that, the current system similar to giving the monitoring

and control function is electronic appraisal system (EAS) in place. The following paragraphs explain the overall organizational diagnosis using the proposed framework as mentioned earlier.

4.1 Identification of Organizational KPIs The internal process strategic objective of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia has Scholarly

Publication & Citation as one of the major KPIs with the following as the elements of that KPI: Cummulative impact factor of publications; Non citation index papers=2.67 paper per staff = 2947; Book chapters=1.13x1104 staf=1248; No. of original books authored (karya asli). From the record it has been shown that the KPI on scholarly publications and citations from 2008 to 2010 has not been achieved (Table 2).

Table 2: Set and achieved UTM KPI targets

4.2. Organizational Analysis

In this analysis, we divided the stakeholders of KPI delivery process of scholarly

publications and citations into a pyramid (Figure 2) that shows the levels of delivery and the task of each stakeholder in each stage of the process. The lower level comprises of what we call the “information provision”, which involves the academic staff and the research groups as a whole. This level is responsible for the publication aspect and they are the operational elements. Therefore whatever this level generates will be passed to the next level of the pyramid, which involves those, responsible for the “collection and reporting” of the data. In this level the research alliances and the research support unit of the library (RSU-PSZ) are responsible for this process. The collection and reporting involve the use of information technology, for example, currently they use applications such as Excel and emails to collect and report the publication data to the next level of the pyramid. In the next upper level of the

KPI Name 2008 2009 2010 Expected Target

Achieved Expected Target

Achieved Expected Target

Achieved

Scholarly Publication

Not available

< 300 1000 321.46 3000 513


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pyramid is the office of the deputy vice chancellor on research and innovation (TNCPI) which is responsible for “monitoring” the overall processes undertaken by the stakeholders in the lower levels of the pyramid. The TNCPI is answerable to the management of the institution that makes the final “decisions”.

Figure 2: Pyramid of KPI delivery

The current academic staff of UTM as at 15 March 2011 were 2320, of these number, 346 (14.9%) are from the K-Economy Research Alliance, which consists of group of interrelated research units. The Knowledge-based economy (K-economy) research alliance is an organ of the Research Management Center (RMC) of UTM. The research alliance has a sizable number of research groups and all research groups are made up of academic staffs as members. These members are drawn from eight faculties forming 35 Research Groups. Of the 35 Research Groups, the faculty of computer science and information systems (FSKSM) has 6 K-Economy research groups with a total of 89 members forming 25.72% of the K-Economy Research Alliance. These Academic staff are categorized into two, the (A): 70% Research & 30% Teaching (B): 30% Research & 70% Teaching. Each category also belongs to a research group (RG). This categorization is to enable the staff to be more focused on a particular area for the delivery of their KPIs.

4.3 Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis

The target population for the study comprised 346 members of the K-Economy Research

Alliance of UTM. Out of the sample frame of 346 members of K-Economy Research Alliance (RAKE) in UTM, a sample size of eighty-nine (89) respondents were selected based on faculty of the respondents, which we considered Faculty of Computer Science and Information Systems (FSKSM). Out of the 89 questionnaires that were administered, 51 shows that the questionnaire items have relatively high internal consistency questionnaires constituting of 57.3 percent response rate were collected. An analysis of item reliability was computed using the scale analysis of SPSS. The Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.912. And according to George and Mallery (2003), that items that have a higher degree of reliability are those that achieve a score of 0.8 or higher in the reliability statistics.

Demographic Factors:

Majority of the respondents are between the ages of 31 to 40, showing that they are

young. Which according to the interviews made by the researcher shows that old age goes with higher productivity due to experience and exposure. Majority of the respondents are married (96.1 percent), In which family issues can also influence productivity. Majority of the respondents have worked in the institution for more than 10 years. Therefore change in culture may affect their productivity as reported by Davidson (2006).


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This section presents an overview of some of the analyzed results. We considers two issues among the highlighted issues from the interviews and the questionnaire;

The need for an enhanced annual evaluation and appraisal system (ELPPT):

The respondents from the academic staff were worried with the annual evaluation and

appraisal system (ELPPT) although it is new. The system inability to link their publications already submitted when a request is made for them to resubmit. An important observation from the respondents’ comments was that the ELPPT is opened only once a year, and does not show their progress to determine their work in progress.

Factors associated with the EAS:

On the issue of time consuming, two questions were posed to the respondents and in the

first one which we are presenting; that says the current EAS is not linked to any database to retrieve my data automatically. 51% agree, 7.8% disagree while 39.2% were uncertain and 2% have no response. Therefore we conclude that the EAS is time consuming, as staff reportedly complains on the data entry aspect of the system instead of automatically retrieving their documents from existing databases. The EAS do not have effective and satisfactory feedback mechanism is another question that 58.8% agree, 7.8% disagree, 16% were uncertain and 2% no response. This clearly shows why there is so much resistance to the use of the EAS.

Constraints that influence academic staff productivity

Unrealistic targets were also measured, and from the respondents, 52.9% agree that the

targets are not realistic, while 17.6% disagree and 29. 4% were uncertain.

Figure 3. Unrealistic targets

4.4 VSM Analysis In this phase, we have applied the concept of recursion [8] to the entire KPI delivery

process, and the outcome results to four recursion levels (Figure 4). Each recursion level describes the activities of that part of the process. Each recursive level must be thought of as a Viable Unit in its own right; i.e., the means to maintain an identity if separated from the whole recursive scheme is inherent in the organization (recursive level) itself. Briefly, in discussion with respondents, it was found that the situation was complex and non-deterministic.


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Figure 4: Identified recursion levels using VSM

Recursion level 0 is Stakeholder, which constitutes the major players in the KPI delivery

process on scholarly publications and citations. This recursion level forms the “whole” which have other levels of recursions, for example all the research alliances form another recursion level that also have its own VSM subsystems. This went further to another recursion level such as the research groups, and these are derived from the upper level of recursion (research alliance). At the lat recursion level (recursion level three), there are the academic staff, which handles all the information provision or data generation on scholarly publications and citations. These group is categorized into (A): 70% Research & 30% Teaching (B): 30% Research & 70% Teaching. Each category also belongs to a research group (RG), and also have different cadre of appointment from VK07: Professor down to DS54: academic staff with PhD.

At recursion level 0, there are 2 System 1 Divisions at this recursive level: research

alliances, Research Support Unit of Library. The agreed purpose relating to these divisions is as follows:

To provide and monitor the KPI delivery of scholarly publications and citations from academic staff, ensuring that all sources of publication data from other sources such as Web of Science and Scopus and others are collected and confirmed, and to continually report the outcome in order to help on maintaining the research university status.

4.5 Information System Tool Development

This section discusses the process of developing a prototype KPI Delivery monitoring and control tool based on the features and requirements that have been collected through the sets of data collection techniques that were given by and discussed with the stakeholders as well as the VSM analysis. The design represents the structure of the system-to-be as perceived by the user. The system design is developed for the purpose of providing functionality, or behavior that will satisfy the user expectations and then develop a prototype system. Also in this section, a user acceptance test was conducted and presented. The system was developed using PHP 5.2 as the scripting language and MySQL Community Server 5.0 as the databases management system.

Figure 5, show the login page of the proposed system, this allows the user to enter the

username and password in order to get access to the system, this interface also gives a welcome message to the user especially guest user. After having access to the system the


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user will be presented with list of options to select from. The usability of this system is categorized into three; one for those responsible in data

collection and reporting, which will use the system functionality to upload all the data they get from different sources, and the system will automatically picked the only required fields and also remove duplications if any and arrange them according to the university’s standards. Figure 6, is the page where the data is being uploaded. And Figure 7 shows the summary table of the data in the database.

Figure 5: System Login Page Figure 6: Data import page

The second users of this system would be the management and the academic staff themselves, which will require to know the current status of the scholarly publications and citation acquired by the stakeholders. Therefore form the menu presented to the user, one can select to know the status of a particular academic staff, a particular research group or a particular research alliance. Figure 7: Publication record

5. EVALUATION OF THE TOOL

Acceptance test was conducted to introduce the new system to staff members in-charge of collecting and reporting KPI targets on Scholarly Publications and Citations in RSU-PSZ and RAKE. Because the actual users of this system are not many, only two in RSU PSZ and only three in RAKE, this assessment included three respondents from the total users. After the introduction part, the SPC-QIR was introduced by demonstrating the capabilities and functions of the new system system. Among the 3 respondents, all are females. The position of the respondents is research and administrative officers. All the staff in-charge of the KPI collection and reporting has a wide range of working experience. Two of the respondents, have 10 years and above of working experience. One of them, has 2 to 4 years of working experience. The instrument consists of 6 background information items, 4 items on the perceived usefulness, and the perceived ease of use and 2 questions on the features of the new system. This questionnaire used a five-point likert scale. The reliability of this instrument


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has a Cronbachs Alpha value of 0.955. Before the evaluation started, the researcher explained to the respondents all the features available, what are the functions of each feature, and how it will contributes to help KPI delivery of Scholarly Publications and Citations. In question about the benefit of this system to the UTM research community (Figure 10), the total percent of agree and strongly agree were 100%.

Figure 10: Importance of the System Figure 11: Useful Features

The result of question about if the system has useful features that provides immediate and updated information on Scholarly Publication was 100% agree (Figure 11). However, 66.7% of the respondents were neutral about the screen elements such as buttons and menu options, (Figure 12) which shows the need of improvement on the user friendly aspect of the system. On whether the respondents feel that this system can be recommended to the UTM management for immediate use, 100% have agreed to that (Figure 13).

Figure 12: Screen elements clarity Figure 13: Recommended the System

6. CONCLUSIONS

Monitoring and control of KPI delivery process with effective feedback mechanism was the major contribution of this work, where the various data coming from different sources are being managed together and presented to the user such as the management of the institution. We believe that this study, together with the prototype system developed will aid in quick decision making as well as improved KPI delivery process. The use of VSM in this study has shown that system thinking approach can be the best method to tackle a complex situation such as the KPI delivery process that involves various stakeholders with different needs and complexity. Although, only one KPI was considered in this study, we believe it will provide the foundation for the development of sustainable key performance indicator (KPI) monitoring and control system using viable system model ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This work is supported by Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) under Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (Vote No. 03J31). The authors would like to thank the management of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), The Research Management Center (RMC), and the


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Faculty of Computer Science and Information System (FSKSM) for the support in making this study a success.

REFERENCES [1] R. H. Espinosa, Harnden R. J. Walker "A Complexity Approach To Sustainability –

Stafford Beer Revisited," European Journal Of Operational Research (Elsevier) Vol. 187, P. 15, 2008

[2] B. Wetzstein, Leitner, P., Rosenberg, F., Brandic, I., Leymann, F., Dustdar, S.: "Monitoring And Analyzing Influential Factors Of Business Process Performance," In: Edoc Proceedings Of The 13th IEEE International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference (2009)

[3] B. W. R. Kazhamiakin, D. Karastoyanova, M. Pistore, And F. Leymann, , "Adaptation Of Service-Based Applications Based On Process Quality Factor Analysis," In In Proceedings Of The 2nd Workshop On Monitoring, Adaptation And Beyond (Mona+), 2009, P. 9. 2009.

[4] A. Leonard, "Integrating Sustainability Practices Using Viable System Model" Journal Of Isss, Vol. 25, P9, 2008I. S. Jacobs and C. P. Bean, “Fine particles, thin films and exchange anisotropy,” in Magnetism, vol. III, G. T. Rado and H. Suhl, Eds. New York: Academic, 1963, pp. 271–350.

[5] Hoverstadt, P. (2008). Fractal Organization: Creating Sustainable Organizations with the Viable System Model, ISBN 13:978-0471951360

[6] Briones-Juárez, A., Tejeida-Padilla, R. y Morales-Matamoros, O. (2009) "Towards the evolution of the tourism's conceptual system", Journals ISSS | International Society for the Systems Sciences,.

[7] Brocklesby, J “Using the Viable Systems Model to examine multi-agency arrangements for combatting transnational organised crime” Journal of Operational Research Society 2011.

[8] R. L. Flood and S. A. Zambuni, “Viable systems diagnosis. 1. Application with a major tourism services group,” Systemic Practice and Action Research, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 225–248, 1990.

[9] R. Espejo, The Viable System Model: A Briefing About Organizational Structure.Chichester, 2003

[10] Jae Eon Yu, "Problematizing Problem-Solving Methods For Exploring The Management Of Social Enterprises" Systemic Practice And Action Research, Vol. 24, P. 13, 2009.

[11] Beer Stafford, Diagnosing The System For Organizations,. Chichester 1985. [12] B. Stafford, The Heart Of The Firm. Chichester, 1979. [13] R. L. A. J. M. C. Flood, Creative Problem Solving – Total Systems Intervention. New

York, : John Wiley And Sons, 1991. [14] P. E. Green, Tull, D.S. And Albaum G, Research Methods For Marketing Decisions, ,

5thEd.: Prentice Hall, 1993. [15] Patrick H, “The Fractal Organization: Creating Sustainable Organization With The Viable

System Model” 2009 [16] P. K. Francis H, Micheal Francis "Supporting Crime Detection And Operational Planning

With SSM And VSM" Journal Of System Research And Behavioral Science, Vol. 26, P. 11, 2008.

[17] D. W. B. A. Taleb-Bendiab, R. Sterrit, Ag Laws, F. Kenan, " Model-Based Self-Managing Systems Engineering" In Proceedings Of Software Engineering Workshop, 2005.

[18] Patrick H, “The Fractal Organization: Creating Sustainable Organization With The Viable System Model” 2009.

[19] D.W. Bustard, R. Sterrit, A.G. Laws, F. Keenan, A. Taleb-Bendiab “ Integrated Use Of SSM And Vsm In Autonomic System Design” 2007.

[20] J. E. Yu, "Problematizing Problem-Solving Methods For Exploring The Management Of Social Enterprises," Isss, Vol. 53, P. 14, 2009.


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Malaysian computer science publications: A citation study

Aryati Bakri, Naomie Salim, Rose Alinda Alias, Jabatan Sistem Maklumat, Fakulti Sains Komputer dan Sistem Maklumat, Universiti

Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia Siti Nisrin Mohd Anis

Perpustakaan Sultanah Zanariah,Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

Abstract

This paper analyses the citation patterns of Malaysian computer science publications in the Web of Knowledge (WOK) from 1987-2007. This is the first study focusing on a citation analysis of Malaysian publication data in the field of computer science. The citation data consisted of searches of the WOK databases. The results showed a total of 481 citations with at least one citation for 125 articles. The average number of citations per publication is 0.95, which is low. The main channel of publication is conference proceedings, which account for approximately 64% of the 204 out of 321 articles. The total number of countries that cited Malaysian computer science articles is 43, with the highest counts from China. As expected, the highest citers of Malaysian computer science articles are Malaysian universities – Universiti Multimedia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and Universiti Malaya. Keywords: Bibliometrics, Citation analysis, Publications analysis, Web of Science, Malaysia, Computer Science Introduction Several studies have been carried out in Malaysia that have focused on computer science and information technology publications in Malaysia (Gu, 2002; Gu and Zainab, 2000; Gu and Zainab, 2001; Shari and Ahmad, 2005; Bakri and Willett, 2009; Bakri and Willett, 2011). The first study focused on publication productivity, examining the total number of papers and the main channels of research communication. In 2000, they studied Malaysian computer science publications in Inspec (1990-1999), Compendex (1987-1999), and IEL (IEE/IEEE library) (1987-1999), and found 159 journal articles, 229 conference articles, and one monograph chapter. Most of the articles were conference papers, whilst the highest number of journal articles are published in the MJCS and, surprisingly, more than 80% of the articles published were in non-Malaysian journals (Gu and Zainab, 2000).

A year later, they studied active Malaysian authors, the affiliations of the Malaysian authors, and the subject areas. The total number of unique Malaysian authors was 458. Two authors were dominant contributors, most of the authors originated from UTM, and the most active research area was simulation systems (Gu and Zainab, 2001). In 2002, they extended the study to include other publications from Inspec and Compendex from 1990 to 1999. They found 547 unique Malaysian authors affiliated with 52 organizations in Malaysia, who contributed 461 articles. The authorship pattern, author affiliation, and subject area were similar to those found in a 2001 study (Gu and Zainab, 2001), however in 2002, Gu (Gu, 2002) discussed issues relating to Malaysia’s research and development expenditure on information, and computer technologies. He also suggested possible reasons why the publications are related to the number of researchers, the availability of refereed scholarly journals, and the total expenditure on research and development in Malaysia (Gu, 2002).


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The study on Malaysian information communication technology publications was indexed in National Citation Report by Thomson Reuters (Shari and Ahmad, 2005). The study found that were 124 articles published, 238 authors from 75 institutions in 21 countries, and there are may collaborations with the United Kingdom and Japan. In 2010, a publication and citation pattern on the Malaysian Journal of Computer Science was conducted by (Bakri and Willett, 2010). Lastly, the latest bibliometric analysis was used to evaluate a bibliometric indicators and peer review data for Malaysia in the field of computer science (Bakri and Willett, 2011). Previous studies focused on the publication productivity of computer scientists in Malaysia, i.e., focusing on quantity without paying any attention to the quality of research performance. In order to examine the impact of computer science research in an international community, this study will investigate citations that represent the quality of research using the established citation database Web of Knowledge (WOK). Despite many publication studies in Malaysia, only a few of these studies focus on citation analysis: citation and self-citations in the Journal of Natural Rubber Research (JNRR) (Tiew, 2000; Tiew and Kaur, 2000); on scholarly communication in Islamic education (Atari, 1998); analysis on the bibliography of the final year undergraduates project at the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Malaya (Edzan, 2007); and lastly, library and information science dissertations (Yeap and Kaur, 2007). The study on the JNRR focused on the characteristics of self-citation in that journal from 1988-1997 and found that 53% of the papers contained journal self-citation (Tiew, 2000). Next, Tiew and Kaur studied citation analysis within the same period and found that the average number of citations per article in JNRR was 16.5. The main source of information for the rubber scientists was journal publications, with multi-authorship being a normal pattern (Tiew and Kaur, 2000). Another study by Atari (1998) pointed out the existence of a communication gap among Muslim scholars in Islamic education. Edzan (2007) used citation analysis to examine undergraduate information behavior with a total of 73 reports analyzed based on number of pages, number of citations, types of sources, usage of Web materials, and citation style. Lastly, the citation study of library and information science from the Universiti Malaya was used for the library collection development (Yeap and Kaur, 2007). The result found that journals and books are the most used sources for information by researchers that prefer to work individually. Citation studies in Malaysia were limited to two works (in the fields of rubber and biomedicine). This study is the first study to focus on citation analysis in Malaysian computer science articles. Data and Method In April 2009 WOK was used to identify Malaysian cited articles in the field of computer science from as early as 2007. The citation data was obtained through WOK based on publication data that was written by academic staff. Searching was based on the title of the article, and the completed citation records were downloaded to Microsoft Excel. Next, a subsequent analysis used these spreadsheet packages. In addition, each cited article with self-citations, full article title, journal name, year of publication, author’s name, institution, and country were logged. The total number of articles used in this study was 508, 481 of which attracted at least one citation. The self-citations were considered unique citations due to the limited number of cited articles in this study. This is also supported by previous studies that show there is no difference between the motivation for self-citation and foreign citation (Bonzi and Synder, 1991; Hellsten et al., 2007; Hyland, 2003).


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Results

ln total, 125 of 508 articles attracted at least one citation. Total number of citations was 481 and 49 articles attracted only one citation. The figure 125 includes many self-citations, i.e. if and only if at least one of the authors in the citing article matches an author in the cited article in terms of both names and address. Malaysian computer science articles that have been cited at least twelve times in WOK are listed in Table 1. Overall about 75% of the articles in WOK are not cited by other researchers, confirming results of other studies that have shown that the majority of articles are never cited (Baird and Oppenheim, 1994; Meho, 2007). According to Meho (2007), more than 50% of articles are never read by anyone except their author, the referees, and the journal editors.

Citation frequency represents the quality of the research. According to Glanzel (2003); if a peer-reviewed journal accepts an article, the article has reached the minimum standard (Garfield, 1998). The problem with uncited papers is not a new phenomenon because of unrelated work, difficulty of obtaining the paper, unclear information about the sources, and invalid data or statements. This is supported by Liu (1993), the English language (Vinkler, 1986), and the dominance of America or the West (MacRoberts and MacRoberts, 1989). Authors in developing countries such as Malaysia experience difficulties getting published at the international level and being cited by other researchers (Arunachalam, 2003; Liu, 1993).

The most common author in Table 1 is Connie with two articles. The highest cited article is “Connie T, Jin ATB, Ong MGK, Ling DNC (2005). An automated palmprint recognition system.Image and Vision Computing, 23, 501-515” with 34 citations and only one author self-cited. This work is from Multimedia University (MMU). It has the highest citation score and was published in 2005. Normally, citation counts are high for older articles (Pasterkamp et al., 2007).

Table 1: Malaysian computer science articles that have been cited at least twelve times in WOS

No Cited articles #Citation

Total Self 1 Connie T, Jin ATB, Ong MGK, Ling DNC (2005). An automated

palmprint recognition system. Image and Vision Computing, 23, 501-515

34 1

2 Salam MS, Nor KM, Hamdan AR (1998). Hydrothermal scheduling based lagrangian relaxation approach to hydrothermal coordination. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 13, 226-235.

23 0

3 Yahia ME, Mahmod R, Sulaiman N, Ahmad F (2000). Rough neural expert systems. Expert Systems with Applications, 18, 87-99.

21 0

4 Deris SB, Omatu S, Ohta H, Samat PABD (1997). University timetabling by constraint-based reasoning: a case study. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 48, 1178-1190.

17 1

5 Connie T, Teoh A, Goh M, Ngo D (2005). PalmHashing: a novel approach for cancelable biometrics. Information Processing Letters, 93, 1-5.

16 0

6 Yap WS, Heng SH, Goi BM (2006). An efficient certificateless signature scheme. Emerging Directions in Embedded and Ubiquitous Computing, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 4097,

14 0


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322-331.

7 Ogata WH, Kurosawa KR, Heng SH (2005). The security of the FDH variant of Chaum's undeniable signature scheme. Public Key Cryptography, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 3386, 328-345.

12 0

8 Ahmad F, Yusoff M, Sembok TMT (1996). Experiments with a stemming algorithm for Malay words. Journal of The American Society for Information Science, 47, 909-918.

12 0

The average number of citations per publication of cited articles is 0.95. The low percentage of citation counts is not a new phenomenon, especially in developing countries like Malaysia. Citation studies in Malaysia were limited to two related previous works (in the field of rubber and biomedicine). A study in the JNRR found the average number of cited articles was 16.5. This value was high due to a massive amount of author self-citations and journal self-citations. These citations totaled more than 50% (Tiew and Kaur, 2000; Tiew, 2000). Another study in the field of biomedical and health science found that 60.9% of publications attracted at least one citation (Zainal, 2008). In Malaysia, medical research was the most frequently cited, followed by chemical science, physical, agricultural, and biological sciences (Arunachalam and Garg, 1986). As the Malaysian government has been providing substantial support for computer science research, low citation counts might raise some concerns because computer science has been the fastest growing field.

Low citation counts have been detected in other countries such as India (Glanzel and Gupta, 2008; Gupta and Dhawan, 2009; Malaviya, 2004), China (Zhou and Leydesdorff, 2006; Zhou and Leydesdorff, 2007; Zhou et al, 2009), Japan (Haiqi and Yamazaki, 1998), and the Netherlands (Moed and Visser, 2007). In a study of citations and impact factors, the Indian Journal of Surgery by Malaviya (2004) found that the majority of the cited publications come from North America and the Western world, whilst the losers are invariably from developing countries. The reasons for this are the predominance of the English language and difficulties getting published in internationally indexed journals as suggested in several Indian studies (eg. Glanzel and Gupta, 2008; Gupta and Dhawan, 2009; Malaviya, 2004).

The half-life is the number of cited years that cover 50% of the current years’ citation. In this study the half-life cited is 2.53 years. A possible reason for this short half-life is that research and development in Malaysia is new and the field of computer science is growing quickly. These findings are in contrast with the citing half life of the Malaysian Journal of Library and Information Science (MJLIS): which is 7.892 years (Sen, 1999). Next, a detailed analysis of the overall citing articles was carried out and 388 distinct citations were found. A cleaning process removed duplicate citing articles. Subsequently, a detailed study of the citing articles was carried out for 321 articles. Each of the citing articles was placed into one of the following categories (as provided by WOK): articles in conference proceedings, articles in academic journals, review articles, and editorial materials. The distribution of the publications across these four categories is shown in Table 2. This result in a contrast with other studies suggesting that in the field of computer science the most cited work is the book (Goodrum, et al., 2001). After the introduction of conference indexing by WOK, results have differed in the channel of publications. This reflects other studies in the field of computer science which found that 20% of citing articles were conference papers (Lisee et al., 2008). The most recent study on WOK with the Conference Proceedings Citation Indexes for computer science found that more than 40% of their citations came from proceedings papers (Bar-Ilan, 2010). Lister and Box (2008) carried


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out citation analysis of the Australian Computing Education (ACE) and found that 29% of citing articles were journal papers and 32% were conference papers. Lister and Box (2009) studied the frequency of citations in the Australasian Computer Science Conference (ACSC), and found that 27% of citing articles were journal articles and 42% were conference papers.

Table 2: Citation based on document type Document Type #Citation Proceedings Paper 204 Journal Article 105 Review 10 Editorial Material 2

Subsequently, further citation analysis examined the most productive channeling of publications of the citing articles as shown in Table 3. The first column is the source of publication, the second column is the number of articles contributed to each source of publication, and the last column is the impact factor. The impact factor was introduced by Garfield in 1955, and is commonly known as the journal impact factor. The journal impact factor is defined as the average rate of citations each article receives during a specific year. The Journal Citation Report (JCR) is an annual publication that offers a variety of evaluations (e.g. impact factors) based on citation data. In the JCR by the WOK, the journal impact factor was calculated for a two-year window. Nevertheless, the impact factor depends on the subject and type of journal (Garfield, 1986), and has more influence in medical science or biological fields compared to other fields. In this study the most productive channel of publications is edited book. 43 out of 321 citing articles were published in Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) with 0.402 impact factor in 2005. The LNCS series publishes mostly conference proceedings, but it discontinued the series from the Journal Citation Report (JCR). LNCS has been indexed by WOK since 1981, since the WOK included journal papers (Bar-Ilan, 2010). The possible reasons for dropping the LNCS from the JCR include lower impact factor, inconsistent review policy, and lack of a permanent editorial board. Another possible reason is that the WOK is starting to index conference papers from January 2009. Therefore, removal the LNCS is meant to reduce the duplicate impact factor in JCR and the database size in WOK.

Table 3: The source of publications providing at least four citing articles published in WOK Publication Frequency Impact factorLecture Notes in Computer Science 43 0.402 European Journal of Operational Research 6 1.627 International Journal of Computer Mathematics 5 0.423 Pattern Recognition 5 2.019 IEEE Power Engineering Society General Meeting 5 N/A Conference of the World Academy of Science Engineering and Technology 5

N/A

Surface and Coatings Technology 4 1.860 Pattern Recognition Letters 4 0.853 Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence 4 0.302 TENCON IEEE Region 10 Conference 4 N/A The quality of journal can be attributed to JCR as mentioned previously. Table 4 shows the distribution of citing articles into three categories of journal impact factors. 133 out of 321 citing articles were published in indexed journals and more than half of the articles were published in non-indexed journals. Indexed journals are journals that have been indexed by


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WOK, whilst non-indexed journals are journals that are not been indexed by any organizations. The highest impact factor is 3.793 (2008) for a citing article published in IEEE Transactions on Information Theory.

Table 4: Distributions of WOK citing Malaysian computer science to Impact Factor Range of Impact Factors Number of articles

> 2.00 (High) 13 > 1.00 <= 2.00 (Medium) 29

<= 1.00 (Low) 91 Total 133

Next, 40 articles citing Malaysian computer science publications were conference papers in The Computing Research and Education Association of Australasia (CORE) ranked conference as shown in Table 5. CORE (http://www.core.edu.au) is an association of university departments of computer science in Australia and New Zealand. In 2005, they decided to develop a ranking system for computer science conferences, and in 2008 they introduced a ranking of computer science journals. The ranking consists of five tiers: A+ to present the very best and important conferences; A indicates a good international conference; B covers conferences where one has some confidence that research was done and there is evidence of active researchers; L represents the local conferences which are important for local communities, and lastly, C denotes other conferences. There are 40 articles that are considered to have been published in good quality computer science related conferences. Only one article was published in an ‘A+’ rank channel, that is, in International Conference on Foundations of Computer Science. 15 out of 40 citing articles were published in ‘A’ ranking conferences and another 24 articles were published in other ranking channels. It is observed that more than half of the Malaysian computer science papers have appeared in good ranking channels. Based on this parameter, one can conclude that the impact of papers published by Malaysian computer scientists was good in the international research community.

Table 5: Distributions of citing Malaysian computer science articles to CORE ranking Core Ranking Number of articles

A+/A 16 B 15 C 8 L 1

Total 40 The citations were sub-divided into each country that cited the citing paper. Using information given in the address section of the WOK records for the institution the authors were affiliated with, as shown in Table 6. The total number of countries that cited Malaysian computer science is 43, with the highest counts from China, Malaysia, the United States of America (USA), and the United Kingdom.

Table 6: Citation by country affiliated providing at least ten citing articles published in WOS

Country of affiliation #CitationChina 68 Malaysia 50 United States of America 23 United Kingdom 22


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India 20 Japan 18 South Korea 16 Germany 12 Canada 11 Spain 10 Italy 10 Australia 10

The largest number of citing articles are by Chinese authors, this observation is probably related to the increase in the number of the Chinese scientific papers at the international research community, which has been discussed in many previous studies (i.e Glanzel and Gupta, 2008; Shelton, 2008; Zhou et al., 2009; Ma et al, 2008). None of the 68 Chinese citations involved Malaysian collaboration. The reasons for the large number of Chinese publications is due to incentives to researchers by the Chinese government such as bonuses, research and development funding, and policy changes in evaluating research output (Ma et al., 2008). Another possible reason is the increasing number of new journals from Asian countries in the WOK. According to Shelton (2008), there is a shift in the share of publications from the West to the East, especially to Asian countries. Formerly, after the second world war, the USA lead in publications. However, in 2006, China became the second largest producer of scientific publications, and the output from the USA has shown signs of decrease (Leydesdorff and Wagner, 2009).

Next, the articles citing Malaysian computer science publications were analyzed with respect to the authors’ institutional affiliation, with findings shown in Table 7 for institutions that provided at least five citing articles. As expected, the highest citers of Malaysian computer science articles are Malaysian universities: Multimedia Universiti (MMU), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), and Universiti Malaya (UM). These are all closely associated with other foreign institutions. All but 3 out of the top 78 institutions are universities. The highest ranked commercial organization is IBM with three citing articles, second is Toshiba with two articles, and lastly is Samsung with one article.


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Table 7: Citation by institution affiliated providing at least five citing articles published in WOS Institution #Citation Multimedia Universiti (MMU) 13 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) 9 Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) 8 Universiti Malaya (UM) 8 University Wollongong 7 Chinese Academy of Sciences 7 University Bologna 6 Osmania University 6 Xian Jiaotong University 5 University Waterloo 5 University Nottingham 5 Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) 5 Hong Kong Polytech University 5

Conclusion This paper analyses Malaysian computer science research covered in WOK over a twenty-year period. The analyzed citation data for the years between 1987 and 2007 is for nineteen computer science departments in Malaysia. In all, the Malaysian computer scientists have produced 508 articles, with 125 articles having at least one citation to total 481 citations. The result shows that many Malaysian academics in the field of computer science published in non-indexed databases and low quality journals, therefore, their research is less impact in the international research community.

Acknowledgment

The authors thank the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for their financial support under research university grant (Q.J130000.7128.04J96).

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Assessing the Perception of Academic Staff in using E-Learning: Bruneian Perspective

Afzaal H. Seyal

Hj. Awg Yussof Hj. Awg Mohammad Looi, H. C

Mohd Noah Abd Rahman Faculty of Business & Computing,

Department of Computing & Information Systems, Institut Teknologi Brunei, Jalan Tungku Link, Gadong, BE 1410, Brunei Darussalam.

(E-mail: [email protected]) Abstract The present study investigates the eighty-six academics from the two faculties of a technical university to identify the factors responsible for establishing the intentions to adopt e-Learning. The study uses the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) as a reference framework to understand the e-learning behavioral intentions and is based upon survey methodology. The result shows that majority of staff have a positive attitudes toward the e-learning with a mean of 3.64. The result further suggests that staff’s attitude toward e-learning and subjective norms; the two important underlying constructs of TRA are significantly related to their intention to use e-learning systems. The implications of these findings are discussed, and some conclusions are drawn for the relevant authorities. Keywords: E-learning, behavioral intentions, TRA, attitudes and Brunei Darussalam JEL Classification: I23, M15 1 INTRODUCTION With the dawn of 21st century, e-learning have emerged as a strong medium of delivering teaching and learning and has been widely adopted by the majority of the institutions across the globe. However, the adoption is still at infant stage and majority of the academic institutions are not getting the full benefits of e-learning management system. This is mainly because of various technological organizational and behavioral barriers that are associated with its’ adoption among both the academic staff as well as the students. One of the barriers carries the behavioral aspect such as lack of right attitude and pressure from the institution. This paper therefore addresses the behavioral components of the academics of a technical university grounded on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) that is used as a basic framework. E-learning is simply defined as a delivery of course content via electronic media such as Internet, Intranet, Extranet, satellite broadcast, audio/video tapes, interactive TV and CD-ROMs.(Urdan and Weggen, 2000). E-learning concept has been around for decades and is one of the most significant recent developments in the Information Systems (IS) industry (Wang, 2003). E-learning has been viewed as synonymous with Web-based learning (WBL), Internet-based training (IBT), advanced distributed learning (APL), Web-based instruction (WBI), online learning (OL) and open/flexible learning (OFL) (Khan, 2001). E-learning system is implemented through several ways however; the best practices among the various educational institutions have recommended developing Web-based learning management system (LMS).

As stated above the success of e-learning is further affected by the right attitudes of the users. A

formidable body of literature exists that links the users’ right or favorable attitude to the intentions to use the technology that further determine the actual usage (Mathieson, 1991; Jackson et al. 1997; Liao et al. 1999; Ndubisi, 2006 and Nora and Snyder, 2009). E-learning is a recent phenomenon and little is,


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however, known regarding the academics staffs’ attitude in the universities where they have an access to learning management system a first step towards e-learning continuum. From these studies, it is argued that the most of demographical variables such as gender, academic qualifications, prior knowledge training, self-efficacy, prior Internet experiences of the users may affect the attitude towards e-learning. However, very few studies in the Asia-Pacific region suggests about the attitude of staff teaching in universities that are likely to differ with their counterpart. Thus, it is likely that university staff may develop different views and attitudes towards e-learning as compared to those of their counterparts. There is need to study this aspect in a new geographical setting. We believe the notion as successful adoption of any information system (IS) is depending on the right and favorable attitudes of the potential users such as lecturers in case of educational settings. On this basis and on the background cited above, a study was undertaken in March, 2011 to examine the academic staff attitudes on e-learning teaching in a technical university in Brunei Darussalam.

So the purpose of the present study is to fill-in the gap in the prior literature and to test and augment the most widely postulated TRA and to find the parsimony of the theoretical model.

1.1 Overview of Brunei Government Initiative An overwhelming majority of existing studies were undertaken in western countries. Thus, their results

may not be applicable to an Asian country like Brunei Darussalam, which is culturally different from the western world. It is a small sultanate located on the northwest coast of Borneo island with a total population of nearly 0.4 million (Brunei Year Book, 2007). Its’ main economic activity is dominated by the oil and gas sector, and gross domestic product per capita was B$ 23,865 (US$1= 1.45) in 2007. After achieving its independence in 1984, the government placed considerable importance on technical and general education. Two engineering colleges, one vocational college, and a three universities including one technical were established to produce technologically oriented professionals at various levels. The government also recognized the need for broader use of computer technology in the public sector. As such, the Information Technology Division (ITD) was set up to oversee and to support the development of IT projects in the public sectors.

In addition, Ministry of Education (MOE) has set up Department of ICT to augment the ICT initiatives not

only in the institutions of higher education and technical colleges but also in the in primary as well as in secondary schools. The Department of ICT is among one of the key players in setting up e-learning project. The e-learning is one of the projects under the e-Education flagship of the MOE, was signed on Jan 26th, 2008 at the cost of B$7.7 millions and to be completed within sixteen months. The project consists of a strategic study on e-learning in MOE, implementation of Learning Management System (LMS), instructional design facility, provision of authoring tools, notebooks, and digital contents. The e-learning project was introduced by MOE with the assumption that this will change the teaching-learning style at the higher institutions. This new style will support and promote more student centric, problem based, and collaborative approach of learning. The project further hopes that learners and facilitators both will make a good use and to transform the teaching-learning environments in the country (www.moe.gov.bn).

2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2.1 Studies on E-Learning Attitudes Attitudes are positive or negative evaluations of object, people, or situation that predisposes us to feel and behave toward them in positive or negative ways (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). Studying attitudes remained an important segment by several researchers of organizational behaviour, management sciences and ICT domains. It has been hypothesized that attitudes affect users’ behavioural intention which affect users’ actual use of the technology (Rainer and Miller, 1996). Significant relationships have


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been found between computer attitudes and users’ satisfaction with IS/IT, perceived performance and system usage in a number of studies (Compeau and Higgins, 1995; Rainer and Miller, 1996; Thompson et al. 1994). Social scientists such as Fishbein and Ajzen, (1975) in their Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) that postulates that belief about an object leads to an attitude and this further leads to behavioural intentions regarding the object and finally these intentions affect the actual behaviours toward the object of target. In other words, we can predict the behaviour from attitudes. Some other studies studied the role of attitude on specific IS/IT rather than discussing the attitudes toward computers in general (Taylor and Todd, 1995). Similarly, in the last decade of the twentieth century attitudinal studies on the computer and other IS/IT have shifted to e-learning context. Connolly and Stansfield, (2007) have pointed out that e-learning has gone through three distinct generations. The first generation, took place from 1994-1999 and was marked by the passive use of the Internet where traditional materials were simply reformatted to an online format. The second generation took place from 2000-2003 and was marked by the transition to higher bandwidths, increased resources and the move to create virtual learning environments. The third generation that was started from 2004 is marked by the incorporation of greater collaboration, socialization, project-based learning and reflective practices. In the context of e-learning attitudes, researchers across the globe have presented work covering general aspects of usage to the specific use of e-learning by studying specifically theoretical models based on TRA, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) , modified TAM or unified model TAM2 which in fact emerged from the TRA. Webster and Hackley, (1997) explained three instructors’ characteristics influencing the learning outcome such as attitude towards technology, teaching style and control of technology. Golden et al. (2006) revealed that lecturers’ use of e-learning was associated more with their personal background characteristics or the context of their institution. Development of attitudes and confidence to use e-learning system could become critical element to be cultivated. Besides attitudes, experience and training intrinsic motivation was found to be another significant predictor for e-learning use by the instructors (Fathaigh, 2002). King, (2002) pointed out the urgent need of teachers for the professional development because it is difficult to them to keep with new changing technology that sometimes intimating or frustrating. Lee, Hong and Ling, (2002) emphasized that developing positive attitude towards using computers in a virtual learning environment as an important goal for the administrators and academics of higher education. Jebeile and Reeve, (2003) studied the college teachers in Australia in the adoption of Web technologies. The result suggested that Roger’s (1993) diffusion of innovations characteristics such as: Relative advantage, compatibility, visibility, demonstrability, trialability and ease of use were considered as increasing the rate of adoption of e-learning within their organizations. Rolfe et al. (2008) studied the academic staff attitudes towards e-learning in Arts and Sciences discipline in UK and result showed that staff did not have a consensual idea of what e-learning meant, or the breadth of technologies involved in e-learning. The staff, on the other hand, in the Arts felt that their academic subject required deep level of analysis and discussion that e-learning could not provide. They concluded that Arts lag behind the Science in the provision of e-learning with staff suggesting that use of e-learning was perhaps of less benefit to the subject area. Thowfeek and Hussin, (2008) studied the instructors’ perspective on E-learning adoption in Sri Lanka and found that lecturer with positive attitudes and supportive mindset are more likely to embark on e-learning initiatives and also identified several factors that are influential to e-learning.


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Some of the prior studied were confined on the application of TAM within the context of e-learning. Ndubisi and Chukwunonso, (2006) studies the adoption of Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and compared the predictive power of the two models in determining online learning acceptance in Malaysia. By juxtaposing both models the study reported better understanding of individual, technological and social factors of online learning adoption intention. The results show that both TAM and TPB predict e-learning adoption and intention well, although the impact of the TAM is more robust than TPB. Roca et al. (2006) studied 172 respondents from college and university in relation to understand e-learning continuance intention with the modified TAM and found that e-learning intention is determined by satisfaction that in turn is jointly determined by PU, PEOU, system quality, service quality and information quality. Similarly, Ajjan and Hartshorne, (2008) studied the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior (DTPB) model to study the faculty attitudes and intention towards using Web 2.0 technologies in their class rooms and found that some faculty members feels that some of the Web 2.0 technologies could improve students’ learning and their interaction with the faculty and with other peers. Additional results indicated that faculty’s attitude and perceived behavioral control (self-efficacy) is strong indicator of their intention to use Web 2.0 technologies. Some other researchers studied the topics from other dimensions. Downey et al. (2005) investigated possible relationship between the national culture and the usability of an e-learning system and found the impact of national culture towards the e-learning usability. Kistow, (2009) examined the views and perceptions of the faculty members on the blended learning and found that faulty members generally viewed blended learning positively but showed some concerned over the issues on successful implementation. Recently, Hussein, (2011) studied in Saudi Arabia, the attitudes of university faculty members toward using learning management system (LMS) and found that academics had positive attitudes toward LMS and found no difference in use of LMS on the basis of gender. Al-alak and Alnawas, (2011) studied the acceptance and adoption of e-learning system by academic staff in Jordan. The results indicated that there existed positive relationship between PU, PEOU, computer knowledge, management support and intention to adopt. However, there existed negative relationship between normative pressure, computer anxiety and intention to adopt the e-learning system. Conclusively, it is evident from this section that researchers across the globe have studied the e-learning usage and organizational adoption. It can be summarized that e-learning is becoming a standard for today’s education, as it opens the door to learning focusing on the individuals priorities and learning skills. Unfortunately there is dearth of studies in Asia-Pacific region and unfortunately no study, up to our knowledge has been empirically validated the attitudinal aspects of the students on this important part and a gap in this regard exist. This study therefore fill-in the gap and the results of this study will add up to the knowledge. 3. RESEARCH MODEL & DEVELOPMENT OF HYPOTHESES 3.1 Theory of Reasoned Action Using theory of reasoned action, as a basis, a research model was developed to explain the e-learning intention of students. This model is shown in Figure 1. The theory of reasoned action assumes that human beings are usually quite rational and make systematic use of information available to them. Ajzen and Fishbein, (1980) demonstrated that attitudes towards an object influence intention and ultimately influence behavior with respect to the object that is, its use. A person’s behavior follows logically and systematically from whatever information he or she happens to have available. In brief, the theory views


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that the key to explain behavior is intention. In other words, intention is the most direct and immediate antecedent of overt behavior (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). Intention is defined as an individual’s subjective probability that he or she will engage in behavior (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). The stronger the intent to perform a behavior, the greater is the likelihood that an individual will engage in that behavior. In other words, intention indicates how hard a person is willing to try, and how much of an effort he or she plans to exert, in order to perform behavior (Beck and Ajzen, 1991). The theory of reasoned action proposes that barring unforeseen events, an individual will behave in accordance with his/her intention. In context of e-learning, if a student intends to use e-learning (learning management system- a software), he or she is likely to carry out the actual learning behavior unless something intervenes. Intention, in turn, is shaped by students’ attitude towards e-learning and subjective norms. Hill et al. (1986) indicated that behavioral intention significantly predicts action. Sheppard et al. (1988) in a Meta analysis of 86 TRA studies found an average correlation of 54% between intention and actions. In summary, a number of prior studies either suggested or indicated that behavioral intentions to use the system are a reasonable indicator of future system usage. In Brunei several studies were undertaking that used TRA as a reference framework for various IS applications; from Software Piracy (Seyal, Rahim and Rahman, 2004), Biometrics, (Tazarjaman, Seyal & Rahman 2008), to students’ E-learning (Seyal, 2010). These studies have explained from 26%-48% variance towards behavioural intentions and both attitude as well as subjective norms are significant however, attitudinal part significant than subjective norms. Figure 1: The Research Model

3.2 Attitude Attitude refers to the degree of a student’s general feeling of favourableness or unfavourable ness about performing behaviour. Attitude towards a behaviour actually stems from a set of salient beliefs (known as behavioural beliefs), that performing the behaviour will lead to certain consequences (Randall, 1989). Consequences may be either positive or negative, while consequences may affect students or other parties. Therefore, the more positive the perceived consequence of behaviour, the more favourable is the attitude toward the behaviour. In context to e-learning, a student may believe that the using an e-learning may lead to increased knowledge, and competitive edge among others. In other words, if a student thinks that there is more to be gained than lost by using e-learning based learning management system, he or she is more likely to use it. Many studies have shown the significant affect of attitude towards intention and use of the information systems (Davis et al. 1989; Mathieson, 1991; Taylor and Todd, 1995; Lu et al. (2003); Shih and Fang, (2004); Ramayah et al. 2004 and Ramayah and Suki, 2006). Thus, based on this rationale, the first hypothesis is drawn.

E -L e a rn in gA t t itu d e

S u b je c t iv eN o rm s

H 1

H 2

E -L e a rn in gIn te n t io n

B e h a v io u ra lB e lie fs

N o rm a t iv eB e lie fs


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H1: There exists a significant relationship between staff’ e-learning attitude and their intention to use it. 3.3 Subjective Norms The second antecedent of intention is known as subjective norms. It is an individual’s perception of whether most people important to that person think that he or she should or should not perform the behavior in question. The theory posits that the more an individual perceives that important others think he or she should engage in a behavior, the more likely that the person would intend to do so (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). Subjective norms are developed from an individual’s salient beliefs (known as normative beliefs) regarding whether specific groups (e.g. parents, peers, teachers, superiors) think he or she should perform behavior (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). Subjective norms have been found to be more important prior to, or in the early stages of innovative implementation when users have limited direct experience from which to develop attitudes (Hatwick and Barki, 1994). Taylor and Todd, (1995) found subjective norms as a better predictor of intention with inexperienced subjects. Venkatesh and Davis, (2000) on the other hand found that subjective norms significantly affect the intentions under mandatory situation and it gets weakened over time. Studies have shown mixed results regarding subjective norms as a predictor of intention. Some studies have shown no significant relationship between subjective norms and intentions (Davis et al. 1980; Mathieson, 1991; Chau & Hu, 2001; Becker and Gibson, 1998; Lewis et al. 2003). On the other hand, some have shown significant relationship between subjective norms and intentions (Taylor & Todd, 1995, Venkatesh and Davis, 2000; Teo & Pok, 2003; Ramayah et al. 2003; Cheng-Kiang and Wen-Pin, 2006). Thus, based on this rationale the second hypothesis is postulated as: H2: There exists a significant relationship between staff’ subjective norms and their intention to use e-

learning.

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 4.1 Design of Instrument A variety of scales were used to measure these demographical independent variables. A five-point Likert scale was used to assess the answer for questions asking about “how important the respondents think the use of the Internet and e-learning for today’s’ education”. Measuring attitudes has an important role in analyzing behavior because it is known as a fact that there is a strong correlation between attitude and behavior (Bertea, 2009). The initial version of the instrument was designed which was divided into two parts. Part A captured background information mainly on demographical data. Part B included eight attitudinal items, three subjective norms items and two items measuring behavioral intention. As a whole, the instrument was structured in nature and contained close-ended questions.

4.2 Population & Sample The study employed a survey approach to examine e-learning attitudes of the staff. The target population was the staff teaching in the technical university in Brunei Darussalam. The number of staff was around one hundred and forty-five in all the six departments under the two faculties of the University. A roughly 145 questionnaires were distributed to each staff member. Eighty-six questionnaires were returned back and were retained for the further analysis. Thus, the response rate of 59% was found sufficient for exploratory study of this kind. 4.3 Instrument Validation


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An initial version of the instrument that contained items on demographics and on the Theory of Reasoned action was used for this study. To ensure content validity, the initial version of the instrument was sent to several academics for review. These academics were chosen based on their considerable experiences in conducting empirical studies. Based on their suggestions, some of the attitude items were rephrased to enhance the clarity. Their feedback was used to further improve the clarity of the instrument. This established face validity. The final version of the instrument was then analyzed. The responses of the staff against each attitude item and subjective norms item, were analyzed for item purification. Based on the suggestions of Churchill (1979), one attitude items were eliminated, for which ‘corrected-item-total’ correlation were less than 0.50. The remaining 7 attitude items and 3 subjective norms were then evaluated for convergent validity. This was accomplished by applying factor analysis (with principal components) separately for attitude and subjective norms. All the 7 items were found to load on a single factor termed attitude. Likewise, the 3 items measuring subjective norms loaded on a single factor. Table 1 presents the results of item purification and factor analysis. Reliability was also computed for attitude and subjective norms. Chronbach’s Alpha (1978) was found to be adequate ( = .90) for attitude, however for subjective norms, reliability was a bit low ( =.89). Table 1: Reliability & Quality Control Statistics

Attitude of staff towards e-learning is a multi-dimensional psychological concept (Nunnally, 1978). As such, attitude was measured through 7 items. These items captured behavioral beliefs of a staff concerning the possible consequences of using e-learning based learning management system. Each staff was asked to indicate his/her level of agreement/disagreement with each item on a five-point Likert scale. An aggregate value of attitude for each staff was calculated by averaging his/her responses to each item. The resulting scale thus had the same unit of measurement. Subjective norms were evaluated using 3 statements. These three statements were adopted from previous studies (Beck and Ajzen, 1991). These statements captured the perceptions of important peoples’ attitude toward e-learning behavior, because Venkatesh and Davis, (2000) suggested that associates are likely to play a critical role in motivating users to perform a behavior. The influence of colleagues, friends and family were included to find an impact. The dependent variable used is the staff’ intention to e-learning., E-learning intention of staff was measured using a construct comprising three items. The construct “behavioral intentions” however was adapted after Davis, (1989). Discriminant validity was assessed by subjecting all the items of attitude and subjective norms, to factor analysis. All the 7 attitude items converged on a single factor. However, all the items loaded strongly on their respective factor. Using Hair et al. (1998) criteria, the item which loaded strongly on its factor was retained. Consequently, subjective norms were eventually measured with a three items. A second round of factor analysis containing 8 attitude items and three subjective norms and three behavioral intentions

No of items retained

Cronbach’ s alpha (α)

Composite Reliability (CR)

Average Variance Extracted (AVE)

Source

Attitude 7 .90 .88 .64 Taylor & Todd, (1995) Subjective norms 3 .89 .95 .77 Beck and Ajzen, (1991)

Behavioural intentions

3 .92 .93 .78 Davis, (1989)


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items were performed, which produced a three-factor solution. The results are not displayed and shown in order to avoid the unnecessary length of the paper. However, all attitude items loaded on a factor, while subjective norms item loaded on the second factor and behavioral intentions on third factor. Thus, the discriminant validity was established. 5. RESULTS

Data obtained from the survey were analyzed using descriptive statistics, factor analysis t-tests, correlational as well as multiple-regression analysis by means of SPSS version 17, a well known statistical package.

5.1 Background profile The background of the participating staff is summarized in Table 2. The dominance of females is quiet clear. This is not unexpected, as most of the previous Brunei-based studied have confirmed this. A majority (60%) of the participating staff fell in the age group between 31-50 years. Majority of the staff (64%) possess the Masters’ degree. Another interesting finding is that roughly around 53% reported having spent more than ten hours on the Internet and only 26% reported using the Internet for educational purposes and 46% are using for and research purposes. 77% of the staff responded the importance of using e-learning very important for today’s’ education. However, only 33% of them are using the learning management system (LMS) partially. Table 2: Background Profile of the Staff

(%) Gender

Male Female

47 53

Age Less than 30 years

Between 31-50 years Over 50 years

14 60 26

Educational Qualification 1st degree

Masters’ degree PhD

26 64 10

Time Spent on Internet

Between 2-5 hours Between 6 –10hours

Above than 10 hours

18 29 53

How important use of e-learning for today education

Not important Slightly important

Very important Extremely important

2 21 43 34

Basic Use of the Internet


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For education For research

For e-business For e-shopping

For e-government

Are you currently using e-LMS No Yes

25 46 10 10 8

67 33

For all the 86 staffs, a mean rating for each attitude item was computed. The mean ratings of all items lie above the ‘neutral’ position (for which value is 3.0) on the Likert scale. Additionally, an overall mean for the entire set of attitude items was calculated, which was found to be 3.68. This value is also greater than a ‘neutral’ position. Together, these results indicate a prevailing attitude of staff towards supporting the use of e-learning. The mean value of staff’ intention was also computed. This value (3.58) exhibited a strong tendency of staff to engage in actual behavior. Thus, staff’ intention and their attitude seem to be consistent. 5.2 Correlation & Regression Analysis Prior to the testing for the regression analysis, we conducted a zero order correlation between the constructs as shown in Table 3. The correlation provides directional support for the predicted relationship and shows that co-linearity among the variables of the construct are within the acceptable range (Hair et al. 1998). Table 3: Result of correlation analysis

1 2 3 Attitude (1) 1 Subjective norms (2) .36* 1 Behavioral intentions (3) .62* .50* 1

*Significant at p<0.001, (two-tailed) The relationship of staffs’ attitudes and subjective norms, with the dependent variable (which is how strongly a staff had intention to use a learning management system), was investigated using multiple regression analysis. Multicollinearity was examined by analysing each independent variable’s variance inflation factor (VIF) (Hair et.al.1998). Multicollinearity problem did not appear to exist, as VIF value of each variable was much less than 10. The results (as presented in Table 4) explain 46 percent variance in the dependent variable. Both the independent variables (e.g. staffs’ attitude, and subjective norms), were found to have significant standardised regression coefficients, and were positively related to staffs’ intention to use e-learning. Therefore both the hypotheses H1 and H2 were supported. Table 4: Results of multiple regression analysis

Variables B Beta t p-value T** VIF

Attitude .569 .512 5.60 .000* .791 1.262 Subjective norms .318 .323 3.49 .001* .793 1.263

R2(adj)= .46 Std. Error = 0.61 F=33.24 p=.000

Note: * indicates statistical significance at (p<.05), ** Tolerance


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To obtain further insight, a stepwise multiple regression with a cut-off point .05, was performed. The proportion of variance in the dependent variable accounted for by each of the significant independent variable is shown in Table 5. It can be noted that attitude alone is significant as shown by the higher Beta coefficient and further accounted for 39% variance than subjective norms. However, adjusted R2 increased from .39 to .47 when a subjective norm was entered, this increase was still significant. Table 5: Results of stepwise regression analysis

Significant Variables Variance (R2 adjusted)

Attitude .39 Subjective norms .47

6. DISCUSSIONS The mean value of each attitude item as well as an overall attitude of staff towards e-learning reflects that they were influenced by the outcomes of e-learning intentions. Staffs thus believed that it was okay for them to use e-learning. This suggests that staffs were attitudinally oriented to favor e-learning. This finding is in line with by Nora and Snyder, (2009) and Ndubisi, (2006), who reported the existence of a prevailing attitude among staffs, towards their intentions to use e-learning. Moreover, the mean value of staff’ intention (3.58) indicates that staffs were likely to engage in actual e-learning behavior (usage). This finding is consistent with Mahmood et al. (2001) Jackson et al. (1997), who observed strong tendency of users to actual use of the information system such as e-learning. This study identified academic staff’s attitude towards behavioral intention of using e-learning. Staffs who believed that it was inappropriate to use e-learning, were less likely to use them. This finding implies that e-learning use can be geared up by motivating staffs’ attitudes towards engaging in e-learning. Thus, efforts to enhance e-learning should be directed at changing attitudes of staff through more professional development programs that will contribute toward achieving more positive attitude that eventually lead to engaging in e-learning. Academics are therefore suggested to promote strong educational efforts to highlight the perils associated with e-learning. Since staff intentions were found to be guided by the consequences of their actions, efforts should be made to influence their attitudes by focusing on natural consequences of e-learning. In particular, the awareness of e-learning leading to learning from best practices, incentives from governmental agencies, may bring further change in staffs’ attitude. Once staff are convinced on the benefits will bring an impact on e-learning, they may change their attitude, and may begin to appreciate and the need by using e-learning management system more productively. E-learning attitudes also explained a greater variation in their intention to use, as opposed to subjective norms. This finding is in line with Taylor & Todd, (1995) and Ramayah et al. (2004). The stepwise regression analysis confirms that e-learning attitudes have a stronger relationship to staff’s intention than subjective norms. Additional support for the strength of attitudes towards staffs’ intention appears in the factor analysis with 56 percent of the variance being explained by attitude, while subjective norms explained only 25 percent variance. This is also supported by Table 5. The implication of this finding is that efforts to bring a radical change in promoting e-learning should focus more in staffs’ attitude rather than focusing on the academic environment. For the purpose of the study, the reference group as cited in the subjective norms included senior staff authorities. This study found that staff’ intention was also influenced by college authorities, albeight to a lesser extent. This result indicates that by creating an environment that promotes e-learning behavior in


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academic institutions, it may be possible to affect a staff intention, and therefore enhance their propensity to use e-learning system. Thus, efforts are required to inform and educate management of educational institutions, so that e-learning is formally encouraged. Such encouragement may increase staffs’ tendencies to participate in e-learning in a more optimum way. In Brunei Darussalam, the academic institutions in close collaboration with industry often organize a ‘road shows, where managers from a wide range of enterprises develop collaboration with academic institutions, and explain to the faculty and students about the possible trends of technology as an effective tool in their own organizations. The participating managers could use this forum as a platform to express their policy as well as their rationale for using e-learning in their own organizations. When users find that both industry as well as their own academic institutions (where they teach), speak in favor of e-learning, and emphasize on the goodies of e-learning associated with the perspective and use, they might develop a positive and systematic approach and confidence that further generate extensive use of e-learning systems in the academia.

7. CONCLUSIONS This study examined the e-learning intention of staff from two faculties of a technical university in Brunei Darussalam, using theory of reasoned action as a reference framework. Attitude of staff towards e-learning and subjective norms, the two important constructs underlying theory of reasoned action, were found to be significantly related to their intention to use e-learning system. Moreover, staffs’ attitude plays a more significant role compared to subjective norms and explained a greater variation in intention in using e-learning, than subjective norms. Thus, theory of reasoned action seems to be a useful tool in analyzing staffs’ intention. This finding is consistent with the existing literature. This study is not without limitations. Although, the model explained 46% variance in intention; however, further research is needed to discover the remaining variables that affect e-learning intention. Some possible variables (which were not investigated) include staff’s personality traits, perceived moral value, ease of availability, availability of external help, training, enticement and education, systems feature, perceived enjoyment and cultural dimensions. These variables may play important roles in establishing a staff’s intent to engage in e-learning. As such, their effect needs to be examined. The three items that were used in this study to measure subjective norms, did not produce high inter-item correlation, and resulted in low reliability comparatively to attitudes. Thus, future studies should attempt to develop a better and more reliable measure of subjective norms. Such a measure may help to explain even a greater variance in the dependent variable. Lastly, this study has focused on a one university. Future longitudinal studies should include multiple faculties and to be extended to other universities might add new dimension to the knowledge.

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Assessment of the Use of Social Media in Open Government Imperatives: An Empirical Investigation Based on Interactivity

Level

Dr. Mukesh Srivastava Parwaiz Karamat Fredericksburg, Virginia. USA Wellington, New Zealand

[email protected] [email protected] Associate Dean Principal lecturer University of Mary Washington Open Polytechnic of New Zealand

Abstract

Modern Internet and communication technologies (ICT) are the enabling technologies of the Open Government initiative.ICT provide new and effective ways to share information, interact with diverse constituents, and establish mutually beneficial relationships among government agencies and with other public and private organizations. A rapidly growing list of a variety of social media tools is finding application in the implementation of the open government initiative in what has come to be called Government 2.0. Practical guidance, largely from federal government practitioners and industry analysts, provides lessons learned and general guidance in implementation. However, the literature does not offer a means to assess the current landscape of the suite of tools in a manner conducive to measuring effective use in a timely and comprehensive manner. This paper proposes a model for the assessment of social media tools as applied to open government. The model is then used to evaluate the application of social media tools by federal, state, and local governments. Results are captured by level of government, tool use as compared to model predictions, and correlation to various demographic measures.

Keywords: open government ICT constitutes public uniformity

Introduction The successful U.S. presidential campaign is often cited as being heavily reliant on its use of social media (Garvin, 2008). With Open Government comes the potential to significantly change the way governments approach democracy and interact with the citizenry to affect better governance. Government 2.0 (Gov 2.0) is the term used to refer to "the use of social media in government and by its diverse stakeholders that transforms the way that government interacts with citizens in a participatory, transparent and collaborative way" (Merge, 2010). Quoting Strokes, Chung and Austria (2010) define social media as "the media that is published, created and shared by individuals on the internet, such as blogs, images, video and more". The definition can be expanded to include the web-based tools that manage the media and provide opportunities for collaboration and sharing (Chung and Austria, 2010). The benefit of social media is the richness of interaction that leads to involvement at the individual level and the resulting potential for true collaboration. From a governmental perspective, particularly for Jeffersonian democracies, described by Abraham Lincoln as "Government of the people, by the people, for the people", social media represents a way to reach, interact with, and represent the needs of citizens in unprecedented ways. The reach of the web and the richness of the social media applications provide innumerable means and formats of communication. Taking advantage of social media for increased transparency, customer service, and collaboration is the promise of Gov 2.0. Indeed, Wayne (2010) reports the results of a PEW study indicating 61% of U.S. adults use the Internet to find information or


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conduct transactions with the government and almost one-third use government-provided social media tools. Statement of Problem and Purpose of Research There exists in the literature little academic support for models, other than user or practitioner surveys, for measuring the range and type of application of social media in the support of the primary imperatives of Open Government. The purpose of this research is to develop a model for mapping social media tools to the Open Government imperatives of transparency, participation, and collaboration and then assess their use by federal, state, and local governments via structured sampling. The value of the research is three-fold. First, it provides and tests a model for categorizing and mapping social media tools to the three imperatives in a manner conducive to broad measurement. The imperatives are hierarchical with respect to the level of interactivity and require more than just new ICT. The Open Government initiative also involves changes in policies of management, information sharing, and governance (Monroe, 2009) of which administrators are often hesitant (Newell, 2009). As a result, initial use of social media tools may be limited in both breadth and depth. Here we test the following hypothesis:

H1: Social media tools are not being used to their full interactive potential and are instead simply adding to the options available for one-way communications.

Secondly, the research seeks to assess the differences in social media use across levels of government. The wide-ranging concerns about the use of social media indicate that use is likely limited to the early practitioners who have learned and adjusted, namely the agencies of the federal government acting under Presidential directive. Ironically, local jurisdictions, given the closer proximity to, association with, and dependence on their constituency, seemingly have the most to gain from social media. By assessing across levels of government, we can determine if there are differences in implementation. Here we test a second hypothesis:

H2: The use of social media in open government, in both the breadth and depth of use, is disproportionately the domain of the federal government.

Thirdly, by analyzing results against the demographics of state and local governments, we can look for patterns of implementation. While the results will not provide a causal analysis, they could provide insight into factors potentially related to implementation and lead to further areas of research. Here we test a third hypothesis:

H3: The use of social media in open government is mediated by demographic characteristics of the constituency.

Justification of the research Despite the potential for great success in the use of social media for Open Government, there are notable concerns for the practitioner and little is known regarding the breadth and depth of use. Social media tools can be complicated to implement as they require new policies, new practices, and tools for implementation and monitoring. As a result, early implementation may not make full use of the interactive capabilities available. Further, there is evidence to indicate the likelihood of disparities in the employment of social media across the levels of government. Prior research has been largely limited to survey-based interrogation. While surveys can provide insights into intentions and plans not publicly visible, they are also difficult to implement and assess. The desire here is to determine the actual current implementation in a manner conducive to remote assessment of a broad scope in a timely manner. Application of social media and Web 2.0 technologies to the public domain is inevitable and currently enjoys significant traction. However, much remains to be done to realize the full potential and a practical method for assessing implementation is needed. Therefore, justification of the research to be undertaken is based on the lack of a model suitable for the timely examination of the breadth and depth of use of social media for Open Government.


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Research Questions The primary research question addressed is:

How can we assess the current landscape of the use of social media in open government initiatives?

This question is further divided into the following supporting questions. 1. What are the social media tools available for use in open government initiatives? 2. How can we study the use of social media tools in support of open government? 3. How can we assess the current landscape of the use of social media tools in

open government initiatives? Selection of Research Methodology The purpose of the methodology is to assess the current landscape of implementation of social media tools across various levels of government. Therefore, an empirical research methodology is selected. Existing models of interactivity, participation, and collaboration will are examined for applicability or extension to social media tools and the Open Government imperatives. Differences in the size and variability of the constituency, regulations, services, needs, structure, and resources of the local jurisdiction necessitate a generalized model rather than a prescribed approach. The selected model is used to develop metrics for assessing the publicly available social media tools of selected government websites. Governments are selected using structured sampling of state and local agencies and random sampling of federal agencies. Collected data is then quantitatively analyzed against a selection of demographics to assess patterns of implementation. Proposed Model: Social Media Tools for Open Government In order to develop the model, we assess the research questions in order. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) drives the federal open government initiative. GSA hosts the USA.gov website for this purpose. The vision of USA.gov is to make it “easy for the public to get U.S. government information and services on the web. USA.gov also serves as the catalyst for a growing electronic government.” (U.S. General Services Administration, 2011). USA.gov provides a list of social media tools and a description of the capabilities and potential uses called the Matrix of Web 2.0 Technology and Government (Godwin, 2008) though there is no direct mapping to the Open Government imperatives. In addition, GSA also provides a suite of free social media tools and pre-negotiated terms of service for public social media applications through its Apps.gov website (U.S. General Services Administration, N.D.). Applications at Apps.gov are free for public agencies to use in their open government initiatives. Combining the matrix and the list of free tools provides a comprehensive list of social media applications in support of open government. Websites are not included because the interactivity of the website is a function of the social media tools it employs. Reference Appendix A for the list of applications. Studying Social Media Tools in Open Government The goals of the U.S. federal open government initiative are: transparency of government, citizen participation in government, and citizen-government collaboration (Orszag, 2009, p.1).

“The three principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration form the cornerstone of an open government. Transparency promotes accountability by providing the public with information about what the Government is doing. Participation allows members of the public to contribute ideas and expertise so that their government can make policies with the benefit of information that is widely dispersed in society. Collaboration improves the effectiveness of Government by encouraging partnerships and cooperation within the Federal Government, across levels of government, and between the Government and private institutions.”


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Thus, Open government imperatives fall into three categories of increasing citizen interaction starting with transparency as least interactive, participation as moderately interactive, to collaboration as strongly interactive. Though not required to be executed in order, presumably transparency fosters participation which in turn fosters collaboration. Further, to be entirely successful, collaboration requires participation which itself requires transparency. The level of interaction increases as one move from the lower order (transparency) to the higher order (collaboration). Collaboration is a complex, multi-dimensional interaction for which there is no single accepted model (Thomson, Perry, & Miller, 2007). When combined with the adoption of collaborative technologies, the dimensions multiply and include several factors associated with user characteristics and preferences (Brown, Dennis, & Venkatesh, Fall 2010). While it is not possible to examine broadly the landscape of social media use in open government in consideration of this complex model or in a manner accounting for personal preferences for technology adoption in the scope of this course, it is possible to assess the likely use of the tools in at least one aspect. For this research, the characteristic of interactivity is selected. To measure interactivity, we extend the work of Yuping (2003) in the measurement of interactivity of websites to the tools of social media. Yuping (2003) presents a validated three component model based on active control, two-way communication, and synchronicity. Active control measures the ability of the user to decide what they want to see and do on the site and whether their actions determine the experience. Two-way communication measures the ability and encouragement of the user to provide feedback to the site. Synchronicity measures the relative speed with which the input of the user is accepted and processed and results returned. The proposed model implies that the effective applicability of social media tools to open government imperatives is mediated by the level of interactivity of the tool. The higher the interactivity of a social media tool, the higher the order of open government imperative it can support. Based on examination of multiple existing government and open Internet applications of social media tools, each tool is assessed subjectively in all three factors on a 7 point Likert scale using the Yuping (2003) instrument. Median values in the three factors are used to determine an overall interactivity vector for each tool. The tools are then grouped into bins of successively higher interactivity. The presumption is that tools with higher levels of interactivity are better suited for participation and collaboration than are tools with lower levels though higher levels of interactivity do not prevent a tool from being used in a lower order activity. The grouping and assumed mapping to open government initiatives is provided in Appendix B, while Figure 1 in Appendix D represents the proposed research model in this context. The interactivity level is assumed to define the highest order of imperative to which a specific social media tool can be applied effectively. Therefore, while a social media tool of high interactivity can effectively support collaboration, it can also support participation and transparency. The opposite is not assumed true. That is, a social media tool of low interactivity is only considered effective for transparency and not for participation or collaboration. Assessing the Current Landscape of Open Government Initiatives The U.S. Open Government directive initiated from, and is directed at, the federal government and its agencies. The U.S. federal government is recognized as a leader in the implementation of e-government initiatives second only to Singapore (Waseda University, 2010). However, the initiative has broad public support and is expected to eventually find root in smaller agencies and governments. To assess the landscape, we must examine use at the federal, state, and local levels.


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State and local governments are selected from U.S. Census Bureau data from 2008 (2010 census data is incomplete as of this writing). The available categories of jurisdictions are selected using stratified sampling according to population quartile. Specific jurisdictions are then selected randomly from each quartile according to the distribution of jurisdictions in that quartile with a minimum of one entry from each. In total, 21 state governments and 41 county and city governments are evaluated. Seven federal agencies are selected at random with no other criteria for consideration as all agencies are subject to the same federal directive and timeline. In total, 69 participants are evaluated. The Internet-based use of social media tools by each jurisdiction and agency is then examined for use according to the assumed level of interactivity. The use of each tool for each jurisdiction is assessed by 1) its existence or non-existence and 2) the highest order of open government initiative to which it is generally applied in practice. Neither the quantity nor quality of the application is examined. As the time required for an exhaustive evaluation of all linked web sites and social media tools of each jurisdiction is prohibitive, a sampling of convenience is used for each jurisdiction. In each case, the research begins with the home page of that jurisdiction, assuming such a page exists. Data Collection and Analysis Data was collected during the period of 16 March – 17 April, 2011. Data collected includes the existence of at least one instance of each tool and its use relative to that predicted by the model. Using statistical analysis software, the data is analyzed on several dimensions. Demographics for analysis are provided by the US Census Bureau, CNN.com/ELECTION/2008, and USElectionAtlas.org and include statistics on population, income, education level, and the 2008 presidential vote. Reference Appendix C for a table of the demographics used. Of primary interest are 1) the existence of the prescribed tools at each level of government, 2) the application of the tools relative to appropriate order of open government imperative, 3) comparison among the various levels of government, and 4) variability by jurisdictional demographic. Results Analysis of Participant Characteristics Population and Population Density Figure 2 in appendix D illustrates the separate and combined distribution of total population by quartile, and the Figure 3 illustrates the separate and combined population density by quartile. As expected, the state participants in the study have proportionately larger populations than municipalities. Additionally, the states included have a larger proportion of high density populations whereas the municipalities included have a larger proportion of low density populations. In general, we can say the municipalities included in this study are more rural on average than the states. This may indicate a less than equitable distribution of municipalities relative to population density. However, the combined participant profiles in each quartile are well distributed. .Figure 2 in Appendix D shows separate and combined distribution of total population by quartile.

Figure 4 illustrates the separate and combined median income. Figure 5 illustrates the separate and combined per capita income. As expected, given the population density analysis above, municipalities included in the study have a larger proportion of income in the lower quartiles whereas the states included have a larger proportion of income in the upper quartiles. However, the combined participant profiles for median and per capita income are well distributed. The figure 5 in Appendix D illustrates the separate and combined per capita income, and the figure 6 illustrates the separate and combined rate of completion of high school. Figure 7 illustrates the separate and combined rate of completion of a 4 year degree.


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Municipalities included in the study tend to have lower percentages of both high school and college education with the difference being more pronounced for college education. Again, this may be attributed to the difference in population density. The combine participant profiles are well distributed.

Figure 8 illustrates the separate and combined tendency to vote for the democratic candidate in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, the election that put democrat Barack Obama in office. There is a tendency for municipalities in this study to have voted republican in the 2008 presidential election. This tendency is also evident in the overall distribution. In retrospect, despite the fact that the overall participant distributions are fairly well distributed, using population density as a selection factor may have been more appropriate. The distribution of the demographics in the current set of participants may make it difficult to distinguish characteristics of statehood from income and education levels.

Existence of Social Media Tools Figure 9 in the appendix D illustrates the total count and percentage of available social media tools implemented at each level of interactivity. Given that there are more tools aligned with participation than either transparency or collaboration, the total count result is not surprising. From the percentages, we see that for each level of government, tools are most frequently implemented for participation by a slight margin. With the exception of the federal government, tools used only for transparency are used less often than those for participation but more often than those for collaboration. The federal government appears to excel at collaboration. At each level of interaction, the use of each type of tool increases as does the level of government. The higher the levels of government, the more likely social media tools are being used.

Use of Social Media Tools Figure 10 illustrates the total count and percentage of tool use relative to that predicted by the model. Across all tools, roughly one half are used below the level predicted by the model and slightly less is used at the prescribed level. As predicted, the federal government stands out as a noticeably better user of social media tools at all levels. Against model predictions, some tools are used above the predicted level. In general, all participants are noticeably underutilizing the capabilities of the social media toolset. Hypotheses

H1: Social media tools are not being used to their full interactive potential and are instead simply adding to the options available for one-way communications.

Based on the analysis above, we assert that H1 is true. Across all participants, roughly half of all tools are underutilized relative to their interactive potential as predicted by the model.

H2: The use of social media in open government, in both the breadth and depth of use, is disproportionately the domain of the federal government.

Figure 11 illustrates the statistical correlation between the level of government and the existence of social media tools at each level. There is clearly a strong correlation at all levels of collaboration. The higher the levels of government, the more likely are the tools to be used.

Figure 12 illustrates the statistical correlation between the level of government and use of the tools relative to the level of interactivity as predicted by the model. For those instances where tools are not used at all, that jurisdiction is coded as “below” for that tool. There is a strong correlation between the level of government and the tendency to use tools at the level predicted by the model. Given these correlations, and the analysis above, we assert that H2


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is true. As the level of government increases, so does the frequency of use of each type of tool. Further, the higher the level of government, the more likely the tool is to be used according to its level of interactivity as predicted by the model. Of particular note is the shear lack of use of some tools. In this sampling, where n=69, there were zero uses of wikis, one use of a virtual world, four uses of crowd-sourcing, and six of discussion management. Of the 26 uses of a social networking site, all but one was used below the predicted level.

H3: The use of social media in open government is mediated by demographic characteristics of the constituency.

Figure 13 illustrates the correlation of the existence of each type of tool to the selected demographics. In general, there is moderate correlation with all demographics. That is, as each demographic increase, so does the likelihood of the existence of the tools supporting each level of interactivity. Of particular note, there is a strong tendency to support participation as population increases. Among the moderate correlations, median income, per capita income and the % completion of a 4 year college degree have the most influence.

Figure 14 illustrates the correlation of the relative use of each type of tool to the selected demographics. In general, there is either weak or moderate positive correlation with the use of tools at the level predicted by the model. That is, as each demographic increase, so does the likelihood the tools supporting each level of interactivity are used at the level predicted by the model. Again, though moderately, total population, median income, per capita income and the % completion of a 4 year college degree have the most influence.

Recall from the analysis of participant demographics that each demographic is skewed toward states over municipalities. That is, as each demographic increase, it is increasingly likely that the participants are states rather than municipalities. Therefore, it is possible that our analysis is skewed in favor of states in general. To add to the complication, there is no equivalent demographic data for the federal agencies. Thus, to further analyze the results, we perform the same correlation analysis against municipalities and states separately. Figure 15 illustrates the correlation of the existence of each type of tool for municipalities and states separately. From this analysis, we note several changes to the correlations for the existence of tools when broken out for municipalities and states separately. Of critical note, there are no strong correlations. Of the moderate correlations, those associated with increased use of tools for participation are predominant for municipalities only. Those associated with increased use of tools for transparency are predominant for states only. In both cases, population density, per capita income, and the % completion of a 4 year college degree have the most influence. Figure 16 illustrates the correlation of the relative use of each type of tool to the selected demographics separately for municipalities and states. From this analysis, we note again that there are no strong correlations. All moderate correlations are maintained by municipalities. Specifically, as population, population density, and per capita income increase for municipalities, so too does the tendency to use social media tools as the predicted level. There is no correlation for municipalities for use above predicted levels because there were no instances of that. For states, the tendency to use tools at their predicted level appears to be largely independent of these demographics. To summarize the analysis of correlations to the chosen demographics, when considered both as a whole and separately for states and municipalities, there is moderate correlation


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between the existence of social media tools and population, population density, per capita income, and % completion of a 4 year college degree. When considered as a whole and separately for municipalities only, there is a moderate correlation between the use of social media tools at the predicted levels and total population, population density, and per capita income. There is no clear correlation between the likelihood of states to use the tools at the predicted level and the chosen demographics. Based on this analysis, we conclude that H3 is not clearly supported. However, the influence of population density, per capita income, and % completion of a 4 year degree on the existence of social media tools and of total population, population density, and per capita income on the use of social media tools at predicted levels warrants further research. Conclusions Though not perfect, the proposed model provides an accurate means to assess the current landscape of the use of social media in support of the Open Government initiative. It is limited by the nature of the application the Open Government imperatives of transparency, participation, and collaboration. Specifically, the predicted level of interactivity of each tool is a maximum level and each tool can also be used at lower levels. Therefore, the use of a tool at a level of interactivity below its maximum, while potentially inefficient, does not necessarily indicate an inappropriate application. The model is generic enough in nature and complexity that it can readily be applied to very broad assessments. One recommendation is to repeat this study using a larger number of municipalities. Further, the model is easily adaptable as new social media tools emerge. There are cases where tools are being used at levels of interactivity higher than predicted by the model. In particular, the use of widgets at NASA, The Department of Commerce, and the Social Security Administration were used for collaboration despite the model’s prediction to support no higher interactivity than participation. Podcasts used at NASA are one-way but their primary use is to spur people into action (participation). These examples are an indication that a shortfall in the model is that it examines only the primary technical aspects of interaction of each tool and does not consider the quality of use, quantity of use, or the content of information exchanged. As an analogy, we consider the telephone. The most fundamental use of the telephone is as a two-way communication device (participation). However, it can also be used as a one-way communication device such as when a prerecorded message is played or a facsimile is received (transparency) or as a multi-user teleconference for resolving issues and developing plans (collaboration). An improvement to the model would be to add mechanisms for measuring quantity, quality, or content. As mentioned earlier, despite the fact that the overall participant distributions of demographics are fairly well distributed, using population density as a selection factor in lieu of total population may have been more appropriate. This research required the extension and assessment of a prior model for a new use. Both the application of the model and the assessment against the metrics require subjective analysis. Future use would benefit from more objective assessment criteria. Finally, the first two hypotheses, Social media tools are not being used to their full interactive potential and the use of social media in open government is disproportionately the domain of the federal government, are both supported despite the shortcomings of the model. The third hypothesis, the use of social media in open government is mediated by demographic characteristics of the constituency, is not clearly supported but does indicate further research into the effect of demographics on the existence and level of use of social media tools for Open Government is warranted. References Al-Omari, A., and Al-Omari, H. (2006). E-Government Readiness Assessment Model. Journal

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Integrating Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) into Education for Brunei Darussalam

Hj Abd Rahim Derus1, Franky HC Looi2, Afzaal H Seyal2

1Department of ICT, Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam. [email protected] 2Faculty of Business & Computing, Institut Teknologi Brunei, Brunei Darussalam

[email protected]; [email protected]

Abstract The belief that ICT can bring positive impact and escalate students’ learning has made many governments allocate millions of dollars into improving the ICT infrastructure and upgrading facilities to make ICT integration in education possible. The Brunei Darussalam government is no exception. Through its National Development Plan budget, the government has undertaken significant investments to enhance the role of technology in education. Although valuable lessons may be learned from best practices around the world, there is no one formula for determining the optimal level of ICT integration in the educational system. Significant adjustment and challenges need to be considered in each and every country. This study aims to develop a better understanding of the Brunei’s effort in integrating ICT in e-education, its current implementation status and latest issues & challenges facing its stakeholders. This paper highlights some of the structural changes and processes that shaped the formation of the e-Education plan, taking into account the various theoretical frameworks and implementation mechanisms. The outcome of this study will provide a basis for the construction of a research model for subsequent quantitative analysis to assess the model’s validity and provide further insights into the relationships among the issues. Keywords: e-education, ICT in education, educational issues and challenges, Innovations in Education, Brunei Darussalam


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1. INTRODUCTION From the earliest times when computers were commercially available, they could be found in use in educational institutions, and educators (Bork, 1980; Carnegie commission on Higher Education, 1977; Papert, 1980) argued that computers should be used to support teaching and learning. There has always been huge community support for this as indicated by increased expenditure on ICT in schools when compared with a list of alternative expenditures in education (Lemke, 1999). However, there has always been debate among educators on how the technology should be used and what improvements in student learning could be expected. Initially computers were used to teach computer programming but the development of the microprocessor in the early 1970s saw the introduction of affordable microcomputers into schools at a rapid rate. Computers and applications of technology became more pervasive in society which led to a concern about the need for computing skills in everyday life. As public awareness grew, this need for computer literacy became extremely influential and many schools purchased computers based on this rationale. The 1990s was the decade of computer communications and information access, particularly with the popularity and accessibility of internet-based services such as electronic mail and the World Wide Web. The exponential increase in computing power and the development of the Internet has opened a host of new possibilities not conceived decades ago. At the same time the CD-ROM became the standard for distributing packaged software (replacing the floppy disk). This allowed large information-based software packages such as encyclopedias to be cheaply and easily distributed. As a result educators became more focused on the use of the technology to improve student learning as a rationale for investment. Today computers in schools are both a focus of study in themselves (technology education) and a support for learning and teaching (educational technology). 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1. ICT in Education Research studies of ICT in education have established that ICT promotes higher order cognitive skills of evaluating arguments, analyzing problems and applying what is learnt. Bain & Ross (1999) and Sivin-Kachala & Bialo, (2000) have demonstrated that the use of technology can help improve students’ scores on standardized tests, improve students’ inventive thinking and improve students’ self-concept and motivation. The use of computer-mediated communication tools, for example, can help students from various geographical locations ‘talk’ to one another and experts conveniently. The increased ability to communicate with experts enhances students’ learning process (Bransford, Brown & Cocking, 2000). Kozma and Anderson (2002) claim that ICTs are transforming schools and classrooms by bringing in new curricula based on real world problems, providing scaffolds and tools to enhance learning, giving students and teachers more opportunities for feedback and reflection, and building local and global communities that include students, teachers, parents, practicing scientists, and other interested parties. According to Aminu (2003) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have become the key tools and had a revolutionary impact of how we see the world and how we live. The


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phenomenon has given birth to the contemporary e-commerce, e-pension, e-medicine; and e-education. e-Education, the focus of this study, is an electronic mode of knowledge sharing and transmission, which may not necessarily involve physical contact between teacher and student. The concepts of computer-aided teaching and computer-aided learning have given birth to computer-aided instruction, which represents a combination of both teaching and learning. Access to instruction through the internet is flexible, ensures broad viability and availability of educational opportunities. It is cost effective system of instruction and learning, learning materials can be accessed irrespective of time and space. This includes an interdisciplinary approach that considers the impact that all fields and phenomenon with both human and non-human life, have on each other. Papert (1997) identified the following positive effects on students of ICTs in education include:

a) enhanced motivation and creativity when confronted by the new learning environments,

b) a greater disposition to research and problem-solving focused on real social situations,

c) more comprehensive assimilation of knowledge in the interdisciplinary ICT environment,

d) systematic encouragement of collaborative work between individuals and groups, e) ability to generate knowledge, capacity to cope with rapidly changing, complex, and

uncertain environments, f) new skills and abilities fostered through technological literacy

Voogt (2008:118) explained that ICT use in education is expressed through national policies and identified three rationales for its implementation – social, vocational and pedagogical. The social rationale refers to the need to prepare students for their place in society. The vocational rationale emphasizes the importance of giving students appropriate skills for future jobs. The pedagogical rationale focuses on the enhancement of teaching and learning using computers. The role of ICT in global-social economic development is well documented in literature ( Evoh, 2007; Kozma, 2006: OECD 2010). In 2003, in a comprehensive report on the use of ICT in education in the schools in the Asia Pacific region done by UNESCO (Unesco, 2003) , three different levels were observed. They were: 1) the integration of ICT in the education systems in the advanced countries like South Korea, Singapore and Australia whereby almost all of their classrooms were equipped with computers and other ICT tools. Their student/computer ratio were high, all schools had access to the internet, the school’s curriculum revision fully supported ICT integration and the delivery of education was increasingly online, 2) the integration of ICT in the education system in the country where only its national ICT policies and master plans had been formulated and various ICT integration strategies were being applied and tested like in China, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, India and Japan, and 3) the integration of ICT in countries where efforts towards ICT and the formulation of national policies had just started and had no relevant policies but able to run pilot ICT projects and able to implement policies and the work plans with insufficient budget such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao PDR and Bangladesh. 2.2. Theoretical Models for ICT Implementation


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ICT facilitates knowledge and this new technology breaks down old barriers of time and space. Advanced ICT systems such as e-learning and e-teaching systems provide learning opportunities that was undreamt of before. However, ICT does not offer straight-forward solutions to the complex challenges in education and training. For best results, available theoretical models should be examined and adopted selectively or in combination. This paper outlines two common basic models. Bothe models provide the theoretical and conceptual basis for the study of ICT implementation in schools. The concepts in these models have been found suitable to serve as a guide for generating items of variables to be considered in the generation of instruments for data collection. The four-in-Balance model is a research based approach use to introduce ICT in education (Kennisnet, 2007, 2009), first presented in 2001 by the ICT at School Foundation and updated in 2004 as Four-In-Balance Plus (ICT OP School, 2004). The model was developed to structure key factors that influence ICT implementation at school and at classroom/teacher level. The model suggests that successful implementation of ICT at school and teacher/classroom level requires a balanced approach toward deploying the four basic elements: vision, expertise, digital learning materials and ICT infrastructure (Kennisnet, 2009).

Fig 1: The Four-In-Balance Model (Kennisnet, 2009)

Vision refers to the schools’ view of what constitutes a good teaching approach and how the school aims to achieve its objectives, considering the role of the teachers and learners, the teaching, and the materials being used to teach. The vision of the principals and teachers determine the policy of the school and the design and organization of its teaching. Expertise implies that teachers and learners need to have sufficient knowledge and skills beyond basic ICT skills to operate a computer. Pedagogical ICT skills are also necessary to help structure and organize learning processes. Digital learning materials refer to all digital learning educational content whether formal or informal. This includes educational computer programmes. ICT infrastructure refers to the availability and quality of computers, networks, and Internet connections. ICT constitutes infrastructure facilities. In addition, electronic learning environments and the management and maintenance of the school’s ICT facilities are also considered as ICT infrastructure.


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Collaboration and support refers to collaboration between teachers in the same schools sharing knowledge in a team and the ability to consult teachers from other schools. Support refers to supporting teachers with the use of ICT, ie. Pedagogical support and support teachers technically The Howie model presented the education system in terms of inputs, processes and outputs. Figure below illustrates the Howie model (2002).

Fig 2: The Howie Model (Howie 2002)

In the Howie Model (Howie, 2002), input is policy-related context at a national level, where two issues are important: the national Policy and the description of the context. The national ICT policy for education spells out the intended ICT goals and objectives with regard to ICT implementation. The inputs reflect the investments into national vision, ICT infrastructural development and the professional development with regard to ICT implementation. The inputs affect the processes within the schools, the education system units at regional and local level. At the level of processes, the implementation of the curriculum depends on the context in which teachers work. The outputs reflect the outcome in terms of students’ achievement, teachers’ success in teaching, participation in class/school activities and teachers’ attitudes towards teaching & learning. The Hawkridge model (Hawkridge 1990) describes an ICT educational model in terms of six rationales. These rationales are helpful in interpreting intentions of policy makers for the role they attribute to IT in the curriculum.

1. The social rationale is related to the preparation of students for their place in society. 2. The vocational rationale emphasizes the importance of giving students appropriate

skills for future jobs. 3. The pedagogical rationale is focused on the enhancement of teaching and learning

with the help of computers. 4. The catalytic rationale assumes an important role for IT in realizing educational

change.


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5. The information technology industry rationale is related to the promotion of the IT industry in education.

6. The cost-effective rationale implies that IT will reduce the costs for education. Although all these rationales could be recognized in many IT-related policies of governments (Plomp et al., 2008), two rationales were very prominent in the introduction of IT in the primary and secondary school curriculum: the pedagogical and the social rationales. The introduction of IT in the primary and secondary school curriculum often started with an emphasis on the social rationale – students had to learn about IT (learning to use IT). Currently, the policies in many countries highlight the pedagogical rationale. IT is used as a medium for teaching and learning (using IT to learn). However, in the rhetoric of policy makers, using IT to learn not only has a pedagogical background, but often also reflects a vision that IT is a means to transform education (European Commission, 2000). Hence, a reflection of Hawkridge’s catalytic rationale is often also part of the public debate about IT in education. 3. KEY CHALLENGES IN INTEGRATING ICT in EDUCTION ICT facilitates knowledge and this new technology breaks down old barriers of time and space. More advanced ICT such as e-learning management system provides learning opportunities that was undreamt of before. However, ICT does not offer straight-forward solutions to the complex challenges in education and training. Although valuable lessons may be learned from best practices around the world, there is no one formula for determining the optimal level of ICT integration in the educational system. Significant challenges that policymakers and planners, educators, education administrators, and other stakeholders need to consider include educational policy and planning, infrastructure, language and content, capacity building, and financing. 3.1. Educational Policy & Planning Attempts to enhance and reform education through ICTs require clear and specific objectives, guidelines and time-bound targets, the mobilization of required resources, and the political commitment at all levels to see the initiative through. Some essential elements of planning for ICT are listed below. a. A rigorous analysis of the present state of the educational system. ICT-based

interventions must take into account current institutional practices and arrangements. Specifically, drivers and barriers to ICT use need to be identified, including those related to curriculum and pedagogy, infrastructure, capacity-building, language and content, and financing.

b. The specification of educational goals at different education and training levels as well as the different modalities of use of ICTs that can best be employed in pursuit of these goals. This requires of the policymaker an understanding of the potentials of different ICTs when applied in different contexts for different purposes, and an awareness of priority education needs and financial and human resource capacity and constraints within the country or locality, as well as best practices around the world and how these practices can be adapted for specific country requirements.

c. The identification of stakeholders and the harmonizing of efforts across different interest groups.


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d. The piloting of the chosen ICT-based model. Even the best designed models or those that have already been proven to work in other contexts need to be tested on a small scale. Such pilots are essential to identify, and correct, potential glitches in instructional design, implementability, effectiveness, and the like.

e. The specification of existing sources of financing and the development of strategies for generating financial resources to support ICT use over the long term.

3.2. Infrastructure A country’s educational technology infrastructure sits on top of the national telecommunications and information infrastructure. Before any ICT-based programme is launched, policymakers and planners must carefully consider the following: • Appropriate rooms or buildings available to house the technology. In countries where there are many old school buildings, extensive retrofitting to ensure proper electrical wiring, heating/cooling and ventilation, and safety and security would be needed. • Policymakers should also look at the ubiquity of different types of ICT in the country in general, and in the educational system (at all levels) in particular. For instance, a basic requirement for computer-based or online learning is access to computers in schools, communities, and households, as well as affordable Internet service. In general, ICT use in education should follow use in society, not lead it. Education programs that use cutting-edge technologies rarely achieve long term success: Research by Seyal et al (2010) reported that PC ownership is a significant variable affecting e-learning adoption in Brunei Darussalam. A total number of 220 students from technical and vocational institution were involved in his study of attitudes towards e-learning adoption. Although the result shows that majority of the students have a positive attitudes towards the e-learning with a mean of 3.67, PC non-ownership was seen as a barriers to e-learning adoption. His study is inline other several studies including Harvey and Wilson, 1985 (UK), Gattiker and Hlavka, 1992 (Canada), Nickell & Seado, 1986 (USA) and Al-Jabri et al. 1997 (Saudi Arabia) which also provided strong support that PC owner have a more positive attitude than non-owners. 3.3. Capacity Building Various competencies must be developed throughout the educational system for ICT integration to be successful. In their study of ICT integration in vocational and technical education in Brunei, Norly and Rahmah (2010) found that teachers’ ICT competencies level is a key issue affecting integration success. Teachers. Teacher professional development should have five foci: 1) skills with particular applications; 2) integration into existing curricula; 3) curricular changes related to the use of IT (including changes in instructional design); 4) changes in teacher role; and 5) underpinning educational theories (MacDougall 1997). Ideally, these should be addressed in pre-service teacher training and built on and enhanced in-service. In some countries, like Singapore, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom, teaching accreditation requirements include training in ICT use. ICTs are swiftly evolving technologies, however, and so even the most ICT fluent teachers need to continuously upgrade their skills and keep abreast of the latest developments and best practices. While the first focus—skills with particular applications—is self-evident, the four other foci are of equal, if not ultimately greater, importance. Research on


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the use of ICTs in different educational settings over the years invariably identify as a barrier to success the inability of teachers to understand why they should use ICTs and how exactly they can use ICTs to help them teach better. Unfortunately, most teacher professional development in ICTs are heavy on “teaching the tools” and light on “using the tools to teach.” Teacher anxiety over being replaced by technology or losing their authority in the classroom as the learning process becomes more learner-centered—an acknowledged barrier to ICT adoption— can be alleviated only if teachers have a keen understanding and appreciation of their changing role. Education administrators. Leadership plays a key role in ICT integration in education. Many teacher- or student-initiated ICT projects have been undermined by lack of support from above. For ICT integration programs to be effective and sustainable, administrators themselves must be competent in the use of the technology, and they must have a broad understanding of the technical, curricular, administrative, financial, and social dimensions of ICT use in education. Technical support specialists. Whether provided by in-school staff or external service providers, or both, technical support specialists are essential to the continued viability of ICT use in a given school. While the technical support requirements of an institution depend ultimately on what and how technology is deployed and used, general competencies that are required would be in the installation, operation, and maintenance of technical equipment (including software), network administration, and network security. Without on-site technical support, much time and money may be lost due to technical breakdowns. Content developers. Content development is a critical area that is too often overlooked. The bulk of existing ICT-based educational material is likely to be in English (see section on language and content below) or of little relevance to education in developing countries (especially at the primary and secondary levels). There is a need to develop original educational content (e.g. interactive multimedia learning materials on CD-ROM or DVD,Web-based courses, etc.), adapt existing content, and convert print-based content to digital media. These are tasks for which content development specialists such as instructional designers, scriptwriters, audio and video production specialists, programmers, ,multimedia course authors, and web-developers are needed. Like technical support specialists, content developers are highly skilled professionals and are not, with the exception of instructional designers, historically employed by primary and secondary schools. Many universities with distance education programs, and those who otherwise make use of ICTs, have dedicated technical support and content development units. 3.4. Financial Issue One of the greatest challenges in ICT use in education is balancing educational goals with economic realities. Several studies in Brunei have identified financial or budgetary factor as key challenges in the integration of ICT in education.(Norly & Rahmah 2010). ICTs in education programs require large capital investments and developing countries need to be prudent in making decisions about what models of ICT use will be introduced and to be conscious of maintaining economies of scale. Ultimately it is an issue of whether the value added of ICT use offsets the cost, relative to the cost of alternatives. Put another way, is ICT-based learning the most effective strategy for achieving the desired educational goals, and if so what is the modality and scale of implementation that can be supported given existing financial, human and other resources?


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3.5. Language & Content English is the dominant language of the Internet. An estimated 80% of online content is in English.81 A large proportion of the educational software produced in the world market is in English. For developing countries in the Asia-Pacific where English language proficiency is not high, especially outside metropolitan areas, this represents a serious barrier to maximizing the educational benefits of the World Wide Web. Even in countries where English is a second language (such as Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, and India) it is imperative that teaching and learning materials that match national curriculum requirements and have locally meaningful content, preferably in the local languages, be developed. This would ensure that the Web is a genuinely multicultural space and that peoples of different cultures have an equal stake and voice in the global communities of learning and practice online. Particularly vulnerable to exclusion of this sort are isolated, rural populations, cultural minorities, and women in general. Thus attention must be paid to their special needs. 4. ICT IN EDUCATION FOR BRUNEI DARUSSALAM The belief that ICT can bring positive impact and escalate students’ learning has made many governments allocate millions of dollars into improving the ICT infrastructure and upgrading facilities to make ICT integration in education possible. . The Brunei Darussalam government is no exception. Through its National Development Plan budget, the government has undertaken significant investments to enhance the role of technology in education. The provision is for the upgrading of school facilities, Info-Communication Technology, research in science and technology, as well as improving the capacity of the human resource. The application of Information Technology in Brunei’s education can be described in several phases that takes 20 years of journey. The phases are known as;

1. e-Education 1.0 (1991) 2. e-Education 2.0 (2000) 3. e-Education 3.0 (2003 – the e-Government initiatives) 4. e-Education 4.0 (2010 – the e-Hijrah: The ICT in Education Strategic Blueprint)

4.1. e-Education 1.0

The e-Education 1.0 phase began in the early 1990’s to 1998. During this period, technology was mainly introduced in education as a new school subject in which students could learn about technology (Social Rationale). This phase is known as Learning about ICT 3 which refers to ICT as a subject of learning in the school curriculum, such as computer (or ICT) literacy, computer studies or computer science. 4.2. e-Education 2.0 Due to the East Asia financial crisis, His Majesty’s Government has allocated B$200 million Short-term Economic Recovery Plan through the Department of Economic Planning and Development. Under this fund, the Ministry of Education was allocated approximately B$20


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million for the ICT in Education Integration Project and Internet for Schools Project4. Under the ICT integration projects, additional computer laboratories (known as ICT labs) were built for the primary and secondary schools. ICT labs, library and the staff room were connected to the Internet under the Internet for Schools Project. This phase is known as e-Education 2.0 which mark the beginning of Learning with ICT5 (Vocational Rationale). Learning with ICT refers to the use of ICT including multimedia, the Internet or the web, as a medium to enhance instruction or as a replacement for other media without changing the beliefs about the approaches to, and the methods of, teaching and learning. 4.3. e-Education 3.0 The e-Education 3.0 coincided with the launch of e-Government under the 8th National Development Plan. His Majesty’s government has allocated a budget of nearly B$1 billion in order to develop an e-Government framework for the country. Several flagships were identified as part of the e-Government programs namely, Smart card; Treasury, Accounting & Financial Information System (TAFIS); SIMPA (Sistem Maklumat Perkhidmatan Awam); e-Health, e-Mukim and e-Education. Under the e-Education, approximately B$ 145 million was allocated to the Ministry of Education where 29 projects were identified. It is envision that the e-Education would transform Brunei Darussalam to a more knowledgeable, thoughtful, multi-skilled, competitive and smart nation based upon the teaching of Islam according to Ahlis Sunnah Waljamaah. The e-Education looks at the five strategic pillars or programs that will provide an environment capable of transforming education in the country. These five pillar or programs comprise of Edunet (Network Infrastructure), e-Learning (curriculum content and learning management system), Education Information Systems - EIS (information system applications), Digital Library and Human Capacity Building. Almost all the projects under each of the programs are ‘horizontally connected’; cutting across the barriers between departments, schools, and agencies under the Ministry of Education. Under this phase, numerous and major changes in the educational ICT landscape were taking place. All schools including technical and vocational institutions were networked campus-wide, secondary schools were provided with computers on wheel (COW) and the introduction of Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) across all institutions including higher education and religious schools. The Curriculum Development Department (CDD) with the partnership of the private sector produces curriculum resources and materials for schools. At the tertiary level, e-Learning and Virtual Library Information System (ViLIS) projects provide higher learning institutions access to various online resources. In terms of capacity building, the Five-year Strategy recognizes the importance of teachers as the enablers of IT in education. By 2010, more than 1800 teachers have undergone IT training. At the same time, the Ministry of Education also provide refresher training courses, seminars and workshops to keep teachers abreast with IT developments. Under the 2007 – 2012 National Development Plan, additional budget of more than B$67 million was allocated to the Ministry of Education. These funding was to support more ICT projects under the e-Education such as Refresh Technology for Primary and Secondary


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schools and providing more IWB and LCD data projectors as it shows a more positive impact on teaching and learning. The e-Education 3.0 phase could be described as Learning through ICT6 which refers to the integration of ICT as an essential tool into a curriculum. Under the Hawkridge’s model, this phase would be the pedagogical rationale or stage. 5. THE e-HIJRAH (e-Education 4.0) 5.1. The e-Hijrah’s Structure and Framework Building on both lessons learnt from the implementation of projects in e-Education 3.0 , the need to align all stakeholders and ensure that the Ministry of Education kept ahead of the various rapidly emerging technologies, in 2010 the Department of ICT began a process to design and develop a forward-looking, comprehensive ICT in Education Strategic Blueprint (IESB) that could guide planning and implementation of ICT across the Ministry and in schools. An aim of the IESB was to re-align existing projects and synchronize planned projects with emerging technology. It was also expected to integrate technology infrastructure, practices and systems to teaching, learning, professional development, learning space design and general quality improvements, in a way that ensures the successful future development of the education system and the nation. The development of such an IESB was seen as a critical aspect of linking the Ministry of Education Strategic Plan, SPN21 and the e-Government Strategic Plan to actionable and measurable change. The IESB would establish a clearer roadmap for on-going and future development. Based on Hawkridge’s model (Hawridge, 1990), an IESB would provide the catalytic rationale where the focus of classroom teaching and learning is learning through ICT. The development of an IESB was led by the Department of ICT Ministry of Education. In May 2010 the Department engaged globalSOF™, an international consortium of companies focused on providing a range of education transformation services to undertake the development of an IESB. The process used by globalSOF™ to develop an ISEB, had four phases: Review, Foresight, Insight, and Action. The approach to Blueprinting and Strategic Planning used was one that placed an emphasis on developing and building implementation structures and change readiness throughout the process to ensure that the strategic blueprint to be developed was implementable. During the review phase it was decided to re-name the IESB project to “e-Hijrah.” The word “e-Hijrah” originates from “Hijrah” the Arabic word translating to “moving forward”. “e-Hijrah” symbolizes the concept of moving forward with technology (the “e”). This e-Hijrah Strategy and Blueprint is a 6-year tightly aligned strategy, execution, and implementation plan designed to establish all the necessary components towards the transformative use of ICT in education. It defines a clear link to Wawasan 2035 and its aspirations of nurturing 21st Century Bruneian citizens who are ICT-savvy, display a range of


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literacy, and are strongly grounded in Brunei Darussalam’s Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB) traditions and values. This e-Hijrah Strategy and Blueprint focuses attention on the need to both change the culture of ICT across the MOE and schools and deploy a strong supporting foundation of physical ICT, simultaneously. To achieve this, e-Hijrah identifies strengths to leverage and barriers to overcome. The e-Hijrah Strategic Mandates define 3 distinct areas of focus towards achieving the e-Hijrah Goals and Characteristics:

Establishing a Culture of ICT Through the Whole School ICT Development Pathway. Building a Foundation of ICT Services Through the i-Services Pathway. Aligning to Emerging Innovations in Education Through the Foresight and

Innovations Pathway. Each Pathway defines an integrated series of e-Hijrah Initiatives that are aligned to an evaluation framework that has a series of performance indicators. e-Hijrah Implementation defines a detailed management, governance, and process approach to ensuring the e-Hijrah Strategy and Blueprint are implemented effectively. This includes an Office of Programme Management that will coordinate all activities across the various MOE and external stakeholders who are critical partners in achieving success. e-Hijrah has identified a set of forty seven integrated initiatives that will deliver these changes. They represent a comprehensive list of all actions, programmes and projects required to transform education through ICT. These initiatives range from developing school infrastructure, developing teacher capability, digital curriculum development to research and development projects. The e-Hijrah Blueprint also provides an Evaluation Framework with a series of performance indicators designed to measure the progress and impact of each initiatives as they are designed, developed and implemented. By providing structure and the processes, e-Hijrah will enable the Ministry of Education to be ‘cyber-realist’ in responding to rapid changes in digital technologies. This will ensure that ICT and digital technologies are used to achieved Brunei’s policy goals and support and strengthen the countries values and traditions and not undermine them. It is hoped that by 2017 e-Hijrah will:

1. Provide A Next-Generation, Reliable And Secure Network For All Government Schools And The Ministry Of Education.

2. Provide Dedicated, Real-Time, And On-Site Support Services For Schools And MOE Computing Equipment.

3. Enable The Ministry Of Education To Access Management Information For Real-Time, Evidence Based Decision Making & Support For District Managers, Schools, And Communities.

4. Deeply Integrate ICT Into Every Aspect Of SPN21 & Future Curriculum, In Every Subject Area.

5. Enable Authentic & Engaging Learning Through 21st Century Pedagogies 6. Uniquely Blend MIB And Next-Generation ICT Skills And Competencies Within The

Curriculum. 7. Produce ICT Confident And Capable Global Citizens Grounded in Bruneian Values

And Beliefs.


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5.2. Why e-Hijrah? Wawasan 2035 and SPN21 create a future vision of Brunei Darussalam of a country with a strong, diverse and vibrant knowledge economy with well-educated citizens who have a strong sense of their own identity and are confident and capable of operating in a globalised and increasingly digital world. Fundamental to achieving this vision is a transformed educational system that can deliver equity and excellence in outcomes for all its citizens. A big driver of educational change around the world is ICT and the increasing range of digital technologies that are transforming all areas of the world we live in. ICT permeates every aspect of 21st century life from how we shop to how we managed business. Educating Brunei’s children to embrace ICT for national development in a globalised, technology centric world without sacrificing Brunei values and traditions is of absolute importance. ICT and educational transformation is dynamic and complex process that requires well crafted cohesive and integrated plans and strategies to be effective. The e-Hijrah Initiatives is designed to ensure ICT can transform the educational system and accelerate the growth of excellence to meet Brunei’s aspirations. e-Hijrah establishes a clear link to Wawasan 2035 vision of nurturing 21st century ICT savvy citizens strongly grounded in Brunei Darussalam’s MIB values. 6. CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION In a substantial number of countries including Brunei Darussalam, computers or ICT have been used in education for about 20 years, evolving from social to catalytic stages or rationales. Furthermore, starting from around 2003, Brunei began to establish comprehensive ICT in Education policies or master plan, which formed an integral part of national effort towards adapting and reforming education to satisfy the needs of the information society. The primary focus for using technology in education is ‘learning through ICT’ supplemented by consolidating the achievement made in ‘learning with ICT’. The e-Hijrah Initiative is about embarking into another level of transformation in teaching and learning, that is, the essence of ICT is not just about the hardware and gadgets, the essence emphasizes on how and when to utilize ICT in the most effective manner that will give our students better information skills and higher levels of Digital Literacy. As the Minister of Education noted when he launched e-Hijrah the “ e-Hijrah Strategy and Blueprint is holistic and integrated to both rapidly emerging 21st century education practices and also focuses on harmonizing Melayu Islam Beraja (MIB) and ICT. It is this simultaneous approach that we believe will enable us to transition to producing 21st century digital citizens who are well grounded in our values and traditions that have stood the test of time.” This new paradigm requires significant re-orientation and development of education so that Brunei citizens can meet the competitive and integrative challenges of the 21st century. This


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is the essence of the purpose of Wawasan Brunei Darussalam where by 2035 Brunei will be a nation that is recognized everywhere for: the accomplishments of its well-educated and highly skilled people; the quality of life; the dynamic and sustainable economy.


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7. REFERENCES Abdul Rahim, D. (2010): Overview and Development of ICT in Education:The e-Education Journey in Brunei Darussalam. ICT Futures Summit, UBD. Aminu, I. (2003) Student Leader IT Conference (Harbour Road) Declaration; Students without Boarder , Nigeria Higher Educational Environment and Users of the Nigerian Virtual Library. Working paper at UNESCO Virtual Library Feasibility Study Workshop. Al-Jabri, M. and Al-Khaldi, A. M. (1997) “Effects of User Characteristics on Computer Attitudes among Undergraduate Business Student”, Journal of End User Computing, spring, 16-21. Bain, A., & Ross, K. (1999). School reengineering and SAT-1 performance: A case study. International Journal of Education Reform, 9(2), 148-153 Bork, A. (1980). Preparing student-computer dialogs: Advice to teachers. In R. Taylor (Ed.), The computer in the school: Tutor, tool, tutee (pp. 15-52). New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University. Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience and school. Washington, DC: National Academics Press. Carnegie Commission on Higher Education. (1977). The fourth revolution: Instructional technology in higher education. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Evoh, C,J. (2007). ICTs Secondary Education, and the Knowledge Economy: Exploring the roles of the private sector in post-Apartheid South Africa. Journal of Education for International Development 3(1). Pp.1-25. European Commission. (2000). eEurope: An information society for all. Brussels: European Commission. Gattiker, E. and Hlavka, A. (1992) “Computer and Attitudes and Learning Performance Issues for Management Educational and Training,” Journal of Organizational Behaviour, 13, 89-101. Harvey, T. J. and Wilson, W. (1985) “Gender Difference in Attitudes towards Microcomputer Shown by Primary and Secondary School Pupils”, British Journal of Education and Technology, 3, 183-187 Howie, S.J. (2002). English language proficiency and contextual factors influencing mathematics achievement of secondary school pupils in South Africa. Doctoral dissertation. Enschede (NL): Printpartners Ipskamp. Hawkridge, D. (1990). Computers In Third World Schools. The Example of China. British Journal Of Educational Technology, 21 (1): 4 – 20. Hawkridge, D., Jaworski, J., & McMahon, H. (1990). Computers in third-world schools: examples, experiences and issues. London: Macmillan. Kennisnet (2009). Four in balance Monitor 2009: ICT at Dutch Schools. Zoetemeer (Netgh): Kennisnet. URL: http//onderzoek.kennisnet.nl/onderzoeken/monitoring/fourinbalance2009. Kennisnet (2007). Four in Balance Monitor : ICT in education in Netherlands. Zoetemeer, NL: Kennisnet ICT op School.


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Kozma, R.B. (2006). The roles of Information, Communication, Technology and Education in achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Towards an Africa knowledge network. A research report in support of the Millennium Villages project & the people in Sauri, Kenya. Final report. Kozma, R., Anderson, R.E. (2002) "Qualitative Case Studies of Innovative Pedagogical Practices Using ICT". Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 18: 387- 394. Lemke, C. (1999). Transforming learning through technology: policy roadmaps for the nation's governors. USA: Milken Exchange on Educational Technology. Nickell, G. S. and Seado, P.C. (1986) “The Impact of Attitudes and Experience on Small Business Computer Use”, American Journal of Small Business, 37-48. Norly, H.R and Rahmah, A (2010). ICT INTEGRATION IN VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING INSTITUTIONS IN BRUNEI DARUSSALAM. Brunei Semeo Voctech Journal Vol 2 No 1 (2010). Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms. Brighton: John Spiers and Margaret A. Boden. Papert, S. (1997) "The Connected Family, Bridging the Digital Generation Gap" (UK, Long Street Press) Plomp, T., Anderson, R., Law, N., & Quale, A. (Eds.). (2008). Cross-national ICT policies and practices in education (Rev. ed.). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. Seyal, A. H., Ali, S.M., Awg Hj. Mohammad, A.H. Y., Rahman, M. N. (2010) "Understanding Students' Attitudes toward E-Learning: Evidence from Bruneian Vocational & Technical Education", In electronic proceedings of International Conference on VTET: Research & Networking 2010, SEAMEO VOCTECH Regional Center, Bandar Seri Begawan, Hotel Rizdquin June 23rd to June 24th. Sivin-Kachala, J., & Bialo, E. R. (2000). Research report on the effectiveness of technology in schools. Washington, DC : Software and Information Industry Association. Voogt, J (2008). IT and Curriculum Processes: Dilemmas and Challenges. In J. Voogt & G. Knezek (eds), International Handbook of IT in Primary and Secondary Education (pp 542-554). Berlin Heldeberg, New York: Springer. UNESCO (2003). Developing and using indicators of ICT use in education. http:// www.unesdoc.unesco.org/images/ 0013/001311/131124e.pdf MacDougall, A. and D. Squires (1997),“A framework for reviewing teacher professional development programmes in information technology”. Cited in Blurton, C.,“New Directions of ICT-Use in Education”, p.29.


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Characteristics of Grounding Systems under High Impulse Conditions EEE-2-1

Comparative study on power limitation of a Stall Regulated Variable Speed Wind Turbine.

EEE-2-2

Characteristics of Grounding Systems under High Impulse Conditions

S. A. Syed Abdullah1, N. Mohamad Nor2 and R. E. Rajab3

Fac. of Eng., Multimedia Univ., Cyberjaya, Malaysia, [email protected]

Abstract

The characteristics and behavior of grounding systems are important in order to minimize dangerous electrical shock. Up to this date, little publication has been made on the field test compared to laboratory and computational method. This could be due to the difficulty to carry out the field test as it requires a lot of time and high cost for man power and transportation to handle the heavy and bulky equipment. So far, most studies investigated the grounding systems under low-magnitude or low-frequency test (steady-state). This present study investigates the characteristic profile of grounding system under impulse condition on purposely-built grounding systems in Multimedia University (MMU). The impulse test was also conducted at several grounding systems in order to gain better understanding on the behavior of the system under impulse. The results from this work provide the closest link to the real grounding systems under impulse conditions.

Keywords: measurements, grounding, grid, impulse, characteristics, resistance

1. INTRODUCTION

Investigation of grounding systems behavior under high impulse utilizing high voltage impulse generator was carried out on several existing grounding systems inside Multimedia University (MMU). Experimental work on grounding systems provides important understanding on its performance under fault conditions. The results discussed in this paper are based on the current and voltage impulse shapes and also impulse resistance of the test load. 1.2 Experimental Arrangement and Test Procedure

1.2.1 Test Diagram

Figure 1 shows the test diagram. A diesel portable generator rated at 2.2 kVA was employed as the main power supply to provide AC source to the equipment with the voltage of 220 V. High impulse generator that is capable of generating maximum high voltage up to 50 kV is plugged into the socket on engine generator. The tank that contains compressed air provides the required amount of pressure to the spark gap of the impulse generator. Certain amount of pressure is set to the corresponding charging voltage on the Power Supply Control Unit (PSCU) in order to control the breakdown voltage of the impulse generator. Both the current transformer and high voltage probe are calibrated which was proven to be reliable for the measuring of the voltage and current of the grounding systems. A Digital Storage Oscilloscope (DSO) was used to capture the voltage and current traces for the analysis.


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The field test was also done on rod beds grounding systems consisting of four single driven rods buried in three different sites located inside MMU campus. This makes up to different grounding systems, which can provide variations to the results. Figures 3 (a) and (b) show the configuration of the rod bed grounding system.

(a) Single Rod Dimensions.

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

(b) The Rod Beds Configurations with Two (i), Three (ii), and Four (iii) Rods Configurations.

Figure 3: Configurations of Rod Beds Grounding System.

The ground rods used in this work is copper-bonded rods type which is a carbon steel core rod is coated with a thin layer of copper on its outer surface. The rods are connected to each other by isolated copper wires above the ground. Each of the rods has a diameter of 1 cm with 1.80 m in length.

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2. GROUNDING RESISTANCE

The effectiveness of grounding systems is influenced by the resistivity of the soil and the dimensions of ground rods at power frequency. For the grounding systems to perform well, the systems must maintain a low ground resistance value. According to IEEE Standard 80-2000 [4], an allowable value of ground resistance for small substation is in the range of 1 Ω to 5 Ω. Since the authors [3] constructed and studied on the grounding system it would be expected that the condition of soil might be different from the time of installation due to weather conditions or by nearby metallic structures buried in the area of which can also change the ground resistance value. Due to that, grounding resistance measurement was done again on all grounding systems using the same methods as mentioned in Section 1.2.2 to oversee if any significant change in the resistance value of the grounding systems after it is installed a few years ago. The same method of measurement which is Fall-of-Potential (FOP) method as explained in [5] is applied. The result of ground resistance of MMU combined grid-multiple rods is plotted as shown in Figure 4. At 61.8% resistance curve, the new measurement value of the MMU grid resistance is 6.41 Ω. For the same configurations and field sites, a complete study on the measurement and calculation of the ground resistance at power frequency has been done by Ramadan et al. [3]. The ground resistance value from previous work [3] by using fall-of-potential method is 6.23 Ω. The difference observed between the new and previous measurement [3] might be due to the change of soil properties at site.

Figure 4: Measured Earth Resistance Curve of the Combined Grid-Multiple Rods Electrode.

Resistance measurements at power frequency were also conducted on the rod beds grounding system for the 2, 3 and 4 rods. For the same configuration and site, resistance measurement was also done previously by Mohamad Nor et al. [2]. Table 1 shows the results done by previous work [2]. Table 1 also shows the new values of the measured resistance of rod beds at sites 1, 2 and 3. From this table, and as expected it can be concluded that at all sites, 2 rods configuration gives highest resistance measurement values while 4 rods configuration gives the lowest resistance values. It is observed that rod beds at site 3 shows the highest resistance values with site 1 as the lowest resistance values due to the lowest resistivity value in site 3. However it was found that the new ground resistances for all sites

0

10

20

30

40

0 10 20 30 40 50

MMU Combined Grid Multiple Rods

Distance from Grid Under Test (m)

Res

ista

nce

(Ω)

R= 6.41 Ω 61.8%


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are higher compared to the values measured previously [2]. The differences between the new measurements and the previous measurement might due to the changing weather, temperature, moisture content of the soil over some period of time and due to change in soil property, and loose contact between copper and soil after some years. This shows that grounding systems need to periodically checked and maintained after some years. Despite the differences in the measured resistance values, both measurements shows that 4 rods configuration gives the lowest resistance values compared to 2 rods and 3 rods for all sites. Both new and previous measurements are in agreement with site 1 having the lowest resistance value and site 3 having the highest resistance value.

Table 1: Resistance Results for Rod Beds of Site 1, 2 and 3 by Mohamad Nor et al. [2] and New Measurement.

Configurations

Measured resistance

(Ω) [2] Mohamad Nor et al.

New measured resistance (Ω)

% Difference

Site 1 2 rods 49.1 74.83 34.38 3 rods 36.6 56.07 34.72 4 rods 29.4 42.47 30.77 Site 2 2 rods 122.23 130.53 6.36 3 rods 95.27 105.57 9.76 4 rods 72.67 80.33 9.54 Site 3 2 rods 151 137.77 9.60 3 rods 121.3 111.67 8.62 4 rods 95.73 87.13 9.87

3. GROUNDING RESISTANCE UNDER HIGH VOLTAGE

3.1 Grid with Multiple Rods

Impulse test were conducted on the grounding systems with different current magnitudes in order to observe the behavior of the systems under high impulse conditions. Figures 5 (a) and (b) show the voltage and current traces of the MMU grid with multiple rods at minimum charging voltage of 17.5 kV and at high charging voltage of 35 kV. The charging voltage of 17.5 kV was used as the minimum charging voltage throughout the study due to limitations of the high voltage generator specifications. From both figures, it can be seen that the current peak occurs after the voltage peak which is due to the inductive effects in the ground electrodes. The second current peak observed could be due to the non-linear soil behavior as suggested by [1]. It is also observed that the voltage traces of both figures have faster rise time compared to the current traces, which could be due to the inductive effects. It is seen from the figures that the voltage decays faster than the current. From these tests, it is also observed that similar current and voltage patterns are seen for voltage and current at different levels. As expected, it is noted that when the charging voltage is increased, higher current magnitudes were obtained.


215


(a)

(b)

Figure 5: Voltage and Current Traces at Charging Voltage of (a) 17.5 kV and (b) 35 kV.

From Figure 5 (a) and (b) it is also observed that the voltage trace drops to negative before discharged to zero. It may be related to poor grounding systems of remote earth used for the MMU grid test. Considering that the resistance value of 27.43 Ω which was used as the remote earth is higher compared to the resistance value of the MMU grid with multiple rods, 6.41 Ω thus may cause the ineffective voltage and current discharge to the ground.

Figure 6: Pre-ionization (R1) and Post-ionization (R2) Resistances Vs. Current Peak for MMU

Grid with Multiple Rods.

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)

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Figure 6 shows the pre-ionization resistances R1 and post-ionization R2. The ionization process is said to occur when two current peaks were observed as discussed in Ref. [1]. R1 corresponded to the first current peak while R2 represent the second current peak. It is observed that at higher current magnitudes, the resistance is reduced as shown by the R2 curve.

3.2 Rod Beds Grounding System

The impulse test was also conducted on the rod beds grounding system consisting of four single driven rods buried in three different sites located inside MMU campus. For this study, 3 sites were selected to provide variations in the analysis. Figure 7 shows the voltage and current traces for 2, 3 and 4 rods of site 2 at charging voltage of 30 kV. From this figure, it shows that there are two current peaks occurred with the second current peak being higher that the first peak. This second current peak indicates the non-linear behavior which could be related to soil ionization as suggested by Mohamad Nor et al. [1]. Some initial oscillations were also observed on the current traces which could be due to the capacitive effect as mentioned in Ref. [1]. The current and voltage traces are noticed to have the same rise times. However, the current discharge is found to be slower compared to the voltage due to high ground resistance. From Figure 7 (a), (b), and (c), it is also observed that when the number of rods increased, faster time to discharge is observed. This could be due to improved grounding systems which has lower ground resistance value thus the currents are more effectively discharged to the ground. Similar voltage and current traces are seen for site 1 and 3.

(a)

(b)

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V


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(c)

Figure 7: Voltage and Current Traces for (a) 2 Rods, (b) 3 Rods, and (c) 4 Rods of Site 2 at Charging Voltage of 30kV.

Figures 8 (a), (b) and (c) show the measured ground resistance obtained for 2, 3 and 4 rods by using FOP method as explained in [5] of site 2. The ground resistance values for each ground rods are calculated by using the 61.8% rule [5]. It can be seen that the ground resistance is reduced by increasing the number of rods.

(a)

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Mea

sure

d R

esis

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e (Ω

)


105.57 Ω


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(c)

Figure 8: Measured Ground Resistance for the (a) 2 Rods, (b) 3 Rods, (c) 4 Rods of Site 2.

Figures 9 (a) and (b) show the pre-ionization (R1) resistances and the post-ionization (R2) resistances for 2, 3 and 4 rods grounding systems at site 2. It can be seen that R1 values for all number of rods are decreasing with the increasing of current magnitude. The R2 values are also decreasing with the increasing of current. It is also observed that the R2 resistance values are lower than R1 for all number of rods. From figures 8 and 9, it is observed that the ground resistance values under transient are lower compared to the ground resistance values at steady state.

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(ohm

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Ipeak1 (A)

2rods

3rods

4rods


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(b)

Figure 9: Measured Resistance Values for 2, 3 and 4 Rods of Site 2 under Transients.

4. CONCLUSIONS

Ground resistance measurement at power frequency for all grounding systems installed inside MMU sites in year 2008 was repeated in order to oversee any changes in the ground measurement values after it is installed several years ago. As presented in Section 2, it can be seen that the new measurement values and different than that previously measured by Mohamad Nor et al. [3] [2]. As expected, after some years, the values of the ground resistance might change due to weather, and changing of the soil properties. Impulse tests were also done at sites to investigate the characteristics of grounding systems under transients. High voltages ranges from 17.5 kV to 35 kV were applied to observe the grounding characteristics. It is observed that non-linear soil behavior occurred at all voltage levels. The impulse test on the rod beds grounding systems shows faster voltage and current discharge time. This might be due to lower resistance value of the 4 rods configuration since the current are more effective to discharge high currents to the ground.

REFERENCES

[1] N. Mohamad Nor, A. Haddad, and H. Griffiths, “Characterization of Ionization Phenomena in Soils under Fast Impulses,” IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 21, No. 1, January 2006.

[2] N. Mohamad Nor, R. Rajab, “Correlation Between Steady State and Impulse Earth Resistance Values,” American Journal of Applied Sciences 6. 1139-1142, 2009.

[3] R. E. Rajab, N. Mohamad Nor, K. Ramar, “Investigations of Two-layer earth Parameters at Low Voltage: Measurements and Calculations,” American Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 2(1):165-170, 2009.

[4] IEEE Guide for Safety in AC Substation Grounding, ANSI/IEEE Std. 80-2000, New York, 2000.

[5] IEEE Guide for Measuring Earth Resistivity, Ground Impedance, and Earth Surface Potentials of a Ground System, ANSI/IEEE Std. 81-1983.

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Comparative study on power limitation of a Stall Regulated Variable Speed Wind Turbine

Norzanah Rosmin1, Suhaila Samsuri2, and Mohammad Yusri Hassan3

1,2,3Centre of Electrical Energy System (CEES),Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kampus Johor Bahru, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia, [email protected]

Abstract

This paper deals with power limitation for a small-sized stall-regulated variable speed wind energy conversion system. Here, a Power Loop Control using a Proportional Integral (PI) controller and Pole Placement method are presented. Control effort is focused to control the generated power and the generator torque corresponding to the wind speed variation above the rated wind speed. A simple tuning method of PI controller for Power Loop Control is briefly explained. For pole placement method, the influence of different damping ratios is shown. Finally, the comparison of the transient response of both methods is demonstrated.

Keywords: stall regulated, PI controller, pole placement, power limitation, power loop, damping ratio.

1. INTRODUCTION

Malaysia is located at 2° 30' North latitude and 112° 30' East longitude. Around this geographic coordinate, the velocity of wind is considerably low. With mean wind speed of around 4 to 5 m/s per year, the application of medium/big size of wind energy generation system in this country is impossible. However, at certain locations such as Kota Belud, Gebeng, Pulau Tioman and Pulau Langkawi, the application of the small-sized wind turbine is feasible. At these locations, the mean wind speed can reach up to 6.1 m/s. Pitch-regulated wind turbine is very popular nowadays since this type of wind turbine can limiting the power during high wind speed at a rated power without experiencing obvious peak power or stressing the turbine’s structure. Due to this advantage, this turbine has a high capital and maintenance cost owing to its complex electronic system [1]. Since Malaysia has low wind velocities, the application of pitch-regulated wind turbine is not practical. Therefore, a low cost wind turbine must be introduced. Stall-regulated wind turbine is the most practical one since this turbine has low cost of construction, less complex due to unaltered blade and of course has less maintenance cost [2]. In general, stall-regulated wind turbine is operated in fixed speed. This leads to suboptimal power generation. Hence, to optimise the wind velocities in Malaysia, the application of variable speed is forecasted will maximizing the generated power and power limitation during rated wind speed can be done smoothly. Hence, the objective of this paper is to design a control algorithm for a variable speed stall-regulated wind turbine to limit the generated power at a rated value. In this paper, two control methods will be presented. The first method is by using a power loop case with proportional integral (PI) controller, whereby the second method is by implementing pole placement method. In the scientific literature, PI controller is a classic control theory and very well known in industrial applications due to its cheap price, simplicity and intrinsic robustness properties [2]. Pole placement method is also one of the classic control theories, but, this method has a different theoretical method where the desired pole locations are set and moved in order to


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achieve the desired system response [3]. In contrast to PI control method, numerous tuning techniques are available, for instance, Good Gain method, Ziegler-Nichols’ method including Ultimate Gain method for closed-loop response and the Process Reaction method for open loop response, and etc. This paper is organized as follows: in section 2 a description of wind turbine model is presented while section 3 describes the proposed power loop with PI controller method and the pole placement method applied to the wind turbine. Section 4 shows experimental results and in section 5 a conclusion is given.

2. WIND TURBINE SYSTEM MODEL

Figure 1 shows the model of a stall-regulated, variable-speed, wind turbine system. This turbine comprises four sub-models referred to as the wind speed, aerodynamic, drive train and squirrel cage induction generator (SCIG) model.

Figure 1: Wind turbine model

In general, wind power can be calculated by using equation (1):

32

2

1UpCRaeroP (1)

Where

r is rotor speed,

R is rotor radius,

U is wind speed,

is air density

pC is power coefficient.

From equation (1), it can be seen that the efficiency of useful mechanical power from the wind is depends on the blade profiles. This efficiency of power extracted from the wind is highly

depends on the power coefficient, pC . To generate maximum power, power coefficient must

Generator

speed

Aerodynamic

torque

Generator

torque

Rotor speed

Wind

speed

Wind

speed

Aerodynamic

SCIG

Drive

train


222


be maintained at the peak value. This control goal is applied during low wind velocity. For high wind velocity region, power need to be limited at a constant value. This goal can be achieved by regulating the generator’s torque. Generator torque can be regulated during high velocities by reducing the power coefficient by reducing the turbine’s tip speed ratio. Tip speed ratio must be optimized at each wind speed. To achieve this, the turbine rotor speed must be restricted at a certain value which is suitable to its current wind speed.

3. METHODS

In this paper, two different methods how to limit the generated power during high wind velocities is presented. The first method will be explained detail in sub-chapter 3.1, whereby the second method will be explained detail in sub-chapter 3.2, respectively. A plant of wind energy conversion system (WECS) that has a transfer function as written in equation (2) is considered in this work.

(2)

3.1 Method 1: Power Loop with PI Controller

In this method, a power loop with PI controller is presented as illustrated in Figure 2. The WECS has an input of the electromagnetic torque, whereby the output is the generator active power, P.

Figure 2: Power loop with PI controller method

Based on the designed PI controller that has been applied for maximizing the generated power during low wind speed in [2], the transfer function needs to be factorized in the form of:

(3)

Hence, based on the WECS plant given in equation (2), the transfer function becomes

(4)

The obtained transfer function in (4) produces a complex number. So, an adaptation is done where only magnitude part of the complex number will be considered. Thus, the transfer function is modified into equation (5):


223


(5)

By comparing equation (5) with equation (3), all parameters that needed in WECS block as illustrated in Figure 2 are known, where

To design the controller, two blocks need to be considered (see Figure 2). In the first block,

the time constant is compensated by taking . Then, to compute the gain , a suitable equation as written in equation (6) is applied [2].

(6)

By imposing [2], the controller gain and are obtained as

Then, for the second block of the controller, the first controller plant is compensated by having

a first-order filter by applying as the time constant.

3.2 Method 2: Pole Placement

In this second method, the transfer function of the WECS plant in equation (2) is converted into state space from. In state space form, the WECS plant can be written as [4]

dx/dt= Ax + Bu (7)

y= Cx + Du (8)


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where

dx/dt is the derivative of state,

x is state,

u is input,

y is output.

The matrix of A, B, C and D are as below:

0109962.009324.0

A ,

000294.0

B , 36293853C ,

00

D .

Figure 3 shows the diagram of pole placement method. There are several important steps need to be taken to design the pole placement method. In order to get the desired poles, some specifications need to be followed. Then, the characteristic equation of the desired poles is compared to the characteristic equation of the transfer function to get the controller’s gain, K of the system. This gain is then feedback to the step signal r.

Figure 3: Pole placement method

In this paper, a set settling time with several damping ratios are considered in order to see the variation of results.


4.1.1 Method 1: PI Controller

In this work, power is aimed to be limited at a rated value of 25 kW. Table 1 exhibits the important parameters in designing PI controller that have been calculated using equations (2) to (6). From the executed simulation, by using the calculated data in Table 1, the output represents an underdamped response, as shown in Figure 4. The result represents a significant transient where the response is oscillating before reaching at a steady state value of 25 kW. It’s requires approximately 15 seconds to reach the settling time. For wind turbine generator’s response, this is not practical due to its sluggish response.


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Table 1: Calculated parameter

Parameters Value Kp -0.9339 I 0.6821 Ti 1.4660 Tpt 1.4660 T∑ 1.4660 Tz 1.0618 Tcloop 0.1466

0 5 10 15 20 250

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5x 10

4 Generated Power vs Time

Time (s)

Pow

er (

Wat

t)

Figure 4: Result using method 1 (before retuning).

Hence, a retuning process must be executed to improve the presented response in Figure 4. After executing a retuning process using good gain method, the transient response and the settling time were improved. Figure 5 shows the result after retuning the proportional and integral gain of the PI controller. The proportional gain is increased whereas the integral gain is decreased. The comparison of the proportional and integral gains before and after retuning can be seen in table 2. As the result, the transient peak can be reduced from 47 kW to 27.5 kW. The oscillations were also have been diminished. The rise time, settling time and percentage of overshoot now are much reduced to 2.22 seconds, 6.47 seconds and 8.15%, respectively, as summarized in Table 3.


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0 5 10 150

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3x 10

4

Time (s)

Pow

er (

Wat

t)

Generated Power vs Time

Figure 5: Result after retuning

Table 2: Controller parameters

Before After P -0.9339 -0.01351 I 0.6821 0.45

Table 3: Performance and robustness

Before After Rise time (s) 1.97 2.22 Settling time (s) 8.7 6.47 Overshoot (%) 7.33 8.15 Peak 1.07 1.08 Gain margin (rad/s) Inf @ Inf Inf @ Inf Phase margin (rad/s) 60 @

0.609 60 @ 0.609

Closed-loop stability Stable Stable

4.1.2 Method 2: Pole placement

For pole placement method, the result analyses are done based on the selected settling time of 1 second with different damping ratio, ξ. Table 4 shows the desired poles with different damping ratio of 0.4, 0.5, 0.6 and 0.7.

Table 4: Desired poles for settling time = 1s.

Damping ratio, ξ Pole, s1 Pole, s2 0.4 - 4 + j9.165 - 4 - j9.165 0.5 - 4 +j6.928 - 4 - j6.928 0.6 - 4 + j5.334 - 4 - j5.334 0.7 - 4 + j4.08 - 4 - j4.08


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From Table 4, the desired poles will be moved farther upper and lower from the zero axes when the damping ratio is decreased. The result for pole placement method with damping ratio of 0.4 and 0.5, with settling time of 1 s can be depicted in Figure 6. The transient response in this figure shows that the percentage of overshoot for ξ=0.4 is larger than ξ=0.5. This is related to the location of desired poles which is when the desired poles are farther upper and farther lower from the zero axes, the percentage of overshoot become bigger. However, the steady state value for all responses can be reached at 25kW.

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5-2

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18x 10

4 Step Response w ith K Controller

Time (seconds)

Pow

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Damping = 0.5

Figure 6: Step response with K controller for damping equal to 0.4 and 0.5

Figure 7 depicts the response of ξ=0.6 and ξ=0.7 with similar settling time of 1 s. From Figure 7, it is found that the system with damping ratio of 0.7 represents better response than system with damping ratio of 0.6. It’s meant that the percentage of overshoot for system with damping ratio of 0.7 is smaller than the system with damping ratio of 0.6. From observation that has been done based on Figure 6 and Figure 7, system with higher damping ratio presents better transient response. However, all these responses may harm the turbine’s structures since the overshoot peaks were too high.

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5-2

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6

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10x 10

4 Step Response w ith K Controller

Time (seconds)

Pow

er (

Wat

t)

Damping = 0.6

Damping = 0.7

Figure 6: Step response with K controller for damping equal to 0.6 and 0.7


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4.2 Comparison between Method 1 and Method 2

By comparing the response of both methods, results shown that the pole placement method produce too large overshoot when settling time is set to 1 second. In real system implementation, if the overshoot is too large, it will damage the generator and/or turbine’s gearbox. The power loop with PI controller method also represents significant transients and overshoots. However, after retuning process, the output depicts a satisfactory result, where transients were diminished whereby the overshoot is only 8.15%. But, for this method, it took a slight longer time to reach the steady state value compared to method 2.

5. CONCLUSIONS

The power limitation of a stall-regulated variable speed wind turbine system can be limited at a rated value of 25 kW by using both method; power loop with PI controller and pole placement. However, pole placement method produces a significant power overshoot even though the settling time can be achieved faster (in 1 second). Power loop with PI controller produces smaller overshoot, but this system has a sluggish response, where the settling time is approximately 6.47 seconds. For power loop case, it is quite difficult to increase the settling time. However, for pole placement method, some improvement is feasible could be done to reduce the power overshoot by maintaining the fast response time. This however, is topic of on-going research.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The first author would like to thank Research Management Centre (RMC), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, for the financial support provided under Research University Grant (RUG) Q.J130000.7123.01J70 to carry out this research.

REFERENCES

[1] J.F. Manwell, J.G. McGowen, and A.L. Rogers, Wind energy explained: theory, design and application (West Sussex: UK, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2002).

[2] L. Munteanu.L, A.L. Bratcu, N. Cutululis, E. Ceanga, “Optimal Control of Wind Energy Systems”, London: Springer-Verlag London Limited, 2008.

[3] J.J D'Azzo, “Linear Control System Analysis and Design with MATLAB,” vol. 5, New York, Basel: Marcel Dekker, Inc, 2003.

[4] B.K. Bose, “Modern power electronics and AC drives,” Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc, 2002.

[5] N. S. Nise, “Control system engineering,” 5th ed. Int. Student Version, Asia: John Wiley and Sons Ltd, April 2008.


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A study on the impact of Feed in Tariff (FiT) for BIPV system in Malaysia E-4-1

Improving the Energy Efficiency in Electrical Motors using Variable Frequency Drive E-4-2

Power Performance of 1:40 Scaled Tidal Current Turbine Model E-4-3

A study on the impact of Feed in Tariff (FiT) for BIPV system in Malaysia

H. Abdul Rahman1, W.Z. Wan Omar2, M.Y. Hassan1 and M.S. Majid1 1Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Centre of Electrical Energy Systems;

2Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Centre of Electrical Energy Systems;

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM, Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Email: [email protected], [email protected]

ABSTRACT

As the world communities and consumers become more conscious of the negative aftermath of the traditional ways of producing electricity, new cleaner sources of energy are needed. A promising system is the Solar Photovoltaic (PV) technology however this technology is very expensive. To encourage the uptake of solar PV, many governments subsidise the capital costs of installing PV systems, but this prove be too costly. In come the Feed in Tariff method, where instead of subsidizing the capital costs, the subsidy is in the form of preferential purchase tariff of electricity produced by clean energy technologies, imposed by governments onto major electricity distributors. In this way the independent, small producers sell their energy at higher prices compared to what they use, thus compensating for the capital cost they had spent to implement the RE system. This paper presents a case study in implementing the FiT in Malaysia for the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) system. The measured energy output data from the BIPV project was used in this study to calculate the annual revenue with and without the FiT. This was then used to calculate the payback period for the project.

KEYWORDS: Feed in Tariff, Building Integrated Photovoltaic, payback period, discount rate, renewable energy

1. INTRODUCTION

Energy is essential in society to ensure the quality of life and to strengthen all other elements in the economy. The demand for energy is expected to continue to increase worldwide over the coming years [1] in the industrialized countries and particularly in the developing countries, where rapid economic growths are expected. The energy demand for Malaysia in the years1999, 2002, 2005 and 2010 [2, 3] are as shown in Figure 1. It can be seen that the energy demand in Malaysia increased rapidly at almost 20% annually within 3 years (from 1999 to 2002). The energy demand is further expected to increase to 18,000MW by the year 2010 [2, 3].

The rate of utilization of renewable energy technologies (RET) like solar, wind and biomass are being used by many developed countries to generate their electricity. The world renewable share of electricity generation in 2007 is 18% and would continue to increase to about 23% in the year 2035 [4]. In Malaysia, the electricity is being generated from coal and natural gas as the main energy source, by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) in Peninsular together with a few independent power producers, by Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (SESB) in Sabah and by Sarawak Electricity Supply Corporation (SESCO) in Sarawak [5].


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Figure 1: Energy demand in Malaysia. Sources [2, 3].

In 1999 the Malaysian Government introduced the Five Fuel Diversification Policy by the addition of renewable energy (RE) as the nation’s fifth energy source. The government further announced that it wanted the share of RE generated electricity to be 5% by the year 2005 (Moggie 2001). In the Tenth Malaysia Plan (10MP for the years 2011–2015) the Malaysian Government put forward the Renewable Energy (RE) Policy 2011. The RE Policy and action plan by the Government of Malaysia was presented by the Malaysia Energy Centre or Pusat Tenaga Malaysia (PTM) with the aim to enhance the utilization of RE resources towards national electricity supply security and sustainable socio-economic development [6]. The latest in the series of initiatives by the Malaysian Government is the recent confirmation by the Prime Minister that the government is in the process of instituting a RE law [6] and one of the main component of that law is the FiT mechanism. Five main objectives of the RE Policy are:

(i) to increase RE contribution in the national power generation mix, (ii) to facilitate the growth of RE industry, (iii) to ensure reasonable RE generation cost, (iv) to conserve environment for future generation, and (v) to enhance awareness on the role and importance of RE.

Malaysia is also in the mainstream of the world’s efforts to reduce Green Gas Emissions, namely CO2 and CFCs. Malaysia has also taken the challenge to help with slowing down the Global Warming phenomenon and this effort dovetails into the RE Policy very neatly. Utilization of RE sources cuts CO2 emissions and this would benefit the environment directly, thus contributes towards fighting global warming. Malaysian being tropical and sunny, with continuous solar irradiation throughout the year, is ideal for solar electricity generation.

The electricity generated from solar energy is clean and natural without contaminating noise, harmful emission and waste products. CO2 emission reduction due to photovoltaic (PV) systems per kWh electricity is equivalent to only approximately 0.5688 kg. If this reduction in CO2 emission is taken into account in the calculation of the cost of electricity generation, through carbon trading in addition to FiT, the PV system would be more attractive. In this paper, this aspect is not taken into account.

The investment in installing the (PV) systems is considered very low risk, as the technology and the solar irradiation in Malaysia are well understood. FiT also means the utility company is obliged to buy whatever electrical energy produced by the PV system owner. This eliminates the demand risk, which in any business especially for a long term type of business, can be very substantial. Overall, the main barrier for installation of PV system in Malaysia is


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the high initial investment of the PV systems [7]. With the introduction of the FiT, Malaysia hoped to encourage more investment in renewable energy (RE), particularly in PV systems.

Although the initial cost is not reduced through capital subsidy, the FiT creates a stable market to the product and made it easier for investors to project their potential income and possibly profits years after their investments. The introduction of FiT would create a robust market not only for RE as a whole but especially for solar PV system [8].

Another aspect that is not included in the cost equation is the good feeling and the environmental returns that could be the most satisfying to the investors. Participating in “Green Project” would instill a satisfaction that could be only an initial point in caring for the environment, which could not really be quantified in this paper.

This paper presents a case study in implementing the FiT in Malaysia for the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) system. The measured energy output data from the BIPV project was used in this study to calculate the annual revenue with and without the FiT. This was then used to calculate the payback period for the project.

2. FEED IN TARIFFS

Generally the cost of electrical energy from RE sources is more expensive than the current electrical tariffs from the grid. In order to reach grid parity, there are lots of financial strategies and support schemes which were introduced to ensure renewable energy technologies industries remain competitive. To promote investments in solar energy technology systems capital subsidies, net-metering and Feed-in Tariff (FIT) are the most popular support incentive schemes.

The Feed-in tariff (FiT) is a preferential electrical energy tariff for the energy produced using RE sources [9], which is fed into the public grid. This preferential rate is to promote RE sourced electrical energy production so as to defray the high initial cost of RE systems. The FiT rate for PV was formulated such that it reduces each year in order to reflect the decrease in production costs [10]. To pay for this preferential tariff, customers of the utility would be charged a small amount of 1% over and above the normal rates. Figure 2 shows the FiT rates for various RE technologies.

Figure 2: Comparison of FiT revenues for various RE sources with the standard retail tariff in Malaysia in 2011. Adapted from [7].

For solar PV system, the direct current (DC) produced by the solar panels is converted into alternating current (AC) by the inverter module connected to the solar modules. Two separate meters would be installed at the RE generators premises for: (i) one meter is to measure the energy consumed, and would be used to pay the utility, and (ii) the other meter would be used


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to measure the electrical energy from the RE generating system(s) fed to the grid, and would be used to calculate the amount to be paid to the owner of the RE generating system. This is shown in Figure 3.

Feed-in tariff (FiT), also known as 'advanced renewable tariff' (ART) or 'renewable energy payment' (REP). FiT schemes pay renewable energy producers a preferred set rate (tariff) for each unit of electricity fed into the grid by the utilities to the renewable energy producers. Generally, it requires power companies to purchase all the electricity from eligible producers in their service area over a period of time (the contract period) established from the life of the RE system. Other than the life of the system, the system efficiency deterioration is also taken into account.

Figure 3: Feed-in Tariff Scheme

Good FiT schemes normally provide the rate of return attractive enough for independent RE system owners or people interested in helping reduce the carbon footprint of the country to start investing in RE systems to produce electrical energy [11, 12].

In Malaysia, the new Feed in Tariff rates will be effective from 1 December 2011. The tariff for electrical energy from solar PV is shown in Table 1. For a small solar PV installation such as a house top installation, the tariff could as high as RM1.78 for a building integrated PV (BIPV). This rate is applicable for a system that uses Malaysian assemble PV modules and inverters and for modules that is integrated as part of the roof structure and materials. The integration incentive adds up to RM0.51 per electricity unit produced from BIPV, compared to a system which is mounted on top of existing roofs. This incentive would be good for new build houses, which would mean the architects has to consider the installation of the PV modules from the design stages of the house. In this case, the roof pitch angle and the orientation of the house have to consider the best solar irradiation angles throughout the year.

For ready built houses, the retrofit to integrate the solar PV modules may not be directly suitable. The easiest is to install the solar PV system on top of the roof without modifying the roof itself. This would mean the system owner would lose the RM0.51 for every kWh of electricity produced. This can be substantial for the 21 year period the FiT would in operation.

For a project, the expenditure and income diagram can be represented in Figure 4. The expenditure is modeled with negative arrows (downward) and the net income is represented by positive arrows (upwards). Assuming that the annual energy output of the system is constant, which is reasonable for a country like Malaysia, the annual income would be decreased yearly by the digressions rate set in the FiT. Then the present value of the income for N years can be represented by


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(1)

Where P is the present equivalent value of the annual income, A1 in the yearly income less expenditure at the end of the first year, f is the digression rate operational for the FiT agreement, i is the prevalent monetary discount rate or the expected yearly return by an investor and N is the number of years the FiT will be in operation. In the Malaysian FiT the digression rate f is 8%.

Table 1: The Feed in Tariff rate for electrical energy from solar PV applicable in Malaysia effective 1 December 2011.

No. Installed capacity (kW) Feed in

Tariff rate (RM/kWh)

Effective Period (years)

Initial annual

digression rate (%)

1 Up to and including 4 kWp 1.23 21 8.00

2 Above 4 kWp up to and including 24 kWp 1.20 21 8.00

3 Above 24 kWp up to and including 72 kWp 1.18 21 8.00

4 Above 72kWp up to and including 1 MWp 1.14 21 8.00

5 Above 1 MWp up to and including 10 MWp. 0.95 21 8.00

6 Above 10 MWp up to and including 30 MWp. 0.85 21 8.00

7 Add for installation in building or building structure

0.26 21 8.00

8 Add for use as building material 0.25 21 8.00

9 Add for locally assembled solar PV module 0.03 21 8.00

10 Add for locally manufactured or assembled solar inverter

0.01 21 8.00

Figure 4: The expenditure and income diagram for Malaysian FiT scheme for a solar

BIPV system.

Looking at the Figure 4 again, it should be noted that the project capital expenditure occur twice, one at the initial time and the other at the end of the 10th year when the power

Salvage value, S21

0

Initial investment, P0

Replacement inverter cost, P10

Annual income from energy sales through FiT, AN

10Replacemen t inv ert er cost 21 R eplacement inverte r cost


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electronics system which includes the inverter needs replacement. At the end of the project period, the owner should recoup some investment returns from the salvage value of the project. Thus the overall monetary value of the project for the whole 21 years is

(2)

Where P0 is the capital expenditure at the start of the agreement and P10 is the power electronic replacement cost at the end of year 10. After replacing all the relevant values on the right hand side, a positive P means the project is viable. Otherwise the project is not viable.

3. ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF THE MALAYSIAN FiT

Economic calculations were performed for one installed grid-connected PV systems in Malaysia. The calculation was done for a poly-crystalline technology BIPV system installed in PTM to evaluate its viability for the system owner. The system data is as follows:

Installation year 2007 System rating 45.36kWp Measured average energy output per month 4,600kWh Calculated annual output 55,200kWh First year value of the energy RM98,256.00 Initial cost when installed RM992,358.63 Estimated replacement cost of power electronics

(10% of initial cost) at the end of year 10 RM99,235.86 Salvage value (20% of initial cost) at the end of year 21 RM198,471.73

It should be noted that the monthly measured average is used to calculate the assumed constant annual output. This assumed constant annual output is reasonable for Malaysia as its climate is about constant throughout the year. Thus using f = 8%, i = 6.5% which is applicable in Malaysia now, and A1= RM1.78 X 55,200 = RM98,256 the income for 21 years is

The negative value means that the project is not viable. If no digression is imposed on the FiT rate then the project value would be RM116,481.13 for the 21 year contract. These figures show that the project would be viable only if there is no digression in the FiT price.

It should also be noted that the initial cost was very high when the system was first installed (2007). Now the solar PV system price has gone down significantly. One solar PV contractor said that the solar PV module prices now has gone down to about RM15,000 per 1kWp. This would mean that the initial cost for this system would only be RM680,400. If this figure is used, the project value at the end of 21 years would be:


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This shows that a PV system at current prices is nearly viable.

Recalculating using a discount rate of 5.5% and 4.5% produced the final project value at the end of 21 years of RM12,590.47 and RM49,772.76 respectively. Which means, at present prices, the project would be viable if the discount rate is reduced to 5.5% or lower.

In addition, the present PV modules would be more efficient, thus would have produced higher energy, in which case the final project value after 21 years would be positive. The project value at the end of each year, which reflects the cash flow of the project, as calculated in the above cases, are shown in Figure 5. Positive values means the project would be profitable. As in the calculations, the project value calculated with present price (RM680,040.00) would be viable, with a payback period of 21 years and 19 years for 5.5% and 4.5% discount rate respectively, whereas with the old prices it would not be viable at all.

These calculations are totally based on the expenditures and incomes from the FiT rates as stated in the law. It cannot be more stressed here that there are other benefits which could not be counted in cold cash in the present law. But the benefits of deploying renewable energy system such as in terms of the reduction of greenhouse gases cannot be overstated. As such potential owners of RE technologies should be encouraged with the FiT being introduced in Malaysia, although it is just marginally profitable.

Figure 5: Value of project at the end of each year of the FiT contract.


The case studied in this paper is for a poly-crystalline BIPV system installed in PTM which was installed in 2007. The calculations indicated that the BIPV system would not be viable at the original prices of the year 2007, even if the income is not discounted. It could only be viable if the rate of the initial FiT would not have a digression rate, i.e the initial rate is chargeable through the contract period without the yearly decrease.

It has to be noted that prices of solar PV a lot cheaper now. With present prices the system would be viable and would have a payback period of a little more than 21 and 19 years for discount rates of 5.5% and 4.5% annually respectively. Even so, it has to be reminded that although at present the PV modules are cheaper compared to the 2007 prices, they are more efficient, that is they would produce more energy compared with a similar system then. This


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increase in efficiency is not taken into account in this calculation, as there is no measured performance of similar present system yet. The authors also hope that the calculations presented in this paper would be validated in future researches.

As for other solar technologies such as the mono-crystalline and the amorphous solar modules, their prices vary greatly from the poly-crystalline modules. And their output also would be different. It would be of great service to the community if measured outputs from these technologies are available and their viability vis-à-vis the Malaysian FiT is calculated.

This paper also did not discuss the benefits of using clean green technology, such as the reduction in greenhouse gas production and the carbon trading values. These are very important factors for investing in green technologies.

5. CONCLUSION

This paper clearly showed that the FiT as put forward by Malaysia is potentially a viable proposition for investors in Green Energy, especially for BIPV systems. But it has to be noted that the viability is directly affected by the initial cost and the annual income from the system output based on the FiT prices. The system would not be viable if the income from the system is based on grid parity prices. A poly-crystalline BIPV system at present prices would be viable if the output is sold at the Malaysian FiT rates, with a payback period of a little over 12 years.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to acknowledge the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia under Research Universiti Grant for the financial funding of this project.

REFERENCES

[1] International Energy Outlook. World energy and economic outlook, 2004. Available at: http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/world.html (downloaded 30 March 2005).

[2] Thaddeus, J. “Complementary roles of natural gas and coal in Malaysia”. Eighth APEC coal flow seminar/Nineth APEC clean fossil energy technical seminar/Fourth APEC coal trade, investment, liberalization and facilitation workshop, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2002.

[3] UK Trade & Investment. Power market in Malaysia, 2003. Available at: http://search1.tradepartners.gov.uk/text/energy/malaysia/profile/overview.shtml (downloaded 9 September 2004).

[4] Dincer, F. “The Analysis on Photovoltaic Electricity Generation Status, Potential and Policies of the Leading Countries In Solar Energy”, Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 15(1), January 2011, pp. 713–720.

[5] Bazmi, A. A. and Zahedi, G. “Sustainable energy systems: Role of optimization modeling techniques in power generation and supply” — A review, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews Volume 15, Issue 8, October 2011, Pp. 3480-3500.

[6] http://www.tnb.com.my/tnb/bus_trans.htm (Down loaded 1 Dec 2011) [7] Haris A.H. “Status of Renewable Energy (RE) in Malaysia”. APEC-EGNRET meeting;

2009. [8] Anon. “Malaysia to depend less on fossil fuel”. New Straits Times; January 19, 2010. [9] The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), “Feed-in

Tariff: Frequently Asked Questions for State Utility Commissions”. Solar Energy Technologies Program, United State, 2010.


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[10] Campoccia, A., Dusonchet, L., Telaretti, E. and Zizzo, G. “Feed-in Tariffs for Grid-connected PV systems: The situation in the European Community”. University of Palermo, Italy, 2007.

[11] European PV Association “Position paper on a feed-in tariff for photovoltaic solar electricity”, 2009.

[12] Gardner, M. “Economic implications of Renewable Energy in Nova Scotia”, Energy Future Report, 2009.


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Improving the Energy Efficiency in Electrical Motors using Variable Frequency Drive

Veronika Shabunko, C. M. Lim, and S. Mathew,

Faculty of Science, Universiti Brunei Darussalam,

Tungku Link Road, Gadong, BE1410,

Brunei Darussalam

Contact Author: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

In order to attain high-level of energy efficiency, energy saving technologies need to be implemented in electrical systems. In this paper, we focus on the use of high efficiency Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) for Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EEC). Motors typically take up 70% of the total energy consumed in industries, and significant energy savings can be achieved if conventional motors are replaced with VFD. Variable Frequency Drives can provide over 20% saving in energy. This paper provides an overview on how VFD saves energy, and describes some of the control methods for VFD. Engineering-economics analyses on VFD are also presented. It is found that VFD pay-back period is typically 2 years under the local conditions. Considering the strong performance of VFD in EEC, it is highly recommended that medium cost EEC initiatives should be looked into for implementing the VFD in the electrical systems in Brunei.

KEY WORDS: Variable Frequency Drives, Energy Efficiency and Conservation.

Introduction The volatile price of energy in the recent times has been a growing concern for the global economy. To improve the immunity to such changes, measures are needed to be taken to ensure that the economic growth remains sustainable. One such measure is Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EEC). This measure is targeted to improve the energy intensity. In energy management practice, EEC measures starts from the entry level of zero/low cost to the mid-level of medium and ending at high-cost high-technology implementation.

In this paper, the focus is on the use of Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) as an energy saving technology. Electric motors are widely used in industries and buildings, powering a variety of equipment including blowers, water pumps, compressors and machine tools.

Fig. 1 shows the breakdown of drives applications in the industry. In case of buildings, the uses of drives are concentrated on heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) which is followed by the pumps.


239


Figure 1. Energy usage in industrial sector in EU [1]

Energy consumption of electric motors generally represents up to about 75% of a plant’s entire energy use, and about two-thirds of the motors in industry are used for fans and pumps. It is important to note that these applications do not need constant motor speed [2]. Furthermore, electric motors typically only use 60-80% of their rated input energy, even when running at less than 50% load. It is, therefore, recommended for EEC measures to select electric motors with suitable power to work efficiently, and further improvement in energy saving could be achieved if conventional motors are replaced with variable frequency drives (VFD) [2]. Variable Frequency Drives can provide continuous control by matching motor speed with the load.

Energy Saving Potential of VFD

Variable Frequency Drives are routinely used to vary pump and fan speeds for HVAC systems. In these applications, speed control is used to regulate the flow of water or air, because speed adjustment improves the energy efficiency. Figure 2 shows the energy saving potentials for HVAC systems of various power ratings for various HVAC components [3]. The most significant saving comes from pump improvements, followed by motor upgrades. Variable Frequency Drives can be used for these components.


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Figure 2. Potential energy savings for motor-driven loads. (Data sourced from: US Industrial Motor System Market Opportunities Assessment, US Department of Energy) [3]

Furthermore, many building systems are designed for their maximum load conditions. However, most building systems may operate at their full load only for a short period of time. For example, Figure 3 shows hourly water consumption in a residential building with 5,000 people[6]. Thus, many systems operating in the buildings are normally sized to meet peak load conditions, which may occur only for a short period of time in a day. The energy efficiency and conservation of such systems can be improved by varying their capacity to match actual load requirements.

Figure 3. Hourly water demand for a residential building (as fraction of the design load) [6].

According to the dimensionless affinity laws for a centrifugal device, the operating speed (N), pump size (D), flow rate (Q), pressure head (H), and power consumption (P) are correlated

as: 3 2 2 3 5, , andQ N D H N D P N D


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Hence, for the same pump (same D) operating under 2 different speeds N1 and N2, it can be

shown that

2 31 1 1 1 1 1

2 2 2 2 2 2, , and

Q N H N P N

Q N H N P N

.

Based on these affinity laws, the pump discharge, pressure head and power requirement were calculated for different operating speeds and shown in Figure 4.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

% of design Q/H/P

% of design N

Discharge Pressure Power

Figure 4. Reduction in discharge, pressure head and power requirement with the variations in the operating speeds based on the affinity laws for centrifugal loads.

It can be seen that, when the flow requirement is limited to 70% of the maximum discharge, the required drive speed is also 70% of the maximum design speed due to the linear discharge - speed relationship. This in turn corresponds to a pressure drop of 51%. More interestingly, the power required to produce the 70% flow is only 34% of the maximum rated power of the drive. Hence, significant reduction in the power demand could be achieved from even small reductions in the operating speed.

Table 1, shows the potential energy savings for percentage reduction in drive speed [5].

Table 1. Potential savings from VFDs.

Average speed reduction (%) Potential energy savings (%) 60 93.6 50 87.5 40 78.4 30 65.7 20 48.8 10 27.1


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VFD Control

Over the years, the performance of VFD has improved largely contributed by the advancement of semiconductor technology. These improvements include better electrical characteristics to handle higher power levels, easier programming of desired control response, increasing reliability and ruggedness, and smaller physical size of units [4].

The selection of the control technique should be based on the tasks the VFD are required to provide. The following parameters are considered:

Type and power of VFD;

Speed accuracy and speed range;

Need to maintain the accuracy of the torque on the motor shaft.

It is necessary to determine power output (kW) and current (A) of control technique (CT). Thereafter, we recommend doing the following:

1. Determine the rated current of the converter, which must be chosen equal to the rated motor current.

2. Determine the total power output of the CT, focusing on nominal motor power.

The fundamental principle of VFD control is that the change in frequency of the power supply to the motor can provide a change to the torque characteristics of the motor. The relationship between the source frequency f to shaft angular velocity and motor speed is given by

0 060 2f pn p (1)

where p is the number of pole pairs, 0 is the angular velocity of the rotor and 0n is the rated rotation frequency of the rotor.

The maximum torque for a given supply voltage, 1U , and frequency, 1f , is given by:

21 1

max22

1 1 1 1 24 '

mU pM

f R R X X

(2)

If we assume the resistance of the motor is small, 1R can be neglected, and we express the

impedance of the motor to be 1 1 1 2 1 22 , ' 2 'X f L X f L , 1L and 2L are the leakage inductance of the stator and rotor, respectively, we can simplify equation (2) to:

2 2 21 1 1 1 1

max 2 2 22 211 1 2 1 1 2

,4 ' 8 '

mU p mU p cUM

ff X X f L L

(3)

where 1m is number of phases of stator winding and c is a constant . Equation (3) shows how the torque can be controlled by the frequency and input voltage of the power supply.

To ensure stability of the motor operation, the overload capacity, мk , needs to be considered such that,

max мnomM M k (4)

where Mnom is the nominal torque.


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The control via frequency regulation must ensure,

max1 n1 max 2 n2 constM M M M (5)

where the indexes "1" and "2" refer to different supply frequencies, n1M and n2M are the loading torque at these frequencies. According to (3)

2 2

max1 max 2 11 12 12 11M M U U f f (6)

Therefore, the fundamental law of frequency regulation is:

11 12 11 12 1 n2nU U f f M M (7)

The characteristics of a motor is thus regulated by supply frequency and voltage.

Case 1: Variable Speed at Constant Load Torque ( constnM ),

Equation (7) takes the form;

11 11 12 12 constU f U f (8)

Equation (8) shows a change in supply voltage, U, should be accompanied with a proportional change in supply frequency. The motor power is also changed since power is directly proportional to frequency of rotation.

Case 2: Constant Power Mode, 2 2 constnP M ,

The shaft rotation speed, 2 , is approximately proportional to the supply frequency 1f , and for constant power, we can write the power at two different supply frequencies as:

n1 11 n2 12M f M f (9)

and we use equation (6), to obtain:

11 12 11 12U U f f (10)

In practice, the voltage, U, is limited, and because of the limitation of voltage, according to

equation (9), the increase in frequency, 1f , results in the reduction of the magnetic flux, because of the inverse relation of f and M to maintain constant power, P.

Case 3: Constant Maximum Torque, maxM const

To maintain constant maximum torque requires a constant magnetic flux. Therefore, with frequency control we obtain the condition

1 1 constE f (11)

In this case, the torque value is determined only by the frequency 2f ( 2f is frequency of

rotor, 1f is frequency of stator) and it is the same in the engine and braking modes.

To ensure constant magnetic flux, voltage and the frequency relation must satisfy the condition


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1 1 1 1 1 1 constU I R jI X f (12)

Where 1U is the complex of the voltage supplied to the stator winding, 1I is the complex

current of the stator, 1X is inductive resistance the winding of the stator.

VFD Pay Back Period

Pay Back Period (PBP) is a measure of the minimum period over which an investment for a project can be recovered. Table 2 shows the results of PBP for VFD implementation in Brunei. This analysis is based on the application of VFD on water pumps. In the Brunei context, the average PBP for VFD is typically around 2 years, this cost on the electricity tariff of B$0.25 per kWhr. The prices of the pumps with VFD used in the analysis is based on typical market rate of B$150 to B$200/HP. Three load levels, 25%, 50% and 75%, with pump running 12 hours per day. The life-time of pumps were set at 5 years with discount rate of 20% and maintenance cost of 1% of the cost of pump. The pay back period is less than 4 months.

Table 2. Energy savings and payback period for variable frequency drives.

Price (B$/HP)

Payback Period In Year @25% Load



150 0.16 0.17 0.27

200 0.21 0.23 0.36

Conclusion

A significant amount of energy can be saved using high-efficient motors instead of standard-efficient motors, especially, when current technologies and implementation of VFD can provide as much as over 20% savings in energy usage. The implementation VFD or retrofitting of constant speed drives with VFD can be considered to be mid-level EEC measures. Given the large potential for energy savings the implementation and retrofitting with VFD is highly recommended. The criteria for VFD implementation would largely dependent on usage of the drives, even with a speed reduction of 10% could result in around 22% reduction in energy consumption. The non-linear feedback control deployed in modern VFD can easily fine-tune the drive's speed to load ratio, hence enabling continuous trimming for optimum operation. The torque has been shown to be dependent on the supply voltage and frequency, and the VFD selection are based on the current of the converter and the total power of the control, noting that in practice the supply voltage maybe limited. The PBP is very attractive even for situation where cheap power tariff is involved. For the given local conditions, the PBP of pumps with VFD is less than 4 months. This is largely attributed to pumps running less than 75% load at most times. As an EEC measure, the introduction of VFD is cost effective and technically easy to implement.

References

1. Al-Mansour F, Merse S, Tomsic M. Comparison of energy efficiency strategies in the industrial sector of Slovenia. Energy 2003;28:421–40.


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2. Cohen R. Canadian System for Making a Difference on Energy Efficiency, CSA International, Presentation to the APEC Workshop on Setting-up & Running an Energy Performance Testing Laboratory Manila, 6–8 July 1999.

3. Creamer J. Energy savings –VFDs and more. World pump. August 2010.

4. Meir Teitel, Asher Levi, Yun Zhao, Moti Barak. Energy saving in agricultural buildings through fan motor control by variable frequency drives. Energy and Buildings 40 (2008) 953–960.

5. Saidur R. A review on electrical motors energy use and energy savings. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 14 (2010) 877–898.

6. Shabunko V., Current problems in the choice of engines for systems of optimum control, Master thesis, NSTU, 2011 (26-32).


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Power Performance of 1:40 Scaled Tidal Current Turbine Model

Hjh Roslynna Hj Rosli

Faculty of Engineering, Institut Teknologi Brunei, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam [email protected]

Abstract The worries of the depleting supply of energy resources from fossil fuels have accelerated the development and establishment of renewable energy resources that are also relatively cleaner. Interest in the search of finding alternative energy source has driven government and private sectors in developing technologies in the renewable energy sectors including tidal current energy. Research and development of different design concepts and prototype of tidal current energy has intensified in the global search of finding energy resources in the post peak oil era. A tidal current turbine device harnessed the kinetic energy available in tidal currents. It has a similar working principle as a wind turbine, instead of air, water is the working fluid of this device. In theory, the maximum power that can be extracted from wind or in this case water is around 59% of the available energy, defined by Betz Theory. In this study, the performance of a 1:40th scaled model of a tidal current twin turbine will be evaluated in a towing tank facility. The tidal current turbine has two turbines in a canard configuration to one another. The experimental result is then compared to the Blade Element theoretical calculation model using MSExcel, which includes the tip loss correction factor. Performance of the tidal current turbine such as power coefficient, torque coefficient and drag coefficient will be compared between the experimental and theoretical values. Labview was used for data acquisition from the experiments conducted. The yaw angle of the device and blade pitch angle were fixed at 0o and 4o respectively throughout the whole experiments. From the results obtained, one of the turbines is found to produce higher power coefficient than the predicted results whilst the other is producing lower power than predicted. The performance of one turbine with and without the other attached was also obtained where the performance are found to be higher when both turbines are attached to the device. The results obtained from this study will be useful in determining the feasibility and productivity of the actual scaled model. Keywords: renewable energy, tidal current, turbine, counter rotating turbines, canard turbines, power, performance, blade element theory. 1. INTRODUCTION Tidal energy, unlike the other solar derived renewable energy resources are generated by the gravitational pull of the moon, which causes the rise and fall of tides. Although the potential of tidal energy depends on geographical location, the predictability of tides offers an attractive prospect in renewable energy generation. There are two distinct tides movements, which are the gravitation induced vertical rise and fall of water level and the horizontal flow of water in two directions [1]. Tidal currents are generated due to the rotary flow of the water during the process of flood and ebb tides although the movement of water due to thermal difference can


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also cause them. Tidal flows in both directions depending on the tidal cycle, it accelerates and decelerates, over varying water depths. Extracting power from tidal energy is still at its infancy as most tidal power converter developed by researchers are in its research and proof of concept stage. The tidal current turbine is a floating tethered horizontal axis tidal currents turbine device designed to extract power from tidal currents in a bi-directional flow. The power generation efficiency and drag coefficient of the 1:40 scaled model will be investigated in this study along with the measured torque coefficient of the device. 2. POWER GENERATION OF HORIZONTAL AXIS TIDAL CURRENT TURBINE There are different designs of tidal power extraction devices that manipulate either the potential energy or kinetic energy of the tides. The conventional way of extracting power from tides is by exploiting the vertical rise and fall of the tides. The potential energy of the tides is extracted by constructing a tidal barrage, which works similarly to a hydropower plant. On the contrary, tidal fences and turbines extract power from the kinetic energy contained in the tidal currents similar to a wind turbine extracting power from the wind. The power generation of the tidal current turbine is similar to that of horizontal axis wind turbine except that the working fluid is sea water instead of wind. The same basic principles are employed for tidal current turbines power generation where similar parameters of that in the wind power industry such as upstream velocity and blade pitch angle are taken into considerations. Using similar analysis, the power available in the tidal current can be defined to be proportional to the cross sectional area of the turbine rotor and the cube of the upstream tidal current velocity. Tidal current devices extract power from the kinetic energy contained in the flowing water hence reducing the flow velocity downstream of the device. Betz theory defines the limit of the amount of kinetic energy that can be possibly extracted from the flow. A 100% power extraction is impossible as the downstream flow needs to have enough kinetic energy so that a continuity of fluid stream flow is established. Betz theory determined that the maximum possible power that can be extracted by a wind turbine is only 59% of what is available in the wind, which then limits the power coefficient, CP, of a turbine to 0.59 as the maximum value. The fluid flow are assumed to be steady, frictionless and incompressible. Since, tidal current behaves similar to wind, this theory can be employed in tidal current turbine power generation system. The power available in the tidal current stream is proportional to cube of the flow velocity, given as,

PAV 12AUo

3 (1)

with the swept rotor area of the turbine, A, and the upstream velocity U0. Bahaj and Myers [2] mentioned that although the typical value of CP for wind turbines are around 0.25 – 0.3, the power coefficient, CP, for tidal current devices are in the range of 0.35 – 0.5. The difference in the power coefficient does not implies a different in devices efficiency but rather to the high energy content of tidal current and its predictability. In addition, the power coeffient can be higher for ducted tidal current turbines where the flow are constricted, although Betz theory is only valid for open free flow system [3].


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As opposed to wind turbines, the working fluid for tidal current devices is water, which is much denser than air. Due to the higher density, the forces and moments experienced by tidal current turbines are much greater than that of the wind turbines [4]. Hence, as with other marine devices, tidal current devices are designed to withstand strong waves and other harsh marine environments whilst being able to generate as much power as possible. Due to the high density of water, the turbines are subjected to high axial forces (thrust) where the turbines and supporting structures need to be strong enough to overcome this loading. Bahaj, et al [5] states that for a 60 m diameter wind turbines are subjected to maximum axial thrust of 60 tonnes in which a similarly rated tidal current turbines with flow velocity of 3 m/s are subjected to three times the value of that. Reynolds number is a useful dimensionless flow characteristic that can be used in tidal current device performance analysis. However, the effects of Reynolds number on the lift and drag coefficients are neglected in this study. At constant temperature, fluid boils when the pressure of the fluid falls below its vapour pressure. It is by the dynamic action of the blade that causes the static pressure around the blade region to decrease in which cavitation occurs [6]. The gas bubbles, a product of cavitation erodes the rotor blade hence, hindering the hydrodynamic performance of the turbine. In this study however, although worth mentioning, the effects of cavitation will not be discussed. 3. BLADE ELEMENT THEORY Blade Element Momentum Theory (BEM) developed by Glauert [7] is used in the wind energy industry to evaluate the performance of a wind turbine. Due to the similarity of the wind and tidal current resources, the same theory will be applied in this study to calculate the theoretical power generation of the tidal current device. Glauert’s theory failed to take the finite number of blades into consideration where this is later corrected with the Prandtl [8] correction factor in which the number of blades are considered in the theory. BEM is an established method used for determining the axial and tangential forces on turbine rotor hence the thrust, torque and power characteristics are also obtained. An iterative solution of BEM will be adopted in this study to provide the performance solution of turbine. It is easier to understand BEM by diving the blade into smaller annular ring elements of radius r and radial thickness dr as shown in Figure 3.7.1. Each small elements of the blade are considered in this analysis, where forces acting on them are determined. The forces are then integrated over the whole radius of the blade to calculate its thrust, torque and power characteristics. Fluid flow for each element is assumed to follow the general stream tubes profiles and that each element is analysed independently of each other. As the pitch angle along the chord distribution varies, for individual annular blade elements, the pitch angle will be different from each other. It is preferable to divide the blade into as many elements as possible, hence minimizing dr, to execute a more accurate result. Based on the momentum analysis, the general axial and tangential momentum equations are defined as:

dFx Z dL.sin dD.cos d m cx2 cx1 d m V2 V1 CV

(2)

dF Z dD.sin dL.cos d mCV

c 2 c1 d m.c 2 (3)


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With the value of the angle of attack known, the value of CL and CD can be obtained from aerofoil data in which the lift and drag forces of the blade element can be calculated:

dL 12.w

2 .c.dr.CL (4)

dD 12.w

2 .c.dr.CD (5)

where is the density of the fluid, 1025 kg/m3 for sea water, c is the chord length of the blade element section and w is the mean vector velocity of the upstream flow. It is also important to note that elementary mass flow rate is given as:

d m 2r.dr..Vd (6)

The torque on the blade is calculated by summing the elementary torque of the blade elements:

dQ r dF (7)

hence, the rotor power is:

P Q (8) The BEM analysis for this study will be solved by iterative procedure using Microsoft Excel software. 4. TIP LOSS CORRECTION FACTOR Turbine blade tip loss occurs due to the tendency of the fluid in this case, water, to escape from the high-pressure side of the turbine to the low-pressure side via the blade tip, which reduces the power generated. Prandtl’s tip loss correction factor corrects the original Glauert’s theory in which an infinite number of blades were assumed. The Prandtl’s correction factor, F, is introduced in the elemental thrust and torque:

F 2

cos1 e s

d

(9)

where d is the axial distance between the successive helical vortex sheets and s is the spanwise distance of the blade tip given as R – r. 5. RESULTS Experiments were conducted to obtain the experimental results of the tidal current turbine with different generator load and towing speed. The centres of the turbine hubs were 342 mm below the surface of the water with the rotor blades at pitch angles of 4o. It is also worth to note that Turbine A is located on the left side of the model and Turbine B on the right side of the device.


250


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[2] A. S. Bahaj, et al. Analytical Estimates of the Energy Yield Potential From the Alderney Race (Channel Islands) Using Marine Current Energy Converters. Renewable Energy. Volume 29. Issue 12. Pg 1931 – 1945. (2004)

[3] M. S. Guney, et al. Hydrokinetic Energy Conversion Systems: A Technology Status Review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. Article in Press. (2010)

[4] F. O. Rourke, et al. Tidal Energy Update 2009. Applied Energy. Volume 87. Issue 2. Pg 398 – 409. (2010)

[5] A. S. Bahaj, et al. Fundamentals Applicable to the Utilisation of Marine Current Turbines for Energy Production. Renewable Energy. Volume 28. Issue 14. Pg 2205 – 2211. (2003)

[6] S. L. Dixon, et al. Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Turbomachinery. Sixth Edition. Elsevier. USA. (2010)

[7] H. Glauert. The Elements of Aerofoil and Airscrew Theory. Second Edition. Cambrigde University Press. Cambridge. (1947)

[8] M. O. L. Hansen. Aerodynamics of Wind Turbines. Second Edition. Earthscan. London. (2008)

[9] Y. Li and et al. Modeling of Twin-Turbine Systems With Vertical Axis Tidal Current Turbines: Part 1 – Power Output. Ocean Engineering. Volume 37. Pg 627 – 637. (2010)


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Investigation on Aerodynamic forces on a Horse Carriage Towing used in Brunei Darussalam

ME-1-1

Fabrication and Characterization of Kaolin-Based Ceramic Membrane for Liquid Filtration

ME-1-2

Nanofluid Heat Transfer in a Tube Under Turbulent Flow ME-1-3

Development of Model for the Estimation of Nanofluid Heat Transfer Coefficient ME-1-4

Investigation on Aerodynamic forces on a Horse Carriage Towing used in Brunei Darussalam

Md Gholam Yazdani1. Siti Norbillah Sooni2 and Desmond Lee Wei Fatt3

1,2,3 Mechanical Engineering Programme, Institute Technology Brunei, Brunei Darussalam

[email protected] [email protected]

[email protected]

Abstract

The aerodynamics of a car towing a load is an interesting problem in fluid mechanics. Since the above is both shape and flow dependant and no complete theory is available. As such, experimental techniques are thought to be useful to look into the aerodynamics of such a problem. In Brunei Darussalam, the type of horse carriage is towed normally by certain type Ford Ranger (FR) four-wheel drive car. A scale model of 1:32 of the above is made to test in a subsonic 292 mm x 292 mm wind tunnel. The ford ranger and ford ranger with horse carriage (HC) was tested separately in the above mentioned wind tunnel. The drag (CD), lift (CL) and the side forces (CS) coefficients are computed with angle of attack (α) from 0° to 30° and Reynolds Number (Re) of 1.77 x 104 to 7.08 x 104. It is well known that CD plays an important role in fuel economy. As expected CD for towing is generally higher than the CD for isolated car for all the above investigated ranges of α and Re. To reduce CD a modification on the body shape was suggested and tested in the wind tunnel. The modified body shape reduced CD to a minimum of 20% and a maximum of 53% for α = 0° in the investigated ranges of Re.

Keywords: aerodynamics; towing, horse carriage; drag; lift; deflector. 1. Introduction

1.1 Background The aerodynamics of a car towing a load is an interesting problem in fluid mechanics. Since the above is both shape dependant and flow dependant, no complete theory is available. Experimental techniques are thought to be the best to look into the aerodynamics of such a problem. Fluid mechanics plays an important role in a variety of natural technological phenomena. It is usually possible to formulate a mathematical model to describe a particular flow field. However, in most cases, the resulting partial differential equations are non-linear, and an exact solution can only be derived if some of the terms in the equations can be neglected or approximated. Accordingly, fluid mechanics researchers rely heavily on experimental and numerical simulations. Wind tunnels and flumes are commonly used for controlled experimental studies to understand the physics of a particular flow field or to obtain data necessary for designing or improving a given product. Less common, but by no means less useful, are facilities in which an object can be towed or propelled through air or water. [1]


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1.2 Literature Survey Ways of improving the aerodynamic characteristics of large vehicles such as trucks and buses are being actively promoted. The fact that aerodynamic is effective at lowering fuel consumption has finally gotten through to people who use trucks, making the aerodynamic characteristics of present-day trucks a key selling point. For the owners of fleets of trucks , buses, horse carriers and other vehicles which are towed, fuel consumption is a pressing problem. The drag coefficient (CD) of most trucks on the road today range between 0.7 and 0.9 [2]. However, there is research data available that indicates that these figures can be drastically improved by means of applying certain aerodynamic treatments to these vehicles. CD and CDA (Drag coefficient with load) differ considerably according to whether or not a truck is carrying a load or is equipped with a wind deflector [2]. When cargo is piled up higher that the height of the truck’s cabin, both CD and CDA increase, but can be decreased with the addition of a wind deflector; and when the height of the cargo is less than that of the cabin and a wind deflector is used, then both CD and CDA increase drastically [2]. In the present studies a simple flat-plate deflector was attached to the roof of a model car and inclined at various angles.

S.J Hands and M.H. Zdravkovich [3] tested two types of car: a standard coupé and an estate version towing a caravan. A deflector was used to reduce the drag for both the above combination. A smoke-visualisation technique was utilised to determine the optimal angle for the deflector using a small smoke wind-tunnel. Drag and lift forces were measured for the two car-caravan combinations in a larger wind tunnel. It was found that the best position for the deflector was along the trailing edge of the roof (for either the coupé or the estate car). Some additional reduction in drag was achieved by fixing a horizontal plate along the towing bar.

M. Koike [4] et.al, tested bump-shaped vortex generators at the roof end of a sedan to reduce drag. Their paper presents the optimization result, the effect of vortex generators in the flow field and the mechanism by which these effects take place.

2.0 Methodology 2.1 Horse Carriage In Brunei a FR and HC combination is mostly used for carrying horse. The picture of the above combination is shown below.

Figure 2.1 Picture of horse carriage in the present investigation


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2.2 Models

2.2.1 Non-modified A scale of 1:32 models is used in the present investigation based on a blockage age ratio of 5%. The models are made with cardboards, two-inch pinewoods, toothpicks, adhesive tapes, and paper and stainless steel rods. All the above materials are joined with super glue. The picture of the completed model is shown below.

Figure 2.2.1 Cardboard Model of the horse carrier with the car.

2.2.2 Modified It was suggested to cover the pickup area. Using plasticine the car recovery body shape is modified for improving CD. The figure below shows the modified vehicle. The plasticine is added on the top of the recovery vehicle in line with the rear axle at an angle of 29° to get the best result in CD reduction. The above angle was reached by trial and error.

Figure2.2.2 Modified Vehicle

2.3 End Plate An end plate was used to find the lift coefficient. Based on the width (W) and length (L) the end plate dimension is 2W X 1.5L. The end plate is shown below


257


Figure 2.3: End Plate

2.4 Wind Tunnel All the experiments were carried out in a subsonic wind tunnel in (Model HM 170, Gunt) the Institute of Technology. The subsonic wind tunnel has a square measurement working section (292mm x 292 mm). It has a total length of 450 mm. The air is drawn from the atmosphere via the streamlined funnel.

Figure 2.4.1 Tubular honeycomb structure in the flow straighter

Any transverse flow components are filtered out in the flow straighter. It is made of a tubular honeycomb structure. The air exits from the flow straighter as a parallel flow and is accelerated to roughly 3.3 times its original velocity in the jet. The flow forces at the models are measured by an electronic two-component force measuring device. This device consists of a force transducer and a measurement amplifier with display. For measuring drag and side forces the models are placed horizontally (Figure 2.4.2) and for lift measurements it is placed transversely with the vertical using an end plate (Figure 2.4.3)

Figure 2.4.2 Model orientation for drag and side force measurement


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Figure 2.4.3 Model orientation for lift force measurement

The experiments were carried out at 0°≤α≤30° and 5 ≤ u ≤ 15 m/s. Based on the width, the Re was in the range of 1.77 x 104 to 7.8 x 104. The α and direction of positive quantities is shown in figure 2.4.4

Figure 2.4.4 Angle of attack and directions of positive quantities 2.5 Drag, Lift and Side Force Coefficient CD, CL and CS for FR and FR +HC was computed from wind tunnel experiment for 1.49x104 ≤ Re≤ 7.23x104 and 0° ≤ α ≤30°. The following formulae were used for computing the above coefficients.

where, CD = Drag coefficient CS = Side coefficient CL = Lift coefficient D = Drag force (N) S = Side force (N) L = Lift force (N)

= Density of air (kg/m3) u = Velocity of air in

wind tunnel (m/s) Af = Frontal projected area

(m2) AS = Side projected area

(m2) AL = Plan area (m2)

α

u+CD

+CL

+CS


259


2.6 Correction of Force Data for Lever Effect The force FA (Lift) and FW (Drag) are converted by means of the lever arm a of the model holder into proportional moments M, (Figure 2.6) which deform a bending and torsion beam. The deformation is measured with a strain gauge and displayed digitally on the two-channel amplifier as force. Lever arms other than a=310 mm involve correction of the display force F.

Fcorr. =F.310 / a with a in mm

Figure 2.6 Connection of Model and Force Transducer

3.0 Results and Discussions

3.1 Without Modification 3.1.1 Drag Force Coefficient The CD versus α for FR and FR+HC in the investigated ranges of Re is shown in Figures 3.1.1(a) and 3.1.1(b) respectively. For FR, CD = 0.25 at α = 0° and increases with increase of α and it becomes 0.7 at α = 30° for Re = 1.77 x 104 (Figure 3.1.1 (a)). For 3.92 x104 ≤Re≤ 7..08 x104, all the CD versus α curves seems to collapse into a single curve, it start with CD= 0.2 at α = 0° and increases with increase of α and reaches a value of 0.5 at α = 30 °.

Figure 3.1.1(a) CD Vs. α (FR)


260


For FR+HC, CD = 0.9 at α = 0° and decreases with increases of α and becomes 0.1 at α = 30° for Re = 1.77 x 104(Figure 3.1.1(b)). For other values of Re, all the CD versus α curves seems to become a single curve, it starts with a value range of 0.4 to 0.7 at α = 0° and increase with increase of α and reaches a value of 1.1 at α = 30°.

Figure3.1.1 (b) CD Vs. α (FR+HC)

From the above discussion it may be said that CD is generally higher for FR+HC combination for the investigated ranges of α and Re (except r = 1.77 x 104) . (Figures 3.1.1(a) and (b)). The above might be explained as follows. It is reported [5] that 70% of drag is due to front design. 20% and 10% is due to rear design and body friction respectively. Adding a load is thought to increases the body friction as well as change the rear design. .As such a higher drag is observed with addition of load on the car recovery vehicle. 3.1.2 Lift Force Coefficient The CL versus α for FR and FR+HC in the investigated ranges of Re is shown in Figures 3.1.2(a) and 3.1.2(b) respectively. For FR, CL = -0.02-0 at α = 0° and decreases with increase of α and reaches a minimum value of -0.08 - 0.1 at α=30°..

Figure 3.1.2(a) CD Vs. α (FR+HC)

For FR+HC, CL = -0.12 to 0 at α = 0° and decreases with increase of α and reaches a value of -0.2-0 to 0 for α = 30 ° for all the investgated ranges of Re (Figure 3.1.2(b)).


261


Figure 3.1.2(b) CL Vs. α (FR+HC)

From the above figures (Figures 3.12(a) and (b)), it may be concluded that adding the car on the recovery vehicle generally decrease the CL for all the investigated ranges of α and Re. In the present investigation the height of HC is more than FR. As such the HC is obstructing the flow over the FR and this can act as a lift sopiler, which in effect decrease the lift.. 3.1.3 Side Force Coefficient The CS versus α for FR and FR+HC in the investigated ranges of Re is shown in Figures 3.1.3(a) and 3.1.3(b) respectively.

Figure 3.1.3(a) CS Vs. α (FR)

Figure 3.1.3(b) CS vs. α (FR+HC) From the above figures (Figures 3.13(a) and (b)), it is seen that CS increases with increase of α for all of the investigated ranges of Re. It is also seen that adding the HC has generally


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increased the CS. This means that during the presence of cross wind the FR+HC combination might be more susceptible to toppling than FR due to higher side forces. 3.2 With Modification 3.2.1 Drag Coefficient The CD versus Re curve at α = 0° is shown in Figure 3.2.1. It is seen that the reduction of CD with the modification (29° deflector) is 53% at Re = 1.81 x 104 and 20% at Re of 7.08 x 104. The decrease of CD with a deflector might be attributed to change of front design (more aerodynamic) and as such the wake might reduce. This may be one of the causes of form drag reduction, which is thought to reduce the CD. The above need to be verified by flow visualization.

Figure 3.2.1 CD Vs. Re (FR+HC)

3.2.2 Lift Coefficient The CL versus Re curves for α = 0° is shown in Figure 3.2.2. It is seen from the figure that CL

values with modification is always high compare to non-modified FR+HC vehicle. Since CL for both modified and non-modified vehicles remains more or less negative for most of the investigated ranges of Re, as such it might be expected that both the vehicles might be stable against the lift force. CL increase for modified vehicle might be explained as follows. Adding the deflector in front of HC makes the FR+HC more aerodynamically shape compared to non-modified configuration, as such the lift is increased for the modified version

.


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Figure 3.2.2 CL Vs. Re (FR+HC)

4. Conclusions

From the above discussions the following conclusions can be drawn.

1. CD is generally higher for FR+HC combination for the investigated ranges of and Re.(except Re =1.77 x 104)

2. Adding the horse carriage generally decrease the CL for all the investigated ranges of α and Re.

3. The CS value for FR+HC is always higher than FR 4. The CD for FR+HC can be reduced by adding a 29° deflector above the rear wheel at

a height of wind shield of the towing vehicle.

5. Further Work It is suggested to test a series of different combination of towing vehicle and horse carriage. From the above study the deflector angles for reduction of CD and CL for such combination might be found out. It also recommended to do a flow visualization, to look into the physics of flow.

References [1] M. Gad-el-Hak, “The water towing tank as an experimental facility”, In Experiments in

Fluids, Springer Verlag , Berlin, 1987, pp. 289 – 297. [2] S. Muto, “Automobile Aerodynamics”, Osami Suzuki, Tokyo,1986. [3] S.J. Hands and M.H. Zdravkovich, “Drag reduction for a passenger car towing a

caravan”, 4th Colloquium on Industrial Aerodynamics (Vehicle Aerodynamics), Aachen, June 18, 1960.

[4] M. Koike, T. Nagayoshi, N. Hamamoto, “Research on aerodynamic drag reduction by vortex Generators”, Technical Review, Mitsubishi Motors, No.16, 2004, pp 11-16.

[5] T. Morel and C. Dalton, “Aerodynamics of Transportation”, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, New York, 1979.


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Fabrication and Characterization of Kaolin-Based Ceramic Membrane for Liquid Filtration

N.A. Badarulzaman*1, R. Mahadi1 and S.S. Jikan2 1 Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

2 Faculty of Science, Technology and Human Development Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, 86400 Parit Raja, Johor, Malaysia

* Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Ceramic membranes for liquid filtration were fabricated via powder compaction method. The membranes which comprise mixtures of local clay and combustible material were compacted at 2 MPa and then, sintered at 1050oC. The studies on porosity, density and flow rate of the membrane were measured in order to evaluate its effectiveness. The results of the porosity and density tests of the membrane are 51.4% and 2.5348 g/cm3, respectively. Whereas, the flow rate test indicates that the membrane is able to flow at a rate of 197 ml/hour.

Keywords: ceramic membrane, kaolin, powder compaction, porosity, density, flow rate

1. INTRODUCTION

Generally, the water quality impaired due to the pollution of water resources. At present, there are various types of water treatment systems that have been used around the world, such as activated carbon filter (Martin & Shackleton, 1990), activated biological filter (Simpson, 2008) and the method of Shimanto-gawa (Matsumoto, 1997). Each of this method using natural materials as the raw materials in fabricating the filtration system. The use of natural materials such as kaolin, is one of the recent works done by researchers (Noor et al, 2002). Various works have been done in order to prove the effectiveness of kaolin-based ceramic membrane in water filtration process. Ceramic membranes have large potential if compared to that of polymer membranes due to their ability for applications at high temperatures, pressure and in hostile environments (Weiying et al, 2010, San & Ozgur, 2007 and Hasan et al, 2011). Generally, porous ceramic supports are needed for membranes manufacturing. The ceramic membrane is sintered in a furnace thus burning away the organic/combustible material and leaving behind small pores. The pore sizes, density and surface area of the ceramic membrane determine the ability of the filter to eliminate particles and pathogens from the filtered water. The most important matters that have to be taken into consideration in fabricating membranes are the raw material and its composition. Examples of common materials used are kaolin, combustible materials, water and grog (non-plastic material used to reduce shrinkage and to control the porosity of membranes) (Dies, 2003). Dies (2003) has been using clay (one of the ceramic materials), grog and water with a ratio of 50:50:10 by weight percent and coated with colloidal silver to provide an anti-bacterial mechanism in the system. Nonetheless, this study will not be using grog and colloidal silver in fabricating the ceramic membranes as the raw materials used are kaolin, tapioca starch flour (as combustible


265


material) and water. In order to ensure that this study runs smoothly, there are several objectives that have been identified and outlined as follows:

i. to fabricate a water filter of kaolin-based ceramic membrane with emphasis on powder compaction method.

ii. to study the porosity, density and flow rate of the ceramic membranes produced in this study.

In this study, the water will flow down through the ceramic membrane thus the system depends greatly on the gravity to assist the operations of filtration.

2. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

The raw materials used were refined kaolin grade Akima 45 supplied by Associated Kaolin Industries Sdn. Bhd. and local tapioca starch (Sin Kian Hin Sdn. Bhd.). Both materials used in this work are in the form of powder. Firstly, these materials were sieved by the sieve (Fritsch) with mesh openings size of 45μm. There were two layers that have been produced in this work. The first layer was the preparation of membrane layer comprises 100 percent of kaolin powder. Whereas the second layer is the production of membrane support obtained by the mixture of kaolin (50 wt%) and tapioca starch (50 wt%) as a combustible material. Both layers were fabricated via powder compaction method. The powder compaction pressure applied to the system is 2 bar for duration of 2 minutes by using a manual Hydraulic Press Machine (Carver). After drying at room temperature for 24 h, these layers were sintered at 1050°C. Figure 1 illustrates the kaolin-based ceramic membrane.

Figure 1: Illustration of kaolin-based ceramic membrane.

Porosity and density assays were detected by Archimedes Principle as performed by Li et. al (2008). This principle uses imbibition method with water as the medium. In this procedure, the membrane sample was immersed in a wetting fluid until it was fully saturated. The sample was weighed before and after the imbibition. All data obtained in table 2 were results of porosity and density assays calculated according to equation 1 – 5.

The purpose of the flow rate test is to determine the total quantity of water that can be filtered by the developed ceramic membrane. This test is done upon completion of membrane density and porosity tests. In order to perform this test, a membrane sample was placed in a container filled with water (refer to Figure 2). Results from the test which is the quantity of the water filtered will be recorded in unit of millimeters per hour (ml / hr).

Kaolin

Kaolin + starch


266


Figure 2: Custom made flow rate test apparatus


3.1 Sintering process

There are four sintering profiles used in the sintering process. All sintering profiles are similar (refer to Figure 3) except for the heating rates which vary from 2, 3, 4 and 5°C/min. Firstly, the temperature was raised to 100°C and held for 30 minutes. The temperature was then increased to 300°C and held for 30 minutes. Subsequently, the temperature was raised to 700°C and also held for another 30 minutes. Lastly, the temperature was then raised to 1050°C and held for 2 hours before the temperature decreases. At this stage, the sintering process is believed to be completed.

Liquid container

Membrane slot

Liquid collector


267


Figure 3: Sintering profile for all samples of the ceramic membrane

Table 1 exhibits results on the observations of all samples obtained at different sintering profiles. Thorough observation has shown that the cracks can be detected in samples produced from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd sintering profiles (refer to Figure 4 - 6). Cracking is caused by several factors such as the use of excessive water (as binder), inappropriate composition of the mixture, the non-uniform distribution of combustible material and improper sintering temperature applied to the system. Samples produced from the 4th sintering profile (refer to Figure 7a and 7b) were selected as the candidates in the subsequent works as they exhibit better sintered products if compared to the others.

Table 1: Observations on the physical condition of the sintered ceramic membranes varied as a function of heating rate.

Parameters Profile / Sample

1 2 3 4

Sintering temperature (°C)

1050 1050 1050 1050

Composition (wt%)

50-50 50-50 50-50 50-50

Heating rate (°C/min)

5 4 3 2

Observation - highest degree of cracking

- the sample spontaneously fractured

- imperfect consolidation at the

- intermediate degree of cracking

- cracked into 2 pieces

- imperfect consolidation at the interphase

- moderate degree of cracking

- imperfect consolidation at the interphase

- smooth surface

- good consolidation at the interphase

100oC

300oC

700oC

1050oC


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interphase

Figure 4: Sampel 1 Figure 5: Sampel 2 Figure 6: Sampel 3

Figure 7a: The top view of Sampel 4 (kaolin)

Figure 7b: The bottom view of Sampel 4

(kaolin + starch)

3.2 Porosity and Density Tests The following formulations are used for the analysis of density and porosity testing of ceramic membrane samples. The results of both tests are shown in Table 2.

)5(%100

)4( ,

)3( ,

)2(%100

)1( ,

A

BA

sw

dB

dA

sw

dw

PorosityTotal

WW

WDensityBulk

V

WPorosityApparent

WW

WWPorosityApparent

ThicknessAreaVVolume

Table 2: Results obtained from the porosity and density tests for sample 4.

No. Parameter Data

1. Wd (g) 0.5242

2. Ws (g) 0.3000

3. Ww (g) 0.7224

4. Membrane thickness, t (cm) 0.007312

5. Bulk volume, V (cm3) 0.2068

6. Bulk density, ρB (g/cm3) 1.2410

7. Apparent density, ρA (g/cm3) 2.5348


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8 Apparent porosity 46%

9. Total porosity 51.04%

In order to fabricate the water filter of ceramic membrane, two layers of compacted kaolin powder have to be formed. The corresponding first layer consists of a layer of 100 percent ceramic powder which is kaolin powder. Whereas, the second layer comprises a layer of kaolin and starch powder which was mixed evenly with the composition ratio of 50:50. During the sintering process, the starch particles act as combustible material at high temperature thus leaving the sintered samples comprise 100 percent of kaolin material. The occurrence of porosity is due to the areas left out by the starch particles and by the areas that were not in contact during the sintering process. Porosity in sintered ceramic materials is influenced by several factors such as the particle shapes, particle sizes, and sintering profiles of the ceramic materials.

3.3 Flow Rate Test

Flow rate test was carried out on sintered samples of ceramic membrane with diameter of 29.131 mm and thickness of 0.7312 mm. The flow rate apparatus with the aid of gravity is shown in Figure 2. Data obtained from the results of flow rate test is displayed in Table 3. The average flow rate of 5 samples (for sample 4) obtained from the experimental work is 197 ml/hr.

Table 3: Data obtained from the flow rate test

Sample

Diameter, d (mm)

Surface area, A

(mm2)

Thickness, t

(mm)

Flow Rate, (ml/hour)

Sample 4 30 mm 2827.8 0.07312 197

4. CONCLUSION

The work on fabrication of kaolin-based ceramic membrane has been done using four sintering profiles. Samples produced from the 4th sintering profile exhibit better sintered products if compared to the others. Upon completion of the sintering process, several tests and analysis were performed on the samples, among which are the tests of porosity, density and flow rate. The percentage of total porosity for sample 4 is 51.04%. Whereas, the average flow rate obtained from the experimental work is 197 ml/hr. The main objective of the study has been successfully achieved as the production of ceramic membrane which acted as filters are able to filter the water. These factors are influenced by proper mixture of material compositions and appropriate sintering profiles applied to the system.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors would like to acknowledge Ministry of Higher Education (KPT) and Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) for financial support via Fundemental Research Grant Scheme (vot 0745).

REFERENCES:

Periodicals [1] M. M. Hasan, M. Shafiquzzaman, M. S. Azam & J. Nakajima..“Application of a simple

ceramic filter to membrane bioreactor. Desalination, vol. 276, no. 1-3, pp. 272-277, 2011.


270


[2] S. Li, N. Li & Y. Li. “Processing and microstructure characterization of porous corundum–spinel ceramics prepared by in situ decomposition pore-forming technique”, Ceramics International, vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 1241-1246, 2008.

[3] R.J. Martin & Shackleton. “Comparison of two partially activated carbon fabrics for the removal of chlorine and other impurities from water”, Water Research, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 477-484, 1990.

[4] M. J. M. M. Noor, F. R. Ahmadun, T. A. Mohamed, S. A. Muyibi & M. B. Pescod, “Performance of flexible membrane using kaolin dynamic membrane in treating domestic wastewater”, Desalination, vol. 147, no. 1-3, pp. 263-268, 2002.

[5] O. Şan & C. Özgür, “Fabrication of glassy ceramic membrane filters for filtration of spring water with clogging phenomena”, Journal of Membrane Science, vol. 305, no. 1-2, pp. 169-175, 2007.

[6] D. R. Simpson, "Biofilm processes in biologically active carbon water purification”, Water Research, vol. 42, no. 12, pp. 2839-2848, 2008.

[7] L. Weiying, A. Yuasa, D. Bingzhi, D. Huiping & G. Naiyun, “Study on backwash wastewater from rapid sand-filter by monolith ceramic membrane”, Desalination, vol. 250, no. 2, pp. 712-715, 2010.

Dissertations: [8] R.W. Dies, “Development of a ceramic water filter for Nepal”, Master Thesis, Department

of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2003.

Website: [9] S. Matsumoto (Aug. 1997). "UNEP-IETC: The Conception and Execution of Improved

River Water Quality Using a Newly Developed Purification Method: The Shimanto-gawa System."International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC) Homepage. [Online]. Available: http://www.unep.or.jp/ietc/Publications/INSIGHT/Aug-97/8.asp


271


Nanofluid Heat Transfer in a Tube Under Turbulent Flow

Viswanatha Sharma Korada1, Wan Azmi Wan Hamzah1, Kameswara Sarma Pullela2 and Rizalman Mamat1

1Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), Pekan Campus, Pahang, Malaysia, [email protected], [email protected],

[email protected] 2GITAM University, Visakhapatnam, India, [email protected]

Abstract

The thermo physical properties of nanofluids are required for the evaluation of convective heat transfer coefficients. Regression equations are developed as a function of concentration, temperature and particle size valid for metal and their oxide nanoparticles dispersed in water. The equations are used for the estimation of Prandtl number and heat transfer coefficients. Theoretical determination of nanofluid Nusselt number is undertaken using the eddy diffusivity equations of Sarma et al. The values from theory are compared with the available experimental data in the turbulent range of Reynolds number for volume concentration up to 3.7%. It is observed that particle size, concentration and operating temperature are to be considered simultaneously for the determination of heat transfer coefficients. The condition under which nanofluid aids enhancement is discussed.

Keywords: nanofluids, thermo-physical properties, eddy diffusivity equations, heat transfer coefficient

1. INTRODUCTION

Forced convection heat transfer in a tube has long been recognized as one of the many basic heat transfer problems. The constitutive equation of flow along with the energy equation is solved subject to suitable boundary conditions for obtaining htc. Analysis for the determination of heat transfer coefficients (htc) has been undertaken for a wide range of Prandtl numbers of single-phase fluids. With miniaturization, the need for transferring high heat fluxes arose; it is observed that the conventional fluids such as water, ethylene glycol, engine oil have limitations to meet the desired performance expectations due to low values of thermal conductivity. Various active and passive methods for enhancement of htc are pursued to overcome the problem. Passive methods include the use of additives and micron size suspended metallic particles, Ahuja [1] and Bergles [2]. The use of these particles proved futile due to problems associated with clogging, sedimentation, erosion of pipe lines and large pressure drop. The problem could be overcome with the advent of new techniques for producing smaller particles of nanometer size.

1.1 Thermo Physical Properties of Nanofluid

Metals and metal oxide nanoparticles when dispersed in small quantities in a base liquid such as water, ethylene glycol, etc are observed to possess higher values of thermal conductivity compared to base liquid. Experiments conducted by Choi [3] with Carbon Nano Tubes (CNT) in engine oil at 1.0% volume concentration obtained thermal conductivity enhancement of 160% of the base liquid value. The determination of thermo-physical properties of metal nanoparticles like Cu and metal oxides such as Al2O3, TiO2, CuO, SiO2, etc in different base fluids and the parameters influencing them is undertaken by various investigators [4-17]. The well known theoretical models of Maxwell [18] and Hamilton and Crosser [19] predicted lower values of thermal


272


conductivity when compared to experimental observations at higher temperatures. Hence experimental determination of thermal conductivity of various nanofluids is undertaken as the theoretical models are still pursued. It is fairly established that the thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluids is influenced by concentration and temperature. The influence of particle size on the properties has not been considered in the development of regression equations by these investigators.

1.2 Experiments of Forced Convection with Nanofluids

Estimation of turbulent forced convection heat transfer coefficient has been made mostly through experimental investigations with Al2O3, Cu, CuO, SiC, TiO2, etc nanoparticles dispersed in water with concentration up to 3.7%. The properties such as viscosity and thermal conductivity are estimated from experiments in the requisite range of the experimental analysis. Investigations are undertaken with particles of different materials, sizes, concentration and temperature range having a limitation for comparison of either properties or heat transfer coefficients.

1.3 Numerical Studies of Forced Convection

Numerical analysis of laminar heat transfer for flow of nanofluids in a tube for various base fluids and mixtures has been reported [20-23]. Theoretical analysis for turbulent flow has been presented by Sarma et al. [24]. They compared the theoretical values of Nusselt number with Al2O3 nanofluid experimental data for volume concentration less than 0.5%. A wide range of experimental data undertaken with different materials, particle sizes, operating temperatures for concentration lower than 4.0% is available in the literature. The theoretical validation requires the properties to be known at different operating conditions for the estimation of Nusselt number. This necessitates the development of equations for the estimation of the properties.

2. EVALUATION OF THERMO PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF NANOFLUID

2.1 Density, ρnf

Applying the principle of mass conservation of the two species in a finite control volume of the nanofluid, the nanofluid density nf can be obtained from the relation

wpnf 1 (1)

where is the volumetric fraction of nanoparticles in the base fluid.

2.2 Specific Heat, Cnf

The thermal conservation of energy of the two species in a finite control volume will yield the overall specific heat Cnf of the nanofluid as

pw

pw

nf

CCC

11

(2)

2.3 Thermal Conductivity of Nanofluid, knf

Applying the principle of mass conservation of the two species in a finite control volume of the nano The thermal conductivity of various nanofluids is determined experimentally by many [5-10]. The experiments are conducted mostly with spherical shape particles having diameters in the range of 20 – 170 nm, temperature of 20 – 70 °C and volume concentration of less than


273


4.0% with Al2O3, Cu, CuO, SiC, TiO2, ZrO2 particles dispersed in water. Experiments for the estimation of nanofluid convective heat transfer coefficients are undertaken in the turbulent Reynolds number range of 5000 < Re < 63000. The thermal conductivity data of metal and metal oxide nanofluids available in the literature are used in the development of regression equations. Pak and Cho [25], Williams et al. [13], Lee et al. [4], Murshed et al. [8], Kumar Das et al. [7], Chon and Kihm [26], Mintsa et al [27], Beck et al. [28], Avsec [29], and Duangthongsuk and Wongwises [30] conducted experiments for the determination of thermal conductivity of nanofluids. The value of thermal conductivity depends primarily on the choice of material, concentration, and temperature and particle size. The influence of material on nanofluid thermal conductivity data is affected through the thermal diffusivity ratio of particle to water ( wp / ). Experimental values consisting of 249 data points are used in the regression analysis, to develop a correlation for the determination of thermal conductivity knf, given by

01737.00336.02777.037.1

1501

701

10018938.0

w

ppnf

wnf

dTkk

(3)

32 808803.6660152749.200193.056112.0 wwww TeTeTk (4)

where ø is volumetric concentration in %, temperature Tnf in oC and particle diameter dp in nm. The correlation for nanofluid thermal conductivity is validated with data taken from different sources and shown in the legend of Figure 1 obtained with a maximum deviation of less than 11% for a few points.

Figure 1: Validation of data with (3)

2.4 Absolute Viscosity of Nanofluid, μnf

Nguyen et al. [31] conducted experiments for the determination of viscosity of Al2O3 and CuO nanofluids in water at different concentrations and particle sizes in the ambient temperature range of 22 to 25oC. The authors have stated the viscosity of Al2O3 nanofluid with particle size of 36 and 47nm and CuO of 29nm size predicted close values for volume concentration less than 4% and deviated at higher concentrations. Hence the experimental viscosity data of Hwang et al. [32], Wang et al. [33], Zeinali Heris et al. [34], Nguyen et al. [31], Nguyen et al. [35], Lee et al. [36], Pak and Cho [25], He et al. [37], and Duangthongsuk and Wongwises


274


[38] for volume concentration less than 4% consisting of 169 data points are subjected to regression, and the following correlation obtained

061.0038.03.11

1701

701

1001

pnf

wnf

dT (5)

32 90993504.279255.4525263.400169.0 wwww TeTeTe (6) Equation (5) is validated with the data taken from various sources shown in the legend of Figure 2. The data could be correlated with an average deviation 2.89% and standard deviation of 3.8% obtained with a maximum deviation of 12.96%.


3. EVALUATION OF THEORETICAL MODEL OF SARMA ET AL.

Experiments conducted by various investigators with nanofluids are mostly with metal oxide nanoparticles uniformly dispersed in water. The investigation includes the evaluation of pressure drop and heat transfer for Reynolds number less than 1 x 105, in addition to the determination of thermo-physical properties of nanofluids. The investigations conducted so far revealed that nanofluid friction factor in the turbulent range can be represented with Blasius equation

25.0Re07910 /.f (7)

Correlation to predict heat transfer coefficients (htc) for nanofluids is developed similar to the equation of Dittus-Boelter [39]. However, the presence of nanoparticles augments htc due to Brownian motion which requires the inclusion of parameters such as the diameter of the particle ,pd and its thermal diffusivity, .p Estimation of turbulent forced convection htc

corresponds mostly to experimental data with spherical shaped nanoparticles dispersed in water with volume concentration up to 3.7%. The regression equation valid in this range is obtained as


275


23.04.0012.08.0 1Pr)Pr1(Re023.0 wnfnfNu (8)

with an average deviation of 6.13% and standard deviation of 7.5% with exception of few data points deviating from the correlation by 20%. The thermo-physical properties of the nanofluid are determined from the correlation equations for the estimation of Nusselt number. It can be observed that substitution of 0 and Prnf = 0 in (8) simplifies to

4.08.0 PrRe023.0Nu (9)

which is the conventional Dittus-Boelter equation applicable to pure fluids. The modified Dittus-Boelter (8) is applicable for both water and nanofluids. Equation (8) is validated with the data taken from literature shown in Figure 3.


A theoretical model for the evaluation of nanofluid htc under turbulent flow has been presented by Sarma et al. [24]. Making certain simplifications and introducing a correction factor for the mixing length, expressions for eddy diffusivity of momentum nfnf and

energy nfH have been proposed. The eddy diffusivity equations along with the

equation of Blasius for friction factor are employed in the evaluation of the Nusselt number and validated with (8). The htc and Prandtl number is estimated using (1) - (6). Such an approach for the theoretical evaluation of turbulent htc employing eddy diffusivity equations and validating htc with properties estimated with regression equations for various nanofluids have not been reported. It is proposed to address the problem and study the parameters influencing heat transfer coefficients. Suitable experimental data available in literature is shown in comparison with the theoretical results obtained.

4. RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS

Xuan and Li [16] presented an equation for Nusselt number valid in the range ,22000Re10000 %0.20.0 as


276


4092380001068860 PrRe628670100590 .nf

.nf

.d

.nf Peφ...Nu (10)

From the value of the index to the particle Peclet number given in (10), it can be observed that the Nusselt number is not significantly influenced by the particle size. This observation supports the negative sign for the index obtained by regression to the 1501 pd term given

in (3).

The average size of Cu particles used in their analysis is stated to be smaller than 100nm. Since the experimental range of Prandtl number not disclosed, the theoretical lines are drawn for two extreme values of zero and 100nm. The experimental data of water and nanofluid at different concentrations is shown enclosed by the theoretical lines in Figure 4 for two arbitrary values of temperatures. The viscosity and thermal conductivity of nanofluid at a volume concentration is considered constant by Xuan and Li [16], whereas the present analysis considers the properties to be dependent on temperature and particle size, in addition to concentration.

Figure 4: Comparison of experimental htc with theory for Cu/water nanofluid

Experimental data of Fotukian and Esfahany [17] is shown in comparison with the theoretical values for CuO nanofluid in Figure 5. The authors have stated the particle size to vary between 30 and 50nm. The equation of Buongiorno [22] is used to determine the Prandtl number with a value of 8.75 instead of 12.7 for laminar sublayer thickness. The Prandtl number of the nanofluid is estimated to vary between 2.0 and 4.7 The Nusselt number in the volume concentration range of experimental data is shown to encompass with Prandtl number between 2.1 and 6.8.


277


Figure 5: Comparison of experimental htc with theory for CuO/water nanofluid

The variation of htc with Reynolds number of Alumina and Zirconia nanofluids at different concentrations obtained by Williams et al. [13] is shown in Figures 6 and 7. The authors have reported the experimental range of temperature as 21–76oC. However, the theoretical values of htc are shown between 20 – 70oC, as the property relations developed are valid in this range.

Figure 6: Comparison of experimental htc with theory for Al2O3/water nanofluid


278


Figure 7: Comparison of experimental htc with theory for ZrO2/water nanofluid

Experimental data of Wenhua Yu et al. [12] with SiC dispersed in water at 3.7% volume concentration in the range 13000Re3300 is shown along with the theoretical values in Figure 8. The authors have stated the experimental range as 34 to 57oC for temperature and Prandtl number between 4.6 and 7.1. The theory has predicted the data between 25 and 40oC.

Figure 8: Comparison of experimental htc with theory for SiC/water nanofluid

Duangthongsuk and Wongwises [38] conducted experiments with TiO2 dispersed in water. Experiments are conducted at 25oC in the range of ,0.22.0 18000Re3000 with 21nm size nanoparticles and the data presented in Figure 9. The theory is in satisfactory agreement with the experimental data in the turbulent range for up to 0.1 . The

experimental htc with 0.2 % are lower than the values obtained with 0.1 %. The deviation of the experimental data with the theoretical predictions in Figures 4 - 7 is due to enhanced viscosity in comparison to thermal conductivity ratio.


279


Figure 9: Comparison of experimental htc with theory for TiO2/water nanofluid

5. CONCLUSIONS

The following conclusions are made from the theoretical analysis and experimental observations - The viscosity of nanofluid increases with particle size and decreases with temperature. - The thermal conductivity of nanofluid decreases with particle size and increases with

temperature. - The nanofluid properties of metal and their oxide nanoparticles dispersed in water can be

estimated with (3) – (6) for volume concentration less than 4.0%. - The theoretical model of Sarma et al. [24] can be employed along with the eddy diffusivity

equations to predict nanofluid Nusselt number. Nanofluid heat transfer coefficients for volume concentration up to 3.7% in the turbulent range of Reynolds number can be estimated with modified Dittus-Boelter equation

23.04.0012.08.0 1Pr)Pr1(Re023.0 wnfnfNu

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The financial support to the first author by University Malaysia Pahang is gratefully acknowledged. Prof P.K.Sarma acknowledges the support received from GITAM University, Visakhapatnam, India.

REFERENCES

[1] A.S. Ahuja, "Augmentation of heat transport in laminar flow of polystyrene suspensions. I. Experiments and results", Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 46, pp. 3408-3416, 1975.

[2] A.E. Bergles, Techniques to augment heat transfer, in: W.M. Rohsenow, J.P. Hartnett, and E.N. Ganic, (Eds.), Handbook of heat transfer applications, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1985, pp. 31-380.

[3] U.S. Choi, Enhancing Thermal Conductivity of Fluids With Nanoparticles, in: D.A. Siginer and H.P. Wang, (Eds.), Developments and Applications of Non-Newtonian Flows, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), New York, 1995, pp. 99–105.

[4] S. Lee, S.U.S. Choi, S. Li, and J.A. Eastman, "Measuring Thermal Conductivity of Fluids Containing Oxide Nanoparticles", Journal of Heat Transfer, vol. 121, pp. 280-289, 1999.

[5] J.A. Eastman, S.U.S. Choi, S. Li, W. Yu, and L.J. Thompson, "Anomalously increased effective thermal conductivities of ethylene glycol-based nanofluids containing copper nanoparticles", Applied Physics Letters, vol. 78, pp. 718-720, 2001.


280


[6] H. Xie, J. Wang, T. Xi, Y. Liu, F. Ai, and Q. Wu, "Thermal conductivity enhancement of suspensions containing nanosized alumina particles", Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 91, pp. 4568-4572, 2002.

[7] S. Kumar Das, N. Putra, P. Thiesen, and W. Roetzel, "Temperature Dependence of Thermal Conductivity Enhancement for Nanofluids", Journal of Heat Transfer, vol. 125, pp. 567-574, 2003.

[8] S.M.S. Murshed, K.C. Leong, and C. Yang, "Enhanced thermal conductivity of TiO2 - water based nanofluids", International Journal of Thermal Sciences, vol. 44, pp. 367-373, 2005.

[9] T.-K. Hong, H.-S. Yang, and C.J. Choi, "Study of the enhanced thermal conductivity of Fe nanofluids", Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 97, pp. 064311-4, 2005.

[10] P.D. Shima, J. Philip, and B. Raj, "Role of microconvection induced by Brownian motion of nanoparticles in the enhanced thermal conductivity of stable nanofluids", Applied Physics Letters, vol. 94, pp. 223101-3, 2009.

[11] W. Duangthongsuk and S. Wongwises, "Effect of thermophysical properties models on the predicting of the convective heat transfer coefficient for low concentration nanofluid", International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 35, pp. 1320-1326, 2008.

[12] W. Yu, D.M. France, D.S. Smith, D. Singh, E.V. Timofeeva, and J.L. Routbort, "Heat transfer to a silicon carbide/water nanofluid", International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 52, pp. 3606-3612, 2009.

[13] W. Williams, J. Buongiorno, and L.-W. Hu, "Experimental Investigation of Turbulent Convective Heat Transfer and Pressure Loss of Alumina/Water and Zirconia/Water Nanoparticle Colloids (Nanofluids) in Horizontal Tubes", Journal of Heat Transfer, vol. 130, pp. 042412-7, 2008.

[14] S.E.B. Maïga, C.T. Nguyen, N. Galanis, G. Roy, T. Maré, and M. Coqueux, "Heat transfer enhancement in turbulent tube flow using Al2O3 nanoparticle suspension", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat and Fluid Flow, vol. 16, pp. 275–292, 2006.

[15] D. Wen and Y. Ding, "Experimental investigation into convective heat transfer of nanofluids at the entrance region under laminar flow conditions", International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 47, pp. 5181-5188, 2004.

[16] Y. Xuan and Q. Li, "Investigation on Convective Heat Transfer and Flow Features of Nanofluids", Journal of Heat Transfer, vol. 125, pp. 151-155, 2003.

[17] S.M. Fotukian and M. Nasr Esfahany, "Experimental study of turbulent convective heat transfer and pressure drop of dilute CuO/water nanofluid inside a circular tube", International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 37, pp. 214-219, 2010.

[18] J.C. Maxwell, "A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism", Second edition ed., Oxford University Press, Cambridge, U.K., 1904.

[19] R.L. Hamilton and O.K. Crosser, "Thermal Conductivity of Heterogeneous Two Component Systems", I & EC Fundamentals, vol. 1, pp. 187–191, 1962.

[20] S.J. Palm, G. Roy, and C.T. Nguyen. Heat transfer enhancement in a radial flow cooling system using nanofluids. in CHT-04ICHMT International Symposium Advances Computational Heat Transfer. 2004. Norway.

[21] G. Roy, C.T. Nguyen, D. Doucet, S. Suiro, and T. Mare. Temperature dependent thermal conductivity evaluation of Alumina Based nanofluids. in 13th IHTC. 2006. Sydney, Australia.

[22] J. Buongiorno, "Convective Transport in Nanofluids", Journal of Heat Transfer, vol. 128, pp. 240-250, 2006.

[23] P.K. Namburu, D.K. Das, K.M. Tanguturi, and R.S. Vajjha, "Numerical study of turbulent flow and heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids considering variable properties", International Journal of Thermal Sciences, vol. 48, pp. 290-302, 2009.

[24] P.K. Sarma, K. Chada, K.V. Sharma, L.S. Sundar, P.S. Kishore, and V. Srinivas, "Experimental study to predict momentum and thermal diffusivities from convective heat transfer data of nano fluid with Al2O3 dispersion", International Journal of Heat and Technology, vol. 28, pp., 2010.


281


[25] B.C. Pak and Y.I. Cho, "Hydrodynamic and heat transfer study of dispersed fluids with submicron metallic oxide particles", Experimental Heat Transfer, vol. 11, pp. 151-170, 1998.

[26] C.H. Chon and K.D. Kihm, "Thermal Conductivity Enhancement of Nanofluids by Brownian Motion", Journal of Heat Transfer, vol. 127, pp. 810, 2005.

[27] H.A. Mintsa, G. Roy, C.T. Nguyen, and D. Doucet, "New temperature dependent thermal conductivity data for water-based nanofluids", International Journal of Thermal Sciences, vol. 48, pp. 363-371, 2009.

[28] M. Beck, Y. Yuan, P. Warrier, and A. Teja, "The effect of particle size on the thermal conductivity of alumina nanofluids", Journal of Nanoparticle Research, vol. 11, pp. 1129-1136, 2009.

[29] J. Avsec, "The combined analysis of phonon and electron heat transfer mechanism on thermal conductivity for nanofluids", International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 51, pp. 4589-4598, 2008.

[30] W. Duangthongsuk and S. Wongwises, "Measurement of temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and viscosity of TiO2 - water nanofluids", Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, vol. 33, pp. 706-714, 2009.

[31] C.T. Nguyen, F. Desgranges, G. Roy, N. Galanis, T. Maré, S. Boucher, and H. Angue Mintsa, "Temperature and particle-size dependent viscosity data for water-based nanofluids - Hysteresis phenomenon", International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow, vol. 28, pp. 1492-1506, 2007.

[32] K.S. Hwang, S.P. Jang, and S.U.S. Choi, "Flow and convective heat transfer characteristics of water-based Al2O3 nanofluids in fully developed laminar flow regime", International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 52, pp. 193-199, 2009.

[33] X. Wang, X. Xu, and S.U.S. Choi, "Thermal conductivity of nanoparticle–fluid mixture", Journal Of Thermophysics And Heat Transfer, vol. 13, pp. 474-480, 1999.

[34] S. Zeinali Heris, S.G. Etemad, and M. Nasr Esfahany, "Experimental investigation of oxide nanofluids laminar flow convective heat transfer", International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 33, pp. 529-535, 2006.

[35] C.T. Nguyen, F. Desgranges, N. Galanis, G. Roy, T. Maré, S. Boucher, and H. Angue Mintsa, "Viscosity data for Al2O3-water nanofluid--hysteresis: is heat transfer enhancement using nanofluids reliable?", International Journal of Thermal Sciences, vol. 47, pp. 103-111, 2008.

[36] J.-H. Lee, K.S. Hwang, S.P. Jang, B.H. Lee, J.H. Kim, S.U.S. Choi, and C.J. Choi, "Effective viscosities and thermal conductivities of aqueous nanofluids containing low volume concentrations of Al2O3 nanoparticles", International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 51, pp. 2651-2656, 2008.

[37] Y. He, Y. Jin, H. Chen, Y. Ding, D. Cang, and H. Lu, "Heat transfer and flow behaviour of aqueous suspensions of TiO2 nanoparticles (nanofluids) flowing upward through a vertical pipe", International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 50, pp. 2272-2281, 2007.

[38] W. Duangthongsuk and S. Wongwises, "An experimental study on the heat transfer performance and pressure drop of TiO2-water nanofluids flowing under a turbulent flow regime", International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 53, pp. 334-344, 2010.

[39] F.W. Dittus and L.M.K. Boelter, University of California Publications on Engineering, 1930, pp. 433.


282


Development of Model for the Estimation of Nanofluid Heat Transfer Coefficient

Wan Azmi Wan Hamzah1, Viswanatha Sharma Korada1, Kameswara Sarma Pullela2 and Rizalman Mamat1

1Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), Pekan Campus, Pahang, Malaysia, [email protected], [email protected],

[email protected] 2GITAM University, Visakhapatnam, India, [email protected]

Abstract

In the present study, nanofluids are considered as a homogenous medium and the parameters influencing the thermo physical properties identified. The property data available in the literature in the temperature range of 20 to 70 °C are made dimensionless for undertaking regression analysis. The correlations developed are valid for Cu, CuO, TiO2, SiC, ZrO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3 nanofluids having particles in the range of 20 to 170 nm diameter dispersed in water. The concept of Brownian motion is used in the development of the model for the evaluation of forced convective heat transfer coefficients. A satisfactory agreement is obtained between the values from the model and the experimental data.

Keywords: correlations, heat transfer coefficient, nanofluids, regression analysis, thermo-physical properties

1. INTRODUCTION

Experiments are undertaken to determine heat transfer coefficients and pressure drop for flow of viscous liquids in a tube under turbulent flow conditions. The study helped in fixing the dimensions for compactness of heat exchangers used in various process industries and thermal power plants. To achieve compactness and miniaturization of electronic equipment passive and active methods of augmentation have been suggested in heat transfer literature [1, 2] for a wide range of Prandtl numbers of the working medium. The initial studies relevant to the augmentation of heat transfer are mostly related to use of micro sized solid particles of various sizes in the base fluid. However, these techniques became impracticable and obsolete due severe practical problems arising due to erosion and high pumping power requirements in spite of the fact that a certain degree of heat transfer augmentation is achieved. Further, agglomeration and resettlement of particles posed severe maintenance problem. In contrast, recent studies with the reduction of particle size to nano level proved effective in achieving heat transfer augmentation without any substantial increase in pumping power requirements. Results from several investigations have been coming to light from different sources and typical reviews of such literature can be cited. Experiments are conducted for the determination of viscosity and thermal conductivity of nanofluids. Choi [3] conducted experiments with Carbon Nano Tubes (CNT) in motor oil at 1.0% volume concentration. The thermal conductivity enhancement obtained is up to 60% of the base liquid value. Various investigators [4-17] determined the properties of nanofluids dispersed with Cu and metal oxides such as Al2O3, TiO2, CuO, SiO2, etc in different base fluids, concentrations and temperatures. All these investigators observed greater values of thermal conductivity when compared to base fluid, water. The nanofluid thermal conductivity


283


increased and viscosity decreased with temperature. Besides, the techniques employed for dispersion and of particle suspension with surfactant and the pH affect the values of thermal conductivity and the thermal stability of the nanofluid. The experimental values of obtained by these investigators deviate from the theoretical models of Maxwell [18] and Hamilton and Crosser [19]. The primary consideration of the article is to review the salient physical properties of nanofluids and establish generalized correlations for different nano-base fluid combination for particle sizes ranging between 2 to 170 nm. It is fairly established from the regression analysis that the thermal conductivities and absolute viscosities of nanofluids are dependent on volumetric concentrations and temperature of the medium. The influence of particle size hither to not considered might also be an influencing factor. The equations developed are subsequently used in the evaluation of friction and heat transfer coefficients, to validate the correctness of the correlations developed.

2. EVALUATION OF THERMO PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF NANOFLUID

2.1 Density, ρnf

Applying the principle of mass conservation of the two species in a finite control volume of the nanofluid, the nanofluid density nf can be obtained from the relation

wpnf 1 (1)

where is the volumetric fraction of nanoparticles in the base fluid.

2.2 Specific Heat, Cnf

The thermal conservation of energy of the two species in a finite control volume will yield the overall specific heat Cnf of the nanofluid as

pw

pw

nf

CCC

11

(2)

2.3 Thermal Conductivity of Nanofluid, knf

Applying the principle of mass conservation of the two species in a finite control volume of the nano The thermal conductivity of various nanofluids is determined experimentally by many [5-10]. The experiments are conducted mostly with spherical shape particles having diameters in the range of 20 – 170 nm, temperature of 20 – 70 °C and volume concentration of less than 4.0% with Al2O3, Cu, CuO, SiC, TiO2, ZrO2 particles dispersed in water. Experiments for the estimation of nanofluid convective heat transfer coefficients are undertaken in the turbulent Reynolds number range of 5000 < Re < 63000. The thermal conductivity data of metal and metal oxide nanofluids available in the literature are used in the development of regression equations. Pak and Cho [20], Williams et al. [13], Lee et al. [4], Murshed et al. [8], Kumar Das et al. [7], Chon and Kihm [21], Mintsa et al [22], Beck et al. [23], Avsec [24], and Duangthongsuk and Wongwises [25] conducted experiments for the determination of thermal conductivity of nanofluids. The value of thermal conductivity depends primarily on the choice of material, concentration, and temperature and particle size. The influence of material on nanofluid thermal conductivity data is affected through the thermal diffusivity ratio of particle to water ( wp / ). Experimental values consisting of 249 data points are used in the regression analysis, to develop a correlation for the determination of thermal conductivity knf, given by


284


01737.00336.02777.037.1

1501

701

10018938.0

w

ppnf

wnf

dTkk

(3)

32 808803.6660152749.200193.056112.0 wwww TeTeTk (4)

where ø is volumetric concentration in %, temperature Tnf in oC and particle diameter dp in nm. The correlation for nanofluid thermal conductivity is validated with data taken from different sources and shown in the legend of Figure 1 obtained with a maximum deviation of less than 11% for a few points.


2.4 Absolute Viscosity of Nanofluid, μnf

Nguyen et al. [26] conducted experiments for the determination of viscosity of Al2O3 and CuO nanofluids in water at different concentrations and particle sizes in the ambient temperature range of 22 to 25oC. The authors have stated the viscosity of Al2O3 nanofluid with particle size of 36 and 47nm and CuO of 29nm size predicted close values for volume concentration less than 4% and deviated at higher concentrations. Hence the experimental viscosity data of Hwang et al. [27], Wang et al. [28], Zeinali Heris et al. [29], Nguyen et al. [26], Nguyen et al. [30], Lee et al. [31], Pak and Cho [20], He et al. [32], and Duangthongsuk and Wongwises [33] for volume concentration less than 4% consisting of 169 data points are subjected to regression, and the following correlation obtained

061.0038.03.11

1701

701

1001

pnf

wnf

dT (5)

32 90993504.279255.4525263.400169.0 wwww TeTeTe (6)


285


Equation (5) is validated with the data taken from various sources shown in the legend of Figure 2. The data could be correlated with an average deviation 2.89% and standard deviation of 3.8% obtained with a maximum deviation of 12.96%.


3. FORCED CONVECTIVE HEAT TRANSFER WITH NANOPARTICLES IN BASE LIQUID WATER

Correlation to predict heat transfer coefficients for nanofluids is attempted on lines similar with Dittus-Boelter [34] equation for water. However, the presence of nanoparticles inducing augmentation due to intensive particle movement might require modifications such as the diameter of the particle ,pd and its thermal diffusivity p for inclusion in the analysis.

Estimation of turbulent forced convection heat transfer coefficients correspond mostly to experimental data with spherical shaped nanoparticles dispersed in water with volume concentration up to 3.7%. The regression equation valid in this range is obtained as

23.04.0012.08.0 1Pr)Pr1(Re023.0 wnfnfNu (7)

with an average deviation of 6.13% and standard deviation of 7.5% with exception of few data points deviating from the correlation by 20%. The thermo-physical properties of the nano fluid are determined from the correlation equations for the estimation of Nusselt number. In the absence of nanoparticles, 0 and Prnf = 0, Equation (7) simplifies to the conventional equation given as

4.08.0 PrRe023.0Nu (8)

Equation (7) referred to as the modified Dittus-Boelter equation is applicable for both water and nanofluids. Then, it is validated with the data taken from literature and shown in Figure 3.


286



4. MICRO CONVECTION MODEL FOR HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT ESTIMATION

Another approach is thought of in correlating the data. The mechanism of nanofluid thermal conductivity enhancement is mainly due to Brownian movement of the particles according to Prasher et al. [35]. The present model considers the heat transfer enhancement as due to combined effect of the Brownian motion of the particle in the single phase nanofluid and the macroscopic forced convective phenomenon. The Brownian motion is due to density difference between the particle and fluid and can be estimated with the equation

3/1

2

3

Pr10.0

w

w

wpp

w

pmicro

w

gd

k

hdNu

(9)

The turbulent forced convective heat transfer coefficients are estimated from the proposed modified Dittus Boelter equation given by (7). The effect of micro and forced convection heat transfer coefficients are combined using the procedure suggested by Churchill [36] given by

nnforced

nmicronf HTCHTCHTC /1 (10)

For a value of n=10, the experimental data agreed well with (7) as can be seen in Fig. (4). The micro convection model is able to predict heat transfer coefficient for nanofluids with the consideration of Brownian motion of the particle from (9). The calculated data from (10) is in close agreement with the experimental values taken from various authors in the literature shown in Figure 4. The proposed model gives a significant input of micro convection to the total value of heat transfer coefficient of nanofluids. Hence, the contribution of micro convection cannot be neglected in the determination of total heat transfer coefficient of nanofluids.


287


Figure 4: Comparison of experiment data with (10)

5. CONCLUSIONS

The following conclusions are made from the regression analysis undertaken from nanofluid publications related to suspensions of Cu, CuO, TiO2, SiC, ZrO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3 in water as base medium.

- The thermo physical properties for nanofluids in the range of study can be estimated with equations (1), (2), (3) and (5) for density, specific heat, thermal conductivity and absolute viscosity respectively.

- The heat transfer coefficients of nanofluids can be estimated from proposed micro convection model given by Eq. (10) having minimum deviation

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The financial support to the first author by University Malaysia Pahang is gratefully acknowledged. Prof P.K.Sarma acknowledges the support received from GITAM University, Visakhapatnam, India.

REFERENCES

[1] A.S. Ahuja, "Augmentation of heat transport in laminar flow of polystyrene suspensions. I. Experiments and results", Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 46, pp. 3408-3416, 1975.

[2] A.E. Bergles, Techniques to augment heat transfer, in: W.M. Rohsenow, J.P. Hartnett, and E.N. Ganic, (Eds.), Handbook of heat transfer applications, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1985, pp. 31-380.

[3] U.S. Choi, Enhancing Thermal Conductivity of Fluids With Nanoparticles, in: D.A. Siginer and H.P. Wang, (Eds.), Developments and Applications of Non-Newtonian Flows, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), New York, 1995, pp. 99–105.


288


[4] S. Lee, S.U.S. Choi, S. Li, and J.A. Eastman, "Measuring Thermal Conductivity of Fluids Containing Oxide Nanoparticles", Journal of Heat Transfer, vol. 121, pp. 280-289, 1999.

[5] J.A. Eastman, S.U.S. Choi, S. Li, W. Yu, and L.J. Thompson, "Anomalously increased effective thermal conductivities of ethylene glycol-based nanofluids containing copper nanoparticles", Applied Physics Letters, vol. 78, pp. 718-720, 2001.

[6] H. Xie, J. Wang, T. Xi, Y. Liu, F. Ai, and Q. Wu, "Thermal conductivity enhancement of suspensions containing nanosized alumina particles", Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 91, pp. 4568-4572, 2002.

[7] S. Kumar Das, N. Putra, P. Thiesen, and W. Roetzel, "Temperature Dependence of Thermal Conductivity Enhancement for Nanofluids", Journal of Heat Transfer, vol. 125, pp. 567-574, 2003.

[8] S.M.S. Murshed, K.C. Leong, and C. Yang, "Enhanced thermal conductivity of TiO2 - water based nanofluids", International Journal of Thermal Sciences, vol. 44, pp. 367-373, 2005.

[9] T.-K. Hong, H.-S. Yang, and C.J. Choi, "Study of the enhanced thermal conductivity of Fe nanofluids", Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 97, pp. 064311-4, 2005.

[10] P.D. Shima, J. Philip, and B. Raj, "Role of microconvection induced by Brownian motion of nanoparticles in the enhanced thermal conductivity of stable nanofluids", Applied Physics Letters, vol. 94, pp. 223101-3, 2009.

[11] W. Duangthongsuk and S. Wongwises, "Effect of thermophysical properties models on the predicting of the convective heat transfer coefficient for low concentration nanofluid", International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 35, pp. 1320-1326, 2008.

[12] W. Yu, D.M. France, D.S. Smith, D. Singh, E.V. Timofeeva, and J.L. Routbort, "Heat transfer to a silicon carbide/water nanofluid", International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 52, pp. 3606-3612, 2009.

[13] W. Williams, J. Buongiorno, and L.-W. Hu, "Experimental Investigation of Turbulent Convective Heat Transfer and Pressure Loss of Alumina/Water and Zirconia/Water Nanoparticle Colloids (Nanofluids) in Horizontal Tubes", Journal of Heat Transfer, vol. 130, pp. 042412-7, 2008.

[14] S.E.B. Maïga, C.T. Nguyen, N. Galanis, G. Roy, T. Maré, and M. Coqueux, "Heat transfer enhancement in turbulent tube flow using Al2O3 nanoparticle suspension", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat and Fluid Flow, vol. 16, pp. 275–292, 2006.

[15] D. Wen and Y. Ding, "Experimental investigation into convective heat transfer of nanofluids at the entrance region under laminar flow conditions", International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 47, pp. 5181-5188, 2004.

[16] Y. Xuan and Q. Li, "Investigation on Convective Heat Transfer and Flow Features of Nanofluids", Journal of Heat Transfer, vol. 125, pp. 151-155, 2003.

[17] S.M. Fotukian and M. Nasr Esfahany, "Experimental study of turbulent convective heat transfer and pressure drop of dilute CuO/water nanofluid inside a circular tube", International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 37, pp. 214-219, 2010.

[18] J.C. Maxwell, "A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism", Second edition ed., Oxford University Press, Cambridge, U.K., 1904.

[19] R.L. Hamilton and O.K. Crosser, "Thermal Conductivity of Heterogeneous Two Component Systems", I & EC Fundamentals, vol. 1, pp. 187–191, 1962.

[20] B.C. Pak and Y.I. Cho, "Hydrodynamic and heat transfer study of dispersed fluids with submicron metallic oxide particles", Experimental Heat Transfer, vol. 11, pp. 151-170, 1998.


289


[21] C.H. Chon and K.D. Kihm, "Thermal Conductivity Enhancement of Nanofluids by Brownian Motion", Journal of Heat Transfer, vol. 127, pp. 810, 2005.

[22] H.A. Mintsa, G. Roy, C.T. Nguyen, and D. Doucet, "New temperature dependent thermal conductivity data for water-based nanofluids", International Journal of Thermal Sciences, vol. 48, pp. 363-371, 2009.

[23] M. Beck, Y. Yuan, P. Warrier, and A. Teja, "The effect of particle size on the thermal conductivity of alumina nanofluids", Journal of Nanoparticle Research, vol. 11, pp. 1129-1136, 2009.

[24] J. Avsec, "The combined analysis of phonon and electron heat transfer mechanism on thermal conductivity for nanofluids", International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 51, pp. 4589-4598, 2008.

[25] W. Duangthongsuk and S. Wongwises, "Measurement of temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and viscosity of TiO2 - water nanofluids", Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, vol. 33, pp. 706-714, 2009.

[26] C.T. Nguyen, F. Desgranges, G. Roy, N. Galanis, T. Maré, S. Boucher, and H. Angue Mintsa, "Temperature and particle-size dependent viscosity data for water-based nanofluids - Hysteresis phenomenon", International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow, vol. 28, pp. 1492-1506, 2007.

[27] K.S. Hwang, S.P. Jang, and S.U.S. Choi, "Flow and convective heat transfer characteristics of water-based Al2O3 nanofluids in fully developed laminar flow regime", International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 52, pp. 193-199, 2009.

[28] X. Wang, X. Xu, and S.U.S. Choi, "Thermal conductivity of nanoparticle–fluid mixture", Journal Of Thermophysics And Heat Transfer, vol. 13, pp. 474-480, 1999.

[29] S. Zeinali Heris, S.G. Etemad, and M. Nasr Esfahany, "Experimental investigation of oxide nanofluids laminar flow convective heat transfer", International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 33, pp. 529-535, 2006.

[30] C.T. Nguyen, F. Desgranges, N. Galanis, G. Roy, T. Maré, S. Boucher, and H. Angue Mintsa, "Viscosity data for Al2O3-water nanofluid--hysteresis: is heat transfer enhancement using nanofluids reliable?", International Journal of Thermal Sciences, vol. 47, pp. 103-111, 2008.

[31] J.-H. Lee, K.S. Hwang, S.P. Jang, B.H. Lee, J.H. Kim, S.U.S. Choi, and C.J. Choi, "Effective viscosities and thermal conductivities of aqueous nanofluids containing low volume concentrations of Al2O3 nanoparticles", International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 51, pp. 2651-2656, 2008.

[32] Y. He, Y. Jin, H. Chen, Y. Ding, D. Cang, and H. Lu, "Heat transfer and flow behaviour of aqueous suspensions of TiO2 nanoparticles (nanofluids) flowing upward through a vertical pipe", International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 50, pp. 2272-2281, 2007.

[33] W. Duangthongsuk and S. Wongwises, "An experimental study on the heat transfer performance and pressure drop of TiO2-water nanofluids flowing under a turbulent flow regime", International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 53, pp. 334-344, 2010.

[34] F.W. Dittus and L.M.K. Boelter, University of California Publications on Engineering, 1930, pp. 433.

[35] R. Prasher, P. Bhattacharya, and P.E. Phelan, "Brownian-Motion-Based Convective-Conductive Model for the Effective Thermal Conductivity of Nanofluids", Journal of Heat Transfer, vol. 128, pp. 588-595, 2006.

[36] S.W. Churchill, "The development of theoretically based correlations for heat and mass transfer", Latin Amer. J. Heat Mass Transfer, vol. 7, pp. 207–229, 1983.


290


THERMOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF BRUNEI RICE HUSK AND SUITABILITY FOR THERMAL CONVESION VIA PYROLSIS PROCESS.

PCE-4-1

EFFICIENTLY DYE SENSITIZED AND METAL DOPED TIO2 CATALYSTS FOR PHOTOCATALYTIC WATER SPLITTING UNDER VISIBLE LIGHT.

PCE-4-2

Thermochemical properties of Brunei rice husk and suitability for thermal conversion via pyrolysis process

Muhammad S Abu Bakar, James O Titiloye

European BioEnergy Research Institute, Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK, [email protected]

Abstract

Alternative energy in the form of biofuel is an attractive option for reducing the dependence of fossil fuel usage in Brunei. Thermal conversion with pyrolysis is therefore a viable process for biofuel production. Selection of biomass feedstock and their characterisation is an important pre-requisite step to find out whether the material is fit for thermal conversion into biofuels. Brunei rice husk (BRH) of the ‘Laila’ species has been characterised according to standard procedures and compared to other types of agricultural waste in order to assess their suitability for use in biofuel production. Proximate, ultimate, compositional, heating value and Thermogravimetric (TG) analyses were carried out on Brunei and African Rice Husks. Proximate analysis shows that BRH contains 8.43% moisture, 68.25% volatiles and 14.83% ash, with the ash composition analysis showing a significant amount of potassium, calcium and phosphorus thus having an effect on pyrolysis products yields. Elemental analysis shows that the nitrogen and sulphur content were low. The thermal degradation behaviour of BRH using TGA suggests a weight loss of around 70% at temperature below 600oC. Compositional analysis revealed that BRH consists of 41.52% cellulose, 14.04% hemi-cellulose and 33.67% lignin by weight. The characterisation methods have shown that BRH high volatile content, a heating value of 17.34 MJ/kg and low nitrogen and sulphur content makes it a suitable feedstock for thermal conversion into biofuels. Keywords: biofuel, thermochemical properties, characterisation, pyrolysis, rice husk,

1. INTRODUCTION

Biofuels is a potential source of alternative energy which can be derived from various types of biomass. Sources from agricultural waste such as rice husk are not directly competing with the food production. Thermal conversion via pyrolysis is a feasible option for energy production. Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition occurring in the absence of oxygen. The products from pyrolysis process produces char, liquid bio-oil and gases. By altering the process temperature and vapour residence time, the proportion of the pyrolysis products generated can be varied, as shown in table 1 [1]. Prior to the thermal conversion process, it is essential to investigate the thermochemical properties of the feedstock.

Table 1: Comparison between the different types of pyrolysis and product yield by weight [1]

Liquid (%) Char (%) Gas (%) Fast pyrolysis Moderate temperature (~500°C) Short hot vapour residence time (~2s)

75

12

13

Intermediate pyrolysis Moderate temperature (450-500°C) Moderate hot vapour residence time (10-30s)

50

25

25

Slow pyrolysis Low moderate temperatures Long hot vapour residence time (300-1800s)

30

35

35


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Rice is one of the most important foods of the world, and is grown in over 100 countries. Figure 1 shows the different parts of the rice plant. An average lifespan of a rice plant is around 3 to 7 months depending on the climate and variety. A modern variety matures up to 110 days, therefore can be planted multiple times in the field [2]. Table 2 shows the properties of some of the rice variety available in Brunei. Rice yield is significantly influenced by the weather conditions, cultural management, and nutrient supply. Understanding their interrelationships is a key to improvement in rice yield.

Table 2: Properties of some of the local rice variety available in Brunei [3]

High Yielding Low Yielding Variety Laila (IR67406-6-3-2-3) Pusu, Bario, Adan Grain Yield (t/ha) 5 - 6.8 1.5 - 2.5

Figure 1: Parts of a rice plant [4]

Rice husk is a by-product from rice milling factory, which constitutes about 20% of the weight of the rice grains. The rice husk produced is directly linked to the yield of rice grains. The chemical constituent are found to vary from sample to sample which may be due to the different geographical composition, type of paddy, climatic variation, soil chemistry and fertilisers used in the paddy growth [5].

Figure 2: Structure of a rice grain [6]


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2. MATERIALS AND EXPERIMENTAL METHODS Experimental work was done to characterize rice husks according to the ASTM and British and European standard procedures available. Two different species of rice husk, namely Brunei rice husk (BRH) and African rice husk (AFRH) were compared.

The rice husks were ground using a Retsch blade grinder with a 4-mm sieve. Figure 3 shows the BRH sample before and after grinding. The samples were sieved and the particle size distribution is determined. Preparation of the biomass sample prior to the analyses follows the ASTM E1757-01 standard [7]. Table 3 shows the various particle size distribution obtained for BRH.

Figure 3: Ungrounded and ground BRH

Table 3: Particle Size Distribution of Brunei Rice Husk

Particle size (um) Content (wt%, as received basis) >1000 24.93

850-1000 17.02 600-850 25.81 500-600 6.96 355-500 9.65

0-355 15.63 TOTAL 100.00

3. CHARACTERISATION OF SAMPLES

Characterisation of biomass sample includes proximate and ultimate analysis, compositional or structural analysis, ash composition analysis, heating value and thermogravimetric analysis. These characterization data are useful to be able to predict the resulting product yield and quality prior to pyrolysis experiments.

3.1 Proximate Analysis The proximate analysis are performed according to the British and European standard test method for measuring the moisture, volatile and ash contents of solid biofuels (BS EN 14774-3:2009, BS EN 15148:2009 and BS EN 14775:2009 respectively) [8-10]. The details for the proximate analysis are as follows:

Moisture Content

Moisture content is determined using a drying oven, where the temperature is held at 105°C for at least 3 hours. The weight loss after the drying process can be considered as the moisture content.


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Volatile Matter Volatile matter is the weight loss resulting from heating the sample under controlled conditions. The volatile content of the sample is taken as the weight loss at 900°C for 7 minutes.

Ash Content Ash content is determined by heating the sample up from room temperature to 550°C for a minimum of 3 hours or until all the carbon is eliminated. The residue remaining after the process is classified as the ash content.

Fixed Carbon

The fixed carbon value is obtained by % difference [11].

3.2 Elemental Analysis (Ultimate Analysis)

The elemental analysis gives the composition of biomass in wt% of the main elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur (C, H, N, O and S). The main elemental composition may be determined experimentally via ICP-OES and can also be correlated from various mathematical models. The analysis was carried out by an external company (MEDAC Ltd., Surrey, UK).

3.3 Ash Composition/Inorganic element

The inorganic elements that are present in biomass were determined using an ICP-OES (inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer). Table 4 shows the ash analysis for BRH. A semi-quantitative scan was done, and elements such as potassium (K), calcium (Ca), phosphorous (P), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), copper (Cu) and silicon (Si) are determined. MEDAC carried out the ash analysis.

Table 4: ICP-OES for ash analysis of Brunei rice husk.

Element Value (ppm) Element Value (ppm)

K 2000 Si 223

Ca 519 Mn 257

P 605 Zn 16

Na 186 Cr 90

Fe 415 Mg 132

3.4 Structural/Compositional analysis

The Fibercap equipment is used for this analysis based on the Van Soest method or the ‘food-processing industry’ methods for its determination [12-18]. Biomass samples are subjected to extractions using Neutral Detergent Solution (NDS) (to obtain the Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF) value); Acid Detergent Solution (ADS) (to obtain the Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF) value) and 72% Sulphuric Acid (to obtain the Acid Detergent Lignin (ADL) value). Determinations for all the values are obtained from the weight loss of each extraction.


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3.5 Heating/Calorific Value The higher heating value (HHV) is determined from a Parr 6100 bomb calorimeter, at a wet or as received basis. Most values in literature are expressed in dry basis; therefore we can use mathematical correlation to take into account the moisture content from equation (1) below [19]. Note that the HHV (ar) and HHV (dry) stand for wet basis and dry basis respectively.

1 (1)

The Lower Heating Value (LHV) can be calculated from correlation [17] by subtracting the moisture content from the HHV from the equation 2 below.

2.442 ∗ 8.936 /100 (2)

3.6 Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Derivative Thermogravimetric Analysis (DTG)

TGA for pyrolysis has been done in duplicates for Brunei Rice Husk and African Rice Husk. The samples are analysed using the TGA and DTG technique. An automated Perkin Elmer Pyris 1 TGA thermogravimetric analyser was used, with a nitrogen flow of 20 ml/min at 20°C/min heating rate.


A summary of the characterisation results is given in table 5. The proximate analysis shows the moisture content for rice husks are almost similar in values, but the ash content of the samples differ to some extent. This is most likely due to the different species of rice husk or even the sampling source. The characterisation data from this experiment is compared to values from literature.

The ultimate analysis of BRH indicate that it has 39.5 wt% C, 5.7 wt% H, 54.12 wt% O, 0.67% N and traces amounts of sulphur and chlorine. The small amount of nitrogen and sulphur indicates that the sample will produce less pollutant in the form of NOx and SOx.

The ash analysis of BRH shows that it contains significant amounts of potassium (K), calcium (Ca) and phosphorous (P). Some amounts of sodium (Na), iron (Fe), silicon (Si), manganese (Mn), chromium (Cr), magnesium (Mg) and zinc (Zn) are also present. AFRH even has a higher ash content. Considering that rice husk has high ash content compared to other biomass, this will be a significant factor which will affect the pyrolysis yield.

The heating value of both the rice husks are determined experimentally by bomb calorimeter and converted to dry basis to compare with literature. The HHV in dry basis shows that BRH has a heating value of 17.34 MJ/kg, which lies in the range of values from literature. However, the HHV (dry) for AFRH has a value of 14.05 MJ/kg, which is lower compared to the literature. Higher ash content in biomass corresponds to a reduction in their heating values. This shows that the ash content has a major effect on the energy content of biomass.

The compositional or structural analysis of BRH shows that it has 41.52% cellulose, 14.04% hemicelluloses and 33.67% lignin. Pyrolysis products can be predicted from the thermal decomposition of the three components. Besides the formation of water, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide from the pyrolysis of the three components, the pyrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose will generate hydrocarbons, aldehydes, ketones, acids and alcohols; whereas


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the pyrolysis of lignin will generate phenols and alcohols [20]. Figure 4 shows the comparison between the compositional analysis of BRH and AFRH. AFRH shows that it has higher lignin % content, but a lower cellulose and hemicelluloses % content by weight compared to BRH and is therefore expected to generate more lignin-derived pyrolysis products.

Table 5: Summary of the characterisation data from experiment and selected literature

ANALYSIS

EXPERIMENTAL (THIS WORK)

LITERATURE [21]

Brunei Rice Husk (BRH)

African Rice Husk

(AFRH)

Rice Husk (Lemont)

Rice Husk (ROK 16)

Proximate Analysis (dry basis, wt %)

Moisture 8.43 7.88 9.08 10.44 Volatile Matter 68.25 58.22 66.4 70.2

Ash 14.83 26.04 20 14.5 Fixed Carbon 16.92 15.74 13.6 15.3

Ultimate Analysis (dry and ash-free, wt %) Carbon 39.48 34.895 37.6 44.5

Hydrogen 5.71 5.145 5.42 5.51 Nitrogen 0.665 0.31 0.38 0.46 Sulphur < 0.10 0.64 0.034 0.021 Chlorine 0.025 <0.01 0.01 0.031 Oxygen 54.12 59.01 33.2 35.2

Heating Values (MJ/kg) HHV (as received) 15.88 14.08 - -

HHV (dry basis) 17.34 15.40 15.9 18.31 LHV (dry basis) 16.10 14.28 14.22 16.2

Compositional analysis (dry, ash and extractives free, wt %)

Cellulose 41.52 37.34 29.2 - Hemicellulose 14.04 10.07 20.1 -

Lignin 33.67 41.08 30.7 - Extractives 10.77 11.51 - -

Figure 4: Compositional analysis of BRH and AFRH

0 10 20 30 40 50

Cellulose

Hemicellulose

Lignin

Extractives

Weight % (Dry, ash and extractives-free)

AFRH

BRH


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Thermal degradation of rice husk

The thermal degradation behaviour for both BRH and AFRH is shown in Figure 5. The TGA curves show that most of the weight loss for both rice husks occurs between 280°C and 420°C. Weight losses below 100°C are considered to be the moisture in the sample. The weight loss is achieved at 70% and 60% for BRH and AFRH respectively at temperatures below 600°C. This difference is due to the higher ash content for AFRH compared to BRH, and therefore will affect the char product produced during pyrolysis.

Figure 5: TG and DTG pyrolysis curves for BRH and AFRH

The thermal degradation study for both rice husks shows typical biomass degradation behaviour. The DTG curve shows that both rice husks has two major peaks at around 320-340°C and 380°C, but BRH has a higher weight loss rate for the first peak compared to AFRH. The first peak can be associated with the thermal degradation of hemicellulose, and the second peak is due to the decomposition of cellulose and lignin [21].

BRH has a higher content of hemicellulose than AFRH, therefore showed a considerable higher weight loss rate for the first part of the DTG peak. The second peak occurs at 380°C for both samples, but a sharper peak is seen for AFRH compared to BRH. No significant weight loss can be seen after 600°C for both of the rice husks.

5. CONCLUSION

Characterisation of Brunei and African rice husk were carried out for this study. Proximate, elemental and heating value analysis of Brunei Rice Husk and African Rice Husk were done. A clear correlation can be seen with the decrease in volatile matter and calorific value with the increase in ash content. From the TG analysis, almost all of the thermal degradation activity ended at 600°C.

0

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6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

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20

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0 200 400 600 800Weight loss rate (%/m

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Weight (%

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TGA BRH

TGA AFRH

DTG BRH

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This study shows that BRH is suitable as a solid biofuel feedstock, but the high inorganic ash content would be a drawback for the production of a higher yield of liquid bio-oil. Lower ash content is favourable for high yields of liquids in pyrolysis, as the inorganic ash promotes the production of non-condensable gases. Pretreatment of the rice husk can be considered if the decrease in the ash content is significant and the product target is high value chemicals. The study indicates that rice husk will be suitable as a feedstock for pyrolysis. Further experimental work is in progress to produce bio-oil from these feedstock using pyrolysis process.

6. REFERENCES

[1] Bridgwater A V, Review of fast pyrolysis of biomass and product upgrading, Biomass and Bioenergy (2011), doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2011.01.048.

[2] International Rice Research Institute. (2009). Growth stages of a rice plant. Available: http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/extension/index.php/growthstages . Last accessed 20th May 2010.

[3] Department of Agriculture and Agrifood, Brunei Darussalam. (2009). Beras Laila. Available: http://www.agriculture.gov.bn/. Last accessed 15th January 2011.

[4] Regents of the University of Minnesota. (2004-2007). Management of Rice Insect Pests. Available: http://ipmworld.umn.edu/chapters/heinrich.htm. Last accessed 20th May 2010

[5] Chandrasekhar, S. et al. (2005). Effect of organic acid treatment on the properties of rice husk silica. Journal of Materials Science. 40, 6535–6544.

[6] Rice Grain. Available at: http://www.aboutrice.com/ricedetail.htm [Accessed 1st July 2011] [7] American Society for Testing and Materials International, 2007. ASTM E1757-01.

Standard Practice for Preparation of Biomass for Compositional Analysis. United States: ASTM

[8] British Standard Institution, 2010. BS EN 14774-3:2009 Solid biofuels – Determination of moisture content – Oven dry method – Part 3: Moisture in general analysis sample. London: BSI

[9] British Standard Institution, 2010. BS EN 15148:2009 Solid biofuels – Determination of the content of volatile matter. London: BSI.

[10] British Standard Institution, 2010. BS EN 14775:2009 Solid biofuels – Determination of the ash content. London: BSI.

[11] American Society for Testing and Materials International, ASTM D7582-10. Standard test methods for proximate analysis of coal and coke by macro thermogravimetric analysis. Available at: http://www.astm.org/Standards/D7582.htm

[12] FOSS Analytical AB, 2003. Fibre Determination using the Fibercap™ 2021/2023 system.

[13] FOSS Analytical AB, 2003. Determination of amylase treated Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF) using the Fibercap system.

[14] FOSS Analytical AB, 2003. Determination of amylase treated Neutral Detergent Fibre using the Fibertec system according to AOAC 2002:04/ISO 16472:2005.

[15] FOSS Analytical AB 2003. Determination of Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF) and Acid Detergent Lignin (ADL) using Fibercap™ 2021/2023.

[16] Moller, J. Animal feeding stuffs: Global Standard for the determination of Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF) and Lignin.

[17] Du L., et al., 2009. Physicochemical Characteristics, Hydroxycinnamic Acids (Ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid) and their ratio, and in situ biodegradability: Comparison of genotypic differences among six barley varieties. J. Agric. Food Chem., 57, p.4777-4783.

[18] Carrier M, et al., Thermogravimetric analysis as a new method to determine the lignocellulosic composition of biomass, Biomass and Bioenergy (2010), doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2010.08.067

[19] Phyllis, database for biomass and waste. Energy research centre of the Netherlands (ECN), 2010.

[20] Liu, Q, et al., 2009. Pyrolysis of wood species based on the compositional analysis, Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering, 26(2), p.548-553.

[21] Mansaray, K. G. and Ghaly, A. E. (1997). Thermochemical Properties of Rice Husk. Energy. 19(9), 989-1004.


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Efficiently Dye Sensitized and Metal doped TiO2 Catalysts for

Photocatalytic Water Splitting under Visible Light

Thi Thu – Le1,2, M. Shaheer Akhtar2,3 and O-Bong Yang,2*

1Intel Products Vietnam, Sai Gon Hi-Tech Park, Dist 9, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

[email protected]

2 School of Semiconductor and Chemical

Engineering, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju,

561-756, Republic of Korea 3New and Renewable Energy Materials Develpoment Center (NewREC), Chonbuk National

University, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea

[email protected] (M.S. Akhtar)

*Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Various dye molecules sensitized Cobalt doped TiO2 (Co/TiO2) materials were prepared for the photocatalytic water splitting under visible light irradiation. Eosin Y and Rhodamine B dyes were employed for the sensitization on the surface of Co/TiO2 catalyst. By the morphological, Co particles were apparently seen in the form of aggregated TiO2 nanoparticles. UV-DRS spectra was shown the significant blue shift, that confirmed Co doping into TiO2. The dye sensitized (Eosin Y and Rhodamine B dyes) on Co-TiO2 catalyst displayed a longer shift with hump peak within the wide wavelength range of 450-580 nm with decreased in the band gap (2.48 eV) and (2.58 eV) respectively. By photocatalytic water splitting results, EoY-Co/TiO2

catalyst obtains very high rates of H2 evolution of ~ 1232.6 (mol/g.cat/h) as compared to to RhB-Co/TiO2 (H2: ~ 227.3 mol/g.cat/h), Co/TiO2 (H2: 37.67 mol/g.cat/h) and bare TiO2 (H2: 0.11 mol/g.cat/h) which might attribute to the increased surface oxygen vacancies by cobalt doping for the adsorption of Eosin Y on Co–doped TiO2 and high light harvesting efficiency of Eosin Y dye molecules. ………………………………………………………………………………… Keywords: TiO2 nanoparticles, photocatalysis, hydrogen production, water splitting, dye sensitized materials, metal-doped catalyst. 1. Introduction

The water splitting using photocatalysts assisted by light has received much attention during the past decade [1-4]. Since 1972 [1], TiO2 has been one of most interesting semiconductor oxides due to its high chemical stability, low cost and nontoxic nature [5]. However, the efficiency of the photoinduced chemistry is limited by the light absorption characteristics of TiO2. Previous studies have widely investigated to improve the photocatalytic efficiency of TiO2 such as coupling with other semiconductor with narrow band gap (e.g. CdS and WO3) [6-8], doping some elements as metal, nonmetal [9-14]. But such efforts have only resulted insignificant changes in the band gap energy of TiO2. As a strategy for the effective harvesting of visible light, much effort has focused on using dye adsorbed on catalysts. A variety of organic dyes have been studied and applied as photosensitizer of catalyst in the presence of sacrificial electron donors (triethanolamine, diethanolamine, EDTA, acetonitrile, aqueous I- solution, etc.) such as Eosin Y-fixed TiO2 [15], Eosin Y-sensitized Ti-MCM41 [16], Eosin Y sensitized nitrogen-doped TiO2 [17], Eosin Y sensitized on CuO/TiO2 [18], Ru(bpy)2 sensitized Pt/TiO2 [19]. E. Haro-Poniatowski et al [20] showed that Co metal doping greatly reduces the power needed to crystallize the metal as compared to pure titania and have found a strong absorption of Co-doped TiO2 in the visible region (514.5 nm) at a concentration of 2%. In 2000, Iwasaki et al. revealed doping Co ion over TiO2 particles as an effective photocatalyst response to visible light [21]. Again M.


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Subramanian et al. has confirmed the photocatalyst activity of Co-doped TiO2 films under visible illumination [22]. But the Co - doped TiO2 has not gained much attention for water splitting to produce H2 and O2. In the present work, Dyes (Eosin Y, Rhodamine B) were employed as a photosentizer over Co-doped TiO2 catalysts for hydrogen evolution in the presence of electron donor diethanolamine (DEA) under visible irradiation.

2. Experimental

The preparation of cobalt doped TiO2 (Co/TiO2), dye (Eosin Y, Rhodamine B) sensitized cobalt doped TiO2 (EoY-Co/TiO2, RhB-Co/TiO2) was carried out by impregnation method. The materials used to prepare samples in this experiment are Cobalt nitrate hexahydrate (Co(NO3)2.6H2O, > 98%), TiO2 (Degussa P-25), Eosin Y dye, Rhodamine B dye and solvents as diethanolamine, acetone, distilled water. All the chemicals used in the experiments were of analytical grade and used without further treatment. The desired amount of TiO2 (P25) powder was suspended in distilled water and various amounts of Co(NO3)2.9H2O (0.1M, Aldrich Chemical analytical grade) were added. The suspension was then stirred at room temperature for 1 hour and followed by evaporation to dryness at 800C. After being washed several times by distilled water to remove unbound cobalt, the cobalt doped TiO2 sample was calcined at 4500C for 2 hours with 50C/min rate. For dye sensitized Co doped TiO2 sample, dye (Eosin Y and Rhodamine B) was used as a photosensitizer of the catalyst [18]. The dye was absorbed on Co-doped TiO2 sample by stirring Co-doped TiO2 powder (1g) in a mixture of eosin Y and diethanolamine – water mixed solution (DEA-H2O) at room temperature for overnight in the dark. After being filtrated and washed by acetone, the sample was dried and kept in the dark (donated hereafter as EoY-Co/TiO2 and RhB-Co/TiO2). The amount of cobalt metal loading was observed 1.5 wt% by measuring of SEM-EDS. The crystal structure of the sample was identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) using a Rigaku diffractometer with Cu-K radiation (40 KV, 30 mA, scan speed at 60 min-1 and the range of 20-800). Energy-dispersive X-Ray analysis (EDX) was also taken for loaded samples. Ultraviolet – visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS) spectra were obtained by Shimadzu-UV3600. Dry powder samples were loaded in quartz cell and spectra were collected in the 200-800 nm wavelength range. Photocatalytic experiments were carried out in an outer irradiation Pyrex cell under visible light. The catalyst powder (50mg) was suspended in 70ml of DEA -H2O solution (ratio of DEA to H2O is 15% v/v) by a magnetic stirrer and dispersed in an ultrasonic bath for 10 min. Prior to illumination, a reaction suspension was purged by bubbling with ultra-pure argon gas to remove completely oxygen. The catalyst was then suspended by stirring and irradiated by ozone-free Xe arc lamp (300W, Hamamatsu: L 2479) attached with UV cut filter (FSQ-GC 400). The evolved amount of H2 and O2 were analyzed by gas chromatography equipped with a thermal conductivity detector (TCD) and a molecular sieve 5Å column (stainless steel, 6ft x 1/8” OD, Ar as carrier gas).

3. Results and Discussion

Figure 1 shows XRD pattern of calcined Co/TiO2 samples at 4500C before and after dipping dye. The shape of diffraction patterns for samples is not changed and possesses similar diffraction patterns with the data listed in JCPDS 21-1272 for TiO2. From the graph, it is seen the peak shifting o in Co/TiO2 sample as compared to bare TiO2 sample, as shown in magnified angle XRD patterns. This confirmed doping cobalt metal ion on TiO2. No Co peaks or cobalt oxides are observed in the XRD patterns of Co/TiO2 samples.


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Figure1: XRD patterns and magnified angle ones of (a) bare TiO2; (b) Co/TiO2; (c) EoY-Co/TiO2; (d) Rh B-Co/TiO2 samples

The amount of Co metal adding over Co/TiO2, EoY – Co/TiO2 and Rh B-Co/TiO2 photocatalysts was estimated 1.5 wt%, 1.46% and 1.38 wt%, respectively, indicating that dye sensitization also does not affect the content of Co dopants on the surface of TiO2. These results were extracted from EDX analysis (not shown here). The diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-vis DRS) of Co/TiO2, EoY-Co/TiO2 and Rh B – Co/TiO2 catalyst powders are shown in the Figure 2. The Co/TiO2 catalyst reveals an absorption edge shifting towards the lower energy region, corresponding to higher wavelength side of the spectra in the visible range. While the EoY-Co/TiO2 catalyst exhibits obvious peaks within the wavelength range of 450 – 580 nm, and a longer shift with hump peak within the wide wavelength range of 500 – 600 nm fro Rh B – Co/TiO2. It showed that dye sensitized over Co/TiO2 catalyst causes the absorption edge toward higher wavelength side and decreases the band gap.


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It was effectively increased the photo-activity and decreased in the band gap of Co/TiO2 photocatalyst. The reduction in the band gap of Co/TiO2 may be due to the introduction of electronic states by the impurity Co 3d electrons. The absorption edge of Co/TiO2 was at ~ 450 nm, which corresponds to band gap energy of 2.75 eV whereas EoY- Co/TiO2 (~ 518 nm) showed a sharper drop in the band gap of 2.48 eV and 2.58 eV for Rh B – Co/TiO2 (~ 538 nm) catalyst. These values are lowered than that of the typical band gap energy of TiO2 (3.2 eV). These results are comparable to reported studies on metal doped TiO2 catalysts. It is clear that doping of Co metal has effected to the decrease in the band gap [12, 23, 24]. The reduction potential of Co2+/Co (-0.27 V at 250C) [25] is more positive than that of TiO2 conduction band (-0.52 V), thus the electrons transfer from the conduction band of TiO2 to the Co2+ ion, this prevents the back electron transfer reaction with the holes in the valence band of TiO2 which cause the low stoichiometric efficiency in the most of photocatalytic reaction. Moreover, Co2+ is a colored ion which easily absorbs light in the visible range [26]. These attributed to better absorption efficiency of Co-doped TiO2 in the visible region as compared to TiO2 and EoY/Rh B dyes sensitization on Co/TiO2 may be enhanced the light absorption, leading to the high light harvesting efficiency in the visible region as compared to TiO2 and Co/TiO2 catalysts.

Figure 2: UV vis diffuse reflectance spectra of Co/TiO2 and EoY-Co/TiO2 catalysts

Figure 3 illustrates the photocatalytic hydrogen and oxygen production performance of EoY-Co/TiO2; RhB-Co/TiO2; Co/TiO2 and TiO2 photocatalysts in the presence of dietanolamine (DEA) under visible illumination (λ 420 nm) with respect to time intervals. The amount of evolved hydrogen and oxygen increased with the increase of irradiation time. EoY-Co/TiO2 and RhB-Co/TiO2 catalysts obtain very high rates. The rate of H2 and O2 evolution over EoY-Co/TiO2 catalyst is ~ 1232.6 (mol/g.cat/h) and ~ 724.3 (mol/g.cat/h), respectively, while RhB-Co/TiO2 catalyst showed lower H2 and O2 evolution values of ~ 227.3 (mol/g.cat/h) and ~ 98.9 (mol/g.cat/h), respectively which is almost schiotometric to each other. When the light turns off, no H2 and O2 is observed, indicating that the reaction is induced by the adsorption of


302


visible light and not by tribological or mechanical processes. Furthermore, the rate of hydrogen evolution to absorbed dye over EoY-Co/TiO2 and RhB-Co/TiO2 catalysts was estimated ~ 35.53 and ~ 9.07 with respect to the number of H2/dye/h, respectively. Under same condition, photo-catalytic water splitting reactions over Co/TiO2 and TiO2 (P-25) were also carried out as shown in Figure 3. The amount of H2 and O2 evolution over the surface of EoY-Co/TiO2 and Rh B-Co/TiO2 catalyst is very high as compared to water splitting reaction performed with Co/TiO2 and bare TiO2 catalyst.

Figure 3: Hydrogen (a) and (b) oxygen evolution versus time intervals over EoY-Co/TiO2; RhB-Co/TiO2; Co/TiO2 and TiO2 photocatalysts.

This result can be explained by the possible working mechanisms of dye modified photocatalysts water splitting reaction under visible light irradiation. Under visible light illumination, the adsorbed dye molecule directly injects electron to Co metal as well as to the conduction band of TiO2 and leaves the hydrogen and molecular oxygen radicals/ions at Co+2 ions which are closely related to better efficiency of hydrogen evolution. This is clearly admitted the LUMO energy level of dyes is higher than the conduction band level of TiO2, as presented in Table 1, signified facilitates electron transfer to the TiO2 conduction band from


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the excitated states of dyes. For EoY- Co/TiO2 and Rh B-Co/TiO2, the H2 evolution is higher than Co/TiO2 and TiO2 due to influence of Eo Y and Rh B dye as well as Co metal doping on TiO2. Co amount svinned of Rh B-Co/TiO2 also attributed to the amount of lower evoluted H2 over Rh B-Co/TiO2 photocatalyst. It has been reported that noble metal loading into TiO2 materials invokes absorption of dye and charge separation of ē-h+ pairs, which affects the performance of hydrogen evolution from H2O via a synergic effect [27, 28]. Therefore, prepared Co/TiO2 catalysts may significantly increases the Eo Y and Rh B dyes absorption and charge separation of e--h+ pairs in dye-Co/TiO2 catalyst, resulting in the high H2 evolution as compared to Co/TiO2 under visible light illumination. In order to investigate the role of Co metal, a parallel study has been carried out for photocatalytic water splitting over EoY-TiO2 and Rh B-TiO2 catalyst under the visible light illumination which shows that hydrogen evolution was not detected. Moreover, it could be expected that band gap energy of TiO2 is not enough to transfer hole from the valance band to oxidized Eo Y and Rh B dyes for the regeneration. Thus, the presence of Co2+ ions on surface of TiO2 is crucial for facilitating electron transfer to the TiO2 conduction band and downlift of valance band. Therefore, the EoY-Co/TiO2 and Rh B-Co/TiO2 may be increased the electron transfer and light harvesting efficiency during the water splitting under visible light, resulting in the high H2 and O2 evolution. Table 1. LUMO, HOMO energy level, molecular structure and absorption maximum of Eosin Y and Rhodamine B dyes.

4. Conclusion

Co/TiO2 catalysts were synthesized via impregnation method and further sensitized by Eosin Y, Rh B dyes. By the morphological, the TiO2 particles were increased after the doping of Co dopants which was not changed by the absorption of dye. The element composition of Co/TiO2 was estimated by the EDX, revealing that the desired amounts of Co metals were doped on the surface of TiO2 catalyst. The band gap of TiO2 was decreased after the doping of Co metals which again confirmed the Co doping on the surface of TiO2. EoY-Co/TiO2 catalyst exhibited significantly high H2 evolution of 1232.6 (µmol/h/g.cat) from photo-catalytic water splitting in the presence of sacrificial reagent under visible light illumination as compared to Rh B-Co/TiO2, Co/TiO2 and TiO2. The steady H2 evolution over EoY-Co/TiO2 was efficiently attributed to high electron transfer via Co+2 ions and light harvesting efficiency due to presence of Eosin Y dye.


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References

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Internet Usage in Small and Medium Enterprises in Brunei Darussalam IM-3-1

Internet Usage in Small and Medium Enterprises in Brunei Darussalam

Ida Idris Faculty of Business and Computing

Institut Teknologi Brunei - A Technology University Bandar Seri Begawan

Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT The Internet is widely used in the modern business world and has revolutionised the way businesses have been conducted. Today it seems that without the use of the internet it would be hard for any business, be it small or big to be successful. Businesses that are of small and medium in size mostly see it possible to have a sustainable business without being a brick and mortar which refers to a company that possesses a building or store for its operations. In contrast many businesses today conduct their operations through online stores, which have no physical presence. Many of the owners realize that using the Internet for business development can be sustainable and easier and does not incur much overhead. The study is to examine the internet practices used by Small Medium Enterprises in Brunei Darussalam; problems encountered for business growth; benefits gained from internet use and the extent to which internet use are adopted by owner/manager of SMEs in Brunei Darussalam in supporting their business development. Based on both primary and secondary data this study finds that the use of internet by local SMEs is important to their on-going survival. Yet, given the opportunities and benefits that internet can provide it has been shown that Brunei’s older established SMEs are relatively slow in adopting them. This paper develops a model from recent literature on the facilitators and inhibitors to the adoption of internet by small and medium businesses. Findings also show that there are no legal restrictions or clear ramifications of doing business online. 1. Introduction The internet, dubbed as a virtual frontier, has today become an indispensable tool of communication. It continues to serve a great many purpose (Ahmadnawi, 2010). The great many purpose has highly impacted the business world and in all aspect of life as well. It is widely used and has revolutionised the way businesses are conducted. Nowadays it seems that without the use of the internet it would be hard for any business, be it small or big to be successful. Even businesses that are of small and medium in size see it possible to be sustainable without having to resort to being a brick and mortar which refers to a company that possesses a building or store for its operations. Many businesses today conduct their operations through online stores, which have no physical presence. Essentially businesses that is conducted on the internet means that a global market is reached and that there are no boundaries set where traditionally only people with access to the shop can buy the items


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they need or want. Furthermore transactions can be done online making it easier to buy and sell products. With the many benefits of the internet, many businesses have now gone online. In Brunei Darussalam, small medium enterprises (SMEs) started using the internet intensively only for the past twelve years based on inquiries made to local SMEs. It is only with the advent of internet in the late 1990s that both businesses and the general public started to use the internet. Many of the owners realize that using the internet for business development is worthwhile, easier and does not incur much overhead. SMEs among other things use the internet to set up websites for advertising, public relations, marketing, sales, and customer feedback. The empirical study made will focus on how much benefit small businesses actually achieve from the internet and in what way. Questions about what small businesses are using the internet for, what is driving them to use the technology, the process, usage and how business relationships are being supported by the use of internet will be discussed. The specific objectives in this paper are:

To identify internet practices by SMEs in Brunei Darussalam; To identify the extent to which internet use are adopted by owner/manager of SMEs in Brunei

Darussalam in supporting their business development;

To see benefits gained from internet use and the problems encountered for business growth. It should be noted that the negatives of internet use by businesses is not extensively discussed in this study because in the author’s opinion, the current status of internet use has limited negative impact on local SMEs. This is mainly because the SMEs use of the internet is rather limited (Refer to Table 3). The remainder of this paper is set out as follows. In Section 2, an overview of the Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Brunei and their opportunities to penetrate the online market are presented. In Section 3, method of data collection is discussed. Section 4 reports the results of the analysis of data collected. In Section 5 Benefits and disadvantages of Internet usage are presented. The final section draws some conclusions and future outlook of internet use. 2. SMES in Brunei and Their Opportunities to Use Internet In a release by the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources states that Brunei Darussalam is a healthy country with a per capita GDP far above most other countries. Brunei’s economy is heavily dependent on oil and gas. It is the third largest oil producer in Southeast Asia after Indonesia and Malaysia and the fourth largest producer of liquefied natural gas in the world. Currently, the oil and gas sector comprise around 94.1% of exports and account for about 54.1% of the country’s GDP (Brunei Yearbook, 2010 and Long-Term Development Plan 2007-2017). In Brunei there are over 9,150 active SMEs (Brunei Darussalam Self-Assessment Report, 2008). SMEs play a major strategic role in the economic development of the country and contribute 98.37% of the total business establishments in Brunei Darussalam, by incorporating:

Micro Enterprises (1 to 5 employees = 52.3%) Small Enterprises (6 to 50 employees = 43.8%) Medium Enterprises (51 to 100 employees = 2.23%)


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Table 1, adapted from Brunei Darussalam Self-Assessment Report (2008), shows the industry in which the SMEs are involved. The SMEs are categorised according to the number of employees it has and in which industry it is in. Calculation of the number of SMEs stops at 100 as the definition of an SME is at the most having about 100 employees. Table 1: Number of Businesses in Brunei in the year 2008

SMEs are expected to continue to be a major force in the future of the country especially since they are the major players in the industrial development in Brunei Darussalam and have the potential in contributing towards the diversification of the economy. Successful SMEs to-date in Brunei are the keropok (crackers), cafes, clothing stores and event management companies based on the writer’s research and observation. The development of SMEs is one of the key focus of the Long-Term Development Plan 2007-2012. Brunei Government promotes the development of SMEs in the country and encourages diversification into non-oil and gas sector including tourism, ICT, manufacturing, forestry and agriculture. The government is trying to develop SMEs through the provision of financial and infrastructure assistance, entrepreneurial training and other services and facilities. A development strategy for local industry and commerce will be implemented to create more opportunities to local small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This strategy will encourage and nurture the development of Rakyat Melayu to become leaders in industry and commerce. Evolving Internet Usage The Report Brunei Darussalam (2010, p. 128-129) states that the internet subscription has more than doubled from 4.99% to 11.91% in the last three years. The number of Bruneians who regularly use the internet is much higher at 318, 900 or 78.54% of the population. Mobile broadband has also become


308


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A survey questionnaire was sent to 20 randomly selected small and medium enterprises in Brunei. The first part of the survey asked general questions about the businesses’ size and industry. The second part invited responses from firms using the internet. This part concentrated on the current use of the internet and the extent utilised. 5 respondents do not use the internet for its business and were asked to elaborate on that. To understand further the use of internet in today’s SMEs that was not clearly elaborated in the survey, 4 interviews were also conducted with owners of a bakery, restaurant, hair salon and a dental clinic. The survey questionnaire included the following questions:

What is the significance and impact of internet use on SMES? Does internet contribute to productivity and performance? Do you know of the difference between e-Business and e-commerce? How useful has the internet been to the business? Are there any legal concerns when using the internet for business? Are Brunei SMEs knowledgeable on different tools that can be used?

The responses were collected using the following approaches: Primary Data

Interviews with SMEs` owners/managers who have been in business for over a year, and relevant government officials (e.g MIPR, JPKE, BINA)

Questionnaires

Secondary Data Publications on Internet use by SMEs Appropriate statistical data from government publications and any relevant publications

Microsoft Excel was used to tabulate and analyse the data collected into charts and information. Hypotheses With the many SMEs using the internet as part of running its business, the hypotheses developed are:

There is a significant number of businesses using internet Performance positively affected by using the internet More pros than cons of using internet by businesses Certain businesses may still not need to use the internet

4. Results of the Analysis of Data Internet Usage by SMEs in Brunei SMEs in Brunei use the internet for various purposes. Essentially, the internet is used to create, collaborate and share information. Out of the 24 SMEs surveyed and interviewed, only 5 do not rely on the internet at all. The owner of the dental clinic, Mr Lee claims to be a “computer dinosaur” and does not wish to rock the boat as everything is running smoothly and he is still doing well after 20 years in the business. The other reason given by the other businesses are that they feel that the current process in place does not need any changing.


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People use these technologies every day to stay connected and chat with their friends and families as well as sharing information, photos and video files. The importance of these online utilities has risen exponentially in the lives of everyday people, and in an observation conducted by the writer, saw that one of the first things people do each morning is to check their Facebook page and their emails. The internet has become the necessity in today’s modern world. Even though social media such as Facebook has really taken off on a consumer level, it is also transforming the way business is done. It is not limited to just having conversations and sharing ideas, but also getting involved in forums and blogs to showcase the business and really get to know your marketplace. Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites with over 400 million active accounts signed up to their network. That is in itself a huge potential audience base that could be tapped to market a business. In a country like Brunei with only slightly more than 400, 000 people, Facebook has become such a phenomena that many SMEs are doing business through it. The businesses sell a range of products such as baby clothes, cakes, women’s wear, jewelleries and clothing materials for the ladies’ “Baju Kurung” being the most popular type of products. This kind of e-Business has proven successful for many and it has been easy to manage. These types of business do not rely on brick and mortar but rather, just on displaying the pictures of the items being sold on Facebook with the prices. Let’s take a small business comprising of 3 people named Madison. Madison operates from their online Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Madison/114985935198064) and from home selling clothing materials mainly from Vietnam. Customers only need to send a Facebook message indicating that they are booking the item and will then need to meet with the owners and make the purchase or go the house to make their purchase. It is important to note that businesses that sell on Facebook usually do not utilize any e-commerce. Each day increasing number of SMEs in different types of industry create Facebook account for their businesses. To name a few are:

1. Arnz Enterprise that sells most branded handbags (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arnz-Enterprise/148387268512367)

2. Mr. Baker which is a bakery where you can make orders online (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000471060720)

3. Baa'Bash Collections sells baby products (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001714934146)

4. Babu Kaka Delicacy sells cakes and biscuits from home (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002437728128&sk=photos)

It is difficult to determine the number of businesses using Facebook or any other social media as there is no need for businesses to register their companies as explained by Zelda Skinner the Senior Registrar at the Supreme Court. She said that anyone can start a business online and are even encouraged to do so. But she does air caution that currently Brunei has no regulations to safeguard the interests of online businesses. Customer Perspective Many consumers in Brunei are sceptical and refrain from transacting and buying online they still like to “window shop” on the internet. They realised that they are easily able to check the prices of a particular item they wish to buy. They then will not get cheated of the price. Many would then get their friends who


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overcome as long as there is a mutual understanding between the two parties. Eric Pui of Mr. Baker meanwhile alludes that his employees are allowed to use the internet during their free time and when there are no customers. As long as the business is not affected, going online is not an issue. There are also many disadvantages to be concerned about. Security issues are the most critical and the biggest disadvantage of using the internet for business, particularly if the business involves financial transactions. This could include hacking of the website. Issues such as availability where not everyone has internet access and potential customers who are not able to use the Internet may actually be a loss to the business if there is no other alternative for them. In Brunei accessibility to the internet is still an issue as the rural areas still do not get internet. Spamming is another issue because the public general do not want to receive over and over again same emails about the business products. The businesses should be wary of this. In an articleAmazon struggles to restore service for sites across Internet (2011), illustrates the problems a business could go through when something goes wrong. Amazon.com struggled to restore computers used by other major websites such as Reddit as an outage stretched beyond 24 hours. Known for selling books, DVDs and other consumer goods, Amazon also rents out space on huge computer servers that run many websites and other online services. Due to the outage, many of the sites renting the space were inaccessible causing loss of sales and people were inconvenienced as the services affected are used by millions, among other problems. Legal Concerns With the good comes the bad as well. Issues such as copyright and fraud are rampant on the internet. In Brunei, the regulation of the internet poses great challenges to law enforcement agencies. In an interview with Zelda Skinner, the Senior Registrar at the Supreme Court, she explained that there are no legal limitations or laws concerning using the internet to do businesses online. Ahmad Jefri Rahman, Senior Counsel in the Attorney-General's Chambers added that internet law is a rather relatively new area and untested in the courts. According to the senior counsel, the basis for internet regulation in Brunei is ruled under Section 11 of the Broadcasting Act (Cap 180) in which it states: "No person is allowed to provide licensable broadcasting device in or from Brunei Darussalam without a broadcasting licence granted by the minister under this section". It was added that the effects of free flow of information that is abundantly available on the internet have caused outrage or in some cases even irked the relevant authority as to political, religious and social sensitivities. Measures have been taken by many governments of the world towards resolving it in regulating the law towards the exploitation of internet. Although in Brunei any kind of regulations is still yet to be put in place. In the paper, “Brunei Legal Regime on ICT: Are our laws conducive enough?” it states that there is no single blueprint on how laws are enacted to support ICT in Brunei. As laws are often drafted to support each individual policy of a Government body or Ministry, laws are often drafted on a piecemeal approach or a case by case basis. Therefore a number of laws that are seen to be ICT related were enacted on the needs to regulate a particular activity. For instance the enactment of the internet Code of Practise, a subsidiary to the Broadcasting Act enacted to regulate internet content which was seen at the time of enactment in need of regulation. This enactment is to ensure that content on the internet is not against the public interest or national harmony or which offends against good taste and decency.


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There are tools around that are specifically designed to make it easier to reach out to people in different parts of the country or even the world. It’s about providing a limitless reach. Think about how technologies like Facebook and Twitter allow one to connect with friends and family instantly. Pictures can instantly be uploaded and staying connected is easy via hand phone. Now consider how helpful it could be if you had this type of interaction with your employees, clients, customers and business partners. New technologies are constantly being designed to make it easier and cheaper to connect. Another way to collaborate is through linked business communities that offer you the opportunity to work with other like-minded people. Cisco is one great example of the collaboration opportunities now available. For the big corporate brands with a budget, a product called Telepresence is available. It’s essentially a large scale video conferencing system and the Australian Government has already invested in this technology to significantly cut down their travel budget. For small businesses, there are cheaper versions available that work well and allow interaction with people all over the world via a video link. These include Skype, which is free, and systems such as WebEx which have value added services such as being able to share documents while conferencing. Basically, this type of technology makes it possible to interact with anyone that has the same software installed, allowing travel budget to be cut down and effective time management. Some of the tools that businesses can use to improve their business are Podcasts which are essentially audio blogs and video blogs. They are a small message with a link to a video or audio entry. In other countries this is a popular tool that have been used to attract customers to the businesses’ websites and ultimately improve traffic to it as well. The benefit of these is that people do not have to sit and read what have been posted. They can download the podcast to listen to at a later time, and for many people they will retain the information better than if they simply read it themselves. Twitter is another tool that should be embraced as the audience that can be garnered is quite extensive. Twitter is a communication platform that helps people stay in constant contact with each other by posting short messages called ‘Tweets’. A post can only contain 140 characters and you can make posts via text messages or email. The idea behind Twitter is that it allows you to follow people and businesses who post information and comments you are interested in. It helps businesses stay connected to their customers by helping them to share information and receive immediate feedback. Individual users often use the site to say if they are happy or feel let down about a company’s service or products, so even if you’re not directly involved, it can impact your business. In Brunei, the most popular business using Twitter is AV Electronics which sells Apple products by offering discounts and promotions and informing customers when products have arrived in the shop. Since all publicity promotes interest, Tweeting is a positive opportunity no matter what people write and comment. If they tweet about a business and asking a question, the business can reply instantly with advice. If there is a problem, it can be worked with them to solve it and build great Public Relations for a business.


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Viral marketing is another tool that has yet to be realised by Brunei SMEs. It refers to campaigns that use pre-existing social networks like email or social media like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. The aim is to increase awareness of the business’s brand and boost sales without a large investment of resources. It mainly includes text message and email blasts as well as promotions such as video clips, eBooks and interactive web games. It could also cover word-of-mouth campaigns. The aim of viral marketing is to provide people with something that they want to pass on to their friends and families. After initially starting a campaign, it should spread as internet users send it off to all their contacts, who subsequently send it to their contacts and so forth. It works like spreading the way a virus does as it passes from one person to another. In Malaysia, Packet1 which specialises in WiMax uses viral marketing through YouTube to extensively promote their product to a lot of success. What Packet1 did was to use emotional and funny video clips to show the benefits of using WiMax. Conclusion In Brunei Darussalam it is observed that many of the established companies are very slow to adapt to the internet as in the case of the dental clinic. With the older businesses they feel that the legacy that has been in place is more than enough and can sustain them. It is also realised that although 79% of the SMEs studied uses the internet for its business, those business are still not maximizing on what the internet has to offer. The businesses are limited to just using the internet for basic purposes and there are so many other avenues that can be utilised to further enhance their businesses. The government together with the industry should create laws to safeguard businesses and customers. The current regulations and policies should be reviewed and subsequently revised. Currently in Brunei it’s a “when there is a problem then a policy will be enacted”. This type of thinking should be abolished as it is a reaction to a problem when if proper regulations are set the problems could easily be avoided. Brunei should also learn from other countries with success stories and find ways of using internet in the pursuit of business growth. References 1. Ahmadnawi, F. (2010, April 11) Internet law untested in Brunei courts, Borneo Bulletin

http://news.brunei.fm/2010/04/11/internet-law-untested-in-brunei-courts/ 2. Alam, A. and Zaheer, A., (2011), Potential Benefits of E-business on Economy and Infrastructural

Development, Proceedings of the 2011 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, (p. 1-5). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

3. Christ, G., (2011), Internet use becoming round-the-clock, Sacramento Business Journal. Retrieved

from http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2011/05/12/report-internet-use-becoming-constant.html

4. DAEGU Initiative Assessment on SME Innovation Policies and Best Practises. Brunei Darussalam

Self-Assessment Report (2010). Retrieved from http://www.apec-smeic.org


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5. Release from Department of Economic Planning and Development 6. Release from Long-Term Development Plan 2007-2012 7. Lorette, K., (n.d) The Definition of E-Commerce and E-Business. Demand Media. Retrieved from:

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/definition-ecommerce-e-business-2255.html 8. Pg Hj Tahir, P.K. Brunei Legal Regime on ICT: Are our laws conducive enough 9. Release from Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources 10. Small and Medium Enterprises, Brunei Year Book, 2010 11. Svensson, P., (2011), Amazon struggles to restore service for sites across Internet,

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-04-21-amazon-outage.htm?dlvrit=206567, Associated Press

12. Taylor, M. and Murphy A., (2004), SMEs and e-business, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise

Development, Volume 11 issue 3 ISSN: 1462-6004 13. The Report Brunei Darussalam (2010)

14. Too, D., (2011, 13 May), ACTion guides SMEs to the next level, The Brunei Times. Retrieved from

www.bt.com.bn 15. Zelda Skinner (2011) the Senior Registrar at the Supreme Court


320


Appendix 1 List of companies surveyed:

No. Company Name No. of Employees

Nature of Business

1 Joylane Trading Company 5 Gents and lady’s wear, accessories, footwear 2 Nabeel 7 Tudung & Apparel 3 Mestari Jaya Enterprise >2 Health & Beauty 4 Tim’s collection 2 Fashion art, living and antiques 5 Now Everly Boutique >5 Clothing and accessories 6 Rock Paper Scissors >5 Clothing and accessories 7 Current Enterprise >2 Stationery, toys, magazines, newspapers, etc 8 JKF enterprise >3 Sell mobile phones, accessories & repairs 9 Rahman Enterprise 2 Brunei Souvenirs 10 PDO Chartered Architects 12 Architectural services 11 Lime Optics Enterprise 3 Selling Spectacles 12 Waqqas Trading Co 2 Sells clothing materials 13 Najm Trading Enterprise 2 Grocery shop 14 V.V. Kimas Enterprise 10 Toy Store 15 Dayang Rasiah Ahmad 2 Tailoring and selling materials 16 Duan Danisya Photostudio 3 Wedding Photography 17 AEM supplies & services 5 Photocopy and printing 18 Mach Telecommunication System 5 Communications and technology 19 Ash-Shabakah 3 Computer and accessories 20 RWDSI 10 Wireless technology solution 21 Lee Dental Clinic 10 Dental Clinic 22 AlphaMax Technology 2 Providing discount service with OhMyCard which is a

restaurant discount card that allows its holders to enjoy discount and benefits from all the participating restaurants.

23 Le Stadium Restaurant >7 Restaurant that serves western food 24 Mr. Baker >10 Bakery


321


Mark Spearing is a Professor of Engineering Materials in the Faculty of Engineering and the Environment in the University of Southampton, he is also Pro Vice Chancellor (International) for the University and was previously Head of the School of Engineering Sciences. He received his Ph.D from Cambridge University Engineering Department in 1990, working on the fatigue damage mechanics of carbon fibre composites. He worked as a research engineer at UC Santa Barbara from 1990-92 where he developed models for the failure of high temperature ceramic materials. From 1992-94 he was an engineering specialist at BP Research and subsequently a research engineer for Carborundum Microelectronics, where he was a member of the electronic packaging technology development team. From 1994 to 2004 he was on the faculty of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, receiving tenure in 2001, and being appointed Full Professor in 2004. Professor Spearing's research focuses on developing mechanism-based models and design approaches for the failure of advanced engineered materials. His research activities involve advanced composites, layered materials and materials, structures and processes for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and other Microsystems. He has particularly worked on the development of wafer bonding processes for the creation of 3-D structures in MEMS and other Microsystems. This activity has involved developing an understanding of the interaction between surface chemistry, local and wafer level deformation mechanisms and tool and process parameters. He also works in the area of structural health monitoring of composite structures. His educational activities focus on integrating the teaching of materials and structures. In November 2004 Professor Spearing received a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. He is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and was chairman of that organization's Materials Technical Committee from 1997-1999. He is also a member of the Materials Research Society and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is an editor of J. Microelectromechanical Systems, the European Editor of the Journal of Composite Materials and an editorial board member of Nanotechnology. He has published over 160 papers including over 100 in refereed journals. He is a co-inventor on 5 patents. He has organized Materials Research Society symposia on the Materials Science of MicroElectromechanical Systems in 2000, 2001, 2007 and 2008. Professor Spearing twice won the MIT Aero/Astro Department's award for outstanding teaching in 1995 and 1997, and its award for student advising in 1999 and 2000.


Biodata Professor Hanafi Ismail is the deputy Dean at the School of Materials and Mineral

Resources Engineering, USM. Professor Hanafi won several awards, including

Khwarizmi International Award 2000 from Iran, APCTT (Asia Pacific) 2000

International Award, ISESCO Prize in Science & Technology 2001, in UAE and

Silver medal at the International Exhibition of Invention, New Technologies and

Products in Geneva, Switzerland in 2002, 2004 and 2009. In 2005 he won Gold

Medal at the International Trade Fair IENA 2005, Nuremberg, Germany. In

2007 he won Gold Medal with special mention by jury at the 56th

World

Exhibition of Innovation, Research and New Technologies at Brussel, Belgium.

He has also won gold medal at the International Invention, Innovation, Industrial

Design and Technology Exhibition (I-TEX 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2010 ) and

Silver medal at the Science & Technology Expo 2003, 2006 and 2010. Last year he

won Gold Medal, Double Gold and Special Award from Russia at British

Invention Show (BIS 2010), London, 13-16 Oct. 2010 and Gold Medal at

Seoul International Invention Fair 2010. This year he won Gold Medal and

Best Invention Award at 22th International Invention, Innovation,

Industrial Design and Technology Exhibition (I-TEX 2011), Kuala Lumpur

20-22 May 2011 and Gold Medal and Grand Eco Award Prize at

International Trade Fair, Ideas, Inventions and New Products in Nuremberg,

Germany from 27 -30 Oct. 2011. Professor Hanafi has published more than 250

research papers in various polymer international journals and currently one of the

Editorial Board for Polymer Plastic Technology & Engineering (Marcel Dekker,

USA), Research Journal of Environmental and Earth Sciences (Maxwell Science),

ASEAN Engineering Journal, Iranica Journal of Energy and Environment, Iranian


Polymer Journal (Iran) and Central European Journal of Engineering

(Springer). At national level, he is also one of the Editorial Board for Journal of

Physical Science, International Journal of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering

and Journal of Electron Microscopy Malaysia.


Recycling of Various Rubber Wastes: New Product Development and Innovation

Hanafi Ismail

School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Nibong Tebal, 14300 Penang, Malaysia

E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract The annual consumption of natural rubber is more than 15 million tons, and the output of rubber products is more than 31 million tons worldwide. In Malaysia, production of the pneumatic tyres alone in 2000 is 14.7 million while the tyre replacement market average is 1.3 million pieces per month. About 35-40% go to tread market and 65-70% for disposal dumping or other use. With the development of rubber industry, a lot of waste rubber is produced in the world every year. The discarded scrap rubbers, which are cross-linked do not degrade rapidly enough and this causes environmental pollution. Among various methods for treatment of waste rubber products, recycling is the most desirable approach to solve the problem. Recycling not only protects our environment, but also saves our limited petroleum resource from which the raw material is originating. To overcome this problem there is a need to recycle rubber wastes. In this work, the effect of different sizes of tire dusts and natural weathering on mechanical and morphological properties of polypropylene (PP)/waste tire dust (WTD) blends will be reported. Key words: Recycling, Natural Rubber, Waste Tire Dust, Polypropylene, Mechanical Properties, Blends 1. Introduction

Rubber is the basic element in many products such as tires, hoses, gloves, catheters and conveyor belts. The accumulation and disposal of these discarded products has become an important environmental problem due to the nature of the scrap rubber itself which is cross-linked and could not be returned to the ecological environment through natural biological degradation, hydrolyzation and decomposition. With the increasing awareness of the threat these rubber wastes pose to the environment as well as to find the most economical and the best solution, today’s approaches to reduce the rubber waste inventory should be diversified and effective. A number of approaches have been identified to make use of the large amount of rubber wastes [1-3]. Among various methods for treatment of waste rubber products, recycling is the most desirable approach to solve the problem. Recycling not only protects our environment, but also saves our limited petroleum resource from which the raw material is originating. Recycling is also an option to produce new rubber products with many uses. In this work, we investigated the effects of waste tire dust (WTD) sizes and natural weathering on the mechanical and morphological properties of polypropylene/waste tire dust (PP/WTD) blends. Tensile properties of various blend compositions of PP/WTD were compared and analyzed. Morphological studies of the tensile fractured ends and exposed surface of PP/WTD blends were also carried out.


2. Experimental Polypropylene (PP) with a specified melt flow value of 14 g/10 min at 230 ºC was obtained from Titan PP Polymers (M) Sdn. Bhd., Johor. The waste tire dust (WTD), a recycled product from mechanically ground scrap tires was kindly supplied by Mega Makmur Saintifik Sdn. Bhd., Penang. Three different sizes of WTD were used in this study, i.e. 250-500 µm, 500-710 µm and 710 µm-1 mm. The PP/WTD blends with increasing content of WTD (i.e. 80/20, 70/30, 60/40, 50/50 and 40/60 (wt %)) were mixed in a Haake Rheomix Polydrive R 600/610 at 180 ºC and a rotor speed of 50 rpm. PP was melted in the mixer for 2 min prior to the addition of WTD. The blends were taken out after 7 min of mixing. The blends were subjected to compression molding using a heated hydraulic press whereby they were preheated for 6 min and compression-molded for 4 min at 180 ºC and 100 kg/cm2 pressure. The blends were cooled down under pressure for 2 min at room temperature to prepare 2 mm molded sheets. Dumbbell specimens were prepared using a die cutter. The natural weathering test was conducted in Nibong Tebal (latitude 5o10’N, longitude 100o

29’E), Penang for a period of 6 months, from November 2004 to May 2005. The test was conducted based on ISO 877.2. The specimens were arranged on an exposure rack facing to the south and at an inclination angle of 45 o. At the end of exposure period, the specimens were collected to determine the degree of degradation. The specimens were washed with distilled water, dried and left in air for 24 hrs before proceeding to the required test. Tensile properties of the specimens were determined using an Instron 3366 tensile tester according to ISO 37. The specimens were pulled at a constant cross head speed of 50 mm/min with the gauge length kept at 50 mm. The readings of tensile strength, elongation at break (Eb) and Young’s modulus were recorded at the end of each test. For the exposed specimens, the retention in property was calculated according to Eq. (1).

Retention (%) = 100xweatheringbeforeValue

weatheringafterValue (1)

The tensile fracture surfaces specimens were analyzed using a Leica Cambridge S 360 scanning electron microscope (SEM). 3. Results and Discussion Figures 1 and 2 give the plots of tensile strength and modulus at different PP/WTD blend compositions. It is obvious that the tensile strength and modulus of the blends decrease with increasing WTD content. This is attributed to the tendency of WTD to agglomerate and hence promote particle-particle interaction of WTD. On the other hand, the elastomer phase remains as dispersed particles at lower content of WTD contributing to high tensile strength and modulus of the PP/WTD blends. A similar trend is also observed in the related works using PP/recycled rubber [4]. From the plots, the tensile strength and modulus of blends with fine WTD were slightly higher than that of blends with coarse WTD. A better adhesion between fine WTD and the matrix may contribute to this as shown later in the morphological study. In another work, the ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer (EPDM)/PP blends with the


finest EPDM particles are also reported to exhibit a higher stress at break than that of blends with coarse EPDM particles [5]. Figure 3 illustrates the effects of various blend compositions and WTD sizes on the elongation at break, Eb of the blends. The elongation at break increases as WTD content increases and the blends with fine WTD demonstrated higher Eb than that of blends with coarse WTD. A low Eb value (i.e. <20%) may be attributed to the presence of the cross-linked WTD and other contents hindering the flow and mobility of the PP/WTD blends. The quality of adhesion between WTD and thermoplastic polymer contributing to the propagation of cracks is known to be one of the factors particularly for coarse WTD [6].

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Figures 4-6 show the effects of weathering on the properties of PP/WTD blends. As shown in Figures 4a-4c., it is obvious that all specimens from each blend composition from different WTD sizes showed a decline in tensile strength after a 6-month weathering test. The oxidation of the polymer could be the cause resulting in chain scission under ultra-violet exposure. Meanwhile, the retention of tensile strength increases with increasing WTD content and decreasing WTD size. The retention trend suggests that the WTD-rich blend and fine WTD may act as a better non-reinforcing element than PP-rich blend and coarse WTD, which contribute to the formation of inter-particle cavities [7]. In the case of propagating cracks, these cavities would absorb energies from reaching to other parts, and hence impart lesser effect to the blends. Figures 5a-5c give the plots of elongation at break, Eb and its retention for various PP/WTD blend compositions and WTD sizes. Although each blend composition regardless of WTD sizes shows a tremendous decline in elongation at break after the 6-month exposure, the retention value of WTD-rich blends was higher than that of PP-rich blends. This may be due to the ability of the WTD-rich blends to absorb energies from the propagating cracks and the severity of chain scission in PP-rich blends. The variation of modulus of the exposed specimens is shown in Figures 6a-6c. The increase in modulus for most specimens with a slight difference in retention ability among blends with different WTD sizes after the exposure may be attributed to some cross-linking reactions due to radical recombination during exposure [8].

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(c)

Figure 6: Young’s modulus and retention vs. blend composition of PP/WTD with

variations of WTD size. (a) 250-500µm (b) 500-710µm (c) 710µm-1mm Figures 7-8 show the morphology of three different PP/WTD blends with different blending compositions and WTD sizes. Figures 7 (a), (b) and (c) indicate that in 80/20 blends, the WTD was dispersed as domain in the continuous PP phase. However as blend composition of WTD increases in Fig. 8, the dispersion of WTD in PP matrix is poor especially for coarse WTD (Figure 8(b)). It can be seen clearly that the coarse WTD was easily pulled out from PP matrix during tensile testing (Figure 8(b and c) compared to fine WTD (Figures 8(a)). This indicates that the adhesion between finer WTD and PP is better than coarse WTD. Consequently, better tensile properties were observed for PP/WTD blends with the finest WTD size.


(a) 250-500 µm WTD (b) 500-710 µm WTD (c) 710µm-1mm WTD

Figure 7: Micrograph of PP/WTD blend (80/20) at magnification of 60x

(a) 250-500 µm WTD (b) 500-710 µm WTD (c) 710 µm-1 mm WTD

Figure 8: Micrograph of PP/WTD blend (60/40) at magnification of 60x

4. Conclusion All PP/WTD blends with the finest WTD size exhibited higher tensile strength, modulus and elongation at break (Eb) than that of blends with coarse WTD size before and after exposure to natural weathering. After the 6-month exposure, the retention of tensile strength and Eb of blends with fine WTD was better than that of blends with coarse WTD. Based on the retention ability and the blend morphology, it is apparent that blends with fine WTD and WTD-rich content can withstand degradation due to weathering better than blends with PP-rich content and coarse WTD.


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