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The effects of alkali treatment on the mechanical properties, void contents and morphological of Pennisetum purpureum/glass-reinforced epoxy hybrid composites were studied. The composites were produced using the vacuum infusion method. Pennisetum purpureum fibres were treated with 5 and 10% dilute sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution for 6 h. The epoxy resin was mixed with either the treated or untreated Pennisetum purpureum/glass fibres to a ratio of 70:30 (by volume). Tensile and flexural tests were performed on the composites in accordance with ASTM D638 and ASTM D790, respectively. The hybrid composites that contained 5% NaOH-treated Pennisetum purpureum fibres exhibited the greatest tensile and flexural strengths with lower void contents. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy fractography supported the findings showing lesser voids and fibre pull-outs suggesting good interfacial bonding between the matrix and reinforcement. The reduced of the void contents is suspected due to the reduced hemicellulose content within the treated Pennisetum purpureum fibre.

As many research and study were conducted worldwide in order to explore the different alternatives and renewable energy resources, this work come out with the descriptions of the initial testing conducted on the prototype of pico-hydro generation system for the purpose of investigating its performance. The kinetic energy hold by water flow in the domestic pipes was obtained to have potential in generating electricity power for energy storage purposes while conducting routine activities such as laundry, cook and bathe. The water pressure and water flow inside the pipe from utility’s main tank that used for those usual activities are used to rotate small scale hydro turbine to drive a generator for electrical power generation. Results from the test significantly show the convinced reading in recorded voltage as it is a count to propose the system is feasible for electrification of energy storage purpose and indicate the prospect for further improvement and future research.

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Uncontrolled uses of fossil fuels lead to serious energy problems and since Malaysia is one of the largest producers of palm oil in the world, it has caused a lot of waste such as empty fruit bunches (EFB) which can actually be converted into renewable energy via pyrolysis. In this work, firstly the characterizations of the EFB were analyzed such as elemental, proximate and component analysis. The pyrolysis experiment of empty fruit bunch using vertical fixed-bed reactor was conducted at different pyrolysis temperature range from 300 - 600 °C and the particle size of EFB was also varied from 125-250 μm with constant nitrogen flow rate of 100 cm3/min, heating rate of 30 °C/min, and 30 minutes hold time. For the effect of temperature, the optimum pyrolysis temperature was 500 °C to produce maximum yield of bio-oil which is 39.2 wt. % while 46.13 wt. % is the highest bio-oil yield produced at size of 500-710 μm for the effect of particle size. The analysis on bio-oil was conducted by using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) with the results shows for the presents of phenol/alcohol group, ketones and C-O bond. The bio-oil obtained is in the acidic condition with pH 3.5.