When I first started blogging about my chemical engineering experiences in June 2006, there was no chemical engineering related blog at all. I did not mind at all because I love to write and I was glad I found a medium, a platform to express my feeling and also to share some of my experiences which I believe would be precious for young chemical engineers and students. After 2 and a half years, there are more chemical engineering related blogs emerging in the net and that's a very good sign, I mean a positive impact to chemical engineering web 2.0. At the same time, I received numerous feed backs and comments and that encourage me to contribute more to the society.
While surfing the net, I found good sites which is worth seeing. Following is a list of some of the blogs that I would like to share. Feel free to look at them. If they are good, you can subscribe to their contents. If you want to suggest any websites or blogs (chemical engineering related only please), please contact me.
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I have heard about them (Periodic Table of Elements video) last end of last year. They have created a very interactive way of learning the periodic table - using youtube.com. They explained all the elements in the periodic table via video and update the elements video content from time to time. If you haven't heard about them or haven't watch sample of the periodic table elements, feel free to watch some of the selected elements below. For your information, I have watched mercury, hydrogen, helium, lithium and seaborgium (seaborgium, Sg is has the simplest video so far possibily because it is a very rare element).
So, what is Periodic table (of elements)? Well, the periodic table of the chemical elements is a tabular method of displaying the chemical elements. Although precursors to this table exist, its invention is generally credited to RussianchemistDmitri Mendeleev in 1869. Mendeleev intended the table to illustrate recurring ("periodic") trends in the properties of the elements. The layout of the table has been refined and extended over time, as new elements have been discovered, and new theoretical models have been developed to explain chemical behavior. (Source: Wikipedia)
Personally, I have not yet seen all the elements but I'm going to watch all the periodic elements video soon. What about you?
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Enough about chemical engineering stuff for a while. Let's look at some bio-cool stuffs for a moment. Look at your body. The human body is actually an amazing thing. Here are a few fun and fascinating facts about our body.
* Our brain weighs about 3 pounds and all but 10 ounces of it is water. So, technically speaking, we're all water heads and no one is an airhead.
* If we stub our toe, it takes only 1/50th of a second for our brain to register the pain.
* We're all dim bulbs, because our brains use less power than 100-watt bulb.
* It can take about 200,000 frowns to make a permanent wrinkle. So the next time you notice a wrinkle, smile and stop frowning, 200,000 frowns is more than enough!
* We're all Pinocchio's. The cartilage in our noses doesn't stop growing. We can expect to grow ½ inch longer and wider as we get older.
* If we're freckled, they stop appearing usually around the age of 19 or 20.
* To speak just one word, you use 70 muscles - just one word - think about the workout someone doing a filibuster uses!
* We have more than 200 taste buds on each of the small bumps on our tongue. 200! So when we're savoring flavor, we're definitely savoring.
* Women have a far more developed sense of smell than men do and women really notice the difference in their sense of smell during pregnancy and after they've given birth to one child. According to some women, their sense of smell grows more acute with each child they have.
* When we breathe, the air passes through our nose at about 4 miles per hour and we breathe roughly 400 gallons of air every hour. Luckily we don't have to pay for it.
* We have about 18 square feet of skin.
* Our bones are about four times stronger than steel and they can endure 24,000 pounds of pressure per square inch.
* It takes about 150 days for a nail to grow from our cuticles to our fingertips. So dont bite your fingernails.
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Researchers are invited to submit abstracts for oral and poster sessions for the 2nd International Conference on BIOTECHNOLOGY for the WELLNESS INDUSTRY (ICBWI'09) to be held at PUTRA WORLD TRADE CENTER (PWTC), KUALA LUMPUR from 23-26 July,2009. This year, ICBWI'09 will be organized in parallel with 7th INTERNATIONAL TRADITIONAL AND COMPLIMENTARY MEDICINE CONFERENCE (INTRACOMM) organised by Ministry of Health. Participants are free to attend any of the parallel sessions organised by these 2 conferences.
The organizers are also offering 3 awards each worth RM1,000 for best research papers. For further information, please see the attachment below or visit www.cepp.utm.my/icbwi09. Feel free to forward this information to your colleagues who might want to participate in the 2 conferences.
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When the petroleum price increase last year, many turned to liquefied natural gas and convert their cars/van/lorry to natural gas vehicles (NGV) because gas is relatively cheaper. But, now, in 2009, petroleum price has drastically and crazily reduced to a figure that was never been imagined last year. And as a direct result of that, the petrol/gasoline price has also reduced, making many people to smile. But what about those who own NGV? Are they equally smiling? The natural gas price don't really follow the trend set by the petroleum. Wonder why? Read the following article to get the reason...
"Crude oil prices have fallen to new lows for this year. So you'd think gas prices would sink right along with them. Not so. The Associated Press reports that, for example, crude oil closed just under $34 a barrel, its lowest point for 2009. But the national average price of a gallon of gas rose to $1.95 on the same day, its peak for the year. The very next day gas went a penny higher. To drivers it sounds like a conspiracy. But it has more to do with an energy market turned upside-down that has left gas cut off from its usual economic moorings. The price of gas is indeed tied to oil. It's just a matter of which oil. The benchmark for crude oil prices is West Texas Intermediate crude oil. The price is used at the New York Mercantile Exchange each day. Right now, in an unusual market trend, West Texas crude is selling for much less than inferior grades of crude from other places around the world. A severe economic downturn has left U.S. storage facilities brimming with it, sending prices for the premium crude to five-year lows. But it is the overseas crude that goes into most of the gas made in the United States. So prices at the pump will probably keep going up no matter what happens to the benchmark price of crude oil. The recession in America has dramatically cut demand for crude oil, and inventories are piling up. So prices for West Texas crude have fallen well below what oil costs from places like the North Sea, Saudi Arabia and South America. Historically, West Texas International crude has cost more. So nobody bothered building the necessary pipelines to carry it beyond the nearby refineries in the Midwest, parts of Texas and a handful of other places. Now that the premium oil is suddenly very inexpensive, refiners elsewhere can't get their hands on it. So why not build more pipelines? Because investing billions of dollars over several years makes no sense when the prices could just flip a year from now to where they were before. At the same time, refiners have seen the same headlines as everyone else about job losses and consumer spending. They've slashed production just to avoid taking losses on gasoline no one will buy. Result: Higher gas prices."
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My research group, Chemical Reaction Engineering Group (CREG) will be participating in Malaysia Technology Expo 2009 (MTE 2009) after winning a silver medal in the last year's Industrial Arts and Science Exhibition 2008 (INATEX 2008) in our project entitled "Bio-Oil from pyrolysis of pre-treated empty palm fruit bunch (EPFB)". MTE 2009 will be held in Putra World Trade Center (PWTC), Kuala Lumpur from 19-21 February 2009.
As part of the research group, for the MTE 2009 preparation, I was assigned to prepare the EPFB to Bio-Oil plant model and also to ensure our short video is well creatively prepared. During the recent INATEX 2008, we have prepared a model but we it's not really attractive and not strong at all. Hence, for this time we have hired professional service to heelp us out with the model creation. With some help from the research officers and master student, I have sketched a 3 storey plant model lay out. It's really exciting to be able to design, build and construct the plant. However, I know building a real plant is not as easy as creating a plant model.
After 2 weeks working on the model, finally the plant is completed. The plant produced 840kg/day of bio-oil from EPFB. I have adjusted the costing for the production of bio-oil and it seems to be interesting. However, I'm sorry that we can't reveal the costing here. Be the best chemical engineer you could be. Learn something about chemical engineering that's not inside your textbook. Subscribeto the content of this blog.
The 3rd Malaysian Technical Universities Conference and Exhibition on Engineering and Technology (MUCEET 2009) is coming our way. This year UMP will be the hosting venue, and will be held in Kuantan, Pahang from the 20th to 22nd June 2009. MUCEET 2009 is organized by the Malaysian Technical Universities Network (MTUN) comprising of UniMAP, UTHM, UTeM and UMP.
This conference yields opportunity for all staff from four technical universities in Malaysia in building network towards producing quality researches. It is intended to share research outcomes in four major themes namely Manufacturing, Engineering and Science, Emerging Technologies, Social Science and Management. It is hope that MUCEET 2009 will open up avenues for bringing together experienced and young researchers in a stimulating exchange. It provides a strong platform for young entrants to interact with professional experts and practitioners from various fields.
Calling For Papers You are invited to submit an abstract in any of the following tracks. All accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings/book.
THEMES Manufacturing -Product Design -Handling System -Manufacturing Technology -Manufacturing Support System
Social Science & Management -Social Science, Technical & Vocational Education -Knowledge Management, Research Management -Technology Management, etc.
Please send submissions by e-mail to 'airin@ump.edu.my" and provide the following information latest by 20 Mac 2009:
-Name, title and affiliation for each author/presenter -Biography of presenter/s (50 words) -Title of paper -Abstract (approximately 200 - 250 words) -Presentation equipment requirements.
Important Dates -March 20, 2009 Submission of Abstract or Full Paper -April 03, 2009 Notification of acceptance -April 20, 2009 Submission of Full Papers -May 20, 2009 Papers ready for publication -June 20 -22, 2009 MUCEET 2009
-Papers will be evaluated for originality, significance, clarity, impact, and soundness. Each paper will be refereed by two experts in the field who are independent of the conference program committee. -The best paper in each of these four themes will be recognized through an award. The reviewers will select the winning papers.
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International Journal of Environmental Engineering Science (IJEES) is a new journal related to environmental engineering sciences. Interested authors are invited to submit their papers to this new journal and if you are interested, please continue reading.
IJEES will be launching their first edition soon with special issue on: "Theoretical and Experimental Research on Air, Water and Soil Pollution". Guest Editors include Dr. Mohanad El-Harbawi, Prof. Binay K Dutta, Dr. Munjed Maraqa, Dr Chun-Yang Yin, Dr Mikhail Robert Savory and Prof. Yung-Tse Hung.
(A) Original research paper or reviews are invited in the following and related areas:
Air, water and soil pollution fundamentals and applied aspects
Meteorology, climatology, air quality, hydrology, water quality and water management
Consequences of air, water and soil pollution on human health
Toxic and radioactive pollution
Waste treatment and management
Air, water and soil control and management
Environmental chemistry and biology, pollution control and abatement technology
Studies on inland, lake, river, coastal and urban waters, including sources of pollution
Water and municipal treatment processes for industrial wastewaters and wastes
Hazardous waste management
Waste and pollution minimisation, and clean technologies
Environmental safety and sustainability
Recent developments on green chemistry and sustainability issues
Environmental development and technical solutions
Environmental technologies
Environmental impact analysis and assessment in waste sector
Environmental pollution, prevention and control
Environmental modelling and biorestoration of polluted environments
Simulation of the dynamics of air, water and soil pollution
Environmental standards, legislations,regulations and criteria
(B) Deadline for paper submission: May 31, 2009
Final revised papers submission: July 31, 2009
(C) Manuscripts (in Microsoft Word file) and author documents shall be sent by email to Guest Editor.
Dr. Mohanad El-Harbawi,
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Chemical Engineering Department, Bandar Seri Iskandar, 31750 Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia
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