Final Year Project Titles for Chemical Engineering (May 2013)

No. of Suitable for

No Final Year Project Title Supervisor Description / Objective / Scope Equipment Required Remarks (if any ) Research Area
students Courses

2 - CL candidate should have interest in

calculation of cost of heat exchanger network in a plant
1 Cost optimisation for the heat exchanger network system Cik Azlyana Ismail equipment sizing and costing
processing
2 - CL candidate should have interest in
calculation of cost of water recovery network in a plant
2 Cost optimisation for the water recovery network system Cik Azlyana Ismail equipment sizing and costing
processing

Conduct study to find out the extent of transition metal Extruders, electron CL Need to travel to Malaysia
Investigation on the copper (II) and copper (III) oxide on the degradation of electron beam irradiation Nuclear Agency to conduct test
3 Ms Bee Soo Tueen effect on the degradation of polymers at basic, chlorinated 3 Chemical
beam irradation of polyethylene
water and acidic condition
Freeze dryer CL -
To evaluate the antioxidant phytochemicals retention of Drying, food
Quality evaluation of freeze dried lemon and kiwi fruit slices under different freeze
4 Dr. Chin Siew Kian freeze dried lemon and kiwi fruit slices under different 2 safety and
drying conditions.
freeze drying conditions. quality.
flow through cell, CL
separation
5 Removal of zinc on palm shell activated carbon in column adsorption experiments. Dr Gulnaziya laboratory experiments 1 carbon, chemicals,
technology
ICP
glassware, stirrer with CL
separation
6 Effect of temperature on adsorption of lead onto palm shell activated carbon. Dr Gulnaziya laboratory experiments 1 temp.control, ICP,
technology
thermometer
internet resources, CL must enjoy reading
Commercial application of adsorption process to remove heavy metals from review of scientific journals and preparation of library resources, environmental
7 Dr Gulnaziya 1
industrial wastewater using low cost adsorbents. comprehensive literature review on the topic. technology

review of scientific journals and preparation of internet resources, CL must enjoy reading
Commersialisation of adsorption technology to remove pollutants from industrial library resources, environmental
8 Dr Gulnaziya comprehensive literature review on the topic including 1
wastewater. technology
specific examples and their analaysis.
Availabe in UTAR CL Collaboration project with Taylors'
To optimise the production of biofuel by using statistical FES University; Student with good Bioprocess/Gree
9 Optimisation of biofuel production from marine macroalgae Dr Hii Siew Ling 1 command of English is preferred n Technology
approach

Availabe in UTAR CL Student with good command of

To optimise the extraction of sugar by using statistical FES English is preferred Bioprocess/Gree
10 Optimisation of sugar extraction from agricultural wastes Dr Hii Siew Ling 2
approach n Technology

Availabe in UTAR Collaboration project with Taylors'

To develop efficient technique in extracting biopolymer FES University; Student with good Bioprocess/Gree
11 Biopolymer extraction from renewable resources Dr Hii Siew Ling 1 CL command of English is preferred n Technology
from renewable resources

SEM, MD system CL
Material selection and stability are currently faced in the
DCMD research. A few hollow fiber membranes with
different polymer materials have been spun by UTM
12 Performance study of direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) Dr Lai Soon Onn 2
researchers. Students need to run DCMD experiments to
test these membranes for their performance to treat heavy
metals at different experimental durations.

SEM and FTIR CL

Student needs to cast flat sheet membranes with high
Fabrication and characterization of flat sheet membrane used for deacidification of solvent resistance to separate solvent and free fatty acid in
13 Dr Lai Soon Onn 1
crude palm oil the deacidification of crude palm oil. The cast membranes
need to be characterized using SEM and FTIR.

SEM, FTIR, PV CL
Students need to produce own bioethanol using
system
agricultural wastes. Students then cast thin film composite
14 Purification of bioethanol using pervaporation Dr Lai Soon Onn membranes to purify bioethanol using pervaporation 2
technique. Various parameters affecting the pervaporation
flux will be discussed.
Extruder CL May need to travel to Kampar
Conduct study to find out the extent of incompatibility that
15 Investigation the phase separation of polyethylene and polystyrene Dr Lee Tin Sin 1 Chemical
deterioration the property of the polymer
1. Ultrasonic machine CL
Description: Students are required to synthesise the 2. Furnace 3. XRD
vanadium based oxide catalysts using reflux technique and 4. Surface Area
treated with ultrasound. The synthesised catalysts will be Analyser 5. SEM-
analysed with various analytical instruments as to obtain EDX 6. ICP-OES 7.
Effect of ultrasonic treatment towards the physical, chemical and reactivity studies of Heterogeneous
16 Dr Leong Loong Kong the physical, chemical and reactivity studies of the 4 TPDRO 8. Centrifuge
vanadium phosphate catalysts Catalysis
catalysts. Objectives: 1. To synthesise vanadium based 9. Oven
oxide catalysts using reflux technique with ultrasonic
treatment. 2. To study the physical, chemical and reactivity
studies of the ultrasonic treated catalysts.

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 Not applicable. This is CL, BI
a review work / dry Light application
To review the usage of different lights to treat diseases, lab work.
17 Review of phototherapy and photochemotherapy to treat various conditions/diseases Dr Loh Han Chern 4 & medical
i.e. skin problems, cancers and release stress.
treatments

1,) To increase the catalytic activity for high CL

18 Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Dr Sim Jia Huey 1
production.
Esterification of Palm Fatty Acid Distillate (PFAD) using Heterogeneous 1.) To study the reaction kinetics for PFAD CL
19 Dr Sim Jia Huey 1
Catalysts esterification process
1,) To increase the catalytic activity for high CL
20 Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Coconut Husk Dr Sim Jia Huey 1
production.
1,) To determine type of polymeric membrane with CL
21 Palm Oil Based Biodiesel Purification Using Polymeric Membranes Dr Sim Jia Huey 1
good performance in biodiesel purification
Ultrasonic CL
To study the effects of ultrasonication in the extraction homogenizer,
Multi-frequency Sonication-assisted Extraction of Chitin from shells of Fresh Water
22 Prawns Dr Tang Siah Ying process, temperature and extraction time on the yield of 1 Ultrasonic bath, Sonochemistry
Chitin spectrophotometer,
SEM
Extruders CL
Conduct study to find out the extent of transition metal
Investigation on the manganese (II) and manganese (III) oxide on the degradation of
23 Dr Tee Tiam Ting effect on the degradation of polymers at basic, chlorinated 2 Chemical
polyethylene
water and acidic condition
Rheometer CL
24 Non-linear viscoelastic properties of PVOH/Starch blends Dr Tee Tiam Ting Conduct rheological study on polymer blend 1 Chemical

Aspen Software CL Must have strong interest in

To study how to integrate chemical process simulators education
25 Use of Chemical Process Simulators in Chemical Engineering Education Ms Teoh Hui Chieh 2 Education
(e.g. HYSYS) in the education of chemical engineering.

To investigate the effects of spacer shape and geometry ANSYS / FLUENT CL Willing to learn new software
Membrane
26 CFD Simulation in a Spiral Wound Membrane Ms Teoh Hui Chieh in a spiral wound membrane using computational fluid 2
Separation
dynamics (CFD) approach

The experiment setup basically consists of a spiral wound -- CL

membrane, feed and permeate tank, pump and piping,
operating parameter controllers and sensors, and Membrane
27 Experimental Study of Fluid Flow in a Spiral Wound Membrane Ms Teoh Hui Chieh 2
sampling points. The membrane can be easily removed Separation
and replaced with other type to investigate the effect of
spacer geometry on fluid flow.

The physical characteristics of the block/panel can be Building of the testing

Technology and
Dr Tioh Ngee Heng modified according to the material used as the membrane. model and Candidate must be prepared for
Comparative Studies on Various Membrane-encased lightweight concrete Engineering
28 Dr Low Kaw Sai Dr The thermal conductivities of the various panels/blocks are 2 measurement of CL/CI lifting heavy loads as well as have
block/panel (Material and
Ng Soon Ching studies and compared in ranking them as insulating temperature variations dirty hands
Polymer)
materials. using thermal couples

Candidate must have a good

Technology and
Dr Tioh Ngee Heng An in-depth literature survey of the application of bamboo command of English and able to
Computer and Engineering
29 Review critically the use of bamboo as engineering materials Dr Low Kaw Sai Dr as engineering materials for construction. (No laboratory 1 CL/CI comprehend and evaluate
reference materials (Material and
Ng Soon Ching works involved) contents of journal articles and
Polymer)
summarise them

Bamboo has been used as engineering materials and Candidate must have the skill to Technology and
Dr Tioh Ngee Heng
physical tests must be carried out in assesssing its Mechanical tests correlate results of tests with that Engineering
30 Study on the poperties of bamboo in meeting engineering requirements Dr Low Kaw Sai Dr 1 CL/CI
potential for enhancing its popularity in the construction equipment mainly of engineering specifications for (Material and
Ng Soon Ching
industry materials Polymer)

Fluoride ion selective CL Extensive experimental works Natural Sciences

31 Investigation of Defluoridation Process in Wastewater Treatment
The adsorption method using activated alumina in fluoride electrode and involving comparison of methods nad National
removal from drinking water is found to be advantageous titrimetric method used in the defluoridation process Heritage
than other defluoridation method. This is due to the strong as well their quantitation. (Environment)
affinity between aluminum and fluoride which enables the
alumina to trap the fluoride as an adsorbent. Thus,
activated alumina is expected to work well in industrial
Dr Tioh Ngee Heng wastewater treatment. As industrial effluent contains 1
higher fluoride concentration, the efficiency of the
activated alumina on fluoride removal will be different.
Further investigation is requires in determine the adsorbent
adsorption efficiency. The adsorbent performance is
determined via continuous column study of adsorption test
using conventional method and advance method.

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 1. to produce garbage enzymes, 2. to compare the spectrophotometer,
Fermentation and
32 The Investigation on Production and Application of Garbage Enzymes Dr Wong KH effectiveness of these DIY enzyme solutions with 1 refractometer, ICP CL
Environment
commercial products
oven, tray dryer,
to determine the most effective method on drying of fruit freeze dryer,
33 The Study of Various Method on Drying of Fruit and vegetable Dr Wong KH 1 spectrophotometer, CL Food Processing
and vegetable among the methods studied
refractometer, ICP
Oven, deep fryer,
34 The Investigation of Effective Packaging Method for Hot Food Dr Wong KH to develope an effective packaging method for hot food 1 spectrophotometer, CL Food Processing
refractometer
to investigate the best-performing for enzymatic Incubator shaker,
35 Enzymatic Interesterification of Oil Dr Wong KH 1 CL Food Processing
interesterification process in oil HPLC
spectrophotometer, Candidate is able to work
FTIR, SEM independently, possess good
Investigation of the extraction methods on Yield and Quality of Citrus Pectin or Comparison of enzymatic extraction and acid extraction on laboratory technique and enjoy
36 Dr Woo Kwan Kit 2 CL working round the clock in the lab Food Processing
dragon fruit pectin the yield and quality of pectin
because the study require time in
sample preparations.

spectrophotometer, Candidate is able to work

SEM independently, possess good
Effect of freeze drying on stability of red dragon fruit pigment (with or without coating study the water absorption behaviour of the freeae drying laboratory technique and enjoy
37 Dr Woo Kwan Kit 2 CL working round the clock in the lab Food Processing
agent) red dragon fruit pigment
because the study require time in
sample preparations.

Computer only CL Computer modeling only Catalysis,

Emission control,
38 Modelling catalytic combustion of automotive exhaust gas in monolithic reactor Dr Yap YH Refer to title 1 Mathematical
Modelling,

TBA CL Instrumentation
Will be playing with Raspberry Pi to monitor various and Data
39 Weather monitoring and data analysis Dr Yap YH 2
variables and perform data analysis Analysis
TBA CL Experiment and Computer Newton's Law of
Simulation Cooling and Heat
40 Investigating the efficiency of window film and natural cooling for climate control Dr Yap YH Refer to title 1 Transfer,
Mathematical
Modeling
TBA CL
Surface
41 Investigating synthetic hydrophobic surface products Dr Yap YH For example the rain repellant for the windscreen 1
chemistry

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