IEM Technical Visit to Mechmar Boiler
Friday, January 20, 2012
Last November I joined a group of Institution Engineers Malaysia (IEM) members for a technical visit trip to Mechmar Boiler in Pasir Gudang, Johor, Malaysia. This was the first time I visited a boiler manufacturer company. Honestly I was thrilled to learn and explore how a boiler is made and what the factory looks like. I mean the production plant site. In total there were about 20-30 engineers from IEM. The program started at 9.30 am up to 12.30 pm.
Some information about Mechmar Corporation (Malaysia) Berhad
Mechmar Boiler was established over 30 years ago. Currently, Mechmar Boiler is the leading industrial boiler and pressure vessel manufacturer within the Asian Pacific region.
With a core emphasis on superior engineering and strict manufacturing quality standards, Mechmar continually strives and meets the ever increasing expectations of today’s customers for reliable heat, power or steam generation at an economical investment cost.
Mechmar wide product range serves to meet the heat, steam or power needs of our customers regardless of their industry and location. Their products are the result of years of continuous and rigorous detailed engineering and dedication to providing quality in our manufacture and in our service to our customers.
The headquartered of Mechmar is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Mechmar’s engineering team reinforces their commitment to their customers by providing sound engineering input with attention to detail. With two world class manufacturing and fabrication facilities in South East Asia both of which are ISO9001 certified by Lloyds, we meet this commitment with speed and at competitive prices. (Information taken from Mechmar official website).
Products manufactured by Mechmar
Here are the list of products manufactured by Mechmar Corporation (Malaysia) Berhad:Oil/Gas-Fired Boiler
- Titan HT
- Titan AS
- Titan MB
- Titan MCC
- Titan MCH
- Titan BD
- Titan MTH
-Various Custom Made Boilers
-Reconditioned boilers
For more comprehensive list of products, please click here.
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Labels: Boiler, diesel, Energy, Equipments, IEM. IChemE, Technology, Training
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 6:48 PM,
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Impressive Ph.D Stories
Wednesday, January 18, 2012

I asked him, "How did you manage to do it?" His answer was simple. He met his supervisor each week and reported whatever work he has done. In another angle, he said that his supervisor is very strict and ordered him to meet him on a weekly basis. He added that his supervisor asked him to produce 1 journal every quarterly. That answered how he can produced 8 journals in 2.5 years.
2 days ago, I met another colleague who is currently doing Ph.D in Korea. He is also a staff in the UTM. He has basically completed his Ph.D. However, he has not defended his research yet because the university in Korea only allow students to have VIVA after he or she managed to publish 3 journal papers. So far he has managed to complete his thesis and published 2 journal papers within a period of 2 years and 9 months. Another impressive record. I asked him how he did it. How he managed to complete so fast? He said that he has to work from morning till night each and everyday. He walked to the university with his wife (who has completed her Ph.D) every morning and returned together at night. They have 3 daughters who are staying in Malaysia. Since the cost of living is extremely high in Korea, they have to school their daughters in Malaysia. That means they are separated from their kids. Both of them has the drive and goal to finish the Ph.D as fast as possible so that they can be united back with their 3 beautiful daughters. Well, that's another amazing Ph.D success story.
What about me? It has been already 2.5 years for me. I'm still working and struggling on my Ph.D. One of my journal is under review. Another one is on the way. There are another 3 journals that I have to publish but they are not ready yet. I have 3 conference papers published already and 1 scopus journal in hand. I have another 1 month of experimental work to do. I have some thermodynamic modelling to work on. Comparing myself with the stories above, I'm no where yet. Nevertheless, I'm not giving up. I'm fighting to end this battle by this year, if God will. Please pray for me.
For those of you who are is currently doing Ph.D, keep up the believe and spirit. Planning is very crucial. Remember the saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". For those who are in the 4th or 5th year or more (some of you are my colleagues), don't worry. Just do it. Be persistent and put in more effort. We know Ph.D is full of unexpected problems. The challenge is how we act to the test.
So, in conclusion, some aspects that are very crucial in ensuring success and speed in our Ph.D are as follows:
- Always meet and report your work to your supervisor. At least once a week.
- Set a goal and reason why you want to complete your Ph.D. That will drive and motivate you to finish your study.
- Publish your work in reputable journals with impact factors. That's like an insurance policy during the VIVA.
I strongly believe this story is motivating and inspiring although it is short. If you like it, I appreciate it very much if you can share it by LIKE it below (with Facebook).
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Labels: Learning Curve, pH.D, Study, Technology, Training
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 9:01 PM,
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Superb State of the Art Laser Technology - One Stop Laser Solution
Monday, October 31, 2011
Maybe this is not really directly related to Chemical Engineering, but if we want to be a rich chemical engineer, I strongly believe, we must have the desire and start our very own business (anything from small manufacturing product up to becoming a consultant or expert in some technical areas). A laser related business may require a high capital but I believe, our technical engineering knowledge can cope well with the laser industry. Despite of this is a laser tech business, we still can apply some of our chemical engineering skill and knowledge such as the environmental, safety and health, technical drawing an calculation etc.
Common, check out the video below. Tell me if this is cool or not... :)
If you are interested to explore further about the technical and business stuffs that Northeast Laser & Electropolish offering, check out their official site at:www.northeastlaser.com.
Regarding the recent survey...
Labels: laser cutting, laser technology, laser welding, Learning Curve, Technology, Video
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 10:28 PM,
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My Turbular Furnace Is Not Working?
Thursday, June 02, 2011
So, what happen on Friday?

I connected my online data logger to my laptop. I heat up the heating tape gradually. I switched on the online graph monitoring in the data logger software to monitor the temperature profile of each thermocouples fixed in several locations in my experimental rig. I saw the temperature increase for the heating tape thermocouple. However, the thermocouple temperature in the reactor did not raise (after I switched on my turbular furnace heating). This was strange. All

Troubleshooting the tubular furnace.
I turn off the helium gas from entering my reactor. I conditioned the GC. I then checked what's wrong with my tubular furnace. I attempted switching it on and off as well as changed the power supply socket. With the help of Mahadhir (my Ph.D colleague), we tried to play around with the temperature control display and investigated the setting and/or timer. Who knows this might be the reason the tubular furnace cannot heat up. Mahadhir also searched for the manual of this Carbolite tubular furnace and gave it to me. I spent quite some time digesting the information in the manual and try to relate it to the problem. By this time I already know that my Friday allocation for experiment is over. Worse case scenario is I have to spend another whole day to transfer my furnace (if it is spoil) with a spare furnace. That will definitely take one days work to do. We tried many things which also include the possibility of heater or filament spoil. However, deep in my heart, I believe that there must be a simple problem and a simple solution. But then, I cannot yet figure it out.
Accidental trouble shooting discovery

I almost get fed up and nearly decided to call for Carbolite engineer to come to see what is the problem. I sat on my tiny work station in the lab room. I look at my experimental rig from a distance (actually it is not that far - only about 1 meter). I wanted to see the overview of the problem and see if there is some possible solution. Then I noticed something!!!
I found that my tubular furnace was not closed and double clipped on. Oh my God... Maybe this was the culprit. I did not even close the furnace and decided to heat it up. Immediately I close the tubular furnace and clip them. I turned on the furnace heating and off it goes. The temperature increased. So, that was the thing. It was a silly mistake and a very simple solution. I just did not close the tubular reactor.
Morale of the story
I learn my lesson that day. I need to be more careful when running the experiment. It was my first silly mistake after many times running similar experiment. I also don't know why that happen. It must slipped my mind. In addition, I can also know another that the furnace heating would not turn on if it is not properly close. It took me 1 whole day to experience this... Haha..what a day...
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Labels: pH.D, Processing., Research, Safety, Study, Technology, Training
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 9:05 AM,
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Questions and Answers for Engineers
Saturday, May 21, 2011

Answer seekers are able to browse for existing questions and answers base to avoid repeating already asked questions which will help them to save time, even when they typing their question the similarities will just list down under the input box. They can even browse for experts on many categories who already being ranked. They can just ask questions from community or select an expert to ask questions personally from them.
Engineers who willing to contributing as experts by answering questions will able to be ranked in their specific area and stand out the community as an expert.
Actually, this is totally free expert questions and answers solution, which is totally powered by sponsored advertisements. According to success stories of Wikipedia and many other free solutions, the platform stand with a hope to contribute to engineering world with a vision to give proper answers for engineering questions.
This article was contributed by my good chemical engineering online friend from Sri Lanka, Dilantha Thushara Subasinghe who is the Editor for Engineering Questions and Answers.
My comment: This is a good effort made by Thushara. He took the initiative to create a platform (www.engineers.name) where questions and answers related to engineering can be viewed. Anybody can participate by asking or providing answers. It's like a forum but it is not. It is more simple. Looks like a wiki-type of site. For us who are from chemical engineering field, we can read several questions related to basic questions by choosing "Chemical Engineering tab" on the side bar.
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Labels: Chemical Engineer, Chemical Engineering, Learning Curve, Study, Technology, Training
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 7:05 PM,
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Renewable Energy - Yes There Are Advantages
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
While many of the fossil fuels continue to be in short demand in every corner of the world, people including governments and individuals concerned with the environment are starting to make the rest of us more aware, that these supplies will simply be gone at some point.
Many concerned people and numerous governments are looking for ways to utilize renewable energy and how this source of energy really will work most effectively.
Fossil fuels are also responsible for many of the biggest problems with the environment.
There have been many studies that link the state of the environment with the use of fossil fuels. Global warming is one of the biggest problems we are facing and both human and animals are impacted by changing weather patterns. The earth is getting hotter and this is being experienced in many places. Wild weather like hurricanes and severe droughts are among the serious consequences of global warming.
You can find a great deal of education in the movie 'An Inconvenient Truth' on the damage that global warming is causing. Normally you can find this video at any video /DVD rental location or movie download. This movie is a great surprise and you may find that this can change the way you live, because hopefully you will appreciate that a green power source must be something that we all will eventually need to incorporate into your own homes.
Right now there are many small changes you can make that can really add up.
A big advantage of most renewable energy sources is that they help to reduce the carbon footprint that each of us is leaving. Solar power, geothermal energy and wind power are some examples of how we can use clean energy sources, and this can help us to be on the leading edge of this growing movement.
Jobs in the United States are created when more people use alternative power sources and these are jobs that are unlikely to leave the US. Many of the positions available for these jobs will have a great pay base as well as benefits.
There are tax credits that are being provided and this is a major benefit provided to help people begin using green energy. This and other incentive programs are starting to make it easier for many more people to afford renewable energy programs. Some of the tax cuts give the consumer up to 30 percent of their solar installation and this is valuable for both commercial and residential consumers.
When alternative energy is affordable for all, more consumers will make this change in their home and begin using green energy technology, to help lessen the impact of global warming. Those who use renewable energy are likely to spread the word about living a greener life and this can help entire communities.
An environmentally sound community can help and guide others on how to be the most efficient in daily life. Getting guides and policies in place can help other people find and stick to a green power system that will cut down on pollution and serious environmental damage to our planet.
You can start with National Geographic. They provide a great guide called the "Green Guide". It contains solid information that someone can use to live their best green life. If your city is not already listed in this guide -- get your city listed.
People could write for quite some time about the advantages of renewable energy. However, you may also want to know about some disadvantages of renewable energy. The major disadvantage is of course the cost of any alternative power source. It is still too much of an expense for many consumers. So many are waiting for the costs to lower, because the $20,000 needed for a PV solar system means it's probably not available for many consumers.
This article is contributed by Alice Shaw. He is an ardent promoter of green living and environmental protection. If you are itching to learn more about alternative energy, you are welcome to visit his site: http://ardentgreenliving.com. You will get more green energy info.
To guess post in this blog, please contact me. You are welcome to do so to share ideas, information, experience and others related to chemical engineering industry. I look forward to receive your article... :)




Have you downloaded my free "Choosing Alternative Fuel" Ebook? If not, then please download it here. It's Free and on top of getting the free ebook, you'll get eCourse on Alternative Fuel. It's a good and easy way to add more valuable information to yourself.
Labels: Biofuel, Biotechnology, Chemical Engineer, Environmental, green, Learning Curve, News, Processing., renewable, Review, Solar, Technology
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 8:09 PM,
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Chemicals information at ThomasNet
Monday, January 31, 2011
Thomasnet is an industrial search engine that provides one source for finding the exact product, service, or supplier –quickly and efficiently. ThomasNet provides direct access to the detailed information needed to make a purchasing or specifying decision, including line-item product details, CAD drawings, and more.

Chemicals are integral to modern society, whether in medicine, industrial manufacturing, or the production of foods, glues, and plastic. Chemical substances can be broadly categorized as metal, non-metal, compound, element, and covalent types. Manufacturers have used the chemicals in these categories to not only create products, but also a wide range of specialized professions, such as engineers, scientist, and chemists.
Thomasnet.com one place to find out about everything related to chemicals and chemical related information. At thomasnet one can find for Chemical related articles, Chemicals suppliers, chemicals specifications and chemical product catalogs for any kind of Chemicals at Standard and Custom blended Chemicals. Thomasnet has recently posted new Need-to-Know guides for Chemicals related topics at http://www.thomasnet.com/
Photo credited to: http://www.greenplanet.com/we-are-what-we-eat-and-processed-food/




Have you downloaded my free "Choosing Alternative Fuel" Ebook? If not, then please download it here. It's Free and on top of getting the free ebook, you'll get eCourse on Alternative Fuel. It's a good and easy way to add more valuable information to yourself.
Labels: Chemical, Chemical Engineer, Chemical Engineering, Technology
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 9:59 AM,
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I want FREE sustainable ENERGY... Can you give me?
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
No matter where we are or we work, either in an office, refinery plant or any building, we need it. What is it that is so important to us and our work? The second most important utility after water is for me the electricity.
I still remember the chaos in my plant when suddenly my plant which was operating smoothly suddenly black out. Yeah…the power supply from the power station and also the power grid was disrupted. The supervisor, shift leader and operators rushed to switch of the pumps and close valves in our 8 storey refinery. It’s not easy to handle a sudden power failure such as that for a huge plant. Imagine the lost resulted from the power failure. It’s tremendously huge. Then the funny thing is after 5 minutes, the power resumed. It’s not a joke!!! Although the power failure took 5 minutes, but it took more than 8 hours to stabilize the plant and get the product within specification.
So, who is responsible for such lost? Who will bear the cost?
If I’m running a business, company or factory, I’ll have to swallow the lost which is not even my fault. But that is the reality. What can we do?
If we install a generator or uninterrupted power supply (UPS) system, it can’t cope with the huge power demand of the plant. There is need to outsource for an energy that can back up the present power supply.
For a smaller scale, let say a house, a short power failure would not be such a hassle. The worse you can experience is a total darkness if it happen at night and the hot atmosphere you will face because you cannot switch on your fan or aircond. Or you will be attack by mosquito because you cannot switch on the mosquito repellent.
For several years I have thought of learning about alternative energy to replace the costly electricity and also the fuel to run my cars. Recently I have purchased several information product about solar installation – DIY at home. I have also thought of using the waste cooking oil from my kitchen to prepare biodiesel. However, I’ve not done both yet. I am compressed with tones of work around me from all angle… haha….
The funny thing is, 3 or 4 days after I purchase the ebook on making my own solar at home, I stumbled upon the idea of retrieving free energy from the air. The energy is actually obtained from the invisible wavelength that is abundantly available around us.
I make a swift research to investigate the potential of this free energy. I found out that the free energy systems can provide electricity from energy sources around us. Once we install the free energy devices, interestingly, we won’t have to pay monthly electricity bills ever again! This has triggered me to explore this energy a little bit further.
Free energy products work on different principles, developed by free energy specialists all over the world. Out of a wide variety of techniques, some free energy methods have been found to be more effective and dependable. One of these techniques involve the generation of electricity from TV and radio waves around us. Another involves the production of electricity from electrostatic charges in the atmosphere. Yet another method focuses on the conversion of radiant energy ever present in the atmosphere to electrical energy.
Whatever the technique used, free energy systems are reliable and easy to set up. The installation process is so simple that you can easily do it yourself, without the help of any professional electrician. To set up a free energy system for your home, you would need a few auxiliary devices such as a charge controller, a battery, and an inverter. You could also use a system meter between the battery and the inverter, to determine how much electric charge is left in the battery.
The free energy device is connected to a charge controller for regulation of electric charge from the device. The charge controller is then connected to a battery for storage of energy produced by the free energy system. Batteries tend to work better in warm temperatures, so it might be a good idea to encase the battery in a battery box. The battery box also helps you keep things clean and organised.
The battery, with or without the battery box, is then connected to an inverter. Once done, the output of the inverter can be connected to the mains of your house. That is all the set up required for a free energy device. Once done, you can say good bye, and happily too, to your electricity bills!
If you are interested to learn more about this free energy and the person who develop it 100 years ago, you can download a 25 page FREE ENERGY report. You need to fill up your name and email address and the report will be delivered to you straight away. This report will provide an overview of the energy or preliminary information on understanding the concept.
Labels: Biofuel, Biotechnology, Chemical Engineer, Chemical Engineering, Environmental, Equipments, Experience, green, infrastructure, Learning Curve, Problem, Solar, Technology
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 7:50 PM,
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Open Source Chemical Engineering Related Softwares
Monday, July 05, 2010
As a chemical engineer, after knowing the basic and fundamentals of a subject, we may use certain softwares to speed up calculation, analysis and even decision making. Without doubt chemical engineering related software are gaining importance and hence it is imperative to share them here so that all of us can use and apply them. I found a forum that shares a magnitude of great chemical engineering software (I got to know about this great collection from vinithbejugamchemicalengineering.blogspot.com who runs an informative chemical engineering blog).

Cantera - Cantera is an open-source, object-oriented software package for problems involving chemically-reacting flows.
InnoSim - InnoSim is a free suite for physical properties estimation and process equipment design and rating. It is intended for use by students, scientists and engineers interested in chemical engineering and the related industries.
Calflur - Caflur is a tool for analyzing chemical reactors. It can generate a HTML file with tables and graphics of Residence Time Distributions. It can calculate conversions for both linear and non-linear systems, with and without flow model; and the parameters for some non-ideal flow models (tanks in series, axial dispersion and combined models).
MesoRD - MesoRD is a tool for stochastic simulation of reactions and diffusion. In particular, it is an implementation of the Next Subvolume Method, which is an exact method to simulate the Markov process corresponding to the reaction-diffusion master equation.
Well those are just 4 of them. There are lots more of open source chemical engineering software. Visit the forum and learn more:
http://opensource.cheme.info/index.php?topic=4.0




Have you downloaded my free "Choosing Alternative Fuel" Ebook? If not, then please download it here. It's Free and on top of getting the free ebook, you'll get eCourse on Alternative Fuel. It's a good and easy way to add more valuable information to yourself.
Labels: Chemical Engineer, Chemical Engineering, Software, Technology, Training
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 10:44 PM,
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Chemical Engineering Economics should use ChemEng Economics Calculator
Friday, July 02, 2010

ChemEng Economics Calculator was mainly made to do the basic method of estimating the Net Present Value of a process plant. This easy to use software also include few small calculators, below is a list of the main features:
Net Present Value - the software goes through a series of calculations to do the estimate. Starting from
1. Fixed Capital Investment: the ability to chose from "Purchased Cost" of plant items, hence the estimation of FIXED & TOTAL CAPITAL INVESTMENT (Direct and Indirect Costs), OR "Installed Costs" of plant items where the software will use a FIXED CAPITAL INVESTMENT multiplyer to take into accout the additional cost associated with building the plant.
2. Operating Labour: through a basic series of "Auxiliary Facilities" and "Process Equipment" lists the software will estimate the TOTAL NUMBER OF OPERATOR NEEDED & ANNUAL COST OF OPERATING LABOUR. You simply enter the "Expected Annual Salary of Operators in The Plant" and "The Number of Units", the software will then calculate the "THE NUMBER OF OPERATORS NEEDED PER SHIFT".
3. Utilities: To calculate the "TOTAL UTILITY COSTS/YEAR".
4. Raw Materials & Profits: Calculates the ANNUAL cost of Raw Materials and ANNUAL Products Profits.
5. Production Costs: Calculate the ANNUAL Production Costs (customised calculations).
6. Assumptions: The software uses assumptions to estimate the NET PRESENT VALUE.You can customise the assumptions to suit your needs, "Plant Construction Period up to 5 Years", "Depreciation Period from 3 to 20 Years", "Plant Operation Period up to 20 Years", you can also set the "Tax Rate %", "Discounted Cash Flow Rate %" and "Salvage Value %", You can also SET INFLATION RATE.

This is without doubt a must have software for chemical engineers working on the economic aspects and who maybe responsible in advising his or her company on making certain decision making. Amazingly, this software cost only $29.99 per computer (1 license).
To learn more about this fantastic software, please refer:
>>> ChemEng Economic Calculator Detail
>>> Download the presentation slide explaining more about ChemEng Economic Calculator + software demo.




Have you downloaded my free "Choosing Alternative Fuel" Ebook? If not, then please download it here. It's Free and on top of getting the free ebook, you'll get eCourse on Alternative Fuel. It's a good and easy way to add more valuable information to yourself.
Labels: Chemical Engineer, Chemical Engineering, Conference, Software, Study, Technology
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 11:54 PM,
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The Author

I’m Zaki. I used to be a project, process and chemical engineer. Few years ago I successfully became a Chartered Engineer (IChemE) and Professional Engineer (BEM). I'm now employed as a chemical engineering educator/researcher/consultant. Hope you like reading my blog. I welcome any feedback from you. My email: zaki.yz[alias]gmail.com. TQ!