Sorghum originated from Ethopia and Sudan. It was introduced into Malaysia in 1969, and has been cultivated at the Agriculture Station, Sungai Udang, Melaka, during the paddy off-season. Sorghum belongs to the family Graminineae, similar to wheat, rice and maize. It can reach up to 4 m in height and grow well in warm climate […]

Malaysia exports activated carbon to markets such as Japan (31%), Italy (15%) and the United Kingdom (11%) (Roskill, 2003). From the large number of small activated carbon producers in Malaysia, a total production of about 20 000t yr1 has been reported. The demand for activated carbon is forecast to rise by 3%-5% per year in […]

High demand for medium density fibreboard (MDF) in the world market has led MDF manufacturers to increase their production capacity. This has resulted in an increased requirement for raw materials to fulfill the market demand. In Malaysia, MDF manufacturers are using rubberwood as their main raw material, and currently the supply of this material is […]

The conventional palm oill mills produce crude palm oil (CPO), palm kernels and other oil palm biomass such as empty fruit bunches (EFB), fibre, shells and palm oil mill effluent (POME. Biomass such as EFB is used as mulch in the plantation to retain and recycle soil nutrients. In addition, all palm oil mills in […]

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) generated by the milling process has a high soluble organic content, and biochemical oxygen demand/chemicaloxygen demand (BOD/COD) >0.45. This is indicative that it is a good source material for biological performance, especially in a tropical climate such as in Malaysia, thus making anaerobic digestion the most economical and most applicable […]