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Driving fatigue is a serious issue for the transportation sector, decreasing the driver’s performance and increasing accident risk. This study aims to investigate how fatigue mediates the relationship between the nature of work factors and driving performance. The approach included a review of the previous studies to select the dimensional items for the data collection instrument. A pilot test to identify potential modification to the questionnaire was conducted, then structural equation modelling (SEM) was performed on a stratified sample of 307 drivers, to test the suggested hypotheses. Based on the results, five hypotheses have indirect relationships, four of which have a significant effect. Besides, the results show that driving fatigue partially mediates the relationship between the work schedule and driving performance and fully mediates in the relationship between work activities and driving performance. The nature of work and human factors is the most common reason related to road accidents. Therefore, the emphasis on driving performance and fatigue factors would thereby lead to preventing fatal crashes and life loss.

Pollution from dye containing wastewater leads to a variety of environmental problems, which can destroy plant life and eco-systems. This study reports development of a seaweed-based biochar as an adsorbent material for efficient adsorption of methylene blue (MB) dye from synthetic wastewater. The Eucheuma cottonii seaweed biochar was developed through pyrolysis using a tube furnace with N2 gas, and the properties were later improved by sulfuric acid treatment. The adsorption studies were conducted in a batch experimental setup under initial methylene blue concentrations of 50 to 200 mg/L, solution pH of 2 to 10, and temperature of 25 to 75 °C. The characterization results show that the developed biochar had a mesoporous pore morphology. The adsorbent possessed the surface area, pore size, and pore volume of 640 m2/g, 2.32 nm, and 0.54 cm3/g, respectively. An adsorption test for 200 mg/L of initial methylene blue at pH 4 showed the best performance. The adsorption data of the seaweed-based biochar followed the Langmuir isotherm adsorption model and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, with the corresponding R2 of 0.994 and 0.995. The maximum adsorption capacity of methylene blue using the developed seaweed‑based biochar was 133.33 mg/g. The adsorption followed the chemisorption mechanism, which occurred via the formation of a monolayer of methylene blue dye on the seaweed-based biochar surface. The adsorption performance of the produced seaweed biochar is comparable to that of other commercial adsorbents, suggesting its potential for large-scale applications.

Several agro-waste materials have been utilized for sustainable engineering and environmental application over the past decades, showing different degrees of effectiveness. However, information concerning the wider use of palm oil clinker (POC) and its performance is still lacking. Therefore, as a solid waste byproduct produced in one of the oil palm processing stages, generating a huge quantity of waste mostly dumped into the landfill, the waste-to-resource potential of POC should be thoroughly discussed in a review. Thus, this paper provides a systematic review of the current research articles on the several advances made from 2005 to 2021 regarding palm oil clinker physical properties and performances, with a particular emphasis on their commitments to cost savings during environmental and engineering applications. The review begins by identifying the potential of POC application in conventional and geopolymer structural elements such as beams, slabs, and columns made of concrete, mortar, or paste for coarse aggregates, sand, and cement replacement. Aspects such as performance of POC in wastewater treatment processes, fine aggregate and cement replacement in asphaltic and bituminous mixtures during highway construction, a bio-filler in coatings for steel manufacturing processes, and a catalyst during energy generation are also discussed. This review further describes the effectiveness of POC in soil stabilization and the effect of POC pretreatment for performance enhancement. The present review can inspire researchers to find research gaps that will aid the sustainable use of agroindustry wastes. The fundamental knowledge contained in this review can also serve as a wake-up call for researchers that will motivate them to explore the high potential of utilizing POC for greater environmental benefits associated with less cost when compared with conventional materials.

Development of strategies for removing heavy metals from aquatic environments is in high demand. Cadmium is one of the most dangerous metals in the environment, even under extremely low quantities. In this study, kenaf and magnetic biochar composite were prepared for the adsorption of Cd2+. The synthesized biochar was characterized using (a vibrating-sample magnetometer VSM), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The adsorption batch study was carried out to investigate the influence of pH, kinetics, isotherm, and thermodynamics on Cd2+ adsorption. The characterization results demonstrated that the biochar contained iron particles that help in improving the textural properties (i.e., surface area and pore volume), increasing the number of oxygen-containing groups, and forming inner-sphere complexes with oxygen-containing groups. The adsorption study results show that optimum adsorption was achieved under pH 5–6. An increase in initial ion concentration and solution temperature resulted in increased adsorption capacity. Surface modification of biochar using iron oxide for imposing magnetic property allowed for easy separation by external magnet and regeneration. The magnetic biochar composite also showed a higher affinity to Cd2+ than the pristine biochar. The adsorption data fit well with the pseudo-second-order and the Langmuir isotherm, with the maximum adsorption capacity of 47.90 mg/g.

Man-made organic waste leads to the rapid proliferation of pollution around the globe. Effective bio-waste management can help to reduce the adverse effects of organic waste while contributing to the circular economy at the same time. The toxic oily-biological sludge generated from oil refineries’ wastewater treatment plants is a potential source for biogas energy recovery via anaerobic digestion. However, the oily-biological sludge’s carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio is lower than the ideal 20–30 ratio required by anaerobic digestion technology for biogas production. Sugarcane bagasse can be digested as a high C/N co-substrate while the oily-biological sludge acts as a substrate and inoculum to improve biogas production. In this study, the best C/N with co-substrate volatile solids (VS)/inoculum VS ratios for the co-digestion process of mixtures were determined empirically through batch experiments at temperatures of 35–37 °C, pH (6–8) and 60 rpm mixing. The raw materials were pre-treated mechanically and thermo-chemically to further enhance the digestibility. The best condition for the sugarcane bagasse delignification process was 1% (w/v) sodium hydroxide, 1:10 solid-liquid ratio, at 100 °C, and 150 rpm for 1 h. The results from a 33-day batch anaerobic digestion experiment indicate that the production of biogas and methane yield were concurrent with the increasing C/N and co-substrate VS/inoculum VS ratios. The total biogas yields from C/N 20.0 with co-substrate VS/inoculum VS 0.06 and C/N 30.0 with co-substrate VS/inoculum VS 0.18 ratios were 2777.0 and 9268.0 mL, respectively, including a methane yield of 980.0 and 3009.3 mL, respectively. The biogas and methane yield from C/N 30.0 were higher than the biogas and methane yields from C/N 20.0 by 70.04 and 67.44%, respectively. The highest biogas and methane yields corresponded with the highest C/N with co-substrate VS/inoculum VS ratios (30.0 and 0.18), being 200.6 mL/g VSremoved and 65.1 mL CH4/g VSremoved, respectively.

An agricultural waste-based source of energy in the form of briquettes from rice husk has emerged as an alternative energy source. However, rice husk-based briquette has a low bulk density and moisture content, resulting in low durability. This study investigated the effect of initial moisture contents of 12%, 14%, and 16% of rice husk-based briquettes blended with 10 wt% of kraft lignin on their chemical and physical characteristics. The briquetting was done using a hand push manual die compressor. The briquette properties were evaluated by performing chemical (ultimate and proximate analysis, thermogravimetric analysis), physical (density, durability, compressive strength, and surface morphology) analyses. The durability values of all briquette samples were above 95%, meeting the standard with good compressive strength, surface morphology, and acceptable density range. The briquette made from the blend with 14% moisture content showed the highest calorific value of 17.688 MJ kg−1, thanks to its desirable morphology and good porosity range, which facilitates the transport of air for combustion. Overall, this study proved the approach of enhancing the quality of briquettes from rice husk by controlling the moisture content.

Membrane fouling significantly hinders the widespread application of membrane technology. In the current study, a support vector machine (SVM) and artificial neural networks (ANN) modelling approach was adopted to optimize the membrane permeability in a novel membrane rotating biological contactor (MRBC). The MRBC utilizes the disk rotation mechanism to generate a shear rate at the membrane surface to scour off the foulants. The effect of operational parameters (disk rotational speed, hydraulic retention time (HRT), and sludge retention time (SRT)) was studied on the membrane permeability. ANN and SVM are machine learning algorithms that aim to predict the model based on the trained data sets. The implementation and efficacy of machine learning and statistical approaches have been demonstrated through real-time experimental results. Feed-forward ANN with the back-propagation algorithm and SVN regression models for various kernel functions were trained to augment the membrane permeability. An overall comparison of predictive models for the test data sets reveals the model’s significance. ANN modelling with 13 hidden layers gives the highest R2 value of >0.99, and the SVM model with the Bayesian optimizer approach results in R2 values higher than 0.99. The MRBC is a promising substitute for traditional suspended growth processes, which aligns with the stipulations of ecological evolution and environmentally friendly treatment.

Aluminum waste-can management in Malaysia has recently become a serious environmental and public health issue, particularly in metropolitan areas. This has prompted the need to valorize these waste-cans into value-added products using the most economical and environmentally friendly techniques. In this study, the sol–gel technique was used to synthesize high-quality alumina from the aluminum waste-cans collected. From this method, the observed peaks of the synthesized alumina were identified as diaspore (α-AlO(OH)), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), aluminum oxide, or gamma-alumina (γ-Al2O3) crystalline structure and corundum. The morphological configuration, microstructure, and functional group properties of the synthesized alumina were evaluated. All the synthesized alumina exhibited a non-spherical shape and appeared to have hexagonal-like shape particles. Moreover, the XRD patterns of the synthesized alumina AL-6-30 and AL-12-30 exhibited a small angle (1–10°) with no XRD peak, which indicated a mesoporous pore structure with no long-range order. The overall results of γ-alumina synthesized from the aluminum waste-cans showed an optimal condition in producing a highly structured γ-alumina with excellent surface-area characteristics. The synthesized alumina exhibited stronger and highly crystalline functional characteristics almost comparable with the commercially available brands on the market.

Nowadays, oil companies employ nanofluid flooding to increase oil production from oil reservoirs. Herein the present work, a multiphase flow in porous media was used to simulate oil extraction from a three-dimensional porous medium filled with oil. Interestingly, the finite element method was used to solve the nonlinear partial differential equations of continuity, energy, Darcy’s law, and the transport of nanoparticles (NPs). The proposed model used nanofluids (NFs) empirical formulas for density and viscosity on NF and oil relative permeabilities and NP transport equations. The NPs thermophysical properties have been investigated and compared with their oil recovery factor (ORF) to determine the highest ORF. Different NPs (SiO2, CuO, and Al2O3) were used as the first parameter, keeping all parameters constant. The simulation was run three times for the injected fluid using the various NPs to compare the effects on enhanced oil recovery. The second parameter, volume fraction (VF), has been modeled six times (0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5%), with all other parameters held constant. The third parameter, the injected NF inlet temperature (293.15–403.15 K), was simulated assuming that all other parameters are kept constant. The energy equation was applied to choose the inlet temperature that fits the optimum NP and VF to determine the highest ORF. Findings indicated that SiO2 shows the best ORF compared to the other NPs. Remarkably, SiO2 has the lowest density and highest thermal capacity. The optimum VF of SiO2 was 4%, increasing the ORF but reduced when the VF was higher than 4%. The ORF was improved when the viscosity and density of the oil decreased by increasing the injected inlet temperature. Furthermore, the results indicated that the highest ORF of 37% was obtained at 353.15 K when SiO2 was used at a VF of 4%. At the same time, the lowest recovery is obtained when a volume of 5% was used at 403.15 K.

A significant issue for the ecosystem is the presence of boron in water resources, particularly in produced water. Batch and dynamic experiments were used in this research to extract boron in the form of boric acid from aqueous solutions using boron selective resins, DIAION CRB05. DIAION™ CRB05 is an adsorbent that is effective in extracting boron from aqueous solutions due to its high binding capacity and selectivity for boron ions, and it is also regenerable, making it cost-effective and sustainable. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and FTIR analysis for DIAION CRB05 characterization. To increase the adsorption capacity and find the ideal values for predictor variables such as pH, adsorbent dose, time, and boric acid concentration, the Box–Behnken response surface method (RSM) was applied. The dosage was reported to be 2000 mg/L at pH 2 and boron initial concentration of 1115 mg/L with 255 min for the highest removal anticipated from RSM. According to the outcomes of this research, the DIAION CRB05 material enhanced boron removal capability and has superior performance to several currently available adsorbents, which makes it suitable for use as an adsorbent for removing boric acid from aqueous solutions. The outcomes of isotherm and kinetic experiments were fitted using linear methods. The Temkin isotherm and the pseudo-first-order model were found to have good fits after comparison with R2 of 0.998, and 0.997, respectively. The results of the study demonstrate the effectiveness of DIAION™ CRB05 in removing boron from aqueous solutions and provide insight into the optimal conditions for the adsorption process. Thus, the DIAION CRB05 resin was chosen as the ideal choice for recovering boron from an aqueous solution because of its higher sorption capacity and percentage of boron absorbed.