They came up with an Electric Capacitor Thermography (ECT) machine that rapidly detects and gives an accurate reading on water content (which is considered an impurity) in palm oil.
One of the researchers Mohd Hafiz Fazalul Rahiman said the ECT, that took two years to plan and design, could also detect gas content and would help to further boost the palm oil industry.
Smart invention: Mohd Hafiz (left) and Elmy Johana Mohamed (right) showing how the Electric Capacitor Thermography (ECT) works at UTM campus in Johor Baru recently. “Basically researchers at the palm oil factories have to identify the impurities in the oil everyday by taking samples from the storage tanks.
“They have to conduct the tests manually and it can take them up to two days to get the correct results from the lab,” he said.
Mohd Hafiz who is currently pursuing his PhD in Electrical Engineering added that by enabling accurate readings of impurities such as water, palm oil companies would be able to save valuable time and money.
“The companies just have to attach the device to the surface of the pipes and scanners in the device would be able to detect impurities in the oil and transmit the data into a computer,” he said.
Mohd Hafiz said the device has won three gold medals and picked up the Best of The Best Award in the Malaysia Technology Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur recently.
He also said that the group decided to focus on palm oil, as it is one of the country’s commodities and Malaysia is one of the biggest palm oil producers in the world.
“We are currently negotiating with several key industry players in the palm oil industry here who seem interested in purchasing the ECT.
“The Malaysia Palm Oil Berhad (MPOB) has also shown their interest towards the device,” he said.
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