Research Article
Research on the Design and Fabrication of a Household-Scale Roasting System for Leafy Agricultural Products
Phung Tien Duy, Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong, Vu Cong Long
Middle East Research Journal of Engineering and Technology; 40-45.
https://doi.org/10.36348/merjet.2026.v06i03.001
The pre-processing and value-added production of leafy agricultural commodities—particularly green tea and medicinal herbs—constitute a pivotal component of Vietnam’s agricultural value chain and rural household economy. Nevertheless, ensuring consistent product quality remains a persistent challenge, largely due to dependence on manual roasting practices or rudimentary equipment lacking precise thermal regulation. This study presents the research, design, and simulation of a compact roasting system for leafy agricultural products, employing a rotary drum mechanism with a processing capacity of 3–5 kg per batch. The central objective is to optimize both the mechanical configuration and the control architecture in order to maximally preserve color, aroma, and thermolabile bioactive compounds. The proposed system incorporates a horizontally aligned cylindrical drum fabricated from food-grade stainless steel (Inox 304), ensuring compliance with food safety standards and superior resistance to high-temperature chemical corrosion. Within the drum, a set of four symmetrically configured agitator blades facilitates homogeneous mixing and multi-point heat transfer. A notable contribution of this work lies in the utilization of SolidWorks software to construct a detailed 3D model and perform kinematic simulations, enabling the prediction of thermal energy distribution within the drum prior to physical prototyping. The system is further integrated with a PLC-based intelligent control unit and a variable frequency drive (VFD), allowing precise regulation of drying temperature within an acceptable tolerance range, thereby enhancing moisture removal efficiency and ensuring operational stability. Experimental validation demonstrates that the system operates reliably, producing outputs with a final moisture content below 13.5%, in compliance with QCVN 01-54:2011/BNNPTNT standards. Additionally, the system reduces labor intensity by approximately 40% and achieves significant energy savings compared to conventional direct-heating methods. This research provides an advanced mechanical solution that contributes to the modernization of post-harvest processing technologies for smallholder farmers, in alignment with sustainable agricultural development strategies.
Research Article
Assessing the Impact of Smoking on Air Pollution Levels at University Campuses: A Predictive Modeling Approach
Suhad Al-Shoukry
Middle East Research Journal of Engineering and Technology; 46-55.
https://doi.org/10.36348/merjet.2026.v06i03.002
Air pollutants poses a widespread chance to human health and the environment, with diverse assets contributing to its escalation. University campuses, which function hubs for instructional and social sports, are not proof against this trouble. This observe aimed to develop a predictive model that estimates the proportion of air pollution as a consequence of smoking behavior amongst college students and school members within a college campus placing. The studies employed a complete methodology, combining a smoking habits survey, air quality tracking, and advanced predictive modeling strategies. The findings discovered that smoking conduct contributed to about 22.7% of the general air pollution degrees on campus. The predictive model, advanced the usage of a random forest algorithm, demonstrated strong overall performance, with an R-squared price of zero.88 and a root suggest squared mistakes of 0.052. The spatial analysis highlighted regions with better degrees of air pollution resulting from smoking, imparting precious statistics for focused interventions. The effects underscore the big effect of smoking on air excellent and the potential health risks related to publicity to smoking-related air pollutants. The observe gives quantitative evidence to inform focused interventions and regulations aimed toward reducing smoking-related air pollution on college campuses, ultimately selling a healthier campus surroundings. By quantifying the contribution of smoking habits to air pollution levels and identifying hotspots of subject, this studies contributes to the growing frame of knowledge on the environmental and health influences of smoking. The findings emphasize the importance of adopting a holistic approach that considers diverse contributing elements and fosters collaborative efforts amongst stakeholders to mitigate the unfavorable consequences of air pollutants.
Research Article
Determination of Diagnosed Parameters of Electromechanical Systems
Sergey V. Derkachev, Vladimir A. Sidorov
Middle East Research Journal of Engineering and Technology; 56-63.
https://doi.org/10.36348/merjet.2026.v06i03.003
Induction motors are widely used as drives for electromechanical systems in metallurgical complexes operating under high load conditions in a continuous technological process. The failure of one of the units often leads to a shutdown of the entire production and is accompanied by significant losses. The most common method for diagnosing the actual condition of such systems is threshold protection based on exceeding specified values of a single parameter, most often vibration velocity. However, practical research shows that developing defects may not affect the vibration level for a long time, and then, within a few hours, lead to sudden failure. An analysis of the literature allows us to conclude that, despite the many existing diagnostic methods based on a single parameter (vibration, stator current, temperature), there is no unified methodology that substantiates a minimally sufficient set of diagnostic parameters with a limited number of sensors and considers the physics of damage development. The purpose of this work is to substantiate the minimum necessary set of monitored diagnostic parameters based on damage development models of electromechanical systems, ensuring defect identification 14 days before complete failure. The practical value of the proposed approach lies in the ability to detect degradation processes early using standard measuring instruments without significantly increasing costs. This goal is achieved based on 5-year monitoring data of an industrial 1000 kW induced draft fan. An additional set of thermodynamic and tribological parameters (bearing heating time constant, Hersey–Stribeck parameter) is proposed, which makes it possible to detect signs of degradation 21 days before failure, whereas using only vibration velocity according to ISO 10816-1 does not provide lead time for coupling defects. Based on this, the 'minimum data sufficiency rule' for diagnostic systems has been formulated, applicable to a wide class of electromechanical equipment.
Research Article
Comparative Well-to-Wake Life Cycle Assessment of Alternative Marine Fuels for Decarbonization in Maritime Transport Across Vessel Archetypes
Kadir Aydın
Middle East Research Journal of Engineering and Technology; 64-73.
https://doi.org/10.36348/merjet.2026.v06i03.004
Marine fuel selection delivers a genuine climate benefit only when assessed on a well-to-wake (WtW) life-cycle basis. This study reports a comparative WtW life cycle assessment (LCA) of alternative marine fuels, conducted under ISO 14040/14044 and the IMO MEPC.391(81) guidelines within the INNSEA R&D project, and extended with techno-economic modelling and a beyond-greenhouse-gas (GHG) impact analysis. Up to nine fuel pathways were evaluated across eight vessel archetypes using a Python-based LCA engine, a weighted multi-criteria decision matrix, a 15-year total-cost-of-ownership and marginal-abatement-cost framework, and a 10,000-run Monte-Carlo sensitivity analysis. Relative to a heavy-fuel-oil/marine-gas-oil baseline of about 91 gCO₂e/MJ, the project's preliminary computation indicates WtW reductions of 16% for fossil LNG, 73% for bio-LNG, and 88–94% for e-methanol, green ammonia and green hydrogen, consistent with the literature. Fossil LNG can equal or exceed the fossil baseline at the 6.4% real-world 4-stroke methane-slip level. With selective catalytic reduction, two-stroke ammonia engines reportedly suppress N₂O to near zero. The combined EU Emissions Trading System and FuelEU Maritime cost is the dominant economic driver for EU-trading vessels. No single fuel is optimal across all ship types; the choice differs by vessel size, route and delivery date. The analysis is preliminary and literature anchored.
Research Article
Optimization of Gasoline Product Yield from Riser Reactor Using Five Lump Kinetic Scheme
Cyrus Aseibichin, Altraide Ibifuro, Eke Lovegod Anthony, Ukpai Agwu Arua
Middle East Research Journal of Engineering and Technology; 74-81.
https://doi.org/10.36348/merjet.2026.v06i03.005
The research focused on vacuum gas oil consumption as feedstock to packed bed plug flow riser reactor of fluid catalytic cracker unit for optimized yield of gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas and fuel gas products and minimal yield of coke as undesired product. Therefore, steady state material and energy balance model equations were developed for packed bed plug flow riser reactor of fluid catalytic cracker using five lump kinetic schemes. These models were developed for the fluid catalytic cracking riser reactor as packed bed plug flow reactor using the principles of conservation of mass and energy balances respectively. The optimized gasoline yield of 56.47% was achieved in this research and when compared with refinery plant data and other previous research via a fluidized bed rise reactor model, showed a higher gasoline product yield. The optimized gasoline yield is also attributed to the efficacy of kinetic parameters (pre-exponential factors and activation energies) estimation. The developed material and energy balance ordinary differential model equations were solved using MatLab software and simulated results compared with refinery plant data with good alignment. The developed ordinary differential model equations simulated and yielded optimized gasoline yield of 56.47%, liquefied petroleum gas yield of 18.24%, flue gas yield of 15.49% and coke yield of 3.16%.
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