FRGS 2025: A Sudden Turn, a Tight Deadline, and a Research Mission That Matters

Posted on August 2, 2025 ·

The Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), funded by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), faced an unexpected disruption in early February 2025 when the MyGRANTS system abruptly went offline. Since then, the fate of FRGS proposals and the many researchers who had applied, remained uncertain, leaving a cloud of doubt over the national research agenda.

However, today brought a surprising development. All FRGS applicants from the early 2025 cycle, including myself, received an email notification instructing us to improve and resubmit our proposals manually. Specifically, we were asked to include supporting quotations for V24000 (research materials), V28000 (professional services), and V29000 (rental and maintenance). What came as a shock was the urgency of the deadline, just 33 hours to revise, complete, and submit everything to our respective Research Alliance (RA).

Once verified for completeness and accuracy, the proposals will be forwarded to the Research Management Centre (RMC) for final submission to MOHE. The timeline is intense, but the mission remains clear.

My FRGS proposal this time focuses on a cutting-edge topic:
Converting Fuel Oil Blended Stock (FOBS) to Hydrogen using waste catalysts from refineries.
This project holds great promise in addressing the long-standing FOBS-related issues faced by refineries worldwide, particularly in sustainability and waste valorization. I believe strongly in the future relevance of this research, which is still in its early stages.

Since 2020, I have been working on this idea with the help of several research students. Together, we have built a foundation with experimental and thermodynamic studies and have already published several research articles. Alhamdulillah, the work is steadily gaining traction.

Despite the sudden rush and limited time, I remain committed to pushing this research forward. The road may be steep, but if successful, this project could contribute meaningfully to sustainable hydrogen production and industrial waste management.

Let’s hope this proposal finds its way to success and that FRGS continues to support transformative research like this for years to come.

#20242025 Day 033

#Saturday

Filed Under: 1 Academic, 1 Activity 1 Day, 2 Research, 4 Publication, 6 Supervision, RMC Tagged With: , , , ,

New Publication: Thermodynamic Analysis of Glycerol Dry Reforming to Hydrogen at Low Pressure (Editor’s Choice)

Posted on June 22, 2025 ·

Alhamdulillah, today, the work of my SPACE FYP student, Hafiz, has been published in the Chemical Process Engineering journal, under Semarak International Journal.

Brief information about the paper:

Hydrogen plays a vital role in the chemical industry, with about 95% of global production currently sourced from fossil fuels such as methane (CH₄). However, dry reforming technologies face significant challenges, including raw material limitations, efficiency concerns, and integration-related safety issues. Glycerol, a by-product of biodiesel production, presents a sustainable and promising alternative feedstock for hydrogen generation. This study investigates the thermodynamics of glycerol dry reforming using the HSC Chemistry software. By applying total Gibbs free energy minimization, the influence of various reaction conditions—including temperature (300°C–1000°C), pressure (0.001–1.0 bar), and glycerol-to-CO₂ ratios (1:1, 1:3, 1:5, 3:1, and 5:1)—was evaluated on hydrogen (H₂) and carbon monoxide (CO) production. The results indicate that hydrogen is the dominant product, with optimal yields achieved at 783 K, 1 bar, and a glycerol-to-CO₂ ratio of 5:1. Additionally, at reduced pressure (0.001 bar) and lower temperature (573 K), higher glycerol concentrations further enhanced hydrogen output. These findings highlight glycerol’s potential to improve the efficiency and economic viability of the dry reforming process, particularly under low-pressure conditions.

Link for the paper: https://semarakilmu.my/index.php/sijcpe/article/view/334/760

Here is the June 2025 publication of the journal: https://semarakilmu.my/index.php/sijcpe/issue/view/205

Filed Under: 4 Publication, Recognition Tagged With: , , ,

Day 019 (25/26) – Presented as Keynote Speaker – International conference on Advanced Research in Engineering, Technology and Innovation Manageent 2025 (ICARETIM2025)

Posted on June 19, 2025 ·

Amid the discussion with HiCOE IKG this morning, I asked for permission to step out briefly as I had to present a keynote at a conference. Thank you to Anis Amira Wan Ranizang for helping to prepare the slides and paper for the conference. Luckily, everything was conducted online, and thank you to IKG for lending me a room so I could deliver the keynote comfortably.

Here is the Tentative Schedule: https://semarakilmu.com.my/journals/index.php/ICARETIM2025/Program_Schedule

Filed Under: 2 Research, 4 Publication, Conference, Speaker Tagged With: , , , , ,

Thermodynamic analysis of hydrogen production from ethanol-glycerol mixture through dry reforming, Energy Procedia Elsevier

Posted on November 1, 2014 ·

Another of the paper I presented in ICAE 2014, Taiwan also got published in Energy Procedia Elsevier 2014. Alhamdulillah.

Z.Y. Zakaria, M. Jusoh, A. Johari, M.A.A. Zaini, F.H. Kasim, Thermodynamic analysis of hydrogen production from ethanol-glycerol mixture through dry reforming, Energy Procedia Elsevier, 2014.

More of my published journals are published here.

Filed Under: 1 Academic, 2 Research, 3 Writing, 4 Publication Tagged With: , , , , , , ,