A Systematic Literature Review on Waste-to-Resource Potential of Palm Oil Clinker for Sustainable Engineering and Environmental 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.

Toward Sustainable Engineering Structures for Better Safety in Built-Environment

The concept of safe design in architectural and civil engineering is of importance to protect humanity considering our economic, environment and sociality to maintain and improve its quality of life without degrading the quantity and quality [...]

Building the Engineering Mindset: Developing Sustainable Leadership and Management Competencies in First Year Engineering

The broad inclusion of sustainable engineering leadership and management concepts are increasinglyrecognized as necessary to ensure the relevance of an engineering education in a rapidly shifting world.Engineering leadership and management are integral to the engineering mindset and necessary to addressthe complex engineering problems faced by society. Examples of these complex problems can be seen in theUN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by all UN member states, including Canada, in 2015[1]. The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) identifies the need for strong non-technicalskills with a majority of the Graduate Attributes focusing on non-technical skills such as communication,teamwork, ethics and lifelong learning [2]. The UN SDGs are well aligned with the CEAB GraduateAttributes [3] and could be very effectively operationalized in engineering programs through the use of asustainable engineering leadership and management model.