This document outlines the coursework requirements for a Research Methodology module. It includes two tasks:
Task 1 requires students to write a critical analysis and abstract of a technical paper provided by their project supervisor. Task 2 requires students to find literature related to their project topic and correctly cite the sources in the CCE-Harvard referencing style. The document provides detailed instructions, assessment criteria, and marking schemes for evaluating students' work for each task. Plagiarism policies and late submission guidelines are also referenced.
Separation of Lanthanides/ Lanthanides and Actinides
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F/QAP/021/001
Caledonian College of Engineering
Course Work
Name of the programme BEng (GCU) CAME, MT, POM, EE,
CO, EPE, TE
Name of Module with Code Research Methodology,
MHH124715
Level/Semester & AY Level 4/Semester B 2017-18
Name of the Module
Leader/Tutor
Dr. Dinesh Keloth kaithari and Mr Athar Azeez
Coursework Type Research Methods
Assessment weightage 25 % of Overall Assessment
Type and date of submission Online 19-04-2018
2. Methods & achievement of learning outcomes of
the module with respect to the abilities to critically
analyse technical papers, interpret scientific &
technical data, proper referencing and citation of
the literature.
objectives of
project.
chosen project topic.
Tasks
Task-1: A technical paper will be given to the student by his/her
Project Supervisor and he/she
will be required to write a critical analysis and an abstract
based on the scientific information
available in the paper.
[50 marks (Abstract writing: 20 Marks & Critical Analysis
Writing: 30 marks)]
Abstract:
The Abstract must contain description of the topic, important
applications of the topic, brief
description about previous literature present in the paper,
methodology adopted by the author,
3. important results obtained and conclusions derived from the
results. The word count is limited to
250 words and keywords should be written at the end of the
abstract.
CONTENT MAX MARKS
ABSTRACT DEVELOPMENT 10
WRITING QUALITY, LOGICAL AND FOCUSED 5
BASIC GRAMMAR, SPELLING AND OTHER CONVENTIONS
5
TOTAL 20
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Critical Analysis: With the introduction to the topic, students
are expected to critically analyze
the literature part that contains key findings of previous
authors, methodology adopted in given
4. paper, parameters used for analysis, analyze the results obtained
(from graphs/tables),
important conclusions derived based on the result, weaknesses
in the paper and scope of
further investigations identified. Each topic has to be separately
presented in the form of
paragraphs and the word count for this part is limited to a range
of 500 to 750.
TASK-2: Visit the Library & Resource Center, e-brary and
Internet sites and look for the
literature like books, e-books, journal/conference papers, report,
articles, and videos etc.,
(preferably) related to the project topic or area. For this
literature found, write the in-text citation
and prepare the reference in CCE-Harvard referencing style.
There must be: 2 Library books or E-library books, 5 Journal or
Conference Papers/Reports or
Magazine Articles etc., 2 Web based resource like websites,
electronic report, videos etc. and
1 Image in Book.
Suggestive format for the Task 2
5. S.No Type of
Resource
Citation (In-text) –CCE
Harvard Style
Reference List Entry
1. Journal
Paper
…………….. ……………………..
2. Book ………. ……………………
3. Website ……. …………………………
4 Image in
Book
CONTENT MAX MARKS
DOES THE WORK SHOW AN UNDERSTANDING OF
TECHNICAL CONTENTS OF THE PAPER?
5
COULD THE STUDENT CLEARLY IDENTIFY THE
OBJECTIVE OF THE PAPER AND RELATE THAT
TO OTHER EARLIER WORKS CITED IN THE PAPER?
6. 5
DID THE STUDENT ARGUE / EVALUATE THE METHODS /
TECHNIQUES USED BY THE AUTHORS
OF THE PAPER?
10
COULD THE STUDENT IDENTIFY ANY WEAKNESSES IN
THE PAPER? 5
IS ANY SCOPE FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION
IDENTIFIED BY THE STUDENT? 5
TOTAL 30
CONTENT MAX MARKS
In text Citations
For the ten citations, 2 mark each for correct in-text citations
10x2 = 20
References
For the corresponding 10 References, 3 mark each for correct
listing of
references to confirm to the CCE- Harvard Referencing style.
10x3 = 30
TOTAL 50
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Marking scheme
Component Description Weightage (%)
1 Knowledge and understanding
of the topic
30%
2 Application and analysis of the
topic (Module specific Skill)
35%
3 The structure in terms of logic
and coherence
30%
4 The use of relevant work
examples and/or examples
gained from further reading
8. 5%
Total 100
Instructions
1. Plagiarism is a serious offence. In case of any plagiarism
detected, penalty will be
imposed leading to zero mark. Policy and guidelines for dealing
with plagiarism and
malpractice in examination can be viewed by clicking:
http://portal.cce.edu.om/member/contentdetails.aspx?id=490
2. The course work shall be subject to plagiarism software
check.
3. Course work should be submitted on time. College guidelines
on late submission of
coursework can be viewed by clicking:
http://portal.cce.edu.om/member/contentdetails.aspx?id=565
4. Course work should be submitted with an appropriate cover
page, which can be
obtained from the departmental assistant at the department.
5. Name, student identification and title of the course work to
be written clearly and legibly
on the cover page.
9. 6. The completed course work is to be submitted to the
departmental assistant on or before
the deadline and record your name, date of submission and
signature in the book with
the departmental assistant.
7. For online submission of course work, pdf file with
appropriate cover page mentioning
name of student, student number and title of the course work
should be uploaded using
the submission link created and made available by the module
leader.
Referencing
Harvard Referencing (CCE Style) First Edition 2013 should be
followed for both in-text and
listing references. This downloadable document can be found in
our CCE portal at:
http://portal.cce.edu.om/member/contentdetails.aspx?cid=628
Name and Signature of Module leader
Dr. Dinesh keloth kaithari and Mr Athar Azeez
Date: 28-1-2018
17. C
T
O
R
Y
F
A
IL
M
A
R
K
S
DOES THE WORK SHOW AN UNDERSTANDING OF
TECHNICAL CONTENTS OF THE PAPER?
(MAX. 5 MARKS)
COULD THE STUDENT CLEARLY IDENTIFY THE
OBJECTIVE OF THE PAPER AND RELATE THAT TO
18. OTHER EARLIER WORKS CITED IN THE PAPER?
(MAX. 5 MARKS)
DID THE STUDENT ARGUE / EVALUATE THE
METHODS / TECHNIQUES USED BY THE AUTHORS
OF THE PAPER? (MAX. 10 MARKS)
COULD THE STUDENT IDENTIFY ANY
WEAKNESSES IN THE PAPER?
(MAX. 5 MARKS)
IS ANY SCOPE FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION
IDENTIFIED BY THE STUDENT? (MAX. 5 MARKS)
TOTAL MARKS (MAX.50)
SIGN AND NAME OF THE MARKER
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Research Methodology – CW1-Task 2
REFERENCING MARKING SHEET
STUDENT’S NAME
_____________________________________________________
_________
STUDENT NO: _________________ PROGRAMME:
____________________
PROJECT TITLE:
_____________________________________________________
___________
Description Marks
In text Citations
For the ten citations, 2 mark each for correct in-text citations
(10x2=20marks)
References
20. For the corresponding 10 References, 3 mark each for correct
listing of
references to confirm to the CCE- Harvard Referencing style.
(10x3 = 30marks)
TOTAL MARKS (MAX.50)
SIGN AND NAME OF THE MARKER
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272713493_Developm
ent_of_Aquaponic_System_using_Solar_Powered_Control_Pum
p?enrichId=rgreq-2a07ade5d6665339e46e23cfca450245-
XXX&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzI3MjcxMzQ5MztBUzo
zMDcxNjI0NzQwNTc3MjhAMTQ1MDI0NDY0ODI5MA%3D%
3D&el=1_x_2&_esc=publicationCoverPdf
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272713493_Developm
ent_of_Aquaponic_System_using_Solar_Powered_Control_Pum
p?enrichId=rgreq-2a07ade5d6665339e46e23cfca450245-
XXX&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzI3MjcxMzQ5MztBUzo
zMDcxNjI0NzQwNTc3MjhAMTQ1MDI0NDY0ODI5MA%3D%
3D&el=1_x_3&_esc=publicationCoverPdf
https://www.researchgate.net/project/microwave-
24. combine with hydroponics in a symbiotic environment. In the
aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water,
increasing toxicity for the fish. This water has led to a
hydroponic system where the by products from the
aquaculture are filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients, after
which the cleansed water is recirculated back to
the animals. The term aquaponics is a portmanteau of the terms
aquaculture and hydroponic. Aquaponic systems
vary in size from small indoor or outdoor units to large
commercial units, using the same technology as shown
in Fig. 1. The systems usually contain fresh water, but salt
water systems are plausible depending on the type of
aquatic animal and which plants. Aquaponics consists of two
main parts, with the aquaculture part of raising
aquatic animals and the hydroponics part of growing plants. The
biofilter and hydroponic components can be
combined by using plant support media such as gravel or sand
that also functions as biofilter media. Raft
hydroponics, which consists of floating sheets of polystyrene
and net pots for plant support, can also provide
sufficient biofiltration if the plant production area is large
enough. Combining biofiltration with hydroponics is a
desirable goal because eliminating the expense of a separate
biofilter [1].
25. Nowadays the main sources of generating electricity such as oil,
gas, nuclear power are more expensive
than ever. Besides the price, the amount of non-renewable
resources is decreasing and starting to run out while
the demands of the world keep rising. If this situation still
continues, it can cause a trouble to the world. Besides
that, burning fossil can produce greenhouse gases and these
gases can make a global warming becomes faster. In
Malaysia, the majority of energy source is from oil. Since the
world is consuming the energy sources, a
precautionary step to protect the environment must be
proceeded. A renewable energy is a good replacement for
current energy source. Malaysia is suitable for producing energy
through solar panel because it is located near
the equator which is received average 12 hour day and night
throughout the year. Thus, the solar panel is the
ideal green energy for power aquaponics solar powered control
pump because the project located in Malaysia.
Fig. 1 Aquaponics System
Solar power is actually one of the cleanest methods of energy
production known. But the main
drawback of it is not widely used because of the cost of solar
26. panel. Compared to electricity from coal-fired
power plants, solar is more expensive. Typically solar panels
produce the most energy during the middle of the
day and somewhat less before and after that. Sun position is not
static and keeps changing from east in the
morning and moving to the west in the evening due to
movement of the earth rotates clockwise. Since the
position of the sun is not static, a moving motor required to
follow the solar movement but in this experiment we
placed the solar panel in static conditions and observed if the
solar output on static condition is enough to power
the system all the day. Also in cloudy areas with frequent rain
are often not as well suited for solar panels
because typical solar panels need direct sun to produce the most
power. But as new panels can now use to
diffuse light on cloudy days, the solar panel is still producing
power. With prices going down steadily, more
sites would be feasible that once were not. Another problem is
shortages in materials for producing the solar
panel because of shortage it can be hard for producers to meet
demand capacity, thus pushing up the cost. The
inverter is the essential part of the project because inverter
converts a DC to AC current. AC is a sine waveform
the problem of converting a DC to AC is to have a same
27. waveform as AC. When converting a DC to AC there is
a power loss in the inverter cause by component power
dissipation. A complex inverter has a more power loss.
Without the inverter, solar panel only can power DC equipment
thus limit the usability of solar panel
application. With the inverter, most of the existing electrical
home appliance can be powered by solar panel and
save the cost of without replacing or buying equipment that
power by DC.
The project objectives are to power water and air pump using
green energy via solar panels. Water
pump required AC voltage and inverter is used for this
application. This project focuses on using an inverter to
instead replace the water pump with DC water pump because
when replace grid power to solar panel energy, all
the existing electrical appliances previously power of grid
power voltage needs to be replaced with a DC
appliance. This is not an appropriate solution for converting
conventional grid power to green energy, it is
wasted, costly and contribute to more greenhouse effect due to
landfill full of garbage. By implementing
inverter to the solar panel, the existing electrical equipment can
be used as usual and benefits from energy
produce by solar panel.
28. II. LITERATURE REVIEW
In the [2], the research is about the balanced renewable energy
system. They found to produce an
optimal sustainable energy system. Several components required
to accomplish the mission. These include an
efficient wind generator, solar panels and intelligent controller
to manage energy storage. The main advantage
of the system is to reduce cost of circuit for inverter and
microcontroller. It provides states difficulty and
solution for green energy to produce a constant energy
throughout the day. However in this project, we focus on
using only solar panel due to Malaysia climate have twelve
constant twelve hour day and night throughout the
year. Another source of green energy might be possible but
more research needs to be done.
For the energy solution for developing communities [3], the
World Bank estimates that roughly 1.6
billion people, one out of every four people on the planet, do
not have regular access to electricity [4]. Based on
the business as usual scenarios, the International Energy
Agency predicts that 1.4 billion people will still lack
access to electricity in 2030 [5]. In rural area without
electricity, people use kerosene to light up their home
29. during night time. Kerosene is dangerous. Families cannot
afford a proper bottle and wick. They use fragile
glass and rope for a wick. In 1998 there were 270 000 deaths
from fire related burns in developing countries. In
India 2.5 million people suffer burns each year mainly
overturned kerosene lamps [3]. As the solar panel
produces energy during daylight, the extra energy from solar
panel is charging a battery and powered an air
pump during night time. Tilt angles of solar panel need to be
determined correctly to effectively capture sun
energy.
The clear sky global solar irradiance on tilt angles of
photovoltaic module was examined in Perlis,
Malaysia. They found that Perlis is suitable for photovoltaic
power generation due to big solar irradiance
potential, its average is 1061 W/m2 on January and its lowest is
995.38 W/m2 on July [6] . They also found that
the tilt angle for solar panels is an important to increase solar
panel efficiency a series of calculation involve of
angles, azimuth and several formulas required to get an ideal tilt
angle for solar panel. Based on their research, it
shows that northern region of Malaysia is suitable for producing
green energy through solar panel. A series of
research needs to be done at another place to validate another
30. spot for green energy. The aquaponics system
required an ideal solar panel tilt to harness the energy to power
the motor pump and charge battery during
sunlight. By using data from the journal, we have understood
the ideal tilt angle, as well as the output power
generates from solar panel. The energy produced by a solar
panel is supplied to water pump and charging a
battery during daylight. The inverter is used to convert DC
voltage from solar panel into AC voltage. The motor
pump is connected to the output of inverter as voltage becomes
AC. In [7], the solar powered water pump
problems, pitfalls and potential are discussed. They mentioned
that 17 out of 90 inverters fail during testing.
Thus makes reliable and efficient inverters are difficult. In the
aquaponic system, the simple design of inverter is
needed which able to handle high power. During the test of
inverter, it‟s concludes that the inverter is not
efficient and reliable. Thus it is better to use a pump with
voltage rated to the pump itself.
III. DESIGN METHODOLOGY
The design is based on software and hardware part. The
software required to simulate the circuit using
31. Multisim software, Microchip MPLAB IDE software used to
perform the interface to Peripheral Interface
Controller (PIC18F4550) and develop the layout of a printed
board circuit using the Proteus software. PIC
18F4550 is ideal for low power and connectivity applications
that benefit from the availability of three serial
ports. Large amounts of RAM memory for buffering and
enhanced flash program memory make it ideal for
embedded control and monitoring applications that require
periodic connection with a personal computer via
USB for data upload or download and/or firmware updates [8]-
[10]. The inverter circuit and microcontroller
circuit are designed for the hardware part. Fig. 2 shows the
development process of aquaponis system. During
daylight time, solar panel captures energy from sun and
converts to electrical energy to charge lead acid battery.
Microcontrollers with LDR or photoresistor will choose which
pump will be running depend on the LDR or
Photo resistor output. If sun detects, the water pump is ON, air
pump is OFF. A relay is used as a switch
between microcontroller with the step up inverter, air pump and
water pump due to high voltage. The voltage
from lead acid 12 V DC is converted into 240 V AC using step
up the inverter. However, in the night time the
32. solar panel doesn't receive energy where air pump is ON and
water pump is OFF. Lead acid battery continues
supplying power to air pump until the next morning where the
solar panel will charge lead acid battery.
Fig. 2: Operation of aquaponic system during daylight.
The inverter can be designed using a 555 timer for low power
application but in an aquaponic system
need a higher power. The inverter circuit design consists of two
parts which to convert from the AC signal to
DC signal. The first part is to replace the 555 timer with a
resistor, capacitor and transistor for switching
frequency at 50 to 60 Hz and the second part is the positive and
negative switching to emulate the AC voltage
positive and negative voltage as shown in Fig. 3. At the end, the
inverter is producing an output of 12 V based
on the input with a higher current than using 555 timer inverter.
Fig. 3: Inverter Circuit
Fig. 4 shows the controller circuit in the aquaponic system.
Controller circuit is used to control water
and air pump via relay, charge and discharge battery and an
input to activate the control condition. A voltage
33. regulator is placed at controller circuit due to the input voltage
supply by solar panel above 12V. A PIC
18F4550 microcontroller requires only 5V for operation thus
voltage regulator 7805 is used to step down the
voltage to 5V output. The operation of the controller is when
daylight solar panel voltage is act as input “High”
at pin RB0 and relay at RB1 and RB2 is being activated, the
relay at RB1 is connected at water pump relay at
RB2 control the charging battery. When nighttime, solar panel
output is zero, so the input for microcontroller is
zero. The microcontroller output at RB1 and RB2 is low or zero.
This condition both relays switch off and relay
at RB1 is switch to air pump powered by battery. Relay at RB2
is not charging battery, the battery powered air
pump throughout the night until daylight. In microcontroller
circuit, there is a component it hasn't used such as
photo resistor. Photo resistor act as a sun detector, but due to
solar panel can be used as sun detector, when
sunlight hit the panel, it produces electricity, and this electricity
can be used as an input to the microcontroller.
Fig. 4: Controller Circuit
34. IV. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
Fig. 5 shows the waveform of the inverter circuit of the
Multisim software and the performance of the
circuit with three different inputs is summarized in Table 1.
However the limitation of this circuit is the resistor
at switching positive and negative polarity required a higher
power resistor. A normal resistor used in normal
electronic component which rated half watt or one watt is not
enough to handle the high power switching,
resistor. To eliminate the problem is replacing the resistor with
same value but at higher rated power such as 5
watt sand block wire wound resistor.
Fig. 5 Output of inverter circuit
Table 1 Performance of Inverter
Input (V) Input (A) Input Power
(W)
Output
(V)
Output
(A)
Output
35. Power (W)
Efficiency
(%)
13.6 0.697 9.48 106 0.06 6.31 55.56
17.1 0.873 14.92 114 0.08 9.63 61.12
18.1 1.12 20.27 121 0.11 13.31 65.55
The overall aquaponic system is shown in Fig 6 which consists
of microcontroller, battery, air pump
and water pump. The total cost of this project is about RM 100.
Fig. 6 Microcontroller Printed Circuit Board
The Fig. 6 shows the output voltage produced by solar panel
between 8.00 a.m to 7.00 p.m on 21 May
2012. As the early morning at 8.00 am the output is 12.43V and
gradually increase until reaches its peak output
at 12 noon which is 18.49V. Then the voltage drop gradually to
7.00 p.m. The link between voltage and current,
we can clearly see that ampere output for solar panel follow the
gradually increasing and decreasing as the
voltage line. This solar panel data is captured at Ayer Keroh,
Melaka on 21 May 2012, the weather on that day
36. is sunny, dry and hot.
Fig. 6 Solar Panel Output vs Time
V. Conclusion
The low cost aquaponic solar power control pump was
successfully developed using PIC technology. It
a step towards green energy by replacing grid power with solar
panels. The challenge of replacing grid power
with a solar panel is to power existing equipment that already
connects to the normal 240V AC. Solar panel
produce average 12V with a DC voltage and this required an
inverter to convert DC to AC and step the voltage
to 110V or 240V. This project focuses on inverter to power a
water pump or home appliances same as the power
grid. The output power of solar panel is depending on the
weather and sun angle towards the solar panel. The
optimal solution to capture the sun's energy is by tracking the
sun position and solar panel to move as the sun
moved. The challenge of this research is to find out the air
pump which the air pump normally used an AC
voltage, but recently most of fish shops have sold a portable
battery air pump. The portable battery air pump
required a D type battery to operate which is a DC voltage, thus
37. in this system the AC air pump can be replaced
by a portable battery air pump with minor change needs to be
done to implement the system. The portable
battery air pump required a 2 cell D type battery 3V and the
battery output rated at 12V. A voltage regulator to
step down from 12V to 3V is needed. The improvement of this
research can be done through using the high
technology battery.
REFERENCES
[1] Michael P. Masser, Michael P. Masser and Thomas M.
Losordo, Recirculating Aquaculture Tank Production Systems:
Aquaponics
Integrating Fish and Plant Culture, Southern Regional
Aquaculture Center, Texas, 2006
http://www.google.com.my/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor
:%22Michael+P.+Masser%22&source=gbs_metadata_r&cad=3
[2] Mitchell K, Rizk J, Nagrial M. , Balanced renewable energy
system., Proc. of power electronics and motion control
conference.
2000, 857-861.
[3] R. Podmore, Ray Larsen, Henry Louie, and Brian Waldron,
Affordable Energy
38. Solution
s for Developing Communities, Prof of
Power Engineering Society, IEEE General Meeting - PES,
2011, pp.1-8
[4] Thomas Friedman, Hot, Flat and Crowded, Allen Lane,
2008.
[5] Dalberg Global Development Advisor, Solar Lighting for the
Base of the Pyramid – Overview of an Emerging Market,
Lighting
Africa Conference, Nairobi, Kenya, 2010.
[6] I. Daut, M. Irwanto, Y.M. Irwan, N. Gomesh, N. S. Ahmad,
Clear Sky Global Solar Irradiance on Tilt Angles of
Photovoltaic
Module in Perlis, Northern Malaysia, International Conference
on Electrical, Control and Computer Engineering, 2011.
[7] Short T. D., Mueller M. A.; „Solar powered water pumps:
problems, pitfalls and potential‟, International Conference on
PEMD,
39. 2002, pp280–285.
[8] N. M. Z. Hashim, A. F. Jaafar, Z. Zakaria, A. Salleh, and R.
A. Hamzah, Smart Casing for Desktop Personal Computer,
International Journal Of Engineering And Computer Science
(IJECS), 2(8), 2013, 2337–2342.
[9] S. H. Husin, M. Y. N Hassan, N. M. Z. Hashim, Y. Yusop,
A. Salleh, Remote Temperature Monitoring And Controlling,
International Journal For Advance Research In Engineering And
Technology (IJARET), 1(9), 2013, 40-47.
[10] Najmiah Radiah Mohamad, Chau Man Siang, Ahmad
Sadhiqin Mohd Isara, Adie Mohd Khafe, Azahari Salleh, Nur
Fatihah Azmi,
Electromagnetic Levitator, International Conference on
Computer and Communication Engineering(ICCCE), 2012, 319-
324.
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