Malaysian scientists pioneer using palm oil as servo valve fluid

Project team leader, Muhamad Husaini Abu Bakar, with the experimental set-up for the palm oil-based MRF valve. This set-up is designed to study the reliability of the fluid under real operating conditions. Photos: UNiKL-MSI

For two years, there was cooking oil within easy reach of anyone working at this table. It was one of the well-known brands of palm cooking oil, available in supermarkets and sundry shops, and a staple in many Malaysian kitchens.

But far from being a cooking show, this was an entirely different setting: a laboratory in a university in Kulim, Kedah.