Effect of Heat Treatment on the Chemical Composition of Pentaclethra Macrophylla Pod

Abstract

In this work, the effect of heat treatment on the chemical composition of powdered Pentaclethra Macrophylla pod was studied. The Pentaclethra Macrophylla pod was picked from the bush, cleaned manually, soaked and washed with distilled water to further remove the dirt particles. The washed Pentaclethra Macrophylla pod was sun-dried for about six hours. This was followed by ovum drying at a temperature of about 110oC for three hours to achieve a constant weight and allowed to cool. The dried Pentaclethra Macrophylla pods were crushed to powdered form using a locally fabricated crushing and grinding machines and later sieved. After sieving, the pod was divided into two samples with one carbonized and the other un-carbonized. The carbonized sample was packed in an earthen pot and covered with a lid. This was placed in a heat treatment furnace, heated to 950oC and held for three hours at the carbonization temperature under inert atmosphere. The furnace was turned off and 24hrs cooling was allowed for the furnace to cool to room temperature. The carbonized powdered Pentaclethra Macrophylla pod in the earthen pot was taken out of the furnace using a pair of laboratory tongues for further cooling. The chemical composition of the heat treated Pentaclethra Macrophylla pod was determined using XRF, FTIR and proximate analysis. The results showed that Pentaclethra Macrophylla pod has alumina Al2O3 and silica SiO2 as the dominant metallic oxides. The results also showed that the heat treated Pentaclethra Macrophylla pod had higher composition of fixed carbon and lesser moisture and volatile matter. Therefore, Pentaclethra Macrophylla pod can be used as a refractory material and as reinforcement in composite development.