Agro Waste Research Articles

Valorization of pineapple leaves: Effective conversion of agro waste to textile materials

AbstractThe demand for sustainable and environmentally friendly practices by reducing the usage of virgin materials and minimizing the environmental impact associated with textile production has increased. However, due to the subjectivity of reuse and recycling for waste management, developing textiles with sustainable and quality yarn characteristics remains a challenge. The main goal of this experiment is to produce a new sustainable blended open end (OE)‐rotor yarn by using pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) and recycled waste fiber (RWF). OE‐rotor yarns are made in various proportions from RWFs generated from clothing wastes and bleached PALF at 20%, 50%, and 80%, respectively. To provide a more accurate evaluation, the properties of 100% PALF OE‐rotor yarns versus PALF‐RWF blended OE‐rotor yarns are compared. The evaluation of various physical properties led to the discovery that rotor yarns with up to 80% RWF‐PALF blended yarns had an acceptable number of physical attributes. The findings were encouraging given that the created yarns from RWF with PALF blended are less expensive than the yarns produced from standard raw materials. It also has a dual‐benefit for the manufacturers that it allows them to make money from the waste while also addressing zero waste management and disposal challenges.

Noise Pollution Control by using Agro Waste Material

Increasing use of electrical and mechanical appliances at home and industries has created a concern for noise pollution created by them. Urbanization and heavy growth of construction work in every neighborhood further emphasize the need of new technologies for noise reduction. Noise created by different machines can be controlled either by suppressing the noise generating factors or by using the noise proofing agro materials which help to reduce the acoustic wave's energy by blocking or absorption. Maize, rice straw, and coconut fiber these agro products help to reduce the noise pollution. Newspaper waste also used as noise absorbing materials noise pollution control using agro waste involves leveraging agricultural residues to create effective sound-absorbing solutions. This abstraction encompasses the development of materials like acoustic panels, barriers, or insulation from agro waste, providing sustainable and eco-friendly methods to mitigate noise pollution in diverse settings.

An experimental investigation on the mechanical characteristics of Steel Fibre Reinforced Alkali Activated Concrete incorporating industrial and agro wastes

An experimental investigation on the mechanical characteristics of Steel Fibre Reinforced Alkali Activated Concrete incorporating industrial and agro wastes

Optimization and Detergent Compatibility of Protease Produced from Aspergillus oryzae by Utilizing Agro Wastes.

The biotechnological process called solid-state fermentation (SSF) was applied for hyper production of protease by using a fungal strain called Aspergillus oryzae. From screening of 9 different local substrates (peanut shell, wheat bran, guava leaves, sugar cane bagasse, rice polish, wheat straw, corn straw, reed grass, and rice straw), peanut shells serve as the best substrates for protease production under optimized cultured conditions. The varying physiochemical parameters such as pH (2-9.5), temperature (30-52 °C), incubation time (1-10 days), inoculum size (1-8 mL), moisture level (20-125%), and substrate concentration (1-7 g) were optimized by response surface methodology (RSM). The highest activity of protease was recorded to be 1101.778 U/mL at 660 nm using peanut shell was optimum at pH 8, temperature 52 °C, incubation time 8 days, inoculum size 2 mL, moisture level 20%, and substrate concentration 2 g. The crude form of enzymes produced were further purified through ammonium sulfate precipitation, dialysis, and gel filtration chromatography. Then, purified enzymes were characterized at different pH, temperature, and incubation time. For characterization of purified protease, pH, temperature, and incubation time were 8, 52 °C, and 8 days for peanut shell and was done by one factor at a time method. Hence, isolated enzymes were alkaline in nature, i.e., alkaline proteases. Then, protease produced from peanut shells was applied to locally available detergents to increase their catalytic activity for strain removal. At last, the final results were interpreted in the form of 3D surface and contour plots using Microsoft Excel 2013 and Minitab 17 software. In conclusion, the utilization of A. oryzae and peanut shell as the substrate in the biotechnological process of SSF demonstrated successful hyper production of alkaline protease. The optimized conditions resulted in high enzyme activity and showcased the potential application of the isolated enzymes in improving the catalytic activity of locally available detergents.

Comparative studies on the cultivation, yield, and nutritive value of an edible mushroom, Pleurotus tuber-regium (Rumph. ex Fr.) Singer, grown under different agro waste substrates.

In the present study, Pleurotus tuber-regium (Rumph. ex Fr.) Singer collected from Keeriparai forest of Kanyakumari district, South India was cultivated using environmentally benign, low-cost agricultural waste residues (paddy straw, sugarcane bagasse, rice husk, and sawdust) as growth substrates. The main goal of this study was to assess the cultivation, yield, and nutritional value of P. tuber-regium fruiting bodies grown under different growth substrates. Spawn running time and time for primordia formation were found to be shorter in mushroom growing with paddy straw substrate compared to sawdust and sugarcane bagasse. A quick spawn run time was observed in paddy straw substrate (12 ± 1 day) followed by sugarcane bagasse (15 ± 1 day) and sawdust (23 ± 1 day). The primordia was well developed in the macrofungus grown with paddy straw substrate on 18 ± 1 day followed by sugarcane bagasse (22 ± 1 day) and sawdust (32 ± 1 day). Significantly higher yield of fruiting bodies with increased contents of protein and carbohydrate and low level of fat was obtained when P. tuber-regium was cultivated with paddy straw substrate. While, cultivation of P. tuber-regium in sawdust and sugarcane bagasse resulted in increased contents of K, Na, Ca, and Mg along with highest energy value. On the other hand, rice husk did not support the cultivation of this macrofungus. Therefore, it is of significant interest to initiate the commercial production of this macrofungus so as to fight against the problems of malnutrition found in few African and south Asian countries.

Thermal degradation of emerging pollutants in municipal solid wastes and agro wastes: effectiveness of catalysts and pretreatment for the conversion of value added products

In this study, emerging soil pollutants in the form of municipal solid waste (MSW) and agricultural waste were converted into biofuel via thermal degradation process. Among various waste-to-energy conversion processes, the pyrolysis of biomass is considered the most significant due to its maximum biofuel yield than other conversion techniques. Individual and co-pyrolysis of MSW and sugarcane residue (SR) as well as its treated variant (TSR) were performed in a lab-setup fixed-bed reactor with and without catalyst. The effect of acid pretreatment and catalytic effects on the pyrolysis process was assessed in terms of product yields and characterization. The acidic pretreatment of SR and catalyst in the pyrolysis process alters the process yield and its composition. The maximum oil yield of 50.5 wt% was achieved by catalytic co-pyrolysis of MSW + TSR + HZSM5, whereas the maximum gas yield of 38.1 wt% was achieved by catalytic co-pyrolysis of MSW + SR + HZSM5. This suggests that intrinsic minerals present in the biomass and MSW, particularly alkali and alkaline earth metals, have a catalytic effect on the devolatilization of organic material and the char cracking event. The pretreatment of biomass showed considerable improvement in the properties of the produced pyrolysis oil and char. Compared to the pyrolysis oil and char obtained from MSW + SR, the oil and char obtained from MSW + TSR + HZSM5 showed a small increment in their heating values. Pretreatment and the catalytic co-pyrolysis process influenced the structure of the pyrolysis oils, increasing the production of phenolic compounds and aromatic hydrocarbons. The amount of gas components in pyrolysis gas, such as CH4, CO2, and CO also changed more according to the feedstock used for the process. Overall, the HZSM-5 catalyst and co-pyrolysis of MSW with pretreated SR enhanced the pyrolysis conversion of waste municipal solids and agricultural wastes into energy-rich products.

Design of Pedal Powered Atta Chakki Based on Engineering Properties of Selected Food Grains

The study was aimed to determine engineering properties of food grains which play an important role in the design of functional componenets of pedal-operated flour mill. The crops namely rice, pigeon pea, wheat, sorghum, and maize were selected for the study. Pedal operated flour mill comonents were designed and developed based on the variation of the engineering properties viz., size, shape, aspect ratio, volume, geometric mean diameter, sphericity, bulk density, true density, density, porosity, weight of 1000 grains, angle of repose, static coefficient of friction and hardness. These properties were determined and considered for the design of functional components viz., design of hopper, selection of drive mechanism, design of supporting frame, selection of grinding stones, power transmission, processing unit, safety, and ergonomics for easy and effective operation were made. The engineering properties are of great importance towards proper design, efficient process and equipment development. The developed pedal-operated flour mill is suitable for grinding almost all cereals and pulses to produce Rawa, Flour (Atta), and Dhal for human consumption and also for producing poultry/fish feed by grinding agro by-products and wastes.

Production of biodiesel from biocatalysis of agro-wastes in acidic environment

Due to the disposal challenges posed by the availability of agro wastes, nano-catalysts have been reported used the synthesis from the wastes for the biodiesel. Therefore, this study employed the catalyst derived from the acidified corn stock for the synthesis of biodiesel from agricultural waste oilseeds of Carica papaya. The oil was extracted from the seed via a continuous process, the quality of the oil was determined, and the biodiesel was synthesized using nanocatalysts developed from the corn stock. Catalyst characterization was carried out using electric potential charge (ZETA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), x-ray fluorescence (XRF-FS), and brunauer-emmett-teller (BET) analysis. Process optimization was carried out by considering three variables in both the cases of oil extraction and biodiesel production via RSM-BBD and ANN-GA. The produced biodiesel was quantified by property determination, and the catalyst reusability test was carried out to ascertain the strength of the developed catalyst.Results reflected that the seed was rich in oil (44.14 % (wt./wt.)), and the oil was acidic (acid value = 3.680 mg KOH/g Oil). The produced acidified catalyst from corn pods showed the presence of heteroatoms, including mica-phylosilicates in the corn pod, but carbon produced a higher concentration (71.45 %wt.). The validated optimum biodiesel yield of 99.06 % (wt./wt.) at a cat. amount of 3.96 (g), reaction time of 72.42 min, and EOH/OMR of 1:5.99 were recorded. The qualities of biodiesel were in conformity with the biodiesel recommended standard. The catalyst reusability test showed the developed catalyst to possess a stable adsorption capacity, charge imbalance, and non-expanding behavior during transesterification.This study concluded that RSM-BBD with cubic polynomial techniques shows superiority over ANN-GA in conversion of Carica papaya seed oil to biodiesel in a catalytically acidified environment with corn pods, and the produced biodiesel could serve as an alternative environmentally friendly fuel.

Experimental Investigations on the Effect of Pretreatment in Anaerobic Digestion of Coir Pith Agro Waste

The coir industry in India’s southern coastal regions, especially in the state of Kerala, is becoming increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of the accumulation and incremental increase of coir pith each year. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of pretreatment on the anaerobic digestion of coir pith. The characterization study of coir pith shows high organic content, which can be anaerobically digested to produce biogas. But, the high lignin content (30.91%) makes the process slow. To overcome this, a biological pretreatment method was tried using two microbial cultures belonging to fungal genera known to be lignin decomposers, viz., Trichoderma and Pleurotus. By using Trichoderma, lignin content was reduced by 3.7%, and the maximum gas production was obtained in a shorter time (19 days) in comparison with the sample without any pretreatment (24 days). When Pleurotus was used for lignin degradation, the lignin content was reduced by 6.78%, and the maximum gas production was obtained in a much shorter time period (14 days) in comparison with the former two methods. The gas produced comprises 74 ppm of methane, which has fuel value. The sludge after digestion was tested, which indicated a marginal increase in NPK value and hence can be used as fertilizer. The results of the study appear to be quite promising in the transition towards green energy by providing scope for the process of biomethanation, with the conclusion that further research can transform coir pith into a good renewable energy resource.

Development of sustainable masonry solid blocks by the incorporation of industrial and agro waste.

<p>Bricks have been extensively adopted for centuries and continue to play a vital role in the construction industry. Nevertheless of its dependable workability and accessibility, fired clay brick production has been recognized for its comparatively high energy and resource requirements. Traditional clay bricks, widely used in construction for centuries, pose significant environmental challenges. The extraction of clay for brick production can result in habitat destruction and landscape alteration. The firing process in brick kilns consumes substantial amounts of energy, often derived from non-renewable sources, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. The development of sustainable masonry solid blocks signifies a revolutionary change in the construction sector, providing a sustainable substitute for conventional building materials. These blocks, typically made from reused or locally obtained materials, demonstrate a dedication to environmental stewardship and the efficient use of resources. This innovative idea of utilizing some industrial waste such as fly ash, bagasse ash, marble dust and stone dust in solid block manufacture significantly reduces the environmental pollution problem, offers an alternative construction material source, and makes the solid blocks economical. Different types of trail mixes have been developed, and the produced masonry solid blocks underwent a series of experimental investigations. The solid bricks are being compared to conventional cement blocks. The developed sustainable solid block (MB6) exhibits a strength that is 43.78% greater than that of conventional cement solid blocks. The present study attempts to determine the optimal material proportion for innovative solid block production. Key words: Carbon footprint, Eco-friendly building blocks, Bagasse ash, Marble dust and Industrial waste</p>

Effect of Agro-Waste on Bioremediation of Soil Polluted with Spent Hydrocarbon in Keffi, Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Petroleum hydrocarbon is a major environmental pollutant throughout the world. This study was aimed at the effect of agro-wastes on bioremediation of soil polluted with spent hydrocarbon in Keffi. Hydrocarbon contaminated soils were collected from three (3) different auto mechanic workshops in Keffi, Nasarawa State Nigeria. The agro wastes used as stimulants were corncobs, fruits peels and melon shells. The hydrocarbon utilization was determined using gravimetric analysis. The hydrocarbon utilization bacteria were isolated and identified using standard microbiological method. The hydrogen ions (pH) of the contaminated soil sample were 4.5. pH of corncobs (CB) was 6.2, melon shells (MS) was 5.6 and fruits peels (FP) was 7.6. The value of total nitrogen for contaminated soil was 0.45 %, when amended with CB was 6.2%, MS was 1.26% and FP was 3.56%. Organic carbon in contaminated soil prior to study was 5.80 %, when amended with CB was 9.03%, MS was 7.55% and FP was 10.12%. The Phosphorous in contaminated soil was 8.41 mg/kg, when amended with CB was 13.40 mg/kg, MS was11.82mg/kg and FP was 15.61 mg/kg. Effect of time in reduction of hydrocarbon from contaminated soil amended with CB recorded highest after 40days (44.98 mg/kg) and the least (10.31 mg/kg) after 10days. Contaminated soil amended with CB the highest reduction was at 30 ℃ (48.92 mg/kg) and the least was at 35℃ (19.21mg/kg). From FP the highest reduction was at 30℃ (48.04 mg/kg). The highest degrading bacteria count was recorded from Keffi garage mechanic workshop (4.04 x106 cfu g/ml) and the lowest was from pyanko road mechanic workshop (1.18 x106 cfu g/ml). The highest bacteria isolated from none amended contaminated soil was Flavobacterium sp (33.3 %) and the lowest was Bacillus subtilis and Proteus sp (33.3%). From amended soil with CB the highest were Corynebacteria spp and Flavobacterium sp (100%) and the lowest were Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas flourescens, and Proteus sp (66.6%). From contaminated soil amended with MS the highest bacteria isolated were Flavobacterium sp and Corynebacteria sp (33.3%) and the lowest were Pseudomonas flourescens and Proteus sp (33.3 %). From contaminated soil amended with FP the highest bacteria isolated were Pseudomonas flourescens and Proteus sp (100%) and the lowest were Bacillus subtilis, Flavobacterium sp and Corynebacteria sp (66.6%). It is recommended that the environmental agencies in the country give consideration to agricultural waste products for bioremediation of hydrocarbon polluted soil in Nigeria

Biomass Utilization for Cement Manufacturing

India generates around 750 million tonnes of agro waste with surplus availability of 230 million tonnes, this huge quantity of biomass can act as a potential resource for energy recovery to the tune of 28 GW of power. The biomass as a raw material for energy generation is encouraged by different government policies. The biomass has to be utilized in a sustainable way for maximum resource re-circulation enhancing circular economy. Although the utilization of biomass for direct energy recovery is encouraged, it has an inherent problem of ash generation. But co-processing of this biomass in cement plant leads to an effective solution as it helps in complete thermal and material recovery without any formation of ash. Pre-processing is not needed for single type of biomass, while for mixed and heterogeneous biomass, preprocessing may be needed similar to the case of industrial wastes in coprocessing. Thus co-processing of biomass in cement plant as an alternative way of addressing the surplus agro waste was studied. A one-year study was carried out at one of the cement plants to analyse the potential of co-processing of agro waste such as rice husk, soya bean agro waste and gram husk in cement kiln. The study based on statistical data revealed operational & environmental sustainability. The economic potential was analysed based on the substitution benefit. The analysis further revealed insignificant impact on parameter like stack emission, clinker quality, leach property and cement property. The findings of study thus revealed the sustainability of co-processing agro waste in cement kilns.

Isolation and Production of Cellulase from Bacteria Using Agro Waste

ABSTRACT: The development of appropriate procedures for the efficient treatment and utilization of wastes containing cellulose as an inexpensive carbon source has grown to be of substantial economic relevance. Cellulase enzyme, which is known to be produced by bacteria is responsible for degrading cellulose. Thus, isolation of Bacteria producing cellulase was performed using soil sample that were identified as Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter cloacae using CMC medium. The medium for fermentation was optimized for maximum cellulase to be produced by the potential isolate. Various parameters like the time of Incubation, temperature, pH, nitrogen sources and carbon sources, were considered for optimization. The culture condition was optimized and found to be 40°C at pH 7 with maximum activity in the presence of ammonium sulphate and lactose as nitrogen and carbon sources respectively. Amongst these isolates the maximum cellulase activity was shown by Enterobacter cloacae followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus subtilis by comparative study. The supplement for the medium was various agricultural waste added as an alternate source of carbon to produce cellulase. The medium with the presence of rice husk (1.76 IU/ml), followed by wheat husk(1.51 IU/ml) and castor seed waste (0.65 IU/ml), had the highest cellulase activity. Thus, this work aimed to compare the potential of all the above-mentioned isolates to use agro-waste for production of cellulase at optimized parameters.

Thermal stability analysis and mechanical performance of Mediterranean lignocellulosic fiber reinforced polypropylene sustainable composites

The utilization of the available agro waste to make sustainable materials was recently emphasized to develop better bio-products and sustainable socio-economic environment. This work investigates the effect of reinforcing polypropylene with lemon leaves (LL) and fig leaves (FL) on the overall mechanical performance of the prepared composites considering various reinforcement conditions. The investigations including determining the tensile strength, tensile modulus, elongations at break, flexural and impact properties as well as revealing the thermal characteristics of the fibers to expose their suitability for such bio-based composites. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and its derivative (DTG) were used to study the thermal stability of fiber composition during manufacturing. The surface morphology of the fibers as well as their polypropylene composites were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results have revealed that LL positively affects both tensile strength and modulus. The 20 wt% of LL have enhanced the tensile modulus from 1229 MPa to 1321 MPa. However, FL had negative impact on the tensile properties regardless of weight %. FL and LL reduced the flexural strength and impact toughness of PP regardless of weight %. The tensile strength of the 30 wt% lemon leaves-PP composite reaches its highest value at 43.4 MPa. Furthermore, thermal analysis showed that the fibers did not decompose during the manufacturing process. The initial decomposition temperatures of LL and FL were 239 °C and 226 °C, respectively, exceeding the processing temperature of 170 °C. Furthermore, an in-depth comparison of the tensile strength of the studied FL/PP and LL/PP composites with other commonly used PP composites available in the literature was also performed here to demonstrate the potential of Mediterranean fibers and their suitability for green bio-composites.

Degradable biopolymers from agro and food waste: potentials and challenges

The synthesis of biodegradable plastics from various biological resources has been receiving considerable interest in the past few years. The demand for petroleum-based plastics is increasing in day-to-day life. These plastics, in turn, are very hazardous since it is non-degradable and produced from harmful chemicals. Generally, disposing of solid waste is a great threat in highly populated countries like India. In particular, biodegradable waste from various sectors like agriculture, industries and domestic plays a major role in environmental threats and controlling such waste has been a great challenge to date. Hence, it is essential to give importance to waste management in various aspects which are having a greater impact on the environment. Such biologically treated waste has been found to have various organic materials from which biodegradable plastic can be synthesized. Biodegradable plastics are considered to be nature-friendly plastics synthesized from renewable biomass. The synthesis of biodegradable plastic from various biomaterials is the current and future technology in regulating the environmental threats caused by commercial plastics and waste being dumped in landfill. Hence, this review provides data about the importance of bio-based plastics from various biological waste resources and their applications in various fields.

Optimization of Control Factors Influencing the Wear Behaviour of Inflorescence Fibril Fortified Epoxy Composites

Introduction: Augmenting concern towards effective utilization of agro waste into useful products has formented the scientific community to look for alternate sources of materials. On a circular economy contemplation, natural fibers extricated from agro waste have a potential headway towards the evolution of newer materials. Methods: The current research activity is focused on the optimization of influential parameters, namely fiber volume, load, sliding distance and sliding velocity on the wear characteristics of inflorescence fiber-fortified epoxy composites. Coconut Inflorescence fiber is selected as reinforcement material for the present work. NaOH treatment at 5% wt/vol for 1 hour towards removal of amorphous contents present in the fibers. Taguchi-inspired L16 orthogonal array is used for the design of experiments using Minitab software. The control factors chosen for the optimization study are namely fiber content (10 mm, 15 mm, 20 mm and 25 mm), a load of (5 N, 10N, 15 N and 20 N), a sliding distance of (200 m, 400 m, 600 m and 800 m) and sliding velocity of (6 m/s, 12 m/s, 18 m/s and 24 m/s). Results: The optimal combination of parameters, namely fiber content of 20 wt%, load of 5N, a sliding distance of 600 m and sliding velocity of 24 m/s, contributed to the merest wear rate of 4.328 m3 /N.m. Morphological evaluation of the composites revealed agglomeration of fibers in the matrix, thereby, the matrix was not able to transfer load uniformly. Conclusion: Leading to failure of composites as a result of wear rate increase. Thus, inflorescence fiber-fortified epoxy composites fabricated on the above-mentioned control factors will have better wear rate for futuristic applications.

Valorized Palm Kernel Cake and Bambaranut Meal Affects Amino Acids, Growth and Nutrient Utilization in African Catfish, <i>Clarias gariepinus</i>

The high cost of fishmeal and plant protein like soybean has necessitated the search for alternative aqua feed ingredients like proteinous agro waste products. Agro waste are cheap and plausible alternative but lacks some essential amino acids and has several anti-nutritional factors (ANF) like phytic acid, non-starch polysaccharides, high fiber, and protease inhibitors. Solid-state fermentation of the agro wastes can reduce the ANF and improve the protein and nutritional values of feed ingredients. Palm kernel cake (PKC) is a byproduct of palm kernel oil production, and it is proteinous and abundant in Nigeria. Bambaranut meal (BNM) is a neglected proteinous legume high in methionine and lysine and is abundant and cheap. Freshly produced PKC and BNM were solid-state fermented for 5 days in a bioreactor using Saccharomyces cerevisiae and used to produce five novel diets. The inclusion levels of solid-state fermented PKC: BNM per diet were as follows: F1, 450:50, F2,350:150, F3,250:250, F4,150:350, and F5,50:450. There was a control diet labeled as feed F6 which was a control. A total of 270 African catfish fingerlings of average weights distributed as follows F1, 2.63±0.06g, F2, 2.70±0.13g, F3, 2.40±0.08g, F4, 2.30±0.05g and F5, 2.70±0.09g, were acclimatized for 7 days and stocked at 15 fish per 3 replicates aquaria per treatment feed. The catfish were fed ad libitum two times daily with the treatment feeds for 70 days. Culture water was changed daily. Catfish were weighed every 14 days. The catfish that received feed F4 (PKC:BNM;150:350g) had the best specific growth rate (SGR) of 4.43±0.06% day-1, lowest food conversion ratio (FCR) of 1.01±0.07 and highest protein efficiency ratio (PER) of 1.24. The catfish fed feed F3 (PKC: BNM) 250:250g, was next to F4 with SGR, Final weight, gut volume, and gut weight were all higher for catfish receiving feed F4 followed by those fed feed F2. There were no significant differences between the PER of catfish-fed diets F2, 0.39±0.03 and F3, 0.39±0.06. The lysine and methionine content of the feed increased with inclusion of FBNM than FPKC. In conclusion, solid state fermented BNM and PKC should be included in catfish feed for optimal growth and profitability.

Carbon Neutral Fuels and Chemicals from Standalone Biomass Refineries

The urgency to eliminate man-made greenhouse gas emissions and achieve energy security/independence by all countries justifies an energy policy that considers the major role of renewable biomass as a source of organic feedstock for producing adequate organic chemicals and biofuels on a sustainable basis and economically. This paper investigates a three-stage thermochemical process to convert wet biomass into a tailored mix of syngas for producing green methanol, hydrogen, and Fischer-Tropsch products. The three-stage thermochemical process involves the torrefaction of wet biomass using hot carbon monoxide gas, pyrolysis of torrefied biomass to produce biochar, and final gasification of the pyrolysis gases by auto thermal reforming up to 1400o C temperature. The proposed process is suitable to utilize a wide variety of biomass materials such as freshly harvested biomass without field drying, agro waste, forest/plantation litter, organic municipal solid wastes, sludge from sewage water treatment plants, solid biomass rejects from anaerobic digesters, bagasse from sugar or first-generation ethanol plants, organic solid rejects from second-generation ethanol plants, waste glycerides from biodiesel plants, industrial organic waste, etc. The proposed process offers valorization of biomass so that the net income of farmers is enhanced a fewfold by selling freshly harvested biomass. The economic analysis found that carbon-neutral hydrogen, methanol, etc can be produced below the prevailing costs of such products derived from fossil crude oil or natural gas without considering carbon credits. It is feasible in a standalone biomass refinery to use any biomass as only one bulk raw material/feedstock without any harmful emissions to water bodies or the atmosphere except carbon neutral carbon dioxide gas if not sequestrated.

Enhancing mechanical and functional properties of LM25 alloy through squeeze cast hybrid nanocomposite incorporating breadfruit seed husk ash and graphite nanoparticles

ABSTRACT In this research, effective utilization of agro waste breadfruit seed husk ash particle (SHA) as reinforcement purpose in LM25 alloy matrix enhanced with the inclusions of 3, 6, and 9wt% of graphite (Gr) nanoparticle (50nm) via squeeze cast liquid processing executed with 200MPa applied compressive pressure. This developed cast examined LM25 alloy and its composites for density, percentage of porosity, microstructure, ultimate tensile strength, abrasion, and corrosion behaviour. From the experimental result, the LM25/10wt% SHA/9wt% Gr hybrid nanocomposite has low density (2.554g/cc), an excellent ultimate tensile strength of (181±1.8 MPa), superior abrasion resistance (0.332mg/m) under 40N load at 0.75m/sec, and good corrosion resistance (0.00382mm/year) compared to cast LM25 alloy. The inclusions of SHA and Gr proved their presence in LM25 alloy has good mechanical strength and maximum abrasion and corrosion resistance to overcome the drawbacks of conventional stir-casted LM25 alloy, which is poor wear resistance.

Microbial Biotransformation of Agro-waste Into Biovanillin as Flavor: A Process Optimization by Response Surface Methodology

Vanillin is a flavour that is commonly employed in the food industry, but plant sources can yield a small amount of this molecule. Fermentative production of biovanillin by optimizing different process parameters such as specific pH, temperature, incubation time, carbon source, nitrogen source, ferulic acid substrate, and by agro wastes are beneficial in terms of fermentation economics and scale up of the process response surface methodology for an ideal production of biovanillin yield. Hence the present research emphasizes on optimization of fermentation conditions for employing Bacillus licheniformis MSJM5 isolate. As per the experimental results biovanillin production yield was enhanced at neutral pH, mesophilic temperature, in an incubation of 48 hrs, under revolving conditions, in the presence of glucose as carbon source soya bean as nitrogen source ferulic acid 0.3 mg concentration and ground nut oil cake, an agro waste material has stimulated the formation of biovanillin, 326-834 mg/ml. Further stastical analysis by RSM the yield of biovanillin was 1.89 mg/ml. Based on the morphological cultural and biochemical the positive strain MSJM5 is identified as Bacillus licheniformis with 98% homology and accession number ON413745. Strain improvement studies have reveated that UV light and Et Br use reduce the survival capacity of Bacillus licheniformis.