Bed Height Research Articles

Comparison and validation of various drag models for fluidization characteristics of bubble fluidized beds with a high-speed particle image velocimetry experiment

Bubbling liquefaction of dense particles is one of the most common forms of industrial fluidization in gas–solid flow systems. Computational fluid dynamics and the discrete element method are important tools for studying dense gas–solid flows. In these methods, the momentum transfer between phases relies on a drag model, so a reasonable choice of drag model is crucial for accurately predicting the hydrodynamic behavior of dense gas–solid flows. This paper investigates the effect of different drag models on the flow behavior prediction of dense gas–solid flow for the “Small-Scale Challenge Problem-I” published by the National Energy Technology Laboratory in 2013. The gas–solid fluidization characteristics, such as instantaneous particle flow processes, particle velocity vector distributions, changes in the fluidized bed height, and average gas phase pressure drops, were compared for different drag models. A detailed validation analysis of each dominant drag model was carried out in conjunction with the experimental data. The results show that the drag model significantly affects the numerically predicted results of particles’ hydrodynamic behavior, especially in terms of the bed height variation and the remixing behavior of particles. These research results are expected to improve the predictive accuracy of gas–solid flow hydrodynamic behavior and provide guidance for designing and optimizing fluidized beds, which has theoretical and practical significance.

ASPAD dynamic simulation and artificial neural network for atenolol adsorption in GGSWAC packed bed column.

This study aimed to assess the dynamic simulation models provided by Aspen adsorption (ASPAD) and artificial neural network (ANN) in understanding the adsorption behavior of atenolol (ATN) on gasified Glyricidia sepium woodchips activated carbon (GGSWAC) within fixed bed columns for wastewater treatment. The findings demonstrated that increasing the bed height from 1 to 3 cm extended breakthrough and exhaustion times while enhancing adsorption capacity. Conversely, higher initial ATN concentrations resulted in shorter breakthrough and exhaustion times but increased adsorption capacity. Elevated influent flow rates reduced breakthrough and exhaustion times while maintaining constant adsorption capacity. The ASPAD software demonstrated competence in accurately modeling the crucial exhaustion points. However, there is room for enhancement in forecasting breakthrough times, as it exhibited deviations ranging from 6.52 to 239.53% when compared to the actual experimental data. ANN models in both MATLAB and Python demonstrated precise predictive abilities, with the Python model (R2 = 0.985) outperforming the MATLAB model (R2 = 0.9691). The Python ANN also exhibited superior fitting performance with lower MSE and MAE. The most influential factor was the initial ATN concentration (28.96%), followed by bed height (26.39%), influent flow rate (22.43%), and total effluent time (22.22%). The findings of this study offer an extensive comprehension of breakthrough patterns and enable accurate forecasts of column performance.

Numerical simulation and improvement of combustor structure in 3D printed sand recycling system

Abstract In this paper, a new combustor with an output of 5 t/h is designed based on a computational particle fluid dynamics (CPFD) model. The flow field simulation is combined with the combustion simulation to analyze the internal two-phase flow, temperature field, and combustion products. The combustor structure was optimized. The simulation results show that the recovery efficiency of the waste sand and the energy utilization of the combustor can be improved under the original structure. The sand bed has a significant effect on flow field characteristics. The increase in particle temperature in the combustor increases the efficiency of waste sand recovery by increasing the height of the sand bed by 50 mm. The utilization rate of natural gas is increased and the economic efficiency is improved. The feasibility of the CPFD method can simulate the flow field characteristics inside the combustor very effectively.

Esterification of tall oil fatty acid catalyzed by Zr4+-CER in fixed bed membrane reactor

In this study, Zr4+-CER was used as a solid acid catalyst to catalyze the esterification reaction. The esterification of tall oil fatty acids (TOFA) with ethanol dehydration was studied by fixed-bed coupled pervaporation (PV). The Zr4+-CER catalyst was characterized in detail by Py-IR, NH3-TPD, BET, IEC, ICP-OES, SEM, and FTIR. The effects of ethanol/oil molar ratio, catalytic bed height, reaction temperature and feed rate on TOFA conversion were investigated. The esterification reaction conditions were optimized by orthogonal test, and the optimal conditions were ethanol/oil molar ratio 15:1, catalytic bed height 120 mm, reaction temperature 80 °C, and feed rate 0.3 ml/min. The TOFA conversion rate was 99.51 %. After six esterification cycles, the TOFA conversion of the catalyst reached 90.03 %, indicating that the catalyst had high stability. The esterification process using Zr4+-CER as the catalyst follows the second-order kinetic model, with an activation energy of 39.54 kJ/mol. Furthermore, the economic analysis of biodiesel production indicates that the Zr4+-CER catalyst has the potential to decrease production expenses, presenting an encouraging prospect for future biodiesel industrialization.

Reverse combustion propagation in an oxygen-limited and -enriched N2/O2 flow for a bed packed with rice husk

Propagation characteristics of reverse combustion significantly impact the conversion of solid fuels in packed beds, especially under variable reaction atmosphere conditions. In this study, the propagation of reverse combustion was experimentally studied in an oxygen-limited and -enriched O2/N2 flow with an oxygen concentration range of 21–100 % for a bed packed with rice husk. The temperature profile measured by thermocouples along the bed height was processed to appreciate the driving mechanism of combustion front, as well as the reaction structure inside the bed. Besides, the contribution of volatiles gas-phase oxidation and char surface oxidation to reverse combustion was also evaluated. Results show that compared to the air case, an oxygen-enriched condition broadens the operating range of oxygen flow rate for the oxygen-limited reverse combustion. Under high oxygen concentration conditions, the low-temperature oxidation of rice husk inside the reaction front becomes enhanced. Such chemical reaction effect widens the whole reaction front thickness and thereby reduces the oxidation intensity in local regions, resulting in a faster ignition rate and a lower temperature for combustion front. It is found that this process is dominated by the gas-phase oxidation of volatiles, of which oxygen consumed is above 60 % of the supplied. As oxygen concentration increases, the gas-phase oxidation of volatiles becomes further enhanced. Correspondingly, the oxidation ratio of char is gradually approaching a limit, about 12 %, especially at the oxygen concentration above 50 %. These findings will facilitate a better fundamental understanding of driving mechanism of this special combustion process and thereby provide an important theoretical basis for efficient thermal conversion of solid fuels.

Fabrication and characterization of Araucaria gum/calcium alginate composite beads for batch and column adsorption of lead ions

In this work, we developed five solid adsorbents such as calcium alginate beads (CG), Araucaria gum (AR) extracted from Araucaria heterophylla tree by chemical precipitation procedures, and Araucaria gum/calcium alginate composite beads (CR21, CR12, and CR11) prepared with different calcium alginate: Araucaria gum ratios (2:1, 1:2, and 1:1, respectively). The synthesized solid adsorbents were characterized utilizing TGA, XRD, nitrogen adsorption/desorption analysis, ATR-FTIR, pHPZC, swelling ratio, SEM, and TEM. Through the batch and column adsorption strategies, we evaluated the effect of adsorbent dose, pH, initial Pb (II) concentration, shaking time, bed height, and flow rate. The data of batch technique indicated that CR11 demonstrated a maximum batch adsorption capacity of 149.95 mg/g at 25 °C. Lead ions adsorption was well fitted by pseudo-second order and Elovich according to kinetic studies, in addition to Langmuir and Temkin models based on adsorption isotherm studies onto all the samples. Thermodynamic investigation showed that Pb (II) adsorption process is an endothermic, physical, and spontaneous process. The highest column adsorption capacity (161.1 mg/g) was achieved by CR11 at a bed height of 3 cm, flow rate of 10 mL/min, and initial Pb+2 concentration of 225 mg/L with 68 min as breakthrough time and 180 min as exhaustion time. Yoon-Nelson and Thomas models applied well the breakthrough curves of Pb (II) column adsorption. The maximum column adsorption capacity was decreased by 11.4 % after four column adsorption/desorption processes. Our results revealed that CR11 had an excellent adsorption capacity, fast kinetics, and good selectivity, emphasizing its potential for its applications in water treatment.

Particle-scale simulation of air-blown gasification of biomass materials in bubbling fluidized bed reactor

Biomass gasification is a potential way for yielding product gases and energy, featuring by complex multi-physics and multi-phase flow. The multiphase particle-in-cell approach is adopted in the current study to investigate the behaviors of char, sand and biomass during biomass gasification in an air-blown bubbling fluidized bed. In the multiphase particle-in-cell method, particles are assumed adiabatic inside the body, and particles with identical properties are lumped into a parcel to reduce computational cost. The numerical model was well validated with experimental data. Some key conclusions can be drawn as: syngas has very similar but asymmetrical spatial distribution in the reactor due to the radially introduced raw biomass. Near the biomass inlet, biomass materials have large Reynolds number and heat transfer coefficient. Along the bed height, sand particles have largest heat transfer coefficient, followed by char and finally biomass. Enlarging bed temperature slightly increases the rising flux of biomass particles. This work emphasizes the significance of particle characteristics during biomass air gasification, and may supply useful guidance for industrial development and reactor design.

Fabrication of biocompatible chitosan/graphene based nanocomposite for the competitive adsorption of heavy metal ions from wastewater in binary and ternary systems: Scale-up and upgradation studies

Coexistence of multiple metal ions in the wastewater alters the adsorption behavior compared to single metal ion system using the existing adsorbents which are chemically driven, requires harsh operating conditions and additional energy. The present study evaluates the performance of Chitosan/Graphene based nanocomposite for the competitive adsorption of heavy metals in single, binary and ternary systems. Maximum removal efficiency was 89.35 % (As), 90.41 % (Cu), 93.22 % (Ni), 96.47 % (Cd), 95.45 % (Pb) and 88.65 % (Cr) under optimum conditions (pH 4, Temperature = 25 °C, Equilibrium Time = 90 min, Adsorbent Dosage = 1.25 g and Initial Metal Ion Concentration = 150 mg/L) in a single system. A detailed investigation on the competitive adsorption of Cadmium, Copper, and Chromium ions was performed in binary. Maximum adsorption capacity was 1.55 mg/g and 1.48 mg/g (CuCd); 2.98 mg/g and 3.21 mg/g (CuCr) and 2.21 mg/g and 1.90 mg/g (CdCr system) at 4 mM concentration. The constructed mathematical models accurately forecast the adsorption behavior and shows a good match with the experimental data. Also, fixed-bed column studies were performed for the large-scale upgradation and optimum flow rate and bed height was 1 L/h and 15 cm at 25 °C. The study proposes the fabrication of natural-polymer based composite which can significantly reduce the dependency on synthetic and chemical-based adsorbents which poses severe negative impacts such as high-cost, poor selectivity and rapid saturation due to their low recyclability or sludge generation. Such application can effectively transform wastewater into contamination free water that could be valuable to society.

Fixed-bed adsorption studies of endocrine-disrupting compounds from water by using novel calcium-based metal-organic frameworks

The presence of emerging water pollutants such as endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), including 17-ethynylestradiol (EE2), bisphenol A (BPA), and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in contaminated water sources poses significant environmental and health challenges. This study aims to address this issue by investigating the efficiency of novel calcium-based metal-organic frameworks, known as mixed-linker calcium-based metal-organic frameworks (Ca-MIX), in adsorbing these endocrine-disrupting compounds. This study analyzed the influence of influent concentration, bed height, and flow rate on pollutant removal, with bed height emerging as a crucial factor. From the breakthrough curves, it was determined that the column maximum adsorption capacities followed the order of 17-ethynylestradiol (101.52 μg/g; 40%) > bisphenol A (99.07 μg/g; 39%) > perfluorooctanoic acid (81.28 μg/g; 32%). Three models were used to predict the adsorption process, with the Yan model outperforming the other models. This suggests the potential of mixed-linker calcium-based metal-organic frameworks for removing endocrine-disrupting compounds from water, using the Yan model as an effective predictor. Overall, this study provides valuable insights for the development of effective water treatment methods using mixed-linker calcium-based metal-organic frameworks to remove endocrine-disrupting compounds from contaminated water sources.

Vibration energy transfer in a forced oscillation fluidized bed

Fluidized bed technology plays a vital role in petroleum, chemical, and coal separation. To improve fluidization stability, airflow is periodically introduced to form a pulsed gas–solid fluidized bed. The vibrating airflow drives the particles with vibration energy transfer and dissipation in the pulsed fluidized bed. The fluidization quality will be greatly improved when the pulsation frequency is equal to the natural frequency. The understanding of the mechanism governing vibration energy transfer and dissipation enables further adjustment of parameters to effectively control the fluidized bed, thereby optimizing its operational state. In this work, the response mechanism of the fluidized bed to resonance effect is described, and its vibration energy transfer and dissipation mechanism is investigated. Furthermore, an evaluation index for energy dissipation rate is proposed. Additionally, based on the theory of spring oscillators, an enhanced natural frequency model for bubble-free fluidized beds is established in this study, incorporating particle properties and bed height as key factors. The predicted error is effectively controlled within 15%, demonstrating excellent agreement with existing literature and research findings.

Evaluating liquid CO2 hydrate formation kinetics, morphology, and stability in oceanic sediments on a lab scale using top injection

Storing captured CO2 into the deep oceanic sediments as CO2 hydrates offers a potential approach to reducing atmospheric carbon emissions. However, two major challenges are slow CO2 hydrate formation kinetics and lack of an understanding of CO2 hydrate stability dynamics. To counter these challenges, the conversion of high-pressure liquid CO2 (LCO2) to CO2 hydrates has been experimentally explored [with and without a hydrate kinetic promoter L-tryptophan] in a lab-scale reactor embedded with an artificial seabed. The stability of these CO2 hydrates was also evaluated by submerging them in the aqueous phase (mimicking hydrostatic pressure of fluid) at thermodynamic conditions found at an oceanic depth of 1 km [3–4 °C, 10 MPa] for 14 days. In-situ high-pressure Raman spectroscopy was used to estimate the real-time solubility of CO2 in the aqueous medium, and an image processing thresholding technique was used for detecting CO2 hydrate formation/dissociation patterns in sediments during the stability testing.The lab-scale experimental results indicate that in comparison to gaseous CO2, the liquid CO2 forms hydrates much faster [60 times] in the sediments. These CO2 hydrates exhibited decent stability over 14 days when submerged in an aqueous medium [3–4 °C, 10 MPa]. At the end of the stability test, hydrates were dissociated by thermal stimulation to assess the CO2 hydrates inside the sediments qualitatively. A significant decrease in the height of the sand bed [6.0 cm to 5.5 cm] and the evolution of CO2 across the sediments confirmed the presence of a good number of hydrates inside the sediments.

CFD–DEM modelling and analysis of proppant transportation inside tortuous hydraulic fractures

Hydraulic fractures in unconventional gas/oil and tight reservoirs generally have tortuous shapes. This paper presents a numerical study of the proppant transportation and distribution in tortuous hydraulic fractures. This is done by combining computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with discrete element method (DEM). The CFD-DEM model is validated by comparing the numerical results with the experimental measurements of proppant transportation and distributions in single and multiple straight fractures. Via the model, the effect of tortuosity on proppant transportation is studied based on tortuous fractures constructed according to an actual fracture profile. The numerical results show that the packing pattern has a trapezoid shape as the fracture tortuosity varies from 0.6 to 1. It becomes triangular in the tortuosity range of 0–0.4. The horizontal distance and the vertical height of the proppant bed exhibit different trends against fracture tortuosity.

Kinetic and equilibrium study of graphene and copper oxides modified nanocomposites for metal ions adsorption from binary metal aqueous solution.

Presently, the main cause of pollution of natural water resources is heavy metal ions. The removal of metal ions such as nickel (Ni2+) and cadmium (Cd2+) has been given considerable attention due to their health and environmental risks. In this regard, for wastewater treatment containing heavy metal ions, graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposites with metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) attained significant importance. In this study, graphene oxide stacked with copper oxide nanocomposites (GO/CuO-NCs) were synthesized and characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analytical procedures. The prepared GO/CuO-NCs were applied for the removal of Ni2+ and Cd2+ ions from a binary metal ion system in batch and continuous experiments. The obtained results revealed that GO/CuO-NCs exhibited the highest removal efficiencies of Ni2+ (89.60% ± 2.12%) and Cd2+ (97.10% ± 1.91%) at the optimum values of pH: 8, dose: 0.25g, contact time: 60min, and at 50ppm initial metal ion concentration in a batch study. However, 4mL/min flow rate, 50ppm initial concentration, and 2cm bed height were proved to be the suitable conditions for metal ion adsorption in the column study. The kinetic adsorption data exhibited the best fitting with the pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption isotherm provided the best-fitting data in the Langmuir isotherm model. This study suggested that the GO/CuO nanocomposites have proved to be efficient adsorbents for Ni2+ and Cd2+ ions from a binary metal system.

Diffusion, Separation, and Buffering of Non-Steady-State VOCs Flow on Activated Carbon

In this study, the diffusion, separation, and buffering of volatile organic compounds emitted in a non-steady state on activated carbon were studied. Ethanol and xylene, which have large differences in adsorption capacity and diffusion rate, were selected as the representative target pollutants of volatile organic compounds. In this paper, activated carbon with a certain intake concentration and adsorption equilibrium was chosen as the research object. The buffering effect of pulse load was studied. The buffering effect and influencing factors were analyzed. The Bangham equation proved to be a more effective tool in describing the dynamic processes of ethanol and xylene adsorption on activated carbon, indicating that pore diffusion was the rate-determining step in the adsorption process. R3 emerged as a more suitable criterion for evaluating non-steady-state emissions. Factors such as pulse time and pulse multiplier were influenced by Empty Bed Contact Time (EBCT), which collaborated with EBCT to impact the buffering performance of activated carbon. An EBCT of 4 cm was identified as the optimal bed height, with R3 reaching 1.48. Non-polar VOCs with chemically symmetric structures exhibited slower mass transfer rates compared to polar VOCs, resulting in larger adsorption capacities on activated carbon and better buffering performance.

Optimization of Methylene Blue Dye Adsorption in Fixed Bed Column Packed with Tea Waste via Response Surface Methodology

Tea waste is a low-cost alternative material for making adsorbent to remove methylene blue from synthetic dye wastewater perpetually. Optimization of the adsorbent process utilized Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and a continuously operating system in a fixed bed column. The independent variables in the research are X1 (bed height), X2 (contact time), and X3 (flow rate). The dependent variable is Y1 (removal efficiency) with a matrix design by Box-Behnken. The optimum condition of methylene blue (MB) B removal was found at X1=16 cm, X2=90 min, and X3=4 L/min with an adsorption efficiency of 90.45%. After the activation and adsorption of MB dye, the complete FTIR spectrum shows a distinct peak at 2933.7 cm-1. The results of the EDX analysis performed on tea waste reveal the presence of nitrogen (element N) following the adsorption process. This observation strongly suggests that the tea waste has effectively absorbed MB, as nitrogen is a constituent element found in the molecular structure of MB.

Breakthrough curve analysis of phosphorylated hazelnut shell waste in column operation for continuous harvesting of lithium from water

In batch-scale operations, biosorption employing phosphorylated hazelnut shell waste (FHS) revealed excellent lithium removal and recovery efficiency. Scaling up and implementing packed bed column systems necessitates further design and performance optimization. Lithium biosorption via FHS was investigated utilizing a continuous-flow packed-bed column operated under various flow rates and bed heights to remove Li to ultra-low levels and recover it. The Li biosorption capacity of the FHS column was unaffected by the bed height, however, when the flow rate was increased, the capacity of the FHS column decreased. The breakthrough time, exhaustion time, and uptake capacity of the column bed increased with increasing column bed height, whereas they decreased with increasing influent flow rate. At flow rates of 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 mL/min, bed volumes (BVs, mL solution/mL biosorbent) at the breakthrough point were found to be 477, 369, and 347, respectively, with the required BVs for total saturation point of 941, 911, and 829, while the total capacity was calculated as 22.29, 20.07, and 17.69 mg Li/g sorbent. In the 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 cm height columns filled with FHS, the breakthrough times were 282, 366, and 433 min, respectively, whereas the periods required for saturation were 781, 897, and 1033 min. The three conventional breakthrough models of the Thomas, Yoon-Nelson, and Modified Dose-Response (MDR) were used to properly estimate the whole breakthrough behavior of the FHS column and the characteristic model parameters. Li's extremely favorable separation utilizing FHS was evidenced by the steep S-shape of the breakthrough curves for both parameters flow rate and bed height. The reusability of FHS was demonstrated by operating the packed bed column in multi-cycle mode, with no appreciable loss in column performance.

Conversion of seaweed waste to biochar for the removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solution: A sustainable method to address eutrophication problem in water bodies

The present study investigated the sustainable approach for wastewater treatment using waste algal blooms. The current study investigated the removal of toxic metals namely chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) from aqueous solutions in batch and column studies using biochar produced by the marine algae Ulva reticulata. SEM/EDX, FTIR, and XRD were used to examine the adsorbents' properties and stability. The removal efficiency of toxic metals in batch operations was investigated by varying the parameters, which included pH, biochar dose, initial metal ion concentration, and contact time. Similarly, in the column study, the removal efficiency of heavy metal ions was investigated by varying bed height, flow rate, and initial metal ion concentration. Response Surface Methodology (Central Composite Design (CCD)) was used to confirm the linearity between the observed and estimated values of the adsorption quantity. The packed bed column demonstrated successful removal rates of 90.38% for Cr, 91.23% for Ni, and 89.92% for Zn heavy metals from aqueous solutions, under a controlled environment. The breakthrough analysis also shows that the Thomas and Adams-Bohart models best fit the regression values, allowing prior breakthroughs in the packed bed column to be predicted. Desorption studies were conducted to understand sorption and elution during different regeneration cycles. Adding 0.3 N sulfuric acid over 40 min resulted in the highest desorption rate of the column and adsorbent used for all three metal ions.

Adsorptive abatement of Pb2+ and crystal violet using chitosan-modified coal nanocomposites: A down flow column study

Every moment huge amounts of industrial wastewater are contaminating our surface/groundwater sources by discharging into the environment directly. This crude wastewater is the most problematic subject because it is the matrix of hazardous toxicants, which can drastically damage public health-safety. So, it is urgent to purify before discharging/reusing. This study focused on the recent improvement and latent implication of Activated Chitosan-Modified Coal(ACMC) bionanocomposite filter. Here, we briefly described how ACMC was produced and its potential application in the removal of Pb2+ and Crystal Violet (CV) effectively from wastewater. However, the influence of different parameters like initial concentration (20–40 ppm), volumetric flow rate (4–6 mL/min) and bed height (0.4–1.0 cm) were investigated appropriately meanwhile the adsorbent amount was (1.0–2.0 g). The adsorption efficiency and removal percent were strongly correlated with inlet concentration, flow rate, and bed height. The highest removal capacity and percentage were found nearly (243.08 and 238.51)mg/g additionally (78.48 and 82.50)% for Pb2+ and CV. Finally, three well-known column adsorption models namely Thomas, Yoon-Nelson and Adam-Bohart model were applied for the fitting of experimental data which exhibited a decent agreement with all three models that are also suitable for the description of breakthrough curve (BTC) and supports the Langmuir isotherm by following second-order reversible reaction kinetics. Thus this new class of ACMC nanoadsorbents could be beneficially used for the real-time bulk scale industrial wastewater treatment as a suitable replacement of hazardous fossil-based synthetic ones for sustainable environmental protection.

Sorption of methyl orange molecules on polyacrylonitrile-coated kapok fibers in a fixed bed set-up at dynamic conditions

Polyacrylonitrile-coated kapok fibers (PAN-KF) were used as sorbent material for methyl orange (MO) dye under dynamic conditions using a fixed bed set-up. The PAN molecules were coated on kapok fibers using a facile surfactant-assisted technique. In this technique, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) molecules were used as the surfactant and acrylonitrile as the precursor monomer. PAN-KF successfully absorbed MO under dynamic conditions. Long breakthrough and exhaustion times were achieved at lower initial concentration of methyl orange, higher bed height, and slower flow rate. Furthermore, PAN-KF sorbent in a fixed bed set-up has larger removal efficiency and exhaustion capacity compared to that of activated charcoal with the same mass and bed height.

Pengaruh Tinggi Tapak Timbun Terhadap Distribusi Akar Kelapa Sawit (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) Umur 10 Tahun Pada Lahan Mineral

One of the reasons for the low productivity of oil palm is the lack of proper technical culture implementation. The implementation of technical culture practices that can be carried out includes stem mounding by creating mound platforms for the oil palm. This study aims to determine the effect of mound bed height on the growth and development of roots in 10-year-old oil palm plants. The research was conducted experimentally using a Non-Factorial Randomized Complete Block Design with 5 levels of mound bed height: 20 cm, 25 cm, 30 cm, 35 cm, and 40 cm. Each treatment was replicated five times, resulting in 25 experimental units. Each experimental unit consisted of three sample plants, making a total of 75 sample plants. The observed parameters included fresh root weight, dry root weight, the number of primary roots, the length of primary roots, the number of secondary roots, the length of secondary roots, and the number of tertiary roots. The results of the study indicated that the mound bed treatment on 10-year-old oil palm plants in mineral soil, particularly at a height of 40 cm, tended to increase the fresh root weight by 2.45 g, the dry root weight by 0.65 g, the number of tertiary roots by 5.26 strands, the number of primary roots by 2.80 strands, the length of primary roots by 10.0 cm, the number of secondary roots by 2.26 strands, and the length of secondary roots by 2.61 cm.