Oil Palm Trunk Fiber Research Articles

Engineering properties of fibre reinforced lightweight geopolymer concrete using palm oil biowastes

ABSTRACTThis paper reports the findings of an experimental programme to investigate the development of a structural lightweight concrete mixture using geopolymer binder and palm oil biowastes. Several concrete mixes were prepared using fly ash-based geopolymer binder, crushed palm oil clinker as asource for lightweight aggregate (POCA), and oil palm trunk fibre (OPTF)as a natural fibre reinforcement. POCA was added at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% as volume percentages from total aggregate. OPTF was added at 1%, 2%, and 3% as volume percentages of the mixture. The produced concrete mixtures were evaluated in terms of fresh and harden properties and structural efficiency. The results revealed that OPTF can be used at full replacement level to produce structural lightweight concrete having a compressive strength of more than 30 MPa. In terms of structural efficiency, the optimum POCA content was found at 75% replacement. The optimum OPTF content was found at 1%. Incorporation of POCA and OPTF at any percentage reduced the durability of the concrete produced against acid attack. Yet, the produced mixtures provided good resistance superior to that of conventional concrete. The use of a geopolymer binder boosted the workability, mechanical properties, and durability of the mixtures produced.

Oil Palm Trunk Fibre Filled Natural Rubber Latex Biocomposite Foam

The oil palm industry generates biomass amounting to millions of tonnes per year. Currently they are converted to liquid or gaseous fuels to produce electricity as a replacement for natural gas. This contributes to substantial reduction in energy costs and is more environmentally friendly. Other applications of the fibre rich biomass includes the manufacture of paper and pulp, fibreboard, acoustics control and blankets for horticulture. The present study attempts to produce composite foam made from natural rubber latex and oil palm trunk fibre. Physical and chemical properties of the foam were evaluated to explore potential application of the composite foam. The oil palm trunk fibre increased the density and hardness of the composite foam at a 20 % fibre loading. However, no reinforcement effect was observed between the fibre and the natural rubber latex foam. The composite foam showed increased water absorbency and decreased oil absorbency capacity.

Micro-structural analysis and elastic properties of oil palm trunk fibre reinforced polyester composites

This work addressed the study of development of micro-structure as related elastic properties in oil palm trunk fibre reinforced polyester composites. The results show that the Modulus of Elasticity value for the treated oil palm trunk fibre laminate was 67.43MPa at 70% fibre content, while the Modulus of Rigidity was 335.76MPa at 70% fibre content. The cross-sections of the specimens examined by Scanning Electron Microscopy indicated that the failure pattern of treated fibre composites was gradual, and related to the stiffness prominence. It was deduced that the knowledge of relationship between micro-structure and elastic properties could compliment the findings of effect of fibre loading, alkaline and silane treatment processes in the utilization of oil palm trunk fibre composite for any desired engineering application.

Biodegradation of fibrillated oil palm trunk fiber by a novel thermophilic, anaerobic, xylanolytic bacterium Caldicoprobacter sp. CL-2 isolated from compost.

Oil palm trunk (OPT) is one of the most promising lignocellulosic bioresources. To develop effective biodegradation, thermophilic, anaerobic microorganisms were screened from bovine manure compost using fibrillated OPT (f-OPT) pretreated by wet disk milling as the substrate. One thermophilic, anaerobic bacterium, strain CL-2, whose 16S rDNA gene has 98.6% sequence identity with that of Caldicoprobacter faecale DSM 20678T, exhibited high degradation activity (32.7% reduction in total dry solids of f-OPT). Strain CL-2 did not use cellulose as a carbon source, but used hemicelluloses such as xylan, arabinoxylan, starch and pectin at 70 °C. Phylogenetic and morphologic analyses and the polysaccharide use suggest that CL-2 may be classified as a novel species of Caldicoprobacter, named Caldicoprobacter sp. CL-2. To characterize enzymatic activities of CL-2, extracellular enzymes were prepared from culture broth using beechwood xylan as the carbon source. The extracellular enzymes showed high xylanase activity, but low cellulase activity, suggesting that f-OPT degradation may depend on xylanase activity. To understand the xylanase system of CL-2, a major xylanase was cloned and characterized. The xylanase (CalXyn11A) had a modular structure consisting of a glycoside hydrolase (GH) family-11 domain and a family 36 carbohydrate-binding module. CalXyn11A did not show f-OPT degradation activity, but a strong synergistic effect was observed when CalXyn11A was added to the extracellular enzyme preparation. These results indicate that, rather than working alone, CalXyn11A has an important role in enhancing total lignocellulose degradation activity by cooperation with other GHs.

Preparation and Characterization of Nanocellulose Fibers from NaOH/Urea Pretreatment of Oil Palm Fibers

A facile method is reported to prepare nanocellulose fibers from oil palm trunk fibers. The fibers were pretreated 2 hours with NaOH/urea solution, and the fully swelled fibers were mechanically treated through high-pressure homogenization to obtain nanocellulose. The nanocellulose fibers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). FTIR results revealed that there was no obvious difference between the spectra of the bleached fibers (BF), pretreated cellulose fibers (PCF), and cellulose nanofibers (NCF), which indicated that the pretreatment process is a non-derivative reaction. The crystallinity of PCF and NCF decreased and contained the cellulose I crystal structure. The PCF presented both a distorted structure and a coarser surface. The resulting NCF were approximately 10 nm to 100 nm in diameter with the length varying from hundreds of nanometers to several micrometers, as observed by SEM. The thermal degradation of NCF was 223 °C with about 20% weight loss, and the maximum degradation temperature was 338 °C. NaOH/urea showed potential as a mild solvent for preparing nanocellulose fibers.

Pretreatment of oil palm trunk in deep eutectic solvent and optimization of enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated oil palm trunk

Deep eutectic solvents (DES) were utilised as pretreatment media on oil palm trunk (OPT) fibre in order to change the morphology of the highly crystalline cellulose prior to enzymatic hydrolysis. Among all the DESs tested, ethylammonium chloride: ethylene glycol (EAC:EG) was found to be the most efficient solvent for the pretreatment of OPT fibre. The pretreatment of OPT by EAC:EG had removed 42% lignin and 83% hemicellulose with the ability to dissolve the OPT biomass (58%) after heating at 100 °C for 48 h. FTIR analysis was used in determining the chemical characteristic changes where OPT treated in EAC:EG had more disruption of hydroxyl bond and indication of delignification compared to OPT treated with other DESs. Enzymatic hydrolysis was carried out on OPT treated in EAC:EG and the highest glucose production (74%) was achieved at 50 °C after 24 h with 15 mg/mL substrate concentration, 50 FPU/g of Celluclast 1.5 L and 100 CBU/ml of Novozyme 188.

Cellulose nanocrystals isolated from oil palm trunk

In this study cellulose nanocrystals were isolated from oil palm trunk (Elaeis guineensis) using acid hydrolysis method. The morphology and size of the nanocrystals were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that the nanocrystals isolated from raw oil palm trunk (OPT) fibers and hot water treated OPT fibers had an average diameter of 7.67nm and 7.97nm and length of 397.03nm and 361.70nm, respectively. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy indicated that lignin and hemicellulose contents decreased. It seems that lignin was completely removed from the samples during chemical treatment. Thermogravimetric analysis demonstrated that cellulose nanocrystals after acid hydrolysis had higher thermal stability compared to the raw and hot water treated OPT fibers. The X-ray diffraction analysis increased crystallinity of the samples due to chemical treatment. The crystalline nature of the isolated nanocrystals from raw and hot water treated OPT ranged from 68 to 70%.

Study on the Properties of Oil Palm Trunk Fiber (OPTF) in Cement Composite

Properties of oil palm trunk fiber reinforced cement composite were investigated in this study. Oil palm trunk fiber was used to improve the properties of cement composite. It was found that increasing in oil palm trunk fiber content up to certain percentage increase the compressive strength and decrease the density of cement composite. Besides, the study also found that additional of excessive of oil palm trunk fiber in cement composite decrease the compressive strength and continues to increase the water absorption and moisture content hence decrease the density. From this study, it was found that 2 wt. % of fiber content was the optimum fiber content to give the highest compressive strength of 38.61 MPa.

Alternative Source of Beta-Glucan From Oil Palm (Elaeis Guineensis) Trunk Fiber

This study was conducted to develop the method of extracting beta-glucan from the fiber of Elaeis guineensis or oil palm trunk (OPT) and to evaluate its potential. From the previous studies, beta-glucan usually extracted from barley, oats and also bacteria. In this research, wet separation method which is also known as aqueous alcohol method was used to extract beta-glucan from the oil palm trunk fiber. This indirect method of producing beta-glucan was found optimized at conditions of 50% of ethanol as solvent, 4 hours pretreatment duration and temperature of 70ºC. Finally beta-glucan was analyzed by enzymatic method and the percentage of beta-glucan extracted in this study was 34.17 percent.

Effect of Refining Parameters on Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) Properties from Oil Palm Trunk

The properties of medium density fibreboard (MDF) made from oil palm trunk (OPT) as affected by refining pressure and preheating time were investigated. The OPT chips were refined in the MDF pilot plant by using four refining pressures (2, 4, 6 and 8 bar) and four different preheating time (100, 200, 300 and 400 seconds). The refined fibres were blended with 10% of urea formaldehyde with a board target density of 720 kg/m3. MDF boards were evaluated based on European Standard EN 622-5:2006 for thickness swelling (TS), internal bonding (IB), modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the significance of the factors. The results from this study indicated that refining pressure and preheating time are significant factors for all MDF properties. Low refining pressure and preheating time produced higher TS, lower MOR and MOE with poor bonding than those boards prepared from fibres refined at higher refining pressure and longer preheating time. OPT fibre treated with 8 bar produced good swelling resistance but detrimental on mechanical properties of the finish board. 6 bar steam pressure offered the highest value of mechanical properties (MOE, MOR and IB). Boards from intermediate refining condition (6 bar and 300 seconds) were found the better board properties having 14.58%, 0.73 N/mm2, 38 N/mm2 and 3597 N/mm2 for TS, IB, MOR and MOE respectively.

Comparison Study On Oil Palm Trunk And Oil Palm Fruit Bunch Fibre Reinforced Laterite Bricks

The main aim of this study was to compare the physical properties and mechanical properties of Oil Palm Trunk (OPT) fibre and Oil Palm Fruit Bunches (OPFB) fibre reinforced laterite bricks. For comparison purposes, the properties such as dimension, density, water absorption and the compressive strength of both types of bricks were determined. The effects of the incorporation of various amounts of fibres on the above properties were analysed. The tests were carried out according to BS 3921: 1985 for clay bricks.The samples were pressed at the factory Majpadu Bricks Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia and tested at the Material Testing Laboratory, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia.The findings of this research were, firstly, the dimension of bricks content with OPFB fibres were less accurate than bricks with OPT fibres. Secondly, the density of bricks with OPFB fibres was higher than the density of bricks with OPT fibres. Thirdly, in compressive strength of the bricks with OPFB fibres was higher than bricks with OPT fibres, with the maximum fibre content identified as 3 percent fibres. Finally, the water absorption of bricks with OPFB fibres was lower than the water absorption of bricks with OPT fibres. It can be concluded that the bricks with OPFB fibres had better physical and mechanical properties than bricks with OPT fibres. OPFB fibres is better for reinforcement in the laterite bricks and properties of the bricks with OPT Fibres were to be improved.

Oleic Acid-based Polyurethane and its Biocomposites with Oil Palm Trunk Fiber Dust

The main objectives of the present research are (i) to obtain a monoglyceride from oleic acid through a direct esterification process, (ii) utilization of the obtained monoglycerides to prepare polyurethane (PU) sheet, and (iii) the preparation of a series of biocomposites using prepared PU and different amounts of oil palm trunk (OPT) fiber dust. The tensile strength of OPT fiber dust incorporated PU biocomposites is found to be increased with the increase in the OPT fiber dust content up to 20% in the composites. The tensile strengths of PU and its biocomposites with 20% OPT fiber dust were 0.6 and 2.15 MPa, respectively. The thermal properties of PU and its biocomposites having varied amounts of OPT fiber dust of 0—40% have been investigated using dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA) and thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). TGA studies revealed that PU and its biocomposites have undergone two- and three-step degradation, respectively. From DMA studies, a shift in the tan δ value was noticed for the biocomposites containing 30 and 40% OPT fiber dust. The morphology of the tensile fractured composite specimens was analyzed using scanning electron microscope.

Effect of Compactabilization of Polymer on the Properties of Polyurethane-Palm Fiber Composites

Polyurethane (PU) composites were prepared using a palm oil-based polyol, polycaprolactone (PCL) and Oil Palm Trunk (OPT) fiber. Glass transitions and degree of phase separation were derived from differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analyses (DMA) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurements. The analyses showed that between PU/PCL and OPT at higher Tg values. The different composition of polyurethane becomes more flexible at the higher polyol content in the polyurethane composite. FTIR spectra do not show the changes in presence of OPT fibers. Effect of PCL adding shows in the thermal degradation of polyurethane composite and influence the basic mechanism of biobased PU/OPT composite. The morphology of fractured surfaces of the composites, examined by a scanning electron microscope showed an improvement in the adhesion between the fiber and matrix was achieved. Compared to the characteristic features of neat PU material, more definite plastic deformation was observed in the fracture morphology of the PU composites.

Chemical Composition, Morphological Characteristics, and Cell Wall Structure of Malaysian Oil Palm Fibers

This article deals with the determination of chemical composition and the study of morphological and cell wall structure of oil palm fibers. Cellulose is the main constituent in oil palm fibers, and oil palm trunk (OPT) fiber exhibited the highest content of extractives and lignin. Fiber morphological determination also showed that OPT fibers have the highest fiber length, diameter, and cell wall thickness. Observations of fiber cell wall layers using transmisson electron microscopy at ultrastructure level confirmed that cell wall layers of oil palm fiber have a structure similar to that of wood cell wall. Analysis also focused on the determination of lignin distribution within the cell wall layers using toluidine blue. In all fiber samples, the middle lamella appeared to demonstrate a higher level of lignification compared to that of other cells.

Batch removal of malachite green from aqueous solutions by adsorption on oil palm trunk fibre: Equilibrium isotherms and kinetic studies

Oil palm trunk fibre (OPTF) – an agricultural solid waste – was used as low-cost adsorbent to remove malachite green (MG) from aqueous solutions. The operating variables studied were contact time, initial dye concentration, and solution pH. Equilibrium adsorption data were analyzed by three isotherms, namely the Freundlich isotherm, the Langmuir isotherm, and the multilayer adsorption isotherm. The best fit to the data was obtained with the multilayer adsorption. The monolayer adsorption capacity of OPTF was found to be 149.35 mg/g at 30 °C. Adsorption kinetic data were modeled using the Lagergren pseudo-first-order, Ho's pseudo-second-order and Elovich models. It was found that the Lagergren's model could be used for the prediction of the system's kinetics. The overall rate of dye uptake was found to be controlled by external mass transfer at the beginning of adsorption, then for initial MG concentrations of 25, 50, 100, 150, and 300 mg/L the rate-control changed to intraparticle diffusion at a later stage, but for initial MG concentrations 200 and 250 mg/L no evidence was found of intraparticle diffusion at any period of adsorption. It was found that with increasing the initial concentration of MG, the pore-diffusion coefficient increased while the film-diffusion coefficient decreased.

Fractional separation and physico-chemical analysis of lignins from the black liquor of oil palm trunk fibre pulping

Abstract A continuing study of the lignin fractions, separated by a two step precipitation method instead of the traditional one step precipitation method from the black liquor of oil palm trunk fibre pulping (OPTFP), was carried out. The degraded lignins were isolated from the supernatants of the OPTFP black liquor at pH 2.0 after separation of the polysaccharide degradation products at pH 7.0, 5.5, 5.0, 3.5, and 2.0 in 3 vols 95% ethanol, respectively. A very high recovery of lignin fraction (93.6%) that was relatively free of non-lignin matter was obtained by precipitation at pH 7. The physico-chemical properties and structural features of the isolated lignin fractions were characterized by UV, FT-IR, and 13 C-NMR spectroscopies as well as GPC, and the results are reported.

The chemical modification of lignins with succinic anhydride in aqueous systems

Chemical modification of oil palm trunk fibre lignin, poplar lignin, maize stem lignin, and barley, wheat, and rye straw lignins was achieved by esterification with succinic anhydride in aqueous solutions. FT–IR spectroscopy clearly revealed the differences in the structure of the modified lignins as a result of this succinoylation. These changes were reflected by thermal analyses such as thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. All the succinylated lignin preparations showed an increased thermal stability compared to the corresponding unmodified lignins.

Fractional Isolation and Structural Characterization of Lignins from Oil Palm Trunk and Empty Fruit Bunch Fibers

The lignins from dewaxed oil palm trunk and empty fruit bunch (EFB) fibers were fractionated into 95% ethanol soluble, cold and hot water soluble, and 1% NaOH soluble lignins, respectively. The chemical and structural composition of the lignin preparations was determined by using UV, GPC, FT-IR, 13C-NMR spectroscopy and nitrobenzene oxidation. The alkali soluble and 95% ethanol soluble lignin fractions were found to contain low amounts of chemically linked polysaccharides, 2.9-3.9% and 7.5-8.0%, respectively, while the water soluble lignin fractions showed significant amounts of bound polysaccharides (16.2-23.3%). All of the lignin fractions contained a high proportion of non-condensed syringyl units, together with small amounts of non-condensed guaiacyl and fewer p-hydroxyphenyl units. The lignin from oil palm EFB fiber contained a significant amount of esterified p-hydroxybenzoic acid and a minor quantity of esterified glucuronic acid. Trace of ferulic acids was both esterified and etherified to lignin side chains in the EFB fiber cell walls.

Physicochemical and structural characterization of alkali soluble lignins from oil palm trunk and empty fruit-bunch fibers.

Six alkali soluble lignin fractions were extracted from the cell wall materials of oil palm trunk and empty fruit-bunch (EFB) fibers with 5% NaOH, 10% NaOH, and 24% KOH/2% H(3)BO(3). All of the lignin fractions contained rather low amounts of associated neutral sugars (0.8-1.2%) and uronic acids (1.1-2.0%). The lignin fractions isolated with 5% NaOH from the lignified palm trunk and EFB fibers gave a relatively higher degree of polymerization as shown by weight-average molecular weights ranging between 2620 and 2840, whereas the lignin fractions isolated with 10% NaOH and 24% KOH/2% H(3)BO(3) from the partially delignified palm trunk and EFB fibers showed a relatively lower degree of polymerization, as shown by weight-average molecular weights ranging between 1750 and 1980. The results obtained by alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation showed that all of the lignin preparations contained a high proportion of noncondensed syringyl units with small amounts of noncondensed guaiacyl and fewer p-hydroxyphenyl units. The lignin fraction extracted with 5% NaOH from the lignified EFB fiber was mainly composed of beta-O-4 ether-linked units. Small amounts of 5-5', beta-5, and beta-beta' carbon-carbon linkages were also found to be present between the lignin structural units. Further studies showed that uronic, p-hydroxybenzoic, and ferulic acids in the cell walls of palm fibers were esterified to lignin.

Fractional Isolation and Characterization of Polysaccharides from Oil Palm Trunk and Empty Fruit Bunch Fibres

Summary The polysaccharides in oil palm trunk fibre and empty fruit bunch (EFB) fibre were fractionated into cold water solubles, hot water solubles, 1% NaOH solubles, and 17.5% NaOH soluble fractions. Cellulose (approximately 42%) and hemicelluloses (approximately 33%) were the major polysaccharides in the palm trunk fibre and EFB fibre. Extractions of the lignified fibres with cold water, hot water, and 1% NaOH produced the hemicellulosic fractions, which were enriched in xylose and glucose and to a lesser extent, arabinose-, galactose-, mannose-, rhamnose-, and ribose-containing polysaccharides, together with noticeable amounts of associated lignin (4.5–31.2%). Further extraction of the delignified fibre residues with aqueous 17.5% NaOH removed the hemicellulosic fractions, which were strongly enriched in xylose-containing polysaccharides and relatively free of associated lignin (0.3–0.7%). Eight phenolic acids and aldehydes, including p-hydroxybenzoic acid, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, vanillic acid, syringic acid, vanillin, syringaldehyde, p-coumaric acid, and ferulic acid, were detected in the mixtures of alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation of associated lignin in all the sixteen polysaccharide fractions. The results obtained showed that hemicelluloses in the cell walls of oil palm trunk and EFB fibres, are mainly bonded with lignin by syringyl units.