Search results for: chemically activated cocos nucifera and mango seed

Authors: Imran, Murad Ali Rahat

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One of the factors affecting crop production and nutrient availability is acidic stress. The most important element decreasing under acidic stress conditions is phosphorus deficiency, which results in stunted growth and yield because of inefficient nutrient cycling. At the Agriculture Research Institute Mingora Swat, Pakistan, tests were carried out for the first time throughout the course of two consecutive summer seasons in 2016 (year 1) and 2017 (year 2) with the goal of increasing crop productivity and nutrient availability under acidic stress. Three organic supplies (peach nano-black carbon, compost, and dry-based peach wastes), three phosphorus rates, and two advantageous microorganisms (Trichoderma and PSB) were incorporated in the experimental treatments. The findings showed that, in conditions of acid stress, peach organic sources had a significant impact on yield and yield components. The application of nano-black carbon produced the greatest thousand seed weight of 164.6 g among organic sources, however the use of phosphorus solubilizing bacteria (PSB) for seed inoculation increased the thousand seed weight of beneficial microbes when compared to Trichoderma soil application. The thousand seed weight was significantly impacted by the quantities of phosphorus. The treatment of 100 kg P ha-1 produced the highest thousand seed weight (167.3 g), which was followed by 75 kg P ha-1 (162.5 g). Compost amendments provided the highest seed yield (2,140 kg ha-1) and were comparable to the application of nano-black carbon (2,120 kg ha-1). With peach residues, the lowest seed output (1,808 kg ha-1) was observed.Compared to seed inoculation with PSB (1,913 kg ha-1), soil treatment with Trichoderma resulted in the maximum seed production (2,132 kg ha-1). Applying phosphorus to the soybean crop greatly increased its output. The highest seed yield (2,364 kg ha-1) was obtained with 100 kg P ha-1, which was comparable to 75 kg P ha-1 (2,335 kg ha-1), while the lowest seed yield (1,569 kg ha-1) was obtained with 50 kg P ha-1. The average values showed that compared to control plots (3.3 g kg-1), peach organic sources produced greatest SOC (10.0 g kg-1). Plots with treated soil had a maximum soil P of 19.7 mg kg-1, while plots under stress had a maximum soil P of 4.8 mg kg-1. While peach compost resulted in the lowest soil P levels, peach nano-black carbon yielded the highest soil P levels (21.6 mg kg-1). Comparing beneficial bacteria with PSB to Trichoderma (18.3 mg/kg-1), the former also shown an improvement in soil P (21.1 mg kg-1). Regarding P treatments, the application of 100 kg P per ha produced significantly higher soil P values (26.8 mg /kg-1), followed by 75 kg P per ha (18.3 mg /kg-1), and 50 kg P ha-1 produced the lowest soil P values (14.1 mg /kg-1). Comparing peach wastes and compost to peach nano-black carbon (13.7 g kg-1), SOC rose. In contrast to PSB (8.8 g kg-1), soil-treated Trichoderma was shown to have a greater SOC (11.1 g kg-1). Higher among the P levels.

Keywords: acidic stress, trichoderma, beneficial microbes, nano-black carbon, compost, peach residues, phosphorus, soybean

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Authors: P. Chultheera, T. Rirksomboon, S. Kulprathipanja, C. Liu, W. Chinsirikul, N. Kerddonfag

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Gas separation by selective transport through polymeric membranes is one of the rapid growing branches of membrane technology. However, the tradeoff between the permeability and selectivity is one of the critical challenges encountered by pure polymer membranes, which in turn limits their large-scale application. To enhance gas separation performances, mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) have been developed. In this study, MMMs were prepared by a solution-coating method and tested for CO₂/CH₄ separation through permeability and selectivity using a membrane testing unit at room temperature and a pressure of 100 psig. The fabricated MMMs were composed of silicone rubber dispersed with the activated carbon individually absorbed with polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a liquid additive. PEG emulsified silicone rubber MMMs showed superior gas separation on cellulose acetate membrane with both high permeability and selectivity compared with silicone rubber membrane and alone support membrane. However, the MMMs performed limited stability resulting from the undesirable PEG leakage. To stabilize the MMMs, PEG was then incorporated into activated carbon by adsorption. It was found that the incorporation of solid and liquid was effective to improve the separation performance of MMMs.

Keywords: mixed matrix membrane, membrane, CO₂/CH₄ separation, activated carbon

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Authors: Meichen Lee, Michael K. H. Leung

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In recent years, visible-light activated photocatalysis has become a major field of intense researches for the higher efficiency of solar energy utilizations. Many attempts have been made on the modification of wide band gap semiconductors, while more and more efforts emphasize on cost-effective synthesis of visible-light activated catalysts. In this work, BiOBr nanoplates with band gap of visible-light range are synthesized through a promising microwave solvothermal method. The treatment time period and temperature dependent BiOBr nanosheets of various particle sizes are investigated through SEM. BiOBr synthesized under the condition of 160°C for 60 mins shows the most uniform particle sizes around 311 nm and the highest surface-to-volume ratio on account of its smallest average particle sizes compared with others. It exhibits the best photocatalytic behavior among all samples in RhB degradation.

Keywords: microwave solvothermal process, nanoplates, solar energy, visible-light photocatalysis

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Authors: Saidu Garba Okereafor Stella

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The presence of 15 organochlorine pesticides residue was assessed from 29 different fruits and fruit juice samples from selected farms in Kaduna and Niger States using the quick easy cheap effective rugged and safe (QuEChERS), followed by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). The results showed the presence of varying concentrations of ten (10) organochlorine pesticide residues in all the samples with Endrin ketone showing the highest concentration in 3 samples from Kaduna (guava juice 1 and 2 0.099 to 0.145 mg/kg) and Niger States (orange juice J19 0.102 mg/kg). The heptachlor was detected at high concentration in 11 samples, 7 samples from Kaduna State (mango juice 0.011 mg/kg, Washington orange 0.014 mg/kg, Valencia orange fruit 0.020 mg/kg, orange juice 0.011, white guava fruit 0.024 mg/kg, guava juice 0.023 mg/kg, guava juice 2 0.024 mg/kg) and 4 samples from (mango juice 1 0.015 mg/kg, pineapple juice 1 0.0120 mg/kg pineapple juice 2 011 mg/kg and mix juice 2 0.012 mg/kg) from Niger State. Dieldrine and endosulfansulfate were detected at high levels in one sample each from Niger (guava fruit 0.019 mg/kg and mixed juice1 0.011mg/kg), respectively. However, all were above the maximum residue limits (MRLs) set by WHO/FAO which suggest that people consuming these type of contaminated fruits and fruits juices may contact diseases associated with those organochlorine pesticides residue. Minute concentrations of other organochlorines (α- BHC, δ- BHC, β- BHC, Lindane, and p’p DDT) ranged from 0.003 to 0.015 were recorded below the MRLs.

Keywords: fruits and fruits juices, organochlorine pesticide residue, comparative studies, gc-ms spectrophometer

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Authors: Ali Hassan, Mian Muhammad Awais, Muhammad Rafique Shahid, Farazia Hassan, Shumaila Rasool

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Dusky cotton bug (Oxycarenus laetus) has attained the status of major insect pest of cotton. It is also known as seed bug due to its property of feeding on seeds. It causes floral abscission at flowering stage and reduction in seed germination. Present study was carried out to assess germination loss caused by dusky bug with respect to crop stage and insect intensity. Treatments consisted of three stages immature boll, mature boll and opened boll as well three levels of dusky bug i.e., 50 bugs per boll, 40 bugs per boll along with zero level kept as control. Results showed that the germination percentage was highest in control treatment where no insect was released followed by treatment where 40 insects released and minimum germination showed by treatment in which 50 insects were released. The germination percentage of seeds surpassed after control treatment in the treatment where dusky bugs exposure was given at boll opening stage than on mature boll stage. Minimum germination was observed in immature boll stage. Interaction between crop stages and dusky bug levels showed that germination percentage of seeds was maximum in control treatment then boll opening stage followed by mature boll stage. Minimum seed germination was recorded in dusky bug treatment at immature boll stage which was 34% where 50 insects were released. From the results it is clear that dusky bug should be managed properly at all reproductive stages but immature stage is most critical.

Keywords: Gossypium hirsutum, Oxycarenus laetus, seed bug, seed germination

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Authors: Omvati Verma, Shyamashrre Roy

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A field experiment was conducted with three basal nitrogen levels (90, 120 and 150 kg N/ha) and five foliar application of urea (absolute control, water spray, 3% urea spray at anthesis, 7 and 14 days after anthesis) at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, U.S. Nagar (Uttarakhand) during rabi season in a factorial randomized block design with three replications. Results revealed that nitrogen application of 150 kg/ha produced the highest seed yield, straw and biological yield and it was significantly superior to 90 kg N/ha and was at par with 120 kg N/ha. The number of tillers increased significantly with increase in nitrogen doses up to 150 kg N/ha. Spike length, number of grains per spike, grain weight per spike and thousand seed weight showed significantly higher values with 120 kg N/ha than 90 kg N/ha and were at par with that of 150 kg N/ha. Also, plant height showed similar trend. Leaf area index and chlorophyll content showed significant increase with an increase in nitrogen levels at different stages. In the case of foliar spray treatments, urea spray at anthesis showed highest value for yield and yield attributes. In case of spike length and thousand seed weight, it was similar with the urea spray at 7 and 14 days after anthesis, but for rest of the yield attributes, it was significantly higher than rest of the treatments. Among seed quality parameters protein and sedimentation value showed significant increase due to increase in nitrogen rates whereas, starch and hectolitre weight had a decreasing trend. Wet gluten content was not influenced by nitrogen levels. Foliar urea spray at anthesis resulted in highest value of protein and hectolitre weight whereas, urea spray at 7 days after anthesis showed highest value of sedimentation value and wet gluten content.

Keywords: foliar application, nitrogenous fertilizer, seed quality, yield

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Authors: Nattawat Thongpraphai, Anusorn Boonpoke

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This study aimed to determine the removal of colour and curcuminoids from turmeric wastewater using granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption. The adsorption isotherm and kinetic behavior of colour and curcuminoids was invested using batch and fixed bed columns tests. The results indicated that the removal efficiency of colour and curcuminoids were 80.13 and 78.64%, respectively at 8 hr of equilibrium time. The adsorption isotherm of colour and curcuminoids were well fitted with the Freundlich adsorption model. The maximum adsorption capacity of colour and curcuminoids were 130 Pt-Co/g and 17 mg/g, respectively. The continuous experiment data showed that the exhaustion concentration of colour and curcuminoids occurred at 39 hr of operation time. The adsorption characteristic of colour and curcuminoids from turmeric wastewater by GAC can be described by the Thomas model. The maximum adsorption capacity obtained from kinetic approach were 39954 Pt-Co/g and 0.0516 mg/kg for colour and curcuminoids, respectively. Moreover, the decrease of colour and curcuminoids concentration during the service time showed a similar trend.

Keywords: adsorption, turmeric, colour, curcuminoids, activated carbon

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Authors: Muhammad Xaaceph Khan, Abida Butt, Farah Kausar

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Due to geogenic and anthropogenic factors, heavy metals concentrations increased throughout the world and deposit into soil. Thus available to different plants and travel in different food chains. The present study was designed to achieve bioaccumulation of Cd and Zn in the wheat-aphid-beetle food chain. For this purpose, wheat plants were grown in three different treatments: Cd, Zn, Cd+Zn. Data showed that Cd content in soil and wheat plant increases with increase in Cd concentration while plant weighs, panicle weight, seed number per panicle and seed weight per panicle decreases with increase in Cd content in the soil. Zn content in soil and wheat plant increases with increase in Cd concentration while plant weighs, panicle weight, seed number per panicle, and seed weight per panicle increase with an increase in Zn content in the soil. With the addition of Zn in Cd-treated soil, the uptake of Cd decreases in all parts of wheat plants. Bioaccumulation from wheat plant to aphids and then its predators were also studied. Cd concentration increases from low to high concentration in all arthropods. Same was observed in Zn concentrations, while in Cd+Zn, Cd accumulation decreases but Zn accumulates increases. Health risk index (HRI) also showed that in the presence of Zn, the HRI improves and can help to reduce health risks associated with Cd.

Keywords: aphid, beetle, bioaccumulation, cadmium, wheat, zinc

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Authors: John Kabuba, Hilary Rutto

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Ion exchange is one of the methods used to remove heavy metal such as copper and cobalt from wastewaters. Parameters affecting the ion-exchange of copper and cobalt aqueous solutions using clinoptilolite are the objectives of this study. Synthetic solutions were prepared with the concentration of 0.02M, 0.06M and 0.1M. The cobalt solution was maintained to 0.02M while varying the copper solution to the above stated concentrations. The clinoptilolite was activated with HCl and H2SO4 for removal efficiency. The pHs of the solutions were found to be acidic hence enhancing the copper and cobalt removal. The natural clinoptilolite performance was also found to be lower compared to the HCl and H2SO4 activated one for the copper removal ranging from 68% to 78% of Cu2+ uptake with the natural clinoptilolite to 66% to 51% with HCl and H2SO4 respectively. It was found that the activated clinoptilolite removed more copper and cobalt than the natural one and found that the electronegativity of the metal plays a role in the metal removal and the clinoptilolite selectivity.

Keywords: clinoptilolite, cobalt and copper, ion-exchange, mass dosage, pH

Procedia PDF Downloads 266

Authors: U. Pangnakorn, S. Kanlaya

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The efficiency of wood vinegar mixed with each individual of three plants extract such as: citronella grass (Cymbopogon nardus), neem seed (Azadirachta indica A. Juss), and yam bean seed (Pachyrhizus erosus Urb.) were tested against the second instar larvae of housefly (Musca domestica L.). Steam distillation was used for extraction of the citronella grass while neem and yam bean were simple extracted by fermentation with ethyl alcohol. Toxicity test was evaluated in laboratory based on two methods of larvicidal bioassay: topical application method (contact poison) and feeding method (stomach poison). Larval mortality was observed daily and larval survivability was recorded until the survived larvae developed to pupae and adults. The study resulted that treatment of wood vinegar mixed with citronella grass showed the highest larval mortality by topical application method (50.0%) and by feeding method (80.0%). However, treatment of mixed wood vinegar and neem seed showed the longest pupal duration to 25 day and 32 days for topical application method and feeding method respectively. Additional, larval duration on treated M. domestica larvae was extended to 13 days for topical application method and 11 days for feeding method. Thus, the feeding method gave higher efficiency compared with the topical application method.

Keywords: housefly (Musca domestica L.), neem seed (Azadirachta indica), citronella grass (Cymbopogon nardus), yam bean seed (Pachyrhizus erosus), mortality

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Authors: C. Chaiyaraksa, T. Khamko

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This study investigated the influence of limestone and sepiolite on heavy metals accumulation in the soil and soybean. The soil was synthesized to contaminate with zinc 150 mg/kg, copper 100 mg/kg, and cadmium 1 mg/kg. The contaminated soil was mixed with limestone and sepiolite at the ratio of 1:0, 0:1, 1:1, and 2:1. The amount of soil modifier added to soil was 0.2%, 0.4%, and 0.8%. The metals determination was performed on soil both before and after soybean planting and in the root, shoot, and seed of soybean after harvesting. The study was also on metal translocate from root to seed and on bioaccumulation factor. Using of limestone and sepiolite resulted in a reduction of metals accumulated in soybean. For soil containing a high concentration of copper, cadmium, and zinc, a mixture of limestone and sepiolite (1:1) was recommended to mix with soil with the amount of 0.2%. Zinc could translocate from root to seed more than copper, and cadmium. From studying the movement of metals from soil to accumulate in soybean, the result was that soybean could absorb the highest amount of cadmium, followed by zinc, and copper, respectively.

Keywords: heavy metals, limestone, sepiolite, soil, soybean

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Authors: Moshe Mello, Hilary Rutto, Tumisang Seodigeng

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The adsorptive ability of different carbon materials, tire char (TC), demineralized tire char (DTC), activated tire char (ATC) and Aldrich supplied commercial activated carbon (CAC) was studied for desulfurization of tire pyrolytic oil (TPO). TPO with an initial sulfur content of 7767.7 ppmw was used in this present study. Preparation of ATC was achieved by chemical treatment of raw TC using a potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution and subsequent activation at 800°C in the presence of nitrogen. The thermal behavior of TC, surface microstructure, and the surface functional groups of the carbon materials was investigated using TGA, SEM, and FTIR, respectively. Adsorptive desulfurization of TPO using the carbon materials was performed and they performed in the order of CAC>ATC>DTC>TC. Adsorption kinetics were studied, and pseudo-first order kinetic model displayed a better fit compared to pseudo-second order model. For isotherm studies, the Freundlich isotherm model fitted to the equilibrium data better than the Langmuir isotherm model.

Keywords: ATC, desulfurization, pyrolysis, tire, TPO

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Authors: Marine Regnier, Pascal Bost, Matthieu Horgnies

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Some of the problems to be solved for the concrete industry are linked to the use of low-reactivity cement, the hardening of concrete under cold-weather and the manufacture of pre-casted concrete without costly heating step. The development of these applications needs to accelerate the hydration kinetics, in order to decrease the setting time and to obtain significant compressive strengths as soon as possible. The mechanisms enhancing the hydration kinetics of alite or Portland cement (e.g. the creation of nucleation sites) were already studied in literature (e.g. by using distinct additions such as titanium dioxide nanoparticles, calcium carbonate fillers, water-soluble polymers, C-S-H, etc.). However, the goal of this study was to establish a clear ranking of the efficiency of several types of additions by using a robust and reproducible methodology based on isothermal calorimetry (performed at 20°C). The cement was a CEM I 52.5N PM-ES (Blaine fineness of 455 m²/kg). To ensure the reproducibility of the experiments and avoid any decrease of the reactivity before use, the cement was stored in waterproof and sealed bags to avoid any contact with moisture and carbon dioxide. The experiments were performed on Portland cement pastes by using a water-to-cement ratio of 0.45, and incorporating different compounds (industrially available or laboratory-synthesized) that were selected according to their main composition and their specific surface area (SSA, calculated using the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) model and nitrogen adsorption isotherms performed at 77K). The intrinsic effects of (i) dry powders (e.g. fumed silica, activated charcoal, nano-precipitates of calcium carbonate, afwillite germs, nanoparticles of iron and iron oxides , etc.), and (ii) aqueous solutions (e.g. containing calcium chloride, hydrated Portland cement or Master X-SEED 100, etc.) were investigated. The influence of the amount of addition, calculated relatively to the dry extract of each addition compared to cement (and by conserving the same water-to-cement ratio) was also studied. The results demonstrated that the X-SEED®, the hydrated calcium nitrate, the calcium chloride (and, at a minor level, a solution of hydrated Portland cement) were able to accelerate the hydration kinetics of Portland cement, even at low concentration (e.g. 1%wt. of dry extract compared to cement). By using higher rates of additions, the fumed silica, the precipitated calcium carbonate and the titanium dioxide can also accelerate the hydration. In the case of the nano-precipitates of calcium carbonate, a correlation was established between the SSA and the accelerating effect. On the contrary, the nanoparticles of iron or iron oxides, the activated charcoal and the dried crystallised hydrates did not show any accelerating effect. Future experiments will be scheduled to establish the ranking of these additions, in terms of accelerating effect, by using low-reactivity cements and other water to cement ratios.

Keywords: acceleration, hydration kinetics, isothermal calorimetry, Portland cement

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Authors: Brenda Cecilia Ledesma, Andrea Beltramone

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This work deals with the bio-waste valorization approach for catalyst development, the use of products derived from biomass as raw material and the obtaining of biofuels. In this research, activated carbons were synthesized from the orange peel using different synthesis conditions. With the activated carbons obtained with the best structure and texture, PtIr bimetallic catalysts were prepared. Carbon activation was carried out through a chemical process with phosphoric acid as an activating agent, varying the acid concentration, the ratio substrate/activating agent and time of contact between them. The best support was obtained using a carbonization time of 1 h, the temperature of carbonization of 470oC, the phosphoric acid concentration of 50 wt.% and a BET area of 1429 m2/g. Subsequently, the metallic nanoparticles were deposited in the activated carbon to use the solid as a catalytic material for the hydrogenation of HMF to 2,5-DMF. The catalyst presented an excellent performance for biofuels generation.

Keywords: orange peel, bio-waste valorization, platinum, iridium, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural

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Authors: Edward Holupka, John Rossman, Tye Morancy, Joseph Aronovitz, Irving Kaplan

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A common modality for the treatment of early stage prostate cancer is the implantation of radioactive seeds directly into the prostate. The radioactive seeds are positioned inside the prostate to achieve optimal radiation dose coverage to the prostate. These radioactive seeds are positioned inside the prostate using Transrectal ultrasound imaging. Once all of the planned seeds have been implanted, two dimensional transaxial transrectal ultrasound images separated by 2 mm are obtained through out the prostate, beginning at the base of the prostate up to and including the apex. A common deep neural network, called DetectNet was trained to automatically determine the position of the implanted radioactive seeds within the prostate under ultrasound imaging. The results of the training using 950 training ultrasound images and 90 validation ultrasound images. The commonly used metrics for successful training were used to evaluate the efficacy and accuracy of the trained deep neural network and resulted in an loss_bbox (train) = 0.00, loss_coverage (train) = 1.89e-8, loss_bbox (validation) = 11.84, loss_coverage (validation) = 9.70, mAP (validation) = 66.87%, precision (validation) = 81.07%, and a recall (validation) = 82.29%, where train and validation refers to the training image set and validation refers to the validation training set. On the hardware platform used, the training expended 12.8 seconds per epoch. The network was trained for over 10,000 epochs. In addition, the seed locations as determined by the Deep Neural Network were compared to the seed locations as determined by a commercial software based on a one to three months after implant CT. The Deep Learning approach was within \strikeout off\uuline off\uwave off2.29\uuline default\uwave default mm of the seed locations determined by the commercial software. The Deep Learning approach to the determination of radioactive seed locations is robust, accurate, and fast and well within spatial agreement with the gold standard of CT determined seed coordinates.

Keywords: prostate, deep neural network, seed implant, ultrasound

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Authors: Oluwagbemi Victor Aladeokin

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In the last decade, the global peanut cultivation has seen increased demand, which is attributed to their health benefits, rising to ~ 41.4 MMT in 2019/2020. Peanut and other nutshells are considered as waste in various parts of the world and are usually used for their fuel value. However, this agricultural by-product can be converted to a higher value product such as activated carbon. For many years, due to the highly porous structure of activated carbon, it has been widely and effectively used as an adsorbent in the purification and separation of gases and liquids. Those used for commercial purposes are primarily made from a range of precursors such as wood, coconut shell, coal, bones, etc. However, due to difficulty in regeneration and high cost, various agricultural residues such as rice husk, corn stalks, apricot stones, almond shells, coffee beans, etc, have been explored to produce activated carbons. In the present study, the potential of peanut shells as precursors in the production of activated carbon and their adsorption capacity is investigated. Usually, precursors used to produce activated carbon have carbon content above 45 %. A typical raw peanut shell has 42 wt.% carbon content. To increase the yield, this study has employed chemical activation method using zinc chloride. Zinc chloride is well known for its effectiveness in increasing porosity of porous carbonaceous materials. In chemical activation, activation temperature and impregnation ratio are parameters commonly reported to be the most significant, however, this study has also studied the influence of activation time on the development of activated carbon from peanut shells. Activated carbons are applied for different purposes, however, as the application of activated carbon becomes more specific, an understanding of the influence of activation variables to have a better control of the quality of the final product becomes paramount. A traditional approach to experimentally investigate the influence of the activation parameters, involves varying each parameter at a time. However, a more efficient way to reduce the number of experimental runs is to apply design of experiment. One of the objectives of this study is to optimize the activation variables. Thus, this work has employed response surface methodology of design of experiment to study the interactions between the activation parameters and consequently optimize the activation parameters (temperature, impregnation ratio, and activation time). The optimum activation conditions found were 485 °C, 15 min and 1.7, temperature, activation time, and impregnation ratio respectively. The optimum conditions resulted in an activated carbon with relatively high surface area ca. 1700 m2/g, 47 % yield, relatively high density, low ash, and high fixed carbon content. Impregnation ratio and temperature were found to mostly influence the final characteristics of the produced activated carbon from peanut shells. The results of this study, using response surface methodology technique, have revealed the potential and the most significant parameters that influence the chemical activation process, of peanut shells to produce activated carbon which can find its use in both liquid and gas phase adsorption applications.

Keywords: chemical activation, fixed carbon, impregnation ratio, optimum, surface area

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Authors: Heba Fouad, Tarek M. Madkour, Safwan A. Khedr

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This paper investigates multiple factors that impact the formation of geopolymers and their compressive strength to be utilized in construction as an environmentally-friendly material. Bentonite and Kaolinite were thermally calcinated at 750 °C to obtain Metabentonite and Metakaolinite with higher reactivity. Both source materials were activated using a solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Thereafter, samples were cured at different temperatures. The samples were analyzed chemically using a host of spectroscopic techniques. The bulk density and compressive strength of the produced Geopolymer pastes were studied. Findings indicate that the ratio of NaOH solution to source material affects the compressive strength, being optimal at 0.54. Moreover, controlled heat curing was proven effective to improve compressive strength. The existence of characteristic Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) peaks at approximately 1020 cm-1 and 460 cm-1 which corresponds to the asymmetric stretching vibration of Si-O-T and bending vibration of Si-O-Si, hence, confirming the formation of the target geopolymer.

Keywords: calcination of metakaolinite, compressive strength, FTIR analysis, geopolymer, green cement

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: Sabolč Pap, Srđana Kolaković, Jelena Radonić, Ivana Mihajlović, Dragan Adamović, Mirjana Vojinović Miloradov, Maja Turk Sekulić

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Activated carbon is one of the most used and tested adsorbents in the removal of industrial organic compounds, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals and dyes. Different types of lignocellulosic materials were used as potential precursors in the production of low cost activated carbon. There are, two different processes for the preparation and production of activated carbon: physical and chemical. Chemical activation includes impregnating the lignocellulosic raw materials with chemical agents (H3PO4, HNO3, H2SO4 and NaOH). After impregnation, the materials are carbonized and washed to eliminate the residues. The chemical activation, which was used in this study, has two important advantages when compared to the physical activation. The first advantage is the lower temperature at which the process is conducted, and the second is that the yield (mass efficiency of activation) of the chemical activation tends to be greater. Preparation of activated carbon included the following steps: apricot stones were crushed in a mill and washed with distilled water. Later, the fruit stones were impregnated with a solution of 50% H3PO4. After impregnation, the solution was filtered to remove the residual acid. Subsequently impregnated samples were air dried at room temperature. The samples were placed in a furnace and heated (10 °C/min) to the final carbonization temperature of 500 °C for 2 h without the use of nitrogen. After cooling, the adsorbent was washed with distilled water to achieve acid free conditions and its pH was monitored until the filtrate pH value exceeded 4. Chemical characterizations of the prepared activated carbon were analyzed by FTIR spectroscopy. FTIR spectra were recorded with a (Thermo Nicolet Nexus 670 FTIR) spectrometer, from 400 to 4000 cm-1 wavenumbers, identifying the functional groups on the surface of the activated carbon. The FTIR spectra of adsorbent showed a broad band at 3405.91 cm-1 due to O–H stretching vibration and a peak at 489.00 cm-1 due to O–H bending vibration. Peaks between the range of 3700 and 3200 cm−1 represent the overlapping peaks of stretching vibrations of O–H and N–H groups. The distinct absorption peaks at 2919.86 cm−1 and 2848.24 cm−1 could be assigned to -CH stretching vibrations of –CH2 and –CH3 functional groups. The adsorption peak at 1566.38 cm−1 could be characterized by primary and secondary amide bands. The sharp bond within 1164.76 – 987.86 cm−1 is attributed to the C–O groups, which confirms the lignin structure of the activated carbon. The present study has shown that the activated carbons prepared from apricot stone have a functional group on their surface, which can positively affect the adsorption characteristics with this material.

Keywords: activated carbon, FTIR, H3PO4, lignocellulosic raw materials

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Authors: R. Gounina-Allouane, N. Ouali, F. Z. Berrabah, A. Bentaleb

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For a long time, the Gram-positive spore-forming bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has been widely used in biological control against devastating and disease vectors insects. This is due to the insecticidal activity of its crystalline parasporal inclusion (crystals) predominantly comprised of one or more proteins (Cry and Cyt proteins) also called δ-endotoxins, produced during sporulation. The shape and composition of Bt crystals vary among strains and crystalline proteins are extremely varied (more than 475 cry gene were discovered). The insecticidal activity of Bt crystals is very well studied, thus their insecticidal mode of action is well established, however, their antimicrobial effect is largely unknown. The lack of data on the antimicrobial effect of crystalline proteins of Bt and the need for searching new antimicrobial molecules encouraged us to carried out this study. The antibacterial effect of δ-endotoxines produced by two Bt stains; a strain isolated from soil at northern of Algeria (Bt 7.2.B), and a strain isolated from a bioinsecticide (Bacillus thuringiensis var aizawai), activated by proteolysis, was assayed on clinical bacterial strains and ATCC collection ones respectively. Gram positive and negative clinical bacterial strains (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonaie, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus) were sensitive to activated Bt 72B endotoxins. Similarly, bacterial strains from ATCC collection (Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Pseudomonas aerugenosa ATCC 27853, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923) were sensitive to activated B. thuringiensis var aizawai δ-endotoxines. The activated δ-endotoxins were separated by SDS-PAGE.

Keywords: Bacillus thuringiensis, crystals, cry proteins, δ-endotoxins, antibacterial activity

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Authors: Uchegbu Nneka Nkechi, Okoye Ogochukwu Peace

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The evaluation of the visco-elastic properties and microbial quality of a formulated oat-based dietetic food were investigated. Oat flour, pumpkin seed flour, carrot flour and skimmed milk powder were blended in varying proportions to formulate a product with codes OCF, which contains 70% oat flour, 10 % carrot flour, 10 % pumpkin seed flour and 10% skimmed milk powder, OCF which contains 65 % oat flour, 10 % carrot flour, 10 % pumpkin seed flour and 15 % skimmed milk powder, OCF which contains 60 % oat flour, 10 % carrot flour, 10 % pumpkin seed flour and 20 % skimmed milk powder, OCF which contains 55 % oat flour, 10 % carrot flour, 10 % pumpkin seed flour and 25 % skimmed milk powder and OF with 95 % oat as the commercial control. All the samples were assessed for their proximate composition, microbial quality and visco-elastic properties. The moisture content was highest at sample OF (10.73%) and lowest at OCF (7.10%) (P<0.05). Crude protein ranged from 13.38%-22.86%, with OCF having the highest (P<0.05) protein content and OF having the lowest. Crude fat was 3.74% for OCF and 6.31% for OF. Crude fiber ranged from 3.58% - 17.39% with OF having the lowest (P<0.05) fiber content and OCF having the highest. Ash content was 1.30% for OCF and 2.75% for OCF. There was no mold growth in the samples. The total viable ml/wl count ranged from 1.5×10³ cfu/g - 2.6×10³ cfu/g, with OCF having the lowest and OF having the highest (P<0.05) total viable count. The peak viscosity of the sample ranged from 75.00 cP-2895.00 cP, with OCF having the lowest and OF having the highest value. The final viscosity was 130.50 cP in OCF and 3572.50 cP in OF. The setback viscosity was 58.00 cP in OCF and 1680.50 cP in OF. The peak time was 6.93 mins in OCF to 5.57 mins in OF. There was no pasting temperature for all samples except the OF, which had 86.43. Sample OF was the highest in terms of overall acceptability. This study showed that the oat-based composite flour produced had a nutritional profile that would be acceptable for the aged population.

Keywords: dietetic, pumpkin, visco-elastic, microbial

Procedia PDF Downloads 173

Authors: Mallappa A. Devani, John U. Kennedy Oubagaranadin, Basudeb Munshi

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In this preliminary work, locally available husk of Cajanus cajan (commonly known in India as Tur or Arhar), a bio-waste, has been used in its physically treated and chemically activated form for the removal of binary Cu (II) and Zn(II) ions from the real waste water obtained from an electroplating industry in Bangalore, Karnataka, India and from laboratory prepared binary solutions having almost similar composition of the metal ions, for comparison. The real wastewater after filtration and dilution for five times was used for biosorption studies at the normal pH of the solutions at room temperature. Langmuir's binary model was used to calculate the metal uptake capacities of the biosorbents. It was observed that Cu(II) is more competitive than Zn(II) in biosorption. In individual metal biosorption, Cu(II) uptake was found to be more than that of the Zn(II) and a similar trend was observed in the binary metal biosorption from real wastewater and laboratory prepared solutions. FTIR analysis was carried out to identify the functional groups in the industrial wastewater and EDAX for the elemental analysis of the biosorbents after experiments.

Keywords: biosorption, Cajanus cajan, multi metal remediation, wastewater

Procedia PDF Downloads 361

Authors: T. Bryan , V. Kepuska, I. Kostnaic

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A method of data compression and denoising is introduced that is based on atomic decomposition of audio data using “basis vectors” that are learned from the audio data itself. The basis vectors are shown to have higher data compression and better signal-to-noise enhancement than the Gabor and gammatone “seed atoms” that were used to generate them. The basis vectors are the input weights of a Sparse AutoEncoder (SAE) that is trained using “envelope samples” of windowed segments of the audio data. The envelope samples are extracted from the audio data by performing atomic decomposition with Gabor or gammatone seed atoms. This process identifies segments of audio data that are locally coherent with the seed atoms. Envelope samples are extracted by identifying locally coherent audio data segments with Gabor or gammatone seed atoms, found by matching pursuit. The envelope samples are formed by taking the kronecker products of the atomic envelopes with the locally coherent data segments. Oracle signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) verses data compression curves are generated for the seed atoms as well as the basis vectors learned from Gabor and gammatone seed atoms. SNR data compression curves are generated for speech signals as well as early American music recordings. The basis vectors are shown to have higher denoising capability for data compression rates ranging from 90% to 99.84% for speech as well as music. Envelope samples are displayed as images by folding the time series into column vectors. This display method is used to compare of the output of the SAE with the envelope samples that produced them. The basis vectors are also displayed as images. Sparsity is shown to play an important role in producing the highest denoising basis vectors.

Keywords: sparse dictionary learning, autoencoder, sparse autoencoder, basis vectors, atomic decomposition, envelope sampling, envelope samples, Gabor, gammatone, matching pursuit

Procedia PDF Downloads 228

Authors: Santhosh Ravichandran, F. J. Rodríguez-Varela

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In this study, a biocarbon (BC) was made from sewage sludge from the water treatment plant (PTAR) in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. The sludge was carbonized in water and then chemically activated by pyrolysis. The biocarbon was evaluated physicochemically using XRD, SEM-EDS, and FESEM. A broad (002) peak attributable to graphitic structures indicates that the material is amorphous. The resultant biocarbon has a high specific surface area (412 m2 g-1), a large pore volume (0.39 cm3 g-1), interconnected hierarchical porosity, and outstanding electrochemical performance. It is appropriate for high-performance supercapacitor electrode materials due to its high specific capacitance of 358 F g-1, great rate capability, and outstanding cycling stability (around 87% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles, even at a high current density of 19 A g-1). In an aqueous solution, the constructed BC/BC symmetric supercapacitor exhibits increased super capacitor behavior with a high energy density of 29.5 Whkg-1. The concept provides an efficient method for producing high-performance electrode materials for supercapacitors from conventional water treatment biomass wastes.

Keywords: supercapacitors, carbon, material science, batteries

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: Seyed Habib Shojaei, Reza Eivazi, Mir Sajad Shojaei, Alireza Akbari, Pooria Mazloom, Seyede Mitra Sadati, Mir Zeinalabedin Shojaei, Farnaz Farbakhsh

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To study the genetic diversity in rapeseeds and agronomic traits, an experiment was conducted using multivariate statistical methods at Agricultural Research Station of Kashmar in 2012-2013.In this experiment, ten genotypes of rapeseed in a Randomized Complete Block designs with three replications were evaluated. The following traits were studied: seed yield, number of days to the fifty percent of flowering, plant height, number of pods on main stem, length of the pod, seed yield per plant, number of seed in pod, harvest index, weight of 100 seeds, number of pods on lateral branch, number of lateral branches. In analyzing the variance, differences between cultivars were significant. The average comparative revealed that the most valuable variety was Licord regarding to the traits while the least valuable variety was Opera. In stepwise regression, harvest index, grain yield per plant and number of pods per lateral branches were entering to model. Correlation analysis showed that the grain yield with the number of pods per lateral branches and seed yield per plant have positive and significant correlation. In the factor analysis, the first five components explained more than 83% of the variance in the data. In the first factor, seed yield and the number of pods per lateral branches were of the highest importance. The traits, seed yield per plant, and pod per main stem were of a great significance in the second factor. Moreover, in the third factor, plant height and the number of lateral branches were more important. In the fourth factor, plant height and one hundred seeds weight were of the highest variance. Finally, days to fifty percent of flowering and one hundred seeds weight were more important in fifth factor.

Keywords: rapeseed, variance analysis, regression, factor analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 224

Authors: Min Sik Kim, Hwa Sung Shin

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From 2013, small eel farms, which are located in Han River Estuary, South Korea suffer damage because of unknown massive perish. In the middle of discussion that the cause of perish could be environmental changes or waste water, a large amount of unknown nemertean was discovered during that time. Some nemerteans are known releasing neurotoxin substance. In this study, we isolated intestinal bacteria using selective media and conducted 16s rDNA microbial identification by gene alignment. As a result, there was a type of bacteria producing TTX, blocks sodium-channel inducing organism’s death. TTX production from the bacteria was confirmed by ELISA and liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometer. Additionally, the activated-charcoal which has an ability to absorb small molecules like toxin was applied to fibrous mesh to prevent ingestion of aquatic organisms and increase applicable area. The viability of zebrafish in the water with TTX and charcoal fiber mat were not decreased meaning it could be used for solving the perishing problem in fish farm.

Keywords: nemertean, TTX, fiber mat, activated charcoal, zebrafish

Procedia PDF Downloads 179

Authors: S. Delpeux-Ouldriane, M. Gineys, S. Masson, N. Cohaut, L. Reinert, L. Duclaux, F. Béguin

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Nowadays, a wide variety of organic contaminants are present at trace concentrations in wastewater effluents. In order to face these pollution problems, the implementation of the REACH European regulation has defined lists of targeted pollutants to be eliminated selectively in water. It therefore implies the development of innovative and more efficient remediation techniques. In this sense, adsorption processes can be successfully used to achieve the removal of organic compounds in waste water treatment processes, especially at low pollutant concentration. Especially, activated carbons possessing a highly developed porosity demonstrate high adsorption capacities. More specifically, carbon cloths show high adsorption rates, an easily handling, a good mechanical integrity and regeneration potentialities. When loaded with pollutants, these materials can be indeed regenerated using an electrochemical polarization.

Keywords: nanoporous carbons, activated carbon cloths, adsorption, micropollutants, emerging contaminants, regeneration, electrochemistry

Procedia PDF Downloads 370

Authors: Hamidreza Mehrabi, Mandana Rezayee

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The coated seed process is from amplifier ways that stick various materials on the outer surface of the seeds that minimize the negative environmental effects and increase the ability of Plant establishment. This study was done to assess the effects of coated seed on the germination speed of Astragalus adscendens in different conditions of drought stress and planting depth as it was conducted with a completely randomized factorial design with four replications. treatments of covering material was used in Four non coating levels (NC), mineral-based coating (CC), organic - based coating (OC) hydro gel-based coating (HC) ; treatment of moisture percent used in three levels of dried soil content, treatments of planting depth in two surfaces of planting and three times of the seed diameter was 9%, 14% and 21 % respectively. During the test, it was evaluated the germination speed attribute. The main results showed that moisture treatments and planting depth at a surface of 1% (P <0/01) was significant and has no significant effect of treatment materials. Also, In examining of the interaction between type of covering material and soil moisture were not observed significant differences for germination speed between covering treatments and controls covering, but there was a significant difference between treatments in 9% and 21%. Although in examining the triple interaction, increasing moisture and planting depth enhanced the speed of germination process, but it was not significant statistically, while it has made important differences in terms of description; because it had not growth in the moisture level of 9% and shallow cultivation (high stress). However, treatment of covered materials growth has developed significantly, so it can be useful in enhancing plant performance.

Keywords: seed coating, soil moisture, sowing depth, germination percentage

Procedia PDF Downloads 244

Authors: Mostafa M. Rady, Majed M. Howladar, Saad M. Howladar

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A field trial was conducted during two successive seasons (2013 and 2014) in Southeast Fayoum, Egypt (29º 17'N; 30º 53'E) to investigate the improving effect of ascorbic acid (Vit C) foliar spray at the rates of 0, 1, 2 or 3 mM on the growth, seed and oil yields, and some chemical constituents of sunflower plants grown on a reclaimed saline soil (EC = 7.98–7.83). Vit C application at all rates (1, 2 and 3 mM) was significantly increased growth traits, seed and oil yields, and the concentrations of endogenous Vit C, leaf photosynthetic pigments, total soluble sugars, free proline and nutrient elements as well as K/Na ratio. In contrast, Na concentration was significantly reduced with the application of all Vit C levels. Vit C foliar spray at the rate of 2 mM was found to be the best treatment, alleviating the inhibitory effects of salinity on sunflower plants grown on a reclaimed saline soil.

Keywords: Helianthus annuus L., Vit C, salinity, growth, seed and oil yields, osmoprotectants

Procedia PDF Downloads 396

Authors: Abejide Dorcas Ropo, Falusi Olamide Ahmed, Daudu Oladipupo Abdulazeez Yusuf, Muhammad Liman Muhammad, Gado Aishatu Adamu

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Bambara groundnut is an indigenous African legume with great potential to tackle the problem of food insecurity in Nigeria. A germplasm collection mission was carried out in collaboration with the Agricultural Developments Project (ADP) Extension officers of Nigeria between October and December 2014. Bambara groundnut seeds were collected from farmers in different States in Nigeria, such as Kaduna, Niger, Kogi, Benue, Plateau, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Enugu, and Federal Capital Territoy (FCT) Abuja. Some seeds were also collected from National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB). The seeds were phenotyped using the descriptor list of Vigna subterranea produced by the International Plant Genetic Resource Institute. A total of 45 original seed lots were collected, which comprised of mixed seeds having different seed coat colours (15) and pure seeded accessions having the same seed coat and eye colour (30). After sorting, a total of 83 accessions were derived from the 45 original seed lots collected, and a total of 24 distinct seed morphotypes with varying seed coat colours and eye colours were identified from the collections. They include cream ( cream ash eye, cream plain eye, and cream black eye), cream purplish spots, cream brown spots/stripe, cream black stripe, cream dark brown patches, cream light grey spots, cream black patches, black, red, light red, dark red, brownish red, brown speckled with black, red speckled with black, brown, brown with brown pattern below hilum, brown with black pattern below hilum, cream black, grey brown, grey black and variegated red. The highest number of accessions were collected from NACGRAB (11), followed by Niger State (10), and the lowest from Benue, Jigawa, and Adamawa States (2). Niger State also had the highest number of mixed seeds. The different seed phenotypes observed in the study are important for the field production of true-to-type lines and can be exploited for the genetic improvement of the Bambara groundnut.

Keywords: Bambara groundnut, characterization, collection, germplasm, phenotypic

Procedia PDF Downloads 107

Authors: Tatjana Rakcejeva, Jelena Zagorska, Elina Zvezdina

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The aim of the current research was to investigate the gassy ozone effect on quality parameters of flaxes made form whole biologically activated wheat grains. The research was accomplished on in year 2012 harvested wheat grains variety ′Zentos′. Grains were washed, wetted; grain biological activation was performed in the climatic chamber up to 24 hours. After biological activation grains was compressed; than flaxes was dried in convective drier till constant moisture content 9±1%. For grain treatment gassy ozone concentration as 0.0002% and treatment time – 6 min was used. In the processed flaxes the content of A and G tocopherol decrease by 23% and by 9%; content of B2 and B6 vitamins – by 11% and by 10%; elaidic acid – by 46%, oleic acid – by 29%; arginine (by 80%), glutamine (by 74%), asparagine and serine (by 68%), valine (by 62%), cysteine (by 54%) and tyrosine (by 47%).

Keywords: gassy ozone, flaxes, biologically activated grains, quality parameters, treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 210