Search results

In the current scenario, air pollution and soil pollution from the industries wastes are one of the major problems all over the world. Further, disposal of these wastes from industries are very costly. However, several attempts were carried out by various researchers in the past to use these wastes. One of the most common waste products is bagasse from sugar industries. These hazardous bagasse wastes lead to air and soil pollution. This study aims to recycle bagasse waste in the development of aluminium base composite as partial replacement of ceramic particles.

In the present investigation, recycled bagasse waste was used in the development of aluminium base composite as partial replacement of ceramic particles such as SiC, Al₂O₃ and B₄C. Production industries of these ceramic particles (SiC, B₄C and Al₂O₃) emit huge amount of greenhouse gases such as N₂O₃, CH₄, CO₂ and H₂O. These green house gases produce lots of environment problem. Furthermore, production of these ceramic particles is also costly. AA6061 aluminium alloy was taken as matrix material. Composite material was developed using the stir casting technique.

Microstructure results showed proper distribution of bagasse ash and MgO powder in the aluminium base metal matrix composite. It was notified from analysis that minimum corrosion loss and minimum porosity were found for Al/2.5% bagasse ash/12.5% MgO powder composite. For the same composition, hardness and thermal expansion were also observed better as compared to other selected compositions. However, density and cost of composites continuously decrease by increasing percentage of bagasse ash in development of composite.

Results showed about 11.30% improvement in tensile strength, 11.64% improvement in specific strength and 40% improvement in hardness by using bagasse ash as reinforcement with MgO powder in development of aluminium base composite.

To investigate the role of spent sulphite liquor (SSL) retained on neutral sulphite bagasse pulp in the binding action of phenolic resin, for the purpose of enhancing its performance to produce high quality agro‐based composite.

Pulps used in this work as agro‐based fibres were prepared from Asplund defibrator and neutral sulphite pulping processes. The performance of the resol resin in presence of SSL, were evaluated in terms of the effects of SSL constituents and using novolac as phenolic resin, in comparison with that prepared from pulps in absence of SSL and conventionally prepared resol – Asplund bagasse composites. Preparation of pulp free from sulphonyl groups and pre‐out‐precipitating the resol or lignosulphonic acid (LSA) on the strength and water resistance properties of the composite produced was also examined. The degraded hemicellulose and LSA in SSL were polynomial correlated with the changes in composites properties.

All neutral sulphite pulps investigated, in presence of SSL, were found to enhance the strength quality of agro‐based composite compared to commercially available resol‐agro‐based composite. The retained SSL on NS‐raw bagasse pulp could replace the Asplund bagasse pulp together with resol resin in production of agro‐composite. As well as, using neutral sulphite – Asplund bagasse pulp reduced the percent of added resol to half, to produce commercial resol agro‐based composite. The performance of the composite produced from novolac resin‐SSL‐neutral sulphite pulp and resol‐LSA‐neutral sulphite pulp exceeded 1.5 to 1.9 times the strength of commercially available composite.

Despite the SSL retained on pulp success in improving the strength property of the resol resin‐agro‐composites, but it has an undesirable effect on water resistance of the product. This problem was resolved by avoiding the undesirable effect of sulphonyl groups on pulp fibres as well as the degraded hemicellulose in SSL.

The approach developed provided a simple and practical solution to enhancing the performance of phenolic resin as well as agro‐fibres and SSL wastes in the production of high performance lignocellulosic composite.

The resol, together with SSL constituents retained on neutral sulphite pulp, are economic bonding agents for agro‐fibres and could be used in wood mills for production of medium density fibre‐board.

This study examines the effects of using magnesium chloride as a precipitating agent of sodium silicate on the mechanical, optical and fire retardant properties of the resulting paper sheets. Two types of treatments (internal and external), were carried out to investigate such effects on the paper sheets prepared from wood pulp and from non‐wood fibrous, bagasse pulp. The results obtained showed that the treatment of paper sheets with either sodium silicate or sodium silicate‐magnesium chloride led to a decrease in the activation energy of the initial main degradation stages. Wood pulp‐paper sheets treated with sodium silicate showed better fire retardant properties than the sodium silicate‐magnesium chloride treated wood pulp‐paper sheets. A reverse trend was noted in the case of paper sheets made from bagasse pulp.

To investigate a new approach for the prevention of lignocellulosic composites based on agro‐fibres (e.g. sugar‐cane bagasse) from the emission of toxic formaldehyde.

Five organic polymer containing nitrogen‐urea formaldehyde (UF) adhesive systems were used as bonding agents for bagasse fibres. The environmental performance of the lignocellulosic composites prepared were evaluated in terms of the effect of the organic polymers on the percentage of free formaldehyde in the adhesive system and the adhesion properties (static bending and water resistance properties) of the composite produced, in comparison with that prepared from un‐modified UF. The nitrogen content of the polymer and the amount of organic polymers incorporated in the adhesive system were optimised using the 3D response surface methodology and the multi‐linear regression technique.

All investigated organic polymers (crude PAM‐g‐starch, PAM‐g‐starch, PAM, CE‐starch and Cm‐starch) were found to enhance the performance of the UF‐adhesive for producing environmentally friendly bagasse‐composite, whereas the reduction of free‐HCHO in UF‐adhesive systems ranges from 26 to 100 percent. The performance of the composite produced exceeded the ANSI requirements for Grade H‐3 particle‐board.

Despite the success in improving the performance (mechanical properties and reduction of free‐formaldehyde) of the UF‐adhesive and agro‐composites, the polymers needed to be incorporated at a high percentage (12‐20 percent) resulting in reduced water resistance of the product. Further investigation is needed to resolve this problem.

The approach developed provided a simple and practical solution to enhancing the performance of waste agro‐fibres and commercial amino adhesive in the production of high performance lignocellulosic composite.

The organic polymers UF adhesive systems are novel bonding agents for agro‐fibres and could be used in timber mills for production of particle‐board and medium density fibre‐board.

This paper aims to decolorize the effluents of textile Reactive Orange 5 and Reactive Red 195 dyes by using cationized sugarcane bagasse.

Cationized sugarcane bagasse was prepared and used as an adsorbent for both reactive and hydrolyzed reactive dyes. Characterization of the sugarcane bagasse structure resulted by cationization was monitored using Fourier transform–infrared, while morphologically was detected using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray powder diffraction.

The maximum adsorption capacities are 805, 1,664, 1,772 and 1,596 mg/g for Hydrolyzed Red 195, Hydrolyzed Orange 5, Reactive Red 195 and Reactive Orange 5 dyes, respectively.

Factors affecting the percentage of dye removal were optimized on different parameters such as adsorbent dose and treatment time. The data were discussed using the Langmuir and Freundlich Models of adsorption.

The reuse of hydrolyzed reactive dyebaths gives reasonably good fastness properties on nylon fabrics.

The study has enabled the production of an eco-friendly and less expensive method of reactive dye effluent decolorization.

The study provides a potentially simple approach to decolorize dye effluents of Reactive Orange 5, Red 195 dyes and also the reuse of hydrolyzed reactive dyebaths for dyeing nylon.

Recently, composites have concerned considerable importance as a potential operational material. Lots of work have been carried out to enhance the mechanical properties of composites. The main aim of this paper is to develop bamboo mat as reinforcing material with bagasse fiber as filler using epoxy resin matrix composite.

In this research, the effect of fiber surface treatments on mechanical properties of epoxy resin composite with bagasse as filler has been developed and investigated. The extracted bamboo fibers were treated with NaOH to improve the surface roughness fiber. Using treated and untreated bamboo fiber handwoven mat has been produced to be used as reinforcement and bagasse fiber has been converted into powder to be filled as filler. Composite material is fabricated using bamboo fiber and bagasse fiber as filler with epoxy resin as a matrix using hand layup technique.

Then, tensile, flexural and compressive strength and water absorption tests were conducted on sodium hydroxide treated and untreated fiber composites. The test results comparing with and without alkali treated composites show that there was significant change in their strength and water absorption properties on alkali treated fiber.

This study is an original research paper.

The purpose of this paper is to prepare high-performance agro-based composites from the non-toxic rice bran-urea-formaldehyde (RB-UF) adhesive system. Investigations have continued for production high performance agro-based composites using environmentally acceptable approaches. The utilisation of such system with the available used local agro-based wood products (sugar-cane bagasse, SCB) adds economic value and helps reducing the environmental impact of commercial urea-formaldehyde (UF) adhesive, and most importantly, provides a potentially inexpensive alternative to the existing commercial artificial wood-panel mills.

Optimising the process for incorporating the RB in UF, as wood adhesive for binding the bagasse fibres, was carried out, by partially replacing commercial UF by denaturalised RB in slurry (wet) and dry form or through synthesis of UF. The denaturalisation of RB was carried out at different pHs (10-11) and at temperature 60°C for two hours. While incorporating the RB during synthesis of UF, it was carried out according to the method reported elsewhere. The formulation of adhesive components, pH value of the denaturalisation stage and the process of incorporating the RB were optimised. Assessment of the role of RB adhesive was specified from its free-formaldehyde (HCHO) content, as well as the properties (mechanical and physical properties) of the produced composites of bagasse particle board type, in comparison with the environmental impact of commercial thermosetting resin (UF).

The promising adhesive system exhibits improvement in the environmental performance (as E1 type) over a commercially UF adhesive (as E2 type), besides providing boards fulfill the requirements of grade H-3 (according to ANSI A208.1 (NPA1993). This adhesive system was resulted from replacing 30 per cent of UF by denalturalised RB (at pH 10) in slurry form. Where, its reduction in free-HCHO reached 53 per cent, as well as modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE), internal bond (IB) and TS of the produced boards were approximately 24.2 N/mm2, approximately 3753 N/mm2, approximately 0.84 N/mm2 and approximately 11.4 per cent, respectively.

The eco-adhesive with relatively high percentage of low-cost commercial UF (70 per cent) and 30 per cent RB, as oil production by-product, in slurry form provides good board strength and is environmentally friendly compared to SCB-based composite properties, with that produced from commercial UF. The mechanical (MOR, MOE and IB) and water-resistance properties of the produced composite comply with the standard values.

The approach provided low HCHO-free UF adhesive with good comparative board strength and water resistance and reasonable working life. Replacing 30 per cent of UF by RB in slurry form and denaturalised at pH 10 is considered a promising inexpensive alternate adhesive (as E1) in the wood industry based on SCB wastes.

Incorporating the RB by-product of oil production to commercial UF will be beneficial for saving the health of wood co-workers and motivating the wood mill to export its wood products.

It provided a potentially simple way to improve both the utilisation of commercial UF and SCB as industrial substrates for particle-board production. This will benefit farmers, local wood mills in Upper Egypt, significantly. Meanwhile, incorporating low percentage of RB, as oil-mill by-products, is promising to partly replace UF resin in the wood industry, minimising formaldehyde emission or toxic gasses during board formation.

Lignin precipitated from different black liquors wasted from the cooking of rice straw, bagasse and cotton stalks, to produce pulp and paper, can replace phenol by up to 40 per cent in phenol formaldehyde resin. The properties of the resin produced from bagasse lignin formaldehyde are nearly the same as when the resin IS produced from phenol formaldehyde. Replacement of phenol by lignin in phenol formaldehyde resin has an economical effect and reduces the pollution caused by draining black liquor into rivers and streams. The properties of the resin produced from rice straw lignin are lower than resin from bagasse and cotton stalk lignin. The effect of increasing the content of lignin in the resin on the resin properties was studied. The effect of polymerization time and temperature on the resin properties is also clarified. The molecular structure of the lignins used plays an important role on the properties of the phenol lignin formaldehyde produced.

The implementation of circular economy (CE) initiatives has come under the spotlight in recent years with research ranging from business strategy and practices, supply chain implications, and regional or national policy developments. This highlights the multilevel nature of research and importantly the different scales of action required to move toward the CE. This chapter specifically addresses this issue of levels and scales by presenting and analyzing three complementary cases in the agri-food sector. Lessons learnt from this analysis include the need to consider value and impact across multiple levels and how companies and their supply chains can contribute to the scale of action needed.

To meet energy demand and tackle the challenges posed by global warming, Bagasse-based Cogeneration Power Generation (BCPG) plant in sugar mills have tremendous potential due to large-scale supply of renewable fuel called bagasse. To meet this goal, an integrated framework has been proposed for analyzing performance issues of BCPG.

Intuitionistic Fuzzy Lambda-Tau (IFLT) approach was implemented to compute various reliability parameters. Intuitionistic Fuzzy Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (IF-FMEA) approach has been implemented for studying risk issues results in decrease in plant's availability. Moreover, IF- Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (IF-TOPSIS) is implemented to verify accuracy of IF-FMEA approach.

For membership and non-membership functions, availability decreases to 0.0006% and 0.0020% respectively for spread ±15% to ±30%, and further decreases to 0.0127% and 0.0221% for spread ±30% to ±45%. Under risk assessment failure causes namely Storage tank (ST3), Valve (VL6), Transfer pump (TF8), Deaerator tank (DT11), High pressure heater and economiser (HP15), Boiler drum and super heater (BS22), Forced draft and Secondary air fan (FS25), Air preheater (AH29) and Furnace (FR31) with Intuitionistic Fuzzy Hybrid Weighted Euclidean Distance (IFHWED) based output scores – 0.8988, 0.9752, 0.9400, 0.8988, 0.9267, 1.1131, 1.0039, 0.8185, 1.0604 were identified as the most critical failure causes.

Reliability and risk analysis results derived from IFLT and IF-FMEA approaches respectively, to address the performance issues of BCPG is based on the quantitative and qualitative data collected from the industrial experts and maintenance log book. Moreover, to take care of hesitation in expert's knowledge, IF theory-based concept is incorporated so as to achieve more accuracy in analysis results. Reliability and risk analysis results together will be helpful in analyzing the performance characteristics and diagnosis of critical failure causes, which will minimize frequent failure in BCPG.

The framework will help plant managers to frame optimal maintenance policy in order to enhance the operational aspects of the considered unit. Moreover, the accurate and early detection of failure causes will also help managers to take prudent decision for smooth operation of plant.

The results obtained ensure continuous operation of plant by utilizing the bagasse as fuel in boiler and also mitigate the wastages of fuel. If this bagasse (green fuel) is not properly utilized, there remains a dependency on coal-based power plants to meet the power demand. The results obtained are useful for decreasing dependency on coal, and promoting bagasse as the green, and alternative fuel, the emission by burning of these fuels are not harmful for environment and thereby contribute in preventing the environment from harmful effect of GHGs gases.

IFLT approach has been implemented to develop reliability modeling equations of the BCPG unit, and furthermore to compute various reliability parameters for both membership and non-membership function. The ranking results of IF-FMEA are compared to IF-TOPSIS approach. Sensitivity analysis is done to check stability of proposed framework.