The objective of this study was to evaluate physical and mechanical properties of medium density fibreboard (MDF) panels made from kenaf core as function of fibre geometry and refining conditions. Raw material was prepared by using pressure levels of 3, 5 and 7 bar at two heating times, namely 3 and 5 min. The length and width of the fibres were determined employing image analyser. Experimental samples with a target density of 700 kg m−3 were produced with 12% of urea formaldehyde as a binder. Physical properties such as swelling in thickness (TS) and water absorption (WA) of the panels in addition to their mechanical properties including modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE) and internal bonding (IB) were evaluated based on MS 1787:2005. Based on the test results, low digestion pressure produced longer fibre length and panels made from these fibres had higher TS with MOR and MOE than those of the others panels. However, the IB properties of samples were low. Panels made from shorter fibre resulted in contradict properties found above. The ideal properties of the samples were found for the panels made having fibre length of 0.81 mm and aspect ratio of 23.4. Such sample had 14.
Raw palm oil mill effluent (POME) contains high amount of organic materials and residual oil that will impose high biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). It has a high acidic value, high total suspended solids (TSS) and is dark brownish in colour. Raw POME is a highly polluting wastewater and as such, it cannot be freely and/or directly discharged into any source of water or river without prior proper treatment. The treatment of raw POME is an important issue in palm oil mills and the method of treatment has attracted many researchers and non-governmental organisation (NGO) associated with environmental pollution. Owing to the more stringent effluent environmental regulations by the Department of Environment (DOE) Malaysia, research interest has recently shifted to the development of sustainable effluent polishing technologies. Therefore, it is perhaps worthwhile to look into a new viable and sustainable technology such as utilisation of renewable oil palm biomass as bio-adsorbents. This article reviews the development of polishing treatments for POME final discharge and further discusses the application of palm-based activated carbon for the treatment system. In conclusion, the integration system of conventional POME treatment with bio-adsorbents could be considered as a sustainable approach, thus solving environmental problems of waste disposal and pollution control for the oil palm industry.
The aim of this work was to study the physical and chemical properties of different oil palm wastes, viz. empty fruit bunch (EFB), oil palm frond (OPF) and oil palm trunk (OPT). A study (84 days duration) was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of an exotic earthworm species (epigeic-African Nightcrawler (Eudrilus euginae)) for the decomposition of different types of oil palm wastes (EFB, OPT and OPF) into valuable vermicompost. The decrease in earthworm's biomass gain for EFB, OPT and OPF may be due to exhaustion of worm feed in vermicomposters. The percentage of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium in vermicompost was found to increase while pH and total organic carbon declined as a function of the vermicomposting period. The vermicompost obtained showed an increase in heavy metal content for all the reactors, but levels were still in the range of nutrient in the vermicompost. The data reveal that vermicomposting (using African Nightcrawler) is a suitable technology for the decomposition of oil palm wastes, especially EFB into value-added material.
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