This study is motivated to increase the value of cocoa pod husk (CPH), which is currently considered as waste in the cocoa farming, by converting it to activated carbon (AC). The main goal is to comparatively evaluate the impact of H3PO4 and KOH as chemical-activating agents on the resulting textural properties of the obtained carbon from CPH. Furthermore, the effects of the impregnation ratio and precursor’s particle size were also examined. In all cases considered, H3PO4-activated CPH obtained a higher yield and more desirable properties over KOH-activated CPH. Characterization of the physisorptive properties such as Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area (S BET), total pore volume (V total), and average pore diameter (D p) also suggested that H3PO4 is the better activating agent. The highest S BET obtained was 1237.47 m2/g from the 2.00:1.00 impregnation ratio. V total (1.11 cm3/g) was also found to be the highest at this condition. Further analyses on the D p and pore size distribution revealed that AC obtained from H3PO4 was mesoporous. Proposed porosity development on both activating agents suggest that KOH is a more reactive activating agent for CPH than H3PO4, as evidenced by severe material loss and low structural integrity.
Abstract. This study was conducted to develop an atmometer-based irrigation scheduling system for drip-irrigated onion production. The study was conducted at San Agustin, San Jose City Nueva Ecija from November 2016 -March 2017. Three treatments composing of three replicates were considered in the research. Treatments 1 and 2 were based on the recorded atmometer readings with an irrigation interval of two days and five days respectively. Treatment 3 is a soil moisture-based irrigation scheduling with a management allowed deficit of 50 %. Calibration curved was obtained by comparing the atmometer readings with the estimated evapotranspiration using Modified Penman-Monteith equation. It was used in computing the crop water requirement for Treatments 1 and 2. The important parameters that used to answer the objective of the study such as plant height, crop yield, bulb weight, bulb diameter, water use and water productivity, were acquired during and after crop production. The statistical analysis used in the study was Analysis of Variance for Complete Randomized Design and paired T-test. Based on the result, Treatment 1 was highly useful in increasing water productivity without sacrificing the crop qualities.
Conventional method of sowing lettuce is laborious and time consuming. Thus, this study was conducted to develop a seedling tray seeder for lettuce. Specifically, it aimed to design a seeder, fabricate the design, evaluate the field performance parameters, and analyze the cost of operation of using the machine. The machine was fabricated based on the design plan which was comprised of the dibbler unit, seed metering unit, soil covering unit, power transmission system, automation unit and frame assembly. Performance evaluation of the device was undertaken both in the laboratory and in the field. The cost of using the machine was analyzed considering the best operating parameters. Machine parameters such a vacuum pressure at 1.35 – 2.03 kPa, 2.04 – 2.70 kPa, and 2.71 – 3.39 kPa were evaluated to determine the optimum capacity and seeder efficiency. Results revealed the machine has a capacity of 26 trays per hour at 2.04 – 2.70 kPa vacuum pressure with a seeder efficiency of 93.75%. The overall cost of fabricating the device was Php83,476.00. The cost analysis revealed that the break-even point is at 7,547 trays per year and an income of Php119,059.00 per annum can be realized with a payback period at 0.7 years.
Nanomaterial is widely researched because of its enormous potential. In this study, the anti-fungal activity of electrospun nanofiber polymer composites infused with malunggay extracts (ME) was investigated. Cellulose acetate (CA) from abaca fiber, nano silica (nSiO2) from rice husks, and nano copper oxide nCuO from cavendish banana peel were synthesized, characterized and used as stabilizing agent. Electrospun nanofiber polymer composites infused with malunggay extracts was successfully fabricated. The inhibitory effects of the fabricated nanofiber were determined using different concentrations of ME. Results showed that 100 % concentration of malunggay extract (ME) mixed with 50 mg of nSiO2 and 50 mg of nCuO) had a presence of small crystal-like structures that indicates the successful infusion of the bio-materials. The nanofibers showed inhibitory effect against A. niger both in in vitro and in vivo. It displayed the highest zone of inhibition, lowest weight loss and disease severity index which is comparable to the fungicide. This study confirms the antifungal potential of the Electrospun nanofiber polymer composites infused with malunggay extracts on the test fungi and suggests the possibility of employing them in food preservation were spoilage is mainly caused by A. niger.
A carrot seeder that utilizes a cylindrical component serving as both hopper/metering device to deposit seeds precisely into planting beds/hills at a uniform interval along a straight row over a plant bed was developed in this study. The seeder was evaluated at different operating speeds (89, 70, 61, 51, 48, 38, and 34 cm s−1) relative to mean number of seeds planted in each hill, hill center, scattering distance ratio, hill spacing and missed hills. The seeder was able to deposit seeds in each hill ranging from 2.8 to 4.0 at all speeds. The mean hill center and missed hills suggested that the seeder is best operated at speed under 70 cm s−1 with the respective values ranging from 0.9 to 1.6 cm and 0–5.5%. This indicates that number of the seeds dropped per hill was very uniform, which is a good indicator of the seeding performance. The hill center and missed hills at 89 cm s−1 were 3.08 cm and 16.67% respectively were significantly higher than at lower speeds. Other operating performances such as the mean number of seeds deposited in each hill and the distance between hills did not appear to vary with the planting speed. The scattering distance ratios of operating speeds from 34 to 61 cm s−1 were less than 30% and therefore acceptable for hill dropping of carrot seeds.
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