The paper focuses on collection of information on recent multifaceted usage of biomass materials with critical examination on its sustainability. The use of biomass is becoming popular, with wide global acceptance as it is considered as green technology. The use of biomass products across industrial parallels, the material combination and production processes were elucidated in this paper. Biomass materials are seen as affordable alternative to conventional materials for domestic and industrial applications. The multifaceted use of biomass, which includes, energy generation, metallurgical applications, construction purposes, reinforcement in metal matrix composite, microelectromechanical system, biochemical and traditional medicine were discussed. This underscores the need to develop a sustainable plan to meet with its diverse usage to be beyond laboratory efforts. This paper examined whether the availability of biomass can sustain its multifaceted usage or not. It also examined the modalities to ensure sustainable use of biomass. Different policies were highlighted and discussed in line with continuous multifaceted use of biomass.

In this paper, the primary synthesis and secondary treatment of Aluminium matrix composites (AMCs) has been reviewed. The renewed quest for component materials with high strength-to-weight ratio, unusual and superlative combination of properties for applications in automotive, aerospace, marine and warfare armoury manufacturing industries has increased the versatility potential of aluminium alloy-based composites. Several categories (synthetic and agro-based ceramics) of reinforcement materials for aluminium composite are discussed. The manufacturing/fabrication techniques which could be solid phase (powder metallurgy and rapid prototyping or 3 D printing method) or liquid phase (casting and pressure infiltration) methods are discussed in this review work. Secondary treatment such as heat treatment, forging and other thermomechanical treatments which improves the properties of as-synthesized composites are also discussed. A review synopsis of recent studies provides opportunity for concise but a more robust understanding of potential benefits and detrimental effects associated with the use of various primary synthesis routes and secondary treatment for manufacturing of ceramic reinforced AMCs. Despite the laudable research efforts that have been made towards development and enhancement of the properties of AMCs, this review work revealed that literature is very sparse on synergetic adoption of multi-synthesis route and multi-approach secondary treatment for producing AMCs. Sequel to the aforementioned unexplored research concept, some lacunae are identified and suggested for further elaborations and study.

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The behaviour of ash of fuel affects its thermal efficiency when in use. The ash analyses of bio-coal briquettes developed from lean grade coal and torrefied woody biomass have received limited intensive study. Therefore, the present study aims at analysing the ashes of briquette made from lean grade coal and torrefied woody biomass using blended coal tar pitch and molasses as the binder. Bio-coal briquettes were produced from coal and torrefied biomass in various hybrid ratios. Ashing of various briquettes was done in a muffle furnace at 850 °C for 3 h. Mineral phases of the ash were identified using an X-ray Diffractometer (XRD), while the mineral oxides were obtained using an X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer. The AFT700 Furnace was used with its AFT700 software to evaluate the ash fusion temperatures of the ashes. The XRD patterns look similar, and quartz was found to be the dominant mineral phase present in the raw coal and bio-coal briquettes. The SiO2 (57–58%), Al2O3 (19–21%), and Fe2O3 (8–9%) were the major oxides observed in the ashes. The final fusion temperatures of the ashes range from 1300–1350 °C. The compositions of the ashes of the bio-coal briquettes are classified as detrital minerals. It was concluded that the addition of torrefied biomass (≤ $$10\%)$$ 10 % ) and blended binder ($$\le $$ ≤ 15%) to coal gave a negligible impact on the ashes of the resultant bio-coal briquettes.

More reliable and durable parts with high structural integrity are required to meet the increasing advancements in science and technology. This paper reviews five (5) different casting techniques: squeeze casting, sand casting, investment casting, die casting, and continuous casting. Their respective cast products were examined, and their various mechanical properties were discussed. However, these different casting techniques involve a similar fundamental procedure: melting metal, pouring it into a mold, and allowing it to solidify. However, they vary in their physical and mechanical properties, durability, and surface finishing, making one technique more desirable than the other in their application areas. Some techniques were found to be more advantageous and effective than the other, which will aid foundrymen in making the best decision in choosing a technique, considering parameters such as environmental friendliness and cost implications. The appropriate implementation of these will help restructure and refine foundries, improve the quality of cast products, and set the casting technology world on course for the new age.

Teak wood is one of the prominently used raw material in the construction industry, thus contributing extremely to the biomass waste available in Nigeria. These wastes are usually used for energy generation that requires upgrade into better fuel before application. Hence, the present study evaluates the non-isothermal kinetic parameters for pyrolysis of teak wood using model-fitting techniques. Teak wood dust was subjected to proximate, ultimate and calorific value analyses based on different ASTM standards. The thermal degradation and decomposition behaviour of the teak wood dust was examined using a thermogravimetric analyzer. Pulverized teak (6.5 mg) was heated from 30 to 800 ºC at varying heating rates (5, 10 and 15 ºC) in an environment where 100 mL/min of nitrogen gas was charged in continuously to maintain an inert condition. Avrami-Erofeev, Ginstling-Broushtein (GB) and Mampel models were used to evaluate the kinetic parameters of the pyrolysis of teak wood dust. The teak wood dust contained 7.25 % moisture, 79.26 % volatile matter (VM), 1.74 % ash and 11.75 % fixed carbon. The calorific value of the wood dust was 18.72 MJ/kg. The results of the thermogravimetric analyses depicted that heating rate has no effect on weight loss during the reactive drying zone. However, as the thermal treatment progressed into the active pyrolysis and passive pyrolysis zones, the weight loss decreased with increase in heating rate.  The devolatilization parameters also increased with heating rates except for the maximum conversion. The results of the kinetic parameters evaluation revealed that the GB model was best fit to evaluate the kinetic parameters of teak in the active pyrolysis zone while GB and Mampel models were considered most appropriate for the evaluation of the kinetic parameters in the passive pyrolysis zone. Model-fitting method has the capacity to capture a wide range of fractional conversion at a glance. HIGHLIGHTS Arrhenius parameters in terms of activation energy and pre-exponential factor for the pyrolysis of teak wood while comparing 4 different model-fitting techniques were obtained The α-temperature plot for solid state reaction of teak wood dust was a bell-shape (sigmoidal model) The Avrami-Erofeev and SSS models were unable to capture the overlapping multiple reactions that took place simultaneously at the active pyrolysis zone Higher energy input is needed for devolatilization of teak wood dust to give 10 - 80 % conversion due to higher activation energy at the active pyrolysis zone Ginstling-Broushtein was found to be the best model for evaluating the kinetic parameters at the active pyrolysis zone as it had the highest R2 value GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

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