Investigations into Physical and Fuel Characteristics of Briquettes Produced from Cassava and Yam Peels

Globally, 140 billion metric tons of biomass is generated every year from agriculture. This volume of biomass can be converted to an enormous amount of energy and raw materials. These residues are usually dumped and flared on the farms, where they constitute health risk to both human and ecology. Densification of these residues would improve their bulk handling, transportation and storage properties. Therefore, this work investigated densification characteristics of cassava and yam peels using an experimental briquetting machine. The ASAE standard methods were used to determine the moisture contents (dry basis) and densities of the milled residues and briquettes, while ASTM standard methods were used to determine the proximate and ultimate analyses of the residues. The initial, maximum and relaxed densities were also determined using ASAE standard methods. Also evaluated were compaction, density and relaxation ratios of the briquettes. The mechanical properties were determined using universal testing machine, while the heating value was determined using Ballistic Bomb calorimeter. The mean moisture contents of cassava and yam peels residues were 10.19% and 9.27% respectively, while those of relaxed briquettes were 8.76% and 7.95% respectively.  The initial, maximum and relaxed densities were 251.50 kg/m3; 741.13 kg/m3 and 386.4 kg/m3 respectively for briquettes produced from cassava peel, while the corresponding values for briquettes produced from yam peel were 283.40 kg/m3; 911.45 kg/m3 and 512.54 kg/m3 respectively. The compaction ratio of 2.94 and 3.21 were obtained for briquettes produced from cassava and yam peels respectively. The compressive strength of briquette from cassava peel was 1.53kN/m2 (SD 0.05), while that of yam peel was 1.76kN/m2 (SD 0.04). The higher heating value of briquettes from cassava peel was found to be 12,765kJ/kg (SD 30), while the corresponding value for yam peel was 17,348kJ/kg (SD 20). The results of this work indicate that briquettes produced from the two biomass residues would make good biomass fuels. However, findings show that yam peel briquette has more positive attributes of biomass fuel than its cassava peel counterpart. It has a moderate moisture content of 10.95 %, higher density of 911.45 kg/m3 and lower relaxation ratio of 1.78. Other positive attributes of yam peel briquette over cassava peel are long after glow time of 375 secs and slow propagation rate of 0.16 cm/s. It also has higher heating value of 17,348 kJ/kg and compressive strength of 1.76 kN/m2 compared to cassava peel, which are 12,765 kJ/kg and 1.53 kN/m2 respectively. Keywords: agricultural wastes, briquette, briquetting machine, cassava peel, yam peel

A NEW LOOK AT BEEF CATTLE PRICE REPORTING CLASSIFICATIONS

Demand and Price Analysis,

(R,R)-Disynephrine ether bis­(hydrogen sulfate)

The asymmetric unit of the title compound [systematic name: (R,R)-2,4-bis­(4-hydroxy­phen­yl)-N,N′-dimethyl-3-oxapentane-1,5-diammonium bis­(hydrogen sulfate)], C18H26N2O3 2+·2HSO4 −, contains one half-cation and one hydrogen sulfate anion. The cation has crystallographically imposed twofold symmetry with the rotation axis passing through the central ether O atom. Hydrogen bonds between the hydr­oxy group and amine H atoms of the cation to two hydrogen sulfate anions link the three ions in a ring motif. A three-dimensional network is accomplished by additional O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the anions and by N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the cations. Disorder with equally occupied sites affects the H-atom position in the anion

Antiproliferative Activity of Some Medicinal Plants on Human Breast and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Lines and their Phenolic Contents

Purpose: To determine the phenolic composition and antiproliferative activity of 16 different extracts (hexane, dichloromethane, methanol and water) obtained from Bellis perennis, Convolvulus galaticus, Trifolium pannonicum and Lysimachia vulgaris on human breast cancer (MCF-7) and human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2/C3A) cell lines.Methods: The aerial parts of the plants were successively extracted with hexane, dichloromethane, methanol and water using a Soxhlet apparatus. The phenolic content of the plants were determined by plants by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) while their antiproliferative activity was evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide, a yellow tetrazole (MTT) assay.Results: Among the tested extracts, the methanol extract of B. perennis showed the best antiproliferative activity against MCF-7 cell line with IC50 (inhibiting 50 % of cell growth) value of 71.6 μg/mL. Furthermore, the dichloromethane extract of C. galaticus showed the best anti-proliferative activity against HepG2/C3A cell line with IC50 of 57.3 μg/mL. The HPLC data for the plant extracts showed the presence of the following phenolic compounds: gallic acid monohydrate, caffeic acid, rutin hydrate, luteolin-7-O-β-D glucoside, kaempferol, myricetin, quercetin, coumarin and apigenin.Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that there is some justification for the use of B. perennis and C. galaticus as traditional anticancer medicinal herbs.Keywords: Bellis perennis, Convolvulus galaticus, Trifolium pannonicum subsp. elongatum, Lysimachia vulgaris, MCF-7, HepG2/C3A, Phenolics, Breast cancer, Antiproliferativ

ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF VARIABLE RATE APPLICATION OF NITROGEN TO CORN FIELDS: ROLE OF VARIABILITY AND WEATHER

The use of meta-response functions based on EPIC-generated data resulted in comparisons between variable (VRAT) and uniform rate application technologies for 36 simulated fields. VRAT was more profitable and less nitrogen was lost to the environment in most cases. When spatial variability was small, uniform rate application techniques were adopted. However, when nitrogen use is restricted, VRAT is used on all simulated fields.Precision farming, site-specific farming, spatial variability, nitrogen restriction, rainfall, EPIC, crop growth simulation model, meta-response functions, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Автоморфізми індуктивних границь з діагональними зануреннями скінченних симетричних та знакозмінних груп

We show that every automorphism of a diagonal limit of finite symmetric groups is locally inner