Effect of ethanol treatment on shrinkage of oil palm trunk for the drying process

Oil palm trunk is one of the promising biomass materials due to the high volume of unused waste components and increasing worldwide demand to replace conventional wood. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of using ethanol as a drying agent for oil palm trunks with different dimensional surfaces (radial, tangential and longitudinal sections). Radial shrinkage percentage for the outer layer is 1.50% (untreated) and 1.22 % (treated) respectively. In comparison, the inner layer of the untreated sample was recorded at 2.54 % shrinkage and the treated sample was at 2.29%. The tangential sample for the inner untreated sample shows 2.60% and the treated sample shows 2.40%. The same pattern of shrinkage was shown for the tangential section on the outer layer as 1.81% and 1.10% of the untreated and treated sample respectively. For the longitudinal surface, the inner layer section of the untreated sample was recorded at 0.39% compared to the treated sample at 0.25%. In comparison, a longitudinal surface section for the outer layer of the untreated sample was recorded at 0.38% while the treated sample was recorded at 0.33% shrinkage percentage. The effect of ethanol treatment on the shrinkage is significantly different between different sections (P-value: 0.01) and between the outer and inner layers (P-value: 0.02). The result suggested that ethanol treatment could be an option for the oil palm trunk drying process. Dried oil palm trunk can be utilized as a potential substitution of biomass and wood to produce various products

Effects of Torrefaction Process on Chemical Properties of Small Diameter Acacia mangium Wood

Torrefaction refers to a thermal process that involves the processing of biomass in a torrefied to produce a "charred" product that can be utilised as a fuel or as a soil amendment. People need energy sources to meet their basic needs and live the kind of life they want. Acacia mangium was selected in order to produce biochar and determine the lignocellulosic affected by the holding temperature and residence time. The chemical properties of torrefied Acacia mangium biochar were investigated at different holding temperatures and residence times. Torrefaction were carried out at several process temperatures, ranging from 200 to 300°C, with residence time ranging from 30 to 90 minutes. According to the findings, the effects of holding temperature and residence time on the chemical properties of torrefied Acacia mangium biochar was carried out. The results show that the chemical properties decreased with an increase in both the holding temperature and residence time except for the lignin percentage content. It shows that as the holding temperature and residence time increased, the lignin content increased. The results shows that the chemical properties are decreased, except for the lignin content, which is not affected by the factors. The chemical bond in lignin content is hard for breaking down. Hence, torrefaction is accountable for the decrease of chemical properties and the breaking of chemical bonds in chemical properties

Microwave drying and conditioning of Pinus radiata D. Don sawn timber

© 2014 Nur Hannani Abdul LatifMicrowave (MW) processing technology is used for the conditioning of wood to specific moisture contents (MC), generally 12%. MW drying differs from conventional drying in the way MW energy interacts with wood moisture and its superior penetration. Wood moisture content can be quite variable towards the end of drying. MW processing reduces the within charge moisture variation. The objective of this study is to model energy requirements as a function of starting wood moisture content and wood species. The methodology involves investigating the influence of microwave conditioning technology in reducing wood drying time and also wood drying degrade, due to moisture leveling, assisting stress relaxation and avoiding case hardening of Pinus radiata by using laboratory scale and pilot scale microwave technology. For laboratory scale experiments, research methodology involved oven-drying boards for a range of hours (to get a range of moisture contents) and then conditioning boards with MW energy until the final weight of each board achieved the equivalent of 12% MC. It was found that there is a strong correlation between moisture content after oven drying and the number of microwave passes needed to achieving a final board of 12% moisture content. Drying quality assessment after microwave processing revealed that checking had occurred and there were some limitations in evaluating warping on samples due to the limitation of specimen size. Pilot scale microwave drying was then conducted to scale up and validate laboratory scale microwave research and further evaluate the effectiveness of dynamic microwave processing in optimizing drying with minimal defects. A comparison of sapwood only, mixed sapwood & heartwood and heartwood only was determined. From this study, it was shown that microwave drying time was fastest for heartwood samples and that microwave energy consumption was about 206 kW/h. The moisture content distribution in boards was also uniform and residual stress tests found that almost 90% of boards were free of case hardening. It can be concluded that the application of microwave conditioning is an efficient method of drying timber. Drying times are fast and there are minimal drying defects

Effects of Torrefaction Process on Chemical Properties of Small Diameter

Torrefaction refers to a thermal process that involves the processing of biomass in a torrefied to produce a "charred" product that can be utilised as a fuel or as a soil amendment. People need energy sources to meet their basic needs and live the kind of life they want. Acacia mangium was selected in order to produce biochar and determine the lignocellulosic affected by the holding temperature and residence time. The chemical properties of torrefied Acacia mangium biochar were investigated at different holding temperatures and residence times. Torrefaction were carried out at several process temperatures, ranging from 200 to 300°C, with residence time ranging from 30 to 90 minutes. According to the findings, the effects of holding temperature and residence time on the chemical properties of torrefied Acacia mangium biochar was carried out. The results show that the chemical properties decreased with an increase in both the holding temperature and residence time except for the lignin percentage content. It shows that as the holding temperature and residence time increased, the lignin content increased. The results shows that the chemical properties are decreased, except for the lignin content, which is not affected by the factors. The chemical bond in lignin content is hard for breaking down. Hence, torrefaction is accountable for the decrease of chemical properties and the breaking of chemical bonds in chemical properties

Effects of torrefaction process on chemical properties of small diameter Acacia Mangium wood

Torrefaction refers to a thermal process that involves the processing of biomass in a torrefied to produce a "charred" product that can be utilised as a fuel or as a soil amendment. People need energy sources to meet their basic needs and live the kind of life they want. Acacia mangium was selected in order to produce biochar and determine the lignocellulosic affected by the holding temperature and residence time. The chemical properties of torrefied Acacia mangium biochar were investigated at different holding temperatures and residence times. Torrefaction were carried out at several process temperatures, ranging from 200 to 300°C, with residence time ranging from 30 to 90 minutes. According to the findings, the effects of holding temperature and residence time on the chemical properties of torrefied Acacia mangium biochar was carried out. The results show that the chemical properties decreased with an increase in both the holding temperature and residence time except for the lignin percentage content. It shows that as the holding temperature and residence time increased, the lignin content increased. The results shows that the chemical properties are decreased, except for the lignin content, which is not affected by the factors. The chemical bond in lignin content is hard for breaking down. Hence, torrefaction is accountable for the decrease of chemical properties and the breaking of chemical bonds in chemical properties

Expression of GBS virulence genes in high vaginal swabs of symptomatic pregnant women at Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan

During pregnancy, group B streptococcus (GBS) colonization is known as one of the risk factors for preterm birth and consequently neonatal infections. Previous in-vitro experiments using human cells and in vivo animal models have portrayed the important roles of these virulence factors including hemolytic pigment (CylE), hyaluronidase (HylB), serine-rich protein (Srr) and bacterial surface adhesion of GBS (BsaB) in mediating GBS colonization and intrauterine ascending infection, leading to preterm delivery. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between mRNA expression of women and preterm delivery. GBS isolates were obtained from high vaginal swabs of pregnant women(n=40) with gestational age less than 37 weeks and symptoms including preterm labour, preterm premature rupture of membrane (pPROM), vaginal discharge and vaginal bleeding. Socio-demographic details, obstetric history and delivery outcomes of these women were also enquired. RNA was extracted from these GBS isolates and RT-qPCR was performed to determine the relative mRNA expression of GBS virulence genes including CylE,HylB, Srr and BsaB. Socio-demographic details and obstetric history were not found to be associated with the delivery outcomes of these women. Women with preterm labour and pPROM who delivered prematurely were demonstrated with higher expression of HylB and Cyl Egenes, in comparison to women with term delivery. The expression of Srr and BsaB genes were both similar between symptomatic pregnant women who had term and preterm delivery. Theseresultssuggestthatfollowingvaginalcolonization,bothCylEandHylBgenespossiblycontributetointrauterineascendinginfectionandinflammation,leading to preterm delivery in humans.Thus, hemolytic pigment and hyaluronidase may be targeted for exploratory and pre-clinical stages of vaccine development, which is a good alternative to intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis in order to prevent neonatal GBS infections

Expression of GBS virulence genes in high vaginal swabs of symptomatic pregnant women at Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan

During pregnancy, group B streptococcus (GBS) colonization is known as one of the risk factors for preterm birth and consequently neonatal infections. Previous in-vitro experiments using human cells and in vivo animal models have portrayed the important roles of these virulence factors including hemolytic pigment (CylE), hyaluronidase (HylB), serine-rich protein (Srr) and bacterial surface adhesion of GBS (BsaB) in mediating GBS colonization and intrauterine ascending infection, leading to preterm delivery. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between mRNA expression of women and preterm delivery. GBS isolates were obtained from high vaginal swabs of pregnant women(n=40) with gestational age less than 37 weeks and symptoms including preterm labour, preterm premature rupture of membrane (pPROM), vaginal discharge and vaginal bleeding. Socio-demographic details, obstetric history and delivery outcomes of these women were also enquired. RNA was extracted from these GBS isolates and RT-qPCR was performed to determine the relative mRNA expression of GBS virulence genes including CylE,HylB, Srr and BsaB. Socio-demographic details and obstetric history were not found to be associated with the delivery outcomes of these women. Women with preterm labour and pPROM who delivered prematurely were demonstrated with higher expression of HylB and Cyl Egenes, in comparison to women with term delivery. The expression of Srr and BsaB genes were both similar between symptomatic pregnant women who had term and preterm delivery. Theseresultssuggestthatfollowingvaginalcolonization,bothCylEandHylBgenespossiblycontributetointrauterineascendinginfectionandinflammation,leading to preterm delivery in humans.Thus, hemolytic pigment and hyaluronidase may be targeted for exploratory and pre-clinical stages of vaccine development, which is a good alternative to intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis in order to prevent neonatal GBS infections