Studying mechanical, thermal and absorption, characteristics of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) plant fibre reinforced polymer composites

The natural fibre extracted from water hyacinth waste could be used for making natural fibre polymer composites. The main intent of this manuscript is to develop polymer composite materials reinforced by aquatic wastewater hyacinth natural fibre having varying lengths. The water hyacinth fibres were extracted using a mechanical drum extractor followed by a drying process at a speed of 320 rpm. Mechanical testing of the composites was conducted as per the relevant ASTM standard and subsequently, thermo gravimetric analysis was also conducted to assess the thermal characteristics of the composites. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-Ray diffraction (XRD) techniques were employed to characterize the elemental and microstructural properties of the composites. A 20 mm fibre length with a 30% fibre content resulted the best mechanical properties. Fractured surfaces from the composite samples are evaluated by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Brittle fracture, fibre pulled out, fibre clusters are identified as the general failure characteristics of the composites. This study demonstrated that the hyacinth fibre reinforced epoxy resin composite could be useful for developing particleboard products, as well as other lightweight products

A comparative assessment on life cycle analysis of the biodiesel fuels produced from soybean, Jatropha, Calophyllum inophyllum, and microalgae

There is a continuous depletion of fossil resources recorded in 20th century for the production of diesel that resulted in significant climatic change. The current study focuses on the challenges faced due to energy crisis and climate change followed by biodiesel production from various feedstock sources such as Soybean, Jatropha, Calophyllum inophyllum, and Microalgae. The pivotal aim of the study is to analyze the life cycle balance of biodiesel produced from three generation feedstocks. These sources were selected based on energy balance and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, specifically on the aspect of Well-to-Pump module. The results infer that GHG emission was stringent in the production of soybean biodiesel i.e., 32.53 gCO2Eq/MJ whereas other sustainable measures such as net energy value, net renewable energy value, and energy ratio were low in the life cycle of microalgae-based biodiesel. This phenomenon indicates its efficiency in obtaining the maximal energy output. On the contrary, about 49.44 gCO2Eq/MJ was produced during all the stages of biodiesel production from microalgae. In terms of sensitivity, the output dependency over input value was also estimated since it showcases the significant influence of cultivation, transportation, oil extraction and biodiesel production upon biodiesel Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). After taking the entire LCA values, sensitivity analyses of selected feedstocks and the importance of food crops into account, the biodiesels produced from Jatropha and Calophyllum inophyllum feedstocks were found to be viable and possess the ability to overcome GHG emission challenges without compromising the energy balance