Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 706 in total

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  1. Nur Aainaa H, Haruna Ahmed O, Ab Majid NM
    PLoS One, 2018;13(9):e0204401.
    PMID: 30261005 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204401
    Efficient management of P fertilizers ensures good yield of crops and adequate food supply. In the acid soil of the tropics, soluble P is fixed by Al and Fe. Exploitation of the high CEC and pH of Clinoptilolite zeolite (CZ) could mitigate low soil pH and P fixation in acid soils. This study was undertaken to determine the effects of amending a weathered acid soil with CZ on: (i) soil P availability and other related soil chemical properties, and (ii) nutrient concentration, nutrient uptake, above-ground biomass, agronomic efficiency, and yield of Zea mays L. on a tropical acidic soil. Triple superphosphate (TSP), Egypt Rock phosphate (ERP), and Christmas Island Rock phosphate (CIRP) were used as P sources. The treatments evaluated were: (i) soil alone, (ii) 100% recommended fertilizer rate (NPK), and (iii) 75% fertilizer rate + Clinoptilolite zeolite. Selected soil chemical properties and P availability were determined before and after field trials. Zea mays L. above-ground biomass, nutrient concentration, nutrient uptake, agronomic efficiency, and fresh cob yield were also determined. Results revealed that the effects of treatments with and without CZ treatments on soil pH, P fractions, soil acidity, dry matter production, yield of maize, nutrient uptake, and agronomic efficiency were similar. Hence, suggesting CZ inclusion in the fertilization program of Zea mays L is beneficial in terms of reducing excessive or unbalanced use of chemical fertilizers due to reduction of fertilizers usage by 25%.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass
  2. Abd Rahim MH, Lim EJ, Hasan H, Abbas A
    J Microbiol Methods, 2019 09;164:105672.
    PMID: 31326443 DOI: 10.1016/j.mimet.2019.105672
    PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess the effect of nitrogen, salt and pre-culture conditions on the production of lovastatin in A. terreus ATCC 20542.

    METHODS: Different combinations of nitrogen sources, salts and pre-culture combinations were applied in the fermentation media and lovastatin yield was analysed chromatographically.

    RESULT: The exclusion of MnSO4 ·5H2O, CuSO4·5H2O and FeCl3·6H2O were shown to significantly improve lovastatin production (282%), while KH2PO4, MgSO4·7H2O, and NaCl and ZnSO4·7H2O were indispensable for good lovastatin production. Simple nitrogen source (ammonia) was unfavourable for morphology, growth and lovastatin production. In contrast, yeast extract (complex nitrogen source) produced the highest lovastatin yield (25.52 mg/L), while powdered soybean favoured the production of co-metabolites ((+)-geodin and sulochrin). Intermediate lactose: yeast extract (5:4) ratio produced the optimal lovastatin yield (12.33 mg/L) during pre-culture, while high (5:2) or low (5:6) lactose to yeast extract ratio produced significantly lower lovastatin yield (7.98 mg/L and 9.12 mg/L, respectively). High spore concentration, up to 107 spores/L was shown to be beneficial for lovastatin, but not for co-metabolite production, while higher spore age was shown to be beneficial for all of its metabolites.

    CONCLUSION: The findings from these investigations could be used for future cultivation of A. terreus in the production of desired metabolites.

    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass
  3. Shanmugam S, Jenkins SN, Mickan BS, Jaafar NM, Mathes F, Solaiman ZM, et al.
    Sci Rep, 2021 01 13;11(1):955.
    PMID: 33441591 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-78843-9
    Co-application of biochar and biosolids to soil has potential to mitigate N leaching due to physical and chemical properties of biochar. Changes in N cycling pathways in soil induced by co-application of biological amendments could further mitigate N loss, but this is largely unexplored. The aim of this study was to determine whether co-application of a biochar and a modified biosolids product to three pasture soils differing in texture could alter the relative abundance of N cycling genes in soil sown with subterranean clover. The biosolids product contained lime and clay and increased subterranean clover shoot biomass in parallel with increases in soil pH and soil nitrate. Its co-application with biochar similarly increased plant growth and soil pH with a marked reduction in nitrate in two coarse textured soils but not in a clayey soil. While application of the biosolids product altered in silico predicted N cycling functional genes, there was no additional change when applied to soil in combination with biochar. This supports the conclusion that co-application of the biochar and biosolids product used here has potential to mitigate loss of N in coarse textured soils due to N adsoption by the biochar and independently of microbial N pathways.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass
  4. Akhtar J, Idris A, Abd Aziz R
    Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 2014 Feb;98(3):987-1000.
    PMID: 24292125 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-013-5319-6
    Production of succinic acid via separate enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) are alternatives and are environmentally friendly processes. These processes have attained considerable positions in the industry with their own share of challenges and problems. The high-value succinic acid is extensively used in chemical, food, pharmaceutical, leather and textile industries and can be efficiently produced via several methods. Previously, succinic acid production via chemical synthesis from petrochemical or refined sugar has been the focus of interest of most reviewers. However, these expensive substrates have been recently replaced by alternative sustainable raw materials such as lignocellulosic biomass, which is cheap and abundantly available. Thus, this review focuses on succinic acid production utilizing lignocellulosic material as a potential substrate for SSF and SHF. SSF is an economical single-step process which can be a substitute for SHF - a two-step process where biomass is hydrolyzed in the first step and fermented in the second step. SSF of lignocellulosic biomass under optimum temperature and pH conditions results in the controlled release of sugar and simultaneous conversion into succinic acid by specific microorganisms, reducing reaction time and costs and increasing productivity. In addition, main process parameters which influence SHF and SSF processes such as batch and fed-batch fermentation conditions using different microbial strains are discussed in detail.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass*
  5. Muhamad MH, Sheikh Abdullah SR, Abu Hasan H, Abd Rahim RA
    J Environ Manage, 2015 Nov 1;163:115-24.
    PMID: 26311084 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.08.012
    The complexity of residual toxic organics from biologically treated effluents of pulp and paper mills is a serious concern. To date, it has been difficult to choose the best treatment technique because each of the available options has advantages and drawbacks. In this study, two different treatment techniques using laboratory-scale aerobic sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) were tested with the same real recycled paper mill effluent to evaluate their treatment efficiencies. Two attached-growth SBRs using granular activated carbon (GAC) with and without additional biomass and a suspended-growth SBR were used in the treatment of real recycled paper mill effluent at a chemical oxygen demand (COD) level in the range of 800-1300 mg/L, a fixed hydraulic retention time of 24 h and a COD:N:P ratio of approximately 100:5:1. The efficiency of this biological treatment process was studied over a 300-day period. The six most important wastewater quality parameters, namely, chemical oxygen demand (COD), turbidity, ammonia (expressed as NH3-N), phosphorus (expressed as PO4(3)-P), colour, and suspended solids (SS), were measured to compare the different treatment techniques. It was determined that these processes were able to almost completely and simultaneously eliminate COD (99%) and turbidity (99%); the removals of NH3-N (90-100%), PO4(3)-P (66-78%), colour (63-91%), and SS (97-99%) were also sufficient. The overall performance results confirmed that an attached-growth SBR system using additional biomass on GAC is a promising configuration for wastewater treatment in terms of performance efficiency and process stability under fluctuations of organic load. Hence, this hybrid system is recommended for the treatment of pulp and paper mill effluents.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass
  6. Zanirun Z, Bahrin EK, Lai-Yee P, Hassan MA, Abd-Aziz S
    Appl Biochem Biotechnol, 2014 Jan;172(1):423-35.
    PMID: 24085387 DOI: 10.1007/s12010-013-0530-6
    The effect of cultivation condition of two locally isolated ascomycetes strains namely Trichoderma asperellum UPM1 and Aspergillus fumigatus UPM2 were compared in submerged and solid state fermentation. Physical evaluation on water absorption index, solubility index and chemical properties of lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose content as well as the cellulose structure on crystallinity and amorphous region of treated oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) (resulted in partial removal of lignin), sago pith residues (SPR) and oil palm decanter cake towards cellulases production were determined. Submerged fermentation shows significant cellulases production for both strains in all types of substrates. Crystallinity of cellulose and its chemical composition mainly holocellulose components was found to significantly affect the total cellulase synthesis in submerged fermentation as the higher crystallinity index, and holocellulose composition will increase cellulase production. Treated OPEFB apparently induced the total cellulases from T. asperellum UPM1 and A. fumigatus UPM2 with 0.66 U/mg FPase, 53.79 U/mg CMCase, 0.92 U/mg β-glucosidase and 0.67 U/mg FPase, 47.56 U/mg and 0.14 U/mg β-glucosidase, respectively. Physical properties of water absorption and solubility for OPEFB and SPR also had shown significant correlation on the cellulases production.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass*
  7. Masran R, Zanirun Z, Bahrin EK, Ibrahim MF, Lai Yee P, Abd-Aziz S
    Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 2016 Jun;100(12):5231-46.
    PMID: 27115758 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-016-7545-1
    Abundant lignocellulosic biomass from various industries provides a great potential feedstock for the production of value-added products such as biofuel, animal feed, and paper pulping. However, low yield of sugar obtained from lignocellulosic hydrolysate is usually due to the presence of lignin that acts as a protective barrier for cellulose and thus restricts the accessibility of the enzyme to work on the cellulosic component. This review focuses on the significance of biological pretreatment specifically using ligninolytic enzymes as an alternative method apart from the conventional physical and chemical pretreatment. Different modes of biological pretreatment are discussed in this paper which is based on (i) fungal pretreatment where fungi mycelia colonise and directly attack the substrate by releasing ligninolytic enzymes and (ii) enzymatic pretreatment using ligninolytic enzymes to counter the drawbacks of fungal pretreatment. This review also discusses the important factors of biological pretreatment using ligninolytic enzymes such as nature of the lignocellulosic biomass, pH, temperature, presence of mediator, oxygen, and surfactant during the biodelignification process.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass*
  8. Jenol MA, Ibrahim MF, Kamal Bahrin E, Abd-Aziz S
    Bioprocess Biosyst Eng, 2020 Nov;43(11):2027-2038.
    PMID: 32572569 DOI: 10.1007/s00449-020-02391-9
    Sago hampas is a starch-based biomass from sago processing industries consisted of 58% remaining starch. This study has demonstrated the bioconversion of sago hampas to volatile fatty acids (VFAs) by Clostridium beijerinckii SR1 via anaerobic digestion. Higher total VFAs were obtained from sago hampas (5.04 g/L and 0.287 g/g) as compared to commercial starch (5.94 g/L and 0.318 g/g). The physical factors have been investigated for the enhancement of VFAs production using one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT). The optimum condition; 3% substrate concentration, 3 g/L of yeast extract concentration and 2 g/L of ammonium nitrate enhanced the production of VFAs by 52.6%, resulted the total VFAs produced is 7.69 g/L with the VFAs yield of 0.451 g/g. VFAs hydrolysate produced successfully generated 273.4 mV of open voltage circuit and 61.5 mW/m2 of power density in microbial fuel cells. It was suggested that sago hampas provide as an alternative carbon feedstock for bioelectricity generation.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass
  9. Salleh MSM, Ibrahim MF, Roslan AM, Abd-Aziz S
    Sci Rep, 2019 05 15;9(1):7443.
    PMID: 31092836 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-43718-1
    Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) with delayed yeast extract feeding (DYEF) was conducted in a 2-L bioreactor equipped with in-situ recovery using a gas stripping in order to enhance biobutanol production from lignocellulosic biomass of oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB). This study showed that 2.88 g/L of biobutanol has been produced from SSF with a similar yield of 0.23 g/g as compared to separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF). An increase of 42% of biobutanol concentration was observed when DYEF was introduced in the SSF at 39 h of fermentation operation. Biobutanol production was further enhanced up to 11% with a total improvement of 72% when in-situ recovery using a gas stripping was implemented to reduce the solvents inhibition in the bioreactor. In overall, DYEF and in-situ recovery were able to enhance biobutanol production in SSF.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass
  10. Awg-Adeni DS, Bujang KB, Hassan MA, Abd-Aziz S
    Biomed Res Int, 2013;2013:935852.
    PMID: 23509813 DOI: 10.1155/2013/935852
    Lower concentration of glucose was often obtained from enzymatic hydrolysis process of agricultural residue due to complexity of the biomass structure and properties. High substrate load feed into the hydrolysis system might solve this problem but has several other drawbacks such as low rate of reaction. In the present study, we have attempted to enhance glucose recovery from agricultural waste, namely, "sago hampas," through three cycles of enzymatic hydrolysis process. The substrate load at 7% (w/v) was seen to be suitable for the hydrolysis process with respect to the gelatinization reaction as well as sufficient mixture of the suspension for saccharification process. However, this study was focused on hydrolyzing starch of sago hampas, and thus to enhance concentration of glucose from 7% substrate load would be impossible. Thus, an alternative method termed as cycles I, II, and III which involved reusing the hydrolysate for subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis process was introduced. Greater improvement of glucose concentration (138.45 g/L) and better conversion yield (52.72%) were achieved with the completion of three cycles of hydrolysis. In comparison, cycle I and cycle II had glucose concentration of 27.79 g/L and 73.00 g/L, respectively. The glucose obtained was subsequently tested as substrate for bioethanol production using commercial baker's yeast. The fermentation process produced 40.30 g/L of ethanol after 16 h, which was equivalent to 93.29% of theoretical yield based on total glucose existing in fermentation media.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass
  11. Ahmed Z, Yusoff MS, N H MK, Abdul Aziz H
    J Air Waste Manag Assoc, 2022 01;72(1):116-130.
    PMID: 33872123 DOI: 10.1080/10962247.2021.1919240
    A massive quantity of Elaeis guineensis (oil palm) trunk biomass, containing a significant amount of natural starch, is available in Malaysia as biowaste because of annual replantation. The efficient extraction of this starch (carbohydrate polymer) would be worthwhile concerning the environmental sustainability and economy through conversion to bioresources. This study investigated the effectiveness of the bisulfite steeping method for starch synthesis from oil palm trunk (OPT) biowaste. The central composite design (CCD) of Design-Expert software executed an experimental model design, data analysis, evaluated the impacts of process variables and their interaction through response surface methodology to optimize the bisulfite steeping method for starch synthesis. The developed quadratic models for four factors (strength of sodium bisulfite solution, steeping hour, mixing ratio with the bisulfite solution, and ultrapure water) and one response (%Yield) demonstrated that a significant starch yield (13.54%) is achievable employing 0.74% bisulfite solution, 5.6 steeping hours, for 1.6 and 0.6 mixing ratio with the bisulfite solution and ultrapure water respectively. Experimental outcomes were consistent with the predicted model, which eventually sustains the significance of this method. Malvern Zetasizer test revealed a bimodal granular distribution for starch, with 7.15 µm of hydrodynamic size. Starch morphology was determined by scanning electron microscopy. X-ray diffraction investigation exhibits an A-type model, specifying persistent characteristics, while FTIR confirms the presence of hydroxyl, carboxylic, and phenolic groups like other cereal starches.Implications: Malaysia is the 2nd largest palm oil exporter in the world. About 110 million tons of palm oil trunk (OPT) biomass is available annually during replanting activities. Modification of bio-wastes into a beneficial form (only 22% presently) like starch extraction would ensure potential reuse as a natural coagulant for wastewater and leachate treatment, food source, adhesives towards boosting the country's economy by sustainable waste management. The current study achieved better starch yield (13.54%) than previous, from the OPT biomass through the novel bisulfite steeping method. Therefore, this method will ascertain the effective implication of numerous economic activities.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass
  12. Alam MA, Juraimi AS, Rafii MY, Abdul Hamid A
    Biomed Res Int, 2015;2015:105695.
    PMID: 25802833 DOI: 10.1155/2015/105695
    13 selected purslane accessions were subjected to five salinity levels 0, 8, 16, 24, and 32 dS m(-1). Salinity effect was evaluated on the basis of biomass yield reduction, physiological attributes, and stem-root anatomical changes. Aggravated salinity stress caused significant (P < 0.05) reduction in all measured parameters and the highest salinity showed more detrimental effect compared to control as well as lower salinity levels. The fresh and dry matter production was found to increase in Ac1, Ac9, and Ac13 from lower to higher salinity levels but others were badly affected. Considering salinity effect on purslane physiology, increase in chlorophyll content was seen in Ac2, Ac4, Ac6, and Ac8 at 16 dS m(-1) salinity, whereas Ac4, Ac9, and Ac12 showed increased photosynthesis at the same salinity levels compared to control. Anatomically, stem cortical tissues of Ac5, Ac9, and Ac12 were unaffected at control and 8 dS m(-1) salinity but root cortical tissues did not show any significant damage except a bit enlargement in Ac12 and Ac13. A dendrogram was constructed by UPGMA based on biomass yield and physiological traits where all 13 accessions were grouped into 5 clusters proving greater diversity among them. The 3-dimensional principal component analysis (PCA) has also confirmed the output of grouping from cluster analysis. Overall, salinity stressed among all 13 purslane accessions considering biomass production, physiological growth, and anatomical development Ac9 was the best salt-tolerant purslane accession and Ac13 was the most affected accession.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass
  13. Musa MA, Idrus S, Harun MR, Tuan Mohd Marzuki TF, Abdul Wahab AM
    PMID: 31906118 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17010283
    Cattle slaughterhouses generate wastewater that is rich in organic contaminant and nutrients, which is considered as high strength wastewater with a high potential for energy recovery. Work was undertaken to evaluate the efficiency of the 12 L laboratory scale conventional and a modified upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors (conventional, R1 and modified, R2), for treatment of cattle slaughterhouse wastewater (CSWW) under mesophilic condition (35 ± 1 °C). Both reactors were acclimated with synthetic wastewater for 30 days, then continuous study with real CSWW proceeds. The reactors were subjected to the same loading condition of OLR, starting from 1.75, 3, 5 10, 14, and 16 g L-1d-1, corresponding to 3.5, 6, 10, 20, 28, and 32 g COD/L at constant hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 24 h. The performance of the R1 reactor drastically dropped at OLR 10 g L-1d-1, and this significantly affected the subsequent stages. The steady-state performance of the R2 reactor under the same loading condition as the R1 reactor revealed a high COD removal efficiency of 94% and biogas and methane productions were 27 L/d and 89%. The SMP was 0.21 LCH4/gCOD added, whereas the NH3-N alkalinity ratio stood at 651 mg/L and 0.2. SEM showed that the R2 reactor was dominated by Methanosarcina bacterial species, while the R1 reactor revealed a disturb sludge with insufficient microbial biomass.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass
  14. Sulaiman C, Abdul-Rahim AS
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2020 Oct;27(30):37699-37708.
    PMID: 32607996 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-09866-y
    This paper seeks to answer an empirical question of whether clean biomass energy consumption lowers CO2 emissions while controlling for technical innovation in eight selected countries from Africa for the 1980-2015 period. The countries which are chosen based on availability of data on biomass energy and technological innovation include Egypt, Algeria, South Africa, Mauritius, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia, and Zambia. Applying pooled mean group, mean group, and dynamic fixed effect panel estimators, the results indicate that clean biomass energy use decreases CO2 emission in the long run. But the effect of biomass energy consumption on CO2 emission is insignificant in the short run. The findings imply that CO2 emission can be reduced by increasing clean biomass energy in the energy mix of these countries. Similarly, environmental quality and economic growth can be achieved simultaneously by increasing the share of biomass energy in large-scale production process. Furthermore, the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), which hypothesizes an inverted U-shaped relationship between CO2 emission and economic growth, was validated in the long run. This suggests that the EKC pattern is only observed in the long run. Thus, as part of recommendation from this study, policy makers in these countries should formulate more policies that will enhance clean biomass energy production and its usage to substitute significant percentage of fossil fuel use in production process.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass
  15. Alsaleh M, Zubair AO, Abdul-Rahim AS
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2021 Jun;28(23):29831-29844.
    PMID: 33575938 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-12769-1
    The objective of this research is to examine the impact of bioenergy usage on health outcomes, especially adult mortality in both developed and underdeveloped countries in the European Union, where the use of solid biomass is growing to generate bioheat, biocool, and biopower. Over the period studied, findings indicate that increased consumption of bioenergy has increased mortality rates in developed and underdeveloped EU28 countries during the period 1990-2018. This feedback proposes, using generalized least squares (GLS), that the resulting death rate from burning biomass-related cases is higher in the EU15 developed countries compared to EU13 underdeveloped countries. There is a need to lower burning biomass in the entire EU15 countries, more importantly its developed region, by critically evaluating the bioenergy production life cycle before it is available for final consumption. However, there is a continuous need to intensify stringent production procedures in the bioenergy industry in EU15 countries, more importantly the imported biomass crops for energy use. There is also a need to be consistent with the campaign on the usage of bioenergy products, i.e., bioheat, bioelectricity, and biofuels, particularly in the rural areas where the use of wood fuels for cooking, heating, and cooling are significant in EU15 developed countries in comparison to EU13 developing countries.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass
  16. Yahya L, Harun R, Abdullah LC
    Sci Rep, 2020 12 18;10(1):22355.
    PMID: 33339883 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-79316-9
    Global warming has become a serious issue nowadays as the trend of CO2 emission is increasing by years. In Malaysia, the electricity and energy sector contributed a significant amount to the nation's CO2 emission due to fossil fuel use. Many research works have been carried out to mitigate this issue, including carbon capture and utilization (CCUS) technology and biological carbon fixation by microalgae. This study makes a preliminary effort to screen native microalgae species in the Malaysian coal-fired power plant's surrounding towards carbon fixation ability. Three dominant species, including Nannochloropsis sp., Tetraselmis sp., and Isochrysis sp. were identified and tested in the laboratory under ambient and pure CO2 condition to assess their growth and CO2 fixation ability. The results indicate Isochrysis sp. as the superior carbon fixer against other species. In continuation, the optimization study using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was carried out to optimize the operating conditions of Isochrysis sp. using a customized lab-scale photobioreactor under simulated flue gas exposure. This species was further acclimatized and tested under actual flue gas generated by the power plant. Isochrysis sp. had shown its capability as a carbon fixer with CO2 fixation rate of 0.35 gCO2/L day under actual coal-fired flue gas exposure after cycles of acclimatization phase. This work is the first to demonstrate indigenous microalgae species' ability as a carbon fixer under Malaysian coal-fired flue gas exposure. Thus, the findings shall be useful in exploring the microalgae potential as a biological agent for carbon emission mitigation from power plants more sustainably.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass
  17. Padam BS, Tin HS, Chye FY, Abdullah MI
    J Food Sci Technol, 2014 Dec;51(12):3527-45.
    PMID: 25477622 DOI: 10.1007/s13197-012-0861-2
    Banana (Musaceae) is one of the world's most important fruit crops that is widely cultivated in tropical countries for its valuable applications in food industry. Its enormous by-products are an excellent source of highly valuable raw materials for other industries by recycling agricultural waste. This prevents an ultimate loss of huge amount of untapped biomass and environmental issues. This review discusses extensively the breakthrough in the utilization of banana by-products such as peels, leaves, pseudostem, stalk and inflorescence in various food and non-food applications serving as thickening agent, coloring and flavor, alternative source for macro and micronutrients, nutraceuticals, livestock feed, natural fibers, and sources of natural bioactive compounds and bio-fertilizers. Future prospects and challenges are the important key factors discussed in association to the sustainability and feasibility of utilizing these by-products. It is important that all available by-products be turned into highly commercial outputs in order to sustain this renewable resource and provide additional income to small scale farming industries without compromising its quality and safety in competing with other commercial products.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass
  18. Hamid MF, Idroas MY, Ishak MZ, Zainal Alauddin ZA, Miskam MA, Abdullah MK
    Biomed Res Int, 2016;2016:1679734.
    PMID: 27419127 DOI: 10.1155/2016/1679734
    Torrefaction process of biomass material is essential in converting them into biofuel with improved calorific value and physical strength. However, the production of torrefied biomass is loose, powdery, and nonuniform. One method of upgrading this material to improve their handling and combustion properties is by densification into briquettes of higher density than the original bulk density of the material. The effects of critical parameters of briquetting process that includes the type of biomass material used for torrefaction and briquetting, densification temperature, and composition of binder for torrefied biomass are studied and characterized. Starch is used as a binder in the study. The results showed that the briquette of torrefied rubber seed kernel (RSK) is better than torrefied palm oil shell (POS) in both calorific value and compressive strength. The best quality of briquettes is yielded from torrefied RSK at the ambient temperature of briquetting process with the composition of 60% water and 5% binder. The maximum compressive load for the briquettes of torrefied RSK is 141 N and the calorific value is 16 MJ/kg. Based on the economic evaluation analysis, the return of investment (ROI) for the mass production of both RSK and POS briquettes is estimated in 2-year period and the annual profit after payback was approximately 107,428.6 USD.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass
  19. Azizi AB, Lim MP, Noor ZM, Abdullah N
    Ecotoxicol Environ Saf, 2013 Apr;90:13-20.
    PMID: 23294636 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2012.12.006
    Experiments were conducted to remove heavy metals (Cr, Cd, Pb, Cu and Zn) from urban sewage sludge (SS) amended with spent mushroom compost (SMC) using worms, Lumbricus rubellus, for 105 days, after 21 days of pre-composting. Five combinations of SS/SMC treatments were prepared in triplicate along with a control for each treatment in microcosms. Analysis of the earthworms' multiplication and growth and laboratory analysis were conducted during the tenth and fifteenth week of vermicomposting. Our result showed that the final biomass of earthworms (mg) and final number of earthworms showed significant differences between treatments i.e. F=554.70, P=0.00 and F=729.10, P=0.00 respectively. The heavy metals Cr, Cd and Pb contained in vermicompost were lower than initial concentrations, with 90-98.7 percent removal on week ten. However, concentrations of Cu and Zn, that are considered as micronutrients, were higher than initial concentrations, but they were 10-200-fold lower than the EU and USA biosolid compost limits and Malaysian Recommended Site Screening Levels for Contaminated Land (SSLs). An increment of heavy metals were recorded in vermicompost for all treatments on week fifteen compared to week ten, while concentration of heavy metals in earthworms' tissue were lower compared to vermicompost. Hence, it is suggested that earthworms begin to discharge heavy metals into their surroundings and it was evident that the earthworms' heavy metals excretion period was within the interval of ten to fifteen weeks.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass
  20. Ramin M, Alimon AR, Panandam JM, Sijam K, Javanmard A, Abdullah N
    Pak J Biol Sci, 2008 Feb 15;11(4):583-8.
    PMID: 18817130
    The digestion and Volatile Fatty Acid (VFA) production from rice straw and oil palm fronds by cellulolytic bacteria isolated from the termite Coptotermes curvignathus were investigated. The bacteria were Acinetobacter strain Raminalimon, Enterobacter aerogenes strain Razmin C, Enterobacter cloacae strain Razmin B, Bacillus cereus strain Razmin A and Chryseobacterium kwangyangense strain Cb. Acinetobacter strain Raminalimon is an aerobic bacterium, while the other species are facultative anaerobes. There were significant differences (p<0.05) among the bacteria for Dry Matter (DM) lost and acetic acid production from rice straw and Acinetobacter strain Raminalimon showed the highest activity. The facultative bacteria C. kwangyangense strain Cb (cfu mL(-1) 231 x 10(-6), OD: 0.5), E. cloacae (cfu mL(-1) 68 x 10(-7), OD: 0.5) and E. aerogenes (cfu mL(-1) 33 x 10(-7), OD: 0.5) were used for digestion study with the rumen fluid microflora. The in vitro gas production technique was applied for the comparative study and the parameters measured were pH, gas (volume), dry matter lost, acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acid concentrations. pH was not significantly (p<0.05) different among the five treatments. The bacterium C. kwangyangense strain Cb showed the highest activity (p<0.05) for DM lost, acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acid production from rice straw when compared to the other bacterial activities. There was no significance (p<0.05) difference between the three bacteria for the dry matter lost of oil palm fronds but the production of Volatile Fatty Acids (VFA) was significantly (p<0.05) high in the treatment which was inoculated with C. kwangyangense strain Cb. The Gen Bank NCBI/EMBL accession numbers for the bacterial strains are EU332791, EU305608, EU305609, EU294508 and EU169201.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biomass
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