Acta Chemica Malaysia

Journal: Acta Chemica Malaysia (ACMY)
Author: M. M. Rahman, M.S.H. Bhuiyan, M.A. Rouf, R.R. Sarker and M. H. Rashid

ISSN: 2576-6732
e-ISSN: 2576-6724

This is an open access journal distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/acmy-2020-0006

There are more than 522 towns and cities in Bangladesh, which generate thousands of tons of solid waste known as Municipal Solid Waste. Low collection coverage and disposal facilities are responsible for unsatisfactory waste management. The composting technology is a good alternative method for managing MSW. The present study was conducted to assess the quality of the MSW compost produced from the solid wastes of Mymensingh Pourashava. For quality assessment physical, chemical and biological properties of prepared compost namelye bulk density, porosity, water-holding capacity, moisture content, pH, organic matter content, C:N ratio, NPKS content, buffering capacity, soluble salts content, heavy metal content and the presence of harmful organisms in the MSW compost were studied. The results indicated that the MSW compost was matured and stable having pH 7.3 and buffering capacity of the MSW compost were good but the organic matter content and C : N (14.5) ratio were low. The N, P, K and S content of the MSW compost were 0.9, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.45 percent of the total volume. The soluble salts content and heavy metal content of the compost were found to be within the permissible limits. The MSW compost contained no E. coli and Salmonella. From the results, it can be concluded that, the composting could produce acceptable quality of compost, which can be used as fertilizer or soil amendment.

Journal: Acta Chemica Malaysia (ACMY)
Author: Muhammad Ameerul Haqim Roshidi, Husna Sabrina Mahyuddin, Mohd Azrul Naim Mohamad and Abdul Latif Noh

ISSN: 2576-6732
e-ISSN: 2576-6724

This is an open access journal distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/acmy-2020-0005

Azolla pinnata is an aquatic plant that comes from the order of Pteridophyta and family of Azollaceae that can be found floating on the surface of waters and can only grow at non-moving or slow-moving water areas. This research aims to understand the effect of different extraction methods and fertilizers on Azolla pinnata and its secondary metabolites. The fertilizers treatments that were tested were chicken manure and AB. The different extraction methods that were tested were SFE and Soxhlet extraction. In the test, the amount of dry weight of A.pinnata obtained from using AB fertilizer was higher compared to chicken manure. For the extraction, both SFE and Soxhlet extraction produced an almost similar amount of extracts but different amounts of secondary metabolites. The amounts of the secondary metabolites were determined and analyzed using GC-MS. The metabolites identified were theamine, bioxirane, acetic acid, 9 methyl-1-decene, glycerine, dihydroxyacetone, thymine, pyranone, 6-fluoro-2-trifluoromethylbenzoic acid, 2-formyl-4,6 dichlorophenyl ester, and isoglutamine. Based on the result, treatment with AB fertilizer provides higher amounts of secondary metabolites in A.pinnata compared to chicken manure, while for extraction methods, SFE provides higher amounts of secondary metabolites in A.pinnata compared to Soxhlet extraction.

Journal: Acta Chemica Malaysia (ACMY)
Author: Ikelle I. Ikelle, Nworu J. Sunday, Nworie F. Sunday, Jedidiah John, Ogbuagu J. Okechukwu and Nwabueze I. Elom

ISSN: 2576-6732
e-ISSN: 2576-6724

This is an open access journal distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/acmy-2020-0004

This work involved the production and thermal characterization of biomass briquettes produced by blending a major agricultural waste with coal dust. In the work, nine different compositions of coal dust/groundnut husk briquettes were produced using starch as the binder while Ca(OH2) was incorporated as the de-sulphurizing agent. The ash content, volatile matter, fixed carbon, moisture content, compressive strength, ignition time, calorific value, water boiling test and burning rate were carried out to determine the physical, mechanical and thermal properties of the briquettes produced. The results showed that moisture content values are in the range 2.43 – 6.44%, for compressive strength 7.72 – 10.85 N/mm3, for ash content 24.18 – 29.15 %, for calorific value 21714.17 – 25027.18 kJ/kg, for fixed carbon 16.77-53.22 %, for ignition time 22.23-45.20 s, for water boiling test 1.50-4.99 min and burning rate 16.10-28.32 g/min. These are appreciable values for the thermal properties of the bio-briquettes. Therefore, the agro-wastes briquettes are beneficial for heating purposes rather than open incineration of the wastes.