Determining the Agronomic Potential of Avocado-seed Biochar in Comparison to Other Locally Available Biochar in Ethiopia | Chapter 2 | Research Advances and Challenges in Agricultural Sciences Vol. 4

The primary objective of this study was to compare the physicochemical characteristics of six biochar types made from four feedstock and two pyrolysis temperatures (450 and 550°C), based on selected parameters relevant to reclaiming degraded agricultural soil. Biochar is a promising option for improving soil fertility and agricultural productivity. Biochar from avocado seed (municipal waste) had better quality in terms of biochar production, and key agronomic parameters. The potential of biochar for specific purpose depends on its physicaland chemical characteristics. Avocado seed is widely available as a leftover after the fleshy part is used for food and as a byproduct of avocado-oil producing agro-industries in Ethiopia. Its potential as a biochar for agronomic purpose has not been studied. This study was conducted in Sidama National Regional State,located at 275 km South of Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. It was identified that on a mass-base, the produced biochar yields were in a range of 29.68 to 47.45%, higher for ASB pyrolyzed at 450°C. The scanned images of the biochar types showed a remarkable surface morphology for bamboo biochar (BB) and ASB. The bulk density of the biochars were in the range of 0.21 to 0.49 g/mL. The highest volatile matter and ash content was measured for BB-450°C, fixed carbon for BB-550°C. The mean pH values were in the range of 9.1 to 11.3. The ASB-450 and 550°C exhibited higher nutrient content. The highest cation exchange capacity (CEC) was recorded for ASB-450°C; organic carbon (OC) for corncob biochar(CCB) followed by ASB-450 and 550°C. The calcium carbonate (CaCO3) content of ASB-550°C was the second-highest value next to coffee husk biochar (CHB). In this study, ASB and BB were found to have important qualities for improving degraded agricultural soils in terms of soil acidity, nutrient content and soil fertility. Therefore, ASB-450°C and BB-450°C can be suggested to be promising candidates for reclaiming acid-soils and for improving nutrient-depleted infertile soils into agriculturally productive soils. The application of avocado seed biochar to a soil is an alternative strategy that improves soil physicochemical properties and the soil functioning as a component of the ecosystem as well as the whole environment on a sustainable basis.

Author(s) Details:

Hibret Demissie,
General Forestry Department, Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Hawassa University, Ethiopia.

Andargachew Gedebo,
School of Plant and Horticultural Sciences, College of Agriculture, Hawassa University, Ethiopia.

Getachew Agegnehu,
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/RACAS-V4/article/view/13318

Tensile and Flexural Characterization of Bamboo and Rattan as Alternative Reinforcing Bars to Conventional Steel in Concrete | Chapter 4 | Research and Developments in Engineering Research Vol. 8

 The realistic utilization of bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris) and rattan (Calamuc deerratus) as alternative for the common deformed brace reinforcement in concrete is essential for incidental, social and business-related sustainability. For this reason, a systematic exploratory study of the tensile possessions of bamboo and rattan as well as the flexural behaviour of concrete beams supported with these alternative fabrics in comparison accompanying the conventional brace bars was conducted and presented in this place chapter. A worldwide testing supplies was used to assess the yield substance (YS), ultimate stiffness (UTS), and elongation of 50 specimens of the three matters. Three beams of concrete substance 20 N/mm2 were reinforced separately at age 28 days with the unchanging amount of bamboo, rattan, and steel bars, while the stirrups were largely temperate steel bars. To resolve the flexural behavior, the beams were bear hardship BS 1881 centre-point flexural loading. Bamboo, rattan, and fortify bars had mean YS of 201.1 N/mm2, 58.5 N/mm2, and 442.7 N/mm2, respectively, while their UTS were 335.2 N/mm2, 85.4 N/mm2, and 540.1 N/mm2, in that order. The mean extension of bamboo, rattan and steel were 7.42, 10 and 14.7% individually. The load-deflection plots of bamboo and gird RC beams were quadratic, while rattan RC beams had curved trend. The flexural inflexibility of bamboo RC beams (BB) and rattan RC beams (RB) were 32 and 13.5% of the stiffness of steel RC beams (SB). The post-advantage of early start residual flexural substance was 41% for BB and SB, while RB was 25%. Moreover, the moment competencies of BB and RB corresponded to 51 and 21% individually of the capacity of steel RC beams. The important difference in flexural ability between organic rebars and steel maybe attributed not only to tensile strength, but still to inadequate interfacial sticking between bars and actual. It can be decided that bamboo bars are ideal rebars for non-load bearing and lightweight RC flexural constructions, but rattan demands additional pre-toughening treatment for raised interfacial bonding and load-accomplishing capability.

Author(s) Details:

Adekunle P. Adewuyi,
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.

Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/RADER-V8/article/view/11952

Bamboo Reinforced Panels for Fence Walls | Chapter 3 | Current Approaches in Science and Technology Research Vol. 11

 The building industry uses a lot of steel and emits a lot of carbon, which contributes to global warming and makes it difficult to grow sustainably all over the world. Bamboo has been used as a reinforcement material in a few nations (e.g., Indonesia, China, Malaysia, and India) but only on a small scale. When compared to traditional fence barriers created using materials such as stone, brick, or barbed wire, precast steel reinforced concrete (SRC) panels are currently in high demand due to time savings and simple craftsmanship. Due to increased demand, the preparation of SRC panels has become a cottage business. These panels, on the other hand, are made without regard for any specifications or norms. The goal of this project is to look at how bamboo may be used to build fence walls instead of steel. The M20 mix was used to make thirty (30) bamboo reinforced concrete (BRC) slabs with dimensions of 1000 mm x 300 mm x 50 mm (length: height: thickness). With a pretreatment of coal tar creosote, fifteen (15) slabs were cast with I bambusa balcooa and (ii) bambusa polymorpha species as reinforcement. The slabs were tested with an ultrasonic instrument to determine the quality of the concrete and a universal testing equipment to determine the load versus deflection characteristics. These tests were replicated on precast SRC panels obtained from a local manufacturing unit as a comparison study. The test findings show that the concrete quality in BRC slabs is superior to that of SRC slabs. The load taken by BRC slabs with any kind of species at failure was approximately half that of SRC slabs at failure. The deflection, as well as the fracture width connected with it, followed the same pattern. In compared to SRC panels, BRC slabs are 30 to 35 percent less expensive, according to the cost analysis. As a result, it is advised that BRC slabs be used to construct fence walls and barns, resulting in benefits such as environmental sustainability, increased bamboo species cultivation, and increased rural employment.

Author (S) Details

S. Suppiah
Department of Civil Engineering, Periyar Maniammai Institute of Science and Technology Periyar Nagar, Vallam, Thanjavur – 613 403. Tamil Nadu, India.

View Book :- https://stm.bookpi.org/CASTR-V11/article/view/2452

Research on Strength, Fatigue Strength and Stiffness of High-Tech Bamboo/Epoxy Composites | Recent Advances in Science and Technology Research Vol. 2

A major problem in the strength data available for cellulose fibre‐based materials is that the moisture content of the test specimens is rarely measured, and yet it is the dominant variable in the tests. Detailed strength and stiffness results are presented for Brazilian Dendrocalamus Giganteus bamboo at a wide range of moisture contents down to 2% and the fatigue curve is given for Chinese Moso bamboo at 4% moisture content. Techniques are described for handling the variability of these natural materials, both in design and in manufacturing quality control, for the mass production of large, hightech composites wind turbine blades. 

Author(s) Details 

Michael James
Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

View Book :- http://bp.bookpi.org/index.php/bpi/catalog/book/189