Nasrul Hamidin

Performance evaluation of okra (abelmoschus esculentus) as coagulant for turbidity removal in water treatment

The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of turbidity removal in water by using Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) as natural coagulant. The coagulation active agent in various Okra sections was extracted with distilled water and NaCl 1.0 M solutions. Synthetic water containing kaolin with turbidity of 55 NTU was used as water source in this study. The result shows that Okra seed that extracted both with distilled water and NaCl 1.0 N solution has the potential advantage as natural coagulant for turbidity removal in comparison with other sections of the plant. However, the seed is not economically feasible to be used as coagulant. The dried Okras leaf that commonly considered as waste material could be proposed as an alternative coagulant in water treatment process, due to its similarity in coagulation behaviour with Okras seed. FTIR analysis on leaf shows that chemical functional groups in protein were significantly removed after extraction with distilled water and NaCl 1.0 N solution. The result indicated a strong correlation between the protein content and turbidity removal efficiency, which eventually suggest that the protein in Okra could potentially be an active agent in coagulation process.

Effect of Dolomite on Pyrolysis of Rice Straw

A study of catalytic pyrolysis on rice straw was carried out in a fixed-bed reactor. The objectives were to determine the effect of dolomite catalyst on the distribution of product yield and bio-oil characterization. The non-catalytic and catalytic process of rice straw was performed at the optimum conditions. The chemical characterization studies of uncatalysed bio-oil derived from pyrolysis of rice straw reflect a considerable amount of carbonyl and oxygenated compound, resulting in higher oxygen content in elemental composition. In the presence of the dolomite catalyst, the yield of bio-oil was markedly reduced and so was the oxygen content of the bio-oil itself. The product yields and quality of the resultant bio-oil were significantly affected by the use of dolomite catalyst.