Papers by Keyword: Palm Kernel Shell

Abstract: Aluminium Metal Matrix Composites (AMMCs) play a significant role in diverse industries such as automotive, aerospace, and structural sectors due to their unique characteristics, including low density, high hardness, wear-resistance, and corrosion resistance. Typically, these composite materials employ synthetic reinforcements like SiC and Al2O3, which contribute to higher production costs. However, agricultural waste materials, which are abundantly available worldwide and pose environmental and health risks, have shown potential as suitable reinforcement materials for AMMCs. This study focuses on the development of a novel aluminium metal matrix composite by incorporating Palm Kernel Shell (PKS) particles into AA 7075 in varying percentages (5wt%, 10wt%, 15wt%, 20wt%). Stir casting was employed to produce the composite samples. Mechanical and anticorrosive experiments were conducted to evaluate the resulting materials. The research findings indicate a significant enhancement in the tensile strength and hardness of the composites, along with a reduction in corrosion rates. The most favorable samples exhibited an 8.25% increase in tensile strength, a 23.9% improvement in hardness, and a remarkable 61.6% decrease in corrosion rate.

Abstract: Sustainable development objectives in the construction sector is currently hampered by the high cost of materials (cement, aggregates) and the environmental impact of waste in some developing countries. The obtained results in this work on the influence of ash (PKSA) and palm kernel shell (PKS) used as a partial addition of cement and aggregates in concrete composition, enable their valorization as local materials to manufacturing the lightweight concrete with low-cost. This is an interesting contribution to the development of sustainable construction and environmental protection. The used palm kernel shells are produced in the palm oil industry in Republic of Congo. The highest values for density Cd(2348kg/m³), compressive strength Cs(27MPa) and splitting tensile strength Ts(2.4MPa) for concrete using PKSA were obtained at 2.5%. Those for concrete using PKS were obtained at 5 %, i.e. Cd(2165kg/m³), Cs(22MPa) and Ts(1.90MPa). the increase in concrete properties with PKSA compared to PKS is explained by the pozzolanic reaction of the palm kernel ash, which acts as a hydraulic binder. Correlations between fundamental concrete properties reliably describe the influence of PKS and PKSA, with a coefficient of determination R² (0.9) superior at 0.5; the obtained mathematical models to prediction the concrete properties are a significant contribution for engineers. PKS is a concrete plasticizer, PKSA is a concrete setting and hardening accelerator. The production of low-carbon concrete with PKSA addition is a major step forward for the concrete industry.

Abstract: Asbestos-based brake shoes are being faded out due to worries that they may cause cancer; as a result, research for suitable replacements is an essential area of focus. Research on agricultural by - products such as flax fibres, rockwool, aramid fibres, banana fibres, and nut shells from palm trees have been used to develop a number of potential replacements for asbestos. Palm wastes, which are picked for the study since there was a paucity of previous research on the topic, are obtained from agricultural waste fibres. As part of this investigation, a composite material was created, and a number of tests were carried out in order to investigate the wear and durability of a set of unique composites. The novel composites contained 20% epoxy resins, 10 % carbon, 15% CaCO₃, 30–45% PKS, and 10–25%Al₂O₃ respectively. The results obtained showed that the finer the sieve size the better the properties.

Abstract: This paper attempts to evaluate the use of composite of polyaniline (PANI)/palm kernel shell-derived porous carbon (C-PKS) as alternative materials for supercapacitor electrodes. The preparation of PANI/C-PKS composites was carried out using an in-situ polymerization method. After the composite was formed, the structures and morphologies were characterized using an N2-sorption analyzer, SEM - EDX, and TGA. As for the performance of supercapacitor electrodes, the composite was tested using a three-electrode system. Structural and morphological characterization results showed that PANI was successfully deposited in C-PKS. The amount of PANI deposited in C-PKS was ca. 7.5%, obtained from TGA analysis. Meanwhile, the capacitance performance test results showed that the PANI/C-PKS composite featured a specific capacitance of ca. 116 F/g. There was an increase in specific capacitance compared to the blank material (C-PKS only) which showed only 94 F/g.

Abstract: Palm kernel shells (PKS) are wastes and are rich in carbon making them potential sources of reinforcement for composite developments. This work synthesised palm kernel shell nanoparticle and developed Al-Mg-Mn composites at different weight fractions of PKS particle additions. Structural and mechanical properties of the materials produced were studied. TEM result reveals an average size, 72.6 nm of PKS particle obtained after 74 hours of milling. Structural integrity of the nanocomposites was established by SEM. Tensile strength, hardness values and impact energy increase due to 10% by weight of PKS nanoparticle additions are 48.51%, 44.03% and 16.15%, respectively. The improvements in mechanical properties are attributed to firm structure containing Al and MnSi eutectic host harbouring well distributed intermetallic. Better properties of Al-Mg-Mn nanocomposites than micro composites are linked with the refinement of the PKS nanoparticles.

Abstract: Pavement failures such as fatigue, rutting, cracking, bleeding, and stripping are typical pavement deterioration. Researchers have been experimenting with pavement modification to overcome these problems. This study determines the optimum binder content (OBC) for modifying an asphalt mixture with a partial replacement of coarse aggregate (5mm-14mm sieve size) with palm kernel shell (PKS). A 60/70 penetration grade bitumen was mixed with 10, 20 and 30% PKS at selected aggregate gradation following the Public Work Department of Malaysia (JKR/SPJ/2008-S4) specification. The preparation of 60 samples of unmodified and modified asphalt mixture employed the Marshall Method compacted with 75 blows. The OBC was determined based on five volumetric properties of asphalt mixture namely stability, flow, bulk density, void filled with asphalt, and void in total mix. The OBC and volumetric properties of the modified PKS asphalt mixture samples were compared with unmodified asphalt mixture samples in accordance to the specification. Results showed that the OBC sample with 30% aggregate replacement produced the highest OBC value of 5.53% relative to the control sample with 5.40% OBC. The trend for OBC with PKS replacement begins with 10% PKS with 5.30% OBC, 20% PKS with 5.32% OBC and 30% PKS. All volumetric properties of the PKS samples are within the specification limit. Thus, PKS has a promising potential as a coarse aggregate replacement in asphalt mixture.

Abstract: The advantages of palm kernel shell (PKS) as a renewable and sustainable material for activated carbon production have been explored for various applications such as water treatment, pollutant, pesticide, and heavy metal adsorption. However, the full promises of this material for energy storage devices have not been duly studied. In this research, PKS is physically activated and the effect of particle size on the physical characteristics of the activated char was investigated. Pellet (3 mm), granules (0.4 mm), and powder (0.0075 mm) are the sizes considered in the experiment. The surface morphology, surface area, porosity and functional group at different sized was analyzed. Finally, a suitable particle size was recommended for the electrode material of supercapacitor based on the physical characteristics of the activated carbon.

Abstract: Thermo distillation of palm kernel shell in a column reactor was studied in this paper. The objective of this research was to characterize the bio oil and bio oil fractions. The maximum yield was around 70 wt% at 120 °C. The bio oil fractions were collected in ten columns at different temperature ranging between 75- 105°C. HHV of bio oil was 26MJ/Kg. The bio oil moisture, volatility, fixed carbon, and ash were determined and found to be around 6.44wt%, 52.72wt%, 24.39wt%, 16.45wt%, respectively. It can be seen that the PKS bio oil can be considered as an alternative fuel. . HHV of bio oil fraction was between 20- 21MJ/Kg, The density of bio oil fraction was 976.54 g/ mL, and pH of bio oil fraction were around of 2.16.

Abstract: The adsorption ability of powdered activated carbons (PAC) derived from palm kernel shell (PKS) was investigated. PAC was prepared by chemical activation method using ZnCl₂ as an activating agents. The adsorption studies of Hg(II) was carried out under control condition with constant pH, solution temperature (30 °C), treatment time (90 min) and absorbent dosage (2.0 g L^-1). It was revealed that PAC efficiently removed as much as 10 mg L^-1 of Hg(II) with the percentage of removal up to 97.7 %. Both Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were used to explain the adsorption behavior. Freundlich model was found to be fitted well and favored multilayer adsorption. The kinetics data were fitted with pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order, and it was found to obeys the pseudo-second order kinetic order. Recent finding suggest that PKS has the potential to be a promising precursor for the production of activated carbon with the excellent adsorption capacity to remove Hg(II) from aqueous solution.

Abstract: Lightweight engineering materials that are strong, durable, wear and corrosion resistant are required nowadays in the field of engineering, especially in the automobile industry. This study was to develop a hybrid composite material of palm kernel shell (PKS) and periwinkle shell (PS) particles as reinforcements in pure aluminium matrix. The central composite design (CCD) of the response surface methodology (RSM) was used to carry out the design of experiment (DoE). Stir casting method was used to fabricate the specimens. The DoE gave 20 runs (experimental samples) which were replicated three times each, bringing the total number of runs to 60 for each of the six responses considered, and 360 specimens were fabricated in all. Three experimental values were obtained for each of the 120 runs for the wear rate, creep rate, density, tensile strength, hardness and melting temperature. The average values were determined and recorded. Control specimens with 100 wt. % pure aluminium matrix, 0 wt. % of PKS and PS reinforcement particles were prepared. The results showed that the reinforcement particles had significant improvement on mechanical properties of the pure aluminium.