Wheat Straw

This paper reports the development of natural cellulose technical fibers from soybean straw with properties similar to the natural cellulose fibers in current use. About 220 million tons of soybean straw available in the world every year could complement the byproducts of other major food crops as inexpensive, abundant and annually renewable sources for natural cellulose fibers. Using the agricultural byproducts as sources for fibers could help to address the concerns on the future price and availability of both the natural and synthetic fibers in current use and also help to add value to the food crops. A simple alkaline extraction was used to obtain technical fibers from soybean straw and the composition, structure and properties of the fibers was studied. Technical fibers obtained from soybean straw have high cellulose content (85%) but low% crystallinity (47%). The technical fibers have breaking tenacity (2.7 g/den) and breaking elongation (3.9%) higher than those of fibers obtained from wheat straw and sorghum stalk and leaves but lower than that of cotton. Overall, the structure and properties of the technical fibers obtained from soybean straw indicates that the fibers could be suitable for use in textile, composite and other industrial applications.

Abstract

This work deals with modified wheat straw’s oil adsorptivity in the case of oil spills on freshwater (e.g. lake water or stream water) after the use of chemical dispersant. Wheat straw, a common lignocellulosic agricultural residue, was used to obtain low cost adsorbents for diminishing an oil-products spill. The adsorbent was modified by autohydrolysis, i.e. without the use of any chemical catalyst, in a PARR autoclave at 160-240oC for 0 and 50min isothermal time period. The oil adsorbency tests were performed, using diesel and crude oil of predetermined quality specifications with the presence of chemical dispersant. In the case of diesel oil spill (DOS), Water Adsorbency, Diesel oil Adsorbency and Total Adsorbency values were found to increase to a maximum of 3g/g, 5g/g and 8g/g, respectively, at 200°C for isothermal reaction time 0min (preheating period 66min). Relative Diesel oil Adsorbency value was found to increase to a maximum of 93% at 240°C for isothermal reaction time 50min (preheating period 80min). In the case of crude oil spill (COS), Water Adsorbency value was found to increase to a maximum of 2g/g at 180°C for isothermal reaction time 0min (preheating period 47min). Crude oil Adsorbency and Total Adsorbency values were found to increase to a maximum of 7g/g and 9g/g, respectively, at 200°C for isothermal reaction time 0min. Relative Crude oil Adsorbency value was found to increase to a maximum of 94% at 240°C for isothermal reaction time 50min.

Keywords: adsorbent, autohydrolysis, oil spill, wheat straw.

Degradation characteristics of four grasses, three leguminous fodder species, jack leaves, coconut meal and rice bran were studied using the nylon bag procedure. Bag incubations up to 10 days were performed in the rumen of cows fed on a ration consisting of 50% wheat straw and 50% hay.Degradation characteristics for organic matter (OM), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and nitrogen (N) were evaluated using a two fraction model with a fixed undegradable fraction (U) and lag time. Among the grasses, the degradable fractions (D) of OM and NDF in NB21 and guinea grass were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than in the other two grasses. Guinea grass not only had the highest N content (20.3 g kg−1 dry matter (DM)), but also its D fraction was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that of the other grasses. The rate of degradation (kd) for all components studied did not differ significantly between grasses. Unlike in grass species, the D and U values obtained for OM, NDF, and N in legumes species did not differ significantly, but the kd values were significantly (P < 0.05) different.Except for the long lag phase in jack leaves, which ranged from 10.4 h for NDF to 11.5 h for N, all other degradation characteristics were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than for grasses and rice bran. The poor nutritive value of rice bran obtained from a commercial mill was reflected in the extremely high U fraction (47%, 66% and 22% for OM, NDF and N, respectively). Nevertheless, the degradation characteristics (D and kd) for N were significantly better than for grasses. Coconut meal had the highest potentially degradable fraction (D + water soluble fraction).Rumen degradable N content in grasses ranged from 41% (guinea) to 60% (ruzi), and in legumes from 69% (leucaena) to 79% (glyricidia). About 67% of the N present in jack leaves and rice bran was rumen degradable.

In order to improve the digestibility and nutrient availability in rumen, wheat straw was subjected to solid state fermentation (SSF) with white-rot fungi (i.e. Pleurotus ostreatus and Trametes versicolor) and the fermented biomass (called myco-straw) was evaluated for biochemical, enzymatic and nutritional parameters. The fungal treatment after 30 days led to significant decrease (P < 0.05) in cell wall constituents viz, acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), hemicellulose, lignin and cellulose to the extent of 35.00, 38.88, 45.00, 37.48 and 37.86%, respectively in P. ostreatus fermented straw, while 30.04, 33.85, 39.90, 31.29 and 34.00%, respectively in T. versicolor fermented straw. However, maximum efficiency of fermentation in terms of low carbohydrate consumption per unit of lignin degradation, favoring cattle feed production was observed for P. ostreatus on the 10th day (17.12%) as compared with T. versicolor on the 30th day (16.91%). The myco-straw was found to contain significantly high (P < 0.05) crude protein (CP; 4.77% T. versicolor, 5.08% P. ostreatus) as compared to control straw (3.37%). Metabolizable energy (ME, MJ/kg DM), percent organic matter digestibility (OMD) and short chain fatty acids (SCFAs; mmol) production also increased considerably from control straw (4.40, 29.91 and 0.292) to a maximum up to P. ostreatus fermented straw (4.92, 33.39 and 0.376 on 20th day) and T. versicolor fermented straw (4.66, 31.74 and 0.334 on 10th day), respectively. Moreover, the myco-straw had lower organic carbon and was rich in nitrogen with lower C/N ratio as compared to control wheat straw. Results suggest that the fungal fermentation of wheat straw effectively improved CP content, OM digestibility, SCFAs production, ME value and simultaneously lowered the C/N ratio, thus showing potential for bioconversion of lignin rich wheat straw into high energy cattle feed.

In the present era, a number of researchers are using either industrial or agricultural priceless products as a basic source of raw materials for the construction industry. ese waste products are economical and helpful in producing a sustainable environment and reducing environmental pollution, which is called handling waste products. However, this research work was conducted on concrete containing 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75%, and 1% of jute fiber as reinforcement material and 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% of wheat straw ash (WSA) as replacement for fine aggregates. Moreover, the separate and combined effect of jute fiber and WSA as a replacement for sand ingredient in concrete is to determine the fresh and hardened properties of concrete. In this research, a number of concrete samples were prepared with 1 : 1.5 : 3 mix proportion at 0.54 water-cement ratio and cured at 28 days. e experimental outcomes displayed that the compressive, splitting tensile, and flexural strengths improved by 32.88 MPa, 3.80 MPa, and 5.30 MPa at 0.50% of jute fiber along with 30% of WSA at 28 days consistently. Similarly, the modulus of elasticity was developed while the dosages of jute fiber and WSA increased together in concrete. Moreover, the permeability and workability of concrete were reduced while utilized jute fiber and WSA increased together in concrete.

The characterization of food waste (FW) and locally available bulking agents (BA) are a prerequisite to optimizing compost recipes. This study measured the variation in FW characteristics (pH, dry matter (DM), carbon (C), wet bulk density and Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN)) produced by a restaurant and a community kitchen in downtown Montreal, Canada from May to August 2004. The project also measured the mass of FW produced by another restaurant and a group of 20-48 households, from June to August 2004. Locally available BA (hay, straw, pine wood shavings, cardboard, left over cattle feed and wheat residue pellets) were also characterized to formulate composting recipes based on the FW characteristics observed during a period representative of winter and summer conditions. Residential and restaurant FW characteristics varied significantly over the summer months, although the mass produced remained constant at 0.61 and 0.56 kg capita(-1)day(-1), respectively. In addition, the number o...

Mechanical properties of wheat straw, barley straw, corn stover and switchgrass were determined at different compressive forces, particle sizes and moisture contents. Ground biomass samples were compressed with five levels of compressive forces (1000, 2000, 3000, 4000 and 4400 N) and three levels of particle sizes (3.2, 1.6 and 0.8 mm) at two levels of moisture contents (12% and 15% (wet basis)) to establish compression and relaxation data. Compressed sample dimensions and mass were measured to calculate pellet density. Corn stover produced the highest pellet density at low pressure during compression. Compressive force, particle size and moisture content significantly affected the pellet density of barley straw, corn stover and switchgrass. However, different particle sizes of wheat straw did not produce any significant difference on pellet density. The relaxation data were analyzed to determine the asymptotic modulus of biomass pellets. Barley straw had the highest asymptotic modulus among all biomass indicating that pellets made from barley straw were more rigid than those of other pellets. Asymptotic modulus increased linearly with an increase in compressive pressure. A simple linear model was developed to relate asymptotic modulus and maximum compressive pressure.