LAPSE:2023.36231
Published Article
LAPSE:2023.36231
Extraction and Characterization of Silica from Empty Palm Fruit Bunch (EPFB) Ash
Ebitei Sintei Nelson, Sunny Iyuke, Michael Olawale Daramola, Akindele Okewale
July 7, 2023
Recently, there has been so much interest in using biomass waste for bio-based products. Nigeria is one of the countries with an extensive availability of palm biomass. During palm oil production, an empty palm fruit bunch (biomass) is formed, and a lot of ash is generated. This study aimed to extract and characterize silica from empty palm fruit bunch (EPFB) ash using the thermochemical method. The results show that EPFB ash contains a large amount of biogenic silica in its amorphous form. It could be extracted for further use via calcination at different temperatures and compared effectively to other biomass materials, such as rice husk ash, sugarcane bagasse, and cassava periderm. The extracted silica was characterized using XRF, XRD, TGA, SEM, and FTIR, revealing the highest silica concentration of 49.94% obtained at a temperature of 800 °C. The XRF analysis showed 99.44 wt.% pure silica, while the XRD spectrum showed that the silica in EPFB is inherently amorphous. As is evident from the study, silica obtained from EPFB ash is a potential source of silica and it is comparable to the commercial silica. Thus, it is potentially usable as a support for catalysts, in the development of zeolite-based catalysts and as an adsorbent.
Keywords
amorphous phase, biomass waste, calcination, pyrolyzed ash, silica
Subject
Suggested Citation
Nelson ES, Iyuke S, Daramola MO, Okewale A. Extraction and Characterization of Silica from Empty Palm Fruit Bunch (EPFB) Ash. (2023). LAPSE:2023.36231
Author Affiliations
Nelson ES: School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa
Iyuke S: School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa
Daramola MO: Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology, University of Pretoria, Hatfield, Pretoria 0028, South Africa [ORCID]
Okewale A: Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun (FUPRE), Warri 330102, Nigeria [ORCID]
Journal Name
Processes
Volume
11
Issue
6
First Page
1684
Year
2023
Publication Date
2023-06-01
Published Version
ISSN
2227-9717
Version Comments
Original Submission
Other Meta
PII: pr11061684, Publication Type: Journal Article
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LAPSE:2023.36231
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doi:10.3390/pr11061684
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Jul 7, 2023
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CC BY 4.0
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[v1] (Original Submission)
Jul 7, 2023
 
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Jul 7, 2023
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https://psecommunity.org/LAPSE:2023.36231
 
Original Submitter
Calvin Tsay
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