Background: Poultry droppings from poultry farms and rice husks obtained from rice milling process are generally considered as wastes and discarded in Nigeria. Although many studies have shown that microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can generate electricity from organic wastes, little or no study have examined MFCs for generating electricity from poultry droppings and rice husk as electrode material. ...

Alpha amylase (α-amylase) enzyme is used as a thinning agent in the starch hydrolysis and it is widely used in the food processing, paper and textile industries. The intention of the present study was to analyse the α-amylase activity in solid state fermentation and submerged fermentation using immobilized cells of Aspergillus oryzae (A. oryzae) and Bacillus cereus (B. cereus), respectively. Th...

The influence of crop residue amendments on the chemical properties of an acid soil and rice yields was investigated at Abakaliki for two cropping growing seasons (2006 and 2007). The residue treatments were rice straw, burnt rice husk and legume residue, while the rice cultivars were ITA 315, Ex-China and ITA 257. The design of the experiment was a 3 x 4 factorial in a Randomize Complete Block...

The sorption properties of rice husk towards Cu(II), Cd(II) and Pb(II) were studied. The sorption isotherms are described by the Langmuir equation, and Pb(II) shows a higher affinity for rice husk compared to Cu(II) and Cd(II) under the same conditions. The kinetics of sorption obeys to a pseudo second-order equation for all metals. The sorption profiles as a function of the pH were used to ...

Application of activated carbon developed from rice husk, an agricultural waste product has been investigated for the removal of malachite green from aqueous solutions and wastewaters. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out for the removal of malachite green from aqueous solutions onto rice husk activated carbon. Effect of important parameters namely initial concentration of dye and cont...

Many non-conventional adsorbent have been studied as economic alternative to commercial activated carbon and mostly agricultural waste have been introduced such as rubber leaf powder and hazelnut shell. Microwave Incinerated Rice Husk Ash (MIRHA), produced from the rice husk is one of the low-cost materials that were used as adsorbent of heavy metal. The aim of this research was to study the fe...

Self-compacting concrete is an innovative concrete that does not require vibration for placing and compaction. It is able to flow under its own weight, completely filling formwork and achieving full compaction even in congested reinforcement without segregation and bleeding. In the present study self compacting concrete mixes were developed using blend of fly ash and rice husk ash. Fresh proper...

Although human exposure to arsenic is thought to be caused mainly through arsenic-contaminated underground drinking water, the use of this water for irrigation enhances the possibility of arsenic uptake into crop plants. Rice is the staple food grain in Bangladesh. Arsenic content in straw, grain and husk of rice is especially important since paddy fields are extensively irrigated with undergro...

Nocardiopsis sp. KNU was found to degrade various lignocellulosic waste materials, namely, sorghum husk, sugarcane tops and leaves, wheat straw, and rice husk very efficiently. The strain was found to produce high amounts of cellulase and hemicellulase. Augmentation of cotton seed cake as an organic nitrogen source revealed inductions in activities of endoglucanase, glucoamylase, and xylanase u...