Topic 22
Topic 22
Topic 22
College of Engineering
Mechanical Department
Researcher:
BALANLAY, JHADE D.
College of Engineering
Mechanical Department
Introduction:
Coconut is a valuable commodity right now, and almost everyone is aware of its
many applications. The fruit may be found in everything from coconut oil and butter to
shredded coconut and super-hydrating coconut water. Many people are unaware that the
coconut husks. Around 85% of the husks from the nearly 50 billion coconuts grown
worldwide are tossed as trash, giving fuel to the fire that is global pollution.
Waste and huge quantities are dumped in the field, either with or without the shell.
However, Northern Samar has listed as one of the coconut producer provinces in the
Philippines and most of us let this coconut husk in the land field unused, without prior
knowledge, we can repurpose coconut husk for our farm as a soil enhancer, a gardening mix
Coco peat is a biomass residue with very less rate of decomposition and one of the
major agricultural wastes. Its disposal is done by burning which leads to air pollution.
Besides, heavy rain causes release of toxic phenolic compound from the residue which
ultimately contaminates groundwater and threatens aquatic life. Thus, coir sector
development is a need of the hour which will lead to sustainable production of ecofriendly
products from coco peat and help in replacing the synthetic furnishings. Ravindranath, A.
D., 2005.
influence on the livelihood and rural economy of the farmers in South India1. Approximately
12 million tonnes of coir pith wastes are produced annually which remains unutilized for
productive purposes2. This creates fire hazard, disposal problems and groundwater
contamination due to the presence of high phenolic compounds3. Only 15% of the coconut
husk is used for recovery of coir fibres in India. Ghosh, P.K., Sarma, U.S., Ravindranath,
Niro et al., (2016) showed the technical feasibility to produce fiberboards made of
milled coconut husk and bounded with natural adhesives, specifically tannin-based adhesive
formulations. To ensure the sustainability of the board production, the husk availability and
current utilization should be fully assessed. However, there was limited information on how
much volume is actually produced, utilized and therefore potentially available in certain
provinces in the Philippines. This study was conducted to assess husk availability, density
and utilization in the major coconut producing provinces in the Philippines. The data were
collected with the main aim to provide baseline information for the identification of most
suitable locations for the setting up of new coconut husk processing plants, e.g. coconut husk
fiberboard manufacturing.
adsorbent was carried out for the removal of toxic malachite green (MG) from contaminated
water. Fixed bed column studies were carried out to check field application viability. Various
parameters like particle size, pH, concentration, dose and interference were exercised to
optimize dye removal. Data obtained from breakthrough column studies were evaluated using
Thomas and BDST model. Thomas rate constants Kt (0.22 ml min−1 mg−1) and adsorption
capacity qo (181.04 mg g−1) were estimated and found to favor efficiency of CP. Thomas
model was tested with several parameters like flow rate, concentration, and bed depth. Upon
increase in input dye concentration, flow rate and bed height, adsorption coefficients
increased. According to BDST model, maximum dye uptake of 468.26 mg/l was obtained
with an input dye concentration of 5 mg/l. HYBRID and MPSD error functions were tested
and found that Thomas model fits best. Dilute hydrochloric acid was found best for
desorption. Real wastewater from textile industry was analyzed and confirmed the prospect
sorbent in column bed for scavenging of MG from contaminated water. Roshni Kumari &
drainage and aeration over time. According to Dr. Michael R. Evans of the University of
Kansas, the water holding performance of coco coir (73 to 80%) are higher than peat moss
(60 to 68%). In fact, the large particle sizes create air-filled macro pores while the pith of
currently global agriculture is striving hard to find alternatives for agro-chemicals. Even
though there are certain developments in the use of organic manures in various cropping
systems, knowledge on water soluble organic alternatives for inorganic fertilizer based
hydroponics fertilizers (in protected agriculture) is very scarce. This issue was further
envisaged by amending several water soluble industrial effluents and agricultural byproducts
into drip fertigated coco-peat culture and testing their influence on the growth and yield
conditions in Sri Lanka. The results revealed that coco peat effluent, banana stem extract
inorganic fertilizer (Alberts) with respect to plant height, leaf and medium N, P, K contents
and the crop yield of greenhouse tomato. Despite the fact that the yield was low, comparable
results were given by alternative fertigation treatments, dominated by the bio gas slurry
supplement, for plant height, leaf area and leaf and medium N, P, K contents of cucumber
during most plant growth stages. Further improvements can be suggested for coco peat
effluent and banana stem extract-based hydroponics solution for tomato and biogas slurry-
based hydroponics solution for cucumber through improved mixing rates and growth stage-
A by-product of processing coconut husks is known as coir dust, coco peat, coir pith
or simply coir. Coir is a versatile natural fibre extracted from meso carp tissue, or husk of the
coconut. The husk contains 20 % to 30 % fibre of varying length and holds 8-9 times its
chemical and biological properties are essential to produce vigorous healthy seedlings.
Therefore, the aim of this study was to select the most suitable particle size range of coco
peat as a nursery substrate to produce greenhouse tomato, bell pepper, cucumber and cabbage
seedlings.
A good plant growing substrate must be able to provide water, nutrients and oxygen
for the plants as well as a good physical support. Therefore, the physical and chemical
analyses of these substrates have been a matter of concern throughout the world over the last
decade (Kang et al., 2004). Miller and Jones, (1995) stated that, the purpose of a potting
media is to satisfy the needs for good seedling growth within the limited space of a container
and to prepare it for successful transplanting into the field. In order to allow a rapid growth of
seedlings, a healthy, fibrous root system is necessary and the growing media is the foremost
factor determining it. The particle size of the materials utilized in growing media should be
within an appropriate range to provide all suitable conditions to seedlings as small volumes of
substrate per plant is used. The growing media should have various favourable characters
such as light-weight. good porosity, well-drained but with optimum water holding capacity,
slightly acidic with optimum cation-exchange-capacity, constant volume when wet or dry,
lack of insects, diseases and weed seeds, low content of silt, clay and ash, easy storage for
long periods of time without changes in physical and chemical properties and easy handling
Along with the growing popularity for sustainable agriculture and organic foods,
currently global agriculture is striving hard to find alternatives for agro-chemicals. Even
though there are certain developments in the use of organic manures in various cropping
hydroponics fertilizers (in protected agriculture) is very scarce. This issue was further
into drip fertigated coco-peat culture and testing their influence on the growth and yield
performance of tomato and green cucumber under semi-intensive tropical greenhouse
conditions in Sri Lanka. The results revealed that coco peat effluent, banana stem extract
inorganic fertilizer (Alberts) with respect to plant height, leaf and medium N, P, K contents
and the crop yield of greenhouse tomato. Despite the fact that the yield was low, comparable
results were given by alternative fertigation treatments, dominated by the bio gas slurry
supplement, for plant height, leaf area and leaf and medium N, P, K contents of cucumber
during most plant growth stages. Further improvements can be suggested for coco peat
effluent and banana stem extract-based hydroponics solution for tomato and biogas slurry-
based hydroponics solution for cucumber through improved mixing rates and growth stage-
Husk production in the Philippines is 14.69 billion nuts per year and farmers use more
than 5 billion of them for firewood during copra drying (PCA, 2015). The remaining husks
become farm waste and large volumes are left in the field together or without the shell. The
Department of Agriculture (DA) of the Philippines estimated 9 billion husks are left or burnt
in the field (DA, 2014). This massive number of husks might represent an important natural
resource (Greer, 2008). Fibres are extracted from the husk of the coconut and are made into
geotextile and a variety of manufactured articles such as ropes, bags, mats, rugs, carpets and
many other products (Kavitha, 2016). Meanwhile, the coconut peat –the non-fibrous part of
the husk– is also utilized as component of organic plant media fertilizer (Nazari et al., 2011).
In spite of all the current applications of husk mentioned, the estimated husk utilization in the
Philippines amounts to 334 tons/day (about 120,000 tons/year) which is a negligible fraction
Coco peat is a biomass residue with very Design and fabrication of coco peat waste
Tones Coco husk remains unutilized for Utilization of coco husk remains for
phenolic compounds.
limited information on how much volume is Investigate provinces with high density and
the Philippines
Global agriculture is striving hard to find Design and fabrication of coco peat machine
Raising seedlings in soilless cultivation Selecting the most suitable particle size
Knowledge on water soluble organic Investigation of coco peat for water soluble
Husk production in the Philippines is 14.69 Design and fabrication of coco peat machine
billion nuts per year, the remaining husk for reducing farm waste and utilizes for
in the field
References:
Nichols, M., 2013. COIR: Sustainable growing media. Practical hydroponics and
greenhouses, 138. http://www.hydroponics.com.au/coir-sustainable-growing-media.
Ghosh, P.K., Sarma, U.S., Ravindranath, A.D., Radhakrishnan, S. and Ghosh, P., 2007. A
novel method for accelerated composting of coir pith. Energy & fuels, 21(2): 822-827.
Niro, J.F.V.M., Kyriazopoulos, M., Bianchi, S., Eusebio, D.A., Arboleda, J.R., Lanuzo, M.M.
and Pichelin, F. 2016. Development of medium and low density fiberboards made of milled
coconut husk and bound with formaldehayde free tannin-based adhesive.
Ravindranath, A. D., 2005. Coir Pith And Biotechnology – Ecofriendly Waste Management.
Paper presented at the Global Ecomeet 2005,Thiruvananthapuram Feb 19-28, 2005.
Kumari, R., & Dey, S. (2019). A breakthrough column study for removal of malachite green
using coco-peat. International Journal of Phytoremediation, 21(12), 1263–1271.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15226514.2019.1633252
Chassouant, C. (2022). Advantages of the use of coco peat in soilless agriculture. Horti
Generation. https://horti-generation.com/coco-peat-advantages-in-soilless-cultivation/
Coco-peat effluent and organic manure based hydroponics for greenhouse crop cultivation |
International Society for Horticultural Science. (n.d.).
https://www.ishs.org/ishs-article/1296_107
Preeti G, Gohil M, Rajatiya J, Halepotara F, Solanki M, Malam VR et al. Int. J Pure App. Bio
Sci. 2018; 6(1):1219-1224.
Miller JH and Jones N 1995 Organic and compost-based growing media for tree seedling.
Nursries. World Bank Technical Paper, 264.
Kavitha, M. 2016. Production process of coir and coir Products. International Journal of
Research in Business Management, 3 (3), 39-48.
Nazari, F., Farahmand, H., Khosh-Khui, M. and Salehi, H. 2011. Effects of coir as a
component of potting media on growth, flowering and physiological characteristics of
Hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis L. cv. Sonbol-e-Irani). Universal Research Publications.
International Journal of Agricultural and Food Science, 1 (2), 34-38.
Proposed research topic: Design and fabrication of coco peat machine for reducing farm