DEVELOPMENT OF NOISE ABSORBING COMPOSITE

MATERIALS USING AGRO WASTE PRODUCTS

PROJECT REFERENCE NO.: 40S_BE_1595

COLLEGE : SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY, JAIN UNIVERSITY,
BENGALURU
BRNACH : DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
GUIDE : PROF. M.R. PRANESH
STUDENTS : MR. NAGENDRA K.S.
MS. SOWJANYA H.S.
MR. SUNIL KUMAR K.
MS. TEJASWINI M.

Abstract:
Increasing use of electrical and mechanical appliances at home and industries has created a
concern for noise pollution created by them. Urbanization and heavy growth of construction work in
every neighborhood further emphasize the need of new technologies for noise reduction. Noise created
by different machines can be controlled either by suppressing the noise generating factors or by using
the noise proofing materials which help to reduce the acoustic wave‟s energy by blocking or absorption.
Traditionally, noise is controlled by using expensive and non-biodegradable sound absorbing materials
such as glass wool, polymer foams, and fabric filler and polymer fibres, posing an additional harm to the
environment.The health risk factors associated with glass-and mineral-fibre materials, also provide an
opportunity to develop the sound proofing material made of naturally available materials.At present the
focus, is to develop a cheap, renewable and biodegradable sound proofing material with the help of jute
(natural fibre) fibre/felt which is a non-abrasive, porous, good insulator, hygroscopic and combustible
material for automobile, home appliances and architecture applications.
As an alternative in our research project we are concerned with maximum utilization of
agro-waste Material Such as Rice straw to develop Noise absorbing Composite with bamboo as
reinforcing material and study of acoustical and flammability properties of Composites.

Introduction:
Noise is generally unwanted sound caused in the outside world due to various reasons, involving
machines, transportation systems, engines, aircraft, etc. Noise pollution has become the third pollution
resource that has great adverse influences on the environment, human health and economy. How to
reduce the damages of noise has become an important issue. Generally, the means of controlling noise
include active control and passive control Noise absorption constitutes one of the major requirements for
human comfort today. The former is accomplished by reducing the production of noise at the locations
of noise sources, but it can only control the noises of a narrow frequency range. The passive control is
normally achieved by utilizing high sound absorption materials, which can be used to absorb noises of a
wide frequency range by effectively dissipating sound energy on the process of propagation of the sound
wave.
Noise insulation requirements in automobiles, manufacturing environments, and equipment,
generating higher sound pressure drive the need to develop more efficient and economical ways of
producing sound absorption materials. Industrial applications of sound insulation, generally includes the
use of materials such as glass wool, foam, mineral fibers and their composites. A porous laminated
composite material manufactured by lamination, preheating and molding of premix, exhibits a very high
sound absorption property in the frequency range 500–2000 Hz.
 Use of synthetic porous and fibrous acoustic materials is still frequently found especially in
building acoustics as well as in noise control applications. The products such as foam, rock wool, and
glass wool made from minerals are known for their toxicity and polluting effects which are harmful to
human health as well as to the environment. It has been presented that their production can release more
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere compared to those made from natural materials. In order to support
“Green” environment campaign, Acoustic absorbers from natural materials are therefore of interest due
to their biodegradability and sustainability. As an alternate, natural fibres like jute, cotton, flax, ramie,
sisal, and hemp obtained from renewable resource can be used as a cheap, biodegradable and recyclable
sound absorbing materials. Although composites made of jute fibre/felt with other fibres are being used
for various applications in automotive industry, construction, building sectors, furniture etc.
The health risk factors associated with glass-and mineral-fibre materials, also provide an
opportunity to develop the sound proofing material made of natural fibres. Sound absorption panel
produced from particle composite boards using agricultural wastes, Natural fiber have challenged
researchers to develop novel enhanced sound proofing material made up of natural fibre. At present the
focus, is to develop a cheap, renewable and biodegradable sound proofing material with the help of jute
(natural fibre) fibre/felt which is a non-abrasive, porous, good insulator, hygroscopic and combustible
material for automobile, home appliances and architecture applications.

Objectives:
Noise has determined effects on human lives and it is Nuisance to Environment in the current
market which is hazardous. Conventionally, expensive sound absorption materials are employed to
control noise disturbances. The use of synthetic materials as acoustic absorbers is still applied
extensively in building industry. These non-biodegradable materials do not only cause pollution to
environment, but also contributes significantly in increasing Carbon-di-oxide causing effect of global
warming and are also quite expensive for small need. Main objective is to find a sustainable and an eco-
friendly materials to be an alternative sound absorber. Natural materials such have been receiving
considerable attention as substitute for Synthetic materials. Hence, it is possible to utilize Agro waste
Material as a potential candidate for sound Absorption Panel.
The use of renewable materials from a sustainable source is increasing in variety of applications
raising. So, use of Panels which is combination of natural cellulose fiber with other recourses such as
bio-polymers, resins or binders based on renewable raw materials.
It is proposed to develop a comprehensive Acoustic Panel for absorption of noise level. It is also
envisaged to design the fixture with in building interior space. This cost effective method will potentially
open the door for a wide variety of Agro waste in development of Acoustic Panels.

Scope of project:
In India, grain and other seeds are the main objectives of the farming activity, there is great
interest in developing uses for residues that are currently burned or ploughed back into the ground.
Most of the developing countries are very rich in agricultural and natural fibre. Except a few
exceptions, a large part of agricultural waste is being used as fuel. India alone produces more than 400
million tons of agricultural waste annually. It has got a very large percentage of the total world
production of rice husk, jute, stalk, bagasseand coconut fibre. All these natural fibres have excellent
physical and mechanical properties and can be utilized more effectively in the development of composite
materials for various building applications.
From centuries, mankind has used natural fibre for various types of applicationincluding building
materials. In most of the countries, users have explored the possibilities of using natural fibre from
different plants, which includes bagasse, cereal straw, corn stalk, cotton stalk, kenaf, rice husk/rice straw
etc. Most of the fibre were used mainly for the production of hard board and particle board. Emergence
of polymers in the beginning of the 19th century has provided the researcher new dimensions to use
natural fibre in more diversified fields. At the same time, necessity has also increased the interest in
synthetic fibre like glass fibre which, due to its superior dimensional and other properties seems to be
gaining popularity and slowly replacing natural fibre in different applications. As a result of this change
in the raw material and production process of synthetic fibre based composites, energy consumption has
increased.
The environmental loss suffered by society due to pollution generation during the production and
recycling of these synthetic based materials has once again drawn attention to the use of natural fibre.
The renewed interest resulted in new ways of natural fibre modifications/use and brought it to be at
par/superior to synthetic fibres.

Materials and Methodology:

Materials Used In Developing Panel
The materials used in developing a noise absorption boards are as follows
 Rice straw
 Bamboo
 Poly propylene

Rice Straw
Rice straw is a by-product produced when the harvested paddy is separated from
the grains after plants are threshed. They are thrashed either manually, using stationary
threshers or combine harvesters.
Each kg of milled rice produced results in roughly 0.7–1.4 kg of rice straw
depending on varieties, cutting-height of the stubbles, and moisture content during
harvest
Table 1 shows the annual production of rice and rice straw in top 10 countries in the year
2016.

RANK COUNTRY ANNUAL RICE ANNUAL RICE STRAW

PRODUCTION (1000 PRODUCTION (1000
METRIC TON) METRIC TON)

1 China 144,560 101,105 - 202,303

2 India 104,800 73,360 – 146,720

3 Indonesia 35,560 24,892 – 49,784

4 Bangladesh 34,500 24,150 – 48,300

5 Vietnam 28,234 19,763.8 – 39,527.6

6 Thailand 18,750 13,125 – 26,250

7 Burma 12,600 8,820 – 17,620

8 Philippines 11,915 8,340.5 – 16,681

 9 Brazil 8,465 5,925.6 – 11,851

10 Japan 7,842 5,489.4 – 10,978.8

The average rice straw produced in world is equal as annual rice produced. About
45% to 63% of rice straw is used for cattle feeding purpose and the remaining rice straw
is dumped or it is burned in the open field.

Composition and Characteristics of Rice Straw

The biochemical composition of rice straw and wheat straw is characterized by a
typical composition of an agricultural-based lignocellulosic residue: it contains on
average 30 – 45% cellulose, 20 – 25% hemicellulose, 15 – 20 % lignin, as well as a
number of minor organic compounds. Rice straw is poor in nitrogen, but relatively high
in inorganic compounds, often referred to as ash.
Table 2. The details of different inorganic compounds in rice straw

Sl .no Component Mean value Minimum Maximum

In % value in% value in
%
1 Water content 23.9 6.8 88
2 Volatiles 83.9 80.1 98.2
3 Ash 18 9.6 24.4
4 HHV 18824 17673 19718
5 C 48.7 43.3 60
6 H 5.92 4.94 7.01
7 O 44.2 30.8 50.4
8 N 1.05 0.57 2.11
9 S 0.14 0.07 0.23
10 Cl 0.489 0.013 .909
11 Cellulose 36 28.1 41
12 Hemicellulose 24 21.5 26.5
13 Lignin 15.6 9.9 23.3

𝑚3

Properties of Rice Straw

 Water or moisture does not pass through the surface of straw due to presence of wax nature on its
outer surface.
 Due to presence of hollow space it exhibit light weight property.
 It has good thermal resistance nature
Bamboo
Bamboo is a naturally occurring composite material which grows abundantly in most of the
tropical countries. It is considered a composite material because it consists of cellulose fibers imbedded
in a lignin matrix. Cellulose fibers are aligned along the length of the bamboo provides maximum tensile
strength.
It is a cheap and fast-grown resource with superior physical and mechanical properties compared
to most wood species, bamboo offers great potential as an alternative to wood.
Bamboo„s are subfamily of grass, grown in all over the world except Europe. Currently there are
1200 species of bamboo in the world. It is divided into two main groups i.e., woody and herbaceous
group. Woody bamboo are interesting one due to its size.
In Asia, bamboo grow about 40m tall. It is fastest growing plant on earth having a growth
increment of 11cm per day.

Composition and Characteristics of Bamboo

The specific gravity of bamboo various from 0.4 to 0.8 depending on its anatomical structure.
The composition of bamboo is primary cellulose of 60%, hemi cellulose and lignin of 32%.
Bamboo has good acoustic property due to the presence of voids in it. It helps in mitigating water
pollution due to high nitrogen consumption. It generates upto 35% of oxygen. It has good mechanical
strength.

Polypropylene (PP)
It is a non-woven thermosetting fabric material. It is used in many fields due to its property. It is
called as engineering plastic. It is flexible, good resistance to fatigue.
The density of PP varies between 0.895 to 0.92g /cubic cm. It is thermally resistant to all solvents. PP‟s
melting point lies around 162degree Celsius. It is a slow degradable material.
Due to its thermosetting property it is used has a binding agent in developing the composite.

Methodology:
Procedure of fabrication
Weight/area and dimension of composites have been set at 200g/m2 and 300g/m2 dimension of
25cm x 30cm .The non-woven web was rolled and cut into 25cm x 30cm rectangles. After determining
the total bamboo and rice straw weight necessary to achieve desired concentration for 200g/m 2 and
300g/m2 weight/area. For achieving good strength agro waste concentration is divided into 3 different
ratios that is 30/70, 50/50 and 70/30 (Rice straw / Bamboo). For knowing good strength concentration of
binding material and agro-wastes are divided into 2 ratios i.e., 50/50 and 70/30 (Agro-wastes /
Polypropylene).
Bamboo strips are cut into 30cm x1cm dimension and thickness is maintained about 0.2cm. Rice
straw is cleaned to remove weeds and other wastes. The rice straw length is made maintained around
30cm .These agro-wastes are sundried for 2 days to remove the moisture content in the materials. The
calculated weights are taken according to the ratios. Rice straw and bamboo are laid in parallel to each
on top and bottom layer of polypropylene web. To achieve smooth surface rice straw is laid, both top
and bottom surface. The layered mass of agro-wastes (bamboo strips and rice straw) and polypropylene
web was pressed in between two Teflon coated aluminum sheets in a pre-heated compression machine
which is maintained at 170oC under desire control pressure.
After 120sec minutes PP melts and it is passed through the voids and starts binding with agro-
wastes. After 1200seconds cold water is turned on until the hot plates temperature decreases to 500C and
then pressure is removed. The composite is removed and it is placed in conditioning room.
The procedure is followed for all ratios and the composites are tested for the study.
The following list of test are conducted after the composites are made
 Impedance tube test:- It is conducted to know the acoustic coefficient of the material
 Flexure test:- It is conducted to know the strength of the composite.
 Moisture absorption test:- It is conducted to know moisture absorption capacity of composite.

Outcome:
Composite panels which are Eco-friendly, Biodegradable and Economical will be developed as
an alternative for Noise Absorbing Materials.

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