Chapter 1 (Introduction)

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CHAPTER 1

Introduction

1.1 BACKGROUND

The byproducts produced by agricultural operations and associated industries are referred to
as agro waste, sometimes called agricultural garbage. Crop leftovers from harvesting crops
including rice, wheat, maize, and sugarcane, such as stalks, leaves, husks, and shells, are
included in these residues. Additionally, agro waste encompasses animal waste, including
manure, urine, and bedding materials from livestock farming. The term also covers
processing residues like straw, bagasse, and pomace from agro-based industries such as sugar
mills, breweries, and fruit processing units.

The two types of crop residue are: -

1) Field residue
2) Process residue

Field residues: - Materials that are left over in the agricultural field after harvesting of the
crops are known as field residue. These residues consist of stems, such as stalks and stubble,
as well as leaves and seed pods.

Process residues: - leftovers from processing the produce into a useful resource. Husks,
seeds, bagasse, molasses, and roots are some of these remnants. These process leftovers are
mostly used as fertilizers and soil supplements, as well as animal feed. They can also be
included into the manufacturing of a variety of products.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_residue)

These crop residues contain a lot of nutrients and energy trapped into these residues which
can be extracted from certain methods and processes. The world's sustainable development is
currently facing two critical issues, the energy crisis and environmental degradation. (1)
(OECD annual report)
Figure 1 Agricultural waste generation

While looking at India. India is mostly an agricultural nation. India has been an agricultural
nation for thousands of years, and two-thirds of its population—roughly 60–70%—rely on it
as their primary source of income. In India, agriculture is the main industry that provides the
majority of the food that people eat. The employment and economy of the country are greatly
influenced by the agriculture industry. (2)(infinitylearn.com)

With such large production of crops there is also a left over that is left behind after harvesting
of the crops. India produces 620 million tonnes of crop residue each year, with 16% being
burned in the field (Jain et al., 2014).

A report released by the department of agriculture and farmers welfare for the year
2022-23 estimated a record production of foodgrains at 3296.87 Lakh tonnes which is
140.71 lakh to tonnes more then that was produced in the year 2021-22 which was
recorded to be 3156.16 lakh tonnes. Further, looking at the last five-year production the
production is recorded to be 308.69 lakh tonnes higher. (3)(PIB)
1.1.1 Rice husk

During the year 2022-23 the production of rice was estimated at the record value of
1357.55 Lakh tonnes. Which is recorded to be 62.84 Lakh tonnes higher then previous
year production and while looking at the last five years average production of 1203.90
Lakh tonnes it is higher by 153.65 Lakh tonnes.

Rice husk is a protective layer that develops during the growth of the grain. It has a low
density and occupies a large volume, comprising four distinct layers: structural, fibrous,
spongy, and cellular.

In the world India ranks 2nd in the production rice crop just behind China who is the
largest producer of rice crop with the production value of 1476.91 lakh tonnes. (3)(PIB)

With such large production of crop there is a huge waste that is being produced into the field
in different forms.

According to research, 1.35 tons of rice straw are produced in the field for every tone of
harvested rice paddy. Each tone of processed paddy rice yields 200 kg of rice husk, 100 kg of
rice bran, and 140 kg of broken rice during the industrial process. Husk, which formerly had
the same nutritional value as bran or broken rice, is now marketed as a desirable source of
biomass for the production of electricity. Ash with a high silica concentration and minimal
soil nutrients is what's left over when the organic matter in rice husk burns(Moraes et. al.,
2018) (4)

The result of burning rice husk is RHA. When rice husk is burned, the majority of its
evaporable components gradually disappear, leaving behind silicates as the main residue. The
content of the rice husks, the temperature at which they burn, and the length of the burn all
affect the ash's properties. For example, burning 100 kilogram of husks in a boiler will
produce roughly 25 kg of RHA. Rice husk is burned in the field as a local fuel in some
places, while it is utilized as fuel in rice mills to parboil paddy.(siddique et.al.,2018) (5)
The chemical composition of raw rice husk has been reported to contain both organic (74%)
and inorganic constituents (26%) (s sankar et. al.,2016) (6)

Table 1 Organic constituents of rice husk


Chemical composition, wt., % Rice husk

Cellulose 41.15

Hemicellulose 21.10

Lignin 15.27

Fat 0.05

Crude protein 0.25

Crude fibre 4.29

Inorganic constituents, wt., % Rice husk

Silicon dioxide 92.96

Potassium oxide 3.85

Calcium oxide 0.76

Sulfur trioxide 1.63

Iron oxide 0.41

Manganese di oxide 0.32

Table 2 Inorganic constituents of rice husk


1.1.2 Sugarcane Bagasse

Similarly, India is now the greatest producer of sugarcane in the world.with a record
production of five million metric tons (LMT) in the production year 2021-22. (Press
Information Bureau Government of India) Which leads to production of tonnes of bagasse
waste yearly on a wet basis and the residual sugarcane bagasse, a by-product of sugar mills,
remains underutilized.

Chemical composition of sugarcane bagasse.

Name of the Content Percentage


Cellulose 26–47
Hemicellulose 19–33
Lignin 14–23
Ash 1–5
(Mahmud et al., 2021)
One of the waste products of the sugar industry is bagasse, which is used to steam factory
boilers. Produced bagasse is used during the sugar making process and leads to production of
ash, which influences human health (Le Blond et al., 2017) Research have underlined that
silica content in sugarcane bagasse ash typically ranges from 50% to 95%, providing a
renewable and abundant source for various applications. ( Norsuraya et al., 2016).
According to the data till 2019 There was a rise in sugar production in India as a result of the
expansion of sugar mills from 29 to 520. India produces 91 million tonnes of sugarcane
bagasse as a residue annually from its more than 500 sugar mills. (Konde et al., 2021).
With a net calorific value of about 8000 kJ kg-1, bagasse i.e., the fibrous residue left over
from sugarcane after the juice is extracted. The extracted residue is used as fuel in boilers in
sugar mills to produce steam and power. Boilers used in sugar mills usually have an
efficiency of between 60% and 70%. An estimated 3 million tonnes of fly ash, or 4% of the
weight of bagasse, are produced each year by burning bagasse; this product is known as
bagasse fly ash (BFA). (Patel et. al., 2020).
(Barbosa et. al., (2021) discovered that fly ash made in a lab by density-separating quartz,
then carefully calcining and grinding the material, had characteristics akin to those of a
highly reactive rice husk ash. The main source of silica, according to (Costa et al. (2022)), is
the silicic acid that is present in the soil. The sugarcane roots absorb this acid, which is then
transferred to the leaves where it deposits as amorphous silica. Many studies which have tried
to extract silica from rice husk sugarcane bagasse and other agro wastes using different
techniques involving chemical, thermal and biological treatments. But this study contains
leaching agro waste before thermal treatment which will help to produce high grade of silica
1.2 NEED OF STUDY

The importance of sustainable practices in agricultural waste management and the increasing
need for good environmental information across the industry. Agricultural wastes such as rice
husk and sugarcane bagasse form part of the world’s biomass residues and often cause
environmental pollution if not managed properly. As per the data of it is estimated that
India’s 600 operating sugar mills produce more than 75-70 million tonnes of residual bagasse
every year(Quereshi et.al.,2020). Additionally, approximately 200 kg (20%) of rice husk is
obtained from every 1000 kg of milled rice. When the casing is burned in the boiler,
approximately 50kg (25%) of RHA is produced (Ramezanianpour et.al.,2014) Removing
important elements such as silica from these wastes provides a solution to the waste problem
and increases the value of the waste. Further the obtained silica can be prepared into more
valuable product such as sodium silicate, which is a compound that can be used to create
detergents, adhesives, and as a precursor to silicone and other silicone products that can be
synthesized using environmental friendly processes. The extraction of sodium silicate using
acid, a process that turns the silica content of rice husk and bagasse into useful products, is
the specific emphasis of this work.

1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

 The extraction process will contribute to waste reduction by converting


agricultural residues into a valuable product.
 By eliminating significant amounts of rice husk and sugarcane bagasse, this
method helps mitigate the ecological effects while adhering to the principles of the
circular economy.
 Sodium silicate has a wide range of applications such as detergents, adhesives,
food preservation, construction products and water treatment etc.

 This may open up new possibilities for utilizing sodium silicate extracted from
agricultural waste in these applications, providing a sustainable and renewable
resource.
1.4 OBJECTIVE OF STUDY

 The goal of this study is to develop and optimize a method for preparing sodium
silicate from rice husk and sugarcane bagasse using two different acids HCl and Citric
acid.
 Compare the efficiency and yield of sodium silicate prepared from different acids.
 The sodium silicate prepared is used to evaluate the efficiency of sodium silicate as an
aid with alum using it as a coagulant to remove turbidity from waste water.

1.5 THESIS OUTLINE

In this section thesis organization is formed and explained briefly. This report present the
background information regarding the agro waste mainly rice husk and sugarcane bagasse
and valuable product extraction from these wastes. Literature review about the past studies
that have been conducted to accompany the aim of the work. This thesis is divided into five
chapters which are listed below -

Chapter 1- Introduction
In this chapter introduction of this study is presented. This chapter briefly explains the
need of study, objective of study, significance of the study.
Chapter 2- Literature Review
In this chapter the past study related literature review on extraction of silica from
different agro waste, literature review on preparing sodium silicate , literature review
on natural coagulation.
Chapter 3- Proposed Methodology
In this chapter details study of sample collection and proposed methodology is present
to extract silica and converting it to sodium silicate.
Chapter 4-Rseult and Discussion
This chapter involves analysis of characteristic of prepared sodium silicate also,
efficiency obtained as coagulant from different sodium silicate formed. The result of
analysis is present in the form of graph, chart.
Chapter 5-Conclusion and Recommendations
This chapter comprises summary of this study and also suggestion and
recommendations for further works.

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