Citrus Peels as a Source of Bioactive Compounds with Industrial and Therapeutic Applications

Agriculture wastes are considered a good starting point to discover for new drugs all over the world. In this context, Agriculture wastes contain millions of compounds to be screened to find bioactive compounds responsible for the activity to be used in drugs. Citrus agriculture is one of the most important commercial and industrial agricultural activities in the world. The peel waste of Citrus species is a rich source of bioactive compounds such as essential oils, flavones, polyphenols, and pigment. Citrus peel has been widely used in the medicine industry. The waste peel of citrus consider a rich source of pharmacologically active metabolites with antioxidant activities.

Ceramic Tiles Production from Cullet and Agricultural Wastes Obtained from Wheat and Sugarcane Cultivation

Agricultural wastes are a big source for environmental pollution so it’s a good choice to recycle them so as to get an environmental and economic benefit. The purpose of this research is to determine the possibility of recycling two types of agriculture wastes obtained from wheat and sugarcane cultivation in addition to broken glass (cullet) as raw materials for ceramic wall tiles production. The used agriculture wastes are the agricultural residue obtained from wheat and sugarcane cultivation. The experimental work starts with performing XRF and sieve analysis for all raw materials. Ceramic wall tiles specimens were made with dimensions 110.4 × 55.4 × 8 mm3 using 27 MPa dry pressing then dried at 120 oC overnight, then fired using firing temperatures equal to 1100 oC or 1150 oC during 15 min soaking time. Water absorption, apparent porosity, and mechanical properties were done to compare them with ISO standards. According to the previous experimental work, it was found that the samples with the composition (10% Cullet, 15% Wheat ash straw, 20% sugarcane) for samples that fired at 1150 oC or (10% Cullet, 13% Wheat ash straw, 18% sugarcane) for samples that fired at 1100 oC has the optimum properties.

Evaluation of Gas Composition Obtained from Gasification of Pellets and Blends with Agricultural Wastes

The gas produced by gasification is more versatile than the original solid biomass and can be applied as raw material for chemical industry and as fuel for the electrical and thermal energy production. Small gasification plants are being considered as an option for electrical energy generation in remote areas where agriculture wastes can be found easily. In this way, the aim of this work was to evaluate the characteristics of the gas composition of co-gasification using pine pellets and blends with agricultural wastes. The experiments were carried out in duplicate in a pilot scale fixed bed downdraft gasifier, GEK Power Pallet 20kW. It was performed experimental runs with 100 % pine pellets, 80 % pine pellets and 20 % agriculture wastes, and 80 % pine pellets with 15.4 % agriculture wastes and 4.6 % of glycerol used as an agglutinant agent. The samples were analyzed by GC-FID/TCD. The moisture of different feedstocks varied between 8.00 and 10.88. The results of the produced gas show an average composition of 37.45% CO and 15.79% H2, and LHV 7,155 kJ/kg for gasification of 100 % pine pellets. While the mixture of pine pellets and agriculture wastes resulted in a gas with 32.13% CO and 20.10% H2, and LHV of 6,663.4 kJ/kg. When added glycerol, the gas composition to CO was 20.52 % and to H2 11.21 % with LHV of 4,507.4 kJ/kg. The results indicate that the gasifier is compatible with the mixture of agricultural residues and pines pellets in co-gasification.

Evaluation of Gas Composition Obtained from Gasification of Pellets and Blends with Agricultural Wastes

The gas produced by gasification is more versatile than the original solid biomass and can be applied as raw material for chemical industry and as fuel for the electrical and thermal energy production. Small gasification plants are being considered as an option for electrical energy generation in remote areas where agriculture wastes can be found easily. In this way, the aim of this work was to evaluate the characteristics of the gas composition of co-gasification using pine pellets and blends with agricultural wastes. The experiments were carried out in duplicate in a pilot scale fixed bed downdraft gasifier, GEK Power Pallet 20kW. It was performed experimental runs with 100 % pine pellets, 80 % pine pellets and 20 % agriculture wastes, and 80 % pine pellets with 15.4 % agriculture wastes and 4.6 % of glycerol used as an agglutinant agent. The samples were analyzed by GC-FID/TCD. The moisture of different feedstocks varied between 8.00 and 10.88. The results of the produced gas show an average composition of 37.45% CO and 15.79% H2, and LHV 7,155 kJ/kg for gasification of 100 % pine pellets. While the mixture of pine pellets and agriculture wastes resulted in a gas with 32.13% CO and 20.10% H2, and LHV of 6,663.4 kJ/kg. When added glycerol, the gas composition to CO was 20.52 % and to H2 11.21 % with LHV of 4,507.4 kJ/kg. The results indicate that the gasifier is compatible with the mixture of agricultural residues and pines pellets in co-gasification.

Recycling of Cullet, Waste Clay Bricks and Wastes Resulted from Wheat and Sugarcane Cultivations in the Manufacture of Fired Clay Bricks

The agriculture wastes are considered as a big environmental problem. The main purpose of this research is to determine the possibility of producing fired clay bricks from a mixture of agriculture wastes in addition to other wastes. The first type of wastes is the cullet while the second type is the wastes is the waste clay bricks (Homra) and the third is an agricultural residue obtained from wheat and sugarcane cultivation. The first step of the experimental work is performing XRF and sieve analysis for raw materials. Brick samples with Cubic shape with dimensions 50 × 50 × 50 mm3 were formed by 1 MPa dry pressing then drying at 120 oC overnight. Tile samples were fired at temperatures of 850 oC for 15 min soaking time. Water absorption, apparent porosity, and mechanical properties were determined and compared to ES 4763 / 2006 and ASTM C 62 / 2013 standards. According to the previous experimental work, it was found that the samples that has a composition (38 % Desert clay, 20% Homra, 10% cullet, 15% Wheat ash straw, 17% sugarcane) has the optimum properties with respect to ES 4763 / 2006 and ASTM C 62 / 2013 standards.