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INTERNATIONALJOURNALOFENVIRONMENTALSCIENCESVolume3,No1,2012

Copyrightbytheauthors-LicenseeIPA-UnderCreativeCommonslicense3.0

ReviewarticleISSN09764402

ReceivedonJune2012PublishedonJuly2012518

Characterizationofashmadefromoilpalmemptyfruitbunches(oefb).UdoetokI.A.

ChemistryDepartment,AkwaIbomStateUniversity,IkotAkpaden,MkpatEninLocalGovernmentArea,AkwaIbomState,Nigeria.

[email protected]

doi:10.6088/ijes.2012030131033

ABSTRACT

This study elucidated the chemical composition of ash made from oil palm empty fruit

bunches(OEFB).Resultsofchemicalanalysesonthesamplerevealedthatitcontainsmetals

suchasChromium,Zinc,Calcium,Potassium,Sodium,andMagnesiumwiththefollowing

concentrations: 0.088mg/kg, 0.38mg/kg, 146.15mg/kg, 139.35mg/kg, 0.63mg/kg and

1.68mg/kgrespectively.ItalsoshowedthatanionssuchasPhosphate,Nitrate,SulphateandChloride were constituents of the sample. Chloride had the highest concentration of

2280mg/kg while Phosphate had the least concentration of 47.5mg/kg. Physicochemical

parameters such as Total Organic Carbon (TOC), Total Organic Matter, Total Dissolved

Solids(TDS),SalinityandConductivitywerealsoanalyzedandtheresultshowsthatTOC

contentof thesamplewas100mg/kg,TOMcontentwas172.4mg/kg,TDSwas2371mg/kg,

Salinitywas2500mg/kgwhileConductivityofwas4735Scm-1.pHofthesamplewas10.9,

whichshowsthatthesampleisalkaline.Theresultsjustifytheuseofthissampleasorganic

manureandsuggestthatthesamplemaybeusefulinconditionswherereductionreactionsare

paramount. It also suggests that with the good concentrations of nitrate, phosphate and

potassiumpresentsin thesample, itmaybeusedin enhancing thehydrocarbondegrading

potentials of hydrocarbon degraders since the mentioned parameters are applied inbioremediation.

Keywords:Oilpalmemptyfruitbunch,characterization,anions,metals,ash.

1.Introduction

Theoilpalmisa tropicalplantthatgrowsinwarmclimates ataltitudesbelow500meters

above sea level. It comes from the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, which explains its

scientific name, Elaeis guineensis Jacq. and its popular name, the African oil palm. In

Nigeria,oilpalmiswidelygrownandisavaluableeconomiccropthatprovidesasourceof

employment.Itallowsmanysmalllandholderstoparticipateinthecasheconomy.

Oilpalmisamajorsourceofedibleoilwhichisextractedfromfruits(LuaandGua,1998).

However, palmoilmillsproducealargeamountofsolidwastes.The remainderoftheoil

palm consistsofhuge amountof lignocellulosicmaterialssuch asoilpalm fronds, trunks,

palmkernel and emptyfruitbunches.The residuescontain7.0million tonnesofoilpalm

trunks, 26.2million tonnes ofoilpalm frondsand 23% ofEmptyFruitBunch(EFB)per

tonneofFreshFruitBunch(FFB)processedinoilpalmmill.Palmoilissourceofincome

andisalsousedasfood.Palmkernelproducespalmkerneloilandpalmkernelshellwhen

processed.Thepalmkerneloilisasourceofincomewhilethepalmkernelshellcanbeused

as a source ofheat energy.The leaves are used for the productionofbrooms and for the

constructionoflocalfence.Thetrunkcanbeusedasfirewoodandcanbesewnintoplanksforuseinroofing.Oilpalmemptyfruitbunchisoneofthebyproductsleftinthepalmoil

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Characterizationofashmadefromoilpalmemptyfruitbunches(oefb).

UdoetokI.A.InternationalJournalofEnvironmentalSciencesVolume3No.1,2012

519

mill.Thisresiduemaycauseenvironmentalpollutionproblemsand spreaddiseases.Other

researchesstatedthatoilpalmemptyfruitbunchisalignocellulosicsourcewhichisavailable

asasubstrateincellulaseproduction(Akamatsu etal.,1987,RajokaandMalik,1997).The

empty fruitbunch can alsobeused as localfertilizer.The ashproducedfrom empty fruit

bunchesissprayedoncropstopreventinsectsfromdestroyingthecrops,itisalsousedfor

washingofplatesandpots.

Thefiltrateobtainedfromthefiltrationofthemixtureofthisashandwaternormallyhasa

browncolourcan emulsifyoil, thusproducing anemulsionwithit.It isslippery totouch,

giving an impression that it is alkali. In Annang tribe ofAkwa IbomState, Nigeria, this

filtrateisusedinpreparingalocaldelicacyknownasOtongwhichisusedineatingmeat,

drinkingofpalmwineandcanbeusedtospicesoup.Otong,whichlookslikeanemulsionis

alsoslipperytotouchjustlikesoap,suggestingthatthereactionthatproduceditmayhave

beenasaponificationreaction.Saponificationisaprocessthatproducessoap,usuallyfrom

fats andlye. In technical terms, saponification involves base (usuallycaustic sodaNaOH)

hydrolysis of triglycerides, which are esters of fatty acids, to form the sodium salt of a

carboxylate(Ababio,1993).

Theobjectiveof thisarticlethereforeis tolookatthecompositionoftheashmadefromoil

palm empty fruit bunches with the view of recommending it for more uses such as the

remediationofoilspillageonland.

2.Materialsandmethod

2.1Samplecollection

Oil palm empty fruitbuncheswereobtainedfrom apalmoilmilatAbak Itenge inAbak

Local government area ofAkwa IbomState. These sampleswere sundried for one weekbeforetheywereashedintheovenat100

oC.Theashwasstoredinairtightcontainersat

roomtemperatureandportionsweretakenfromthereforanalyses.

2.2HeavymetalAnalyses

AprocedurerecommendedbyEnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA,Method3050B)was

usedastheconventionalacidextractionmethod,whileaPerkinElmerAtomicAbsorption

SpectrophotometerwasusedforHeavymetaldetermination.

2.3PhysicochemicalProperties

Physicochemical properties of the sample such as pH, Total dissolved solids (TDS),

Conductivity and Salinity were determined as per standard methods given by American

Public Health Association (APHA), 1985. Total organic Carbon (TOC) was determined

usingthemethodgivenbyWalkeyandBlack,1934andTotalorganicMatterwasobtained

from TOC using a conversion factor. TOM (%) = TOC (%) x 1.724 Where: 1.724 =

ConversionFactor;[i.e.%TOM=%TOCx100/58;sinceTOCis58%ofTOM](Osujiand

Nwoye,2007).

2.4Anions

Anions such as Phosphate, Chloride, Nitrate and Sulphate were also determined as per

standardmethodsgivenbyAPHA,1985.

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Thefollowingisanexampledata

3.Resultsanddiscussions

3.1Heavymetals

Heavy metals are natural components of the Earth's crust. They cannot be degraded or

destroyed.Toasmallextenttheyenterourbodiesviafood,drinkingwaterandair.Astrace

elements, some heavy metals (e.g. copper, selenium, zinc) are essential to maintain the

metabolismofthehumanbody.However,athigherconcentrationstheycanleadtopoisoning.

Heavymetal poisoning could result, for instance, fromdrinking-watercontamination (e.g.

lead pipes), high ambient air concentrations near emissionsources,or intake via the food

chain. Heavy metals are dangerous because they tend to bioaccumulate. Bioaccumulation

means an increase in the concentration ofa chemical ina biological organism over time,

compared to the chemical's concentration in the environment. Compounds accumulate in

living things any time they are taken up and stored faster than they are broken down

(metabolized)orexcreted(RandandPetrocelli,1985).

Table1:Heavymetalcontentofthesample

HEAVYMETAL 1ST

(mg/kg)

2ND

(mg/kg)

3RD

(mg/kg)

4TH

(mg/kg)

MEAN

S.D(mg/kg)

Copper(Cu) ND ND ND ND ND

Chromium(Cr) 0.0884 0.0882 0.0884 0.0886 0.0880.0001

Zinc(Zn) 0.3784 0.3787 0.3784 0.3789 0.380.0002

Calcium(Ca) 146.148 146.154 146.151 146.151 146.150.002

Potassium(K) 139.35 139.35 139.34 139.36 139.350.007

Sodium(Na) 0.64 0.63 0.62 0.63 0.630.0001Magnesium(Mg) 1.69 1.68 1.67 1.68 1.680.0001

Iron(Fe) ND ND ND ND ND

Manganese(Mn) ND ND ND ND ND

Lead(Pb) ND ND ND ND ND

Resultsofheavymetalanalysesofthesampleareshownintablei.Theresultrevealsthat

Copper(Cu),Iron(Fe),Lead(Pb),andManganese(Mn)werebelowthedetectionlimitofthe

equipment, whereas Chromium, Zinc, Calcium, Potassium, Sodium, and Magnesium had

0.088mg/kg,0.38mg/kg,146.15mg/kg,139.35mg/kg,0.63mg/kgand1.68mg/kgrespectively.

ThisresultrevealsthatthesampleisrichinCalciumandPotassium.Calciumisrequiredby

plantsforgrowthandasagoodreducingagent,ithasthepotentialofreducinganionsandmaking the bonded non-metals available for use. Potassium is required by plant and this

justifiesitsusagefortheproductionoforganicfertilizers.Potassiumisoxidizedeasily,thus

reducingtheavailableoxidizingagents.Abdullahet.al,2011reportedthatdependingonthe

methodsoftreatmentofoilpalmemptyfruitbunches,elementssuchasAl,P,Cl,Ti,Feand

CucouldberemovedduringthewashingwhileNa,SandKdecreasedwiththereductionof

theashcontentofthefeedstock.ThehighconcentrationofCalciumandPotassiuminthis

sampleandthepresenceofothermetalslikezinc,SodiumandMagnesiummakesitsuitable

for use in conditions reactions where reduction is paramount. The high concentration of

PotassiuminthesamplejustifiesitsusageasorganicfertilizersincePotassiumisneededby

plantsin largequantities.ThoughChromiumwaspresentinthesample,itsconcentrationis

not near the maximum concentration in sludge of 3000mg/kg set by the United States

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EnvironmentalProtectionAgency(USEPA)andthresholdvalueof3500mg/kgreportedby

Adriano,1986andKabata-PendiasandPendias,1984.

3.2Anions

Anionsareionsthatcarrynegativechargesandareattractedtotheanodeduringelectrolysis.They may be monoatomic or polyatomic. Results of Anionic analysis performed on the

samplesarefoundintableii.Theresultshowsthefollowingconcentrationsforthedifferent

anionsanalyzes:Phosphateions47.4mg/kg,Chlorideion,2280mg/kg,Sulphate622.0mg/kg

and Nitrate 97.6mg/kg. From the above, it can be deduced that chloride has the highest

concentration while Phosphate had the lowest. Though the concentrations of Phosphate,

SulphateandNitrateionswerenotashighasthatofChlorideions,theirconcentrationswere

appreciable(table2).TheseanionsespeciallyNitrateandPhosphatearerequiredbyplants

fortheirgrowthwhilehydrocarbondegradingbacteriadependonthemfortheproductionof

energyusedinthedegradationofhydrocarbons.Osujiet.al.,2006reportedanincreasein

degradationofhydrocarbonsatanoilspillagesiteonapplicationof(NH 4)2SO4,KH2PO4and

KCl (N-P-K) fertilizer as nutrient supplements during greenhouse trial for reclamationofcrude oil inundated soils. Chorom et al., 2010 reported that when agricultural fertilizers

(NPK)wereaddedtoartificiallypollutedsoils,thehydrocarbon-degradingandheterotrophic

bacteriacountinallthetreatmentsincreasedwithtimeandheterotrophicbacteriapopulation

increasedfrom6103cfu/gsoilto1.410

8cfu/gsoil.Also,soilC/Nratiodecreasedfrom6to

3. The results indicated that the applied fertilizer increased the degradation of the

hydrocarbonscomparedwiththecontrol.Ubochiet.al.,2006,OsujiandNwoye,2007and

Ebere et. al., 2011 also reported that the results of the addition of inorganic fertilizer

(especially 60 g NPK agricultural fertilizer) will further enhance microbial utilization of

hydrocarbons.Theabove reveals thatthissamplewithitshighPotassiumandappreciable

PhosphateandNitrateconcentrationsmaybesuitableforoilspillremediation.

Table2:ConcentrationofAnionsinthesample

Anions 1ST

(mg/kg)

2ND

(mg/kg)

3RD

(mg/kg)

4TH

(mg/kg)

MEAN

S.D(mg/kg)

Phosphate(PO43-) 47.3 47.5 47.7 47.5 47.50.01

Chloride(Cl-) 2278 2282 2280 2280 2280.00.07

Sulphate(SO42-) 620 624 622 622 622.00.07

Nitrate(NO3-) 97.4 97.8 97.6 97.6 97.60.01

3.3PhysicochemicalParameters

Resultsofthephysicochemicalparametersofthesamplearerecordedintableiii.Themean

concentrationsofthesampleswereasfollows:TOC:100mg/kg,TOM:172.4mg/kg,pH:10.9,

TDS:2371mg/kg,Salinity: 2500mg/kg andConductivity:4735mg/kg.These results reveal

thatthesamplewasalkalinewithapHof10.9.pHisnotonlyessentialfordeterminingthe

availabilityofmany soilnutrientsbut also indetermining thefateofmany soilpollutants,

their breakdown and possiblemovement through the soil. Therefore, pH of 10.9 for this

sampleshowsthatthesamplemaybeusedtoreducetheacidityofsoils.ThehighCalcium

andSulphatecontentof the sample confirms that itmay be auseful liming agentbecause

CalciumSulphate isa goodliming agent.ThispHwill also support nitrogen fixation and

decompositionactivitieswhichareknowntobehinderedinstronglyacidicsoils(Alexander,1969;Obi,1976;Manahan,1994).

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TheTOC andTOM content of the sample exposes the rich organic nature of the sample

whichmakesitaveritabletoolforenrichingmicrobialactivitiesinthesoil.Itsuggeststhat

thesamplewillenhancethehydrocarbondegradingpotentialofhydrocarbondegraders,thus

makingthemefficientinhydrocarbondegradation.

TheresultsobtainedforTDS,salinityandconductivityofthesampleshowsthatthesamplehas very rich concentration of ionswhichcan be attributed to its ability to ionize easily.

Electrical conductivity (EC)isameasureof ionic concentrationandis therefore related to

dissolve solutes. Therefore the high conductivity value of the sample affirms the high

concentration of dissolved solutes in the sample. High chloride, phosphate, nitrate and

sulphate concentrationof the sample supports the above. The high chloride concentration

obtainedaffirmsthehighsalinityvalueobtainedwhichalsopointstotherichdissolvedsolute

concentrationofthesample.

Table3:Physicochemicalparametersofthesample

Parameters 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH MEANS.D

Total Organic

Carbon (TOC)

(mg/kg)

120 80 100 100 1000.01

Total Organic

Matter (TOM)

(mg/kg)

206.9 137.9 172.4 172.4 172.40.02

pH 11.0 10.8 10.9 10.9 10.90.07

Total dissolved

solids (TDS)(mg/kg)

2371 2371 2371 2371 23710.00

Salinity(mg/kg) 2500 2490 2510 2500 25000.007

Conductivity

(s/cm)

4735 4735 4735 4735 47350.00

4.Conclusion/Suggestions/Findings

Characterizationofashmadefromoilpalmemptyfruitbunchesrevealedthatthesamplehas

richconcentrationofmetalslikeCalciumandPotassiumwhileothermetalslikeChromium,

Zinc,Sodium,andMagnesiumavailableinappreciableamounts.Italsorevealedthatanionslike Phosphate, Chloride, Nitrate and Sulphate were constituents of the sample.

PhysicochemicalparameterssuchasTOC,TOM,TDS,SalinityandConductivitywerealso

analyzedandtheirresultsshowthatthesampleisnottoxic.pHofthesample10.9showing

thatthesampleisalkaline.

Onthewhole,itcanbededucedthatthepresenceofappreciableconcentrationsofanionslike

nitrateandphosphate,highconcentrationofPotassiumjustifiesitsusageasorganicfertilizer.

Italsosuggeststhatthesamplecanbeusedinenhancingthehydrocarbondegradingpotential

of hydrocarbon degraders since it has good concentration of Nitrate, Phosphate and

Potassium.

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Acknowledgement

This studywasconducted jointly at theHeavyStructuresLaboratory,DepartmentofCivil

Engineering,KhulnaUniversityofEngineeringandTechnology(Bangladesh)andUniversiti

Malaysia Sarawak (Malaysia) and the authors would like to thank the technicians in the

laboratoryforprovidingassistanceinspecimenfabricationandtesting.

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