INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Volume 3, No 1, 2012 Copyright by the authors - Licensee IPA- Under Creative Commons license

e 3.0 Review article ISSN 0976 4402

Characterization of ash made from oil palm empty fruit bunches (oefb).
Udoetok I. A. Chemistry Department, Akwa Ibom State University, Ikot Akpaden, Mkpat Enin Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. eeneemphorn@yahoo.com doi:10.6088/ijes.2012030131033 ABSTRACT This study elucidated the chemical composition of ash made from oil palm empty fruit bunches (OEFB). Results of chemical analyses on the sample revealed that it contains metals such as Chromium, Zinc, Calcium, Potassium, Sodium, and Magnesium with the following concentrations: 0.088mg/kg, 0.38mg/kg, 146.15mg/kg, 139.35mg/kg, 0.63mg/kg and 1.68mg/kg respectively. It also showed that anions such as Phosphate, Nitrate, Sulphate and Chloride 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), Salinity and Conductivity were also analyzed and the result shows that TOC content of the sample was 100mg/kg, TOM content was 172.4mg/kg, TDS was 2371mg/kg, Salinity was 2500mg/kg while Conductivity of was 4735Scm-1. pH of the sample was 10.9, which shows that the sample is alkaline. The results justify the use of this sample as organic manure and suggest that the sample may be useful in conditions where reduction reactions are paramount. It also suggests that with the good concentrations of nitrate, phosphate and potassium presents in the sample, it may be used in enhancing the hydrocarbon degrading potentials of hydrocarbon degraders since the mentioned parameters are applied in bioremediation. Keywords: Oil palm empty fruit bunch, characterization, anions, metals, ash. 1. Introduction The oil palm is a tropical plant that grows in warm climates at altitudes below 500 meters 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, oil palm is widely grown and is a valuable economic crop that provides a source of employment. It allows many small landholders to participate in the cash economy. Oil palm is a major source of edible oil which is extracted from fruits (Lua and Gua, 1998). However, palm oil mills produce a large amount of solid wastes. The remainder of the oil palm consists of huge amount of lignocellulosic materials such as oil palm fronds, trunks, palm kernel and empty fruit bunches. The residues contain 7.0 million tonnes of oil palm trunks, 26.2 million tonnes of oil palm fronds and 23% of Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) per tonne of Fresh Fruit Bunch (FFB) processed in oil palm mill. Palm oil is source of income and is also used as food. Palm kernel produces palm kernel oil and palm kernel shell when processed. The palm kernel oil is a source of income while the palm kernel shell can be used as a source of heat energy. The leaves are used for the production of brooms and for the construction of local fence. The trunk can be used as fire wood and can be sewn into planks for use in roofing. Oil palm empty fruit bunch is one of the byproducts left in the palm oil

Received on June 2012 Published on July 2012

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Characterization of ash made from oil palm empty fruit bunches (oefb).

mill. This residue may cause environmental pollution problems and spread diseases. Other researches stated that oil palm empty fruit bunch is a lignocellulosic source which is available as a substrate in cellulase production (Akamatsu et al., 1987, Rajoka and Malik, 1997). The empty fruit bunch can also be used as local fertilizer. The ash produced from empty fruit bunches is sprayed on crops to prevent insects from destroying the crops, it is also used for washing of plates and pots. The filtrate obtained from the filtration of the mixture of this ash and water normally has a brown colour can emulsify oil, thus producing an emulsion with it. It is slippery to touch, giving an impression that it is alkali. In Annang tribe of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, this filtrate is used in preparing a local delicacy known as Otong which is used in eating meat, drinking of palm wine and can be used to spice soup. Otong, which looks like an emulsion is also slippery to touch just like soap, suggesting that the reaction that produced it may have been a saponification reaction. Saponification is a process that produces soap, usually from fats and lye. In technical terms, saponification involves base (usually caustic soda NaOH) hydrolysis of triglycerides, which are esters of fatty acids, to form the sodium salt of a carboxylate (Ababio, 1993). The objective of this article therefore is to look at the composition of the ash made from oil palm empty fruit bunches with the view of recommending it for more uses such as the remediation of oil spillage on land. 2. Materials and method 2.1 Sample collection Oil palm empty fruit bunches were obtained from a palm oil mil at Abak Itenge in Abak Local government area of Akwa Ibom State. These samples were sundried for one week before they were ashed in the oven at 100oC. The ash was stored in air tight containers at room temperature and portions were taken from there for analyses. 2.2 Heavy metal Analyses A procedure recommended by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, Method 3050B) was used as the conventional acid extraction method, while a Perkin Elmer Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer was used for Heavy metal determination. 2.3 Physicochemical Properties 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 using the method given by Walkey and Black, 1934 and Total organic Matter was obtained from TOC using a conversion factor. TOM (%) = TOC (%) x 1.724 Where: 1.724 = Conversion Factor; [i.e. %TOM = %TOC x 100 /58; since TOC is 58% of TOM] (Osuji and Nwoye, 2007). 2.4 Anions Anions such as Phosphate, Chloride, Nitrate and Sulphate were also determined as per standard methods given by APHA, 1985.
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Characterization of ash made from oil palm empty fruit bunches (oefb).

The following is an example data 3. Results and discussions 3.1 Heavy metals Heavy metals are natural components of the Earth's crust. They cannot be degraded or destroyed. To a small extent they enter our bodies via food, drinking water and air. As trace elements, some heavy metals (e.g. copper, selenium, zinc) are essential to maintain the metabolism of the human body. However, at higher concentrations they can lead to poisoning. Heavy metal poisoning could result, for instance, from drinking-water contamination (e.g. lead pipes), high ambient air concentrations near emission sources, or intake via the food chain. Heavy metals are dangerous because they tend to bioaccumulate. Bioaccumulation means an increase in the concentration of a chemical in a 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) or excreted (Rand and Petrocelli, 1985). Table 1: Heavy metal content of the sample
HEAVY METAL Copper (Cu) Chromium (Cr) Zinc (Zn) Calcium (Ca) Potassium (K) Sodium (Na) Magnesium (Mg) Iron (Fe) Manganese (Mn) Lead (Pb) 1ST (mg/kg) ND 0.0884 0.3784 146.148 139.35 0.64 1.69 ND ND ND 2ND (mg/kg) ND 0.0882 0.3787 146.154 139.35 0.63 1.68 ND ND ND 3RD (mg/kg) ND 0.0884 0.3784 146.151 139.34 0.62 1.67 ND ND ND 4TH (mg/kg) ND 0.0886 0.3789 146.151 139.36 0.63 1.68 ND ND ND MEAN S.D(mg/kg) ND 0.088 0.0001 0.38 0.0002 146.15 0.002 139.35 0.007 0.63 0.0001 1.68 0.0001 ND ND ND

Results of heavy metal analyses of the sample are shown in table i. The result reveals that Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Lead (Pb), and Manganese (Mn) were below the detection limit of the equipment, whereas Chromium, Zinc, Calcium, Potassium, Sodium, and Magnesium had 0.088mg/kg, 0.38mg/kg, 146.15mg/kg, 139.35mg/kg, 0.63mg/kg and 1.68mg/kg respectively. This result reveals that the sample is rich in Calcium and Potassium. Calcium is required by plants for growth and as a good reducing agent, it has the potential of reducing anions and making the bonded non-metals available for use. Potassium is required by plant and this justifies its usage for the production of organic fertilizers. Potassium is oxidized easily, thus reducing the available oxidizing agents. Abdullah et.al, 2011 reported that depending on the methods of treatment of oil palm empty fruit bunches, elements such as Al, P, Cl, Ti, Fe and Cu could be removed during the washing while Na, S and K decreased with the reduction of the ash content of the feedstock. The high concentration of Calcium and Potassium in this sample and the presence of other metals like zinc, Sodium and Magnesium makes it suitable for use in conditions reactions where reduction is paramount. The high concentration of Potassium in the sample justifies its usage as organic fertilizer since Potassium is needed by plants in large quantities. Though Chromium was present in the sample, its concentration is not near the maximum concentration in sludge of 3000mg/kg set by the United States
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Characterization of ash made from oil palm empty fruit bunches (oefb).

Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and threshold value of 3500mg/kg reported by Adriano, 1986 and Kabata-Pendias and Pendias, 1984. 3.2 Anions Anions are ions that carry negative charges and are attracted to the anode during electrolysis. They may be monoatomic or polyatomic. Results of Anionic analysis performed on the samples are found in table ii. The result shows the following concentrations for the different anions analyzes: Phosphate ions 47.4mg/kg, Chloride ion, 2280mg/kg, Sulphate 622.0mg/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, Sulphate and Nitrate ions were not as high as that of Chloride ions, their concentrations were appreciable (table 2). These anions especially Nitrate and Phosphate are required by plants for their growth while hydrocarbon degrading bacteria depend on them for the production of energy used in the degradation of hydrocarbons. Osuji et. al., 2006 reported an increase in degradation of hydrocarbons at an oil spillage site on application of (NH4)2SO4, KH2PO4 and KCl (N-P-K) fertilizer as nutrient supplements during greenhouse trial for reclamation of crude oil inundated soils. Chorom et al., 2010 reported that when agricultural fertilizers (NPK) were added to artificially polluted soils, the hydrocarbon-degrading and heterotrophic bacteria count in all the treatments increased with time and heterotrophic bacteria population increased from 6103 cfu/g soil to 1.4108 cfu/g soil. Also, soil C/N ratio decreased from 6 to 3. The results indicated that the applied fertilizer increased the degradation of the hydrocarbons compared with the control. Ubochi et. al., 2006, Osuji and Nwoye, 2007 and 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. The above reveals that this sample with its high Potassium and appreciable Phosphate and Nitrate concentrations may be suitable for oil spill remediation. Table 2: Concentration of Anions in the sample
Anions Phosphate (PO43-) Chloride (Cl-) Sulphate (SO42-) Nitrate (NO3-) 1ST (mg/kg) 47.3 2278 620 97.4 2ND (mg/kg) 47.5 2282 624 97.8 3RD (mg/kg) 47.7 2280 622 97.6 4TH (mg/kg) 47.5 2280 622 97.6 MEAN S.D(mg/kg) 47.5 0.01 2280.0 0.07 622.0 0.07 97.6 0.01

3.3 Physicochemical Parameters Results of the physicochemical parameters of the sample are recorded in table iii. The mean concentrations of the samples were as follows: TOC: 100mg/kg, TOM: 172.4mg/kg, pH: 10.9, TDS: 2371mg/kg, Salinity: 2500mg/kg and Conductivity: 4735mg/kg. These results reveal that the sample was alkaline with a pH of 10.9. pH is not only essential for determining the availability of many soil nutrients but also in determining the fate of many soil pollutants, their breakdown and possible movement through the soil. Therefore, pH of 10.9 for this sample shows that the sample may be used to reduce the acidity of soils. The high Calcium and Sulphate content of the sample confirms that it may be a useful liming agent because Calcium Sulphate is a good liming agent. This pH will also support nitrogen fixation and decomposition activities which are known to be hindered in strongly acidic soils (Alexander, 1969; Obi, 1976; Manahan, 1994).
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Characterization of ash made from oil palm empty fruit bunches (oefb).

The TOC and TOM content of the sample exposes the rich organic nature of the sample which makes it a veritable tool for enriching microbial activities in the soil. It suggests that the sample will enhance the hydrocarbon degrading potential of hydrocarbon degraders, thus making them efficient in hydrocarbon degradation. The results obtained for TDS, salinity and conductivity of the sample shows that the sample has very rich concentration of ions which can be attributed to its ability to ionize easily. Electrical conductivity (EC) is a measure of ionic concentration and is 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 concentration of the sample supports the above. The high chloride concentration obtained affirms the high salinity value obtained which also points to the rich dissolved solute concentration of the sample. Table 3: Physicochemical parameters of the sample Parameters 1ST Total Organic 120 Carbon (TOC) (mg/kg) Total Matter (mg/kg) Organic 206.9 (TOM) 11.0 2371 2ND 80 3RD 100 4TH 100 MEAN S.D 100 0.01

137.9

172.4

172.4

172.4 0.02

pH Total dissolved solids (TDS) (mg/kg) Salinity (mg/kg) Conductivity (s/cm)

10.8 2371

10.9 2371

10.9 2371

10.9 0.07 2371 0.00

2500 4735

2490 4735

2510 4735

2500 4735

2500 0.007 4735 0.00

4. Conclusion / Suggestions/ Findings Characterization of ash made from oil palm empty fruit bunches revealed that the sample has rich concentration of metals like Calcium and Potassium while other metals like Chromium, Zinc, Sodium, and Magnesium available in appreciable amounts. It also revealed that anions like Phosphate, Chloride, Nitrate and Sulphate were constituents of the sample. Physicochemical parameters such as TOC, TOM, TDS, Salinity and Conductivity were also analyzed and their results show that the sample is not toxic. pH of the sample 10.9 showing that the sample is alkaline. On the whole, it can be deduced that the presence of appreciable concentrations of anions like nitrate and phosphate, high concentration of Potassium justifies its usage as organic fertilizer. It also suggests that the sample can be used in enhancing the hydrocarbon degrading potential of hydrocarbon degraders since it has good concentration of Nitrate, Phosphate and Potassium.

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Characterization of ash made from oil palm empty fruit bunches (oefb).

Acknowledgement This study was conducted jointly at the Heavy Structures Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering, Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (Bangladesh) and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Malaysia) and the authors would like to thank the technicians in the laboratory for providing assistance in specimen fabrication and testing. 5. References 1. Abdullah1, N., Sulaiman, F. and Gerhauser, H. (2011), Characterisation of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches for Fuel Application, Journal of physical sciences, 22(1), pp 124. 2. Akamatsu, I., Kobayashi, Y., Kamishima, H., Hassan, K., Mohd Yusoff, M.N., Husin, M. and Hassan, A.H. (1987), Industrial utilisation of oil palm by-products II:Thermomechanical pulping of empty fruit bunches, Cellulose chemistry and technology, 21, pp 191-197. 3. American Public Health Association (APHA). (1985), Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Waste Water, 15th Edition. 4. A. Kabata-Pendias and H. Pendias, (1984), Trace elements in soils and plants. Boka Raton, Florida, CRC Press, Inc., pp 31 and 315. 5. Chorom, M., Sharifi, H. S. and Motamedi ,H. (2010), Bioremediation of a crude oil polluted soil by application of fertilizers, Iranian journal of environment health science engineering, 7(4), pp. 319-326. 6. D. C. Andriano, (1986), Trace Elements in the Terrestrial Environment. SpringerVerlag, New York, pp 533-534. 7. Ebere, J.U. Wokoma, E.C. and Wokocha, C.C. 2011 Enhanced Remediation of a Hydrocarbon Polluted Soil, Research journal of environment and earth science, 3(2), pp 70-74, 8. G. M. Rand, and S. R. Petrocelli (1985), Fundamentals of aquatic toxicology: Washington, D.C., Hemisphere Pub. Corp. New York, pp 666-667 9. Heavy metals, available at http://www.lenntech.com/processes/heavy/heavymetals/heavy-metals.htm, accessed during April 2012. 10. Lua, A.C. and Guo, J. (1998), Characterization of chars pyrolyzed from oil palm stones for preparation of activated carbons, Journal of Analytical and applied Pyrolysis, 46(2), pp 113-114. 11. M. Alexander (1961), Introduction to Soil Microbiology. John Wiley and Sons Inc. New York and London. pp 402421. 12. Obi, A. O. 1976. Relative effects of different N. fertilizers on soil pH and crop yield in a Western Nigerian soil, Nigerian Agricultural journal, 13, pp 95-101.
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13. Osuji, L.C., Egbuson, E.J and Ojinnaka, C. M. (2006), Assessment and treatment of hydrocarbon inundated soils using inorganic nutrient (N-P-K) supplements: II. A case study of eneka oil spillage in Niger Delta, Nigeria. Environ. Monit. Assess 115(13):265-78 14. Osuji, L. C. and Nwoye, I. (2007), An appraisal of the impact of petroleum hydrocarbons on soil fertility: the Owaza experience, African journal of agriculrutal Research, 2(7), pp 318-324. 15. O. Y. Ababio (1993), New School Certificate Chemistry. Academy Press, Lagos, Nigeria. 16. Rajoka, M. I. and Malik, K. A. (1997), Cellulase production by Cellulomonas biazotea cultured in media containing different cellulosic substrates. Bioresource Technology, 59, 1 pp 2127. 17. S. E. Manahan, (1994), Environmental Chemistry. CRC Press, Inc. Florida. pp 811. 18. Ubochi, K. C., Ibekwe, V. I. and Ezeji, E. U. (2006), Effect of inorganic fertilizer on microbial utilization of hydrocarbons on oil contaminated soil, African journal of Biotechnology, 5(17), pp 1584-1587. 19. USEPA, (1996), Method 3050B Acid digestion of sediments, sludges and soils, Revision 2, Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, USA. 20. Walkley, A. and I.A. Black. (1934) An examination of the Degtjareff method for determining organic carbon in soils: Effect of variations in digestion conditions and of inorganic soil constituents, Soil Science, 63, pp 251-263.

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