ARID ZONE JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT AZOJETE December 2023. Vol. 19(4):865-870 Published by the Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria. Print ISSN: 1596-2490, Electronic ISSN: 2545-5818 www.azojete.com.ng Corresponding author’s e-mail address: birma4real2004@yahoo.com 865 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION ANANLYSIS OF COCONUT SHELL POWDER AND ASH FOR COMPOSITE REINFORCEMENT M. A. Abba-Aji, E. S. Ameh and M. Shuwa Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maiduguri, P.M.B 1069, Maiduguri, Nigeria *Corresponding author's email address: birma4real2004@yahoo.com ARTICLE INFORMATION Submitted 15 March, 2023 Revised 9 Oct, 2023 Accepted 16 Oct, 2023 Keywords: Composite Reinforcement Infra-red Coconut Shell Powder ABSTRACT The use of natural resources which are environmentally friendly to replace the conventional composites materials had been the interest of many researchers lately. Beside the use of natural fibres as reinforcement in polymer matrix composites, the use of fillers made from natural sources such as coconut shell, corn cobs, palm kernel shell, rice husk, has been confirmed to be potential material that can offer some good properties to satisfy the requirements needed for some engineering applications. In this study, the potential of coconut shell powder and coconut shell ash were investigated. Fourier transform infra-red spectroscope was used to determine the chemical compositions of the samples. The results obtained revealed that coconut shell powder and coconut shell ash demonstrated comparable chemical properties to the conventional composites. The presence of some basic elements which are required to produce reinforcement materials with high strength, durability, light weight and corrosion resistance were confirmed. The results obtained revealed that coconut shell powder and coconut shell ash could be used as composites and other polymer matrix that are required for engineering applications 1.0 Introduction Coconut shell powder used for reinforcement consist of lignin and pentosanes. It has recently gained lots of attention and acceptance as composite reinforcement in a wide variety of applications in the aerospace, construction and manufacturing industries. Recent investigations show that some special characteristics such as light weight, specific stiffness, strength, uniform quality, good resistance to water, resistance to heat and fungal attack and the ability to create new surface finish (Obiukum et al., 2016). Coconut shell powder are used in applications such as a filler in the manufacture of thermostat moulding powders like Bakelite, synthetic resin glues or phenol formaldehyde, mosquito coils, incense sticks, plywood, laminating boards and as lost circulation materials in oil well drilling, (Sumatilal and Jigar, 2018). Inadequate disposal of coconut shell after consumption of the fruit has tremendously aggravated the problem of solid waste management in Nigeria. This menace constitutes serious health challenges to both human and the environment. Harnessing the huge economic potential of coconut shell crop to obtain products such as coconut shell ash, coconut shell powder and activated charcoal which is highly essential in our mining, foundry and manufacturing industries has not been accorded full priority, hence there is the need for the continuous research on how best to harness this crop fully in order to eliminate or reduce the hazards associated with the present mode of its disposal. Coconut shell powder is a form of reinforcement used in a wide variety of applications, such as solid woods for domestic uses, production of furniture, as partial replacement for cement in construction activities, (Obiukkwu et al., 2016). Coconut shell particles are also used in http://www.azojete.com.ng/ mailto:%20birma4real2004@yahoo.com mailto:%20birma4real2004@yahoo.com mailto:%20birma4real2004@yahoo.com Arid Zone Journal of Engineering, Technology and Environment, Dec, 2023; Vol. 19(4):865-870. ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818; www.azojete.com.ng Corresponding author’s e-mail address: birma4real2004@yahoo.com 866 solving drilling problems in the oil industries, They are also used as active carbon which is considered extremely effective for the removal of impurities in waste water, as fillers to improve mechanical properties of composites, synthetic glues and for medicinal purposes, (Salman, 2015).These among other uses have helped in reducing the indiscriminate disposal of the coconut shell after consumption of the fruit and the problem associated with its poor disposal. Coconut shell powder which is usually sourced from local Miller is a light brown material which has a bulk density of 0.7gcm-3 with varying thicknesses between 2-8mm and an approximate density value of 1.60g/cm3 (Leman et al., 2017). Coconut shell powder exhibits admirable properties such as low cost, renewable, high specific strength to weight ratio, low density, less abrasion to machine and it is environmentally friendly. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1 Materials and Equipment The materials used were un-carbonised coconut shell powder and coconut shell ash. The major Equipment used in the study include; Mallet, furnace and weigh balance. Machineries such as the FTIR spectrometer, Hammer mill and automatic vibratory Sieve were employed. 2.2. Methods 2.2.1 Crushing Process The Coconut shells was obtained from Damaturu central market located at Abasha ward in Damaturu, local government area of Yobe State, Nigeria. It was broken into pieces using sledge hammer in the Mechanical Engineering Department of Federal Polytechnic Damaturu, Yobe State and was later pounded in a local mortal to reduce the particle size. Thereafter the broken pieces were grounded to powder with the aid of a Hammer mill, and sieved using an Automatic vibratory Sieving machine with different Mesh sizes to obtain a fine powdery product. In this study, three different samples of Mesh sizes 0.45mm, 0.15mm and 0.9mm were collected and labelled respectively for the experimental analysis which was carried out at the multi-user laboratory of the Chemistry Department at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria to determine the chemical and elemental characteristics of the product with the aid of an Infrared Transform Spectrometer. Mallet was employed to reduce the sizes of the coconut shell into smaller pieces, before it was taken to the hammer mill shown in Figure 1 for further crushing and grinding operation. This very important equipment was used to crush the coconut shell aggregates into suitable fine flour by repeated blows for use as specimen in the study. Figure 1: Hammer Mill Figure 2: Automatic Vibratory Sieve file:///C:/user/Downloads/azojete143/www.azojete.com.ng mailto:%20odumaoke@gmail.com Abba-Aji et al: Chemical Composition Ananlysis of Coconut Shell Powder and Ash for Composite Reinforcement. AZOJETE, 19(4):865- 870. ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng Corresponding author’s e-mail address: birma4real2004@yahoo.com 867 2.2.2. Sieving Process. The coconut shell particles were sieved to obtain coconut shell powder with the aid of an automatic vibratory sieving machine. This process lasted for about 2 hours and the samples with the required particle sizes were collected and labelled according to the mesh size. The Automatic vibratory was used to characterize the coconut shell powder into finely divided substance as required for this study.it consist of different meshes as shown in Figure 2. This powder is usually obtained from coconut shell which is free from contamination. The coir pit is broken into small pieces and crushed with the aid of a hammer mill or as pounding machine and later fed into a pulverizing machine to produce a powdery substance. The powder obtained from the pulveriser are then fed into a cyclone and the parallel product is collected in a bag filter and subsequently fed into a vibrating sieving machine and packed according to mesh size requirements. 2.2.3. Weighing Process This process was carried out to obtain the required weight of the individual samples. 3 kg was used for this study to ensure uniformity. The three samples were labelled accordingly and later packaged in an airtight plastic container before it was taken to the laboratory for the test. The electric weigh balance that was used to weigh each of the sample sizes used for the study is shown below . Figure 3: Automatic Weigh Balance. 2.2.4. Ash Process The process used to obtain the ash was by burning coconut shells in an open domestic stove in an operation which lasted for 3 hours. The resultant ash product which was grey in colour was subsequently taken to the laboratory to also determine its chemical and elemental characteristics in order to compare its result with the result obtained from the result of the analysis done on the coconut shell powder. This equipment was used to burn the coconut shell in an open environment to obtain the ash which was used as the second specimen in this research work. (Udhayasankar and Karthikeyan, 2015) The sieves sizes ranged from 355-63μm. The coconut shell powders retained in the pan below 70μm, were used for the analysis, in line with the work of Bello et al. (2015). http://www.azojete.com.ng/ mailto:%20odumaoke@gmail.com Arid Zone Journal of Engineering, Technology and Environment, Dec, 2023; Vol. 19(4):865-870. ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818; www.azojete.com.ng Corresponding author’s e-mail address: birma4real2004@yahoo.com 868 Figure 4: Local Cooking Stove Figure 5: Coconut Shell Ash 2.2.5. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Test The FTIR spectroscopy is an established technique for quality control when evaluating industrially manufactured material. A change in the characteristics pattern of absorption bands usually indicates a change in the composition of the material or the presence of contaminants. This technique is usually used for analysing the chemical composition of smaller particles, typically 10-50 microns. Coconut shell is located in between the coconut flesh and coconut husk. This shell is naturally created to protect the inner part of the coconut. The coconut shells were broken into pieces and grounded into powdery form which was used as the first sample. Coconut Ash is a grey powdery substance which is usually obtained by burning coconut shell powder in a furnace which is regulated at a certain temperature. Figure1 presents a sample of the coconut shell ash. The Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer Figure 6 is an instrument which acquires broadband Near Infra-Red (NIR) to Far Infra-red (FIR) spectra. Unlike dispersive instruments such as grating monochromatic or spectrograph, FTIR spectrometers collect all wavelengths simultaneously. The FTIR instruments send infrared radiation of about10, 000 to 10 cm-1 through a sample, with some radiation absorbed and some transmitted. The absorbed radiation is converted into rotational and or vibrational energy by sample molecules. The resulting signal at the detector presents as a spectrum, typically from 4000cm-1 to 400cm-1, representing a molecular fingerprint of the sample making the FTIR analysis a great tool for chemical identification. (Abdulkadir et al., 2016) Figure 6: Schematic Diagram of FTIR Spectrometer F510 file:///C:/user/Downloads/azojete143/www.azojete.com.ng mailto:%20odumaoke@gmail.com Abba-Aji et al: Chemical Composition Ananlysis of Coconut Shell Powder and Ash for Composite Reinforcement. AZOJETE, 19(4):865- 870. ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng Corresponding author’s e-mail address: birma4real2004@yahoo.com 869 3. Results and Discussion 3.1 Chemical Composition of Coconut Shell Powder Table 1 presents the result chemical composition of coconut shell powder obtained from FTIR test. Table 1 Chemical Composition of Coconut Shell Powder SN Compound Full Name Concentration 1 Wax(g) - 5 2 C Carbon 11. 00% 3 K2O Potassium oxide 1.36% 4 SiO2 Silicon dioxide 0.89% 5 Cl Chlorine 0.89% 6 Fe2O3 Iron(II) oxide 0.45% 7 MgO Magnesium oxide 0.42% 9 Na2O Sodium oxide 0.31% 10 CaO Calcium oxide 0.26% 11 MOO3 Molybdenum (VI) oxide 0.19% 12 S Sulphur 0