Volume-7 ~ Issue-7 ~ July-2014

Abstract: The isolation of amorphous silica from acha husk ash (AHA), wheat husk ash (WHA) and rice husk ash (RHA) was carried out in this work. The different husk ashes were obtained by the calcination of the respective husks in a muffle furnace at 500oC for five hours. Silica was extracted as sodium silicate from the respective ashes using NaOH solution. A solution of HCl was added to the sodium silicate to lower the pH to 7.0 to produce silica aquagels which were subsequently dried to give silica xerogels. The mineral contents of the xerogels, AHA, WHA and RHA were determined by energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (ED-XRF, Model PW 4025/45B). The percentage of silica in the AHA, WHA and RHA were (57.50±1.10)%, (59.68±1.10)% and (68.50±0.20)% respectively, while the silica content of the respective xerogels were (92.03±0.82)%, (88.43±2.13)% and (88.55±0.20)%. The results distinguish AHA as an effective alternative source of silica, having the highest yield with minimal mineral contaminants.

Keywords: Digitaria exillis, husk ashes, amorphous silica, aquagel, xerogel.

[1]. C.A. Echendu, I.C., Obizoba, J.U. Anyika and P.C. Ojimelukwe, changes in chemical composition of treated and untreated Hungry Rice "Acha" (Digitaria exilis), Pakistan Journal of Nutrition, 8, 2009, 17791785.
[2]. D.W. Irving and I.A. Jedeani, Micro structural and composition of D. exilis (Acha), a potential crop, Cereal Chem., 74(3), 1997, 224-228.
[3]. M. Joel, A Review of the partial replacement of element with Agro-waste, University of Agriculture, Civil Eng. Department, P.M.B. 2373 Makurdi, Nigeria, 2010.
[4]. P. Terzioglu and S. Yucel, Synthesis of Magnesium Silicate from wheat husk ash; effects of parameters on structural and surface properties, Bio-resources, 7(4), 2002, 5435-5447.
[5]. M.S. Sobhy and M.T. Tamman, The influence of fiber length and concentration on the physical properties of wheat husk fibre rubber composites, International Journal of Polymer Science, 2010, 2010.

Abstract: Flash floods are considered natural disasters that can cause casualties and demolishing of infrastructures. The flash flood takes place over Abu Rusheid in 29 November 2011. After one month from the falling of flood, ten flooding water samples were collected from the cavities in the mountain at Abu Rusheid area, South Eastern Desert, Egypt. The salinity ranges between 380 and 1460 ppm, while pH ranges between 7.1 and 8.1. Trioctyl amine (TOA) dissolved in kerosene has been chosen for removal both of uranium and thorium. Different parameters were carried out testing the following variables: different diluents, TOA concentrations, aqueous to organic phase ratio, shaking time, temperature, and different stripping agents. The factors studied were followed by application of the removal system to determine the uranium and thorium from flooding water samples. The uranium concentration in the studied area were ranged between 172 ppb and 1012 ppb. While, thorium was ranged between 98 ppb and 524 ppb. Meanwhile, the dissolution and leaching (%) of uranium and thorium in flood water samples after one month from the falling of flood in the studied area are ranging between 0.032 - 0.9 % and 0.016 - 0.36 %. After chemical treatment of the flood water was observed that, the remaining elements of uranium and thorium are very few. We recommend not to use those waters from flooding which contain a small concentration of uranium.

Keywords: Flood Water, Abu Rusheid, U (VI) ,Th (IV), TOA, Leaching (%).

[1]. M. E. Ibrahim, K. Watanabe, G.M. Saleh and W. S. Ibrahim, Abu Rusheid lamprophyre dykes, South Eastern Desert, Egypt: As physical–chemical traps for REEs, Zn, Y, U, Cu, W and Ag , J.Geology and mining, 3 (3), 2013, xxx-xxx.
[2]. X. Lin, Flash floods in arid and semi-arid zones, IHP-V Technical Documents in Hydrology. no. 23, 1999.
[3]. K. Smith, and R. Ward, Floods – physical processes and human impacts, John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Chichester, UK, 1998.
[4]. J.Broadman, L. Ligneau, A.P.J. De Roo and K.Vandaele, Flooding of property by runoff from agricultural land in northwestern Europe, J. Geomorphology, 10, 1994, 183–196.
[5]. M.El Bastawesy, K.White and A.Nasr, Integration of remote sensing and GIS for modelling flash floods in Wadi Hudain catchment, Egypt, J.Hydrol. Process, 23, 2009, 1359–1368.
[6]. B.E.Montz and E.Gruntfest, Flash flood mitigation: recommendations for research and applications, J.Environ. Hazard, 4, 2002, 15–22.

Abstract: Rainwater samples were collected during the raining season from five sites within Jos and Bukuru metropolis from April to October, 2002 and 2007. Eighty-five percent of the total rain events for the two years under study were sampled. The samples were analyzed using standard methods and results of the pH were attributed to increase in vehicle traffic within the study area. The concentration of the components Cl-, NO3-, NO2-, SO4-, PO43-, NH4+, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+ and Cu2+ were determined along with some other physical parameters. Colorimetric method was used to determine the concentration of the nonmetallic radicals while Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS) was used to determine the concentration of the metals. Data obtained showed significant correlation of SO42- with Cl-, NO3-, NO2-, SO42-, PO43-, NH4+, Na+, Mg2+ and Cu2+. Also NH4+ correlated significantly with Cl-, Na+, K+, and Ca2+. These indicate the predominant anthropogenic sources, existence of aerosols such as (NH4)2SO4, NH4Cl, NH4NO3 and some other photochemical processes that occur below the cloud level. Data evaluated also reveal that local urban and industrial emission sources were primarily responsible for rainwater and atmospheric contamination which results in high ammonium and acidic pH concentrations. In this work, it was also revealed that increasing precipitation (rainfall amount) decreases the rainfall composition due to dilution and the deposition of rainfall composition is enhanced by high altitude of sites, with higher precipitation of ionic species between 15mm and 35mm of rainfall amount. The acidic nature of the rainwater indicates Jos and Bukuru metropolis rainwater to be hazardous for human consumption and may have adverse effect on human, plant, animal and material comfort. Keywords: Health Hazard, Inorganic Ions, Pollutants, Rainwater.

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Abstract: The proximate and anti-nutritional contents of the seeds of the selected curcubits were determined. The samples were collected from twenty different farms from the suburbs of Minna. They were treated appropriately for analysis using standard methods. The seeds had high crude protein (21.11±0.83 - 42.65±1.60%) and total lipid (36.00±1.30 - 53.20±1.93) contents but low crude fibre (1.50±0.01-5.00±0.03%). The moisture contents ranged from 3.10±0.20 to 7.00±1.05%. The values of anti-nutritional factors obtained ranged from 0.06±0.01 to 0.29±0.05% for the cyanide and 0.19±0.01 to 0.75±0.03% for the phytates. The oxalate contents ranged from 6.77±0.07 to 12.10±0.13% while the saponins ranged from 9.60±0.07 to 13.30±0.09%. Considering the levels of anti-nutritional contents of these seeds, their consumption may have no significant toxic effect on humans or his animals.

Key words: suburb, aphideus refupes, proximate, curcubit seeds, antinutritional factors

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Abstract: Soaps are cleaning agents that are usually made by reacting alkali with naturally occurring fats or fatty acids. The reaction produce salts of these fatty acids, which improve the cleaning process by making water better able to lift away greasy stains from skin, hair and clothes. In this work, samples of ten (10) different toilet soaps were each obtained form the open market in B/Ladi, Bokkos and Pankshin. These samples were then analyzed for % Total Fatty Matter (TFM), % Rosin TFM, % Free Fatty Acid (FFA) (as oleic acid), % Free Alkali (as Na2O), % Chloride (as NaCl), % Unsaponified Fatty Matter (UFM), % Glycerol, % Total Insoluble, % Moisture, pH and microbial content, where the respective results obtained were 75.20 ± 5.25, 3.08 ± 0.58, 0.94 ±0.38, 0.22 ±0.40, 0.87 ± 0.42, 0.61 ± 0.32, 3.80 ±2.26, 5.68 ± 3.03, 9.63 ± 2.44, 8.19 ± 1.12 and negative results for the microbial content. Most of the products, although filled to some extent, were found to have high % Glycerol, % UFM and %Rosin TFM. Results were compared with the National Standards. It was discovered that the soaps worked on were mild on the skin of humans therefore safe for use since the result of microbial analyses were also negative.

Key words: Toilet soap, quality, safety.

[1]. Boyce JM, Pittet D; Health Care Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee. Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Health-Care Settings: recommendations of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee and the HICPAC/SHEA/APIC/IDSA Hand Hygiene Task Force. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2002;51 (RR-16):1-45.
[2]. Butler, H. (1987): Pounchers Perfumes, Cosmetics and Soaps vol. 3 9th edition. Blackier Academics and Professional, London 393-395, 451-452, 454-457, 464-468 and 481-82.
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Abstract: Biogas is produced when organic matter breaks down anaerobically. This study reports a pilot project on the possibility of producing biogas from a mixture of water hyacinth and fresh rumen residue. The batch process bio-digester of installation capacity 7,500ml was designed and constructed for use in the study. The work also investigated the effect of reaction time and kinetics of biogas production. The results show that biogas production actually began on the 9th day of production with a yield of 2.0ml and then the yield increased continuously up to the 17th day with an optimal yield of 16.4ml. Thereafter, the yield of biogas decreased for the remaining production period. The total volume of biogas produced after 39days was 310.6ml, or approximately a mean yield of 7.9ml/day. Furthermore, the data obtained indicated that the bio-gas production reaction kinetics was second order and had an average specific rate constant of 0.02878 ml-1 day-1. Water hyacinth has a potential for biogas production in Nigeria.

Key words: Bio-gas; Kinetics; Water Hyacinth; Rumen

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Abstract: The kinetics of oxidative decolorization of acid orange 8 (AO8) by chloramine-T and bromamine-T in HClO4 medium has been investigated spectrophotometrically (λmax = 490 nm) at 298 K. Kinetic runs were executed under pretend first-order conditions of [oxidant]o >> [AO8]o. Under identical experimental conditions, reactions with both the oxidants follow identical kinetics with a first-order dependence on each [oxidant]o and [AO8] and a fractional-order dependence on [HClO4]. Stoichiometry of the reaction was found to be 1:1 and the oxidation products were identified. The reaction was studied at dissimilar temperatures and activation parameters have been computed. Effects of p-toluenesulfonamide, halide ions, ionic strength and dielectric constant of the medium have been investigated. Reaction mixture fails to induce polymerization of acrylonitrile. The rate of oxidation of AO8 is about two-fold faster with BAT as compared to CAT. This may be endorsed to the diversity in electrophilicities of Cl+ and Br+ ions and also the van der Waal's radii of chlorine and bromine. Authentic mechanism and associated rate law have been deliberated for the observed kinetics.

Keywords: Azo dye, Acid Orange 8, Chloramine-T, Bromamine-T, Oxidation-Kinetics, Acid medium

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Abstract: Effect of temperature on the chemiluminescence (CL) of Luminol aqueous ethyl amine(DEA) in binary mixture of oxidant such as H2O2+ Fe(III), H2O2+ Cu(II), H2O2+ Ni(II), H2O2+ Co(II) have been studied and reported. On the basis of experimental results, it is found that the chemiluminescence intensity initially increased with temperature, attains an optimum value of particular temperature and then decrease on further increase in temperature. It is also found that maximum CL intensity (I max) of chemiluminescence of Luminol aqueous ethyl amine founds with Hydrogen peroxide + Co(II).

Keywords: Chemiluminescence, Luminol, Amine, Temperature, Metal Ions.

[1]. L. Gamiz-Gracia, A. M. Garcia-Campan, J.J. Soto-Chinchilla, J. F. Huertas-Perez, and A. Gonzalez-Casado, Analysis of pesticides by chemiluminescence detectionin liquid phase, Trends in Ana. Chem. 24(11), 927-942, (2005)
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Abstract: There are many toxic substances present in food , biogenic amine compounds are the one in those toxic substances. An important biogenic amines found in food are histamine, putrescine,cadaverine and phenylethylamine. The aim of this work was to screening test the histamine ,cadaverine and putrescine in seasoning sauces made from fish , soybean, oyster and mushroom that sold in Thailand by TLC method.Then,the present biogenic amine was analysed its content by Spectrofluorometry technique. The result from TLC screening test showed only histamine in 32 sample sauce products. Soy sauce products contained highest histamine content approximately 17.76-25.33 mg/kg, the mushroom vegetarian sauce contained the lowest histamine approximately 8.02- 8.15mg/kg.The result from monitoring toxic substances as biogenic amine found only histamine in all sauces that sold in Thailand, which its content not exceed the recommendation values.
Keywords: Biogenic amines, histamine, putrecine, cadaverine, Thai sauces

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Abstract: Bentonite, which is composed mainly of clay minerals belonging to the smectite group, has a great scope in chemistry and industry. This study was conducted with a sample collected from the region of Nador (northeastern Morocco, North Africa), which is changed and purified sodium. In this work, adsorption experiments were carried out for the blue using the homo- ion exchanged sodium bentonite . The adsorption isotherms are determined experimentally and analyzed by different models( Langmuir, Freundlich and Redlich - Peterson ). The experimental data were analyzed by the Freundlich and the Langmuir isotherm types for low values of equilibrium concentration. The rise of the isotherm in this range of concentrations was related to the affinity of Methylene Blue for clay sites, and the equilibrium data fitted well with the Freundlich model with maximum adsorption capacity of 309,677 mg/g for a ratio RS/L= 0.13%. Pseudo-first and pseudo-second-order kinetic models were tested with the experimental data and pseudo-second order kinetics was the best for the adsorption of Methylene Bleu with coefficients of correlation R² ≥ 1, and the adsorption was rapid with 96 % of the Methylene Blue adsorbed within the first 18 min.

Key Words: Clays - Bentonite –Methylene Blue – Adsorption-Desorption- kinetics- Na-bentonite Clay

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