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Compost bed size influences the co-composting of cow dung and spent mushroom at mesophilic stage

2021-05-24 , Siti Nazrah Zailani , Firdaus Shaheen A.A. , Zainol N.A.

Composting is an approach to convert typically organic waste into soil amendment for nutrient enhancement and plant growth. The composting of cow dung and spent mushroom for 13 days to study the potential of degradation of organic matter at different size of laboratory scale. The compost bed size is crucial to study because larger amount of raw materials will reduce the O2 concentration inside the compost bed. In this study, the aerobic compost bed size of 2, 4 and 6 kg were prepared at 60 % of initial moisture content, 20 mm particle size and 28:1 of initial C/N ratio. Temperature, moisture content, porosity, pH, C/N ratio and total organic carbon were analysed to evaluate the degradation process. All compost beds recorded the mesophilic phase (>30 ℃) upon composting of initial total organic carbon of 35 to 37 %. Moisture content reduced to lower than 43.9 %, total organic carbon reduced to less than 25 % and compost beds were nearly neutral (pH 7) at the end of composting. The findings show that, all the compost beds follow the first-order kinetic reaction as R2 larger than 0.880. The degradation rate constant of 2 kg compost bed showed the largest value, 0.0503 day-1 indicates the best composting process and results the smaller compost bed is preferable for mesophilic phase composting.

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Aerobic Co-composting of Spent Mushroom Medium Using Food Waste Fermented Liquid

2024-01-01 , Siti Nazrah Zailani , Zaidnuddin A.S. , Mokhtar N.F. , Zulaika E. , Shovitri M. , Kuswytasari N.D. , Hidayati D. , Zabidi K.A.A.

Spent mushroom medium and dried sludge from bioethanol industry can be utilized into beneficial organic compost after completion the composting process. Food waste fermented liquid and commercially effective microorganisms (EM) from EMRO Sdn. Bhd. were used as the microbial inoculant for the aerobic composting. Three kg of composting pile made of spent mushroom and dried sludge are used to obtain a 23.07 C/N ratio at the initial composting process. In order to ascertain the impact of composting process in seven days, the sample from each of the composting beds for analysis of temperature, pH, moisture, and total organic matter was assessed. Food waste fermented liquid and commercial EM composts reached the thermophilic phase (40 Â°C) after a day of the composting process. Moisture content showed a significant result for both composting piles on day 1 due to the highest evaporation of water at the thermophilic phase. The composting process was not extended until reached stability and maturity phases; thus, the pH for both composting piles was recorded at 9, which is far from the stable compost normally at neutral pH (~7). The organic matter content of each composting pile showed gradually decreased during the composting process. The degradation rate for the composting pile using food waste fermented liquid showed slightly higher than commercial EM which was 0.0363 and 0.0232 day 1, respectively. In conclusion, food waste fermented liquid shall be used as a replacement for EM commercial as a microbial inoculant for the composting process based on the results shown in this study.

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Nitrogen Uptake Efficiency on Water Spinach in Controlled Planting Medium Using Spent Mushroom Medium Compost and NPK-16 Fertilizer

2023-01-01 , Siti Nazrah Zailani , Mokhtar N.F. , Zaidnuddin A.S.

Ipomoea aquatica (water spinach) is a long and leafy green vegetable with hollow stems that easily grown on the water surface or damp soil. It is a tropical and subtropical perennial herbaceous aquatic or semi-aquatic plant. Water spinach needs more water compared to other vegetable crops, thus suggested to employ slow-release fertilizer for sustain the available nutrients in the soil that being leached off by watering. Nitrogen uptake is the major issue in agriculture to sustain the quality of crops and soil for planting medium. Several studies have been conducted on many types of fertilizer and showed beneficial results on growth of water spinach. This study aimed the research on comparing the nitrogen uptake rate study during the planting period for both organic and inorganic fertilizer. The measurement of plant height, dosage of fertilizer and nitrogen uptake were highlighted in this research activities. Pots has been used and the growth of water spinach was evaluated along 30 days of planting. The spent mushroom medium (SMM) compost and NPK-16 fertilizer were used to evaluate the rate of nitrogen uptake for water spinach based on the Michaelis Menten kinetic study to evaluate the best fertilizer dosage with research design activities. It was showed that a 1 g of NPK16 fertilizer was equivalent to 2 g of SMM in the amount of N. There was a clear correlation between the nitrogen concentration and the water spinach growth. From the result obtained, the application of NPK16 fertilizer provided higher nitrogen value initially. However, SMM compost improved both physical and chemical to help water spinach absorbed sufficient moisture and nitrogen uptake at a steady state rate owing to the higher organic matter in SMM. As a conclusion, SMM compost resulted better nitrogen uptake efficiency by improved the soil fertility and better growth of water spinach.

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Compost Physical Properties Study on Degradation of Poultry Manure Composting in Closed-Aerated Composter

2020-12-18 , Siti Nazrah Zailani , Lee C.T. , Noor Ainee Zainol , Yusoff N.A. , Khairunissa Syairah Ahmad Sohaimi

A variety of parameters including physical, chemical, and biological properties of different input materials contribute to different composting performance. This study aimed to investigate the compost physical properties (bulk density, porosity, specific surface area and water holding capacity) on the composting process at different initial moisture content (MC). The degradation of total organic carbon (TOC) for the compost inoculated with Bacillus coagulans (BC) and effective microorganism (EM) was determined. The composting materials consisted of 50 % sawdust, 12 % chicken dung and 38 % rice husk with a fixed initial C/N ratio of 30. A closed-aerated composter was fabricated with an optimum air flow rate of 0.3 L/min.kg compost to avoid O2 limitation for 7 d of composting. The compost temperature was recorded to exhibit the active reaction between microorganisms and compost materials will generate a considerable amount of heat. The effect of the initial MC of the compost bed has been intensively investigated with regards to compaction analysis and compost particle for the composting inoculated with BC or EM in an aerated closed-system composter. The results showed that composting using the single strain of BC provides comparable results to that degraded by the commercial mixed culture EM.

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Treatment of synthetic turbid water by using natural tamarind seeds

2021-05-24 , Noor Ainee Zainol , Othman I.S. , Siti Nazrah Zailani , Azlinda Abdul Ghani , Abdullah S.

This study is done to find the alternatives to solve the water pollution problem. The common ways to treat polluted water is by using alum. However, the usage of alum as conventional coagulant had caused the formation of sludge that can pollute the water and also cause illness. Tamarind seed was chosen as the alternative because it is naturals, non-toxic, and 100% biodegradable sources. In this study, the research was done in two parts, there are tamarind seed extraction by using different extraction solutions and the jar test. The extraction solution that was used were sodium chloride, potassium chloride and distilled water. In jar test, synthetic turbid water with turbidity range from 200 to 220 NTU was used to determine the effectiveness of tamarind seed as natural coagulant. Form the results obtained, sodium chloride extract achieved the highest percentage or turbidity removal with the percentage 91.32% with the dosage 25mg/L at pH 6, while the distilled water extract obtained the lowest percentage of turbidity removal with the percentage 56.60 % with the dosage 30mg/L at pH 3. As a conclusion, tamarind seed can be used as a natural coagulant in the treatment of polluted water.