Ghx FL vhnkknnm

1. President: Pr PATRICK KONGNYUY
Examiner: Dr. YAKUM RENETA
Supervisor: Dr. BAWE Gerard NFOR Jr
Co- supervisor: Mr. WANNYUY KINGSLY MOFOR
UNIVERSITY OF BAMENDA
HIGHER TECHNICAL TEACHER
TRAINING COLLEGE (H.T.T.T.C)
BAMBILI – BAMENDA
UNIVERSITE DE BAMENDA
ECOLE NORMALE SUPERIEURE DE
L’ENSEIGNEMENT TECHNIQUE DE
BAMBILI – BAMENDA
OPTION: MECHANICAL DESIGN LEVEL 600
TOPIC:
STUDY OF THE POROSITY OF RAPHIA AND EFB SPIKELET
FIBRES FOR MECHANICAL AND ACOUSTIC PROPERTIES
Presented by:
MOUOTCHOUO PUWA CALVIN Registration Number: UBa19T0593

2. • Accumulation of unmanaged agro-waste especially from the developing counties has an
increased environmental concern. Recycling of such wastes into sustainable, efficient textile
materials is a viable solution for the problem of pollution and natural resource conservation
• Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) constitute one of the major waste streams from the production
of palm oil and have been extensively studied as feedstock for the production of natural
fibres, cellulose, organic fertilizers, soil amendments and adsorbents (Abdullah et al., 2011;
Yusoff, 2004). Palms of the genus Raffia have variety of uses such as; production of furniture,
building and packaging materials, raw material for craftwork and as fuel (Dennis, 1998;
Obahiagbon, 2009).
• Extraction and Characterization of Fibres from the Stalk and Spikelets of Empty Fruit Bunch
of palm (Yakum et al., 2015) and the physical and mechanical characteristics of fibres from
the leaflets and ‘bamboo’ of Raphia (Abdullah et al., 2011; Sikame et al., 2017) have been
exclusively studied.
• Ignorance towards noise pollution has worsened. As days go by the noise pollution is
increasing. Few ways can be used to overcome this impending issue and one of the most
prominent way is using sound absorbing material.
• EFB and Raphia fibres are good sound absorbing material from previous research. The
findings on acoustic properties of EFB show very promising results where the SAC values are
able to achieve 0.9 at frequency of 1000 Hz (K. H. Or, et al., 2017). As for the acoustic
performance of Raphia, the Raphia fibres has good SAC values of (> 0.80) at frequency range
of 500 Hz to 1000 Hz (H. Ismail, et al., 2002.).

3. Palm oil constitutes 38.5 million tons or 25% of world’s total oil and fat
production Cameroon, a West African country, produces 3.5 tons of
oil/ha/year. Waste from oil palm cultivation and palm oil processing include
EFB, shell, palm kernel, sludge, Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME), fronds, and
trunk. EFB is a highly fibrous, mineral rich material and is one of the most
important solid waste fractions from the oil mill. EFB has low commercial
value and poses a disposal problem due to its bulky nature. Conventionally,
it is burnt, disposed of in landfills, or composted to organic fertilizer. The
burning of EFB is, however, no longer recommended as it causes air
pollution.
Important Raffia palm products exploited by local communities in West and
Central Africa include palm sap and wine, building materials, textiles,
substrate for the cultivation of edible beetle larvae, materials for
handicraft, medicine and food. The leaf stalk or ‘raffia bamboo’ is the most
versatile part of the raffia palm because fibres can be extracted from it.
The mixing of natural fibres from OPEFB and Raphia fibres has not been
very much exploited by previous research.
Thus the above reviewed problems coupled to the problem of increasing
noise pollution in the society prompted the researcher to propose a
solution to solve these problem. Thus this lead us to the topic of this
research; “Study of the porosity of Raphia and EFB spikelet fibres for
mechanical and Acoustic Properties”

4. • What are the procedures involved in manual extraction of fibres
from raphia bamboo and EFB spikelet fibres?
• What is the porosity of raphia bamboo and EFB spikelet fibres
composite?
• What is the influence of Raphia and EFB spikelet fibres on the
mechanical and acoustic properties of earth bricks?
• To Study the porosity of raphia bamboo and EFB spikelet fibres
composite.
• Investigate the influence of Raphia and EFB spikelet fibres on the
mechanical and acoustic properties of earth bricks.
• Compare the engineering properties obtained from mixing of
Raphia and EFB spikelet fibres with earth bricks and the normal
properties of earth bricks.

5. Authors Previous work Findings (results)
Yakum Reneta
et al.(2015),
Characterization of fibers from
stalk and spikelet of empty fruit
bunch(EFB)
 Higher tensile and young modulus
for spikelet fibers
 Less water absorption in spikelet
than stalk
 More fibers in spikelet than stalk
Sikame et al.,
(2020)
Physicochemical and Mechanical
Characterization of Raffia vinifera
Pith.
 Densities of RVP obtained was very
low.
 Young’s modulus of RVP has been
obtained from tensile and bending
tests was 0.79–3.23 and 1.20–5.50
for RVP matrix
Or et al.,
(2017)
use of OPEFB fibres as
sustainable acoustic
absorber
 The results gotten showed good
SAC where α > 0.5 above 2 kHz
which is a typical frequency range
for a fibrous type absorber.
 Increase in density or mass of the
sample improves the absorption at
higher frequency range.

6. Authors Previous work Findings
Büyükakinci
et al., (2011)
thermal conductivity and
acoustic properties of three
different natural fibres which
are cotton, bamboo and wool
mixed with polyurethane (PU).
 Increasing the fibres content SAC
decreased, especially at high
frequencies. The thermal
conductivity of the samples show
does not significantly changing by
adding more fibres.
Yakum
Reneta et al.
(2018).
Influence of empty fruit bunch
stalk and spikelet fibres on the
mechanical properties of
stabilized soil
 superior performance to fibres
from the spikelet as reinforcement
for cement-stabilised soil

7. Empty fruit bunch were obtained from local palm farms in Bambili village,
Tubah subdivision.
The empty fruit bunches were separated manually into stalk and spikelet
with the help of a cutlass and a knife. Spikelet were shredded into loose
fibrous material, with the help of a knife.
Figure 3.2
Extracted EFB Spikelet fibres
(a) (b)
Figure 3.1: a) OPEFB with Stalk and
Spikelet b) OPEFB Spikelet separated
from stalk

8. • Thermometer
• Caustic Soda (NaOH)
• EFB Spikelet fibres
• 10 litres container
• Stirring rod
• Electronic Scale
• Gloves
• Heating source (gas cooker) and pot
• Distilled water
• Firstly, 20 litres of distilled water was heated in a pot
using a gas cooker.
• Next 8 litres of boiled water was poured into the 10
litres container.
• The fibres were the put into the water and 60g of
caustic soda was added effervescence reaction
occured, the fibres were then stirred gradually,
using the stirring rod for 5 minutes, to avoid
breaking the fibres.
• The fibres were then washed gradually and then
rainsed with fresh flowing water and sun dried.
(a) (b) (c)
Figure 3.3: a) Measuring NaOH (Costic Soda) used for pre-treatment of the fibres b) Alkaline
treatment of EFB spikelet fibres in boiled water c) Drying of the spikelet fibres after pre-treatment with
1% composition of NaOH

9. Raffia “bamboo” were obtained from local farms in Bambili village, Tubah subdivision. Fresh
“bamboo” were cut from the raffia stem and cut to 10cm in length. The extracted fibres were then
pre-treated with mild dilute alkali (1 wt%), for processing and characterization.
(a) (b)
Figure 3.5: a) Raffia “bamboo” cut to 10 cm
length
(b) b) Peeled Raffia “bamboo”
Figure 3.4 Raffia plant in
local farm in Bambili village, Tubah
subdivision

10. • Caustic Soda (NaOH)
• Peeled Raffia bamboo
• 20 litres container
• Electronic Scale
• Gloves
• Distilled water
• Stirring rod
• 10 litres container
• Heating source and pot
• The peeled raffia bamboo was the then added to 10
litres of water in a container
• 100g of caustic soda was then added to the mixture
and stirred for 1 minute using the stirring rod.
effervescence was observed and the bamboo and
water mixture became reddish.
• After two days, using the gloves, the already soft
bamboo fibres were crampled, rainsed and
sundried.
Figure 3.6: Raffia
“bamboo” added to
1% NaoH solution
Figure 3.7 Soft Raffia fibres treated with 1%
concentration of NaOH in boiled water
Figure 3.8 Drying of the
Raffia fibres after pre-
treatment with 1%
composition of NaOH

11. The earth bricks were fabricated using soil collected from the Pacour Vita, in the locality of Mulang in
Bamenda III sub division. The soil dug was red soil and was dug 2m from the surface in order to ensure it
was free of micro-organisms. In order to obtain initial uniform moisture content, the soil was stored in open
air space at a room temperature of 250C at a relative humidity of 6570% for one month before being broken
down and passed through a 2 mm sieve. The procedure applied in preparation of soil prior to block
manufacture is shown in the scheme in figure 3.9 below.
Figure 3.9: Soil preparation flow chart.

12. The soil in the mixture was used as the matrix,
while the fibres were used as the reinforcement
agents. The composition of the mixture was
taken from their various masses. The table
below shows the different composition of soil
and fibres used in this research.
Sample (S) % of soil
present in
specimen
% of EFB
Spikelet
fibres
present in
specimen
% of Raffia
fibres
present in
specimen
S1 100 0 0
S2 99.75 0.25 0.25
S3 99.5 0.50 0.25
S4 99.25 0.75 0.25
A mold, made of wood was designed and manufactured to serve in production of the composite
bricks or reinforced earth blocks
Figure 3.15: Mold designed and
manufactured for bricks production
Figure 3.17: Mixing of EFB
Spikelet fibres, Raffia fibres and
Soil
Figure 3.18: Molding of samples for
testing

13. • 15 litres container
• Distilled water
• Electronic Scale A dry towel
• 3 bricks of each
• sample (S1, S2, S3 and S4)
• A marker
• The 15 litres container was then filled with distilled water.
• Next, the bricks were weighed using the scale balance and
their initial weight (W0) for each sample set of bricks was
gotten.
• The bricks were then completely immersed in the distilled
water After every 10 minutes, the samples were removed
and the surfaces were dried up using a dry towel and
weighed again, the new weights were recorded on paper
using a pen as (W1).
• The rates of water absorption of each specimen were
calculated
Figure 3.19: a) Measuring initial weight of brick for water absorption test b) Brick samples
completely immersed in water during water absorption test
WA =
𝐖𝟏−𝐖𝟎
𝐖𝟎
𝐱 𝟏𝟎𝟎%

14. • RMU machine
• 3 bricks of each sample (S1,
S2, S3 and S4)
• Using the hydraulic machine press, effort was gradually applied
using the arm of the machine on the brick samples, till failure or
fracture occurred and the corresponding maximum loads were
read from the indicators and recorded.
• The compressive strength was calculated from the maximum
load recorded before failure by
𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 =
𝐅𝐂
𝐀
(a) (b)
Figure 3.20: a) Reinforced brick sample on compressive load b) failure of
sample

15. • Electronic Scale
• 3 bricks of each sample (S1, S2, S3 and S4)
• The mass of the three bricks of each sample
was measured using a scale balance and an
average taken. The volume of bricks was
gotten by multiplying length by width by
thickness (190 mm × 90 mm 40 mm).
• The density was calculated from the average
mass and volume of samples by
𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 =
𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐬
𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞

16. • Room sizes of 1m x 1m were built using 190 mm × 90 mm x 40 mm of samples S1,
S2, S3 and S4 reinforced earth bricks. The rooms (closed systems) built had small
openings of 0.1m x 0.1m.
• Within the room, a sound level meter (decibel meter) was placed for sound
measurement and an electric bell was introduced at the centre of the room for sound
generation.
• In order to measure the sound absorbed by each room, the electric bell was switched
on, with the decibel meter and bell at centre of room, the sound intensity in decibels
was read. This procedure was repeated 10 times for each of the rooms
Figure 3.20: (a) and (b) 3D Representation of room built with
different brick samples (S1, S2, S3 and S4)

17. Table 4.4: Average rate of water
absorption of brick samples
Sample
(S)
Average rate of water absorption
(%)
S1 2.767
S2 2.896
S3 7.067
S4 20.87
4.4.2 Graphical Presentation of Water
Absorption Rate of Brick Samples
2.767 2.896
7.067
20.87
0
5
10
15
20
25
S1 S2 S3 S4
Water
absorption
rate
(%)
Sample (S)
Water absorption rate (%) of brick
samples
Water absorption
Table 4.6: Compressive Strength of earth brick
samples
Sample
(S)
Compressive Strength
(109N/m2)
S1 3.009
S2 3.472
S3 2.106
S4 1.944
4.5.2 Graphical Presentation of Compressive
Strength Of Brick Samples
3.009
3.472
2.106 1.944
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
S1 S2 S3 S4
Compressive
strength(giga
N/m2)
Sample (S)
Compressive strength of reinforced brick
samples
Compressive
strength

18. Table 4.8: Density of brick samples
Sample
(S)
Density (103Kg/m3)
S1 1.672
S2 1.693
S3 1.587
S4 1.516
4.6.2 Graphical Presentation of Density of
Samples
1.672
1.693
1.587
1.516
1.4
1.45
1.5
1.55
1.6
1.65
1.7
1.75
S1 S2 S3 S4
Density
(1000
Kg/m3)
Sample (S)
Density of brick samples
Density
Table 4.10: Illustrating sound absorption by rooms built
from Reinforced earth bricks
Sample
s
Sound absorption by reinforced bricks A.V.R/(dB
)
Obser
vation
S1 - - - - - - - - - - - -
S2 13 13 15 11 14 15 12 12 14 1
4
13.3 Good
S3 28 29 31 26 30 31 27 28 30 3
0
29 Very
Good
S4 42 44 43 40 41 44 43 43 45 4
2
42.7 Excell
ent
4.7.2 Graphical Analysis of Sound Absor
By Earth Brick Samples
0
13.3
29
42.7
0
10
20
30
40
50
S1 S2 S3 S4
Sound
absorption
(dB)
Sample (S)
Sound absorption of brick
samples
Sound
absorption

19. On the basis of the test results obtained from the experiments, the following
conclusions can be drawn:
• The addition of the EFB Spikelet and Raphia fibers to the earth bricks
contributed to a reduction in density and linear shrinkage of the blocks,
but increased water absorption.
• Compressive strength of the reinforced earth bricks is greater than
unreinforced earth bricks, and the optimum effectiveness of the
enhancement was obtained for sample 2. The compressive strength
started declyning from Samples 3 and 4.
• Extrapolation of mechanical properties from physical properties is not
possible. Unlike binder stabilised bricks, density is inversely correlated
with strength.
• Acoustic properties (sound absorption) reinforced earth bricks is greater
than unreinforced earth bricks, and the optimum effectiveness of the
enhancement was obtained for sample 4