Browsing by Author "Mouazen, Abdul"
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Item Open Access Evaluation of vis-NIR reflectance spectroscopy sensitivity to weathering for enhanced assessment of oil contaminated soils(Cranfield University, 2018-01-18 08:49) Coulon, Frederic; Douglas, Reward; del carmen Alamar Gavidia, Maria; Mouazen, Abdul; Nawar, SaidUnderpinning data on1. hydrocarbons data analysis by GCMS - quantification and 2. vis-NIR spectra analysis and chemometricsItem Open Access Fresh fruit bunch solid wastes: processing, conversion and utilisation nexus in Nigeria.(2018-01) Anyaoha, Kelechi Ezenwa; Sakrabani, Ruben; Patchigolla, Kumar; Mouazen, AbdulThe oil palm fresh fruit bunch (FFB) solid wastes, which include the empty fruit bunch (EFB), mesocarp fibre (MF), and palm kernel shell (PKS) are generated during the production of palm oil. The utilisation of the ash resulting from combustion or gasification of the FFB solid wastes for soil improvement and crop yield especially cassava is a challenge in the management of the FFB solid wastes. This study is aimed at understanding the relationship between the processing of the FFB in Nigeria, thermal conversion of the FFB solid wastes, and the utilisation of the ash for soil improvement and cassava yield. The industrial, small-scale, and traditional routes of the FFB processing in Nigeria were investigated to determine the losses associated with each. Secondly, the effects of the co-firing of the EFB with MF and PKS were investigated. Finally, ash from the FFB solid wastes was applied on soil at different levels (0, 40, 80, and 160 tonnes/ha) and feedstock compositions to determine the effects on soil nutrient contents and cassava tuber yield. In the industrial route, 29, 18, 75, and 27 kg of CPO, PK, MF, and PKS were lost for every 1000 kg of the FFB processed more than in the small-scale and traditional routes, respectively. The use of 40 tonnes/ha, and 80 tonnes/ha treatments resulted in 427 % and 341 % more cassava tuber yield than the control plot, respectively. The ash of the EFB, MF and PKS feedstock resulted in more cassava tuber yield of approximately 6 tonnes/ha than that of only MFand PKS feedstock (3 tonnes/ha). The thesis has demonstrated that the use of ash from the FFB solid wastes for agricultural purposes is related to the thermal conversion and the processing of the FFB. The feedstock of the equal mixture of EFB, MF and PKS is more valuable for the generation of ash useful as soil amendment and in cassava production providing evidence for the co-firing of the EFB, MF and PKS and improved efficiency of the FFB processing.Item Open Access Indicators of soil quality - Physical properties (SP1611). Final report to Defra(Defra, 2012-09-30) Rickson, R. Jane; Deeks, Lynda K.; Corstanje, Ronald; Newell-Price, Paul; Kibblewhite, Mark G.; Chambers, B.; Bellamy, Patricia; Holman, Ian P.; James, I. T.; Jones, Robert; Kechavarsi, C.; Mouazen, Abdul; Ritz, K.; Waine, TobyThe condition of soil determines its ability to carry out diverse and essential functions that support human health and wellbeing. These functions (or ecosystem goods and services) include producing food, storing water, carbon and nutrients, protecting our buried cultural heritage and providing a habitat for flora and fauna. Therefore, it is important to know the condition or quality of soil and how this changes over space and time in response to natural factors (such as changing weather patterns) or to land management practices. Meaningful soil quality indicators (SQIs), based on physical, biological or chemical soil properties are needed for the successful implementation of a soil monitoring programme in England and Wales. Soil monitoring can provide decision makers with important data to target, implement and evaluate policies aimed at safeguarding UK soil resources. Indeed, the absence of agreed and well-defined SQIs is likely to be a barrier to the development of soil protection policy and its subsequent implementation. This project assessed whether physical soil properties can be used to indicate the quality of soil in terms of its capacity to deliver ecosystem goods and services. The 22 direct (e.g. bulk density) and 4 indirect (e.g. catchment hydrograph) physical SQIs defined by Loveland and Thompson (2002) and subsequently evaluated by Merrington et al. (2006), were re-visited in the light of new scientific evidence, recent policy drivers and developments in sampling techniques and monitoring methodologies (Work Package 1). The culmination of these efforts resulted in 38 direct and 4 indirect soil physical properties being identified as potential SQIs. Based on the gathered evidence, a ‘logical sieve’ was used to assess the relative strengths, weaknesses and suitability of each potential physical SQI for national scale soil monitoring. Each soil physical property was scored in terms of: soil function – does the candidate SQI reflect all soil function(s)? land use - does the candidate SQI apply to all land uses found nationally? soil degradation - can the candidate SQI express soil degradation processes? does the candidate SQI meet the challenge criteria used by Merrington et al. (2006)?This approach enabled a consistent synthesis of available information and the semi-objective, semi-quantitative and transparent assessment of indicators against a series of scientific and technical criteria (Ritz et al., 2009; Black et al., 2008). The logical sieve was shown to be a flexible decision-support tool to assist a range of stakeholders with different agenda in formulating a prioritised list of potential physical SQIs. This was explored further by members of the soil science and soils policy community at a project workshop. By emphasising the current key policy-related soil functions (i.e. provisioning and regulating), the logical sieve was used to generate scores which were then ranked to identify the most qualified SQIs. The process selected 18 candidate physical SQIs. This list was further filtered to move from the ‘narrative’ to a more ‘numerical’ approach, in order to test the robustness of the candidate SQIs through statistical analysis and modelling (Work Package 2). The remaining 7 physical SQIs were: depth of soil; soil water retention characteristics; packing density; visual soil assessment / evaluation; rate of erosion; sealing; and aggregate stability. For these SQIs to be included in a robust national soil monitoring programme, we investigated the uncertainty in their measurement; the spatial and temporal variability in the indicator as given by observed distributions; and the expected rate of change in the indicator. Whilst a baseline is needed (i.e. the current state of soil), it is the rate of change in soil properties and the implications of that change in terms of soil processes and functioning that are key to effective soil monitoring. Where empirical evidence was available, power analysis was used to understand the variability of indicators as given by the observed distributions. This process determines the ability to detect a particular change in the SQI at a particular confidence level, given the ‘noise’ or variability in the data (i.e. a particular power to detect a change of ‘X’ at a confidence level of ‘Y%’ would require ‘N’ samples). However, the evidence base for analysing the candidate SQIs is poor: data are limited in spatial and temporal extent for England and Wales, in terms of a) the degree (magnitude) of change in the SQI which significantly affects soil processes and functions (i.e. ‘meaningful change’), and b) the change in the SQI that is detectable (i.e. what sample size is needed to detect the meaningful signal from the variability or noise in the signal). This constrains the design and implementation of a scientifically and statistically rigorous and reliable soil monitoring programme. Evidence that is available suggests that what constitutes meaningful change will depend on soil type, current soil state, land use and the soil function under consideration. However, when we tested this by analysing detectable changes in packing density and soil depth (because data were available for these SQIs) over different land covers and soil types, no relationships were found. Schipper and Sparling (2000) identify the challenge: “a standardised methodology may not be appropriate to apply across contrasting soils and land uses. However, it is not practical to optimise sampling and analytical techniques for each soil and land use for extensive sampling on a national scale”. Despite the paucity in data, all seven SQIs have direct relevance to current and likely future soil and environmental policy, because they can be related (qualitatively) to soil processes, soil functions and delivery of ecosystem goods and services. Even so, meaningful and detectable changes in physical SQIs may be out of time with any soil policy change and it is not usually possible to link particular changes in SQIs to particular policy activities. This presents challenges in ascertaining trends that can feed into policy development or be used to gauge the effectiveness of soil protection policies (Work Package 3). Of the seven candidate physical SQIs identified, soil depth and surface sealing are regarded by many as indicators of soil quantity rather than quality. Visual soil evaluation is currently not suited to soil monitoring in the strictest sense, as its semi-qualitative basis cannot be analysed statistically. Also, few data exist on how visual evaluation scores relate to soil functions. However, some studies have begun to investigate how VSE might be moved to a more quantified scale and the method has some potential as a low cost field technique to assess soil condition. Packing density requires data on bulk density and clay content, both of which are highly variable, so compounding the error term associated with this physical SQI. More evidence is needed to show how ‘meaningful’ change in aggregate stability affects soil processes and thus soil functions (for example, using the limited data available, an equivocal relationship was found with water regulation / runoff generation). The analysis of available data has given promising results regarding the prediction of soil water retention characteristics and packing density from relatively easy to measure soil properties (bulk density, texture and organic C) using pedotransfer functions. Expanding the evidence base is possible with the development of rapid, cost-effective techniques such as NIR sensors to measure soil properties. Defra project SP1303 (Brazier et al., 2012) used power analyses to estimate the number of monitoring locations required to detect a statistically significant change in soil erosion rate on cultivated land. However, what constitutes a meaningful change in erosion rates still requires data on the impacts of erosion on soil functions. Priority cannot be given amongst the seven SQIs, because the evidence base for each varies in its robustness and extent. Lack of data (including uncertainty in measurement and variability in observed distributions) applies to individual SQIs; attempts at integrating more than one SQI (including physical, biological and chemical SQIs) to improve associations between soil properties and processes / functions are only likely to propagate errors. Whether existing monitoring programmes can be adapted to incorporate additional measurement of physical SQIs was explored. We considered options where one or more of the candidate physical SQIs might be implemented into soil monitoring programmes (e.g. as a new national monitoring scheme; as part of the Countryside Survey; and as part of the National Soil Inventory). The challenge is to decide whether carrying out soil monitoring that is not statistically robust is still valuable in answering questions regarding current and future soil quality. The relationship between physical (and other) SQIs, soil processes and soil functions is complex, as is how this influences ecosystem services’ delivery. Important gaps remain in even the realisation of a conceptual model for these inter-relationships, let alone their quantification. There is also a question of whether individual quantitative SQIs can be related to ecosystem services, given the number of variables.Item Open Access Modelling soil-sweep interaction with discrete element method(Elsevier, 2013-09-25) Tamás, Kornel; Jóri, István J.; Mouazen, Abduldimensional (3D) discrete element method (DEM) model for the simulation of soil-sweep interaction. The aim was to understand the effects of the sweep rake angle (β) and speed on draught and soil loosening. It implements computer aided design (CAD) systems to simulate the sweep geometry. The DEM model output was validated by comparing simulated and corresponding actual soil bin measurements using a cohesive wet sandy soil. Cohesion of the wet sandy soil was assigned using a parallel bond contact model, where the normal and shear stiffness of the bond, the normal and shear strength, and the size of the connecting geometry were the main parameters. Following the comparison between the simulated and measured draught based on input parameters measured with a direct shear box test, virtual DEM triaxial compression analyses were performed to refine the DEM model parameters including cohesion, internal friction angle, modulus of elasticity and Poisson's ratio, using the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. Results showed that the comparison between the measured and predicted draught of a sweep tine with a 30° β provided good match, with rather small error range of 4-15% for selected speed interval of 0.5-2.4 m s-1. A further refinement of the model parameters with the DEM triaxial test led to improved prediction accuracy of draught to be in the range of 4-9%. The displacement vectors of the soil in front of the sweep showed a similar soil failure pattern to a wedge-shape failure. Both soil loosening and draught increased with the travel speed and the sweep rake angle, where the largest porosity (0.489) and draught (4452 N) were calculated for a rake angle of 45° and a tool speed of 4 m s-1. It can be concluded that the developed DEM model is a useful tool to simulate the interaction between soil and sweep tines accurately.Item Open Access Predicting bioavailability change of complex chemical mixtures in contaminated soils using visible and near-infrared spectroscopy and random forest regression em(Cranfield University, 2018-12-04 12:08) Coulon, Frederic; Cipullo, Sabrina; Campo Moreno, Pablo; Mouazen, Abdul; Nawar, SaidRaw data for total and bioavailable concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons compounds, heavy metals and metalloids in the five soils.Spectra raw data are also providedItem Open Access Rapid detection of alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(Cranfield University, 2018-01-18T08:53:28Z) Coulon, Frederic; Mouazen, Abdul; Nawar, Said; del carmen Alamar Gavidia, Maria; Douglas, RewardVis-NIR data spectra analysis and chemometric modellingItem Open Access Rapid prediction of total petroleum hydrocarbons concentration in contaminated soil using vis-NIR spectroscopy and regression techniques(Elsevier, 2017-11-09) Douglas, Reward K.; Nawar, Said; Alamar, M Carmen; Mouazen, Abdul; Coulon, FredericPetroleum hydrocarbons contamination in soil is a worldwide significant environmental issue which has raised serious concerns for the environment and human health (Brevik and Burgess, 2013). Petroleum hydrocarbons encompass a mixture of short and long-chain hydrocarbon compounds. However the difference between the term petroleum hydrocarbons (PHC) as such and the term total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) should be noted. PHC typically refer to the hydrogen and carbon containing compounds that originate from crude oil, while TPH refer to the measurable amount of petroleum-based hydrocarbons in an environmental matrix and thus to the actual results obtained by sampling and chemical analysis (Coulon and Wu, 2017). TPH is thus a method-defined term. Among a range of techniques, gas chromatography is preferred for the measurement of hydrocarbon contamination in environmental samples, since it allows to detect a broad range of hydrocarbons and can provide both sensitivity and selectivity depending on the detector and hyphenated configuration used (Brassington et al., 2010; Drozdova et al., 2013). However, GC-based techniques can be time consuming and expensive and do not allowed rapid and broad scale analysis of petroleum contamination on-site (Okparanma and Mouazen, 2013; Okparanma et al., 2014).