Corn and rice waste: a comparative and critical presentation of methods and current and potential uses of treated waste

Abstract

Although corn and rice waste can be hardly classified among the most hazardous waste, their treatment is very important in view of the great volume of waste materials involved. In this review article, an update is provided for most of the waste treatment techniques (composting, pyrolysis, gasification, combustion) used to alter the physical, chemical or biological character of the waste, to reduce its volume and ⁄ or toxicity and to make the waste safer for disposal. Furthermore, all current and potential uses of treated corn and rice waste such as fertilisers, biomass and biogas ⁄ biofuel are summarised. Four comprehensive tables and six figures provide a thorough presentation of both waste treatment methods (characteristics, advantages and disadvantages) and uses of treated corn and rice waste.

Production of Solid Biofuel from Agricultural Wastes of the Palm Oil Industry by Hydrothermal Treatment

“…Various treatment methods for several agricultural wastes have been reviewed in several papers [16][17][18][19]. For energy application purposes, the methods can be simply divided into thermo-chemical and biological processes [20,21].…”

Production of active lipase by Rhizopus oryzae from sugarcane bagasse: solid state fermentation in a tray bioreactor

“…Applying these agricultural wastes as substrate for lipase production is believed to be economically feasible; since in this way, vegetable waste treatment is omitted which is an essential step for pollution prevention in agricultural industries (Gutarra et al ., ; de Azeredo et al ., ; Arvanitoyannis & Varzakas, ; Kempka et al ., ). Some agricultural wastes are directly applicable in various industries especially in food industry include wheat, barley and oat wastes (Arvanitoyannis & Tserkezou, ), corn and rice wastes (Arvanitoyannis & Tserkezou, ) and soybean meal and sugarcane bagasse (Rodriguez et al ., ).…”

Optimization of biogas production from water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)

“…Biogas contains 49 %-53 % methane (CH 4 ), 30 %-33 % carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), 5 %-6 % nitrogen (N 2 ) and traces of hydrogen sulphide (H 2 S). Biogas technology amongst other processes (including thermal, combustion and gasification) has been judged as a better source of sustainable waste treatment as disposal of wastes has become a major difficulty especially to the third world countries (Arvanitoyannis et al 2008). It provides a suitable source of renewable energy.…”