The Effectiveness of Tinik Bamboo (Bambua Blumeana) Charcoal in Adsorbing Harmful Compounds in Smoke Emitted by Tricycles
Keywords:
Tricycles, Tinik bamboo, charcoal, chemical components, adsorption, filterAbstract
INTRODUCTION
Tricycles are three-wheeled vehicles, which are the most common means of public transportation in the provinces of the Philippines. With such big numbers, these vehicles have been one of the main contributors to a large amount of smoke in the country. Carbon dioxide (CO2), Carbon monoxide (CO) and Hydrocarbons (HC) are the major chemical components present in the smoke emitted by tricycles. The researchers aimed to reduce these harmful compounds in the smoke emitted by tricycles by using a filter made out of Tinik bamboo.
METHODS
The researchers made charcoal out of Tinik bamboo by carbonizing it. The charcoal was then inserted into a cylindrical container made out of metal screen and wires. Ten tricycles underwent smoke test without filter; they have tested again with the filter. The researchers recorded the initial smoke test result and compared it with the result after the treatment. T-test for the correlated sample was used as a statistical tool to compare the results before and after.
RESULTS
The computed T-value of Carbon dioxide was 4.06, while the computed T-value of Carbon monoxide was 2.70. Carbon dioxide and Carbon monoxide are beyond the t-critical value of 2.262 at .05 level of significance with 9 degrees of freedom proved that there is a significant difference between the data of the two pollutants before and after the treatment. The computed T-value of Hydrocarbon was 2.02. Hydrocarbon is below the t-critical value of 2.262 at .05 level of significance with 9 degrees of freedom proved that there is no significant difference between the data of Hydrocarbon before and after the treatment.
DISCUSSIONS
The result showed that there is a significant difference in the amount of CO2, and CO before and after the treatment wherein the amount of harmful components found in smoke decreased. While Hydrocarbon showed no significant difference before and after treatment; thus, the filter was proven to be effective in adsorbing CO2 and CO only.
