The hot pressing process of corn leaves is used as a substitute material for product design and development

Abstract

The problems encountered in the area are, after each season of farming, whether it is rice or corn cultivation, farmers will burn rice cobs and corn stalks to adjust the soil for the next crop. Incineration causes air pollution, so this research focuses on the creation of hot press machine and technology to be used as an experimental producing process of substitute material from corn leaves and agricultural waste.

The researchers aim to help reduce air pollution, raise awareness of the utilization of existing resources in the area to create new products. It leads to income generation, including the proper use of local resources. The hot press machine can be controlled up to 140 ° C and can be set to a hydraulic compression force of 2500 kg or equal to 2.5 tons, which automatically controls the compression time.

The results of the experiments in this research, were assigned a binder at a mixing ratio of 5: 2: 2, (Corn Leaves Smoothie :Tapioca starch : Water) compression capacity of 50 N, and a compression time of 5 minutes. The substitute material measures 400 x 600 x 50 mm, which is physically tested for moisture determination and tensile strength test according to the Standard Test Method for Tensile and Cleavage Test of Timber (1225-51). The moisture content was tested at 8 ° C, when the pressed sheet was put into the oven at 105 ° C, it took 12 hours to heat, the average moisture content was 0.15. For the tensile strength test, The material used for testing was 57.7 mm wide and 69 mm thick. As a result, the material had a tensile strength of 16.62 N/mm2.