Let's Save The Earth From Global Warming !

Let's save the earth from now ... The issue of global warming has surfaced since the last few years. Start from the things that we can. Avoid polluting the earth with chemicals, plastics, and other materials that can not be degraded. Back to nature and use materials that are environmental friendly. In this case, we are from WIRANI Group, a company engaged in the field of agribusiness, initiated for the kapok tree planting in the region of West Sumatra. In addition to greening and as the lungs of the surrounding area, kapok trees are later expected to improve the economic standard of the surrounding residents. Because the kapok fruit can be sold to a kapok processing plant. This process results kapok fiber that could be used for several applications such as stuffing materials for pillow, mattress, upholstery, life jacket, and home application. Kapok fiber could also used as a yarn or textile material which blend with cotton or other longer fiber. A new research and development of kapok fiber presents kapok fiber as a material for making fabric without spinning. Other application of kapok fiber which is very useful to save the earth, is kapok as oil absorbent. So, there are no reasons to use non environmental friendly products anymore. Throw away the synthetic material, plastic, and chemical materials. Save the earth for our self and our offspring now and in the future.

Potential of Kapok Fibre as a Substitute of Cotton in Textiles

Kapok fibre, commonly known in Kiswahili as ‘sufi\' is obtained from kapok plant, Ceiba pentandra. The conventional end uses of kapok include mattress/pillow stuffing, upholstery and thermal insulation. The market for kapok in these traditional uses has declined considerably over the past 30 years, due to the developments in synthetic materials, such as foamed plastics, which have almost replaced kapok in most of its traditional end uses. Attempts to use kapok fibre for producing textile yarn were not successful due to the slippery nature of the fibres and its brittleness. However, a blend of kapok and cotton fibres was successfully spun into a yarn after blending the two in a kapok/cotton ratio 3:2. The yarn produced exhibited mechanical properties similar to most of the short staple fibres. The fabric produced was lustrous, slippery and with a smooth, soft handle. The fibre yarn resulting from blending kapok with cotton is potentially suitable for producing woven textile fabrics. In addition to its potential use as clothing material, the fabric is being considered for suitability as reinforcement to thermosetting polymeric materials such as polyester and phenolic resins. Source : Journal of Agriculture, Science and Technology Vol. 1 (1) 1997: 66-71. Researched by ETN Bisanda, LY Mwaikambo

Now is the best time to purchase kapok fiber !!!

Kapok crop just started. The current price will be the best price within this new season. Kapok crop only once a year. So the price will be increase along with limited stocks of raw materials until the new crop coming up next season. Now is the best time to purchase kapok. So if you really need it, do not waste your time. Contact kapok manufacturer and make a deal as soon as possible before the price increase..

Wow..!!! Daun kapok bisa digunakan untuk membuat Oli?

Kalau selama ini daun pohon kapok randu hanya dipakai untuk pakan ternak atau hanya dibiarkan kering di pohon dan gugur diterbangkan oleh angin, kini ada kabar menggembirakan dimana daun kapok bisa dipakai untuk membuat oli untuk kendaraan bermotor. Adalah siswa SMA di Yogyakarta yang melakukan penelitian ilmiah mengenai hal ini sebagaimana ditayangkan oleh stasiun "tvone" pada acara Tahukah Anda tgl 28 September 2011. Cara pembuatan oli tersebut sangat sederhana. Bahan utamanya adalah minyak jelantah (limbah minyak goreng yang sudah hitam keruh). Minyak jelantah dijernihkan dengan menggunakan carbon aktif (dr arang) dan diamkan beberapa saat sampai jernih dan kotoran mengendap serta terserap oleh carbon aktif. Setelah jernih, saring minyak tersebut dan sisihkan. Remas2 daun kapok yang masih hijau (bukan daun yang kering) dan diambil ekstraknya. Kemudian campurkan minyak yang sudah disaring tadi dengan ekstrak daun kapok sampai tercampur rata. Lalu bungkus dengan kain kasa dan peras2 samapi keluar minyaknya. Minyak itulah yang bisa dipakai sebagai oli untuk kendaraan bermotor. Keunggulan minyak oli dari bahan minyak jelantah dan daun kapok ini relatif tidak mudah meledak dibandingkan dengan penggunaan bahan lain selain daun kapok. Sumber : tvone, program acara tahukah anda

Ceiba Petandra

Ceiba pentandra is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae (previously separated in the family Bombacaceae), native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and (as the variety C. pentandra var. guineensis) to tropical west Africa. Kapok is the most used common name for the tree and may also refer to the fibre obtained from its seed pods. The tree is also known as the Java cotton, Java kapok, Silk cotton or ceiba. It is a sacred symbol in Maya mythology.

The tree grows to 60-70 m (200-230 ft) tall and has a very substantial trunk up to 3 m (10 ft) in diameter with buttresses. The trunk and many of the larger branches are often (but not always) crowded with very large, robust simple thorns. The leaves are compound of 5 to 9 leaflets, each up to 20 cm (8 in) and palm like. Adult trees produce several hundred 15 cm (6 in) seed pods. The pods contain seeds surrounded by a fluffy, yellowish fibre that is a mix of lignin and cellulose.

Uses

Kapok seeds within fibres in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

The fibre is light, very buoyant, resilient and resistant to water. The process of harvesting and separating the fibre is labour-intensive and manual. It is difficult to spin but is used as an alternative to down as filling in mattresses, pillows, upholstery, zafus, and stuffed toys such as teddy bears, and for insulation. It was previously much used in life jackets and similar devices until synthetic materials largely replaced the fibre. The seeds produce an oil used locally in soap and that can be used as fertilizer.

Native tribes along the Amazon River harvest the kapok fibre to wrap around their blowgun darts. The fibres create a seal that allows the pressure to force the dart through the tube.

The commercial tree is most heavily cultivated in the rainforests of Asia, notably in Java (hence its nicknames), Philippines, Malaysia, Hainan Island in China as well as in South America.

The flowers are an important source of nectar and pollen for honeybees.

This tree is the official national tree of Puerto Rico and Guatemala.^{[citation needed]}

Ethnomedical uses

Ceiba pentandra bark decoction has been used as a diuretic, aphrodisiac, and to treat headache, as well as type II diabetes.

Ceiba pentandra is used as an additive to some versions of the hallucinogenic drink Ayahuasca.

Sumber : wikipedia.org

Details for Untilizing Kapok Fiber As Sound Absorption Material

Description :

Serat alam yang mempunyai berbagai sifat unggul, diantaranya adalah: ringan, lembut, dan mudah dibentuk. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah, memanfaatkan Serat Kapok untuk bahan penyerap suara,baik yang ditujukan untuk mengurangi energi refleksi suara (dengung), maupun untuk mengurangi transmisi energi energi suara dari dalam ke luar ruangan, atau sebaliknya.Telah dibuat penyerap suara terbuat darai serat kapok urai dengan rapat massa 16 kg/m3 , yang dimasukkan ke dalam kantong tekstil, dengan ukuran 1,2 x 1,2 m2 , dan tebal 5 cm; dan hasilnya telah diuji. Bahan tersebut mampu menyerap energi suara yang jatuh pada permukaannya. Kantong peredam tersebut dibuat 9 buah, untuk memenuhi persyaratan pengujian dalam ruang uji akustik,yaitu luas minima1 10 m2. Sebagai pembanding adalah glass wool dengan rapat masa dan dimensi yang sama. Hasilnya menunjukan bahwa pada frekuensi rendah yaitu 150 - 800 Hz koefien absorbsi acak (random) arkp lebih tinggi lebih tinggi dari pada glass wool (argw), sementara pada frekuensi tinggi diatas 800 Hz hingga 4 kHz, arkp sedikit lebih rendah dari argw (lihat grafik koefisien alfa random).Juga telah dibuat panel serat kapok dengan dimensi 69 x 69 cm2, dengan tebal 2,5 cm, dan rapat masa 100 kg/m3 dan 200 kg/m3. Panel-panel tersebut digunakan sebagai sampel uji Transmission Loss (TL) energi suara untuk mendapatkan Sound Tranmission Class (STC). Pengjian yang sama juga dikakukan pada kapok urai, dan glass wool yang dimasukkan ke dalam kotak tripleks berukuran 69 x 69 cm2 dan tebal 5 cm, sebagai pembanding. Pengujian menghasilkan nilai STC Panel Kapok dengan rapat masa 200 kg/m3 adalah 21, sedang untuk panel Kapok dengan rapat masa 100 kg/m3adalah 19. Sementara nilai STC untuk untuk Kapok urai dalam kotak tripleks adalah 22, dan untuk glass wool adalah 21.Dari hasil penelitian ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa serat Kapok dapat digunakan sebagai bahan penyerap suara untuk mengontrol kualitas akustik dalam suatu ruangan auditorium atau ruang penumpang dalam mobil.

Sumber : http://yogya.litbang.deptan.go.id

Export Project

Kapok fiber is a natural fibers which is very useful for various applications. There will be a great demand of it in the future since its environmental friendly property. The problem is kapok tree only grows at tropical countries such as Indonesia. So that other countries where kapok fiber is unavailable and need kapok fiber at the same, they have to import it from kapok exporting countries such as Indonesia.